Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
"So let me get this straight." Eggman began. "You followed Belladonna and Schnee into a portal-"
"Mhm."
""Sacrificed" yourself to save Blake from Shou Tucker, who, by the way, needed to smell the roses-"
"Yup."
"Shot him down, use these Metroids for your transportation and throughout Cyberspace, you found my Egg Memos and witnessed my plan for Atlas through my own eyes? You even saw my exoskeleton when I held Jaune's sword."
"Pretty much. I even helped rescue your daughter from some rogue Monokumas."
"...Daughter?" Sage perked up, blushing at the thought of it.
"Hmmm…" Eggman folded his arms, deep in thought. He didn't notice Kyoko gave Sage a small smile and a friendly knowing wink. "While I'm not too thrilled with my… softer side being exposed like this as it was meant to be my own private thoughts… I'm more annoyed that Cyberspace decided to leave myself out in the open like that."
"From what I've gathered with Sage, Cyberspace is having everyone deal with their own past. Some good, some bad, some completely out there, and some… traumatic."
"Indeed. I wonder…" Eggman rubbed his chin. "Could it be possible that Cyberspace could be trying to whittle everyone down so they could be easy pickings for whatever is behind all this?"
"I had the same thought."
"I've overheard from Monaca that she… openly berated Ruby's arm like that. I had no idea that was such a sensitive subject." Sage said. "I had just assumed that Ruby's plant arm was like that since birth."
"Last I checked, Summer Rose wasn't part plant." Orbot said. "...Was she?"
Cubot shrugged. "Well, with her last name being "Rose"..."
Kyoko chuckled at the two's antics. "No, Ruby had a biological arm. However, as I see it, her doppelganger mutilated her arm in a last ditch effort to gain the upper hand. Of course, Summer put a stop to that before she could do any more damage. However, the damage had been done where she had to have it amputated, and then Viridi stepped in and created a new arm for her. It's part of her DNA now."
"Fascinating…" Sage mused.
"However, as expected, she became depressed over it since she had lost a part of herself. However, thanks to her friends, she was able to overcome her depression. I'm not surprised that it's still a sensitive subject for her. She will still need lots of loves because I am not at all shocked that she still has her sad moments over it."
"Just like that Galarian Punk." Eggman said.
"Right. Marnie's pretty much over hers, but still has her moments as well. She still misses her old self, but she's putting her depression behind her. You can thank Byleth for that."
"I'm going to be honest… I'm surprised Byleth isn't in prison over impersonating a therapist, in which case, her own brother." Eggman added.
"It was a spur of the moment thanks to Yang. Sure, Byleth's ways were… questionable, but her heart was in the right place." Kyoko said. "I can't fault her for that. I see this as Yang seeing Byleth as a teacher and thought she could handle Ruby's problems."
"And Dark Ruby was more than just a typical school yard bully that Byleth thought she was." Sage said, with Kyoko nodding.
"Right. Byleth set out to make things right with Ruby and formed a close bond with her. Of course, in Dark Ruby's domain, she was called out on it from her own Grimm self. But… Bereto and Byleth made up for it and is allowing him to work with those who need it."
"Then why is she still doing therapy then?" Eggman wondered.
"Old habits, I suppose. Last I checked, she did a quick therapy session with Nanami over… as Doctor Strange had said: Chiaki's Dark Ruby. However, as Strange is only familiar with Dark Ruby's work… I do not fault him for thinking that. However, I see her counterpart as someone else."
"That being?"
"Injustice Superman."
"I do not know who that is, but… back to Byleth, if she feels what it is right, I won't stop her. However, if she's gonna get in trouble with the law, I'm not going to step in and help out."
"I think she knows that. Probably why she resorts to more private affairs and keeps it on the down low while Bereto does therapy publicly."
"Backstreet therapy… still a horrible idea."
"Perhaps… but Byleth knows what she's doing."
"I hope you're right." Eggman nodded. "...Wait a minute, what did you say about Sage being my daughter?"
Meanwhile…
"You got me a little worried, bud."
"Mmm…" Tails folded his arms. "Promise you won't get mad?"
"Come on, I'm sure it'll be fine." Sonic reassured him.
"...Am I a burden to you?"
"Wow. And how did you come to this well-thought-out concern?" Sonic teased.
Tails sighed. "Whenever there's a crisis, I'm either running away or standing on the sidelines! You're always rescuing me when all I do is follow you around…"
Sonic folded his arms. "Hey, who was it who stopped Eggman from blowing up Station Square? Huh? And who broke me out of prison, or saved me from the Deadly Six's trap? Let's not forget that you were the first one to notice that the Phazon started acting up and spreading all over during the beginning of the Phazon War. It was you who suggested we evacuate everyone off of Remnant."
Tails frowned, folding his arms and looking away from his best friend. "Then… I'm wildly inconsistent! I brought that up with Kotoko, Ruby and Oran earlier… I rely too much on you… I froze up in fear when Chaos showed up and it was your past self that came to rescue me during Infinite's reign of terror! I…"
He sighed. "I'm just letting myself down… I feel like you're just my crutch and-" He teared up. "I don't even know if I'm capable of being "me" anymore."
"Slow down there, dude. Relax." Sonic calmly walked over to him as he put his hand on his shoulder. "I wouldn't go that far. You've got brains like Eggman, speed like me, and you can fly with your butt." He playfully smirked at the last part.
Tails looked back up at Sonic, softly chuckling at that last bit, which was enough to make Sonic smile.
Still uncouth, I see… Caliburn thought.
"It's okay if you still need help sometimes. That's just part of growing up. Sometimes, you just gotta swallow your pride and ask. I mean, heck, it took Ruby and Weiss a long time to figure that part out."
"Hey!/I heard that!" Weiss and Ruby said from afar.
"Good!" Sonic turned his head with a smirk.
"When did you get to be so insightful?" Tails smiled.
"I have my moments." Sonic grinned. "Look, just keep being you, okay? You're still my best bro, dude. We all have our hiccups. Don't beat yourself up for it, okay?"
Tails still smiled. "Okay!"
"While I appreciate this tender moment…" Caliburn said. "I think you could've said something else rather than saying something uncouth like… ahem… "butt"."
