Recursion Error
Episode 67- Charity acceptance
"Sorun stole my plane!"
Sometimes Sorun did things that gave Sally a migraine.
She always tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. She understood things weren't especially easy for him, especially now of all times, and tried to be patient with him as a result. They all did. And for all his faults she really did like him. He was... well, somewhat responsible. At least tried to be dependable, and most of the time managed to be so. It was hard not to like somebody who'd fought besides them all for months and risked his life on multiple occasions to save the kingdom. He was odd, sure. But he was still one of them.
It was why it especially hit them hard when it turned out Sorun's world was dead and he had to remain on Mobius. Sally knew that he was heavily into the grieving process, as she hadn't even seen him leave his house since that day. She and the others had been too busy with their resistance duties to check in on him other than the small, random visit here and there. The only one who was able to visit him on a consistent basis was Nicole, and while she tried her best with him, whenever she talked to Sally about him she'd become increasingly worried with each day and would continually fret over him.
Any other day Sally would have found it cute if she wasn't so worried over Sorun, too.
But then he did something stupid and stole Tails' plane for some reason, which she learned when Tails flew up to her practically screaming. Upon reviewing the city's security footage it was revealed that, yes, Sorun stole Tails' plane. And took his Chao with him. Thus followed an extremely stressed Sally trying to process all this as she had to listen Nicole's hologram pace around her as she voiced her worries. "What if he crashes, he's probably lost, what if he starves out there, Sally, he could be hurt and I'm not there to help him, he might be cold."
Sally didn't think Nicole mentioned the theft of the plane once.
It carried on like this for an entire day while Sally tried to figure out what they were supposed to do - she couldn't think of anything - and how she was supposed to punish Sorun when they finally got him back - she did have some ideas there -. They were apparently saved a lot of effort as, in the following night, Sorun returned according to the security systems. How wasn't clear, since he obviously hadn't flown in without them noticing, but they still managed to see him in the hangar through the security systems. Following this Sally had assured Nicole she and Tails would handle this, mostly to try and keep things as stable as possible, and the pair of Mobians had gone off to the hangar to meet Sorun.
She didn't really know how to tell Tails that his plane was completely wrecked, which she'd seen through the cameras. She opted to just let him see it for himself and keep quiet on it. The fox's reaction had, well... been about what she expected. They entered the hangar to see Tails' blue biplane a complete wreck, something that barely even resembled a plane anymore. And a lot of sand for some reason. Tails' tails had stopped spinning and he'd dropped right onto his feet as he looked straight towards the wreck, jaw slack and eyes bugging out of his head.
"Wha... what the... why... my plane..." He kept stuttering over his words, uselessly gesturing out towards the hunk of broken metal as confusion, shock, and dismay all mixed into his features. "H-he destroyed the Tornado!"
Sally winced when she heard the anger mixed in with the disbelief when Tails shouted out. "Um, Tails..." she began as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure it's not that bad-"
"Not that bad? Not that bad!?" The fox's head whipped towards her, a livid expression on his face. "You think I can actually salvage anything from this!? It's wrecked! Totaled! I'm gonna have to build a new a new plane from scratch!"
Again, Sally winced, deeper this time. It wasn't a secret that Tails practically loved that plane. Maintaining it was his favorite hobby. Probably his only hobby aside from inventing things here and there and talking shop with Rotor. Seeing the plane he'd spent so many years with had to be a deep blow. Knowing a friend was responsible likely another blow.
"Nicole can make you a new plane with her nanites like she did with the Freedom Fighter Special," Sally tried in an attempt to calm him down.
It didn't work. "It wouldn't be the same plane, Sally," he angrily grumbled. "It... it wouldn't be mine..." His ears flattened against his head, and a frustrated growl left him. "When I get my hands on Sorun-"
"Heeeey...~"
The call from the familiar voice drew their attention back to the plane. They stepped around to its other side, and then saw, to their surprise, Sorun. Sitting there against the plane. Virgil was there, too, sitting on what was once the plane's wing and staring down at Sorun with a vacant expression. Sorun seemed oblivious to the looks everyone was giving him, and held empty, purple bottle in his right hand and-
Sally's heart skipped a beat when she saw the sheathed katana clenched in his left hand. That sword. His... Yamato if she recalled the name correctly. Tails, likewise, had instantly frozen when he caught sight of the sword. The sword made as a result of Sorun absorbing a Chaos Emerald at the cost of a chunk of his life. A sword that should have left with the rest of his powers.
So why did he have that sword?
"Sorun?" Sally took a careful step towards him, wary of that blade. "Are you okay...?"
"SSSSSally. Always so nice and - hic! - considerate. What a shining example of Mobian virtue you are." Sorun stumbled up to his feet. He had a blush on his face and looked like he was half-asleep. "Howzit goin'?"
She opened her mouth to speak, but an intense scent hitting her nose caused Sally to close it and hold a hand to her face in revulsion. It was a scent she was the faintest bit familiar with. A distant childhood memory of back when she was four, had got into a cabinet in the castle, and opened a bottle of something that vaguely had the same scent. She'd almost drank it before her panicked father found her, took the bottle away, and scolded her severely for what she'd almost done. It was only years later she realized what that bottle was and what she'd almost done. Even so she'd never experienced it again due to the average Mobian not being able to afford alcohol strong enough to actually effect them, and even then nobody saw the point in it. Part of the reason her own father had that bottle was because he was a king, and of course he could afford it. Even then it was only to be used for special occasions. At least before the coup happened.
Sally had never, ever encountered the scent of alcohol ever again in her life until she smelled the scent coming off of Sorun.
"Sorun, are you... are you drunk?" she asked him startled disbelief.
Tails, already confused from the way Sorun was acting, looking up to Sally. "Hey, Sally? What do you mean by that?" he asked. "And... and what's that weird smell coming off of Sorun?"
"I-it's nothing, Tails," Sally quickly said, biting her lower lip. She wouldn't be the one to expose Tails to this kind of thing. If she had it her way he'd never be exposed to it, which was why she was so appalled that Sorun would do such a thing. "Sorun," she tried again, face going stern as she faced back towards the human. She actually started to feel anger at him over the fact he'd have the audacity to do something like this. "Are. You. Drunk?"
