Recursion Error

Episode 77- Go for gold

When it was all said and done the act of constructing the tower meant to be used to attract all the Chaos Emeralds in the world to bring them all into one spot had gone without a hitch. It'd been constructed right in the middle of New Mobotropolis without interruption, and it had even been activated without a single issue whatsoever.

It hadn't even been that impressive of a showing, either. It'd been the exact opposite of what Sorun saw whenever he saw the seven Emeralds fly off into the distance whenever they were used. They'd simply flew in from the horizon from varying directions, gathered around and floated in a circle around the tip of the tower, and when it had been shut off all seven gems simply fell down to the ground without any fanfare whatsoever. Sorun was pretty sure it hadn't even taken five minutes, not that he'd been bothered to count.

Sorun couldn't even remember the last time something went so perfectly right.

What was supposed to happen then was that they were to store the seven Emeralds away for that hypothetical "in case we need them" scenario they'd kept talking back and forth about. By a stroke of luck Nicole had trusted Sorun with that process, and his method for doing that had just been to give the Emeralds to Finitevus. And as Sorun stood there in the makeshift lab made for Finitevus in the underground bunker, hands crossed with his back leaning against the examination table, he was wondering what was taking the albino echidna so long to complete that other task he'd asked him to perform.

Just when he was wondering that, the telltale opening of a portal made from a Warp Ring opened up in the lab. Finitevus walked straight through, the portal shrinking into nonexistence behind him as he stopped in front of Sorun. Shortly after stopping he'd thrown a backpack towards the human, who'd caught it with one hand and then proceeded to look down through its opening.

Inside Sorun saw seven shining, glowing jewels of various colors and fifty rings shining a golden luster, all piled into the backpack. Enough rings and gems that the backpack itself was practically bulging and threatening to split apart at the seams, but thankfully, it remained intact. Sorun nodded at the sight, breathing out a quiet breath, and then looked up to Finitevus.

"You got these pretty quick," he complimented. "Not bad for an old guy."

"'Old'?" Finitevus repeated, sounding affronted. "I'm not even in my mid-thirties yet."

"Yeah. Old."

Whether or not Finitevus took that for Sorun kidding around or if he was being genuine wasn't made clear from the way he raised an eye ridge at Sorun while giving him an annoyed look. "You're either blind or terrible at insults. I happen to look rather young for my age. Do I truly look that old to you?"

"I... can't really tell with Mobians," Sorun admitted after a long moment under Finitevus' scrutiny. "I think it's the fur. Hides the age. I'm not so sure, though." He often made that mistake a lot, confusing some Mobians for being much older or younger than they actually were. Wasn't his fault; unless they had white hair it was almost impossible for him to tell. And in cased like Finitevus who had naturally white fur it made it all the more difficult.

It had to be the fur. That was the only explanation, because he never had this problem with humans. Either that or Mobians just aged really well, and at this point he wouldn't be surprised about either explanation.

Finitevus seemed much less concerned with Sorun's lack of comprehending Mobian age, discarding the matter entirely with a shake of his head. "Moving on, I acquired your fifty Power Rings, as requested," he said, gesturing to the dark olive-colored backpack Sorun held in his hand. "I admit I'm quite confused on why you wanted them, though. The seven Chaos Emeralds are obvious enough for the powers they give you, but why the rings?"

"As I said, I need an edge against Enerjak. Just gonna get myself killed if I try going against him with only the seven Emeralds," Sorun muttered, his gaze turning back down into the backpack. "I was told through a friend of mine once that Sonic had this Super form. In fact, you mentioned something like this once."

"Yes, when A.D.A.M. originally used the... wait." Behind his spectacles, Finitevus narrowed his eyes at Sorun. "You can't possibly be meaning to-"

"Seven Emeralds and fifty rings. That's the formula," Sorun interrupted. "That's what Rotor told me Sonic needed to turn into Super Sonic. I'm gonna do the same thing."

