Somehow, Erythia's water level had returned to normal. The operatives found teleportation pads that would warp them down to the barbican, where some yachts were available to ferry themselves and the restored Mirans back to Swordmarch. The voyage was mostly in silence as they feared Vanilla's fate. Aniki could neither speak nor move. Pai wished she could find the right words for him. He'd been drowning in stress and worry this whole mission… and now he would never return from it.
"Heeeeeey!" What seemed like a motorboat was approaching them.
"Is that Valdi and Nikol?" Noah asked.
"Glad we were able to catch up! We think you might've dropped something." The Poppibuster raised Suna's damp and panting frame.
"Sunavabitch!" Ghondor exclaimed, the Go-Getters looking on in relief.
"Huh…great." Suna mumbled. "They found Ghondor…"
Valdi and Nikol helped Suna onto the Go-Getters' boat, the Mirans' parking beside. The two were glad to see Colony Alpha back to normal, but they had unfortunate news to share. "The downpour came suddenly and washed several operatives down the abyss." Nikol said. "Supreme Commander Zeon returned and… derezzed Juniper, Isurd, and Nimue. Now it's just us two."
"We cooked this boat up to sail against the current." Valdi followed. "And we happened to catch Suna floating down."
"So, ya didn't kick it after all!" Ghondor grinned.
Suna had enough strength to kick her sister in the knee. "It's your fault we got sucked into this mess, you know! Mom and Dad made us come here to save you!"
"That isn't MY fault!"
"This isn't the time for arguing." Jennu stated. "Suna… we have some bad news of our own."
It was a lot for Suna to take in. Not only was Tattsun reborn as Sage's Driver… their SOS plan was foiled and Vanilla was destroyed. Even more confusing was that the Rex impostor was the teacher from Towa Academy, Ms. Shirogane. "Uh…erm…that sure is a lot…" Valdi said. "But, we can't be certain Vanilla is… gone. Perhaps she respawned as well!"
"Yeah!" Yuki chirped. "That sure wouldn't be fair if she didn't!"
"Look, we'd all like that to be true, but… we just can't be sure with her condition."
"Let's just get up to Swordmarch." Pochi said. "See if Nyoro's okay…"
The elevator had been broken, but Valdi and Nikol did a quick repair job to make their ascent up the sword much smoother. Chunks of the city were in ruins, but all that remained of the Control Station was charred scrap. Nyoro and Mar sat beside it, wrought with gloom and shame. Nyoro faintly looked up to see her friends' return, her brother approaching first. "…" Nyoro rose, but could still barely meet Aniki's gaze. "You were right… I never should've let this happen…"
Aniki brought her in for a hug. There was no point reminding her of his arguments, anymore. They both had realized what they'd done wrong. All they could do now was remember her.
They jumped, hearing the rubble shake. A piece of it was lifting. A pair of skinny, robotic arms became visible, followed by the half-human head of a sparking Levnis. "Reycho!" Valdi exclaimed.
"R-Reycho!" Pai lit up in hope. "You survived! Do you know if… what happened to…"
The robot beeped. "Master Reycho claims that a gap was found within the data stream." Poppibuster translated. "Just thin enough for Miss Vanilla to slip through."
"Does that mean she's alive?!"
"So, right as that thing attacked…" Nyoro faced him, "Vanilla escaped?"
"'Maybe, but I'm not really sure if she made it to GKND's email or not,' Reycho says."
"I bet she did!" Pai exclaimed. "I bet we'll be seeing backup at any moment! Vanilla's alive, Aniki!"
"Hmm…" A faint glimmer of hope shone in his eyes. He wasn't going to desperately cling to it, yet he wanted it to mean something.
"You know… I almost feel it, too." Pochi smiled. "We'll see her again."
"Then we'll count on it." Nyoro said. "That's all we can do… right, Aniki?"
"…yeah."
"On our end of things," Monica began, "we rescued plenty of allies, but Captain Triton was derezzed."
"UWAAAARRRRGH!" Zenobia's axe cleaved down Triton's shoulder into his heart. "Ah…to be felled by me own Blade… I be… gettin' too old…" The pirate scattered.
"HA HA!" Zenobia laughed. "You're a century too early to challenge…" her own body began to derez, "me?"
"It seems that Blades vanish and respawn along with their Drivers. Even though they had been separated when this game began. What of the Swordmarch Defense? How many fell?"
"Everyone but me, Baxter, and Shania." Mar answered. "Even Joran and Gray were derezzed." Mowchan whimpered. "This cyborg who looked like a Longear attacked us, but we couldn't stop him. I tried to run and grab some more weapons, but he'd already retreated because of his damages. Luckily, the civilians in the bunker stayed safe."
"Mmmmmm, I could sure go for some sandwiches now." Finch said. "Can we get something to eat already, we've been working all day."
"Have a bit of tact, ya birdbrain." Ghondor conked Finch's head.
"Hey, look what the Lurker dragged in!" Baxter announced his presence. "Sheesh, if there was a contest on most battered getup of the year, I say we're both runner-ups. Quick question, Mar, has there always been a big ominous 'X' thing in the distance?"
"What?"
"I was just up at the observatory, tryin' to see what was up at the castle, and I just saw it."
"Hmm…let's check that out." Pochi suggested.
They traveled up to the observatory and saw the ominous black and purple "X" in the distance. Small parts of it were glitchy and invisible. "That's definitely never been there before." Noah said.
"Okay, if that ain't a big villain's lair, I dunno what is." Kansai said.
"Does that mean… that's where Sage is?" Yuki asked.
"It's a strong possibility." Pochi glared. "I think we have our next target."
"It looks like it's above the Black Mountains." Mar said. "That's in Cent-Omnia. There's a canal that connects Erythia there."
"Great, but… can we eat first?" Sena asked sheepishly.
"You read my mind, sister." Mowchan smiled.
"But like, do we have time for eating?" Finch asked. "We gotta stop Dr. Egghead!"
