Recursion Error
Episode 26- It slices, it dices, it cuts through everything
Everybody had a different morning routine. Some people went to go get breakfast first thing after waking up. Others exercised, took care of their hygiene, did miscellaneous chores, or went to go get the morning newspaper. Just something relaxing to help that somebody prepare them for the rest of the day.
Sorun had been bunking in the same house as the Hedgehog family long enough that by now Sonic had been able to roughly pin down Sorun's own morning routine. That routine was for him to wake up, go back to sleep, wake up a second time, and by that point it was a fifty-fifty split of him finally getting up or going back down for a third nap. And then after finally getting up at some point he'd go to the bathroom, and then go to the kitchen, and would then carry on with the rest of his day. This was a routine Sorun rarely deviated from. If there was one thing Sonic could safely say he knew about Sorun, it's that the human liked peaceful routines.
That's why he was so confused when he'd woken up that morning to see that Sorun, who'd fallen asleep in the other bed in the room the night prior, wasn't there. The fact he'd even gotten up before Sonic had was shocking enough to the hedgehog, but when he looked outside of the window he was even more shocked. Sorun was out in the house's small backyard, swinging that katana of his around. Like he was attempting to practice with it.
After all the complaining Sorun always did about training, him practicing something on his own was the last thing Sonic ever expected. But there he was. Doing practice swings with the sword.
He didn't know how long he was watching Sorun, but he was only roused from it when he heard a knock on his room's door. "It's open!" he called, prompting the door to slowly open. He felt some amount of relief go through him when he saw that it was just Tails after the fox had poked his head into the room.
"Hey, Sonic." The door opened further as Tails stepped inside. "Do you know where Sorun is? Sally is wondering where Nicole is and he was the last one with her."
"Nicole? She's over there," Sonic said, pointing his thumb out to a nightstand near Sorun's bed where the small, handheld computer was set down. "He brought her here with him last night."
As he finished speaking, dark pixels began forming and coalescing into the vague shape of a body, until finally they condensed and recolored. Seconds later the cloud of pixels had transformed into Nicole's body, the lynx having chosen to form in a sitting position on Sorun's bed while facing Tails. "He did not want to leave me alone in Freedom HQ, so he took me back to Sonic's home," she informed him.
Tails' eyes widened in surprise. "Oh! That was nice of him."
"Yes, it was," Nicole agreed, the corners of her mouth turning upwards. "Was there something Sally needed that required my attention?"
"No, she was just wondering where you were," Tails said with a shake of his head. "Where is Sorun, anyways?"
Sonic nodded towards the room's window. "Out there. Take a look."
All three of them shuffled towards the window so they could get a better look at the human in the backyard. He was still swinging that sword around, though what he was actually trying to practice, Sonic had no clue. He personally had little to no knowledge about actual swordsmanship, nothing about stances, styles, special techniques or anything like that. He'd seen Antoine handle a sword, though, so he had a vague idea of what handling a sword was supposed to look like. And his assumption was that, since Sorun's katana was so similar to a saber, he would swing it at least somewhat similar to how Antoine swung his sword.
Sorun was in no way swinging that sword in any way Sonic had seen before.
They weren't random swings, at least. He could see that much as the human was repeating very specific-looking swings. It was the actual manner he was holding the weapon and swinging it that was throwing Sonic for a loop. He almost always held the sword's sheath in his left hand, for one thing. He didn't tie it around his waist using the blue cord already tied to the scabbard- he continually just held it with his hand. His right hand, of course, held the katana itself. He'd do various repeated one-handed swings with the sword, and oddly he'd sometimes sheath the sword only to quickly draw the blade out in a large slash.
It... wasn't very smooth. Even Sonic could see that. The swings were slow and unimpressive-looking, and a lot of the times when Sorun tried to sheath the sword he'd completely miss slotting the blade into the sheath. His movements were completely amateurish, which, considering Sonic didn't imagine Sorun ever actually tried swinging a real sword in his life on Earth, he could understand. He kept wondering where Sorun had seen the sword swings he was attempting to practice, though.
He wondered even more about that sword itself.
"So Sorun's trying to practice with the sword?" Tails wondered aloud, his twin tails slowly swishing behind him. "I don't really get why the Chaos Emerald gave him that sword. Can't he already make a bunch of swords with that first power he got? Why does he need one more?" His eyes narrowed in an inquisitive manner. "And it's not all... blue and ghostly-looking like his other two powers are. It looks like a real sword," he noted. "Why do you think it's like that?"
"I couldn't tell ya, bud," Sonic muttered in response. "I'll tell you one thing, though. That sword... something's really off with it. Thing gives me the creeps."
Both Tails and Nicole turned towards him with questioning looks. "You looked really off-put by the sword back in the HQ, too," Tails said with some concern. "It looks normal enough to me. What's so weird about it?"
"You mean other than the fact I got the willies just by being near it?" Sonic mumbled out. "... It feels wrong. Call it a side effect of me being Chaos-sensitive, I don't know, but there's something really wrong with that sword. The amount of Chaos energy it gives off, the way the energy feels... geez, I think I can feel it from here."
He knew for a fact that there were a precious few people in the world that had been exposed to even nearly as much Chaos energy as he ever had. He could only count Shadow and Knuckles off the top of his head for people that even closely compared, and past them he doubted there were many others. He'd handled Chaos Emeralds all the way from back when he was five years old, back when they'd numbered in the thousands before they'd all been combined into the seven. He'd even handled the seven themselves. Past that he'd handled Power Rings, he'd interacted and fought with people with Chaos powers of their own... he knew what Chaos energy felt like.
Chaos energy had an unmistakable feeling. Sonic had always felt it the clearest whenever he'd gone into his Super form. It felt like he was standing next to the sun in a way. Not nearly as hot, of course, though there was an intense, warm feeling that would come over him. The raw power was there, though. A deep sensation within him, an instinct informing him of the limitless energy running through him, and a tingling, static feeling constantly tickling his body. They were comforting feelings to him. The warmth. The power. The tingling.
That sword. Yamato, Sorun had called it. It didn't feel anything like that.
It was so strange, too, because Sonic often felt Sorun's other powers. The Summoned Swords and Bringer Claws. He always felt the comforting sensation of Chaos energy faintly radiate from them whenever Sorun summoned them, and knowing they came from the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic had never paid them any mind. But when he felt out the Yamato... it was completely different. The power was certainly there. Almost too much- Chaos Emeralds were conduits for channeling an infinite amount of Chaos energy, but at least all of that energy was contained in the Emeralds. Sorun's katana radiated even more energy than an Emerald, but that wasn't the problem. Sonic's own body had channeled infinite amounts of Chaos energy without a sweat; the amount of energy the sword gave off was nothing to him, even if it was massive. It was how it felt.
There was no warmth to be felt in the power constantly wafting off of that sword. Just the opposite, actually: it felt cold. Not cold as in frigid, but cold as in... deep. Something raw and instinctual. Even the static energy he felt from the blade felt more intense and sharp than it ought to have been. The sword as a whole just felt wrong to Sonic. Something that felt darker than it needed to. Something that exhumed a cold presence that promised death.
How could something that looked so ordinary feel so off?
"I don't know, Sonic," Tails voiced, stroking his chin with his hand. "I don't think I've ever seen a sword designed like that, but it really does just look like a normal sword. And I never felt anything off about it."
"I agree with Tails," Nicole said. "It is merely a construct of Chaos energy given shape by Sorun's will, as with the rest of his powers. I see no cause for alarm if Sorun himself feels at ease around it. He has, after all, shown a stunning amount of competency when it comes to the abilities granted to him by the Chaos Emeralds. There is no reason not to trust him."
"... A sword shaped from Sorun's will, huh?" Sonic echoed as he gazed towards the sword grasped in Sorun's hand. "I wonder what's going on in his head that made him make something like that..."
Because what if Nicole was right on the money and the aura that sword gave off was just a reflection of Sorun? There was so much staggering power inside of that sword, and all of it was subdued in such a deceptively simple-looking blade. The only thing Sonic could think of as a comparison was a calm dragon, coiled in a resting pose but with its eyes open and just ready to attack at a moment's notice. It did remind Sonic somewhat of Sorun now that he thought on it- like the time he'd come back from that mission with Sally and Rouge, completely calm and at ease. The way he'd snapped from being that to the enraged state he'd been in when he'd slammed Knuckles into that wall with his new power. Even all the way back on the first day Sorun had arrived here Sonic had noticed it. How Sorun had been completely furious over what had happened and then calmed down to a normal level at an almost stunning pace over the course of the day. Sonic himself understood anger just as well as anybody else, but the way Sorun could just snap from one emotion to the next and back again in the most extreme manner left him speechless.
But what about how the sword felt? That deathly, cold dread that seemed to hang around in the air just centimetres above the actual katana's blade? Was that how Sorun felt? Sonic could certainly see it, but at the same time he had a hard time comprehending it. He knew loss, of course. Everybody did. He'd lost his parents and uncle, and even though he'd gotten them back, he'd still felt that loss. There were friends of his who had died, and when he thought back to all those times, the emotions he'd felt... he was shocked to find that they were eerily similar to the cold feeling he felt off the sword, minus the frankly uncomfortable amount of power mixed in with it.
And Sorun... Sorun had lost more than Sonic had ever lost. He'd lost everything. His whole zone, and the life he'd had within it. A loss on that scale was something Sonic just couldn't comprehend, because he simply had just never lost anything on a sheer scale Sorun had. Of course the human felt terrible about it, Sonic would be more worried if he didn't, but what was that feeling even supposed to be? The same sadness and dread Sonic had felt when a friend died, multiplied hundreds of times over? What did that even feel like? Was it close to the feeling Sonic had felt from that sword? The endless, deep cold?
"Sorun, buddy..." Sonic sadly thought as he looked out the window at Sorun. "How bad does your heart have to be hurting that your subconscious made that thing you're swinging around? An awful-feeling thing like that?"
Well, Sonic couldn't give him back what he'd lost, but there was no way he was going to leave Sorun to drown in all of those negative feelings. As much as Sorun always claimed to never be friends with them, Sonic just never believed him, especially with how unconvincing he'd sounded last night. And he absolutely refused to leave a friend hurting like that.
"Do you guys think he's doing fine?" Sonic asked the other two as he turned towards them. "I know he's just now accepting he lost everything so he can move past it, but he's gotta be hurting." His green eyes glanced back out the window. "He looks fine on the outside, but I'm really worried about what's going on with him on the inside."
When he looked back to Tails and Nicole, he saw that both of their faces had turned into sad frowns. "It's really hard to tell with him, Sonic," Tails said after a long moment. "He's acting fine, but there's no way he's actually fine, right...?"
"No, Tails. I really don't think so," Sonic said with a shake of his head. "Nobody's gonna be fine after going through what Sorun's gone through. Honestly, I'm... I'm really amazed that after everything that's happened to him he came back because he actually wants to help save the world, even though we're the ones that did this to him." A sad smiled formed on his face as he ran a hand through his quills. "He's a real cool guy. I just wish we could help him more so he didn't have to go through so much."
"I think we are doing all we can for him," Nicole told them as she looked out the window towards Sorun. "Sorun had finally made the conscious effort to come forwards with at least some of his feelings. Matters of the heart are still a new concept for me, but from my understanding, extrapolating feelings onto trusted friends who will listen and be there for you is the most effective method for healing emotional injuries like the ones Sorun has sustained. He made a joke and referenced it as therapy, and I think he said this because he is aware of this fact."
Sonic eyed the lynx standing next to him in surprise. Since when had Sorun gotten so deep with anybody? "Yeah, well, it'd be way easier if he actually acknowledged us as friends so he could do that."