It was the only method he could think of when he kept wondering to himself what he could do to gain more power. No matter what he tried thinking of, he couldn't find an answer. The Emeralds were the only way he'd ever gotten any kind of power, but somewhere deep inside he knew it wasn't enough. Whether it be fear of Enerjak or lack of self-confidence, he just didn't feel the seven powers he'd gotten from them would be enough.

A Super form, on the other hand, might be enough. He wasn't certain if it would be, if it would even work or what powers he'd get if he managed to pull it off, but it was something. More power, which he sorely needed at the moment. It'd no doubt be a host a fair amount of unpredictability that Sorun was have to adapt to on the fly, something he wasn't very keen on doing while fighting a literal god, but desperate times called for stupid decisions in his experience.

Finitevus didn't seem very convinced by Sorun's logic. "Sorun, not just any Mobian can attain an ascended form by channeling so much Chaos energy from an outside source. Most would die trying," he explained in a grave voice. "Sonic is-"

"Sonic is special? He always is," Sorun bitterly stated, sharply turning his head to the side. "Sonic this, Sonic that, he always gets to be so special when it comes to Chaos energy and his powers." Heavy resentment dripped into his tone. "Well, if he can do it, then so can I. You said it yourself I have perfect control over Chaos energy."

"You do not have perfect control," Finitevus denied. "If you did, you could create whatever powers you wish from the Emeralds. I said you had a higher amount of fidelity manipulating the energies than anybody else, but perfect it is not." He shook his head. "Beyond that you can do all that because you have no link! I've seen that blue hedgehog, albeit at a distance; his Chaos link is among the strongest of all Mobians. That's the only reason he's one of the few individuals alive who can handle going into that form!" He gestured to the backpack. "We already know your lack of a link makes it so absorbing Chaos energy harms you. If you attempt to ascend into that for you could very well-"

"Die?" Sorun asked, immediately silencing Finitevus. "That's already going to happen when I absorb the seven Emeralds. It can't do any more damage. Shorten what little time I'll have left, maybe, but that's it."

"... You don't even know if it will work. Or what it will do to you," Finitevus weakly argued, dropping his hand. "But," he continued with a resigned sigh, "I... I suppose you don't have much choice in the matter. And you're dead-set on this already, aren't you?"

"I told you I was going all-in." Sorun reached down and zipped the top of the backpack closed. He slung one of the straps over his shoulder, and then pushed off the examination table and turned to directly face Finitevus. "This is the end for me," he said to him. "After today I'm gone."

The mood in the entire room had grown somber. Sorun's overall posture had gone slack, his head bowed down with his face uncharacteristically blank. Finitevus had gone still at the sight, face tight and breathing out while darting his eyes away from Sorun's, which were still looking right at him.

"Where will you go?" Sorun asked him. "Once this is over?"

"There were still some ancient echidna ruins I'd been examining before this mess began, back in Downunda. I think I'll return back to there," Finitevus answered. Sorun vaguely recalled that continent, the one that used to be Australia. He still struggled not to reflexively sneer at its new name whenever he heard it. "That's assuming you're successful. I'll give it twenty-four hours after I leave. If everyone's souls haven't been returned by then I'll... assume you failed in stopping Enerjak. If that's the case... I'm not so sure," he sighed out. "I may just use a Warp Ring to transport myself to a different zone entirely to escape all this."

"... You can do that?" Sorun asked, the surprise in his voice masking his solemn mood. "Go to whole other universes?"

"It's not something I want to do. I belong to this zone, after all, but if you fail then it won't matter. But yes, I know how to use the Warp Rings to traverse to other zones." A bit of surprise flashed over the echidna's features. "I'm somewhat shocked you didn't know of this. I had assumed you just knew since the portals your Yamato creates runs on mostly the same principle."

"That so...?" Sorun's eyes traveled down to the backpack strap slung over his shoulder. "Travel to other zones, huh? Well, if there was another time, then maybe." He looked back at Finitevus. "So that's your plan? Hope I win and pick back up where you left off, bug out if I lose?"

"Essentially," he confirmed with a small nod. "You don't sound so approving."

