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"...Yeah, you've got it." Dave wasn't sure how much they'd really helped here, but Owen sounded pretty sure all that was left was to attack. Warily, he gathered dark energy between his teeth.

Oh. Oh, fuck, the thing was using the fact they were here as ammunition against him. Should have fucking known. Who wouldn't assume if a bunch of people suddenly appear to provide moral support to you, it's because they're pretty goddamn worried? Why wouldn't that just make you nervous? "I...

What the fuck. They'd landed in some kind of apocalyptic nightmarescape, ominous purple storms, fleeing people. In the eye of the storm, Owen, meditating, over a golden Protect sphere. "Hey, it's me," he said, wary as he padded closer. Be... encouraging. Right. "You seem like you've got it...

Dave listened, silent. One thing kept coming back to his head: back at the meeting, Owen'd goaded Soda into admitting that he'd placed the memory block on him. So if the memory block was him...? "So you want to send us into his head to... not rescue him, not attack the thing, just cheer Owen on?"

Dave shifted restlessly on his feet. Owen looked weirdly peaceful, for apparently having some kind of monster inside his head. "Is this what happened to Sword? Some Eterna shit growing inside her until it took over her and gave her a core?"

Shit. Owen? What the fuck did you do? Hold on, I'm coming.

Dave took a deep breath. "Thanks for the warning. I'll be back with Green, if he's down." He turned around to leave. Then, "Should I get you some food, maybe? A beer or two?"

Christ. Dave glanced back toward the Tree. The ground still trembled regularly with the force of earth-shattering attacks below. Power that no one should have. "Well... Don't be too eager to get yourself killed. I've got a strong feeling Prime's plan already went wrong up there. For all we know...

Jesus. Dave shuddered, looking away. "And you're fine with that? Just, being here as a sacrificial lamb?"

"...Right." God, how much of Soda's head had been fucked with? "You see what I mean? Seriously, think about it. There are a lot of gaps here. Be careful." Maybe he should just go get Green now, let them talk. He paused. "What were you stationed out here for, anyway? You expecting they might...

"Well, I'd expect whatever's going on here doesn't involve someone controlling you in real time anyway. What I'm figuring is it's somebody who realized if they fiddled with your brain in just the right way, you'd play right into their hands. Make use of your existing feelings for Adne and drive...

Dave's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, everyone else?"

Figured. Maybe the best they could hope for was he'd been spying on them enough to have gathered what'd been said at the meeting. "We just want to help," Dave said. "You can tell something's off with your memory. Green said he literally couldn't remember anything specific about what working...

Dave nodded slowly. "You got any idea where the last Substitute went? Green said he was hiding."

"Three? Maple, Eien and Giovanni's Mewtwo?" Astrid had said something about that, the Blacklight Mewtwo having been there in the Tree with Eien. "Well, maybe I can get Green to come over here, instead. If you want." He might not need to. Yellow seemed to have calmed down and be listening now...

"Yeah. I know." Dave took a breath again. "Look, it sounds like you know Green wouldn't have told me her name unless he really thought it mattered. He was convinced. I can take you over and let him tell you himself, if you want." How much had they had to prod Green before he believed them? "The...

"I mean, we were having lunch. He's been staying in the holding cells - he wanted to, because it's safer. I brought him burgers and mozzarella sticks." Dave took a breath, struggling to ease some of the tension lingering in his body. "The bit about what she was like, that wasn't for proof, we...

Dave started backward with a strangled yelp as a spray of dirt rained over him, an ominous silver energy (Divine?) sparking inches from where he'd stood an instant before. "Hey, hey! Of course it matters. I know she matters. Shit, Soda - Ionys - I was just saying it was clear you loved her." His...

The change in Soda, the instant shift in atmosphere, sent a chill through him. For the first time in a while, the buried Poochyena instinct to get the hell out of there seemed to resurface in his brain, his heart racing. "Look, that's what he told me. Her name is Adne, and she was soft-spoken...

What the fuck had he even expected. Dave took another deep breath. "I asked him what I could say to prove he was on board. He told me her name is Adne."