"Again with the chivalry." Sonic chuckled with a roll of the eyes. "Would you rather have me say "butt copter"?" He asked, which was enough to make Tails laugh.
"Oh, for heaven's sake…" Caliburn shook his head. "You haven't changed one bit."
"And that's not a bad thing."
"Depends on your point of view…"
Byleth overheard the conversation and smiled, then rubbed her chin in thought. "I wonder… Ruby, I'm curious."
"Hmm?"
"So, your issues with Dark Ruby… why didn't you ask for help in the first place?"
"Well… I'm the leader of team RWBY and… everyone has high expectations from a leader, so I just… have to hold that burden. Not to mention that… well… I thought I wasn't allowed to ask for help."
"Whoa, wait… what?" Yang overheard as she was talking with Jade. "You actually thought that?"
"I did…"
"Oh, Rubes…" Yang shook her head. "It's not like we expected you to be perfect. Even leaders make mistakes. That's what makes them human."
"Yeah, but if a leader makes a mistake, why would anyone want to follow him if he has a bad idea and nearly gets everyone killed? It's kinda why I just… kept things to myself."
Ruby sighed. "Of course, it didn't help that Byleth thought I should handle Dark Ruby on my own… no offense, sis."
"No no, it's fine." Byleth sighed, rubbing her head. "Definitely screwed that one up…"
"Well, both are at fault from how I see it." Blake chimed in. "I don't think you were exactly clear on what made Dark Ruby such a pain in the butt."
Ruby groaned. "Uuuugh, now you bring that up… wait… did I mention anything about time slowing down?"
"I… don't think you did." Byleth admitted.
Ruby slumped. "Crap…"
BGM: Friends in My Heart (Kingdom Hearts II)
"There there. Nobody's perfect." Yang patted her on the back. "We take all the burdens as a team… well, we try to… unless somebody-... no, I don't want to make Weiss any sadder." She hugged Ruby tightly. "Gonna be okay."
"Phew… glad I got that off my chest."
"Hmmm…" Iris rubbed her chin as she overheard the conversation. "Hey, Jade… did you-"
"-Have a similar thought as Ruby because I didn't want to bother anyone with my… issues with my parents? Yes."
Iris sighed. "You goober." She said, pulling her in for a side hug. "There's no need to bottle that up."
"Nyx said something similar…"
"Well, I'm parroting her!" Iris smiled, giving her a noogie. "Next time you feel down in the dumps, don't just push us away… or Myra for that matter."
"Right…" Jade nodded, slightly sighing. "Gods, I'm dumb…"
"We have our moments. I'm one to talk…" She chuckled as Jade grinned and nudged Iris in the shoulder, causing Iris to laugh and nudge her back.
"Honestly, I don't know who's the biggest goober of them all, what with them not opening up…" Rantaro said.
"Both?" Futaba snickered.
"Both is good." Rantaro laughed.
At that moment, the Koco approached them all and spoke some gibberish.
"Oh, they're saying the bridge is out." Tails said.
"Not to worry. Hang tight, I'll be able to fix this in a jiffy." Sonic said.
"Hold on a moment!" Futaba said. "Before you do, consider this alternate route."
She quickly made an ice path to go around the bridge.
"...Pffft. Where's the fun in that?" Sonic laughed as he ran up the bridge.
"...Oooor you can do that too." Futaba said, pinching the bridge of her nose. It took me forever to do that horrific minigame. How the hell did Nanami pull that off first try?
Flashback
"How the hell did you pull that off first try?!"
"Simple. I just watched you fail a lot and I memorized the exact layout."
"...I can't tell if that's genius or you were just cheating."
End flashback
Oh, right. She watched me get myself shredded a lot…
"Aaargh!" Sonic cried as he slammed into the ground, looking a bit beat up.
"You okay?" Penny asked.
"Yeah… just got the wind knocked out of me. I'm good."
"You can barely stand. Those enemies shredded you." Caliburn said.
"I've been through worse… heheh." Sonic chuckled.
"Let me try." Shadow skated his way up and jumped off the bridge, proceeding to free fall and diving into the enemies, only at one point, one of them shrugged it off and shredded him before knocking him off course and slamming into the ground near them.
"You too?" Sonic winced as Penny healed him up.
"Rrrgh… dammit…" Shadow grumbled, holding on to his shoulder.
"You're in no condition to try that again." K1-B0 said.
"Just watch me." Shadow said as he stood up, only to stagger as Nagisa and Jade kept him steady. "Nnngh…"
Suddenly, the bridge lowered before their eyes as they saw Silver on the other end.
"You're welcome!" Silver said, causing the hedgehogs to sweatdrop.
"Typical." Shadow shook his head while Sonic shrugged it off, then Penny went to heal Shadow up as they headed over to Silver.
The Koco cheerfully danced around Silver before a light blue Emerald appeared in front of him. "Thank you." He said,
"Hmm…" Weiss looked up. "I wonder if Ruby could pull that off."
"And get myself cut into ribbons after what happened with Sonic and Shadow? No thank you!" Ruby responded.
"But you're technically a cyber ghost. You could go right through them!" Weiss said. "...I think."
"Probably not. I'd rather not be peeled like an orange."
"Fair enough. Sorry…"
"Ah, don't worry about it." Ruby waved it off. "Although I'd definitely try it-"
"Good luck. There were a lot of springs that would deflect you and potentially get yourself shredded. Speaking from experience." Sonic said.
"...Neeeever mind." Ruby grimaced.
"It could've been worse. There could have been a really unforgiving timer." Blake said.
"Rrrrrrgh!" Futaba growled, an icy blue fire aura surrounding her.
"Babe…? You're burning up! …Or… cooling down…?" Jade wondered.
"Was it something I said?" Blake sweatdropped.
"Oh… don't worry about it." Futaba said, her eye twitching.
"What's with her?" Kotoko whispered.
"Bridge trauma, I guess." Mine shrugged.
Futaba took a deep breath, sharply exhaling. Cool down… that mandatory minigame can no longer hurt you…
Sonic and Tails walked up to the Koco, the latter speaking gibberish again.
Tails smiled and turned to Sonic. "They say this is the last of the defensive measures."