"He does. He acknowledges me as a friend," Nicole corrected him. "He told me so himself."
"Ah-hu- wait, wait what!?" Sonic did a double-take on Nicole, and even Tails looked to her in complete shock at the statement. Nicole herself just looked confused at the looks. "What the- he said he wasn't ready to be friends with anybody! What's different about you!?"
"I... spent a large amount of time with him," Nicole hesitantly answered. "Playing those games. They are a relaxing pastime for him and we formed a bond over time. That is why he calls me a friend."
"Are you serious...?" Sonic muttered as he ran a hand along his face. "Gah, if I woulda known that video games were the way to getting through to him I would have practiced more. Unreal..." He wasn't even that surprised. Sorun was so weird at times it just fit with him.
"But this is a good thing, right?" Tails asked, eyes lighting up as his tails began to excitedly swish in the air around him. "If he has at least one person to go to with all his feelings, then he can get better, right?"
The hand on Sonic's face dropped away as his head perked up. "Hey, yeah, you're right!" He looked back to Nicole with renewed vigor in his eyes. "He's gotta have opened up to you at least a little, right?"
Nicole looked a bit uncomfortable at the question, but she did give a nod, which made the other two brighten up even further. "He confided certain things to me, yes. And he expressed a desire to talk further at later dates." She looked back out the window. "I truly do think that talking helps him," she continued, "and I simply desire to help my friend the same way he helped me. If simply talking with him will help him recover from his tragedy, I am more than willing. You do not have to worry about him weathering this alone." A small smile made its way onto her face. "I've found myself looking forwards to talking with him regardless."
"... Really, huh?" Before anything further could be said, Nicole's form began flickering and disappearing bit by bit, causing Sonic and Tails' eyes to widen in panic. "Whoa, Nicole, are you alright!?"
"I'm just fine, Sonic. The Power Ring from last night is merely running out of energy is all," she informed the pair as her body began to disintegrate more and more. "I'm afraid we will have to leave it here for now. Tails, would you be so kind as to bring me back to Sally? And Sonic, if you could tell Sorun where I went so he doesn't worry when he sees me gone?"
"Yeah, sure thing," Tails said as he began walking towards the nightstand.
"Totally, no problem," Sonic said with a nod right as Nicole's body disappeared entirely. He watched Tails pick up the small computer, and then hopped off his own bed. "I think I'm gonna hit some breakfast and get going. You good to bring her back on your own?" he asked Tails as he began stretching his legs.
The fox nodded at him. "I'll be fine. See you later, then?"
"'Course you will." Sonic found himself glancing back at the window. He frowned slightly, though it turned into a hopeful grin when he eyed the computer held in Tails' hand.
"Ow! Dammit..."
"Chao!"
"Geh! S-sorry, Virgil. It slipped out." Sorun sent the Chao sitting on a nearby rock an apologetic look, and then shook his left hand to sooth the burning sensation left when he'd accidentally cut the hand with the Yamato. "This is way harder than it looked..."
As great as it was being able to summon the Yamato at will, the fact of the matter was that Sorun just didn't know how to properly utilize a sword. He'd never even picked up a real sword, and he wasn't sure the Summoned Swords counted. The closest thing he could think of was when he had a plastic katana as part of a Halloween costume years and years ago. He didn't have any formal training. He didn't even have any experience to lean off of.
What he did have was an intimate knowledge of Vergil's moveset. He had to of after playing as him so much on the highest of difficulties. Succeeding at the highest difficulties 'Devil May Cry' offered meant analyzing and memorizing every single, intricate movement the character models made, as a fair number of moves required frame-perfect timing on the player's part.
So when it came time to play as Vergil, like Sorun did with any game and the characters, he studied him. Every single movement, every single attack and combo, and every single little detail was memorized by the pale human. It was completely necessary just to live through those difficulties, but Vergil for Sorun was different since he liked him so much. So those memories of studying his moves and attacks stayed with him. Practically imprinted on him. So, he'd figured, if he had the sword, then why not copy the moves, too? It wasn't like he had anything better to emulate.
But there were problems with this method that became readily apparent when Sorun tried it. He knew how to make the movements themselves. He knew from examining Vergil's animations how to hold the sword, where his feet should be when initiating the moves, and how to actually swing it. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that Vergil wasn't fully human, and a video game character to boot, so a lot of his attacks and movements got away with the sheer power and speed of his sword moves because of that.
Sorun was human.
He didn't have the superior strength and agility needed perform powerful attacks barely perceptible to the naked eye. He didn't have the inhuman reflexes and precision needed to sheath and unsheath the sword dozens of times in the blink of an eye- he'd gotten his hand cut for just trying. He didn't have the supernatural hand-eye coordination needed to swing the sword fluidly and gracefully like Vergil could.
He knew the moves perfectly. His body just couldn't perform them.
"This isn't working," Sorun decided with a tired huff. He sheathed Yamato and walked over to the rock his Chao was sitting on, groaning softly as he sat down besides him. "I got no clue what I'm doing," he admitted, more to himself than to the Chao. "I gotta learn how to use this thing, but trying to copy a guy who can casually block bullets out of the air ain't gonna cut it. Strength isn't a problem, not with its ability. The problem is speed. This thing's useless if I can't actually connect with the attacks." He hummed in thought as he rolled the sword in his hands. "I need... some legitimate technique here to maximize my swing speed and accuracy. From there it's just a matter or practical experience fighting Badniks. But if I don't have a good base to launch off of, a foundation, I'm not gonna get anywhere..."
"Chao-chao?"
Sorun tore his gaze from the sword to Virgil. "What?"
"Chao."
The teen tilted his head, trying to parse together the swinging motion the Chao was making with his arms. "You're... swinging a sword...?"
Virgil paused, and then shook his head in impatience. He swung again, and then did a little hop to reverse his position while making the swinging motion again.
"Copying... oh, learn from somebody who does have experience?" he guessed. Virgil dropped his hands and then nodded at Sorun with a smile on his face. "That makes sense, I guess. But who? Who in the Freedom Fighters do I know that uses a sword?"
Sorun dipped his head downwards, eyebrows furrowed as he went deep into thought. This continued on for a solid thirty seconds until, finally, he shot straight upwards so fast that he startled the Chao next to him. "I got it!" he cried out. "Espio!"
"... Chao...?" Virgil questioned, head tilted to the side in confusion.
"Well, I mean, I've never seen him use a sword, but the guy's a ninja! He's gotta at least know how to use one, right? Ninjas are Japanese, katanas are Japanese, it-it fits!" It was flawless enough logic to him. At the very least it was sound enough that he felt it had a good chance at working. And it wouldn't hurt to ask, even if by some slim margin he was wrong. Which he didn't think he was. "Alright," Sorun muttered, Yamato disappearing from his hands as he began scratching the side of his head. "So where would Espio be hanging around at this time of day...? Freedom HQ?" He shrugged. "Eh, better lead than anywhere else."
When he'd gone all the way to Freedom HQ in his search for the chameleon, by some stroke of luck, he'd found him. Specifically, on the couch and right next to Vector. The two were talking about something, though what it was Sorun didn't have a clue. Nor did he care, as he was here with a purpose.
"Never thought it'd get to this point. Hope he can actually help me out," Sorun thought to himself as he approached the back side of the couch. "How do I even start this? Eh, I'll just go for it. That's what I'm supposed to do when I wanna talk with someone, right?"
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Sorun stopped behind the couch, grabbed onto the top of it, and then hopped over so that he sat between the two Mobians.
"Espio, my man." The two seemed incredibly startled by Sorun's sudden intrusion into their conversation, though they soon calmed down when they saw that it was just Sorun. "My dude. My homie. My-"
"What do you want, Sorun?" Espio interrupted, eye ridges quirked upwards in confusion at the human's manner of speech.
"Right into it, huh?" Sorun muttered, voice slightly dejected. He shook it off quickly and held his empty left hand out. "So look. The last Chaos Emerald I got gave me a sword, and I don't have any idea how I'm supposed to use it." He gripped his left hand, and in a flash of blue particles the Yamato materialized in his grip. "I figured, y'know, it's a katana and you're a ninja, so you'd probably know how to use one of these."
The reactions of the two Mobians besides him wildly varied. Vector, for whatever reason, started blinking in worry at the sight of the sword. Espio started to narrow his eyes almost in contempt at it. Both reactions caused Sorun great confusion, causing him to look back and forth between the two.
"Oh, you've done it now," Vector mumbled, bringing his hand to his face as a low groan left him. "You don't know what you just did."
"... Huh?" Sorun gave the crocodile a questioning look as he blinked his eyes. "I-I don't- what do you mean?"
"A katana?"
Sorun didn't know if he'd ever heard a word spoken with so much venom dripping off of it. And it had come from Espio of all people, who as far as Sorun knew was one of the more chill Mobians around. It was why he was so surprised, and even further surprised when he looked towards Espio to see him actually glaring at the sword in anger.
"... Yeah...?" Sorun hesitantly answered, unconsciously holding the sword closer to his chest. "Did I do something wrong?" he asked as he turned back to Vector.
Vector shook his head while lowered his hand from his face. "No, it's just- he's got this thing with katanas, I don't know what it is," he answered.
"It's not a thing," Espio denied, going as far as to step up off the couch while turning to Sorun. "It's a principle. Katanas are the weapon of the samurai. A group of honor-bound fool warriors who care more about titles than actually succeeding." The chameleon glanced his yellow eyes down at Yamato, and he actually looked offended by the sight. "I'm a ninja, not a samurai. I absolutely refuse to use their weapons."
The pale teen blinked once, looked down at the sword, and then blinked again when he looked back up at Espio. "I'm... I'm pretty sure ninjas use katanas too, dude." He wasn't an expert on the subject, but in all the games and movies he'd ever interacted with ninjas had katanas. Carrying around a slim melee weapon like a katana seemed practical enough for ninja use. These were all assumptions, sure, but he figured they were reasonable ones. Now he didn't know how to feel seeing Espio react to the sword with so much hostility.
"Well, I don't." Espio huffed, crossed his arms, and turned his head away from the object whose mere presence was evidently an offense to him. "Why on Mobius did your new power have to be a katana, Sorun?"
"... 'Cause this katana's special and cool?" Sorun tried in a small voice.
"Well, you're wrong. There's absolutely nothing 'cool' about that weapon."
And now Sorun was beginning to grow offended. "Hey. Espio. Don't diss Yamato."
Even Vector seemed mildly disturbed by Espio's attitude towards the sword. "Yeah, man, chill out. It's just a sword. And you know Sorun can't control what powers those things give him."
Espio glanced back at the two, though only for a moment, and then allowed his shoulders to relax as a sigh left him. "I apologize, Sorun. I didn't mean to belittle you or your weapon. I just... do not have a very good relationship with katanas is all," he explained as he fully turned back to the human, who began to visibly calm. "I'm honored that you would come to me for help for sword lessons, but I'm afraid I can be of no help in this regard."
Sorun's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You don't even know how to use one, do you?"
"... My training was more oriented towards stealth tactics and throwing weapons," Espio quietly admitted as he turned his head away slightly.
"Ugh, I get it. Thanks anyways," Sorun mumbled as he leaned further into the couch. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do, guys. I gotta learn how to properly use this thing somehow, and it's not like Yamato came with an instruction booklet with it. Woulda been amazing if it did."
"I think you're on the right track seeking others for advice," Espio told him while flipping one of his palms up at the ceiling. "Why not try asking somebody else for help?"
"That's probably what I'm gonna have to do," Sorun admitted. "But who, though?"
