Demons inhabited the world and spread terror wherever they went, doing whatever their diseased minds pleased. They have always been here, or perhaps there was a time when they weren't. The details of demons haven't been kept as before the districts, they destroyed villages and towns without mercy. These creatures vary in size and in intelligence but torment the mortals that live in the world.
If it wasn't for the creation of districts, highly secured and high walled cities where mobians have relocated for safety, the population would've been decimated long ago. These kept the demons out and mobians safe and were guarded by forces of mortals with unique abilities. They were named Guardians.
The central district consisted of the first Guardians, and the most well-known. There was Sonic, a blue hedgehog capable of surpassing inmobian speeds with his fast legs, and the durability to use himself as a weapon with his spiny quills against demons. Knuckles, a ruby echidna that lacked some intelligence, and made up for it with loyalty and his vast strength. Tails, a younger saffron fox with a rare mutation of two tails, he also broke the books with his technological savvy smarts. Amy, a rose hedgehog that materialized a sledgehammer that could form different sizes depending on her mood, virtually no weight for her and immobile to anyone else. Silver and Blaze, a hedgehog and cat duo with telekinetic and pyromancy skills.
And then, the most underwhelming person on the team being the girl they picked up from outside the gates, unconscious and unable to remember anything other than her name. Eve, a purple hedgehog that manned the security cameras to keep herself busy and helpful. No one had gone missing in any district, so finding her family thus far had gone terribly. No one knew her either.
She was a normal girl on all accounts, except the strange arcane heart shaped birthmark resting above her actual heart. It was small, barely the size of a quarter, but no less weird.
The lavender hedgehog also had a rather old looking amulet on her person when she was found by the team. Which was confiscated by the tech fox for further research, she's never mentioned wanting it back, so it's been locked away from more than a year in his lab. It gave off an unknown energy signal that he could not solve.
They led a mostly normal life, protecting their city district from the monsters that lurked past the gates, running supply runs through a network of tunnels, checking in on other guardians and keeping back and executing vicious demons that came too close.
Of course, that all changed the moment the team was pitted against a more intelligent demon, something that had only been speculated before.
~x~
Running, crashing through the underbrush of the green forest. This mobian wolf pants, glancing back, yelping when a large paw swipe against him. The attack sends him forward, landing in a heap in front of the large intimidating gates of Central district. With fear coursing through his veins, he stumbles up, banging a fist against it. One arm dangling useless at his side, broken from the fall.
"Please! Please let me in!" He pleads, eyes flitting to the creature breaking through the tree line and the console close to him. "It'll kill me!"
The gates don't open but the wolf hears a body landing behind him, prompting him to turn towards it. The large horned creature is disoriented by an attack to its head, the culprit being a pink female, swinging a large hammer at her side as she prepares for another attack.
"Don't worry, we got this." A new voice chirps, scared eyes looking an azure hedgehog at his side, lazily stretching his legs and arms.
Sonic and Amy of the Guardians had arrived to help this wolf mobian.
"Just stay put, okay pal?" Sonic states before blurring from the male's vision as he speeds to his enemy, knocking the beast, easily ten times his size, onto its side with a shrill, teeth chattering screech. The demon swipes a paw out, the blue blur jumps out of the way and Amy blocking with a clang erupting from the impact. She huffs as she's forced back, furrows forming in the ground from her feet locking in their guard.
"It has some strength to it Sonic." She shouts to her companion, soft green eyes locked on the teeth as it snaps in her direction. With a rush, the blur homes in on her, pulling her away from the bite that struck the ground she previously stood upon.
"Yeah yeah, this is just a warm up."
Amy rolls her eyes as they stop, swinging her hammer a few times to change its proportions, giving it a sharper surface for impact. More specifically, two jagged spikes on either side of the hammer's face.
"Lift me." She commands, the blue male immediately braces for her, hands cupped for a place for her foot to launch from. With a running start, Amy does just that, jumping off her companion's hands and flipping through the air before smashing her deadly hammer into the tough skull of the beast, bring it down.