"Uhhhh... nah, nah man," Sorun denied with a shake of his head, the least bit affected by her burning stare. "I-I-I'm not... I drank thish," he slurred out, holding the empty bottle up for Sally to see.
Sally squinted her eyes so she could read the label on the bottle. To her surprise it was... a brand of grape soda? "Huh?" The anger began to fade from her as confusion set in. "That's... Sorun, where did you get that?"
"From the, uh... the yellow lady," he slurred out. "Midna... yeah..."
"Do you mean Mina...?" Sally slowly asked out.
"Mina! That'sh tha one!" Sorun loudly confirmed. Tails' confusion grew while Sally began to grow worried. "Sh-she gave me thish tashty purple-y shtuff. An' you know what? I think it's magic, Sally."
"Sorun, I really don't-"
"'Cause I drank shome, and poof! I was on an island," Sorun regaled. "An' I met thish nice guy. And I fighted some pirates!" Sorun dramatically swung his left hand, which was clenching the handle of his sword. The scabbard, already loose, flung off and dissolved in a show of blue particles. "And then bif, and bam, an' I beat 'em all!" Sorun made an exaggerated swing of his sword, its edge glowing blue. Sally made a strangled sound when he swung it towards the destroyed plane, while made the wreck fall apart as it was split in half. A large, straight gash was left in the hangar floor. "It was straight outta the 'Pirates of the Caribbean" movies. 'Cept there... there weren't no skellingtons. There were fish people, tho'!"
And now the worry Sally had was exploding into full-blown panic. A drunk Sorun was bad enough, because she didn't know how to deal with that. A drunk Sorun waving around a sword capable of cutting apart anything, and at a distance, was the worst-case scenario as far as she was concerned. It was bad enough that she began to breath heavily at the sight of the dangerous and very lethal weapon in the hands of somebody not even fully lucid at the moment.
"Tails, sweetie, listen to me very carefully," Sally instructed in a deadly-serious tone. The fox looked up at her, blinking rapidly in worry. "Move away from Sorun. And do not make any sudden movements."
"W-what's going on with him, Sally?" Tails asked. "He's acting weird. I don't like it."
"I don't either, Tails. He's gonna be fine." She gently tapped his shoulders a couple of time. "Just please move back."
Wordlessly, Tails did so, slowly stepping back away from her and Sorun. Sally then held her hands up towards Sorun as she very carefully began moving towards him.
"Sorun?" she calmly called out. "How come you have your sword back?"
"Hm? Yamato?" Sorun waved the blade up to his face up to look at it. That same movement caused a deep slice to appear on the hangar's roof, making Sally flinch. She started shuffling towards him faster. "Found it," he answered. "Why?"
"Can you please put it down before you hurt someone?" The last thing, the very last thing, she wanted was for somebody to get cut in half because Sorun was drunkenly waving around a deadly, magical weapon. Or for him to cut his own head off handling it the way he was.
"Huh? Put it down?" Sorun mumbled. His eyes, droopy as they were at the moment, sharpened a bit. "I won't. No one else can have this, Sally. It's mine. It belongs to a... what was the line?" He waved the sword down and caused a gash to appear in the floor. "It's my power, Sally. Mine. It belongs to me and nobody else."
He thoughtlessly waved the sword around again. Another clean fissure appeared in the ground, and following this was a loud, scared yelp. Sally glanced behind her shoulder as saw that the new gash in the floor was inches away from Tails, who'd leapt back in fright at almost being cut.
Gritting her teeth in frustration and fear, Sally reared her head back towards Sorun. "SORUN, PUT IT DOWN RIGHT NOW!"
Before anybody else could do anything, there was a black and blue blur as a small object zoomed past Sorun's hand. There was a loud slckt! sound, followed by a small spray of red and the sword falling out of Sorun's hand and clattering on the ground. It remained there for a single second before the sword reverted back into a Chaos Emerald.
Both Sally and Tails adopted shocked looks and stepped back from the small creature, which was revealed to be Virgil. The Chao ignored them and looked up towards Sorun, an annoyed, troubled expression on his face. Sorun himself didn't react all that much to the deep gash that had been cut into his hand that forced him to drop the Emerald, not even looking surprised as he looked at it. More apathetic than anything else. He glanced from the wound to the Chao, still looking up at him, and then made a sigh as he bent down to pick the blue gem back up.
Instead of the gem turning back into a sword, Sorun's hair turned white. The cut on his hand instantly sealed shut and healed, and in addition to that Sorun's eyes widened. Clarity and focus began to become apparent on his face, his eyes widening and becoming much more alert as the blush disappeared. He stood up to his full height and looked down towards his feet, confused. A dawning look went across his features, after which he turned towards the broken plane. His eyes traced the lines in the ground back forwards, where he saw the two Mobians looking at him.
"... I see." He looked down at the Emerald in his hand and sighed. When he looked back up, Sally was standing right in front of him. "I-"
"Hospital," she demanded, not looking amused in the slightest. "Now."
There wasn't any room for argument. Not with that look she was giving him. So with another sigh, Sorun turned towards the opening of the hangar and began walking out.
The experience as a whole had been as frightening as it had been confusing for Sally. Frightening in that she'd been legitimately concerned for the health of everybody involved when Sorun began swinging around that sword. Confusion was for everything else: what happened with the plane, why Sorun took it in the first place, why he'd been acting inebriated one moment and completely fine the next, what was happening with him and the Chaos Emerald. Things she could have probably asked him on their way to the hospital, but she was more concerned with actually getting him in that place and getting checked out by the doctor before anything else.
Tails elected to stay behind and look over what was left of his plane. He'd found a full bottle of whatever that purple stuff had been Sorun had been drinking. She'd brought it with her for the doctor to examine while he was looking over Sorun. So she was left in the main hospital lobby, sighing and holding her arms as she stared down at the floor. She still wanted answers to a lot of questions to clear this whole thing up. Hopefully the doctor and Sorun would be able to answer them. And after that...
Well, after that Sally had no clue what she was supposed to do with Sorun.