Silence soon settled over the group of three for different reasons. Sorun had stopped talking as he took on a thinking pose, his face deep in concentration as he thought on his answer. Vector and Espio looked to each other in confusion, and then slowly turned back to Sorun.
"Er... you don't know anybody else in the Freedom Fighters who uses a melee weapon like yours?" Vector asked. "Anybody at all?"
"I'm pretty sure Amy's more into hammers than swords."
Espio actually twitched in irritation at the response, as if he was upset Sorun was missing such an obvious answer. "I think perhaps that Vector is referring to somebody who uses a weapon similar to yours," he slowly supplied. "Somebody who has been trained in and has a large amount of experience, specifically, using a sword." Espio's eyes practically began to shake at the clueless look on Sorun's face, and he clapped his hands together while pointing the fingers at the human teen. "A swordsman, so to speak. In the Freedom Fighters."
"... You think Sally knows how to use a sword?"
Both Espio and Vector gasped out in exasperation, the former slapping a hand right under his horn. "Sorun, you know who I'm talking about."
"Yeah, but I don't really wanna consider him as an option."
"Well, beggars can't be choosers," Espio mumbled out. "Go bother Antoine with this."
"Oh, come on. The Frenchie?" Sorun threw his head back to the ceiling with a loud groan. "Dude, I don't wanna go to him for this."
"Why not?" Espio asked. "I thought that you two had become rather close after that mission with the train."
"I mean... yeah..." He'd never say it aloud, but him and Bunnie were among some of the first people that came to mind when he thought about who in the Freedom Fighters were his friends. Nicole was still dead-first. What could he say? Their accents grew on him and he genuinely enjoyed their company. "It's not that I don't like him or anything, it's just... it's kind of embarrassing asking him of all people for help, you know?"
Espio didn't look convinced with Sorun's answer at all. "I realize his personality can be a bit strange, but despite appearances he's an accomplished Freedom Fighter and an incredibly competent swordsman. He has the experience you're seeking. There should be no issue."
"Yeah, but I was hoping for advice on using Iaido style or something similar, but he uses that saber, so I don't even know if he-"
"Iaido, Sorun, really?" The chameleon shook his head with disgust. "It's such a uselessly flashy style with no practical-"
"Espio, I do not need your weird anti-weeb position on katanas right now. I need solutions," Sorun interrupted with an exasperated breath.
An embarrassed cough came from the chameleon as he rubbed at the back of his head. "Right. Of course," he said with a small nod. "Well, regardless of how you feel, I doubt there is anybody else you can turn to that would be of more help to you in this matter than Antoine."
A deep sigh escaped Sorun. "Yeah, you're right." He wasn't the teen's first choice- not by a long shot- but he was strapped for alternatives. And on the bright side if there was anybody, literally anybody in all of Knothole Sorun was comfortable talking with that knew a lot about swords, it was Antoine. How that conversation would go, though, Sorun hadn't a clue. But he knew it was going to be really uncomfortable for him.
Well, as usual, he didn't have that much of a choice it seemed. Because there was no way he was going to get caught with his pants down fighting robots without knowing how to swing the sword. He wasn't gonna risk dying or, even worse, someone getting hurt over something stupid like that. So he'd swallow his pride and go to the coyote for help. Even if he really didn't want to. Really, really didn't want to.
"Alright. I'll go to him later," Sorun said as he stood up off the couch. "I better get something out of this, though, because if I actually go through with this all for nothing I swear..."
"I'm sure it will turn out alright, Sorun," Espio assured him. "Just trust in his ability and try to pay attention."
"Yeah, that guy knows his stuff when it comes to swords," Vector added. "You don't gotta worry about a thing."
"Mm." Sorun nodded at both of them. "Thanks, guys. I gotta go. Seeya around." He gave them each parting waves, which they reciprocated with waves of their own, and stepped around the couch in a move to leave. He only made it a few steps when he noticed a red form approaching from one of the doors leading into one of the HQ's rooms. "Oh, hey, Knuckles," Sorun greeted with another wave.
Knuckles waved back at him. "Hey, Sorun! I heard you came back. You doing alright?"
"Yeah, fine. Thanks." Sorun began walking again and passed the echidna. "Great talkin' with ya."
The human teen had walked so briskly past Knuckles that he'd missed the echidna freeze completely in his steps. It was when Sorun passed him, the Yamato still clutched in his left hand. The sword had been close enough to Knuckles that it had almost touched him as Sorun walked past. And in those few moments he was close to the sword, Knuckles found himself freezing completely and his fur standing up on end from what he felt from that sword.
He watched as the human walked up the steps leading out of the HQ, and then, while taking a steadying breath, turned towards Espio and Vector. "Hey, guys, what... what was that sword Sorun was carrying back there?" he asked.
Vector shrugged. "He said it was his new power or somethin'. Why?"
"... No reason," Knuckles said as he glanced back at the stairs. "Thing just... kinda felt weird is all."
Epsio made a hum of agreement. "I'm not too surprised considering it was a katana."
"You really gotta get over this thing with katanas, Espio..." Vector muttered into his hand.
So as it went, Sorun needed a lot of time to mentally prepare himself and steel his nerves for what was was probably the biggest ask he would ever ask in his life. Not due to the gravity of said ask, because it really was something he doubted Antoine wouldn't agree to. If anything, he would probably be thrilled. He did go as far as to offer to help teach him about swords one time. Sorun wasn't worried about a refusal. No, Sorun just didn't know if he could emotionally handle such a thing. He would, of course, since necessity demanded it, but boy was he not looking forward to this.
Because of his hesitancy, the teen had been rather slow in preparing himself. In other words, he'd been stalling. A lot. Spent most of the day just relaxing and not doing much of anything productive after the morning's failed training session, actually. And all this stalling had taken him into the night just after sundown, and by then he practically needed to force himself to approach Antoine because, if he didn't do it now, he doubted he'd ever find the resolve needed to do it again. So after eating a quick meal and leaving Virgil with Sonic and his parents, he set out in search of the Mobian swordsman.
After asking around a little bit, he'd found the house-slash-hut that Antoine and Bunnie shared. It looked almost the same as the rest of the homes everybody lived in, but there was at least a mail slot on the front door with the last name of the owner printed on it. Sorun almost burst out in laughter when he saw the name etched on the slot.
"His last name is seriously D'Coolette? Pfft." This time Sorun did laugh, and then did his best to stifle it into his closed fist. "Tch-ha-ha... ahh, who am I kidding? It's better than my last name."
Calming down, Sorun approached the front door to the home, rose his hand up, and reached forwards to knock on the door. He stopped with his fist inches away from the door's surface, and then quickly pulled his hand back as second thoughts began to hit him.
"I seriously wanna do this? Yeah, there's no doubt Antoine can help me with this, but... ah, man, I'll never be able to live this down with myself accepting help from this goober." He grimaced, took in a deep breath, and put his balled fist back up towards the door. "Suck it up, Sorun, you need this. You don't even have any dignity left anyways, so what do you have to lose?"
Sucking in mouthful of air through his teeth, Sorun closed his eyes and, very steadily and evenly, knocked loudly on the door. He exhaled the breath he was holding knowing he was now at the point of no return, and tried to make his expression even as possible as he leaned on the door frame in front of the door.
"What do I even say to him?" Sorun silently wondered, breathing becoming a bit more rapid when he heard footsteps approach from the other side of the door. "Shit, I shoulda rehearsed this or something before coming here. Too late now." His nerves skyrocketed when the door's handle began turning. "Alright, man, calm down. What's the worse that can happen? We're good. We're fine. I'm just coming to ask a completely reasonable request."
The door opened, causing Sorun's body to freeze completely. The absolute first thing Sorun noticed was a lot of yellow and a bit of pink in his vision, and when he focused closer he saw it was just Bunnie. She looked just about as frozen as Sorun was, though it was less because of nervousness and more because of shock based on how her green eyes had gone so wide. They spent a good five seconds just staring at each others' faces before Sorun finally chose to speak up.
"... Hi," he shyly greeted. "Antoine in? I need to talk to him."
"Er... yeah..." She hesitantly answered, nodding her head just a small amount. "Did-did somethin' happen?"
Sorun shook his head just slightly. "No, no I just... need something from him. Specifically from him. I figured this was his house, so he'd... he'd probably be here." He nervously coughed to the side. "Could you please go get him for me?"
Bunnie slowly nodded. "Sho' thing. Wait here."
She darted off back into the house. Sorun stared off after her, and then quietly sighed as he waited for her return while his eyes traveled downwards. A few seconds later he heard a pair of footsteps approach, and then stop at the door's opening. He sighed again, and then looked up. Antoine was standing there, looking just about as bewildered as Bunnie was, who was closely standing behind him.
"Hey, Antoine," Sorun greeted in a stiff voice. "I need a favor."
"A... favor?" Antoine repeated in an unsure voice. "Can I be asking what eet iz?"
"Yeah, I, uh... I need... so there's this... umm..." Sorun clicked his teeth, and then clutched his left hand. The Yamato materialized in his grip, causing the two Mobians to flinch back in surprise. "So I have this magic sword," he began. "The problem... is that I don't know how to use a sword. You know how to use a sword." He slowly inhaled and looked into Antoine's eyes. "Can you please teach me how to use a sword?"
There, he'd said it. The relief he felt at finally having gotten it out was overshadowed by the anxiety of the coming reaction, however, and Sorun watched the coyote's features intently with bated breath for a reaction. There wasn't much of one on the Mobian's face at first. Just surprise at Sorun's request. Slowly, though, it started to morph into something else. His eyes began to grow wider, and to the detriment of Sorun's anxiety a large smile was rapidly etching itself onto his face. It was just as Sorun feared: he looked completely ecstatic at the request.
"I'm starting to regret every choice I've ever made."
"Oh! Why did you not say zo earlier!?" He was beyond ecstatic, actually. Antoine was practically jumping up and down on his feet at the mere prospect of teaching Sorun about swords, and it took all the human had in him to not turn around and walk away right there. "Of course I will help you with ze swordsmanship, mon ami!" He turned around and began speed walking into the house, though he still kept talking as if he expected Sorun to follow him. He didn't. "We cannot be having you go off to battle swinging zat thing around willy-nilly, non? I am already seeing now what what we can do in..."
The coyote's volume trailed off as he went deeper into the house. Both Sorun and Bunnie stared off after him, looks of mild amusement of both of their faces. They turned back to each other just as a cold gust of wind blew past the doorway into the house. Bunnie shivered a bit, pulling the short brown jacket over her pink top closer. "Ya mind comin' in and closin' the door, Sorun? It's a might bit cold outside."
"Is it? I didn't notice," Sorun said with a shrug as he entered through the doorway while closing the door behind him. "I saw the name on the mail slot. How's it feel swapping your last name out with Antoine's since you're both together?"
A small blush came to Bunnie's cheeks. "Ah, well, technically speakin' we're still jus' engaged. 'Til the actual marriage ah'm just Bunnie Rabbot."
"Oh, okay." A beat passed, after which Sorun did a double-take. "Wait, your last name's Rabbot?"
"Yup."
Sorun blinked, and then stared down at Bunnie's artificial arm and legs. "... That is a very unfortunate and coincidental last name for you to have."
"... Yup."
An awkward silence passed between the pair. "So, Bunnie. About a couple days ago-"
"Naw, I don't want to hear it. Don't even worry 'bout it," Bunnie said as she held up her palms to stop him. "Ya've been through 'nuff without me lecturin' ya."
Sorun looked back at her in surprise, and then gave her a thankful smile as he rubbed the back of his head. He'd never be able to express how grateful he was for these people being so understanding so he didn't have to have all these awkward, apology-ridden conversations. "Thanks, Bunnie," he mumbled out.
