"DOLPH!" Seth yells, scrambling in the dirt. "Dolph, you fuckin' idiot, what would you-" He can barely move, just watch as the dark sky overhead slowly closes up, blue slowly starting to peek through once more.
"What just happened?" Miz demands from a few feet away.
Seth swallows hard, his mouth dry. Thoughts whirring. "He sacrificed himself to the Dark Ocean," he finally spits out, struggling to his feet. "He gave himself over to- to save us. To save this world."
"What?" Rhea demands, her accent thick as she too struggles to get to her feet. "Is there... is there a way to save him?"
"I don't know," Seth says. "We need to go talk to Luke, now. If anyone knows, it'd be him. Come on."
The group of them slowly stumble to the digiport and take the trip, hating every second of it, feeling like they're giving up.
Luke greets them with a solemn look on his eye. "Seth," he says quietly.
Something feels off about it. Seth examines him with a suspicious eye. "You knew," he says. "You knew what Dolph was planning."
"I had my suspicions," Luke admits quietly. "I felt the shift in the pressure. Seth, what he did- it worked. The data is no longer overwhelming the ocean. Balance is restored. I'm not sure how, or why, but... his sacrfice worked."
Seth stares at him. "So you expect me to just accept that? Not to try to find another way? To leave him to suffer in that other world?"
"It was his choice," Luke tells him quietly. "Sometimes we just have to accept these-"
"Fuck no," Seth tells him. "I will not accept this. I'm the Raw team leader, and won't... I will not let my teammates sacrifice themselves when I know we can find another way. There has to be another way, and I will find it, and I'll get that dumbass back."
Luke sighs. "I can't exactly stop you, but I honestly think there just isn't a way to do it, Seth, and I hope you won't hyperfixate on this to the detriment of yourself and of the worlds around you. A lot is riding on you, even more now that Dolph's sacrifice is returning things to normal."
Seth scoffs at him. "You say that like I don't know. Trust me, I know. And I'll figure it out." Squaring his shoulders, he turns and leaves Luke behind, growing even more determined to figure this out and manage to save Dolph while keeping the balance in the digital world where it's at.