"Sally?" she looked up from her feet. Nicole materialized ahead of her, hands clasped together and a small frown on her face. "I informed Mina that you needed to see her and that she should come to the hospital. She's on her way right now." She glanced a bit off to the side. "I would also like to inform you that my security feed caught Sonic at the hangar talking with Tails. It seems he caught wind of a disturbance and went to see what was going on. He... appeared less than pleased."
Sally groaned into her hands, and then began rubbing at her temples. "Not the news I wanted to hear, but... ugh, we'll deal with it. Thanks, Nicole."
"Is Sorun well?"
Sally dropped her hands and looked back at Nicole. "The doctor's checking him out, but he seemed okay. Physically, at least," she said. "Sorun, he, um... I'm not really sure to be honest. He got into something and we're trying to figure out what it was. And then there's the whole thing with the Ch-"
She was interrupted when the door leading to the lobby opened up. Both she and Nicole turned towards the door to see a yellow-furred head with purple hair glancing around and stopping on the two of them. Sally sighed in relief and stood up off of her chair.
"Mina. Hey," Sally greeted. She stepped right next to Nicole, while the mongoose stopped in front of the pair with an unsure expression on her face.
"Was something the matter?" Mina asked. "I heard from Nicole that Sorun came back. Did something happen?"
"Kind of," Sally admitted. "Mina, did you... did you give Sorun anything recently? Something drinkable?"
"Hm? Oh, right, that." Recognition flashed in her eyes as she gave the two of them a nod. "Ash and I were visiting him because his Chao got... mischievous with Ash. I gave him some sodas as a present."
"... Sodas?" Sally repeated. "Just... normal sodas?"
"They were a gift from a fan back when I went on tour," she clarified. "I had one myself and wasn't very partial to it. I gave them to Sorun because, well... he seemed like he needed it."
The explanation did little but cause more confusion on Sally's part. Nicole, on the other hand, suddenly became much more attentive of the yellow Mobian in front of them. "Why do you say he needed the gift?" she asked.
"Oh, right. I wanted to tell you this earlier, Sally, but then I heard Sorun, er... left and decided to hold off. But now we're here, so..." Mina took in a deep breath and began to explain. "Sorun said that he isn't able to get a job. He said that since he's a human and can't do much people won't hire him instead of employing Mobians capable of doing more. I looked inside of his kitchen when I was visiting him and it looked like he was out of food."
Sally's eyes widened in shock at that. Nicole's reaction was much more apparent than hers, with her hands unclasping and her entire face becoming borderline-horrified. "W-what?" she stammered out. "Why didn't he tell us!?"
Seeing the visible shock on their faces, Mina grew uncomfortable and looked to the side while rubbing at her arm. "He said that he feels like an inconvenience to you all and would have rather starved than bother you with his problems."
"Oh, Sorun..." With a small sigh, Sally pressed a hand against her throbbing forehead. It certainly sounded like something he would do, which was the exact reason she believed Mina when she heard it, and immediately began to feel worry for her human friend. And irritation. That worry multiplied twofold when she glanced to the side at Nicole and was forced to perform a double-take. The AI's hands were clenched at her sides, and a disbelieving, angered look was beginning to settle over her face. "Oh, Sorun."
She needed a quick distraction. An awkward cough was enough to gain both Nicole's and Mina's attention. "That's... disturbing to hear, Mina, but thanks for telling us." Sally made another sigh and rubbed at the back of her head. "I'm honestly not surprised he'd try and pull something like that. It's not really the first time. But I'm still trying to wrap my head around what was making him act so off..."
"I think I can provide an answer to that."
Three heads turned around to see a one-eyed duck Mobian enter the hospital lobby. He closed the door behind him, letting out a small sigh before he turned around to face the other three staring out at him. A clipboard was held in his right hand, and the final bottle of the purple soda Sorun had possessed was clutched in his left.
Sally was the first one to speak out. "Dr. Quack," she greeted. "How is Sorun doing?"
"All things considered he's as healthy as he could be," he answered. "That, uh... that thing he does, where he changes is hair white. He says it has a regenerative property. As far as I can tell it cured of him pretty much any and all of his injuries and cleansed his system of any toxins. He's completely fine."
The news brought visible relief on everybody present. "That's good," Sally said. "Has Sorun explained how he's able to do that?" she asked. "The way he was handling that Chaos Emerald wasn't normal."
"He said he can freely switch between his powers now with an Emerald," he answered, looking down at his clipboard. "Wanted me to look into it for him; apparently he's as much in the dark about it as you are. I found something, but I'd rather discuss that with him."
"I see..." One mystery solved, partially at least. "Do you know why he was acting the way he was?"
"Well, about that... I did some analysis on this stuff you brought in that you said Sorun was drinking." The doctor held up the purple bottle. "Sorun mentioned that this stuff was pretty old. You're the one that gave them to him, right, Mina?" he turned to the singer. "That true?"
She nodded. "Yes, but I had one of them shorty before I gave the rest to Sorun," she explained. "I felt completely fine. I don't see how they could of hurt Sorun..."
"Well, that's the thing. To put it in terms you would understand, some of the ingredients in this thing, well... fermented over time."
"Fermented?" Mina's eyes widened. "M-meaning it... it...?"
"It's alcoholic, yes," Quack answered, making the others' faces fall in realization. "Weirdest thing is that I ran tests on this, and the actual levels of alcohol in this are low. Really low. A Mobian child would have to drink fifty bottles of this stuff to even get a little bit tipsy."
"But... Sorun isn't a Mobian..." Sally realized with a small sigh. She quickly felt the anger that had been bubbling up over Sorun drinking began to fade away, replaced be relief that it'd been the result of a horrible accident and nothing more. Nearby she noticed Nicole relax a bit as well, though Mina seemed to be doing the exact opposite from how much she was suddenly fidgeting.
Quack nodded. "Yep. As far as I can figure, his system can't handle alcohol like a Mobian's can. In fact I'm pretty certain a bottle of alcohol meant for Mobians would more than likely kill him. Not that I know how he'd get one in the first place since I don't even know anybody in this city that can afford something like that," he added. "Like I said, the white-hair thing cleaned his system out, but I'd strongly recommend you keep him away from stuff like this from now on."
"So he's fine, then?" This question came from Nicole. "There's nothing wrong with him?"