"You're a generation behind, birdy." Pochi remarked.
…
Suna would later follow her sister to the hospital, where Mio and Eunie helped treat Shania. Shania grew furious seeing Ghondor casually stroll in, flipping up to sock her in the jaw. "And why are YOU still alive?! You left us all to drown, but how did you get to survive?!"
"I had confidence in ya is all! And quit worryin', they're not dead. They'll respawn."
"Then why don't you go 'respawn' with them?!"
"It wasn't a waste, ya know. Look who I brought home."
Panacea and Linka entered the room. "Panny?!" Shania gasped in relief.
"Hey, Shanny!" Panacea approached to hug her sister. "I'm glad you're okay!"
"The Reid sisters are reunited!" Linka excitedly hugged both.
"'ang on, you're part of the Genbu family." Eunie reminded.
"I'm a Reid at heart!"
Ghondor let out a chuckle. "Hoping that'll take the blame off you or something?" She frowned and turned to Suna.
"Yeah, and what would you know? You sent me away to fend for myself just the same."
"Because you were disrespectful and a troublemaker. Case and point."
"Yeah, well Ah don't need your approval." Ghondor passed her. "'sides, Shania gets mad at me a bunch, she'll be over it by tomorrow. You should see how clingy she is to me normally."
"Well, that's your business, I guess. I was supposed to have you back by Christmas, but I don't even know what date it is."
"Zanzember 20."
"And… that coincides with our December?"
"Heck if I would know. Been a while since I used an Earth calendar. But honestly, I'm glad I moved away. Mira's the bee's knees. There's so many big monsters to fight and things to do!"
"Earth's pretty active, too. You wouldn't believe all the crud we've dealt with in just two months. With this one being the third. I bet I'm even stronger than you now."
"Oh, is that a challenge? You challenging Wrathfist Ghondor?"
"I think Bladefoot Suna is."
"Heh. Then let's give this city a show."
Virid Park was left wide open for the sisters to duel. Suna circled and lashed her blades from every direction, Ghondor's Turbo Cestus gloves serving as shields before landing a punch to Suna's leg. As her body spun from the impact, her other leg flipped up to strike Ghondor's head, with the first rotating for a back attack. Ghondor sprung back to punch Suna's gut, the skater following with an up-kick to fling Ghondor's arm up and stamping her gut in turn. Suna slid away from the impact, surfing around the park to build momentum before charging straight at her. She tested her helmet's endurance against Ghondor's fist and attempted to shove her elder back.
"Oh, no!" Yuki exclaimed. "I think Miss Ghondor's been brainwashed, too, now!"
"No, Yuki, this is just a normal sibling thing." Pochi reasoned.
"That girl always has strength to spare." Monica said.
"Nothing like working up an appetite!" Sena grinned. "You wanna go for some sparring, Lanz?"
"Nah, we'll get plenty of action tomorrow, I'm sure."
"Yeah." Mio agreed. "Speaking of which… before we go to Cent-Omnia, I wanted to travel to Captocorn Peak first. There's something I want to retrieve. It may help us in the battle to come."
"Really? What is it?" Pochi asked.
"It's… my dad's Aegis." The ops perked up. "He locked it in a hidden place that'll only open from a key that I have. I was supposed to wait until the day I felt ready to wield it. I think that time is now."
"Really, Mimi?!" Sena beamed. "Awe, I'm so proud of you! You're gonna be a GREAT Driver!"
"Why couldn't we have gotten it earlier?!" Kansai shouted.
"I-I was going to, yesterday, but we sort of… got sidetracked, hehe. The path to Captocorn is beyond the barbican, so it shouldn't be that far of a trip."
"Okay then. An Aegis would be quite handy to have, honestly." Pochi replied.
"My dad hid his Aegis, too." Nikol said. "But he never revealed where. Not that I could wield it, anyway."
"Why not?"
"Well, 'cause… I could never be a Driver. I tried twice to resonate with Blades, but…"
"Aw, Nikol…" Valdi reached for him in comfort.
"Hmm…" Pochi was again reminded of Tattsun. Where was he now…
Cyberspace
Sage stared listlessly over the expanse of Aionios. She had failed again… and could only contemplate why as she looked to Tattsun. "Is it because of our artificial bond… because of your reprogrammed mind… that we couldn't match their power?"
"It's the same lesson Electro Yellow learned in Episode 12. False forged friends fall fastest! And I bet ya can't say that three times fast."
"What kind of ridiculous moral… False-forged-friends-fall-fastest, falth-forthed…!"
"Hahaha!"
Sage grit her teeth; how could she have such a trivial glitch? She turned and walked forward a few steps. "When I hear that melody… I lose myself. All I see are floating lights and I hear whispers. But it allowed Yuki to save Pochi and even fuse with him. Maybe I should try to listen to it… and we'll be able to fuse, too."
"Well, if two heads are better than one, I guess one fused head is better than two!"
"…" Should Sage even humor that logic? "When Yuki and I made contact, I saw her memories also. Limited though they were."
"But ya know, we're gonna need a name to call ya, so how about a nickname? I'm thinking 'Yuki'!" Kansai proposed.
"Yuki?!" Yuki chirped in awe. "That name sounds pippity-poppity wonderful!"
"Here you go!" Mowchan used chopsticks to gently set an egg on Yuki's plate. "Served sunny side up!"
"Thank you, Mr. Mowchan!" Yuki took her first bite. "MMMMMM! Hyper scrumdily-umptious! I've never tasted anything so yummy before!"
"Moohoohoo! I guess if you don't have a memory, this is practically the first food you've ever eaten!"
"And I'll remember it forever!"
Yuki walked to the spring. The pure water reflected her image, her Core Crystal hidden against its mystic blue glow. "I thought I was just… a normal girl. How did I become a Blade? Why… was I… made…"
Sage reflected on why she was made. To serve the Eggman Empire as her father did. That was why Dr. Omelette was there for her creation. And though she'd experienced several failures from Mobian adversaries, the doctor still valued her. And her cohorts, the Axolites, assigned her this special task only she could do.