"It's unnecessary to make those precautions. I am winning this fight," Sorun claimed. "That bastard'll keep everyone's souls hostage forever if I don't win them back. I will not let that future come to pass, no matter what happens. I refuse." Sorun looked over his shoulder. "Not to mention me losing would mean Nicole would have to suffer being alone in this world. It's not happening. None of it."

He wouldn't have it. No matter what happened. Every single thought inside of Sorun's head kept screaming at him to ensure that, no matter what, he'd die knowing Enerjak would never, ever be a threat to anybody ever again and he'd rescue everyone's souls so this world didn't become a graveyard full of husks. By now it was the only thing he could reasonably focus on, and the longer he stood there with the solution strapped on his back the more restless he got. It was a feeling so urgent it had even overridden the knowledge he'd die doing this in his mind.

So no. Losing wasn't an option. It felt like he'd never find peace even if he died if he failed doing this.

"And how exactly do you plan on putting Enerjak down for good?" Finitevus questioned him. "In case you've forgotten, he's a nigh-immortal spirit even without a host to sustain him in the corporeal realm."

"I have an idea about that. Should work. In theory," Sorun said.

"In theory?" Finitevus' tone was incredulous.

"It's a solid theory with a proven foundation," the human defended. "I already know Yamato can wound his true, spiritual form or whatever you want to call it. I just need to get creative is all." He turned towards the lab's exit, one hand resting on the strap over his shoulder. He let out a short breath, and then looked over his shoulder and at Finitevus. "Just get out of here," Sorun said. "... Maybe never come back to this city, 'cause Nicole might... yeah, just don't come back."

Finitevus opened his mouth to respond to that, but then closed it. He watched as Sorun approached the door leading out of the room, shook his head, and then turned around. "Sorun," he called out, almost quiet enough the teen hadn't heard him. He still had, though, and stopped just short of the door. "I'm sorry."

"..." Sorun's head dipped down towards his feet. "... Word of advice. Stay away from that red guy," he said. "Never did figure out who he was, but you should know I've heard of him from someone else. He knew things about me nobody should have known." He reached out and took hold of the doorknob. "Don't know what it all means, but the guy's bad news. Just thought you should know."

"After what he did I hardly need for you to tell me that." Finitevus had transitioned to looking at a Warp Ring held between his fingers. He'd yet to throw and activate it, simply thumbing at it as he hesitated before speaking. "I meant it when I said I'm sor-"

"Just... just go, Finitevus."

Finitevus clamped his mouth shut. He glanced over his shoulder to look at Sorun's back one more time, and then sighed out loud and threw the Warp Ring in front of him. It hovered in the air and grew into a swirling portal that he stepped through without any hesitation.

Sorun had heard the portal close behind him, with the human himself not making a single sound as he turned the doorknob and opened the door. He felt in part maybe he should have given some goodbye, but a large majority of him just wasn't in the mood for it. Words would have probably been wasted on him, anyways.

The fact he'd said sorry had given Sorun a bit of pause, however. Were circumstances different he may have pondered the meaning behind those words, but now wasn't the time. It hadn't even been a full hour since all the seven Chaos Emeralds were gathered in one spot, and Sorun didn't want to risk all that attention bringing Enerjak to the city and having something happen to it. So he had to leave now, before he had any second thoughts and before something could happen to ruin it all.

In all honesty he should have just formed a portal to Angel Island using Yamato in the lab the moment Finitevus left, but for some reason his feet had automatically walked him out and into the bunker's central room. There was an urge Sorun acknowledged in the back of his mind for wanting to see Nicole one last time before he left, and despite the urgency he'd felt he'd still allowed his feet to walk him out of the lab. When he'd reached the center room, though, he wasn't able to spot her despite looking around. Not in there or the nearby kitchen or even in the room with the green dias.

Better for that, maybe. He wasn't even sure if he could handle seeing her one more time or how he would explain why he had a backpack full of Chaos Emeralds and was leaving. With her he would have preferred a proper goodbye, but he wasn't too keen on waiting around. So, upon seeing no sign of Nicole, he reached behind him, unzipped the backpack, and rooted around inside of it until he felt a Chaos Emerald. He pulled it out, scoffing under his breath when he discovered he pulled the blue one out, and then tossed it up into the air.