Sonic knelt down. "Way to go. Your hero will be thrilled with all your hard work."
The Koco smiled before closing their eyes as its spirit left their body and flew off.
"And I'm proud of you." Sonic said to Tails. "Don't forget that."
"Right." Tails smiled.
"Hmm?" Shadow turned his attention toward the ice mountain, narrowing his eyes.
"What's up?" Ruby asked, noticing Shadow's glare.
"I think I see a portal opening up at the peak over there."
"Let me take a look." SAPR said as she flew up, where her eyes widened. "He's right! There's a portal over there! It's the same shape as the one where we went in and fought Monaca!"
"Let's go see what that's about." Ruby said as they took off.
Once at the peak…
"Phew, a little slippery… thanks Futaba." Ruby said as RBY, WSSP, Shadow, Silver, Byleth, Dorothea, Oran, Gonta, Mine, Winter, Meryl, Knuckles, Amy, Tails, Jade, Rantaro, Iris, and Ratchet and Clank accompanied her while everyone else decided to wait at the base of the mountain.
"You're welcome." The Winter Maiden smiled as she landed on the ground. "Alright, let's see where this portal takes us." She said as they walked in… and they would wander into a forest when they came out.
Oran's eyes widened. "I know this forest…"
"Gonta does too."
"Wait a minute… we've been here too." Ruby said gravely as WBY, Byleth, Dorothea, Jade and Iris nodded.
"Care to fill us in?" Sonic asked.
"You know that wild goose chase we went on before Dark Ruby… kidnapped me?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah?"
"Before that happened… we wound up at a Faunus labor camp."
"A Faunus labor camp? …Wait… oh gosh…" Futaba looked toward Oran and Gonta.
"Getting real sick of Cyberspace…" Yang mumbled as everyone nodded as they walked forward, making their way into the camp as everyone stayed close to Oran and Gonta, both of them looking uneasy.
"It's okay, boys. We're right here with you." Dorothea said.
At that moment, they heard the sound of a hyena laughing in the distance, causing Oran and Gonta's eyes to widen while everyone either prepared for battle or grimaced.
"What's with the hyena laugh?" Ratchet asked.
"That'd be Donovan…" Ruby responded, then they noticed the lights were on in their own home.
In a split second, Oran and Gonta quickly made their way toward the building.
"Wait a minute! Guys! This is just a recreation of your memories! You won't be able to save them your folks no matter what you do!" Yang called out to them… but it was too late.
Suddenly, Grimm materialized in front of them, all of them growling. "Ruby, go after them!" Byleth said.
"Right!" Ruby nodded, planting her rose arm on the ground and making a flowery pillar to get above the Grimm and jumped off, running off as a Beowolf turned around and followed her, but Ruby switched Crescent Rose to its crossbow mode and fired a silver arrow without even looking, striking the Beowolf in the head to kill it.
As for the boys, they ran inside… and saw a data version of Donovan sitting at the dinner table with skeletons sitting alongside him.
"Oh hey boys." He casually popped his fingers in his mouth like he had some olives stuck in 'em. "You just missed the dinner party. We had lots to talk about."
BGM: Roxas (Kingdom Hearts II)
Both of them teared up at the sight of the skeletons.
"No…" Oran whimpered.
"Mother… father…" Gonta frowned.
"Come on, you know I'm a recreation of your memories, with some gaps filled in. Quit crying already, you knew this would happen. You couldn't save 'em, no matter what you did. Ain't my fault that you had some skeletons in your closet!"
He then slapped his hands on the table. "Ba dum pow!" He cackled as both of them fell on their knees with tears running down their cheeks while the skeletons remained silent. "Tough room. No one's got a funny bone." He chuckled.
End BGM
"Ah well…" He stood up. "Let's have some fun, boys."
BGM: Forze Del Male (Kingdom Hearts III ReMind)
Suddenly, the ground shook as a massive Devastator emerged from the ground and destroyed the home. The snake hissed as it looked down at the two and thrusted down to try and eat them, but at the last moment, Ruby swooped in with her semblance, grabbing the duo and then took off, making the Taijitu eat rose petals instead.
Ruby made her way over to the others as they had just finished dealing with the Grimm, where she set them down near Futaba, Meryl, Jade, Iris, Rantaro and Winter. "Watch them for us, okay?"
"You got it!" Futaba nodded.
Ruby turned back to the Devastator where Donovan was casually sitting on top of the head. "Really… another Devastator? We've already beaten one and that was super easy!"
The rest of the group ran ahead to face the Devastator, ready to quickly make mincemeat out of the Taijitu. Donovan let out a chuckle, smirking at them smugly as the Devastator suddenly moved out of the way, appearing behind the group that fired several elemental beams at the group in the blink of an eye, courtesy of the dust crystals sticking out of it, knocking them all down… including the ones who were guarding the two Faunus.
"Nnngh…!" Ruby grunted. "How…?"
"What, you thought this was going to be easy~? Ohohohoho~! How naive!"
Donovan activated the amulet on his chest, causing several Grimm hands to spawn from the Devastator. They went ahead and started to grab the group one by one. The group was forced to get out of the way while trying to push them back with anything they had. It was a bit harder to do so with the Devastator firing beams of energy from its mouth while also firing bony spikes from from its back.
One by one, everyone started to get picked off, held in place by the hands, knocked down by lasers or trapped within the bone spikes. In Futaba's case, she blasted away the hands as best she could with her head on a swivel, but one hand sprung up and karate chopped the back of her neck to KO her.
The hands would then pull everyone away and shoved them to the sides of the Devastator, trapping them within while Grimm Cages were placed around Oran and Gonta. The ones that were still standing were Ruby, Weiss, Yang and Byleth.
End BGM
"See, I told you that expecting this to be easy was naive of you. But don't worry, I have them all trapped. I won't drain them yet. Instead, I'll beat the four of you and then will kill you all! I'll make sure that Oran and Gonta will be forced to watch as those they care about will perish!"
Yang growled as the four of them went into their powered up states. "Not happening!"
He smirked smugly. "That's cute, but here's the thing, I was watching you fight the weaker Devastator earlier. I know what you're capable of. You're not winning this!"
"...Shut up, Cyber Space." Ruby said coldly.