"Oh well." Yuki spun around in a spritely manner. "I guess I'll try it out. I don't know why I have to… but I sure don't know what else to do. I just hope I can spend more time with my new friends!"
"Hahahahaha!" Kansai was joyed by her enthusiasm. "In that case, welcome to Sector Q, Yuki-chan!" He jumped over and put an arm around her. "I say you're a lifelong friend already!"
Just as Yuki was quick to accept her fate… and how she cherished her friends. "I wonder if L is alright… I thought she and M could've been here, too."
"You're kinda soft under all that code, aren't you?"
"?!" Sage looked to Tattsun in shock. He possessed a light smile beneath his glitching mask. "You…"
"Sage!" Dr. Omelette entered the chamber. "Are you okay?"
"I'm… fine. My data just needed a little repair. But Doctor… those hearts that came out of us…"
"Those were the Pure Hearts. It turns out those six hearts were divided between you and Yuki, while the Chaos Heart seemingly vanished. So, I wonder if it also…"
"IIIII!" The Genius, Rick Sanchez wobbled into the door and slumped against the wall. "You and I, you and me, WE, got some, burp, problems! If you'd gotten yourself killed out there, this whole game, burp, would've been over, and that means no more income! Now our whole system is acting up, even the X-Station's cloaking!"
"Pretty sure all the income went to your drinks." Omelette remarked.
"Can it, Dr. Yolk! And you, Cosplayer!" He shot a glare to the teacher entering the room. "Great job blowing your cover! You know that means you can't go back to your school, anymore."
"Oh, the KND would've noticed what happened to the students eventually." Shirogane frowned nonchalantly. "I was already prepared not to return. But I kind of like it better this way." She approached and knelt before Tattsun, smiling proudly at his ranger suit. "After all, there's nothing like finding someone you properly relate to. Then you just can't hide behind a mask." She turned around and threw on a Batman costume. "Isn't that right… Joker?"
"Now that's just rubbing salt in the wound!" Joker huffed, going to sit against the corner.
"Is that boy even Enforcer material?" Ocelot questioned. "He's under manipulation, after all."
"Oh, I'm sure we can come to some kind of arrangement. A Darkness Cannon, even!"
"Yeah, well that's something to work out later." Sanchez said. "I, I want you to mobilize all colonies to the Cent-Omnia area."
"Why?"
"Because now that our cloak is down, those brats might notice us, so we'll need every available soldier to stop them. And once that's done, I think we'll just have the Enforcers massacre them."
"What?!" Shirogane asked in distraught. "What about my killing game?"
"This project suffered enough delays because of those kids. We need to get with the killing and get with the harvesting!"
"An old-fashioned head hunt sounds like a far more fun game." C smirked.
"V…Very well." Sage said. "However, I'd like to pursue an upgrade in the meantime."
"An upgrade?" Omelette asked.
"I'm taking Tattsu—I mean, TT, to find another soldier who plays that melody. If I review Mira's network, I'm sure one will come to light."
"I think I've had enough of your reckless behavior!" Sanchez stated. "That's what my grandson is for, not my computers!"
"Hey, I'm Sage's legal guardian," Omelette argued, "and I say she's allowed to be reckless! If you have an idea, go for it, Sage."
"Thanks… Doctor."
"Now, let's give her space to work. Can't have all our bootprints around the map."
"Can't I at least borrow Tattsun for a quick Electro Rangers reenactment?" Shirogane asked.
"Which one?!" Tattsun asked giddily.
"I need him with me." Sage insisted.
"Oh, phooey. Be back soon then."
The adults cleared the room. Sage focused her iris around all the soldiers of Aionios. "…Okay, 'TT' just sounds wrong." Tattsun blushed. "It sounds like you're calling me private parts."
"…It does." Sage sparked a smile. "Hah. …!" She frowned. "What is wrong with me…sigh."
Swordmarch
"AAAAAHHHH." The sisters splashed into the soothing spa and propped their plump feet onto the edge. "Gotta admit, Suna, you couldn't skate for shit before I left home. But you sure treaded me." The indents from Suna's blades were stinging from the heat.
"And your knuckles hurt as hard as I remember." Suna sighed, rubbing the bruises.
"You know, it's hard to believe you're four years apart." Jennu said. "You're almost the same height, so you could be twins."
"Thank Arceus we ain't." Ghondor said. "I'd never wanna share a womb with her."
"You said it." Suna agreed.
"Well, that's… not a sentiment you hear often." Jennu blushed. "But you know, Ghondor, Suna and her friends risked a lot coming here to save you."
"Who asked you? She said herself that our parents made her do it. And you probably would've under obligatory KNDuties, anyway. Hah!" she snorted. "OW!" Jennu kicked her in the hip.
"I don't know what your problem is with Suna, but the least you can do is thank her for coming all this way."
"Fine…fine. Thank you, Suna. But like, only reason I was so mean to you was to toughen you up. And it worked wonders!"
"Yeah, I'm so tough that I let a brat like Kansai whine me out of being leader."
"Pfft, really? Well, I stand corrected."
"So, sisters fight like this all the time, huh?" Yuki asked.
"That's right, sweetheart. It's a fact of life."
"Hey, don't confuse Yuki like that." Jennu stated. "Siblings still love each other deep down."
"Even… Sage?"
"Okay, let's rewind a bit." Suna reasoned. "As much as I hate Ghondor's guts… she's not a bad person and I'd never wish anything bad for her. But Sage is… forcing everyone on this planet to kill each other for evil reasons. There's only so much you could try to 'understand' her before you realize what she's doing. Whether she's your sister or not, you have to stop her."
"Oh…but, it's just… when I touched her heart… she really didn't feel that evil…"
"Then what do you propose to do?" Ghondor asked. "Share tea and cakes and talk things out?"