The beast screeches weakly before going quiet, and still. The sakura hedgehog pulls her hammer out of the demon's head with a squelching noise, blood filling the large crater and pouring onto the ground.
The wolf breathes in relief, leaning against the doors behind him. "You saved me." He says, once the two Guardians begin to walk over to him.
"Of course, man, it's what we do." Sonic declares with a smile, hands going back to lock behind his neck. Amy comes over to the wolf's side, hammer already disappeared as she checks out his injuries.
"We'll have to take you back to headquarters; your arm is broken in three places." She explains, glancing up at Sonic before he sighs, coming over to lift the mobian to his feet.
"You got lucky pal. A broken arm is nothing." The cobalt male admits, making himself a crutch for the injured and scared.
The wolf laughs weakly, beginning to feel the pain now that the excitement had ended. Amy opens the door with the console, metallic doors clunking open slowly and only enough for the three to traverse.
~x~
Their travel time was not long at all, being as the Guardians lived right next to the metal borders as the first and only line of defense against demon attacks. They lived in a large tower, high tech and vacant in the hallways, consisting of white, gray and neon blue lights that ran across the sides of the walls. The infirmary was located on the same level as Tails' lab seeing as though the genius was also their medic.
Sonic and Amy broke off, the male carrying the injured mobian into the infirmary and planting him on a cot. While Amy walked into the opposite door to the lab, going in without knocking and resting against the wall.
"Tails, come on. We got an injury you need to see to." She shouts, squinting her eyes from the active machinery repairs the fennec fox was doing. All the loud sounds of metal stop as he looks over at her, pushing up his goggles.
"It's not Sonic again, is it? He needs to curb his showboating."
The sakura female shakes her head with a sigh. "No, some civilian we found outside the walls." She answers, seeing the fox pick up his pace as he cleans himself of oil and dirt from tinkering. "He broke his arm in three places, holding out pretty well about the pain." She describes, eyes glancing over the lavender hedgehog appearing in another doorway, one to the surveillance room.
"Is he alright?" Eve questions, coming out to help Tails as his nurse.
"Should be once I get to him." The yellow male answers, allowing her to follow him over to the infirmary. Amy leaves, telling them that she was going back to her post and walks back down the hall.
Tails comes over to the wolf's side, blue eyes investigating the wounds he received. He seemed to stiffen when the lilac female walked over as well, taking care of the minor injuries he sustained.
"Heya Eve. Good to see you out of the camera room." Sonic chirps, sitting up on another cot nearby.
The purple hedgehog smiles lightly, glancing over before returning to the smaller cuts and scrapes. "Very funny." She murmurs. "And I thought you'd be more worried about Tails' reclusiveness."
"Oh, I am, you both need to get out more." The blue male laughs, leaning back on the heels of his hands.
Tails hums in response, clearing not amused by his friend's jab before muttering apologies to his patient and setting the bone back in place. "Not everyone can stand demons like you Sonic. Eve, could you get the casts." At his order, Eve steps away, going into a side room to prepare cast work for the mobian's arm.
"Oh, come on, you don't have to fight them if you don't want to. You could just watch me."
The yellow fox rolls his eyes before glancing up at the civilian they had. "So, what's your name? And why were you out there?" He asks.
"I'm Grim, and I got separated from my scouting party." The mobian answers, rubbing the back of his neck. "They should be fine, but I decided to explore on my own."
The two Guardians nod, one more in understanding than the other about exploration.
It wasn't long before Grim's arm was set into place with a cast, the bulky thing making it difficult for him to perform anything but was necessary. Being that Eve oversaw the cameras, she felt it was time for her afternoon nap so that later she could take up the mantle at night. Sonic left to return to his position with Amy, it was their turn to watch the gates before nightfall.
Tails rubs at his muzzle with a sigh, the sleep deprived fox looks at Grim. "Alright, you'll have to stay here for the night. It's a little late to be trying to look for your scout party and even more so your present condition." He explains, watching as the wolf pushes around his tray of food.
"Okay." Grim answers, a small smile on his fangs.