"Don't mention it. Ya farin' well?"
"Eh, surviving. For now, at least," he quietly muttered. "But boy, Antoine looked really happy, huh? I didn't think me asking for sword lessons would make him so excited."
"Aw, well, to tell ya the truth, Sorun, mah darlin' Antoine ain't the most... confident of people sometimes," Bunnie told him. "Ah think it's 'cause he's always been fightin' around people like Sonic with powers and whatnot or people like Tails n' Rotor with their brains almost his whole life. Ah mean, shoot, even ah got mah cybernetics, an' all he's got is his sword. Don't get me wrong, he's amazin' in his own right, but he needs a li'l reminder every now and then." She gestured to Sorun with her robotic limb. "Ya get what ah mean, right? No offense or nothin', but back when ya first came here you were, well..."
"Total dead weight?" Sorun finished for her with a flat face.
Bunnie winced. "Ah wasn't sayin'... ya just weren't all that much compared t' how ya are now, know what ah mean?"
"Yeah, I'm know. Just havin' a bit of fun," Sorun said with a grin, causing Bunnie to roll her eyes. "But you're not wrong. I was pretty useless back then." He let out a disbelieving chuckle as he held Yamato up. "Then the powers happened, and I think it's safe to say at this point I got a marginal amount of experience to work with. I can barely believe it myself sometimes."
"So yer new power's really another sword? Can I see it?" Bunnie asked. Sorun shrugged, and tossed the sword her way. She caught it with her robotic limb, looked down at it, and then made a "huh" sound as an unimpressed expression made its way onto her face. "'Fraid to say it don't look like much to me, Sugah," she admitted as she tossed the sword back to Sorun.
"Yeah, I'm getting that reaction a lot," he muttered as he caught the sword. "Antoine not being very confident, though?" He looked down the hall where the coyote had disappeared to. "I don't really see it," Sorun said. "Sure, the guy's kinda wimpy, but all of that disappears when it matters. Practically didn't even recognize him during that fight with robot Sonic."
"Mm, kinda like someone else I know," Bunnie said while giving Sorun a knowing look. His response to the look was to give her a confused glance, causing her to shake her head and look up at the ceiling. "Anyways, don't tell Antoine ah told ya this, but ah think he's a bit jealous ya got so strong so quick. Not to say he don't like ya," she assured Sorun as she looked back down at him, "he really likes ya a lot since ya both got so much in common-"
"I have absolutely nothing in common with him," Sorun interrupted with a shake of his head.
Bunnie chuckled again, much to Sorun's confusion once more. "It just makes him happy, you askin' fer his help with the sword trainin'. Makes him feel useful, so thanks fer that," she said with a grateful smile. "Just, er, try tah be a bit patient with him, alright? My darlin' 'Twain can be a bit... eccentric when it comes to the sword stuff."
The hairs on the back of Sorun's neck stood up straight when he heard Bunnie utter that word. "Me and the word 'eccentric' don't really have a good track history, Bunnie," he muttered in a low voice. "How 'eccentric' are we talking here?"
She waved her hands in a dismissal manner. "Oh, nothin' ya can't manage, Sugah. If ya can survive a bout with a buncha Badniks then ya can survive an afternoon trainin' with Antoine. Ya got through a whole day trainin' with all of us, didn't ya?"
"Pfft. Barely," Sorun begrudgingly agreed. "But I'll put up with him. Just 'cause you asked nicely."
"That's all ah'm askin'."
The sound of footsteps began to approach them, causing them to turn their heads towards the source. Antoine had gone back to the pair, approaching with his sheathed saber clutched in one hand. His eyes were practically shining with excitement when he stopped in front of Sorun.
Sorun glanced down at the sword, and then back up at Antoine. "Uh-"
"Zo, what should we be starting with first?" he asked, still happily grinning. "I am thinking on seeing how your footwork is being before we-"
"Whoa, dude, slow down," Sorun told him as he backed up a step. "It's, like, eight at night right now. I kinda wanted to do this tomorrow."
"... Oh, right." Shyly, Antoine moved the saber behind his back as he rubbed the back of his neck while avoiding Sorun's gaze. "Of course, how silly of moi. For sure we will be doing zis tomorrow. Ze afternoon will be a better time for us, non?"
"Noon?" Sorun thought the time over in his head for a bit, and then gave the coyote a nod. "Yeah, that works. Sure. Noon."
The wide grin returned to Antoine's face. "Fantastique! It's decided, zen!" He made a move to turn around, but then stopped and refocused on Sorun. "Oh, and Sorun, me and Bunnie were just getting finished weeth dinner. Zere was zome leftovers if you were wanting to-"
"Nah, thanks, but I already ate," Sorun declined, giving Antoine a polite yet forced smile as he backed up towards the door.
"It's carrot cake," Antoine said, and from the side Bunnie started giving Antoine a pointed glare. This did not go unnoticed by Antoine, whose smile began to grow nervous as he sent Sorun a pleading look. "We 'ave more zan enough for ze two of us. I insist."
The glare Bunnie was sending him intensified. "Ya seem awful eager to be gettin' rid of all that carrot cake I very painstakingly made fer dessert, darlin'."
Antoine's irises shrunk down a slight a mount. "N-non, non, I am not ze one to be belittling your culinary skills, mon amour. I am quite happy you have been taking after me in ze cooking arts even if you are very... limited in dishes outside of those including carrots." He was practically sweating at this point from Bunnie's intense stare, causing the pleading look he was giving Sorun to turn frantic. "I am only wishing to offer a sharing of your work weeth our very good friend Sorun." His teeth began chattering when he saw the teen grip the front door's handle. "Will you be taking zome home, Sorun?"
The pale human looked at Antoine, glanced at Bunnie and her intensely narrowed eyes, and shook his head. "Maybe some other time," he said as he opened the door.
"A-are you sure?"
"Super sure." As quick as he could, Sorun slipped out of the front door while closing it behind him. Not even five seconds later he heard loud arguing going on inside of the home he'd just exited. A majority of it, he realized with a grimace, had a Southern accent to it. "Poor bastard," he thought as he peeled himself off of the door. "Well, that went well. Noon tomorrow, huh? Yeah, I can work with that."
That was the hard part done. Now all he had to do was actually show up and commit to the training, and he didn't see that being harder than mustering up the courage to walk up and ask for the help to begin with. "Eccentric", a word that still haunted Sorun's dreams, aside, Antoine was one of the nicest people he knew. He was sure it was going to go great.
The next day
"I'm gonna smother this fucking coyote in his sleep."
One new fact Sorun learned about Antoine: he was apparently the most overbearing teacher in existence. It was such a shock to him, too; the Mobians personality took a complete turnaround as soon as the sword lessons started in the backyard of Antoine's home.
Of the hour Sorun had been learning from Antoine, he'd enjoyed only around the first five minutes. The other fifty-five were insufferable. He was one more minute away from jamming Yamato down Antoine's throat.
"Non, non, non!" Antoine cried out, reaching forwards to adjust Sorun's stance. A stance the human was fairly confident was not a stance associated with katanas. "Your arm is out too far, and-"
"Antoine, for the last time, this is not how you hold a katana...!" Sorun hissed through grit teeth. The pose he was holding currently had his feet out wide, his left arm splayed out to the side- Antoine wouldn't let him hold the sheath, either, which Sorun took great objection to- and had his right arm, holding Yamato, pointed outwards with his arm outstretched.
He looked ridiculous. Worse, this wasn't how one held a katana. A saber, maybe, but not a katana. The issue was that, while Antoine was practically an expert with the saber, he knew shit-all about katanas. Didn't stop him from trying to treat Yamato like a saber, though.
"Sorun, I am telling you, just because your sword is not exactedly shaped like le sabre-"
"No, Antoine, listen to me." Sorun dropped the stance and turned towards the coyote, breathing outwards to try and steady himself. "They are two completely different-" He paused. "Say 'saber' again."
"Sabre."
Sorun cocked and eyebrow and tilted his head to the side. "Y-you're putting this weird inflection in at the end-" He shook his head. "Look, a katana isn't the same as a saber, alright?" He held the Yamato up for Antoine to see. "This style you're trying to teach me? This fencing style? It's not gonna work for it."
It was some kind of fencing style Antoine was trying to impart on him, he could see that much. A lot of one-handed swishing and parrying. Light, short swings that just didn't feel good to perform with the Yamato due to its design. Antoine had even gone as far as to have Sorun try to attempt to copy his own movements with his saber.
He understood perfectly and was grateful for Antoine trying to help. But this wasn't the help he needed. And Sorun was beginning to have trouble containing his impatience with the coyote.
"I am failing to understand what eez so difficult about zis, Sorun," Antoine told him as he sheathed his own saber. "If a kanana-"
"Katana," Sorun corrected.
"Ka-ta-na, oui. I am sorry, Sorun, but I 'ave nevair even seen zis type of sword before in my life," Antoine said. "What style iz it suppos-ed to be if not one similar to mine?"
"It's... lemme try showin' ya." Sorun sheathed the Yamato and bent down a bit. "I got a rough idea of what this is supposed to look like, but just that: what it looks like. Performing it is evidently a way different thing." He wrapped his right fingers over the sword's handle. "Truth is there's a lot of styles that go with katanas, but the one I know that I'm trying to emulate involves basically quickly drawing the sword from the sheath, making big, quick slashes, and then putting it back in the sheath."
Realistically he couldn't pull the moves he wanted to pull off, Vergil's moves, with any real effect, but he could do them extremely slowly as a demonstration. He slowly drew the blade and, even more slowly, slashed it outwards in front of him in a wide arc. He slowly swung more and more, just briefly making the sheath disappear with some swings so he could grip the handle with two hands for more powerful, demonstrated swings, only to have the sheath reappear so he could slip the sword back inside of it.
These swings were the ones that felt right to Sorun. Like they fit naturally with the sword, even if he couldn't perform them on a level that was actually usable for combat. None of that fencing that Antoine had tried to impart on him. That style, Antoine's style, focused on dueling an enemy fairly. On a endless series of blocks and parries and quick footwork. Taking time to examine and study the opponent for possible openings. Something that respected the opponent to give them a fair fight.
The style Sorun was trying and failing to emulate, the style Vergil had used, Dark Slayer style, was the exact opposite. It wasn't about respecting the opponent. It was tailored towards cutting the opponent down with overwhelming power, speed, and precision. It was designed around ruthless efficiency as to defeat the enemy as quickly as possible.
But, Sorun didn't blame Antoine in trying to teach Sorun his own style. He could understand the coyote not knowing much outside his preferred weapon, but beyond that, there was something... inherently Mobian about how honest and respectful that style he used was. And Sorun himself could respect that, but he wasn't in the game for honesty and fairness. He was in it to win.
It was a rather... un-Mobian-like method, he would admit. More human-like. Sorun couldn't care less, and if anything he preferred the human way if it meant getting him closer to killing Eggman before he died from the Emeralds.
After sheathing the sword, Sorun turned back towards Antoine. The other male had been giving Sorun's sword swings a critical look the entire time, scrutinizing the movements with focused eyes. At the end he had sighed helplessly while shrugging his shoulders. "I am admitting zat I am, how you say... unfamiliar with zis style you are trying," Antoine told him. "If I am being truthful weeth you, Sorun, I myself learn-ed very little on swordsmanship in a formal manner. When I was but a young tyke my fathair had taught me az much az he could, but weeth me being separated from him because of Robotneek and joining ze Freedom Fighters, my skills left... very much to be desired."
"I mean, you were still a kid, right?" Sorun asked as he slung Yamato over his neck. "You couldn't have had much by then besides the basics."