"We just can't seem to separate from one another," he half-amusedly thought. He caught the Emerald, with the gem bursting in a shower of blue particles and reshaping into the Yamato in the same instant his hand made contact. He swiftly pulled the sword out from its scabbard and cut a cross into the air, which quickly folded inwards to form a portal. He'd made the move to re-sheath the sword, but a voice from behind him had halted Sorun's movements before the tip of the blade even reached the scabbard's opening.

"Sorun."

There was a moment where Sorun had completely frozen when he heard that voice behind him. Trepidation and fear and dread and a sense of longing all crashing together at once that completely locked his muscles in place. Uncertainty that plagued his mind as he wondered what to do. Once the moment passed he let out a shallow breath while letting his right arm go limp with the sword still held in it. He'd taken a deep breath to prepare himself, and then turned around so he could fully face the speaker.

He'd almost been deceived at first that, just maybe, there was a possibility that Nicole was none the wiser about what was going on. She'd been standing behind Sorun in her normal, relaxed pose with her hands folded over her lap, seemingly completely at ease, so he'd assumed that all was well. But then he'd looked up at her face and realized no, not all was well. Not the sad expression her mouth was in. Not the way her green eyes, so sharp and critical, was looking between him, the sword, the backpack, and the portal.

"Hello, Nicole," Sorun greeted. His voice was quiet and betrayed almost no emotion. He found it surprisingly easy to keep calm, whether it be from the person standing in front of him or knowing how the day would end. "It's a nice day, isn't it?"

"Sorun, what is this?"

"Then again," he continued, "I suppose there hasn't been a single nice day since Enerjak came back. What with the clouds and all."

"Sorun, what do you think you are doing?"

The impatient tone Nicole had taken didn't even make Sorun flinch. "What does it look like, Nicole?" he asked her. "You're the smartest person I know. You can figure it out."

"I think I 'figured it out' the moment I noticed all the Chaos Emeralds were missing. You didn't even wait a day." Her eyes darted away from Sorun, towards the open door leading to the empty lab. "Where did Dr. Finitevus go?"

"Left to go do his own thing," Sorun answered. "This whole thing is pretty much done, so I can't really blame the guy for bugging out now."

"Over," Nicole repeated, quietly and under her breath. Her head slowly turned back towards Sorun, and after taking one look at the backpack he wore she looked right into Sorun's eyes. "Sorun, no. No, you can't-"

"If you give me one," Sorun interrupted, making Nicole pause, "just one single, viable plan we could use to save everybody and stop Enerjak, even if it has the slimmest of margins of succeeding, I will close this portal right now and give you back the Chaos Emeralds. But if you can't even give me that, Nicole, then I don't see what other choice I have."

"Choice?" The calm, even expression Nicole had been wearing thus far began to waver. The sad downturn her mouth was in began breaking down further as she took a step towards Sorun. "You can't speak like- Sorun, of course you have a choice!" she loudly argued. "There's nothing forcing you-!"

"I've already lost one world."

That single sentence had made Nicole pause mid-step. Her eyes had widened and her ears slowly began to lower down and fold against her head, while Sorun's head dropped so he didn't have to look at her eyes.

"It still hurts, knowing everything there is gone. Billions of people, gone. Thousands of years of culture and history, gone. Everyone there I knew, my entire life, everything I ever surrounded myself with, gone. It's like such a large part of me died along with that world when I found out, and for such a long time I didn't even know if it was worth living anymore." His grip on the Yamato loosened enough that its tip scraped against the floor. "All I had left was this world, and at the beginning of all this, when I first came here, I hated everything. I hated all the people. The world itself. How... how normal logic just doesn't exist here, how alien everything was. I didn't feel like I belonged. I was more worried about making it back and leaving all this behind even if it meant everyone died in the process." His grip on the sword tightened, and he rose it up so Sorun could examine his reflection on the flat side of the blade. He made a morose sound at the sight. "Whether it be from my arm getting twisted so much it practically flew off or just me changing my mind, I... decided differently. I was such a broken mess after we found out about Earth, but everybody... everybody kept helping me. Things got better, I... I started to like living here. It finally felt like I had a place here. Then all this happened."