"What?"
"JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!" She yelled. "I'm getting sick and tired of seeing the people I care about get thrown around like ragdolls by ghosts of their pasts or even their present! This isn't just about you anymore, Donovan. I have had it up to HERE with everything that Cyber Space has thrown at us!"
"She's right!" Weiss agreed. "We're going to beat whatever else you throw at us. We're going to get out of here and we're going to beat whatever is manipulating these islands."
"And that starts by getting rid of you." Byleth said.
Donovan cackled. "Oh! OH! Bravo ladies! Truly spoken like main characters. What's next, you gonna throw the power of friendship at me?"
BGM: Birth of a Wish (Nier Automata)
Donovan smirked wickedly. "Let's see if your words will hold any value!"
Laughing It Up - Data Donovan and the Devastator
The four of them rushed the both of them, as the Devastator proceeded to launch projectiles at the four. They quickly used their blades, or in Yang's case, fists to either deflect or dodge them. The Grimm Hands came out of the Devastator's body as they swatted away the quad when they got close to try and clobber Donovan.
"Look at all of you, needing to fight me together. At least the armadillo can stand up to me himself!"
Ruby switched to sniper rifle mode, getting into position and shooting at Donovan, but the hands blocked from doing so as Ruby aimed her hand and shot a vine toward him, but the hands grabbed the vines and chopped it, making Ruby wince as she pulled away and shook her hand.
"You do know all of your friends' lives are at stake, right? I could just drain them right now… that's how boring this is getting!"
Yang launched up into the air while holding on to Weiss, her draconic wings beating as Yang breathed fire while Weiss threw shurikens and kunai at him, but once again, the hands blocked as the Devastator spat out energy lasers back at Yang, resulting in a deadlock that the Devastator added power, but Weiss put up Nayru's Love around Yang to protect her and herself.
"Thanks!" Yang said as she flew back down.
"Doesn't one of you have the power to rewind time? How pathetic you are that you can't even stop me with an advantage like that!"
Don't think I haven't tried that! Byleth thought in annoyance before she teleported on top of the Devastator. Donovan shifted his eyes behind him and smirked, sweep kicking Byleth but she blocked with her sword and parried him, where she delivered a strong blow to his gut with a punch.
She shifted her eyes as the hands appeared and tried to grab onto her, but she quickly dodged them, where Donovan was able to witness her leaving behind afterimages as she teleported away.
"Impressive!"
He smirked.
"But not impressive enough!"
He activated the blade in his metal foot and kicked behind her, stabbing her in the shin. "Nnnngh!" Byleth grunted as Donovan turned around and kicked Byleth in the stomach where the hands pushed her off.
The Devastator lunged, snapping down on Byleth but Ruby quickly grabbed a hold of her before Byleth could be eaten, setting her sister down as Weiss put ice patches on Byleth's wounds.
"Thanks…" Byleth smiled, getting back up.
The four noticed that Sonic, Shadow and Silver were wiggling themselves free. They turned to each other and with a nod, Yang flapped her dragon wings and picked the trio up, flying into the air as they aimed directly at Donovan.
Yang raised her hand up, creating a massive draconic ball of fire as Ruby added electricity to it, Weiss throwing in ice and Byleth adding in some light magic into it as Yang threw it.
The Lighting dust from the Devastator lit up, quickly charging and dodging the giant fireball as fast as it possibly could as it then flipped around and smacked the quad down into the ground with its tail, sending them crashing with the three's aura flickering while Byleth was in a bit of a daze.
"Hahahahaha!" Donovan cackled as the Devastator hovered over them. "And this is my victory!"
End BGM
He got a tap on the shoulder.
"What?"
He turned around, seeing Sonic in front of him, casually eating a chili dog.
"Eh, what's up, doc?"
BGM: Seven Rings in Hand (Sonic and the Secret Rings)
He finished the rest as Donovan swiped at him, where he casually dodged while licking his fingers, then proceeded to Spin Dash into his gut, sending him flying off of the Devastator where he continues to spin dash into him on the way down before they both slammed into the ground.
Sonic bounced off of him while the quad recovered. "You girls finish up that thing. We'll handle Donovan!"
"You got it!" Ruby nodded as the four ran off to deal with the Taijitu right as Donovan got back up with a snarl.
"So, you really thought I could go down that easily and allow myself to get stuck in that thing? Buddy, I'm the fastest thing alive. I refuse to stay still."
Donovan cackled. "That's adorable! But you forget… YOU HAVE NO AURA!" He reached toward Sonic, but the latter was telekinetically pulled away by Silver while Shadow bombarded him with several chaos spears, and then axe kicked his head into the ground.
"Your arrogance and sadism will be your downfall." Shadow said, where right at the same time, Yang, Weiss and Byleth had distracted the serpent long enough for Ruby to use both scythes and cut through the Taijitu's head to cut the head off.
End BGM
The Devastator slowly faded away as the four approached the data hyena.
"Hahaha… how cute. Neither of you could beat me. As long as their deaths still haunt you, you're not strong enough… I wonder how well you'd fare against the real me in the future."
"Maybe they aren't… but I promised them I'd help them take you out, real or not." Ruby said as she, Weiss and Byleth cut through Donovan, cutting him in half as he vanished.
Immediately, Ruby turned to Oran and Gonta, who were still in tears and their knees on the ground. She and Byleth ran toward the two as Ruby pulled Oran into a hug while Byleth did the same with Gonta.
"There there, big sis is here…" Ruby said gently. "Let it all out, it's going to be okay."
At that moment, the area began to twist around them as they found themselves back at the island.
"You have failed miserably." The voice since the beginning had said, though they ignored the voice as they were more focused on the brothers, while everyone else was slowly picking themselves up and holding a few KO'd individuals by their arms over their shoulders to steady themselves.
"Ugh… so that's how it feels to be karate chopped back there…" Futaba mumbled.
Yang growled angrily as she was back to normal while Ruby and Byleth still comforted them. "We should just have Sarge shoot that bastard."
"All of us would be happy to take him down." Weiss agreed.
"No…" Oran said, trying to stop the tears from flowing. "You shouldn't have…"
"And why not?" Dorothea asked, making sure her family was okay.