"Physically, no. Mentally..." The duck hummed and looked back down at his clipboard. "Look, I'm not sure what's going on in his head that the first thing he decided to do when he lost all his inhibitions was steal a plane and leave the city for a bit, but based on what I heard about what happened I think I can guess he's not in a good place up there. He practically had no energy when I was talking with him and kept making morbid jokes. A sign of levity, maybe. Means of coping."
"No, Sorun always says weird stuff like..." Sally trailed off, blinking a few times and looking down at her feet. "Oh."
In some fairness, it was easy for her to see. Part of the reason she tolerated much of Sorun's actions was because she was aware of just how much the human had to endure. And while she hadn't thought he'd just be able to walk off the knowledge Earth was gone, Sally hadn't realized that just maybe Sorun was a bit worse off than what he suggested. She shared a knowing look with Nicole and looked back at the doctor.
"Is there anything you'd recommend?" Sally asked.
"Listen, princess, I'm not that kind of doctor. In fact there's nobody in the city qualified for that kind of thing," Dr. Quack admitted to her. "Just... I don't know, talk to him? Be there for him? I fix wounded bodies, not wounded souls." He turned around back to the door he'd previously come out of. "There's a couple more things I needed to discuss with him, but after that he should be fine to go home. Have a good night, all."
He left shortly after saying that. Sally was left with slumped shoulders, exhaling an exhausted breath as she massaged her forehead to quell the growing headache. Nicole didn't seem to be doing much better than her, and Mina had a mortified expression on her face.
"You guys, I am so sorry," Mina apologized in a distraught tone. "I-I would never have given those to Sorun if I knew-"
"No, Mina, it's... it's fine," Sally tiredly sighed out. "We didn't know, now we do, and nobody was hur... it worked out."
"I still feel like I should stay and apologize to-"
"We'll do it on your behalf," Nicole offered. "It's late and I'm sure that it's been a trying enough time for you. We can handle things from here."
Mina blinked and looked towards the AI, who was staring right at her, expression blank and unreadable. After a few moments, she said, "Alright, then. I guess I'll go home." She turned towards the exit to the lobby. "Tell Sorun I said hi. And, you know... that I'm really sorry about all this."
Shortly after Mina left, Nicole wordlessly turned towards the nearest chair and sat down in it. Sally quietly observed as she slumped forwards, cradling her head in her hands and letting some of her black hair spill between her fingers. Sally watched the display, and then sighed and moved to sit down in the chair right next to her. She watched Nicole for a few more moments as she held the position of holding her head, and then reached up to place a comforting hand on her back.
"Hey," she quietly mumbled in her best helpful tone. "You doing alright?"
"He frustrates me so much sometimes, Sally," Nicole mumbled back. "I care for him dearly but he keeps acting out like this."
"The plane?" Sally guessed.
Nicole shook her head. "It was an accident, I can't blame him for that," she said. "It's... it's everything else."
"Right, the food thing..." the chipmunk realized. "Yeah, I hadn't realized things were that bad with him. I wish he'd come to one of us and told us about it."
"But he never does!" Nicole bolted upright in her seat fast enough that Sally leaned back in surprise. She was even more surprised to see the angered look on her face return. "He puts so little value on his own life. It feels like he doesn't even acknowledge how we feel about how he treats himself." She looked to the side at Sally with a pleading look, asking for help. "Why is he like this, Sally?"
"Look, Nicole, he's... Sorun is... the thing you have to understand..." When her mind came up blank, Sally groaned out loudly and shook her head. "There's no getting around it. Look, Nicole, guys are just idiots sometimes."
"Even Sorun?"
"Especially Sorun..." Sally ground out, startling Nicole. "He does a lot of things that makes me question his intelligence, but looking past all that he's... it's just this thing with guys. I don't know if it's a pride thing, or some stupid universal rule they all like to follow or what, but sometimes they just do stupid things for stupid reasons." She took a calming breath and held a hand to her forehead. "I really am upset about what happened when he tried finding work, but it's not like I can just go out there and force somebody to give him a job. On the other hand, yes, we could have helped him and he should have come to us."
"But he stayed quiet," Nicole muttered, almost sounding bitter. "Again. He always hides behind that excuse that he doesn't want to trouble us." Her face fell drastically. "Why can't he just understand I want to help him...?"
"I don't know. I think there's more going on than just that," Sally said. "You have to realize he just lost his entire world, and it's barely been half a month. I can tell you from experience, back when Mobotropolis was lost when we were kids, that... well, that kind of thing doesn't just go away overnight, Nicole. Everybody has different ways of coping, but Sorun's always been odd so I don't-"
"I've tried being there for him, though," Nicole argued. "He wouldn't say a single word during that first week. I was worried enough that I thought about bringing him back to the hospital until he said he tried to find work to support himself and keep himself occupied. Things seemed fine in the following days, and he'd opened up to me more. He truly appeared to be getting better. I wish he'd just told me things were going so poorly..."
It sounded to her like he'd been lying again about his own wellbeing. And as unfortunate as it was, Sally was fully aware that Sorun had too much experience in that field. Much more than she was comfortable with anybody having, especially an experienced liar like him. "I wish he'd do a lot of things," Sally agreed with a huff. "Listen, maybe... if he really needs something to do, and if he does have some modicum of his power back, maybe he can go back to being a Freedom Fighter. We could keep a closer eye on him and-"
"No."
It'd been such an intense "no" that cut Sally off she was forced to blink and stare at the lynx sitting next to her in bewilderment. Nicole held a completely different gaze, leveling her eyes with Sally's without a single hint of amusement to be found in her features.
"It was only a suggestion-"
"It's an ill-conceived one," Nicole interrupted, silencing Sally once again. "You saw what he was like, Sally. How he is right now. He isn't mentally fit to be going back into the field as he is at the moment." Her expression softened some, and she looked down a bit. "Beyond that, he... confides in me things he doesn't share with the rest of you. He doesn't like fighting. Every single mission he went on was a struggle that strained him more each time. It's too mentally taxing for him, and he needs less stress in his life, not more. He can't anymore. And I don't want him to try."
