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shatteredprison

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From:

shatterdriven

[As usual, Shadow catches on pretty quick.]

The Chaos Council used the four shards they gained to forcefully open and start terraforming both the Bosc Cage Maze and No Place. And they left them open against my warnings. It's likely that they stayed that way until those two Shatterspaces collapsed. Bosc Cage was still standing when Sonic returned to the Grim, so the last I'd seen that portal was still open for certain.

From:

shatteredprison

[Forcing open portals to terraform. Of course it was the council. A mistake even the Doctor would make. If they led to the decay and were never closed...]

Would the portals have remained after both spaces were shattered?

From:

shatterdriven

It's a possibility I've been considering. The portals were there while their worlds existed, so it's possible they were reformed in the same state they would have been before the decay was accelerated.

From:

shatteredprison

Which would lead to the same decay as before. Which may explain what happened with the Prism. Keeping it out of the doctor's hands did nothing.

From:

shatterdriven

That's the most reasonable conclusion. The Rebels likely didn't have the technical know-how to shut off the system if they thought to, and I wasn't thinking about it because my first concern was Sonic.

Additionally, Green Hill may have been affected first in a reverse of the energy being siphoned from the Shatterspaces to the Prism, the portals were attempting to siphon the energy back from the Prism to sustain themselves. But with Green Hill and the Prism gone, there was nothing to draw from.

[It's a sobering thought.]

But the fact remains that you had the least information to work with. It's possible you would have thought to ask about the portals had you known, but you didn't. So of all of us, and I mean ALL of us, you have the least fault in this. For a number of reasons.

But I understand losing everything you were working to protect now. After fighting for it with everything you have. That's why I wanted to talk to you about it.

I wanted to give you some time first though.

From:

shatteredprison

Your logic is sound. [Shadow admits that first. It's true. Perhaps he does hold the least amount of fault, of blame. Yet he can't help feeling guilty. That he couldn't keep his promise to Maria. That he failed, ultimately failed, to protect the world she loved so much.]

It doesn't affect how I feel completely. The guilt is still there. I broke a promise I used to keep going for years now. It was...all I had. Now what I have is this world. Is you and Sonic and the others I've met here. Yet all were second to that promise.

I have to live without that now. And I never thought I would have to.

From:

shatterdriven

My goal wasn't to completely remove the guilt, just to help you reason through it. Your promise isn't my business, only what happened.

From:

shatteredprison

Fair enough.

[Shadow looks at Nine for a moment.] And how are you? It was not easy for you either, the fighting, losing the Grim.

From:

shatterdriven

All things considered, it's mostly the physical toll that's been the roughest. I did as much to myself, if not more, than Sonic or Renegade managed. [He gestures to the lunch he had Shadow pick up.]

But I had only just started the cleanup and not even begun thinking on how I was going to make the Grim habitable, so in the long run this could be for the best. For my situation.

From:

shatteredprison

We could find someone with Spring abilities to help accelerate the healing process. Make sure you're in good health after channeling all that Prism energy.

[He nods and takes another bite. No pressure but it is an option.] This world is all either of us have now. We best make the most of it.

From:

shatterdriven

Not the most appealing option, but I'm open to it if you happen to have anyone in mind. If not I can ask over the network without giving too much away.

[He shrugs.] It is what I'm used to doing. As soon as I can handle it, I plan to get back to training, and we did agree to let Sonic watch us train together. So that and quests will be my main focus.

From:

shatteredprison

We should include Sonic on the training. He'll get antsy if we don't. And he needs to practice more. We all do.

I will ask. I think Evangeline is Spring. She is trustworthy enough to ask if she can help heal your wounds.

From:

shatterdriven

If he hasn't started training since the last time I talked to him, he needs it the most. He didn't even have the basics.

If you wouldn't mind asking her, I would appreciate it.

From:

shatteredprison

He has managed some. He waited in the snow for me to return when we went home. Used his fire to keep himself warm.

Still. More training is always good. I will ask her for you.

From:

shatterdriven

That tracks. It seems like learning so that he can support his friends is an inherent Sonic trait. Still, we're more experienced already so helping won't hurt.

Keep me informed.

[He finishes his food and settles back in the couch.]

Well, that was all I wanted to talk to you about, so is there anything you need from me?

From:

shatteredprison

I will.

[Shadow takes a few more bites of food to finish his.]

As long as you take care of yourself, that's all I need right now.

From:

shatterdriven

Alright. Well, the emerald is on the worktable right over there.

[He gestures to the table tucked in the corner of the room.]

You can take it once you're ready to leave.

From:

shatteredprison

I can stay a little longer.

[It isn't like he's in a hurry to leave.] Thank you. For talking to me about it. And for lunch.

From:

shatterdriven

It's not a big deal. We may really be the last of the Shatterverse. And it didn't feel right for you to carry all of the blame when we all played a part.

So I wanted to try.

From:

shatteredprison

Hm. [Shadow nods and leans back against the sofa.]

What do you plan to do now?

From:

shatterdriven

I'm going to train and put my skills to use. If this is home now, then I'm not losing it to the darkness.

From:

shatteredprison

[Shadow nods. He finds it hard to want to do that here. Even if it is all he has left. He had no love for their world but Maria did. Maria didn't love this world. She didn't know it. So how was he to find that drive again? He'd need to think on it.]

From:

shatterdriven

What are you thinking about?

From:

shatteredprison

I never loved my world or the people in it. Contrary to what some may think. I didn't see some beautiful world that I wanted to save for its own sake. I did it because Maria cherished that world. She wanted it kept safe and saw beauty in it. Beauty she never got to behold or experience herself.

That was why I tried so hard to repair Ghost Hills. Because it's what she would have wanted. This world? She didn't know this world. I made no promise about Ellipsa. I have no motivation to help this place. I exist here and only here now. That is the truth of it. I held no love for my original home. I hold no love for this place either.

From:

shatterdriven

I guess I can identify with that feeling a little. When I found the Grim, I saw a clean slate world that I could make my own...but Sonic also already meant a lot to me. I didn't even know where he was, but once I started working my focus was on the things he'd talked about missing first.

I'm not attached to the idea of blue skies or palm trees, or any of that...but he was, so I wanted to give that to him because it meaning something to him meant something to me. That's gone now, was before it all ended.

I'm not particularly attached to this world, but right now it's the only home I've got left. So my motivation is that I don't want to lose another one.

...maybe for you...was she the kind of person who would you to use your powers to protect another world that needed it? Or would she really only care about her own?