"Ruby… if we took longer… she would have lost her eyes… or worse…"
Ruby met his eyes, giving him a stern look. "Really? You better not be saying that you're trying to prevent me from suffering by allowing yourself to suffer in silence, because if you are, so help me gods, I will give you the same lecture I gave Weiss and don't think I forgot about the Devil…"
"No! No, of course not…"
"Then what is it!"
BGM: Sad Girl (Super Mario Galaxy)
Oran teared up again. "It was Dimentio… he told me back at the village that if you died, it would have been my fault before waking the Devastator up… if mom hadn't told everyone to move, I would have stopped them myself. It wasn't about suffering in your place… it was about saving you, that's all that mattered."
"Then let me ask you something, Oran-" Byleth spoke up. "Was her being dead for a few seconds your fault?"
Oran shook his head.
"I thought so, because there's a major hole in your logic. Something that wouldn't have just been your fault, but all of our faults for not being fast enough… and we're not saying that we should have taken him down, but we're looking at it with the benefit of hindsight."
"In your defense, they did throw everything at you to slow you down, so you can't blame yourself for that." Ruby said.
Yang frowned. "Ruby…"
"Yang, no. You all need to stop beating yourselves up for that. You were just a few seconds late, and that's all it matters." Ruby then looked back at her two brothers. "Look, you two. I know you probably don't agree with what some of us are saying, but you two froze up seeing him."
"No. Gonta not freeze because of him, Gonta freeze when seeing remains of parents."
"And he's used the past against the both of us before… I wish… I wish the past would stay in the past…"
"Mmmm…" Shadow folded his arms. "I'm sorry to say this, but you can't ever truly get rid of the past. You can bury it, burn it, vow to never look back at it and only try to look at the present and the future, but it always finds a way to come back. Take it from me."
"But-" Oran tried to say.
"I…" Gonta tried to find his words.
"Boys, stop being so stubborn." Dorothea said sternly. "Look around, nearly everyone here had to deal with a figure of their past since we got here. And they had to fight or even reject their demons."
"Then why could Gonta and lil' bro not do the same?"
"Because neither one of you have given the loss a proper place, neither one of you have been able to handle it. And that pain is being used against you." Byleth pointed out.
"Maybe that's what the voice meant, that you two had failed to conquer your demons." Weiss said.
The brothers closed their eyes, wiping their tears as they stood up. "Then Gonta know what Gonta has to do."
"Yeah, we have to go back in there together, face him properly this time and bury their remains."
"No, absolutely not!" Ruby protested. "You two are not going in there again. If you guys go, we all go."
"Ruby… we have to do this." Oran looked at her with pleading eyes. "Please trust us…"
Byleth slowly exhaled. "Okay. You guys get five minutes. Then we're going in after you."
Ruby looked at her in surprise. "But sis-"
"They're right. We need to trust them."
Ruby sighed in defeat. "Fine… but five minutes and not a second longer."
End BGM
With a nod, the brothers looked ahead toward the portal and walked through it, heading back to Cyberspace. At the same time, Tails had overheard the conversation and clenched his fists as he quickly ran in to the portal.
"Tails, wait!" Amy called out.
"Tails?!" Sonic said in surprise as Tails ran inside before anyone could stop him. Instinctively, Sonic started to run.
"Hold on a moment, Sir Sonic." Caliburn got around him. "It would be wise for Sir Tails to go at it alone with those two."
"He's right." Silver agreed.
"Mmm…" Sonic folded his arms with concern written on his face. "Alright, but like the girls had said. He gets five minutes and then I'm going in after him."
The faunus ended up back at the village, seeing that it was fully repaired. Oran turned his head to see Tails with them. "Tails…?" Oran wondered.
"I promised myself I would be braver and that I would rely on Sonic less, so I'm here to help."
"Well, Gonta is glad to have you here." Gonta smiled.
The three walked off, while Sage watched on before quickly teleporting back to Eggman who was in the middle of a conversation with Kyoko.
"Doctor! The armadillo and two others are fighting the hyena a second time."
"A second time?" Eggman asked. "Sage, keep an eye on them and report back to me."
"Yes, doctor."
Kyoko playfully smirked after Sage disappeared. "So, a hidden soft spot for children~?"
"It's not what you think!"
Before she could respond, the whole area shifted into a new memory from Eggman, where they would see him back in his lab.
"Huh, so that's what I look like from behind… I could've sworn I fixed my posture…" Eggman grumbled as Kyoko held back a soft giggle.
An alarm went off during preparations. "Hmm? One of my spybots? What could that be about?" He wondered, checking out the many cameras and noticed one of them that he had kept an eye on Salem, had focused specifically on Donovan.
"What could that be about?" He wondered as he saw Ghirahim taking him into a time portal. "Spybot, do not lose track of that hyena." He ordered as the spybot went after them. "Orbot, keep an eye on the cameras. Call me if there's something wrong."
"Sure thing, boss. May I ask what you'll be doing?"
"I'm going to continue to make preparations." He said as he walked off.
Eggman glanced over at Kyoko giving him a smug look of confirmation. "Wipe that smug grin off your face!"
"You're proving me right~"
A little bit later, Eggman was seen slowly finishing his preparations. "Good, preparations are getting closer to being finished." He said, watching more badniks… only for Orbot to interrupt him over the speakers.
"Doctor, you have to see this!" Orbot urged as Eggman quickly ran into the monitoring room.
"What could be so important that you have to call me in here?" He yelled, only to see Donovan chuck Oran off a cliff. "NO!" He yelled in horror.
"Toodle-loo! Say hi to the kid for me! See you in hell! I'll be off saying hi to your family when I get back to my time… I'll have a friendly chat with your red haired sister! Hahahahahaha!"
"Doctor, are you alright?" Orbot asked, noticing that Eggman was seething in rage as he began typing into the computer, giving the Spybot orders.
"Spybot, activate instant kill! Do not let that hyena leave that time period alive and-"
Orbot put his hand on Eggman's wrist. "Doctor, look!"
Eggman couldn't believe his eyes as he saw Oran sprouting his wings for the first time as he continued to fight Donovan.
"Ignore the previous order. Keep an eye on the hyena, however." He said as they watched the fight continue before the memory disappeared.