Surprising show of protectiveness over Sorun aside, Sally understood, at least in some part. Some people weren't cut out for the life they lived. On the day Sorun found out his world was gone, and he'd flat-out stated to them that he didn't want to go back to being a Freedom Fighter, she understood he didn't have the same limits they did. Saw it all the time when she watched him grow more and more tired and haggard with each and every passing day when he was one. It was only when the truth was revealed to them all she saw that he only put up with it because he had no other choice and was dying anyways. He'd practically run himself ragged working with them for under half a year.
Add into his world and people being gone and recent events and she suddenly realized it was probably no wonder he was acting the way he was. All that stress was likely crushing Sorun. Powers or not, that wasn't something she wanted to put in live combat. More than that she just didn't want to put Sorun through that kind of thing again when he really wasn't willing or able. Physically or mentally.
"You have a point," Sally finally admitted with a sigh, relieving Nicole a great deal. "He's done. I know, I just... I don't know what we're supposed to do with him." She rubbed the side of her head in thought. "Maybe I can ask around, see if I can find something for him since he can't on his own. And maybe in the meantime we should spend a bit more time with him. All of us."
Nicole looked unsure at the prospect. "Is that the wisest decision? With the way things have been going-"
"Eggman's and his new private army of henchmen been quiet ever since we started squashing down every operation he attempts to get a leg-up. We all need a break in the downtime anyways," Sally reasoned. "Now's actually the best time to try and do this kind of thing the more I think about it. I'm sure everyone would be fine with it, and it'd do him some good." She reached over and gave Nicole's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "It's gonna be fine, Nicole. He'll get better. We just need to give him some company and time."
"... Perhaps it's for the best, then," Nicole admitted in a quiet tone. Her face tensed again. "I shall be having words with him about his lying habit. It's beginning to become problematic." She glanced to the side in thought. "Perhaps I should begin monitoring him again as well."
"Um." Sally blinked a few times and tilted her head. "That's going a bit far, isn't it?"
"It's only for a short time. Until I'm convinced he isn't a danger to himself," she reasoned. "Seeing as he evidently crashed an airplane as a result of him trying to 'deal with his own problems on his own,' as Sorun would likely put it, I'm not convinced." She glanced back at Sally. "I'm just worried for his safety. He's fragile."
"Yeah, I know." Even as Sally said this, she watched as Nicole went back to silently contemplating to herself over Sorun, no doubt. What those contemplations entailed was honestly something she figured she was better off not knowing, and decided whatever Nicole had planned Sorun would just have to deal with it. It was his fault, after all.
She had enough headaches as it was.
"In my defense, how was I supposed to know that stuff was alcoholic?"
"Chao chao-chao. Chao-chao chao chao."
"I didn't understand a word of that."
Virgil made an annoyed huff and turned his head away from Sorun. Sorun, meanwhile, made his own huff and turned his head towards the window to look out into the darkened city.
In some strange twist of fate the duck doctor decided to put Sorun in the exact same hospital room he'd been staying at back when he used to have only one arm and eye. He didn't even know if the doctor did that on purpose or if he did it just to mess with Sorun. He'd been more keen on running all sorts of tests on Sorun, some unnecessary in Sorun's opinion due to the regeneration, others in response to the inquiry Sorun had given the doctor regarding what could have changed in him to cause him to hold and use a Chaos Emerald like he could now.
It wasn't normal. Something in Sorun changed, he just didn't know what. And the doctor, after Sorun had explained this all to him, had agreed and decided to run additional tests. Lots of questions, lots of poking and prodding, lots of needles and blood being drawn, lots of Sorun wishing he'd been anywhere but there at the moment. This was all in addition to him testing to find out why Sorun had been blacking out, which, in a shocking twist, turned out to be because Mina quite literally gifted him poison.
... Perhaps that wasn't doing the mongoose justice. From how Dr. Quack put it Mobians had a stupidly high tolerance to alcohol. Or maybe everything on this planet did since the evolutionary curve was so high above him and he was the strange one weak to alcohol. Wouldn't be the first time him being the most un-evolved being on the planet bit him in the ass. So he couldn't blame Mina seeing as there as no feasible way she could have known how harmful those purple drinks would be to Sorun. And maybe he should have realized that the drinks had something to do with it and shouldn't have opted to go for a second one when he came back.
Probably what Virgil was so upset about now that he thought about it. Apparently he'd been drunkenly waving around the Yamato and Virgil had to cut him to get him to drop it before he accidentally sliced Tails or Sally.
Wasn't one of his finer moments.
"Well, if there's a silver lining to any of this it might be that I might be able to spin to Tails I wasn't in the right state of mind so he can't blame me for the plane. Maybe. Hopefully." Sorun sighed and ran a hand over his face. "What a huge mess."
His hand fell away, and he peered through his locks of dark hair towards the Emerald sitting on the counter nearby, with Virgil sitting right next to it. He hoped the doctor would be able to come up with some sort of answer to what happened to him. It kept nagging at him and he wanted it answered.
Sorun's silent prayers were answered when the door to his room opened and was shut again once the duck doctor, clipboard in hand, walked in. Sorun gave the doctor a half-wave. "Doc. Hey," he greeted. "Uh, things going alright?"
"Hm? Oh, fine, fine." He stopped in front of Sorun and began thumbing through some of the sheets on his clipboard. "You're the picture of perfect health, at least by your species' standard. I'm assuming. I was trained to treat Mobians, you see, but from what I can tell you're looking fine."
Sorun pursed his lips and glanced to the side. "Meant with the others," he quietly mumbled.
"Oh. The one that brought you in." Dr. Quack cleared his throat. "The princess isn't particularly thrilled about all this."
"Oohh..."
"Nicole was there as well. She looked aggravated."
"Ooooohhh..." That was worrying on all sorts of uncomfortable levels. "Problems for later," he tried to reassure himself as he focused back on the duck. "Well, in any event, I'll try and be careful with what I eat from now on. On another note, that other thing I asked for." He glanced to the side at the blue Emerald. "Did you figure anything out in regards to that?"
The duck followed Sorun's gaze to the Emerald. "You're sure you're not just misinterpreting this?" he asked, looking back at Sorun.