To call the life he'd been beginning to make here a replacement for the one on Earth would not only be a disservice to him, it would be completely inaccurate. Wrong. Nothing on Mobius would ever replace what he'd had on Earth. Even still, he'd grown to appreciate things more and more, even if everything was different. Living a cozy life here had been nice. The friends had been nice. The community was more decent that he could have ever hoped for.

No. Not a replacement. Life here was just a necessary alternative with the death of the original. But still an acceptable one, if only because the people here he'd surrounded himself with made it such an appealing life for Sorun to live. They made it worth it. But without them, he was back to having nothing. Because of Enerjak he had nothing, all over again.

Sorun looked behind his shoulder, towards the portal that was behind his back. He lowered the sword back down, softly exhaling at the same time while looking back at Nicole.

"I don't want to lose another home," he told her. "I can't do it again. Just can't. So I'm going."

"... You'll die." Nicole had spoken so quietly Sorun had barely even heard her. Her ears were completely flattened against her head, which was bowed down far enough that her hair was concealing her features. "If you take in all that power you will die again."

Sorun turned and took a single step towards the portal. "Doesn't matter-"

"Do not say your life does not matter!"

In the next moment Nicole was right in front of Sorun, grasping his right forearm and halting his movement. It'd been so fast he wasn't even sure if she'd ran or had just teleported right in front of him. He'd wanted to respond, but then he'd seen her face. The way her ears had gone from being against her head to being flared out behind it, like she was incredibly upset. Her expression was anguished enough that her teeth and fangs were visible to Sorun, and it was clear to see how glossy her eyes were.

"Why do you talk about yourself like you don't matter!?" Nicole yelled, her voice full of hurt. "We all helped you because we care about you! You're not... you're not something that can just be discarded! Do you really think nobody would care if you died again!? Do you think I wouldn't!?"

"..." Sorun didn't know what to say to her. All he could do was look at her with a sad, bordering-on-apathetic stare. Whether it was from that silent stare or her own rant, Nicole's own expression became somewhat subdued as her eyes slowly dropped ahead. And then, before Sorun could do anything else, she'd pulled on the arm hard enough that their bodies were pressed together.

"Don't do it, Sorun. Please don't do it..." Her voice had gone as shaky as her body as she slowly wrapped her trembling arms around him. "I don't want you to die again. Please, just don't."

"I..." Sorun began, hesitating as his mind raced on making a decision on what to do. "I don't know how else we're supposed to-"

"We'll find another way," Nicole said, shaking her head. "Just don't go. I'll think of something, some way we can save everyone without you dying."

"You don't sound very convincing." That'd been Sorun's one attempt to bring some humor into the situation. All it did was make Nicole look worse and pull him closer. "Nicole. I'm going."

Her grip on him tightened. "No. Don't. I won't let you."

He hadn't taken that claim seriously. Just as Nicole being desperate and her just saying anything to get him to stay. But he'd heard that sound - like sifting sand against shards of glass - and took a quick glance around. His eyes widened a bit when he saw sections of the walls and ceiling distending and morphing into small bulges.

At seeing that, Sorun realized that Nicole was more serious than he thought. It was, oddly enough, extremely touching that she valued him enough she'd go that far to save him, enough that his heart skipped a beat. But he'd already made up his mind, and one way or another he was going through that portal to save the world. So he'd made a decision in that moment and decided to commit to it before he'd regret it.

"... My mind's made up." He lifted his left hand holding the scabbard and held it against Nicole's back. "It'll be fine," Sorun murmured out into her ear as he leaned closer. "I'm gonna go fix this and get everyone back, okay? Just don't wait up for me."

"No, no you're not, none of this is okay-"

Sorun tilted his head kissed the top of Nicole's head.