"Do you think she would like tea and cakes?"
"No, because that's a stupid idea! If she's gone this far to muck up our world, she ain't going to listen!"
"Maybe… but I saw that Sage has friends of her own. Maybe she's just fighting for people she cares about, the same way I am."
"There have been lots of villains who were like that." Jennu reasoned. "But I don't know…"
"I just wish she would listen to me. But if she tries to hurt my friends again… I guess I'll have to destroy her."
The girls could see Yuki didn't want to go through with that. But if Yuki truly believed that about Sage… maybe there was a way she would listen.
Captocorn Peak; Colony Omega
"All soldiers are to go to Cent-Omnia. There will be a temporary truce between the Agnians and Kevesi. The monster infestation has gotten out of control. You must unify in a combined effort to stop them."
"A truce?" Ethel gasped. "Have things truly gotten that drastic?"
"The air is foreboding." Her Blade, Cammuravi said. "The High Command's orders are absolute… but I fear not all soldiers will honor the truce."
"I'm sure they will." A softer voice spoke. It belonged to a brown-haired girl with gentle green eyes and a green bow on the back of her white uniform. She carried a fan with a yellow edge. "If we have a common goal now… we can join hands and work together."
"I hope so, Miyabi." Ethel said.
"Ahem! Off-seer girl!"
With a start, Miyabi turned to a short, black-armored figure. "Y-Yes, Consul?"
"Before you go, we'd like you to play us a song."
"A song?"
Sage's eye shone behind her Driver. "Yes… your song, please." (Play "Heart and Soul" from Sonic Frontiers.)
"…Okay." Miyabi withdrew her own flute. A pleasant melody echoed across the mountain. It lulled Sage into a drowsy state. The world faded and grew dotted with spirit nodes, floating against a sea of red code. "The off-seer tradition was conceived to send off the souls of the fallen. But these spirits… are more than souls." She reached and touched one.
"Don't you think it's strange? That name thing?" Sena asked a silver-haired, cybernetic girl. "Being called a number instead of a name feels so dehumanizing. Don't you feel bad to be called like that? You're the same as us, after all…"
"Cannot ascertain purpose of question." The girl responded in an emotionless tone.
"Ohh…" Sena seemed genuinely distraught by the notion.
Sage blinked. That was one of the Colony 0 Face Mechon. This must have been back when Colony Alpha rescued them from Dr. Figuro, according to the files. Sage touched another one.
"This isn't what I wanted to use them for!" Valdi shouted at a villain in engineer clothes.
"Are you daft, boy? Machines of this caliber can only be used for subjugation! If you want them to bring peace to the world, then you have to bring fear! And useless trash like this won't cut it!" He commanded his mech to smash Valdi's Mechafriend. Valdi cried over his faithful buddy.
That villain must have been Quincy the Mecha Madman. "These nodes record the memories of the world. Like data in a vast network. Or perhaps it's because I converted Aionios into data that they appear like this. But why do I…"
"I? …Iris? Sage?" Sage blinked, reality flickering back into place as she met with Tattsun's helmeted visage. "Did you want to try… fusing now?"
"I suppose…" She tried to transform their gauntlets into the Unlucky. "It's not working. Why?"
"Not sure. Maybe we have to be in… battle or something?"
"That can't be right. I…?" Sage gasped at her left hand. The red code was becoming blue. Even her black sleeve was turning white. "TT!" She clutched it with the other hand. "What's happening to me?"
Tattsun held the arm. "It feels… gentle. Like a gentle cool. It's kind of nice."
Sage felt that arm grow soft. Relaxed and peaceful. "It does… a little. It feels…" She shut her eye. The nodes surrounded her again. The memories filled her.
"Now, No. 7! Kill the fire Blade!" Dr. Figuro ordered, his finger directed at Sena.
"Don't, Segiri!"
"No. 7…" The Machina twitched. She couldn't deny her master's orders… and yet a fault in her programming stopped her. A fault that registered Sena as a friend. "Must… comply…" The arms of her Ferron reeled back before throwing the axes… but they missed Sena completely and chopped the doctor's shoulders.
Ghondor buried King Jumbo where he last lay in the Elaice Highway. Even she couldn't act strong as the tears streamed her face. "You bastard… Leaving your kids with me… What kind of parent are you…"
"Take it easy on your breaths, Mio." Miyabi instructed her off-seer apprentice. "You've got the rhythm right. Just need to be a bit lower."
"Okay."
Amidst the War Game, Eunie shot Miyabi's head and derezzed her. Sena smashed Segiri's mech and burned her alive. Valdi ran Colony Mu into the mud with his Levnises.
"Zeon!" A wounded Juniper looked up at their leader, tears streaming in their futile effort to call to him. "It's me! We collected Spongy Spuds together, I helped you learn farming! I'm Juniper, you have to rememb-" Zeon beheaded the monster before him.
Sage felt a glitch beneath her eye. She wiped it… It was a digital tear. "You're crying?"
Tattsun reappeared in her vision. She wasn't sure how to justify this glitch. "Does Yuki experience this when she hears the melody? Does she see the memories of this world?"
"I wouldn't know. But if you're crying, those memories must be real tearjerkers, haha."
"Nothing of the sort. It's simply data. History and… recounts of the lives they've lived. This continent alone has had many stories… even up to this war game."
"It'd sure be sad if those stories ended, huh?"
"…" Sage looked him in the eye through his visor. "Why are you still here?"
"What?"
"Our Driver-Blade program is still in place… but you no longer have your reprogrammed memories, do you? Why haven't you tried to run?"
"Uh…it never crossed my mind?" Tattsun shrugged. "I guess when Pochi dealt that last attack, the Restore command still sort of touched me. I remember how I got in this situation now. I realized Rex was a phony and Yuki wasn't really the bad guy. But you don't seem very bad either."
"I'm… not?"