"Doc, there isn't exactly a precedent I'm followin' here. But every time I used to touch one it got, I don't know, subsumed into me?" He gestured towards the gem. "Now I can touch it and use its power without doin' that. It's odd. It's abnormal. I'm trying to rationalize it."
"Does it really matter all that much?" he asked him. "If there are no ill effects-"
"These things are literally poison to me," Sorun pointed out. "For all I know using it just like this is as harmful as me absorbing it, and I'd rather not get years taken off my life again. Had enough of that the first time around."
"Fair point." Dr. Quack looked back to his clipboard. "I told you already that I'm not really an expert on Chaos energies. I'm a doctor, not a... well, I'm not even sure what profession would study that sort of thing. But you'll recall earlier that I examined you with some equipment we have for measuring Chaos levels."
"Really, now?" Sorun demurred. "You claim not to be an expert on it, but you monitor the phenomenon?"
"It's on the off-chance somebody with Chaos-enhanced abilities come to us. I used to examine Sonic a lot."
"Ah." Sorun nodded in understanding.
"Anyways," Dr. Quack continued, nodding his head next to the collection of equipment next to the Emerald that Virgil was resting against, "as far as I can tell you still don't have a link of any kind connecting you to the Chaos Force. That said..."
"Yeah?"
"I compared your bloodwork from the first time you were in here to this time. There were some differences I saw that I wanted you to be aware of." As the doctor flipped through a sheet on his clipboard, Sorun leaned forwards with clear interest. "Minute differences, small changes, mostly in your genetic coding I found."
Sorun sputtered. "T-that don't sound small, doc."
"Well, other than that I haven't noticed any changes with you physiologically speaking, and you haven't noticed any behavioral changes with yourself. Barring, um... outside factors going on in your life, of course." He cleared his throat and focused much harder on the clipboard. "From what I can tell these changes in your genetic structure are what allows your unique interaction with the Chaos Emerald. As for the cause, the only conclusion I can come to is that exposure to the radiation that bled in from the portal leading to your world caused this."
Sorun blinked. He blinked again, and then gave the duck an odd, dubious look. "You said those meds you gave me would clear that up," he warily said.
"Of any potential illness caused from radiation poisoning, yes, but evidently your exposure still caused some inherent change in you," the doctor clarified. "A... mutation of sorts, you could say."
"A muta- come on," Sorun groaned. "Look, doc, I never studied at an accredited institution, but even I know radiation doesn't mutate you to give you super powers." Or magically grant one the ability to suddenly wield cosmic energy capable of doing anything. Energy his entire species was allergic to. That killed him. A mutation couldn't change something that fundamental within him, could it? "Th-this ain't a comic book," he said, partly in disbelief. "Mutations that give me a tumor, sure, but-but that? How does that make sense?"
"How does a gem of mystical energy giving you the ability to conjure a sword able to cut through space-time make sense?"
Any further argument Sorun held died in his throat.
Sighing, the doctor lowered the clipboard and looked straight into Sorun's eye with his one good one. "Look, Sorun, I don't have all the answers. Like I said, Chaos energy is just too far outside my field. You asked why you're suddenly able to interact with the Chaos Emerald like you can, and I told you. I can tell you the how of it, just not the why. You'll have to take that as you will."
It wasn't a very satisfactory answer, but it was one Sorun realized he'd have to accept. There was already plenty of weirdness surrounding him and this world. All in all hearing this from the doctor didn't do much to breach that weird ceiling. Disconcerting, slightly, but the doctor had assured him there was actually nothing wrong with Sorun, which was relieving on that note at least. Nothing wrong. Just changed.
"It's weird, but... whatever. Mutation. Sure. I'm a mutant now. Why not?" Sorun sighed and slid off the bed. "Well, 'least my hair ain't falling out," he reasoned as he stepped towards the counter. "Thanks for this, doc."
"Sure, it's no problem," he heard the duck call from behind Sorun. "You might wanna meet back up with those two waiting outside for you, though. They're, uh... well, I think they'd like to have a word with you."
"Yeah, don't I know it. Don't be surprised if I wind up right back in here," Sorun sarcastically remarked in a bit of a gloomy tone. He didn't know what to expect walking out there. Other than it'd probably be painful. And Mina had probably told them of his food problem too, which... he didn't imagine Nicole would take a liking to. There'd probably be yelling. At him. Because he was a terrible person who burdened everybody around him no matter what he did. "Christ, maybe I shoulda just stayed on that island."
He reached out towards Virgil, pausing when he saw the Chao was still sleeping. He tilted his head at the sight, and then scooped up the unconscious Chao's body and carefully hung him on his shoulder. It was when he was moving his hand away from the counter, though, that some movement caught his eye. A red needle on one of the doctor's instruments, like the gauge on a speedometer. It was attached to some dish-like implement fitted to a handle. When Sorun moved his hand away, the needle on the gauge went back to resting on the left side, where he assumed zero was amidst all those tick marks behind it. But when he moved his hand back in front of it, the needle went wild, moving left and right in the gauge like it didn't know where it wanted to be. And when Sorun moved his hand back away, it settled back down to zero.
"... Hey, doc?" Sorun picked the instrument up and held it up for the doctor to see. "What's this?"
"It's a tool I use to measure levels of Chaos energy," Dr. Quack answered.
"..." Sorun brought the tool closer to his face. "You said I don't have a link."
"You don't. I checked."
"... Alright, then. Weird." Shrugging, he set the instrument back down on the table, and then reached over to pick the Emerald up. More weirdness he didn't understand. At this point he was more concerned with what was ahead of him than whatever was going on with his body, though. "I'm gonna go. Take care."
The duck Mobian waved him off without another word. Sorun took that as his cue to leave, exiting the room and making his way towards where he remembered the lobby was. Where Nicole and Sally were likely waiting for him if what the doctor said was true. A lot of the time spent walking there Sorun had spent trying to think up what to say. As always, he failed in this regard and had to resort to rubbing his thumb over the Chaos Emerald in an attempt to comfort himself.
It did, somewhat. Holding that power in his hand. A bit of security that he doubted would help him weather this coming storm. It was something, though, and the sleeping Chao on his shoulder sure wasn't much help.