Kyoko looked at him with a soft smile. "You were saying?"
"Fine… but it's not just that. The ability that hyena possesses is a cause for concern as well. I mainly keep an eye on him to track his movements. Can you imagine what would happen if he were to find a way to the other worlds, especially the ones that can't properly defend themselves? He'd be able to go on a killing spree."
"I see what you mean."
Back with the trio…
The trio made their way to the house, their weapons drawn as they made their way in, seeing the same sight as before.
"Ah, the cry babies and a plus one, back for seconds. Where's the rest?"
Gonta immediately aimed his cannon at Donovan, firing an ice cannonball at him that froze him in place, save for the mouth.
"Nnngh! Hey… what gives-"
Oran shot an ice arrow into his mouth to shut him up.
BGM: Riku (Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMix)
The brothers quickly picked up the skeletons and carried them out with Tails following them. None of them noticing that the blade in Donovan's mechanical foot was slowly beginning to free him from the ice.
Outside, the trio dug into the dirt until they made a hole big enough to put the skeletons in gently and then they filled the hole in. They gave a few moments of silence immediately after.
"Mother… father… Gonta wishes that he had not left and Gonta is sorry for that."
"And even if you're still stuck within him, find peace and we promise that we'll set you free one day, along with everyone else that he's drained." Oran added.
"Rest well." Both said.
With a nod, the trio turn around and head back for the portal leading to the island… only for Donovan to appear and grab Tails by the neck.
Pause BGM
"Hnnngh…!"
"Tails!" Oran exclaimed in a panic.
"Let him go!" Gonta demanded.
"Ah, there's the panic and desperation I was looking for. Now… stay back and beg me for his life, cause if you don't, I'll drain you! I'll make it slow! I'll make it painful! I will make them watch and then I will drain you both, after which, I'll throw your skulls out of this place!"
An idea came to Oran, where he relaxed his body. "No. I will not."
"And why not?"
"Because you are nothing."
Resume BGM
Tails looked at him in confusion. "What are you doing?"
Both Faunus notice a small glitching effect coming from Donovan, causing Oran to smirk. "It's going to be fine, Tails."
Tails raised an eyebrow.
"We may not be able to beat you physically at the moment, we won't let you hold our parents' death over us anymore." Oran said.
"Your words mean nothing to us and we will never let them again!" The bros declared defiantly.
Donovan started to fade away from existence, his twisted and malicious demeanor replaced by fear. "Nnngh…! No! This can't be…! This is my domain! Your words shouldn't have any power here!"
He dropped to the ground, and in turn, caused Tails to free himself and rushed over to the brothers, where he turned around and watched him fade away.
"You okay?" Oran asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. He didn't even drain me."
Donovan growled, defiantly glaring at them as he extended his blade from his foot and rushed toward Oran with the intent of taking him with him and kicked him, only for Tails to deflect him, using his… tails and knocked him to the ground, while at the same time, Donovan managed to hit one of his tails.
"Gah!" Tails grunted, clutching one of his tails that even made Sage a bit horrified, putting her hands over her mouth.
"Tails!" Oran ran over to him.
"Heh… still… managed to get one of you…" Donovan chuckled before vanishing as they found themselves back at the ice mountain… where Sonic would immediately notice the wound on his buddy's tail, causing his eyes to widen in horror as it was bleeding.
End BGM
He immediately rushed toward him, concern with a hint of anger in his eyes. He looked ready to give Donovan a makeover by the time he was done with him.
"What happened?"
"He tried to stab Oran, so I deflected the attack. Don't worry… it's only a scrape."
Oran frowned. "You're bleeding… I'm so sorry."
"Don't be." Tails reassured. "It's nothing that can't be patched up. Besides, you would have done the same for me."
"Yeah, you're right." Oran nodded before falling to his knees in exhaustion, only to get pulled into a hug by Ruby. "Hey sis…"
"How are you two?" Ruby asked.
"Gonta is tired, but better."
"We're feeling better than before." Oran smiled.
"Hey!" A voice said as they saw Nagisa approaching. "I was wondering what was taking so long, so I came to check-"
"Thank you, Nagisa." Oran said.
"Huh? Thank you for what?"
"Because in telling off that pickle monster, I realized that I didn't have to beat Donovan. I had to make sure his words couldn't get to me."
Pickle monster…? Nagisa wondered. "...You mean Monaca?"
"Yes."
"Oh. Okay. You're welcome." Nagisa nodded. "...Wait… who's Donovan?"
Byleth looked at the boys. "So, does that mean…?"
"Yes." Oran nodded. "While we may not have fully gotten over it, and we might not be able to beat him at the moment, we won't let his words or what he did hold power to any of us ever again."
Ruby pulled him into a tighter hug. "I'm proud of you… both of you for that matter."
"Do you two think you're up for it to continue or would you rather stay in the Great Fox to rest? No one would blame you." Yang said.
"Gonta wants to help."
"Yeah, we'll continue to help where we can." Oran nodded.
"That's good." Nagisa said. "Now come on, there's something I've been wanting to tell all of you but wanted to wait until you guys got back."
"Alright, we're coming." Ruby said, picking up Oran to give him a piggy back ride as they walked down, while Byleth was by herself.
"...Honey?" Dorothea approached her. "What's wrong?"
"Oh… I've just been thinking."
"About what?"
"If I really should continue this path that I unwittingly partook in and stepped on my brother's toes."
"Oh… your therapy?"
"Yeah. It was a spur of the moment and I just… kept doing it." Byleth said.
"Have you considered taking classes like Bereto?"
"I thought about it, but… in all honesty, I'd just be stepping on his toes if I got a degree in it just like him."
Byleth shook her head. "I think I should just… retire from therapy and let Bereto handle it. Find my own path that won't cross into Bereto's."
Dorothea looked at her in surprise before softly smiling, taking her hand. "I'll be supporting you the whole way through, my love. Our family will also be here to support you on this too."
"I know." Byleth said, both of them sharing a kiss as they walked down together… but something shiny caught Dorothea's attention as she looked to the side, seeing the white Chaos Emerald that had appeared after the portal had closed, but no one had paid attention to it as they were more focused on Tails and the Faunus brothers.