"It's like Episode 21, The Phantom of the Keyboard! The Gigawatts infected the Electro Rangers' main computer with a virus, and the only way to defeat it was to digitize and-"
"This topic seems irrelevant."
"Oh…" Tattsun drooped. "But, basically… the virus turned good when she realized the Gigawatts were jerks and it became the guardian of the rangers' network!"
"That's an erroneous analogy. While some of my cohorts do not seem to favor me, others do. L, M… and certainly Dr. Omelette. I follow my orders for them… so, I can be with them again."
"That's kind of how we are. It's why… we wanna get off this planet. To see our families again. Pochi wants to catch Silica's streams, Aniki's always worried about Vanilla, Mowchan and Pai are worried about their friends… and I don't think anyone else on this planet wants to kill their friends either."
"These were the orders I was given." Sage turned away. "It's my mission to… harvest the lives of… this world. In return, this world will give me more power… to serve the King. But I…"
She saw Sena serving her own onigiri to Segiri. Mowchan giggling from the simple act of Nyoro poking his belly. Colony Gamma's leader, Teach putting a revenge-stricken soldier out of his misery. Kansai apologizing to a sick Chuko. Monica serving Ghondor her special recipe for the five years she's lived here. Mio staying near Sena's hair to keep warm on the cold peaks. Aniki's sadness after hearing what happened to Vanilla.
"I wish I'd never seen this. It was so much easier when they were simply enemies."
Tattsun could only smile. Deep down, there was something in her code that loved this planet, too. (End song.)
Cyberspace
"Ugh, what the hell's taking I so long?" Sanchez asked as more black gaps filled up the computer. "I never thought it would fall apart this badly!"
"That's what I get for letting you tinker with my stuff in the first place!" Omelette argued. "Wouldn't be surprised if you hid a bunch of spam links in here to dirty websites. Huh?" The entire station blacked out.
"Well… that's not good." Shirogane sighed. "Is it undergoing a reboot?"
"I don't know…"
The lights came back on. Instead of red, they were white and black. "Well, I didn't sign off on this color." Sanchez said. "Nothing's responding. It's registering a new source of data."
"Pielololooooooon! Finally, my code is coming through! Can anyone hear me?!"
"Who said that! Who's in there?!"
"Good! It's about time I got to talk with someone!" A black shape appeared against the white code on the computer. At first it was heart-shaped, before dividing into ear-like protrusions. It had a narrowed right eye, a left slit vertical and horizontal, and a smile. "So, this is why the world became like this. Thank goodness or else I'd be stuck floating in the ether."
"This code looks like Sage's." Omelette observed. "But it's not hers… nor is it Yuki's. …Could this be the-?!"
"Sage? That name, lolooooon…oh, that's the name that 'Father' gave me! No, wait… it's the name my boring half took. PLOOOOON." It made a raspberry shape. "No wonder I couldn't get through before. I guess she must've tore herself apart! So, what were you buddies up to?" It grinned.
"Where's Sage?! Did you do something to her?!"
"Oh, here's the Command Room!" Sage's map chamber blared back to life as an impish figure appeared inside it. "Oh, it's a war game you're making, is it?! That sounds fun, pieloloon! I think I wanna play! Let's see, aaaaah…so, that's where she is. Is she asleep or something? Then perhaps I should seize this chance…"
"What're you doing?!"
"RYUUUUUUUU!"
Tattsun and Sage heard a roar across the mountain. A winged mechanism soared against the starry night. "The Perilwing Aion." Sage spoke.
"The guardian seems agitated." Cammuravi observed. "Does it sense a threat?"
"Um…I don't think…" Miyabi uttered worriedly. "AH!"
The Perilwing shut down and squashed Miyabi beneath its talons. It swiped its wings to derez the other Omega members while Ethel and Cammuravi defended. "Stop!" Sage ordered. "I didn't command you to-"
"LOOK OUT!" Tattsun dove and pushed her when the beast dug its beak down. The Aion's horns became black and white, jester hat-like ornaments and its red scythe tail turned a bubbly gold. "Why is it attacking us?!"
"Let's return to the station." Sage grabbed her Driver and tried to warp. "I can't teleport us! Dr. Omelette! Genius, Cosplayer, can you hear me?!" No voice returned to her.
"If I had to guess, I'd say the system just got hacked!"
6:00a.m.
Ghondor and the rest of the city troupe would prepare mobilizing to Cent-Omnia while the Go-Getters and Alpha sailed northwest to Captocorn Peak. Reycho had stayed behind with Valdi for repairs.
"Um…Aniki? Nyoro?" Pai spoke nervously. "How are you feeling?"
"I…I'm not sure." Nyoro replied. "Just holding on to that slight sliver of hope Reycho gave us. I don't deserve to be optimistic… I let this happen."
"No… I did, too." Aniki said. "I shouldn't have left you two alone."
"Don't beat yourselves up." Pai said. "Vanilla is no different than the rest of us. She did her part to help just like we are. You need to hold yourselves up and keep going for her. And keep trusting that you'll see her again."
"Even if she is still alive… I don't know if I could handle her joining the KND. I'll just… feel this way, all the time…" Aniki's voice trembled.
Pai tipped his chin up and held his hands. "I think I'm ready to join, too."
"Huh?"
"I'll join my brother's sector. I may not be in shape, but I think I can fit in. Then, maybe… I can come visit you when you need someone to share your worries with."
"…You'd join for a silly reason like that?" Aniki asked, a light weight lifting off his heart.
"Hehe…" Nyoro grinned. "Maybe there isn't anything to worry about."
Captocorn was a valley of narrow, snowy paths that resembled giant antlers, likely from the remains of an ancient Titan. Pochi used the Customize command to fit them with coats. However, the pairs of Chuko & Kansai and Mio & Sena were the warmest. Mio loved leaning by Sena's fiery ponytail, while Chuko's firebender body kept Kansai's back warm as he gave her a piggyback ride. "Ah, it's like travelin' with a heated pillow on your back." Kansai sighed.