"Maybe I should use Yamato to teleport back to the house? Nah, won't work, Nicole can teleport anywhere in the city. And that'd just make her more mad at me. The ability to stall for a few more minutes sounds rather tempting, however..."
Finally making it to the lobby door and stepping out into the lobby was a harrowing experience in of itself considering how hard Sorun's heart was thumping in his chest. He immediately saw Sally and Nicole, both of which had snapped their gazes towards Sorun. Sally had an assortment of conflicting emotions on her face while Nicole oh she looked pissed.
"..." Sorun made a low breath and collapsed in the nearest chair he could find, not having the energy to stand when he saw Nicole giving him that look. Angry. She'd never looked that angry with him before. He didn't know how to deal with that look. It hurt just acknowledging it, knowing he was the cause of her distress. Made him feel miserable.
"I'd... like to apologize for any trouble I've caused," Sorun quietly mumbled in a guilty voice, eyes trained right on the ground out of shame so he didn't have to look at the girls whose gazes he could feel boring into his soul. "I wasn't in the right state of mind at the time."
"Clearly not." That sharp tone Sally took with Sorun had him wincing. He saw her feet stop right in front of him, and then, oddly, saw her outstretched hand enter his vision. "Before anything else, though, I think I should hold onto that."
Sorun immediately knew what she was referring to. He glanced at his left hand holding the Chaos Emerald, which had automatically shifted into the Yamato without him even thinking of it. Reflexively, he curled the sword into himself, holding its sheathed blade with both hands. "Why? Why's it any better with you than me?"
He glanced up at Sally, who was giving him an exhaustive look. "You almost hurt me and Tails with it," she said. "I just feel it's safer away from you for the moment."
Valid argument. Sorun didn't care. "That was an accident. I wasn't thinking clearly." He hugged the sword closer to his chest. "It's mine. It belongs to me. You can't have it."
"Sorun, you can't claim ownership on a Chaos Emerald."
His eyes grew challenging. "Seeing as how I died because of them I figured I'm more entitled to them than anyone else on the planet," Sorun shot back.
"That's not how it works." Sally's face grew frustrated. "Why won't you give it up?"
Because it was his only source of power. Without it he was vulnerable. People he cared about were vulnerable. It was the only thing that gave him any worth or value. Without Yamato he was nothing. "I need it," he mumbled out.
"Sorun..." Sally eyes trailed downwards to the sword, and then back up to Sorun's face. She made a short sigh. "You have no reason to have that," she tried in a softer voice. "You're in the city. You're safe. You don't need a weapon that dangerous, okay? Now please give it to me."
Her words caused him to loosen his grip on the katana somewhat, though he still held it close to him. Sally was giving him that look, though, that compassionate look that was becoming more and more impatient, and he knew deep down, one way or another, she was going to get it from him. Fighting her on it wasn't going to do him any good, and he didn't need to add any more tension to an already tenuous situation. So, with extreme reluctance, he handed her the katana. If turned back into the Chaos Emerald once it left Sorun's hands to transfer to Sally's, but he still felt the effect of it leaving regardless.
Emptiness. Vulnerability. Weakness. He felt frightened knowing the gem was no longer in his possession, and immediately yearned to have it back once more. He knew better than to beg for it, though, no matter how much he wanted to. He had an image, however shot that was at this point. It didn't stop him from maintaining eye contact with the gem.
"Thank you, Sorun," Sally said, though she still kept a wary eye on the human still staring so intently at the Chaos Emerald. "Now do you want to talk about what's been going on with you?"
"What is there to say?" Sorun's gaze dipped back down to his feet when he saw, beyond the Emerald, Nicole was staring at him from behind Sally. She still had that look on her face. "I don't know why I stole the plane. I don't remember because of that purple stuff. I came back as soon as I could. I found the Emerald and found out I can use them freely now."
"I'm glad to hear that, Sorun, but do you want to talk about why your... inebriated self decided to take Tails' plane on a joyride?" Sally asked. "Or maybe we should talk about your home life and how it's going so poorly?"
Sorun sank further into his chair. "I don't know," he murmured in a quiet voice. He could practically feel the dissatisfaction his answer garnered from both Sally and Nicole. "Maybe drunk me realized how much of a problem just me existing is for everybody around me. Maybe I thought everybody was better off if I wasn't around." His head sagged to the side. "I don't even know why I bothered coming back to life when-"
A flash of green light signified Nicole teleporting right next to him, making Sorun flinch in his seat. He flinched again when he felt her hand grip his wrist, and when he looked up at her, he visibly withered when he saw her expression had grown worse.
"I will not hear any more of this." She glanced towards Sally. "I will take care of things from here." She looked back at Sorun, her gaze nearly burning. "You are going home."
"What-?"
Sorun didn't get a chance to finish. In another flash of green light he found he was no longer sitting on a hard folding chair. He was sitting on something soft. A couch. His couch. The one in his house. The house Nicole made for him.
The same Nicole that was standing in front of him looking more cross than he'd ever seen her. A part of him wanted to jokingly ask if she intended to teleport him every single time he did something to displease her. His wiser half smacked the other half and told it that was a terrible idea and that they needed to be silent at the moment.
"I can forgive the incident with the plane, as that involved factors outside of your control," Nicole began, sounding so very close to shouting. "But this? Concealing that you were starving yourself and doing nothing to try and remedy the problem? Sorun, why?" She took a step closer to him, her fury visibly worsening. "And questioning the value of your own life like that?"
It was amazing how she could sound so icy and heated at the same time, Sorun thought. "I didn't mean that," he attempted. "It slipped out."
"It 'slipped out,'" Nicole repeated. "I won't even pretend to believe that. And I will not hear of you demeaning your life like that again. There are many within this city alone that find your life precious, myself included. I would think you would be of the same mind, but it appears I am mistaken." She leaned closer to Sorun so her face was closer to his, with the human's own face having broken out in a cold sweat. "Why is this?"
It was as much a demand as it was a question. One Sorun didn't know the answer to, because in all honesty, it had slipped out. "I don't know."
Such a childish answer did nothing to placate Nicole, though perhaps the look on his face did. The terror combined with the intense guilt on Sorun's face had given Nicole pause, and a second later she'd stood back to her full height while relaxing slightly. Still visibly angry. But it was a step in the right direction.