"Oui. Ze basics were about all I had. Over time I had merely... refined what little my fathair had taught me through fighting Robotneek's Badniks over ze years and years of fighting." Antoine gave Sorun an apologetic look. "I am sorry if I am not ze good teacher, Sorun. I 'ave nevair done zis type of thing before, zo I had tried doing what my fathair had done for me. But you are right. Your kitty-na-" Sorun's hands shook at his pronunciation in barely-subdued rage, "- eez not a sabre. And eet iz very clear ze style you are demonstrating to me eez not one I can help you with."
Sorun eyed Antoine for a few seconds, and then let out an understanding sigh. "Yeah, I know," he agreed with a small nod. "I'm not blaming you for trying. I... seriously appreciate you taking the time to help me out with this," he said, causing Antoine's features to brighten up a bit, "but there's a very specific style I want to use with Yamato, and your techniques just don't mesh with it. You have any recommendations on what I should do?"
Antoine hummed in contemplation. "You zeem to already know zis style of yours at least somewhat. Be believing it or not, but back zen, I was in ze same place you are in," he said. "I would say you will have to do ze same thing I did. Do not worry about styles or stances- just get to knowing ze basics. After zat? Practice on your own a little. Fight zome Badniks az best you can and slowly grow your style from zat. And if nothing else, well..." he chuckled a bit, "Badniks often do not use a sword. Zometimes just swinging ze sword to cut ze robot in half eez good enough."
He got him there, and he wasn't going to argue with the "keep it simple, keep it stupid" philosophy he so enjoyed. Styles on their own didn't really mean all that much when "just cut it" was also a viable option. That was, in essence, a glorified summation of the Dark Slayer style Sorun was trying to copy: just cut it- the style.
Antoine had a point, though. Sorun couldn't learn Dark Slayer from anybody, as, technically speaking, he himself was the premier expert on the style on all of Mobius. And even if he couldn't physically perform the moves due to them being physically impossible for his body to perform them, he still knew them. He could make his own bastardized variation using normal, human strength and speed. And it wasn't like he didn't know how to grab and swing a sword period. And considering Yamato's abilities, it didn't really matter how on-point his sword skills were as long as he actually connected with the blade. That was the essence of Dark Slayer: overwhelming offense using Yamato and its abilities. He just needed to hit and he was good from there.
Well, Sorun could roughly do that much at least. It was just like Antoine said: he needed practice. Real-world experience fighting Badniks so he could grow his own style derived from Dark Slayer. Or at the very least just get good at swinging the thing in a decent fashion. Again, it didn't matter how bad it looked as long as Sorun was efficient with the thing and struck true with the sword against anything he was fighting. But he still needed help with the very crucial thing needed to make the dream come true. He needed help with the basics.
Good thing Antoine knew that much.
"Alright, well, can you at least help me learn the standard, universal stuff so I can go on from there on my own?" he asked Antoine. "You know a lot about that stuff and I really need it. Help me out?"
At the request, Antoine's face broke out in a large smile. "I would be more than proud to help you with zat much, mon ami."
From there, the lessons proceeded much more smoothly and tolerable, and unlike previously, Sorun found himself listening intently on Antoine's advice to the point that he somewhat enjoyed the experience. As expected, it was about as basic as basic could be. Instruction on how Sorun should properly plant his feet on the ground and evenly disperse his weight, keeping low with his legs slightly bent, being aware of his center of gravity, that sort of thing. Things that, over time, Sorun probably could have inferred on his own, but he was happy Antoine was teaching him it now so he could get a head start with the more advanced stuff on his own later on. The sooner he got that out of the way so he could jump onto developing his style so he could grow competent with using Yamato, the better.
Eventually, when Antoine deemed Sorun had a solid enough grasp on the basics, he offered to go as far as to have a sword fight with the human. Nothing too serious, just a little sparring match, but Sorun had readily accepted anyways if only to get in as much practice with the katana as possible before facing life-or-death circumstances with it.
What had he learned? A couple things. One was that, quite understandably, Sorun wasn't too good. Seeing as he was a beginner it made sense, but it really shined when he fought with Antoine. The other thing he learned, though, was that Antoine was scary good with his saber.
Five times. That was the number of times Sorun had been tossed onto the ground, only for the point of Antoine's sword to be pointed at his throat before he could get up, which would end that round in Antoine's favor. Five out of five times Antoine had won, with the longest match probably going on for, Sorun guessed, around twenty seconds. Between both Antoine's freakish Mobian strength and his overwhelming skill with the sword that eclipsed Sorun's own, the human frankly never stood a chance. He wasn't too upset over it; he was growing, after all. Painfully slowly, but the growth was there. He could feel it. The way Yamato's handle felt more and more comfortable in his hand the longer he went. The way he was stringing his swings together faster and responding more quickly with swings that were increasing in speed and accuracy.
They were all minor, incremental increases that barely amounted to anything, and Antoine still dominated him like nothing every single time, but progress was progress. Sorun would take it.
With a loud grunt, Sorun was sent sprawling onto his back yet again as Yamato skidded away from him. When he opened his eyes, Antoine's saber was, once again, pointed right at his throat. A large, teasing grin had settled its way onto the coyote's face. The guy was actually having fun with this, much to Sorun's bemused chagrin. "Zat eez ze score being left as six to zero, non? Are you ready to be giving up yet?"
"Yeah, dude, I gave up a while ago." He made it longer this time, though- thirty seconds, roughly. The increase was minimal, but tangible. He was getting better. "There isn't some kind of hidden Mobian decree that says I'm your slave for life or whatever now for admitting you beat me in a sword fight, is there? I'll go for it if there is, but I want weekends off."
"Ah-ha. Maybe zere iz. You would not know, would you?" Antoine said with a smirk, sheathing his saber while bending down to help Sorun to his feet. "Ze house could use a good cleaning from time to time, I admit. All of zat dust, mon dieu, no matter how much I clean it always comes back..."
"Sounds awful," Sorun dryly stated, taking the offered hand and grunting again when he was pulled up to his feet. "I'm not wearing a maid outfit to fulfill any weird fantasies you have, though. You got Bunnie for that."
Very clearly, and much to Sorun's delight, Antoine became flustered at the human's words. "Zat-zat iz not... I zink zat perhaps we should be getting back on track, n-non?"
"Ha-ha. Gottem," Sorun thought with a mischievous grin, feeling immense enjoyment at Antoine's expense. Satisfied with the outcome, Sorun clenched his left hand and caused the Yamato to vanish from the ground and reappear in his grip. "Anyways, thanks for helping me out with this," Sorun said as he turned back to Antoine. "I think I'll be fine on my own from here."
"Ahh, eet iz no problem at all, mon ami. I am happy to help," Antoine told him with a nod. "If I were to be giving you advice, perhaps, maybe, focus a bit more on ze blocking? You are tending to dodge more zan block."
"Why would I block the damage when I can just avoid it entirely? Besides, blocking with Yamato's kinda useless since everything's stronger than me already. Plus, uh... its ability kinda negates the need to block as it is." He opened his left hand and let the Yamato disappear. "But that's not really important," the teen said as he looked up at the sun, its position suggesting a few hours past noon. "Anyways, Antoine, I gotta go. Promised to talk to Shadow about something important, and there's some more experimentation I gotta do with my powers." Sorun pointed at Antoine. "I'll catch ya later, though. Been fun."
"Oui, Sorun, of course. Ze pleasure was mine." Antoine waved the human off as he began to retreat away from his backyard. "Feel free to be dropping by anytime to visit! We could even be practicing with ze swords again if you so want!"
"Sure, man." Sorun turned his back to Antoine, giving him a wave back as he began walking away. "I might do that."
A deep, contemplative hum slowly left the teen's throat as he looked at the pile of crates in front of him, all cut to pieces. Shadow had taken his advice on calling this conversation they'd planned "training", so he'd wanted to have it in Shadow's usual haunt: the field of wooden crates he and sometimes Sorun used for training. However, Shadow wasn't scheduled to be here yet, so Sorun had been using some of the extra time to train with the Yamato. Not with holding and swinging it, but with its abilities. He'd decided to bring Virgil along just for the company meanwhile, the small Chao having clapped happily whenever Sorun had cut apart a box.
Through his experimentation, he'd come to a few conclusions. The thing about this Yamato was that, as he expected, it wasn't the exact same sword from the games it had originated from. It wasn't a Devil Sword carved from one-third of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda's soul. It wasn't the key to sealing and unsealing portals to the demonic realm, though Sorun had yet to rule out if portals of any kind were a possibility or not for his Yamato's capabilities. This wasn't the same exact sword used by Vergil. No, that was impossible. Because that sword was pure fiction.
This sword he had, this Yamato, was a facsimile of the true Yamato. A true copy, but at the same time not a true copy as a majority of the games' Yamato's abilities were often... left to interpretation, due to on one hand the story clearly defining Yamato's limits while on the other hand the sword performing differently gameplay-wise for gameplay's sake. Making a copy from a non-tangential item with sometimes nebulous limits just wasn't possible.
But nothing was impossible for Chaos Emeralds and Chaos energy, apparently. So the workaround was the same for when they had copied the Summoned Swords and Bringer Claws abilities- they'd taken what knowledge he did have and made it reality in the form of the powers. "Power shaped by the heart", in Aurora's words. The Yamato was the same. It looked like the true Yamato, but as for its abilities? They went as far as Sorun knew about the true Yamato's powers which, to be fair, was about as well as possible seeing as he was an expert on the lore of those games as well as an expert in actually playing them. And despite the story of 'Devil May Cry' being a bit wishy-washy about Yamato's abilities here and there, a majority of them were clearly defined enough for the teen to have a solid understanding of the sword and its powers. So when the Chaos Emerald had created the sword and used his knowledge, it seemed to have automatically given abilities based on what Sorun thought it had, which, while extremely close to the original's abilities, differed in that the Chaos Emerald was rather loose with Sorun's own personal interpretation of the true Yamato's abilities.
So what did all of that boil down to in the end with Sorun's Yamato? It meant that it only had one ability.
Separate. Everything.
The kicker was the "everything" bit. The games' Yamato hosted a wide array of abilities, mainly cutting through everything (unless it didn't because of plot or gameplay reasons made by the games), opening and closing portals, cutting space itself, cutting apart vague concepts such as cutting "man from devil" if the fifth game was to be trusted, and "unlocking true potential" if the fourth was to be trusted. He honestly didn't know why that last one was even possible, but again, the details of the games' Yamato's powers were vague in that regard due to the story not being the series' largest focus.
Sorun's, he assumed, had the same abilities, but the problem was that one Emerald could only grant one power. That was the established rule. Yamato, however, had multiple abilities even though it was technically only one "power". The Emerald's solution was to file all of these abilities under the main ability for the Yamato to "separate". Because of this, the limits of what Yamato could and couldn't separate ended at the word "separation". There was no defining limit for Yamato's power of separation, which meant quite literally anything could be separated by Yamato. Absolutely anything.
The implications for this were staggering to Sorun. If his Yamato truly differed in that, unlike the games' Yamato, this Chaos-created Yamato truly had no limit to what it could separate, then this went beyond just granting him all of the games' Yamato's abilities. To what extent, though, he hadn't a clue. Because try as he might, he just couldn't figure out how the damned thing worked.
"Am I wrong?" Sorun thought to himself as he ran his hand along the katana's handle. His thumb briefly hovered over a spot on the hilt where there was a small relief of a golden dragon attached to the blue hilt, nearly completely concealed by the white wrappings. "Maybe separating anything by touching it is all it can do, because that's as far as I've gotten. I can't figure out how to do the long-distance Judgement Cuts Vergil could do. I can't make portals with it. Am I just doing it wrong? Absolute separation means it can separate anything, but what does that mean?