"Oh my my~!" Dorothea picked it up, where she felt a wave of power surge through her. "Wooo… so this is what you felt after using it against Nemesis. I like it~"
Byleth giggled. "Come on, let's go show the others."
They reached the impromptu small camping area that they had set up while waiting for the others.
"Alright, everyone's here now." Nagisa said. "It's time we Warriors of Hope opened up to you all. There's nothing to hide at this point."
BGM: Salvation (God of War PS4) (Start at 4:31)
"I know a few of you already know this-" He began, looking at Mine, Futaba, Penny, SAPR, GLaDOS and Cave. "But, the Warriors of Hope… we all got together because we all shared something in common. We were all abused by our parents. Masaru was physically abused, Jataro was verbally abused, Kotoko was sexually abused and… I was mentally abused. And… you know about Monaca. We all decided to form a suicide pact to get rid of the despair that we all felt. However, before we did, a young woman stopped us. We gave our lives to her and thought of her as an older sister figure that cost us our souls. She gave us hope after the terrible despair that the adults had given us… in the form of a dream to create a "children's paradise", a place where we thought we kids could leave peacefully…"
Nagisa clenched his fists as tightly as he could.
Young woman…? Silver thought to himself.
"So we've killed many whom we thought were deserving…" He frowned in anger and hatred, memories of their abusive parents resurfacing along with the other bad adults who wronged them resurfaced. The emotions were replaced with a mixture of guilt, sadness and remorse. "...And many who were not."
Those who hadn't heard the story all looked at them in horror.
"All of you…" Silver spoke up. "You killed your own parents to do all those things… didn't you?"
"Yes…"
Silver frowned, his eyes deep in thought.
"Silver…?" Dipper said. "You okay there, man?"
"Yeah, I'm fine… Just thinking. This really is a lot for me to take in."
"It is for all of us." Caliburn said, but he felt no anger towards the teens. "Please, continue. I wish to hear everyone's points of view."
"Well… for me, my old man kept hitting me. He was a drunken old fart and just kept berating me over nothing and just hit me repeatedly until my bruises had bruises." Masaru shuddered. "Sometimes, I still have nightmares but Cardin will be there no matter what… or my mom, or Laura… or aunt Esdeath."
"My mother was jealous of my looks… so she put a mask over my head and continuously called me ugly to the point where if I were to take it off, I'd melt people's faces off and their eyeballs would roll out their face. She said it'd be similar to… I believe she said Raiders of the Lost Ark. I believed her… and I was hesitant to take off my mask when I was adopted."
Jataro closed his eyes. "I finally took my mask off to show Akira, Futaba and my adopted dad… I was expecting their heads to explode or something, but I was met with praise about "how good looking" and "how cute I was". I was so confused… and it took time to recognize myself in the mirror. It was then I confided to them about how I was treated."
Futaba attempted to wrap her arms around her little bro. "And when you were ready, you told the Phantom Thieves when you got to know all of them. And later down the line, you told JINXY when you got to know them since they sometimes hang out at the cafe."
"I still remember Nyx telling me that I'm always welcome at her house if I'm ever feeling down in the dumps." Jataro smiled.
"Hmm… I forgot you told JINXY and the rest of the Phantom Thieves." Nagisa said. "...Does Rantaro-"
"Yeah, I know too." Rantaro nodded.
"He even told Sae and she gave him a big hug." Futaba smiled.
"For me, I always dreamed of being a movie star when I was little. I saw stars like Mikie Hara and Kazusa Aranami on the big screen and I wanted to be just like them. My mother… damn that woman… she thought the best way to go about it was to meet with producers and… have their way with me. My old man encouraged it!"
"If I may add…" Mine said, looking at her sister who nodded in approval, closing her eyes and clenching her fists on her knees to brace for it. "She was told to be "gentle" with everyone that she met, because she was taught it was the best way to go about it with movie producers. Because of that, the word "gentle" is a hell of a trigger word for her… even if she's trying to get past it."
Kotoko sighed, gulping. "Okay… I'm good…"
"I'm starting to understand why Nagisa and Monaca called the adults "demons"." Yang grimaced.
"So let me get this straight…" Blake said. "You mean to tell us that you got whored out by your own parents to a bunch of producers… all because your mom thought it would be the best way to boost your career as an actress?!"
Kotoko sighed bitterly. "Pretty much…"
"If only that bitch was still alive…" Mine hugged her sister tightly with a glare. "I would have eviscerated her with Pumpkin in more than I would imagine."
"You just read my mind, girlfriend." Weiss nodded in agreement as a dark look loomed over her eyes. "Though in my case, I'd filet her like a fish using Myrtenaster."
Winter put a hand on her shoulder. "Take it easy, Weiss. Even if that abhorrent woman was still alive, it's not worth the effort."
Weiss slumped while Meryl rubbed her back. "Right… sorry…"
"Hey, um… I'm sorry if this comes as rude and insensitive, but how old were you when all of that happened?" Falco asked.
"Falco!" Fox scolded sternly.
Falco raised his hands up in defense. "What? I said I was sorry!" He looked back at Kotoko. "Look, kiddo, it's okay if you don't feel like-"
"No. No, it's okay… I knew that someone would eventually ask a question like that." She glanced to the side in discomfort while sighing. "Anyway, I was around ten when I got prostituted by that bitch…"
"You gotta be kidding me." Sonic could only say in horror and disbelief.
"Oh god…" Ratchet could only say while Clank was left speechless.
"And then there's me… where I couldn't have had time to myself because I was forced to be the best of the best, forced to do hours and hours of grueling study sessions to the point I had to have an IV stuck in me all because of "high expectations" were set upon me. Ugh… all of those social studies exams I had to do…"
Nagisa shuddered. "I'm still haunted just thinking about it…"
"Honestly-" Silver began. "I don't blame you for eliminating them. I would've done the same if I were in your shoes."
Silver turned to Dipper. "Dipper, did you know about any of this?"
Dipper nodded. "Yeah... but it's not just me. My twin sister and Kokoron also knew about this when we first joined." He frowned right after. "To tell you the truth, after when Nagisa told me and Mabel that same story... we once thought at some point that being a Warrior of Hope meant doing stuff like they did before in the past."