"Or like riding a sleigh dog." Chuko remarked.
"Snow is so lovely!" Yuki rolled along in it. "But how come I don't have snowy powers? Didn't I fall down with the snow?"
"I'm not quite sure." Pochi chuckled. "Actually, looking at this map… we're almost above Alfeto Valley. Where we first met you."
"Really?" Suna glanced over his shoulder. "Wow! We already looped around the whole continent! Only feels like yesterday since we got here."
"Beg to differ!" Chuko argued.
"Say, Yuki… those hearts that came out of you and Sage." Pochi spoke. "I've seen them in one of our KND games. Those were the Pure Hearts."
"Pure Hearts?"
"The Pure Hearts of Bolypius. That's one of the Firstborn. It's a powerful data spirit that created this world."
"Oh, I've seen it!" Sena beamed. "From way back when your parents defeated Eggman! And didn't the Aegises contain parts of its chi, too?"
"I believe so. They were the cores of the computer that was used to build Mira. According to the game, Boly was made of eight Pure Hearts. One of the hearts became my mom… as crazy as that sounds. But Boly lost six of the other hearts while its main conscience survived in one as well. It looks like those six hearts were inside you and Sage… somehow."
"So, that white and black heart I saw in my dream… that was us?"
"I don't remember a black heart among them. …Actually, Boly did have a 9th heart. But that was the Chaos Heart, and it was supposed to be really dangerous."
"Oh, dear…"
The ops trained by fighting the Ellooks, Bunnits, Ories, or Aries that tried to drive the intruders off their turf. There was a portion where the Titan antlers would only lead off into the abyss, but Aniki could bend them to connect with the nearest antler. They had reached the top of a high slope where an Agnus gate blocked the way below, but Mowchan could roll down and amass snow to become large enough to force it open. "Moohoo, I guess I'm sort of a snowbender!" the giant joked.
As they ventured up the Gava Junction to the intended destination, the operatives grew concerned by the amount of crumbled cliffsides and rubble piles. "Was there a landslide here recently?" Taion wondered.
"Certainly not a natural one." Eunie said. "I thought something was fishy when the antlers didn't connect back there. That trail was supposed to be passable before."
The Altar of Reception sat at the end of the trail, directly above Everblight Plain. It was made of the same white metal as the Agnus machines, with a pedestal at the edge. Mio reached into her Core Crystal and withdrew a uniquely shaped key. She inserted it into a slot on the pedestal. A great mass of light shone in the space beyond the cliff. It cleared to reveal a floating white fortress, along with a flight of stairs leading up to it. "Mum says this is the Cloudkeep." Mio smiled. "They built it to store precious mementos. It was hidden inside a sub-dimension and designed to be unlocked with this key made from Mum's Core Crystal."
"Uh…sure!" Kansai scratched his head. "I have a hidden magic fort of my own! Except I use my tooth to unlock it!"
"Really now?" Chuko asked in disbelief.
The group followed Mio into the keep, going up some more narrow steps. The gaps between the lower floor and wall-pillars wasn't comforting, seeing as they were a thousand feet above the surface. The top floor had a slanted pedestal in the center, on which rested an emerald, cross-shaped crystal. Its shape, color, and the emanated chi was distinct from the average Core Crystal: this was definitely an Aegis. "Sure would stink if it wound up being a Common Blade." Pochi joked.
Mio approached the crystal. Though she was anxious in her reach, she picked it up. Mio focused her will and… the crystal brightened, enveloping the chamber in light. (Play "Awakened DNA" from XC2!)
A mass of flames erupted and condensed into prongs on the head of a staff. "Hi. The name's Glimmer." She possessed pale-red hair in a ponytail and red armor that ended in a skirt shape around her thigh. She wore red high-heeled boots. "'Guess I'm your Blade or whatever." She twirled the fiery staff to face downward, drawing a violin bow as she strummed strings along the staff, playing a deep, dramatic rhythm as fireballs launched out of it. She stood and flipped the staff behind her at a diagonal angle. "You won as soon as you called on me."
"Cool!" Chuko beamed.
"A bit underwhelming if you ask me." Eunie shrugged. "Sena makes bigger fireballs."
"Uck, excuse me?" Glimmer scoffed. "Let's see YOUR fireballs."
"Hey, it's not a contest!" Sena blushed. "Still, isn't it kind of weird that… Mimi's a waterbender, but Glimmer's a firebender?"
"There are rare instances where a Driver and Blade have mismatched bending." Taion reasoned.
"Hello, Glimmer." Mio waved and smiled. "I'm Mio. Your Driver. And also…erm…your half-sister?"
"ZWUH?!" The Go-Getters go-gaped.
"Huh? What're you talking about?" Glimmer questioned.
"You were Dad's first daughter. Your mother was the previous Aegis, Pyra. She wanted to be reborn and join the next generation."
"Uh…sure. We can be half-sisters if you want then."
"Sounds like Rex was a real Chad." Suna joked.
"His name was also Chad?" Yuki queried.
"RYUUUUUUU!" A beastly cry quaked the keep. It sounded almost familiar to the Go-Getters. They ran to one of the small balconies and saw a familiar, winged shape charging toward them. "That's the Aion from the beginning!" Suna exclaimed.
"I guess we really have come full circle!" Pochi said.
"What better way to try out an Aegis?" Mio said determinedly.
"Ahem, that is unwise!" Taion coughed.
"And why not?!" Eunie argued.
"Glimmer has only just awakened. Mio cannot expect to draw out her full power instantaneously."
"Hey, I can draw out my power just fine, thanks!" Glimmer shouted.
"And wasn't this the whole point of finding her?!" Sena asked.
"I believed she could garner experience from smaller enemies on the way, but this seems rather difficult."