It hadn't been much. By all rights it was the most chaste kiss imaginable, though it had been enough to cause Nicole to freeze up entirely while her eyes had widened as much as her body allowed them. Sorun himself wasn't wholly sure why he'd done it. To catch her off guard was the main reason, a desired result which seemed much more effective than he thought it would be. And he would acknowledge that, somewhere in the back of his mind, seeing as he didn't even have an hour of life left now was as good a time as any to say "fuck it" and show some affection for the girl he liked. The lack of future consequences made the decision all the more appealing.

In the end, he wasn't so sure how Nicole was going to take it after this. And he didn't have time to contemplate this seeing as she'd completely frozen up as a result of the kiss, after which Sorun placed his hands closed around their respective items on her shoulders-

"Goodbye, Nicole."

- and then promptly shoved her away from him as hard as he could.

Evidently the lynx hadn't expected it, as she'd stumbled back very far away from Sorun with surprise and anguish appearing on her face. Sorun'd hadn't even thought twice and leapt right towards the portal, jumping in and spinning around only once he'd crossed the edge of the portal's threshold. He'd seen that Nicole had already regained her footing and was reaching out towards the portal. Her and the dozen or so pairs of metallic hands literally growing out from the walls, ceiling, and floor, all reaching out in the same direction she was and towards him.

"SORU-!"

Nicole's final cry for his name was cut off when Sorun swiped Yamato in front of him and cut the portal off completely. He landed through the other side on his back, eliciting a small grunt from him due to landing on the filled backpack he wore. The darkened sky painted with black clouds filled his sight, and Sorun found his limbs going limp as he chose to just lie there on the grass, staring upwards as he thought about what he'd just done.

He kissed Nicole. And oddly enough... somehow he didn't feel as happy as he thought he would. There was a warm spot in his heart he could barely feel, but it was hard to perceive past all the sadness. The fact he was slated to die soon was likely to blame. Strangely, in spite of this, he couldn't feel himself regretting what he'd just done. It was probably the only reason he felt the barest of smiles form on his lips.

At the very least he'd die with one less regret.

"Man. What a dick move. Worth it." His small smile disappearing with a groan, Sorun sat straight up. The Yamato was inserted back into its scabbard, and then used as a crutch to help Sorun up to his feet. "Alright, let's get it done."

Finally getting up to his full height, Sorun chose to turn around. A number of tropical-looking trees surrounded him at all sides, and right in front of him was the mouth to a cave. The entrance to the chamber containing the Master Emerald on Angel Island, if he hadn't screwed up in making the portal. Seeing as he recognized it from the first time he was lead here by Knuckles' father, Sorun felt he'd come to the right place. Assuming Enerjak was in there with the Master Emerald it should just be as simple as walking in and finishing it.

... Hopefully he was in there, at the very least. Sorun didn't know where else he would be if not near the Master Emerald in what Knuckles considered to be his home.

"I mean, he should be in there. There aren't many other placed he could... nah, he's in there. Gotta be," Sorun rationalized to himself as he began walking towards the entrance. "According to Finitevus this all started here, after all. Where else would a god-tyrant be if not sitting on the most powerful object in the whole world? Classic final boss dungeon."

"Hey, can we take two seconds so I can be the voice of reason here?"

With a barely-suppressed sigh of frustration, Sorun stopped just shy of the mouth of the cave entrance. He turned to his right, seeing his own mirror image, blue coat and all, leaning against the entrance with his arms crossed and eyes boring straight into Sorun's own. He looked to be frowning just as heavily as Sorun was.

"I'm not arguing this with you," Sorun said to Sorun. "We're going in there and we're killing ourselves with Enerjak, end of story."

"I just want to make sure you realize what all that entails," Sorun said back to him. "We get one redo. One. And we already used it." His blue-eyed gaze hardened. "We die again, that's it. No do-over, no reset, nothin'."

"Yeah, I was there when the concept of extra lives was explained. You don't think-?"

"You're not thinking, that's the thing." Sorun appeared right in front of Sorun, holding that same dead-serious stare. Sorun didn't so much as flinch as a response, though he did remain rooted to the spot as he listened to him. "You heard Finitevus. Our soul isn't like the souls everything else here have." He walked a short distance behind Sorun, who turned his head to continue looking at him. "Because we're so different we don't get to go to the afterlife like everyone else," Sorun said, pacing a short distance while throwing his arm to the side. "No, 'cause we don't have a Chaos Force link, remember? Our soul lacks the substance theirs does."