He rubbed his arm in discomfort. "You know... children killing their abusive parents... treating adulthood like some kind of disease... and forcing other kids to believe that it's better to die as a kid right before puberty even hits."
He shook his head. "... But we're not like that. Bad parents or not, we don't want to think that things should always end like that for all of us."
Nagisa nodded in agreement. "He's right."
He would then put both hands on Silver's shoulder. "Listen to me, Silver. We will be the adults we chose to be when we cross that bridge... not those who have been. We must be better."
His expression turned serious. "And who we were before... is not who you or anyone else who joins us will be."
Silver gave a soft smile. "Right."
Caliburn also smiled. "Indeed. I'm glad you were able to get out of that poisonous mindset."
"You want to know what I think?" Ruby spoke up as they all turned to her. "I don't care if you guys killed those awful people. That was all in the past and you've all learned from it, and in turn you all got loving families."
She turned to Nagisa. "Nagisa, you became more confident in your abilities even when you mess up. And, having Penny as a sister? That's a heck of an upgrade if you ask me! I'm a little jealous!"
Nagisa blushed. "Thanks…" He said, where Penny giggled.
She turned to Jataro. "Jataro, you've grown confident to the point you don't care about what people think about your face anymore. You also have a lot of friends to back you up and honestly…? That face of yours makes you look cute!"
Jataro blushed a deep red. "Aww…"
"Kotoko, you decided to change course and went from being a movie star to a Vlog star. Seriously, I've seen your vlogs and I can see the confidence in your face! That right there tells me everything I needed to know. Heck, I'm even a subscriber~!"
"Aw, thank yo-... you subscribed to me?! …Huh! Wow, that just gave me a hell of a boost!"
"And you, Masaru? You've got a kind, loving, and gentle mother, sorry Kotoko, who takes good care of you along with a couple of siblings who sticks by your side no matter what."
She giggled. "Not to mention you've also got yourself a cute-looking girlfriend who's pretty much protective and loyal to you just like how you're equally protective and loyal to her."
"Hey...!" Masaru blushed, but chuckles and smiles nonetheless in gratitude. "... But you're not completely wrong though. Thanks a ton, Ruby." That reminds me, I need to take Kokoron on a date once this is over.
"All of you have moved forward from it. The old yous don't define you anymore. What defines you is… well… you at the current moment! …If that makes sense."
"It does." Nagisa gave Ruby a thankful smile.
"You know… I've been thinking about something lately." Silver said.
"Oh? What is it?" Nagisa wondered.
"About the Warriors of Hope. The way you told me about your friends, it made me think that they're really nice people despite their differences. They kind of remind me of Sonic in a way."
"How so?" Dipper asked.
"Oh, you know… like open minded, adventure seeking, and also… optimistic in a sort of way. You see, where I'm from, living two hundred years in the future is not as crazily awesome as you might think. It's kinda boring with all the peace, not to mention the adventures I have there aren't as adventurous as the ones I have here in the past."
Silver chuckled. "Though, I did have a strange dream once. Blaze was in the future with me and we fought this creature called Iblis. Then this guy named Mephiles told me that Sonic was responsible for it, calling him the "Iblis Trigger"."
"Whoa whoa whoa! You had that dream too?" Sonic feigned surprise.
"You as well, huh?" Shadow wondered.
"I had that dream too! …Eggman looked way diffferent." Tails said.
"...I had that dream and witnessed a girl kissing Sonic. I should've smacked her for that. She stole MY kiss!"
Sonic sweatdropped. "Ever the jealous one…"
"You guys too?" Knuckles grimaced.
"Okay… I don't know if I should be amazed or horrified if we all had the same dream." Silver said.
For your sakes, I wouldn't even go there… Futaba thought.
I'm so glad I'm the only one to remember that… Sonic thought.
"Regardless… being here in this timeline is a lot more fun than in my own, if you can believe it." Silver chuckled. "I often did things alone when I was back in my time. I'll admit, its been a while since I've been with a group of people. It does sound too much of a nice offer for me to walk away from."
He smiled. "Long story short, I've made up my mind. If it means continuing doing the right thing, or maybe following whatever you guys love doing… count me in."
Nagisa smiled back along with Dipper, while the other three's eyes widened with sparkles in their eyes. "We knew you'd come up with an answer like that eventually."
Dipper chuckled. "Yeah, man. Welcome to the team!"
"Hey Nagisa. Can I ask you one more question?" Silver asked.
"Who was that woman you mentioned in your story?"
"...Junko. Junko Enoshima."
End BGM
Meanwhile…
"Doctor." Sage appeared once more. "I've received intel from the Warriors of Hope. The initial four have all been through some kind of child abuse from their parents."
"Child abuse, you say?" Eggman frowned. "I may be a mad scientist and evil genius, but never in a million years would I even stoop that low."
"Because you have a heart." Kyoko said.
Eggman chuckled. "Indeed."
Sage felt something in her chest. "If you two will excuse me…"
She teleported away, leaning against a wall and clutched her chest.
"What is this feeling… I am an AI programmed to follow his whim. Why… why am I starting to feel like he's my actual father…"
Back with the others, Kyoko looked at Eggman quizzically. "If I may, I'm curious… what does Sage mean to you?"
"Why, she's my creation. An AI meant to follow my command."
Eggman folded his arms. "Although, lately, I've been feeling rather… different towards Sage lately. I honestly feel like she's my own daughter for some reason."
He turned his back to Kyoko. "I don't know why I'm telling a nosy detective like you, but… considering you looked into my memories lately… I guess I feel I should confide to you, as weird as it sounds."
Eggman rubbed his head. "Still… this odd feeling. Is this what it is like when a parent feels with their children? I wonder if this is the same feeling Rosalina had when she married into Ruby's family."
Kyoko gave him a bright smile with a twinkle in her eye. "Yes, Robotnik. It is exactly how it feels."
Deadpool: Awww!
Ibuki: Her heart!
Yes indeed. Shout out to Log for that fight with Donovan, as I had wanted to write that up last chapter but felt it'd be best to split it with one chapter being Monaca and the other being Donovan. And another shout out to Yuri for the scene with Nagisa confiding everything to everyone.