As the only one not entranced by Null and Ego, Oregon stood in his same position and observed.
Void and Gea made for a good pair given their similarities in his opinion, so he was not disappointed in the result of the fight.
Soon, he met Theef's scheming eyes and paused.
Theef took this as an invitation and proceeded to shuffle his way over.
Oregon could not help but smile ruefully at how things ended.
His battle against Null turned into a battle of creations and then fell apart from there.
How could he not notice the one behind it all was the same person who spurred on his advancement.
It seemed they really did care for him despite what happened in the past.
He had never met Theef, but he could have sworn they were like best buds the way he swaggered over while pretending to spin an invisible lasso.
'Just who is this guy,' Oregon wanted to facepalm.
When he was closer, Theef then threw the lasso over to Oregon who proceeded to look to the ground beside him.
His face seemed to be conveying that he failed to catch him.
Theef laughed as he reeled the rope back in and prepared to try again.
Then again.
And again.
He tried moving closer to no avail.
"Really, man?"
Oregon shrugged.
"You sure you wanna do this? It's not gonna end well just so you know."
"I'm sure I can handle you."
Theef chuckled, "So he speaks! Maybe you'd have me break a sweat to wear you down before, but now I think it's time I showed you your place."
Oregon wanted to respond in kind, but he immediately felt the force of gravity multiplied manifolds.
Theef casually flipped a golden coin in the air and caught it.
"Let's see what we have here," he smiled as he crossed the short distance between them.
While Oregon was stuck in place by the increased gravity, Theef went for the crown on his head.
'Hmm. It's pretty big compared to the other treasures.'
Theef seemed to not recall the scene of Oregon bursting from the might of the treasure as he grabbed it with his hands.
As soon as he did, however, instead of bursting into molecules, he held the solid crown and felt strong vibrations that threatened to cause spasms in his hand.
"How nifty!"
Of course, Theef recognized the danger of his actions, but his senses told him that the gains far outweighed the costs.
He could feel his every particle vibrate as he held the crown, but he was not in danger of bursting in the slightest.
Instead, he examined the treasure with great enthusiasm.
What he noticed was trapped energy inside of the crown which worked as a container.
'So that's it, huh? The real treasure is the volatile vibrations.'
And then, he did the next logical step and broke the crown releasing all of the powerful vibrations.
"How could you limit yourself like this? And here I thought you really wanted to win. No wonder you sent out another to finish the job. You're actually weaker the her!"
Instead of the vibrations crashing about everywhere, they stayed in the shape of the crown as if their former display was just an act.
Theef took the vibrations and absorbed them with one of his tendrils.
'No!'
Oregon could only watch as he could not even lift a finger under the intense force of gravtity.
All of a sudden, Theef jerked around like something was fighting him from the inside.
"Woah! Hey now! This ain't your show buddy! You're under my control!"
The vibrations seemed to fight him as if he was not worthy of using them.
After a struggle, Theef gained control over the unruly treasure.
Due to the activation of another treasure, the source of the gravity that was Barter's Ruler's coin treasure was deactivated.
'I can move!'
Oregon sought to act right at that moment, but a wave of Theef's hand sent him flat on his ass.
"... good shit," Theef muttered before bending backwards on one leg, "This is some good shit! Haha!"
It was not just the force of gravity, but there was layered components that exuded from his body.
There were vibrations of course, but also elements and ki!
It had only been a moment, but Theef had broken past the restrictions he found he placed on himself.
Aside from his desire to hoard all the treasures of the universe, he found himself with the need to protect them.
Assimilating them into his body became his method of protection.
After all, he would not only not have to worry about carrying a chest full of things with him, but could also use the abilities of the treasures with only a thought.
It was not a coincidence for him to have received the orange energy of companionship as he was not only the "captain" of the crew, but he absorbed everything around him much like how the energy granted him the ability to shift races.
He had not explored much about the relevance of such a thing due to his lack of experience, but now he felt a correlation.
'I mingle with those I deem worthy. Those worth my effort get the world.'
His spinning pupils locked onto Oregon once more.
Too shocked to move, Oregon looked up at Theef as though he was facing his worst nightmare.
'That power is mine and yet he took it just like that? Another monster found it's way to me.'
Even when gravity returned to normal, he remained grounded.
"What are you doing, silly? It's time to rejoice! Do you really think this power of yours was stolen for good?"
"Huh?"
Oregon stood while confusion formed on his countenance.
Theef just smiled, "You're not still pining for the kill on Null, are you?"
"I-I d-don't...," he stammered before Theef grabbed his arm and opened his palm.
"You were already one of us," Theef raised his own hand and deposited the vibrations onto it, "As Captain Theef, I officially welcome you, Oregon, back to the Castello Crew."
Oregon took a beat to respond, "Captain?"
A light flashed in Theef's elongated pupils as his palm lit up with an orange aura.
Seeing both their hands positioned as they were he felt inclined to accept.
Noticing his reluctance, Theef was about to lower his arm albeit reluctantly himself.
"Can I really come back? I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! Can I really come back?"
All of the fight Oregon had left in him was passed down onto Gea and what was left was unease.
Sure, Null spoke of his actions sincerely and once he brought out Tino and Angie, he was oddly certain what he said was true.
Only, where did that leave him.
He— just like Tino— had to vent his emotions somehow.
This turned out to help them best discover their new abilities and redefine who they were.
Who could say death would not change themself fundamentally?
You were not supposed die one day and wake up with your past memories in a new body.
That kind of situation coupled with a murder being the cause of death only made the resentment and negativity many times worse.
But now, even though he once swore he would see the corpse of his murderer or die, he now saw said murderer dancing with his new self's daughter like they were having the time of their lives and gave up.
Smack!
Theef used his other hand to slap Oregon in the face.
"I don't need no punk ass wuss in my crew! You already tarnished your word by claiming you would kill Null. No more of that shit. I need your word that you mind your words going forwards."
Oregon did not know why, but he felt if he had tear ducts he would be sobbing.
Still, the heaving was there and Theef showed him his hand still carrying the vibrations and lit up with an orange aura.
Oregon took his own and the slightest movement prompted Theef to respond.
Clap!
Their hands clasped and Theef took Oregon in his arm, "We are family."
The vibrations were passed back to Oregon, but before they did, the orange aura actually assimilated some of it.
It was then that the energy flared as it encompassed Theef and Oregon entirely.
"This is my Universal Rule of Companionship. This means you and I are bonded through thick and thin now. Forget about childish grudges and naive thoughts because you are above all of that."
Even Terresa teared up at the message because she knew that the weight on Oregon's mind could have very well tainted him.
Oregon just hugged back tightly.
He could now rest easy knowing that he was cared for by new and old friends.