"We will broach this subject later in the conversation," she decided, making Sorun uncomfortably squirm in the couch under hey gaze. She wouldn't let it go. "Why did you keep the fact you were starving to yourself?"
"... I did try doing something about it," he weakly mumbled. "I couldn't-"
"You could have come to me!" The dam burst. It wasn't shouting, but the raised, angered tone Nicole took still made Sorun meekly shrink back further into the couch in an attempt to fuse with the cushions. "You could have come to any of us for help! We would have aided you!"
"You always do something to aid me." His hair had long since been brushed in front of his face in a feeble attempt of trying to hide Nicole from his sight, and his own face from her. "I always have to go to people for help. You know what that feels like? Having to rely on everyone for everything all the time?" He sighed and looked up towards the ceiling. "It should just be me that has to deal with all my issues. I shouldn't have to drag down people I care about just for my sake."
Some of the visible anger Nicole held left her in an instant. In its place grew sadness as she looked towards Sorun. "You don't have to do everything on your own, Sorun. You have friends for a reason." She approached the couch and sat down next to Sorun. He flinched when he felt the cushions next to him compressed, but relaxed a second later. "And I try, Sorun. I truly do try to help you, but sometimes it feels as if you push me and every other person away. But at the same time you hold such disregard for yourself it seems as if you don't even want to help yourself." She looked towards him with a questioning look. "Do you truly believe you don't deserve our help?"
"... It's not that, it..." Sorun trailed off, unsure of what to say. He reached towards his shoulder, plucking a sleeping Virgil off and placing him on the armrest near him. "Well, maybe," he admitted to Nicole without looking at her. "Ever since I lost my home it's felt as if I've been in a haze. I don't know what to do, what I should do, why I should even keep on going. I don't know what the point of it is anymore. Living for the sake of living just seems... hollow, at this point. I'd say it makes me feel like a Hollow, but, well... you wouldn't understand what that means."
"Another obscure reference from your world?" she asked.
"It's from a game. A series of them, actually. But I think the tone they had was a bit too dark and dreary for this place," Sorun answered. "... Dave would have appreciated the reference."
Nicole's shoulders fell. Her eyes glanced towards the floor for a moment, and then rose back up to Sorun. She placed a hand on his shoulder while Sorun continued to stare ahead. "Is this why you place so little value on yourself? Why you question being alive?" His silence was enough of an answer for her. "Sorun, that is no reason to be thinking like this. People care about you. I care about you."
"I don't see why you care for me when I keep dragging people down. You included."
Some of Nicole's frustration returned. "I told you why I care for you. Or did you forget everything I've said to you?"
"Of course I haven't," Sorun mumbled.
"Then stop speaking foolishness," she said. "I care for your wellbeing, Sorun. It's not a burden if I want to help you. That's why it hurts when you treat yourself like this without even thinking of how I and the others feel. It's as if you're willfully negligent of how I feel. I don't like it."
"That was never my intention. But... for what it's worth I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen." When he looked to the side at Nicole's face, it felt like a punch in the gut. All the anger was gone at this point. It was more anguish now compared to anything else, complete with her ears completely flattened against her head. Anguish directed towards him. "I meant somebody while I was gone," Sorun said, making her ears perk up a bit in interest. "He... had similar circumstances to me, believe it or not. Despite that, he seemed, well, normal. I asked him how and he gave a predictable enough answer. He just stuck by to people he was close with." A small breath him, and his eyes glanced to the hand on his shoulder. "I realize I haven't been very... cooperative with your efforts to help me. I really do want to get better," he continued. "Like he did. I... just don't know if I can. Between my home and myself, it's all so much."
Nicole's expression changed, and her entire body straightened. Her face brightened the barest bit, pleased with at least something he said. "I'm glad to hear you say this, Sorun. But you need to stop pushing people away from you." She moved closer to Sorun and, tired of him avoiding her face, gripped both of his shoulders, and then turned him so that they faced each other. "I want you to stop wasting away alone in this house and start interacting with the others. And no more lying to spare others' feelings."
Sorun grew visibly uncomfortable with the prospect and tried leaning out from Nicole's grip. She wouldn't let him go. "You visiting is enough," he tried, though Nicole clearly wasn't convinced from the flat look she gave him.
"Evidently not, as you wouldn't be starving yourself and stealing planes otherwise. I'm still coming to see you, but the others are going to make time to try and get you more involved."
"They have busy schedules, I'm sure they have more important things to do than-"
"That is not for you to decide," Nicole told him in a firm tone. "We're doing this for your sake, whether you like it or not. As for the food situation..." She glanced towards the kitchen, her expression falling a bit at the empty sight. "I'm aware you at least tried to make some effort, Sorun, and that this environment is apparently... not very accommodating of you. Sally said she would ask around and see if she could find anything for you."
There wasn't any room for arguments. That much was clear for Sorun to see, especially with that look she was giving him. Saying "no" just wasn't an option, because if he did they'd probably break down his door and force him to hang out with them. Or whatever they were gonna do. Or even worse Nicole would just make his door disappear. Wouldn't be the first time she used doors against him.
So, with a resigned sigh, Sorun reached up and placed his hands on top of Nicole's. "Fine. If it'll get you to stop worrying about me. No more bottling up my problems. No more bottles period. That was a horrible experience all around drinking that stuff and I don't even remember it."
The faintest amount of amusement played across Nicole's face. "That would be preferable. Speaking of which, you needn't worry yourself over Tails' plane; I'll endeavor to replace it tomorrow. You'll need to explain yourself to him yourself, however." Her form began dissolving away in green and black squares. "I'll bring some food tomorrow to help tide you over until we figure something out. We'll discuss more afterwards. Until then, I've matters to attend to. Have a good night, Sorun."
She disappeared before Sorun could get another word in. He stared after where she disappeared from on the couch, and then made a small groan as he sat back against the couch. Besides him, Virgil turned around where he lied and continued sleeping.
"I feel like she's worried enough that she'll force-feed me if I refuse to accept charity," Sorun grumbled to himself as he rubbed a hand over his face. The weariness was beginning to get to him, and it was only now he realized how tired he really was. "Ugh, man..."