The fox yawns, standing up. "You'll be okay to sleep in here. Just leave your tray on the desk next to you and stay in here." He orders, walking towards the door. "There's a couple of books on the shelf there and don't stay up too late." His tails flick around each other before stepping out the infirmary, leaving the wolf alone.
~x~
Eve yawns softly, working around in her chair to wake herself up once again. It was early in the morning, but the lavender female wanted her friends to get some well-deserved rest. They work hard to keep everyone else safe, including so she owned it to them.
That and the never-ending debt of letting someone as normal as her stay with them in the watch tower.
Like every late night, the cameras showed nothing outside. While demons were more active at night, they tended to stay in more dark areas, which lead to the districts maintaining a constant ring of light around the circular barrier at night to deter them. It kept away smaller ones and the bigger ones could be dealt with during the day before they managed to get too close.
Sapphire eyes blink drowsily as she sits back in her chair. And then her ears perk up at a clank in the workshop behind her, causing her to look through every camera, inside and out not finding anything out of place. She grumbles a curse when the workshop had not registered when brought up, likely the result of yet another experiment of Tails'.
Pulling together her courage, Eve gets up quietly, sneaking into the workshop after retrieving her panic button. She wouldn't press it unless needed. Her ears perk up in every which way to find the location of the sound in the near dark room. Knowing the place well-meant she could avoid getting hung up or caught on the mechanic bits and bots that Tails had around.
The lilac hedgehog moves slowly and quietly, eyes squinting as she navigates under tables and skirting projects to come across something new skewed along the floor. Delicate fingers caress the object timidly, finding the consistence familiar to her, firm but spongy patterned, curved. Like an arm cast.
This investigation only seemed to be more confusing as she went along, finding a shadow moving around by Tails' office. Following it, she could see a mobian shape tossing apart the drawers on the kit's shelves and desk, looking for something.
Before stopping abruptly and sniffing the air around them.
"I can smell you woman." They state, their tone dark that sent Eve's blood chilling in her veins. Almost subconsciously, she presses the panic button in her hand, prompting the mobian's head to swivel in her direction and dual colored eyes, yellow and gray both glowing meet her own scared sapphire.
Her legs tremble as the shadow snarls out a curse, pulling out the last and what was once locked drawer, pulling it away with an amazing feat of strength and grabbing a small object from inside the broken container.
The mobian lets out a small chuckle and before she knew it, they had gotten across the room and had her hoisted up against the wall, holding her fragile neck in their clawed hand.
"Killing you would be a waste. I can smell what you are woman, you're better off alive for later." He snarks, hesitating over something as he pockets the trinket he was after. "But you don't go out, allow me to help with that." Once those words were out his mouth, she started to lose oxygen, grasping at his hand and fiercely struggling to gain it back.
"S-sonic? Blaze?" Eve yelps out weakly, seeing the black spots dart into her vision before ultimately being unable to hold on, slumping in the figure's grip. She was carelessly thrown over his shoulder as he began to dart out of the room.
By now, the whole tower was in disarray, trying to locate the problem that they were awakening to find. They didn't check the surveillance room until last, once they couldn't spot the trouble outside. By that point, the figure had managed to get out of the watch tower with ease.
"Eve, what's going on?" Blaze questions, stomping into the room with all the cameras, only to find Tails at the desk, looking over recorded footage on one of the screens, detailing the events leading up to the alarm. "What is this Tails?" She asks again, looking over the yellow fox's shoulder.
"Eve was taken, and it looks like we were fooled." He murmurs, hitting a fist against the dashboard. "Get the rest of the team, we need to head out now. Grim took Eve as a hostage." Tails answers, getting up from his seat and rushing into his workshop.
"Got it." Blaze shouts, rushing out of the room at her top speed to let the others know of their current goal.
~x~
The gray wolf, Grim drops the lilac female outside the monstrous cavern that pulsed with unnatural glow from shards of dark purple and red at all edges of the entrance, forming 'teeth' that led a person deeper into the structure. Further, and further still the glow did not give up, even with the sun's light being shielded away, making its own light source until the mobian, no, demon happened upon what he was looking for.
