Break Them Down

Anyone in this WIR/digital community interested in a Discord group???

thevasthost:

Another jolt of fear rushes through Ghost and he lunges forward to tackle the drone away from the helmet. He lets out an enraged roar as he slams the insect into the alley wall.

“Byrd,” he calls again, turning to pick up the helmet with little Byrd inside, “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

The tiny Hybrid wailed grabbing for his father as he cried.

The drones, registering an attack turned in unison towards Ghost and the swarm  erupted with a deafening shriek. they began to pour in, snapping and jabbing with sharp limbs in an attempt to overwhelm the attacker.

Ghost envelops Byrd in a protective bubble and holds him close. The virus relaxes himself, allowing his body to twist and grow into it’s much larger, dinosaur-like form. The alleyway is left a crumbling mess in the virus’ massive wake and....maybe it’s a bit much, but Ghost is pissed. He reaches out to grab the bubble containing his other two younglings before bringing his massive, feathered tail down on the swarm.

As Ghost waded through the swarm they ignored him for the most part, but if he stepped in the path of their munching he’d surely be bitten.

It wasn’t long before the dumpster that had been blocking Byrd from view was gone and he could feel teeth against the helmet he was hiding in. “PABAAAHS!” The tiny hybrid screamed out as he held tight to the lining of the helmet, the protective gear actually held up in the drone’s jaws but who could say for how long that would last.

Another jolt of fear rushes through Ghost and he lunges forward to tackle the drone away from the helmet. He lets out an enraged roar as he slams the insect into the alley wall.

Byrd had curled himself up in a ball, hiding inside Radio’s helmet as large insectoid drones began crawling out of the crack in the ally wall. Filling the space with chittering and the buzzing hum of many layered wings they poured out, consuming everything like an evil flood of caterpillars.

Byrd tried to keep himself quiet, holding both hands over his mouth to muffle his sobs.

Distantly he could hear his other parent’s call but he didn’t want to see more of his family hurt, so he kept quiet.

Ghost bristles at the swarm, his lips pulling back in a snarl. He instinctively holds out his arm, swathing the twins in a protective purple goo-bubble. 

Ghost could feel Byrd’s distress and, in all honesty, it scared him stupid. He hushes the younger two, trying to tap more into Byrd’s senses, wanting answers. Unfortunately he couldn’t find more beyond utter panic.

“Specter, Fantom, we have to go,” Ghost states firmly as the kids settle down from their playing. They could tell something was off too. The virus hurries the little ones out the front door and rushes, as much as he can with the little ones in tow, to Byrd’s location.

There was a brief, fizzy sound as Radio looked up at Ghost. He had missed this; missed having Ghost there to make things feel okay instead of showing up only to cause trouble and make him upset. Radio was tired, Tired of fighting, Tired of his loved ones fighting each other, his own faulty mind and tired of feeling that he was all alone despite having people tell him otherwise.

He felt like everyone kept secrets from him, thinking that he wouldn’t be able to understand or handle it and instead bicker with each other over to take out their frustrations. Sometimes Radio wanted go back to when it was just him and his scrawny virus in that dinky little apartment room. things weren’t quite so complicated then, at least he thought so.

now everything was such a mess he barely had the energy to sign a ‘good morning’. But Ghost was there now, and at the very least he sounded like the Ghost he met and fell head over heel for. whether or not it would last didn’t really matter right now as all Radio really wanted was rest and Ghost’s voice sounded really good so even if it was only another hollow promise it was good enough to let him get some sleep.

~“ just don’t be gone again when I wake up…” ~

Ghost presses a soft kiss to Radio’s forehead as he strokes back the sprite’s hair. He knew Radio was tired, he could feel it in the poor sprite’s code; He was just worn down. 

“I’ll be here. Promise.”

Radio didn’t really want to move, finding the motivation to do even basic tasks had become hard to do. perhaps he was just tired from watching three tiny virus hybrid babies or any number of other things but as he hugged the Gelatinous limb he started to lose the focus that would have said ‘dude, you’re on the floor in the most awkward hug imaginable, get up.’ and just let his head rest against the door. He didn’t know how long he had been staring at a stray sock on the floor but when he caught himself he was practically falling over on the floor, having slowly slid over he’ woke up’ about midway to the floor and let out a shrill, fuzzy beep from the speaker box around his neck.

Ghost jumps a bit hearing Radio’s beep, his arm curling a bit tighter around the sprite’s middle. “Radio? You okay? I’m gonna come in...”

Knowing that was probably the best answer he would get Radio folded his small hands around Ghost’s semi-solid arm.

~“Okay… I guess I can give you another try.” ~

He felt so conflicted, as much as it hurt and as much as he didn’t feel like he could change Radio also felt like no matter how bad it was he’d always give Ghost another chance.

Ghost’s jelly-like limbs couldn’t ‘feel’ in the traditional sense of the word, but the virus could tell when they made contact with something via a constant stream of data. He could have sworn he could feel Radio’s warm hands on the limb, though.

“I promise I won’t let you down again...”

~“How do I know if I can believe you this time?” ~ Radio was always disappointed that the only time he ever managed to make any kind of noise was when he was sniffling and crying lime a ‘loser’ as he remembered being called for such pitiful displays. Now that the thought about it that was probably why he was so compelled to hide instead of letting people see him like that.

“I...really don’t know? All I can say is that I do mean it and that I love you and I don’t wanna see you hurting anymore.”

Oh hey, Ghost was older than Sonic’s entire franchise. Fancy that.

“Yeah, hurtin’ people and enjoyin’ people being hurt is off the table. But… If they’re a real jerk, I guess you could snicker if they fell down the stairs. Just a little. And like… It’s okay to still kick people’s butts n stuff if they’re baddies. Like, actual baddies - not like the bad guys from video games who’re only doing their jobs.”

Sonic had always been kind to the ‘villains’ he came across, that fact rang true for pretty much every iteration of the blue sprite except for the occasional exception. The hedgehog considered his egg-shaped ‘nemesis’ to be one of his best friends, regardless of whatever happened in-game. After all, that’s just them playing a part, right?

“Ugh, ok. Can’t say that doesn’t come as a surprise. Generally people do not enjoy it when I do terrible things to them.”

Ghost is quiet for a moment, considering everything.

“Ok, can I still laugh if I’m a jerk?”

~“I know a LOT of Jerks… but you’re the only one who really hurts my feelings.”~

Radio was still pretty red in the face and clearly upset but even so the only person he ever really wanted to run to was Ghost. This was particularly difficult when the person he was upset with was also Ghost.

Was Ghost really always that bad? Radio knew his mind was somewhat unreliable but he was so certain Ghost was at least halfway decent and feeling when they first met. He was definitely smaller, and not quite so full of himself, at least not in a bad way.

every bit of the little yellow sprite wished for things to go back to that. He seemed to have all these ‘perfect’ moments stuck in his head and wishing everyone to rewind back to those specifics was probably his worst quality. He wanted to stop thinking about it and believe what Ghost was saying but the heavy feeling of that repeated mistake made him close the door again and slump down to the floor.

Ghost whines when Radio shuts the door again, pawing at it helplessly. “Radio, please. I know I’ve hurt you, but I do mean it this time.”

Ghost has always been...not so great, but he had become more confident and definitely more vocal. Maybe that was in part due to the fact that he now knew of so many more viruses. He was a force to be reckoned with back in his day and he still wanted to uphold that reputation. Though, now...he was seeing the toll it was taking on Radio. And he’d much rather lose his credibility as a virus than lose Radio.