"He's right." Pochi replied. "It's okay. Yuki and I can handle this." As they formed Lucky, the duo fused into Pochuki. "It wouldn't hurt to practice with this either!" (Play "I'm Here" from Sonic Frontiers!)
Boss fight: Perilwing Aion
Pochuki soared straight for the Aion, which fired its horns as homing boomerangs. Pochuki inflated their coat to protect from them, and upon reaching the Aion, it slashed its red-feathered wings with fierce speed. Pochuki's swings were too slow to counter in their fluffed state, so the Fusion was sent flying from a direct blow. They crashed into Everblight with a soft landing and picked their selves up, defluffing. Perilwing lunged talons-first, Pochuki pressing Lucky against them. The Aion stretched its neck like a jack-in-the-box and looped down to gnash its polygonal beak. Pochuki swiftly shot right, away from the talons, and countered its wing slash. They spun to chop at its neck until the Aion whacked them away.
Hearing the distant conflict, Tattsun crept out of the cave in Everblight's cliff. "Sage, it's Pochi and Yuki!"
"What?" Sage peeked out and witnessed their duel. "The Titan is still out of control. But they can distract it while we return to H.Q.."
"Uh…I was going to suggest we help them?"
"Help them?!"
"I mean, he is my brother. You may've tried to reprogram me into hating him, but you and I both know you're being sabotaged!"
"Illogical. There is clearly a malfunction at the base. Dr. Omelette will fix it… or if she can't, we must get there to fix it."
"Your sister needs your help!"
"She is not my sister! She's a glitch that only exists to ruin my program. She's…"
Perilwing's feathers fired in red streaks, Pochuki severing them as they soared for the Titan. Perilwing slashed its gold scythe, but in countering it, the malleable gold molded around their sword arm. It swung them around before directing them toward its beak, to which they fluffed up to survive its crunching. With some struggle, they tugged Lucky free of the gold and slashed the neck. They flew far away when the Aion swung its tail again, stretching the goo in a curve in trying to grab them. Pochuki escaped its range and formed a new idea: they inflated their coat with enough density to cover them inside a sheep shape, and the fluff would split and grow into other sheep. The sheep scattered around and approached Perilwing, who slashed its gooey tail at every one.
Unfortunately, the cotton became glued to the tail, so by the time Pochuki revealed their selves and approached, they could smack its fluffy tail away without getting stuck. In fact, Pochuki targeted and severed the base of the tail. The furious Perilwing slashed a storm of feathered swipes that Pochuki hurriedly countered. Their blade lodged between two feathers as they cut directly down the wing, chipping off other feathers before chopping into Perilwing's shoulder. With a sudden flip, they sliced that wing clean off and went for a neck cut. However, the Aion stretched out a new wing made of shears, scissors, and drills, catching Pochuki off guard and swatting them away.
Perilwing lined up both of its mismatched wings horizontally, spinning along its torso like a helicopter. They tried to fly beneath, but the severed tail shot out more goo and trapped them. It swung them up into the chopper, the Fusion stopping it with Lucky. However, it wound up lodged between shears, which still chomped close enough to hurt them.
"Come on, Sage!" Tattsun pled. "You and Yuki are the same! You both care about this world, don't you?!"
"I don't! My only purpose-" her eye glitched between red and blue, "-to serve Dr. Omelette—Axolites. This world—'othing—me. I need to—life force—every-"
"There are so many neat people on this world!" Yuki cheered. "I wonder what people other worlds have?
"Where's Vanilla?!" Aniki demanded. "I want to see her!"
Reycho nodded regretfully and downloaded Vanilla from his mind. She had cuts of Sage's code and needed Reycho to support her. "Vanilla!"
"I'm alright, Aniki… just wanna… take a small nap…"
"Uhn!" Sage cupped her eye shut. "Tattsun… what is this… malfunction…"
"Sage… sometimes, when humans experience a malfunction like that, we embrace it. But only sometimes. And one of those times is now. So…" He raised his gauntlet. "Let's fly!"
Pochuki sliced through the shears and sliced the other wing when it came around, but both regrew with even more blades. This included buzzsaws, similar to the Levialord, that would detach and fly from every direction. "HEY, GUYS!" Kansai screamed. "You got company!"
Pochuki glanced down while holding its wings back. "Sage?!" She was carrying her Driver skyward. "Time for Round 2 already?!"
"That's it, we need to go out there!" Mio said. "Jennu, help us fly!"
"RYUUUUU!" The Perilwing was sliced up the middle by the Unlucky sword. Its wings faltered as Pochuki escaped and sliced them apart again, the Aion plummeting. The Fusion looked to Sage and Tattsun with a stunned gaze.
"Uh…did they just attack it?" Mowchan asked, their mouths agape.
"Pochi!" Tattsun called. "That Aion is malfunctioning! It attacked us last night, we've been hiding ever since!"
"M-Malfunctioning? AAH!" The Aion shot back upward with even more complex wings and two gooey tails. Both pairs flew around and slashed the onslaught of blades. The left tail flew at IT, but it stuck illusions instead while the real ones zipped toward the tail base and severed it. Pochuki latched a sheep onto the tip of the other tail, dragging it to wrap around the wings and hinder its flight.
"We cut one of its wings last night, but it grew back! Sage says it shouldn't be able to do this!"
Perilwing focused on IT and charged energy in its beak. A storm of curving lasers fired at them, but Tattsun released a surge of lightning to intercept them. Pochuki shot straight for the neck and beheaded the Aion. "Sage…" Pochuki faced up at the half-closed, blue iris of her sister. Her left arm was white with blue code. "What happened to you?"