The resting place of his king shrouded away in a crystal prison that had the elegance of an explosion mid detonation. The pulses only thrummed deeper now at the source and Grim pulled out the trinket he stole from the Guardians, the amulet that would serve as key for his revival.
The wolf smiles maliciously, to think the mortals were so easily fooled by such a simple trick. A wolf in sheep's clothing legitimately. They had never once thought that demons came in forms like his or his range of intelligence, and yet, that was because they were awaiting orders.
Wait no longer.
Grim kneels and slides the layer of dust away from the depression in the base of the prison, fit perfectly for the amulet he held. And that was what he did, the piece locking in place and flashing a bright blinding light that traveled across the crystal-like branching veins, cracking and pressuring the material until it began to shake violently.
~x~
When the lavender hedgehog awakens from her disturbing slumber, she paws at the mark above her chest in discomfort. "W-where am I?" She mutters, crawling back against a tree and using it as a crutch to get up.
Her surroundings weren't very helpful in answering her problems. She was deep in the forest, the sunlight pouring over the tops of trees just barely, so time hadn't passed as much as she would've thought. The humming and pulsing crystal cavern was setting her on edge. Lilac fur stood up on end and her chest to hurt just a bit more from the sight alone that it registered in her legs as trembles.
"EVE!" Sonic shouts, rushing over to her and nearly knocking over the fragile female with the wind pressure he kicked up naturally. "Are you okay? What happened? Where is he?" He interrogates, placing his hands on her shoulders.
"I-I don't know. He choked me out and then I woke up here w-with pain." She stutters, indicating where the pain was, and her scared eyes look back at the cavern. "This isn't a good place Sonic. J-just looking at that cave is causing me pain." Eve admits, pulling at the cerulean hedgehog's sleeve.
Sonic bites his lip, looking at the cave mouth before looking back at her. He nods, pulling her close and picking her up. "Come on, the others should be here soon. Tails can take you home while we can look." He sighs, letting her know that he would much rather investigate than this.
The thought alone saddens Eve, that she was just a problem to her friends, but she says nothing in response. What could she say, she could barely walk herself now.
A spiked hammer prevents Sonic from proceeding with his plan, startled emerald eyes meeting malicious jade ones. "No, no. Playtime isn't over just yet blue!" The pale pink female coos, pulling her hammer easily out of the foot-deep hole she created.
"W-what?" Sonic backs up, only to roll away with a squeaking Eve in his arms from an attack at his back. An auburn vixen smirks, cruel eyes narrowing at the pair.
"Like she said, playtime isn't over. We've barely begun." She says smugly, posing with her hands on her hips. Her nose twitches before her cold blue eyes land on Eve. "Ah, I see what Grim was doing. Rosy, fetch the girl." She orders, snapping her fingers.
"Can I have the blue one to play with, Fiona? " Rosy giggles, twirling her hammer while skipping in a circle around the two spooked hedgehogs. "He looks like Scourgey~."
Sonic suppresses the shudder that runs down his spine at her words. Emerald eyes flicking between all three females, trying to formulate a plan to get away safely. Or at least wait them out until the team gets here.
Eve bites her lip before tugging at Sonic's sleeve again, motioning to be carried piggyback style, to at least give him the freedom to use his legs in combat. He complies, shifting her quickly onto his back with a brief smile.
"Sure, make sure you break his legs. You don't want him running away." Fiona grins, tail flicking behind her.
"Yeah sorry ladies, not eager to play with either one of you." Sonic comments, standing back up with Eve secured on his back.
There's a twitch from the pale hedgehog before Sonic has to jump back from another smash attack from her spiked hammer. The vixen looked on dully, leaning against a nearby tree as her companion continued to swing and giggle at her prey.
Fiona sighs as each attack misses the cocky cerulean male before issuing her own attack, a sweep of wind that knocks him off his feet and pulls the female off his back with a yelp, her body rolling off a way.
Dazed, Sonic holds his head in his hands. He mutters curses as he blinks his eyes to get rid of the spots in his vision. Unable to defend himself, he doesn't see the oncoming attack from the maniac hedgehog.