"But... no, that can't be right. It HAS to be able to do Judgement Cuts and open portals and all that stuff, right? It's the Yamato. It has to have its abilities- all the other powers were the same as the games' powers. I know it does. I can feel it." The only reason he even knew of Yamato's ability of absolute separation was because he just instinctively knew, as was the same with his other powers. That same feeling, like a wordless, incomprehensible whisper in the back of his mind, told him that, yes, Yamato could perform its other abilities due to its absolute separation. But at this point Sorun didn't know if that was just him lying to himself or if it was true, but he couldn't figure it out. Because if they were possible, they weren't the main function of Yamato. That was its separation. Everything else was a secondary derivative of its primary function, which, unlike the primary functions of his powers, weren't as clear for him to comprehend.
In short: the Yamato could separate anything. Through absolute separation, it may also be able to perform the abilities of the original it was based off of. Sorun wasn't sure if it could, and if it truly was capable of performing those secondary functions, he didn't know how to use them.
"Well... then again, 'absolute' might be giving it too much credit." Sorun held up the Yamato, and then deeply sighed when he looked at his left shoulder. It was covered by his shirt now, but the small puncture mark on his shoulder still remained. It at least had stopped bleeding by now. "It couldn't cut the Emeralds out of me, after all."
Of course when he'd learned of Yamato's absolute separation the first thing he'd tried to do was stab the sword into himself to see if the Yamato could separate the Emeralds from his body. It didn't work. He'd felt the Yamato try, though. Felt its power of separation run through him as it tried to obey his will. The Emeralds wouldn't budge, though. It's why he was doubting that, despite Yamato's ability to separate, it could perform long-distance cuts like Vergil had done or open portals or anything like that. But they were established powers made possible through separation, and until he saw definitive proof that said otherwise, Sorun would keep attempting to perform these techniques.
It also reaffirmed Sorun's belief that the Chaos Emeralds were permanently stuck inside of him. Because if Yamato couldn't remove them, then nothing could.
"I dunno, Virgil," Sorun finally muttered out as he lowered the sword. "Thing's complicated. I don't do complicated too well."
"Chao."
"Mm." He had no idea what that meant, but he still gave the Chao an appreciative pat.
His ears perked up when he heard a single set of footsteps stepping on the soft ground and approaching him. He turned his head towards the source, his expression remaining neutral for the most part when he saw it was Shadow. It was around time for him to show up, Sorun supposed.
"Greetings." The dark hedgehog's eyes shifted from the human sitting on a crate to the pile of cut crates in front of him. "May I ask what the meaning of all these sliced apart crates is?"
"Testing out the Yamato's powers," Sorun answered as he held the katana up for Shadow to see. "I've been having some struggles with it."
"Struggles?" Shadow echoed as he walked closer to Sorun. He stopped just next to Sorun, eyeing the sword in his grasp with curiosity. Curiosity and, Sorun noted with little interest, apprehension. "I don't doubt the sword has some ability tied to it outside of it being a stabbing implement, but forgive me for not seeing what it is." His eyes shifted up to Sorun. "What exactly is your Yamato supposed to do?"
Sorun didn't answer him. Instead, he wordlessly reached down to pick up a rock that had been resting next to him with one hand. He held Yamato out from his body, edge of the blade facing upwards, and Shadow's eyes widened in some interest when he could barely see and feel faint wisps of blue, ethereal energy waft over the length of the sword's blade. Sorun held the rock over the blade, and then dropped it.
The rock had fallen cleanly through the blade. There was no moment where it was stopped by the sword, nor where it even lost momentum once making contact. The rock was simply and cleanly sliced right through the middle merely by falling on the katana's edge, the two halves dropping to either side of the blade.
"That's what it does," Sorun answered a bewildered Shadow as he put the sword back in its sheath. "It separates everything."
Shadow blinked down at the rock, and then refocused on Sorun. "Everything?" he repeated, some disbelief in his voice. "Define 'everything' for me."
Sorun shrugged. "Doesn't really have a definition. It is what it is: the Yamato can separate everything. Matter, energy, space, time, dimensions... maybe concepts? Not sure."
The striped Mobian followed along with Sorun's explanation, his frame growing more and more tense the further he went and ending with him looking at the sword with narrowed eyes. "If this sword originated from anything other than a Chaos Emerald, I'd call you mad. But I know better than most the potential of those gems." He looked into Sorun's eyes, and much to the human's surprise Shadow looked extremely serious. "Listen to me very closely, human," he said in a low voice. "If that sword does indeed possess that ability, then I strongly recommend you refrain from carelessly cutting apart the fabric of space-time with it. There can be certain consequences for such a thing. I know firsthand how destructive the power of even a single Chaos Emerald is."
Sorun listened with a half-interested expression, and then lazily waved his hand. "Relax, Shadow. I'm not about to go cut apart the fabric of reality with Yamato. I don't even know if it can do that," he said, causing Shadow's form to relax somewhat. "So far all I can do is slice objects apart with the blade if I run Chaos energy through it. It's supposed to be able to do stuff like cut at long distances and open portals and... something about helping unlock true potential? Which I guess this sword interprets as separating the user from their personal limits if that's something it can do? It's not really clear."
"'It's not really'- where are you basing this information off of?" Shadow asked him, shaking his head at Sorun's explanation. "Time and time again you've displayed an unnerving amount of intuitive insight into your abilities. I had previously assumed you were just naturally inclined towards these abilities, but I'm beginning to question this assumption." He gestured towards the sheathed Yamato as Sorun impassively watched on. "You named the sword 'Yamato' the second you saw it. You reacted towards it with familiarity. Now you're claiming it has abilities you think it has but can't demonstrate."
"That actually does sound really suspicious when you put it like that," Sorun agreed in an even voice, his lack of a reaction to Shadow's deduction seemingly making the hedgehog more annoyed.
Shadow's eyes had narrowed considerably at the human's indifferent reaction. "Then perhaps you could confirm for me if my suspicions are correct?"
"They suuuure are, Shadow." The Mobian looked about ready to shout now, but before he could Sorun lifted up a finger to stop him. "Listen, Shadow, I'm gonna tell you what the true deal with my powers is. The big skinny. And I am only going to tell you." He turned his body so that he was sitting while facing a standing Shadow now. "I only wanna tell you because you're one of the only guys here I completely trust. So don't tell anyone else, okay?"
The statement from Sorun proved to be surprising enough that Shadow went completely still. His mouth even dropped open a bit, and Sorun saw the sharp fangs of his teeth poke slightly past his lips. He wanted to continue talking, but he found the sight of a stupefied Shadow so funny that he held his tongue and kept silently staring at him in great amusement.
Unfortunately, Shadow decided to end Sorun's fun by shaking the surprise out from his features before refocusing back on Sorun, eyes still wide. "Why would you choose to confide this with me and nobody else?" he asked him, his tone genuinely confused. "You've grown a friendlier repertoire with literally everybody else. Why place so much trust in me?"
"Why indeed, my man?" He'd decided a while ago he needed to tell somebody this. Partly to get a secret off his chest and partly so somebody could maybe help him in some way with them. Shadow was an expert on this Chaos nonsense, so he was the greatest candidate he could think of. But even all of that wouldn't be enough if he didn't trust Shadow. Fortunately enough he did, though he decided to explain why at Shadow's confusion. "Well... you told me you didn't vote to bring me here using the coordinates on the tablet. That you were the only one. That's all," he answered with a shrug. "Out of all the Freedom Fighters, you were the only one that didn't have a part in ruining my life."
"And you are honestly telling me that's enough to earn your trust?" Shadow breathed out in disbelief.
"Don't get me wrong, everybody else is great, but... that's still there for me," Sorun muttered. "It's really screwed up considering our relationship, but you're the only person in the Freedom Fighters I can completely tolerate without thinking of that." He paused. "Well, you and Nicole," he corrected himself.
"I understand me, but why does Nicole get special privileges?"
Sorun grinned and turned his head to the side. "She's my gamer pal, man. I gotta make an exception for my gamer pal." He looked back to Shadow. "I know I told Sonic I wasn't ready to be friends with everybody because I'm not totally over it yet, but I'm willing to make exceptions. You and Nicole are exceptions," he said. "But I know if I did something like ask you to be my friend you'd go and pull a me and say 'let's just keep it professional for the sake of the mission' or something like that, so can I just please ask you to keep all this to yourself?" He leaned back on the crate he was sitting on and waved his arm in a random direction. "If you wanted to we could go so far as to call it a quid pro quo arrangement. If you ever wanted to talk to me about something without it getting out to anybody else, I'd be willing to."
Shadow just continued to stare silently at Sorun. He blinked, and then scoffed while crossing his arms. "Why not bug Nicole with this since you value her as a friend?"
"I don't really wanna weigh her down with all this heavy stuff."
"You have absolutely no guarantee I won't tell the others what you trusted to confide in me," he said.
The teen scoffed. "Dude, c'mon. You're not gonna betray my trust just to screw with me. We both know it'd just be a waste of time for you with no gain, and you have better things to do than that," Sorun said with a roll of his eyes.
"And you suddenly know me so well?"
"Believe it or not, but I actually do pay attention to people. I just pretend not to." The human teen propped his arm up and rested his head against his closed fist. "You never have to talk to me about private stuff if you don't want to. Option's just on the table. I'm only asking you keep what I'm about to tell you to yourself this one time. Fair enough?"
The hedgehog turned his head to the side, closing his eyes as he silently mulled over Sorun's words. He was worried based on the hedgehog's initial reaction he'd refuse, and began wondering what he would do in response. But eventually, Shadow deeply sighed, nodded his head, and turned back to Sorun while opening his crimson eyes. "Alright, human," he said. "I'll keep whatever is said between us private. Just don't ever expect me to actually approach you with such matters."
"Sure," Sorun said with a nod. "The powers I get aren't random. I stole them all from a video game."
Complete and utter silence followed the confession. Sorun expectantly looked towards Shadow, who looked down slightly to process the information he had just received. His face went through a range of emotions from disbelief to exhaustion, and eventually he settled on plain confusion as he looked back up at Sorun. "Excuse me?"
"Yeah, none of it's original," the pale teen elaborated. "The Summoned Swords. The Bringer Claws. Yamato. Not even any of the Summoned Swords formations I use are original. The Spiral Swords and Blistering Swords and all that. I stole literally all of it from a series of video games." He straightened his head up and crossed one leg over the other. "It's the truth. I'm nothin' but a filthy ganker through and through."
"... 'Gank'..?"
"It means 'steal'," Sorun explained. "... That seriously your reaction to this?"
Shadow roughly shook his head. "No, I just- you- Sorun, why?" He didn't sound completely outraged, though there was a hint of it there. He actually just sounded more lost than anything else. "You can't actually be serious. Why in the name of anything you hold dear would you choose powers-"
"Whoa, hold up. I didn't choose jack," Sorun said while raising a hand up to stop Shadow mid-sentence. "I wasn't lying when I said all my powers are chosen subconsciously. You really think if I had a choice I'd choose these powers? If I actually had a choice I would have just asked for a Death Note so I could kill Robotnik and Snively in a minute flat since apparently item summoning is in the list of possible powers," he said as he shook Yamato. "It is subconscious. My subconscious just... decided to nick all the powers out from a video game series called 'Devil May Cry'."
"And what was the significance of this particular video game to you?" Shadow asked, his demeanor calming down significantly and eyes growing to be more curious than anything else.