His eyebrows creasing, Sorun turned his head away from the pacing Sorun. "I know where this is heading. And I won't hear it."

"But you already know it." This was whispered into Sorun's ear by Sorun, who'd appeared right behind him. "That first time we ended up as a ghost was a fluke 'cause of the Chaos Emeralds. What happens when we die without 'em?"

Sorun shrugged Sorun away. "We don't know-"

"Yeah, that's the thing, ain't it!? We don't know!" Sorun shouted. "When the seven Emeralds get used up they shoot off to who the hell knows where. Seen it happen with the portal machine, and if what the stories say is true it happened to Sonic whenever he went Super. Forget we don't even know if this whole 'going Super' thing is gonna work, if it does have you put any thought into what happens afterwards?" Sorun asked Sorun. "'Cause it's a time-limited transformation. And the Emeralds fly away after they're used. Follow the logic."

Shaking his head, Sorun turned his head back to Sorun. "We don't know I'll lose the seven Chaos Emeralds once the form wears off. For all we know they'll stay in us and we'll be left with the seven normal powers," he argued. "Then we die and it's back to being a ghost."

"Sure, yeah, maybe that happens, or maybe we lose the Emeralds like Sonic does after he goes Super," Sorun said. "Look, we don't know, and because it took us literally dying to get them out the first time I'll say it's probably safe to say we'll keep them. But you need to realize what happens to us on the off chance they do go away."

The mirror image stepped closer to Sorun. Enough that their faces were centimeters apart, each wearing equally grim expressions, with their hair moving in complete sync as a gust of wind blew past them.

"If we die while not connected to any Chaos Emeralds, then that's it. You heard Finitevus when he said our soul can't survive outside a body in its normal state," Sorun said in a grave tone. "We'll be erased. Completely. No afterlife, no walking around as a ghost, not even that black void. We'll just be gone. No different from deleting a save file. We won't exist anymore in any capacity whatsoever."

The possibility was one that had been niggling in the back of Sorun's mind. Frankly speaking there were a lot of unknowns when it came to the Super form. What would happen to him, what happened once it wore off, if he could even do it. But the possibility of dying without the Emeralds, of being erased completely this time around, did cross his mind. It even caused him to hesitate somewhat as he considered the full ramifications. The idea of just not existing anymore; a complete cessation of awareness forever. Something so incomprehensible he was honestly terrified of the possibility. But, in the end, he'd still spun back around towards the cave entrance.

"What difference does it make? I don't know how it'll end, but the path to get there is still the same," Sorun stated as he began walking towards the cave. "Enerjak has to be stopped, and we're going to die in the process. I don't care at this point what happens after. It doesn't matter."

Whether he ended up back to being a ghost or just being deleted from reality, he just didn't care. All that mattered was that Enerjak died and everyone else got to live. That's all that mattered to him. He was fine with whatever happened afterwards as long as he got that result. Unknowable, bleak fate of becoming nothing be damned.

Sorun watched as Sorun walked off into the cave. He stood there silently staring at his back for a full ten seconds, and then sighed and began jogging to catch up to him. "Alright, fine, guess we're doing this," he said, catching up to Sorun and matching his pace so he walked besides him.

A humorless, bemused grin graced Sorun's lips as he glanced besides himself at Sorun. "Just like that?" he asked. "I would have figured you'd be more resistant to this."

All that Sorun offered was a shrug. "Not like we have any reason to live if this all keeps continuing," he said. "All of our reasons had their souls sucked out." He paused. "Well, almost all."

His heart heavy with grief, Sorun gave an agreeing nod. "Yeah." He blinked, and when he opened his eyes he was left walking alone in the cave. "Yeah, I guess."

A/N- Ironically Sorun probably emotionally abuses Nicole more than any other character in the whole story (I mean it's not like it's intentional, but just look at the moves this guy keeps pulling).