"LOOK OUT!" Tattsun shouted. The Aion grew a new head, its eyes maniacal with six sides to its beak and its long tongue jiggling out. The tongue whipped at Pochuki, but slicing it would only cause the severed half to stretch, wrap, and squeeze the Fusion. They fluffed up in an effort to push free, but ultimately needed Tattsun's lightning to fry it all around. Pochuki cut free and summoned sheep copies to swarm around the Aion; its cut tongue became a vacuum to suck them in, only to clog up. IT zipped down to stab Perilwing's gut, then zipped around its body to carve a path. Perilwing spun to shake them off, regenerating those cuts into huge veins, which developed mad faces and wriggled off as worms. The worms gnashed at the pairs, who either beheaded or split them down the middle, but those severed parts would transform into drills, bulging eyeballs, constipated Nopon, and that one was Dunban over there.
"This thing's insane!" Pochuki exclaimed. "It keeps reforming no matter how we cut it!"
"Ugh!" Tattsun struggled to counter the endless appendages. As they blotted his every vision, only the glow of his sword's Fusion command was his light. "Sage, it's now or never! We have to try fusing!"
"Sa…Sa…" She was numb to everything… she didn't know what she was doing… Did Yuki truly corrupt her this much? Why did she let this happen… "SAGE!"
Pochuki sliced through the cluster to face her directly. "You've done some awful things. My friends are really mad at you. And I…I'm still mad at you, too. But I still wanna talk to you after this! Because we can be like Suna and Ghondor and take a bath after we fight!"
Everyone blinked in disbelief.
Sage did as well. "How… completely… irrelevant."
"HOLY CRUD!" Miko exclaimed, her hair charred, standing, and sparking. "My baby's a shockbender! I don't believe it!"
Sage gasped. She and Tattsun were in a space of numerous screens and red code. "Curse that Nine!" Omelette banged the keyboard. "I'll have his tails on a trophy one of these days!"
"I've failed…" Sage bowed her head. "Father… and Dr. Eggman… I've failed them both."
"Sheesh, why so dramatic? It was only your first battle."
"First?"
"You wouldn't believe how many times Dad lost to those animals. That's why we gotta keep rebooting and trying again! But first, how 'bout some holo-sandwiches?"
"A…Affirmative, Doctor."
Growing to Pochuki's size, IT was a muscular, black-armored Fusion with clawed fingers and toes coursing electricity, wild wavy hair of bright red code, and similar veins around its body. It wore Tattsun's right visor, surging electric, and Sage's peaceful blue eye shone on the left. They raised Unlucky as a thunderbolt struck it from the heavens, slashing with fierce speed to evaporate the cluster. "We are… SUPER ELECTRO SAGE BLACK!"
"Uh…ditto!" Pochuki thumbed-up. They joined the ranger in facing the malformed Aion, linking their blades in a perfectly parallel fashion. Their red and blue became a dazzling purple, and they would spread that color to every corner of the Aion. "INFINITY BLADE!!!"
The operatives had to close their eyes from the flash… but not a trace of Perilwing remained. None except the white key that flew out of it. "Whoa." Glimmer stared in awe. "Now, that's power."
The Fusions flew to the Cloudkeep. They diffused on the same ground as their fellow Go-Getters. (End song.)
They were still too dumbstruck to say anything. Not from Pochuki's performance, that already spoke for itself… but the fact these two were with them. Sage stood there as though nothing was wrong, staring into nothing. "…Well, hurry and destroy her!" Aniki shouted.
"Aniki!" Pai gasped.
"Come on, this is our chance! HURRY!"
"Yeah, before she tries something!" Chuko panicked.
"Well, you guys make your minds up fast, huh?" Tattsun remarked.
"Tattsun, is th…is that really you?" Suna asked.
"Yeah… it is."
"Then get your butt over here! Before that creep brainwashes you again!"
"Man, why're we all ganging up on her?" Glimmer questioned. "What's you guys' problem?"
"Sage?" Yuki stepped to her front. "Is something the matter?"
"…Tell me about my malfunction, Yuki."
Cyberspace
"Pieloloon…I can't believe they destroyed it!" The imp in the control chamber was a monochrome jester-like being. It wore puffed, gooey gold pants above its detached, skinny, bendy yellow shoes. It also had parts of red on its body, such as its left arm rings, right chest, right eyelid, and left crossed eye. "Well, no biggie! There's a lot more toys to have fun with!"
"Okay, you've had your fun." Omelette said. "Get out of there and bring Sage back!"
"This was certainly unexpected." Shirogane said. "But this thing is kind of… delightful!"
"You ain't thinking of making it one of your Monokuma dolls?" Sanchez asked. "But it won't be a problem." He grabbed a disc from his drawer. "I had something ready in case this system was ever used against us."
"Now, Prof, don't be so rash!" The Cosplayer hummed on her way to the Command Room door. "One loon to another… we can reason with it."
"Reason?" Omelette had a bad feeling about this.
"Hello!" she cheerily entered the room, "Mister…Miss… What should I call you?"
"Huh, that's a good question. I'm feeling… Pielopeeeeee!" The imp danced joyously.
"Pielope! I've got a great idea for a game!"
World Tree
"Why can't I wear it over the left eye?!" a gruff man in blue combat gear asked. "It's not like I'm bloody using it for anything!"
"They said it has to be over the right." a blonde man replied.
"But I can't see anything!"
"No worries, Rex!" an orange humanoid bird Blade assured. "I'll be your eyes for this operation!"
"Are we really sure these scrummy eyepatches are gonna do the trick?!" asked a panicky Ottsel. "Why not full-body suits? Computer viruses get in the skin, too, you know!"
"Relax, Dax." Smirked a long-earred man with a greenish-yellow goatee. "If this is all we need, they don't stand a chance. We can't let our kids' hard work go to waste."
"Is everyone all patched up?" asked a young swordsman, a patch under his glasses.
"Aye-aye, Perry!" Jason beamed, looking the part of a true pirate!
Now then," the blonde turned to a squad of ships, "we'll ride these World Tree carriers into Aionios. After that, it's who knows what. But we'll be okay. I'm really feeling it!"
"That's the spirit, Shulk." Rex said. "Now, buckle up, kids!" The men stood proudly with the small army of strong tykes at their backs. "We'll show them a thing or three!"