Sorun breathed out a large breath, looking up in thought. "Where to even begin with that?" he wondered aloud. "Video games were my life, Shadow. I didn't have much else to do. They were my escape from it all. I had fun playing them. 'Devil May Cry' was special to me for a lot of reasons. The first game in the series was the first video game I ever played. My mom bought it for me as a birthday present 'cause, you know, cool guy in a red coat on the cover, ha ha." He trailed off in his laughs, and looked to the side. "No matter how many video games I beat, I always came back to that series. I liked the story. I liked the characters. I liked the challenge the games gave me, because as I got older and played more and more games they just all became too easy for me and I started to blow through them all like nothing. It was fun, for sure I had a blast playing them all, but I was going through them all way too fast for the enjoyment to last past the stories they provided.
"But the 'Devil May Cry' series was a real test of skill by design." Sorun leaned forwards and focused in on Shadow. "I mastered those games, Shadow. All of them. Beat all the missions with S-ranks on all the highest difficulties and everything. Did deathless runs, hitless runs, there was even a difficulty where your player character got one-shotted while all the enemies and bosses were juiced up on the highest difficulty parameters. I beat all of them with S-ranks, the highest possible score. Doing this required in-depth knowledge of every single mechanic that game offered, of knowing perfectly every single enemy's attack animation and their hitboxes, having absolute frame-perfect timing in every single move you made..." Sorun ran out of breath, and sucked in a huge gulp of air before continuing. "I never in my life encountered a challenge as good as mastering the 'Devil May Cry' series. Helped that the music was amazing and that the story and characters were really likable.
"As for the powers..." Sorun lifted up Yamato. "With the exception of the Bringer Claws, all of the powers came from one specific character: Vergil. Bringer Claws came from his son Nero, dunno why I got those."
Shadow, who had been listening intently to Sorun's explanation while nodding along to it, paused. "Vergil?" he repeated. "Isn't that the name you gave your Chao?"
"Huh?" Sorun glanced back at Virgil, who waved happily at him. "Nah, man, this is Virgil spelled with an 'i'. The one I'm talking about is Vergil spelled with an 'e'," he said as he turned back to Shadow. "Completely different names."
"... Okay," Shadow conceded, not sounding entirely convinced. "What was so special about this Vergil character?"
"Vergil was a complicated guy. Had a real angsty personality that resulted in a endless lust for power that only really ended when he got some outside perspective on his choices and after his son suplexed some sense into him," Sorun began. "I liked him the best, however, because of two things. One was the color. I like blue, sue me," he said with a shrug. "More importantly, though, was his moveset." A low laugh left Sorun as he shook his head. "Shadow, Vergil was busted. He was only playable in Three and Four, and I had to get a mod trainer to play him in Five, but man in all of those games he absolutely slayed. He did insane damage with his attacks, his power kit meshed well with his combos, he couldn't even be touched if you played him right..." He trailed off when a wave of happy nostalgia hit him, though he quickly brushed it off for Shadow's sake. "Point is, out of all the characters in the games I played, Vergil was the easiest one to get all those high-level S-ranks with just because he was the strongest if you played him right. OP to the max. So I studied him hard. Harder than the rest of the characters. All his moves and animations, all his powers, all the high-level advanced combo tech you could perform with him, and every single aspect there was to learn about playing Vergil. So if you wanna know why I'm so good with something like the Summoned Swords, that's why." He held up a finger and manifested a spinning Summoned Sword to float over it. "I've technically used and mastered these powers before in the past. It was just on the other side of a screen. I've seen how they perform and how they can be used. I just... applied it to real life, you could say." The sword shattered as the teen put his hand back into a resting position on his thigh. "I've been trying to use Vergil as a benchmark to kinda try and guess what powers I'll get from the other Emeralds since they all seem to revolve around him. Well, except the Bringer Claws, but two out of three is still pretty telling. Might get stuff from his twin brother, too, but they had almost all the same abilities anyways, so... yeah, I don't know."
"That... makes sense, I suppose," Shadow hesitantly agreed. "Sorun, try and help me understand how a mere video game could possibly have this much depth to it. I've experienced them for myself, and I'm struggling to comprehend how you could have attained so much from a collection of moving pixels on a screen."
"It was multiple games, Shadow. Weren't ya listening?"
"Sorun."
"Alright, alright." The teen let out a single chuckle at the Mobian's irritated tone. "Video games in my zone were a lot more advanced than the ones I've seen here. Byproduct of the world's cultural progress getting reset by aliens and then stagnated by a crazy egg guy I guess. Just trust me here."
Breathing in a heavy inhale, Shadow slowly nodded his head. "I'm attempting my best here," he told the human. "So... you unwillingly copied this character's abilities because of a subconscious mental bias towards his power which, from what I'm getting at listening to your words, you deeply respected. I suppose, seeing the trend in your abilities thus far, inferring back to this character to try and predict future abilities to prepare beforehand would be a reasonable course of action." He hummed, and then began rubbing at his chin. "What other abilities did he have?"
Sorun hummed, and then looked down to begin counting off his fingers. "Ah, man, him and his brother had quite a few. Enhanced physical abilities, regeneration- insane regeneration, guy got cut in half and regenerated completely before the sword left the other side of his body-, teleporting, though in the games they referred to it as Tricking, his brother Dante had a time stop ability in one game... stuff like that," he said, listing off each power with an extended finger.
Shadow followed along with the human's list, eyes furrowed in concentration as he considered his words. Afterwards, his eyes widened slightly as a realization hit him. "Sorun... these abilities are remarkably similar to the Chaos Control abilities I myself possess. Time stop, teleportation, regeneration and enhanced strength..." Shadow looked down at his hand, and very briefly a few arcs of greenish power arced over his fingers. "Even your Summoned Swords are similar to my Chaos Spears. They seem too similar to each other to be a coincidence."
"... That is kinda weird, huh?" Sorun agreed, his eyebrows rising in surprise. "Who knows? Maybe that's why I'm getting these powers. They're so close to regular Chaos Control abilities that the Emeralds are trying to recreate them using my knowledge of something similar enough that it just makes them instead. But we're just guessing at that point." He sighed, and held up Yamato. "Doesn't really explain this, though."
"It could just be unique to you," Shadow suggested. "The only limit to the capabilities of Chaos energy are limits placed on those manipulating it. Chaos Control is merely the art of manipulating that energy to suit the user's purpose." A scowl formed on his face. "But, that said, there are precious few besides me who even have the capability of practicing the technique. The echidna, Knuckles, had... some form of experience in the past from what I've heard, though now he's nowhere near my level. More of his kind may know, they made a concerted effort on studying Chaos energy, though things up on Angel Island are severely strained at the moment. The Faker has some limited experience with the Emeralds and Chaos Control as well, though not nearly as much as me. Aside from them and that strange mammoth they keep locked up in Knothole's jail, I'm afraid I don't know of anybody else that can perform it."
"That so? Huh." Sounded to Sorun like this "Chaos Control" thing really was exceptionally rare even among Mobians. The comment about the mammoth had Sorun slightly curious, but not enough that he desired to ask any further about it. "Well... either way, it still leaves one burning question in my mind." And, with that sentence said, Sorun reared back and threw the katana forwards with as much force as he could. "IF THEY CAN MAKE ITEMS THEN WHY DIDN'T I GET EBONY AND IVORY!?"
The sudden outburst was unexpected enough that Shadow had stepped back in surprise. He turned his head to follow the katana as it bounced to a halt on the ground nearby, and then he turned back to Sorun to see the teen heavily panting, an indignant look in his eyes as he straightened out his posture in a huff. Shadow thought about what response to form next, and then cleared his throat to gain Sorun's attention.
"Ebony and Ivory?" he asked.
"They're guns," Sorun clarified, inhaling deeply to calm himself. "Twin .45 handguns that may or may not have unlimited ammo, I dunno, the lore got real weird with them." He held his hands up. "I mean, I wanted guns at the beginning of this, but instead I got Summoned Swords." He frowned, and then let his hands drop. "You know what it is? The games classified Summoned Swords as 'guns' since they're technically a ranged attack, so that's probably what happened." He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "And yeah, I guess the swords are better since guns are pretty much useless against Badniks, so it's actually a good thing that I got them instead of Ebony and Ivory... but still, man."
Shadow, for his part, didn't see why the human was sulking so much over having not gotten a potentially useless power, though he kept his tongue in check in an effort to focus on more important matters. "Are there any other potential abilities you can reasonably expect to gain from the Emeralds?" he pressed. "Knowing beforehand could be beneficial."
Sorun sighed, and then shrugged his shoulders. "A few, yeah. There's Royal Guard." He breathed heavily through his nose as a breathy chuckle left him. "Man, if I actually got Royal Guard I could end the whole war. I could just walk right into New Megaopolis and end Eggman right there." When he noticed Shadow's questioning glare, he opened his mouth again to explain. "It's a blocking ability that completely negates enemy attack damage while at the same time builds up a meter for an attack called Royal Release that does big damage. You needed frame-perfect timing to actually pull the style off right, but man, if you got it down you were basically invincible and melting enemies away with Royal Release. Which I did." He sighed and shook his head. "Somehow I don't think the universe will be nice enough to give me a power that'd make me functionally invincible. It's a nice thought, though."
"Anything else?"
"Mm. There's one more thing I can think of off the top of my head. It's actually a power I'm really hoping I'll get," Sorun admitted to Shadow as he sat forwards on the crate he was sitting on. "Devil Trigger."
"How scary," Shadow commented in a deadpan voice.
Sorun rolled his eyes again. "Yeah, real ominous-sounding. It's a... transformation of sorts that multiplies the user's base physical abilities. I mainly just want it so I can keep up with you guys since you're all so strong and agile, but... ah, I don't know. There's no telling what these Emeralds will give me." Finishing with a sigh, Sorun leaned back on the crate while interlacing his fingers behind his head. "What do you think?"
Humming in thought, Shadow looked down. He crossed his arms and began tapping his elbows with his fingers, whole seconds passing as Sorun patiently awaited the hedgehog to vocalize his thoughts. "I think..." he finally said, picking his head up, "that your subconscious is making this much more difficult than it needs to be." The statement made Sorun's face fall, making Shadow continue in a slightly lighter tone. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not blaming you. It'd just be easier for everybody if the way your powers manifested didn't rely on such an unpredictable system."
"Hah. Yeah. Tell me about it," Sorun mumbled in agreement. "So no advice, then?"
Shadow shook his head. "Based on everything you said, I think it would just be easier to gain your powers and then work from there. If it's true that some of the abilities you gain are similar to my own Chaos Control abilities, then perhaps I could help you learn to control them. Otherwise, there's little we can do until such a time arrives."
"... So just keep doing what I've been doing?" Sorun summarized.
"Essentially."
"Ah." With a sigh, Sorun hung his head. "Man, this has been a huge waste of time."
"I wouldn't say that," Shadow denied, causing Sorun's head to pick back up. "We have a somewhat vague understanding of what abilities you could gain and how to proceed forwards. And... I do appreciate you confiding with me the origin of your abilities, as ridiculous as it is. It certainly does answer some of the questions I have." He breathed out in an exhausted manner. "But, as ridiculous as the origin of your powers is, I cannot deny the results. And besides, it's not as if copying useful and pragmatic abilities from those whose strength you respect is wrong in any way. It's simply learning and adapting to better yourself. There's no shame in that."
"Mm-hm, is this going back to how you stole Sonic's Spin Dash?"
The dark hedgehog's features scowled at that remark. "I already told you I was the one to pioneer that ability. I was first."
"Sure you were," Sorun replied, making Shadow's scowl deepen. "Guess you got a point, though. Nobody can judge me for copying powers from a video game if it works so well. Not like I got a choice in the powers anyways."
"I'm glad you see it that way," Shadow said, features relaxing a bit. "... Earlier you said something about killing Eggman and Snively if you could," he suddenly said, making Sorun's head tilt to the side in curiosity. "Do you honestly intend on killing those two?"
The question caused Sorun's brows to furrow in confusion. "... Yeah?" he answered, voice becoming unsure when he saw Shadow's eye ridges raise in surprise. "W-why are you looking at me like that? I thought the whole goal here was to take Robotnik down and kill him so he never hurts anybody ever again?" It was even in the name. "Freedom Fighters". Implying they were all fighting to free the planet from the man oppressing it. Which also inherently implied they would make sure he would never be in a position to oppress it again afterwards. Considering all of the suffering that man had caused Sorun assumed "kill him" was an objective so obviously clear it didn't even need to be discussed.
So why was Shadow looking at him like that?
"Forgive my surprise, Sorun," Shadow apologized, his features returning to a neutral expression, "I just... didn't assume you would be willing to go that far."
An uneasy feeling began to grow in Sorun's stomach. He recalled so long ago, during the night of the first Emerald when he'd met Snively. About him saying that Freedom Fighters didn't kill. He'd put that statement off in the back of his mind, but with the way Shadow was acting, he was suddenly being reminded of it. And he did not like the implications. "Isn't the plan to kill Eggman by the end of all this?" Sorun slowly asked, voice going a bit lower.
Shadow's eyes narrowed a bit, and with a scoff he turned to the side. "The Freedom Fighters would rather just lock him away forever than do something as that. Killing isn't a very heroic thing to do, after all, and they pride themselves on being a symbol for peace and hope for the planet."
"Oh, come on," Sorun tiredly exclaimed while slapping his palm against his forehead. "No, man, no. Come on, no. I know Mobians are generally nice to a fault, but you can't stand there and tell me they're gonna let that maniac live just 'cause 'killing is wrong'."
"That is indeed what they plan," Shadow confirmed.
"Oh, for the love of- don't tell me you agree with that," Sorun said, voice growing a little more heated as he stared straight into Shadow's eyes. "Do not tell me you are actually okay with that."
To the human's relief, Shadow shook his head. "Of course I'm not. I think it's a moronic decision on their part," he informed Sorun. "Half the reason I chose to stick with G.U.N. before Eggman's takeover as opposed to allying with them was because unlike the Freedom Fighter, G.U.N. actually realizes that sometimes there is no 'clean' solution to every problem."
With a groan, Sorun rubbed at his head again. "Yeah, I'm not surprised in the least. But seriously? Just lock Eggman away?" he said, voice irritated and incredulous. "Listen, I understand life is precious and priceless and unique and all that and killing is wrong. I get that, really, I do. But this is Eggman we're talking about. The guy that's borderline ruined the planet, committed... I don't even know what to call it, robot slavery against living people, responsible for who knows how many deaths, all that stuff and more, and the Freedom Fighters' grand plan is to beat him and lock him away." Sorun snapped his fingers. "Just like that. Instead of, you know... takin' the easy way and murking the guy."
"The Freedom Fighters consider themselves morally obligated to take the high ground in matters such as these," Shadow told him. "It doesn't help that their leader, Sally, is the princess of the kingdom and is technically a representative for them as a result. Any actions taken by any Freedom Fighter reflects on her, and by extension the Kingdom of Acorn." He let out an almost frustrated breath and shook his head. "That said, the idea of not killing is so ingrained within them that they don't even consider these ramifications. Mobian culture in general frowns on killing as I've learned. It seems that the only thing that ever shook them of this belief were legitimate wars."
"But we are in a war! Possibly the biggest war there ever was!" Sorun argued. "They... what do you mean you learned Mobian culture? Ain't you a Mobian already?"
Shadow's eyes widened a small amount. "It's a long story. It's not important," he said. "I understand your frustrations, but it's their belief to not kill. It's all about not stooping to Eggman's level for them."
"'Not stooping to Eggman's'- man, this isn't about what moral standing you're left on once this is over."
"Then what is it about?"
"It's about definitively making sure he never does this again!" Sorun argued. "I mean Snively, sure, guy kinda gave off a low threat vibe, so who cares? Whatever. But Robotnik? The guy's a psychotic super genius, Shadow! I'm not saying I doubt they'd take every single precaution necessary to contain him if they finally captured him. I'm not saying that at all. I'm just questioning why anybody would ever take the risk of containing him for the rest of his life and risk him escaping just so he could start this all over again when, instead, we could be a hundred percent sure he never does it again by killing him. And would people even think twice about it? Really? Seeing as it's Eggman we're talking about? After everything he did?" Rather tiredly, he began to rub at his eyes as frustration continued to ebb through him. "Jesus, it's the fucking Batman not killing the Joker argument all over again. 'Cept this is real. What the fuck..."
No, he wasn't playing that game. If he was gonna die saving this planet, he was making damn sure he was leaving it in a state where this didn't happen again. That meant Eggman had to go. Not be locked in a super jail cell at the bottom of the ocean or whatever they had planned for him. He needed to be gone. Because Sorun wasn't so sure he was comfortable dying saving the planet if there was even a one percent chance of Eggman someday and somehow restarting this cycle of suffering and make all of his friends fight for freedom again just because they didn't take the practical approach and kill him.
It wasn't the good thing to do, he knew that. He didn't want to kill anybody. He didn't even want to fight. It was, however, the smart thing to do, and when it came to the lives of however many men, women, and children of all species on this planet compared to the life of one man who was crazy enough to be dead-set on ruining those lives for him own hedonism? Oh, that wasn't even a hard choice for Sorun to make. Man had to die. Simple as that. Sorun didn't care it was the wrong thing to do, and he didn't care if the Freedom Fighters disagreed with him. He was gonna die anyways, and it was all for their sake.
"I agree with you." Sorun's head picked up in absolute shock at Shadow's words. The dark hedgehog's eyes looked sincere, and Sorun thought he was crazy for thinking so, but his tone almost sounded actually appreciative of Sorun's words and viewpoint. "Doctor Eggman has caused this world too much suffering and is too dangerous to let live. A threat that severe shouldn't be contained. It should be destroyed for the good of the planet and all its inhabitants." His head tilted up towards the sky. "What is the point of protecting the planet if I cannot keep it safe, after all? I'm relieved to hear at least one other person here be like-minded with me on this matter."
Sorun released a disbelieving scoff. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me. Even Rouge disagrees with killing him?"
"She's indifferent on the subject," Shadow said with a shrug as he looked back down on Sorun. "Though, honestly, I never knew you felt this way," he added, and for probably the first time since meeting him Sorun saw a ghost of a smirk play out of Shadow's face. "You sound like you belong more with G.U.N. than the Freedom Fighters talking like that, you know."
The human teen was honestly too shocked from seeing the smirk to respond properly at first. Eventually, he managed a bemused snort as he reversed the positions his legs were crossed in. "That's the human and Overlander defensive government across the ocean Eggman took over, right? Makes sense, I guess, seeing as I'm a human, too. But... I can see from the Mobians' point of view why most of them absolutely refuse to kill," Sorun admitted. "They're so nice and accepting of life that I'm not even surprised killing is so against their nature. But if even they make an exception to that in times of war, then there's not even a question, Shadow. Eggman's gotta die."
"I know," he agreed, "but the other Freedom Fighters would never allow it if we ever manage to defeat him. An argument could be made that, as an Overlander, Eggman would rightfully have to be extradited over to G.U.N. where I would assure you he'd be executed without question. As an agent of G.U.N. myself it's within my jurisdiction to make that call." A withering sigh left him. "But, as it stands, his tyranny affects the entire planet, and admittedly the Mobians have suffered more under him than the humans and Overlanders. His evil has stretched so far to so many different people and cultures that it's almost impossible to properly judge him for his actions. Because of this, if the Freedom Fighters were to be the ones to defeat him, the Kingdom of Acorn would automatically be responsible for administering his judgement. And we both know that just means they'll imprison him."
"... They can't judge him if he dies first," Sorun claimed, a sly smile forming on his face. "I mean, you know... if we had a cool, climactic final battle and everything and he's lying defeated on his knees and, I dunno, a Summoned Sword just happened to suddenly fly through his face..."
Shadow shook his head. "Sally wouldn't let you," he said. "Sonic would likely actively take steps to stop you."
"They can't do anything if you or I get to him first."
At that, Shadow lowly chuckled. "You honestly think you can beat the blue hedgehog of all people in a race against Eggman?"
"I can if I cheat," Sorun said, causing Shadow to chuckle even further. "Whaddya say, Shadow? You want to protect this planet as much as I do. Wanna conspire to kill the fat man?"
"I'm not so sure that would go too well with the Freedom Fighters."
"Eh, you let me worry about that."
The hedgehog hummed in interest. "At the moment, we have no way to actually get to him," Shadow reminded him. "There's nothing we can actually plan for. At best, when Eggman is at the cusp of defeat, we can work together and improvise a plan on the spot to get to him and kill him before any of the other Freedom Fighters have a chance to detain him. That is the best we could ever hope to do, and that alone is an incredibly small window with too many possible variables to account for."
"Wait for the opportune moment and make it up as we go from there, huh? Yeah, it's a pretty dicey plan, but I'll take a plan with a low chance of success over doing nothing for a zero percent chance of success," Sorun said. He leaned forwards on the crate and held his right bare hand out towards Shadow. "So is it a deal? If the moment ever arrives we work together to cheat our way to Eggman before the others get to him?"
Shadow stared down at the hand, eye ridges furrowed in contemplation as he considered the human's offer. Eventually, he rose up his own gloved hand and and firmly grasped the one being offered to him. "We're in agreement," he said, squeezing the hand and giving it a shake. "If the chance to end his life is ever revealed to us, we take it. Regardless of what the others say."
"Alright, cool." That was a small load off Sorun's shoulders. He at least had one ally in his completely sensible quest to kill Eggman. And as frustrating as it was, he understood the reason of why the Freedom Fighters wouldn't go as far as to kill him. But just because he understood and respected their decision didn't mean he had to adhere to it, Freedom Fighter himself or no.
Besides. By then he'd be too dead to care anyways. The planet and the people's wellbeing mattered more.
"Welp, Shadow, good talk, but I think we gotta cut it here. It's getting late." With a grunt, Sorun hopped off of the crate, briefly wincing after reaching towards his shoulder. He rolled it, and then bent backwards to pick Virgil up in his right hand while making Yamato appear in his left. "I got a date with some delish pancakes, and you... I don't really know what you do with your free time, but I'm sure you got stuff to do. Seeya later."
"... So long, Sorun." Shadow gave the retreating human a two-finger wave, which he reciprocated with his own. He watched as Sorun, carrying his Chao and sword, walked further and further away, and it was only until he was out of eyesight did Shadow allow himself a small laugh. "Powers from a video game... why am I not even surprised?" he grumbled, shaking his head in disbelief. "Only Sorun could make something so absurd a reality. Still... I suppose he's not so bad after all."
He allowed himself a small smile for a brief moment before it disappeared just as soon as it arrived. Afterwards, he closed his eyes and began to intensely focus. Greenish-yellow energy crackled around him, the arcs of energy coalescing into two points around his body. The two points eventually transformed into two Chaos Spears floating in front of and behind Shadow, each pointing outwards. They began to slowly rotate around Shadow's body, though, to the hedgehog's disgruntlement, he lost his concentration when he opened his eyes, causing the two Chaos Spears to vanish along with the energy crackling around him.
A dissatisfied huff left Shadow as a result of his own performance. "Hm. Needs more practice..."