Eve squeaks before sliding into a run to cover Sonic from the attack. He was one of the Guardians, people needed him. She braces herself to be injured or killed by the spiked hammer that was aimed at the blue male.
But the attack never lands, and instead both heroes hear Rosy squeal and the familiar heat from Blaze's flames. "Eve, Sonic!" She calls, racing over to help the two.
The lavender hedgehog hugs her tightly, relieved to see her friends once more. "I don't know what's going on, but they're not normal." She explains, looking back over at the two females only to gasp when they aren't there.
"Where did they go?" Sonic growls, getting up and rubbing the back of his head. He sighs, hands going to Eve's back. "You need to go. Blaze, when are the others arriving?"
"I sprinted ahead, so not they're not far behind." She replies, lighting her hands on fire to prepare for battle.
'Maybe I can meet up with them." Eve frowns but nods her head, beginning to walk in the direction the feline came from, only getting agreements in return.
With that in mind, Eve starts to jog away from the scene, leaving the crystal cavern for the more powerful ones to handle. It wasn't long before she met up with the rest of the group, Tails driving his vehicle, capable of holding upwards of ten people. She smiles weakly before waving to gain their attention.
"Eve, you're alright!" Tails shouts, coming to a stop, relief on his face. "Where's Sonic and Blaze?"
"Up ahead. Be careful, there's a vixen named Fiona and a hedgehog named Rosy. We were attacked by them before Blaze arrived." The lavender female explains, moving closer to climb aboard.
And then the same blast of wind knocks her off course with another yelp, tumbling harshly before Silver catches her in his telekinesis, preventing a worse fall. Knuckles and Amy get out of the large truck with varying faces of rage.
Fiona waves lightly, once again leaning against a tree nearby. Rosy giggles before rushing towards Amy, the latter blocking the attack with her own hammer. "I don't like you, so it's smashy smash!" She coos, forcing the sakura female back.
Knuckles calls out before getting stopped by Grim, the wolf smirking and delivering a severe uppercut to the echidna.
In the near distance, and heard from all around, Sonic seemed to be fighting another speedster, being able to match him hit for hit easily. Their speed forcibly tearing leaves from trees and kicking up dirt.
Silver is by Eve's side, pulling her up before pushing her back to the truck, wide yellow eyes searching the area. He dodges the kick from Fiona as she growls lightly. "I don't think so hedgehog."
Eve gasps lightly, running away from the fight that began to trash the area around them. Wind whipping even stronger around the two, causing furrows in the ground. The female ducks behind some of the trees to escape the battle zone. She pants lightly, shaking once again as she peeks behind her cover.
Her friends were battling equals in power and here she was hiding and useless. The thought made her ears lower in sadness that she couldn't do anything to help. She yelps sharply as clawed hand slaps the tree next to her head, sapphire eyes widening.
"My, my, you're the little treat Wrath wanted to leave me." The newest voice states coolly, the first thing Eve sees is the piercing reptilian eyes that stare down at her. Her fear propels her legs to run from him, weaving through the trees before yelping as she meets with him once more when he blocks her path with a sinister smirk.
The male was a hedgehog with upturned teal striped quills. He was obviously a part of the group harassing the rest of the Guardians, and bad news to Eve. And yet, he didn't seem upset with her escape. "To think you would be found so quickly after my revival, it brings a shiver down my spine." He continues, smirk widening to a sharp toothed grin while leaning toward her.
The lavender female tenses, frozen in her stride but leans away from his too close stature. "W-why are you hurting my friends?" She questions, stumbling over her words.
The teal male tilts his head in question, grin momentarily lessening as he looks off to the battle taking place through the trees. "Ah, the mortals. I am not, my dear. Your 'friends' are the ones that disturbed my peace." He explains, a pleasant hum escaping him as he breathes in deeply. "You smell so enticing. It's nearly too much." He murmurs, eyes pulling shut, changing their conversation.
Eve takes a step back, fear and disgust running down to the pit in her stomach before launching into another sprint away from the creepy hedgehog.
She yelps when she's pinned to another tree, ears folding back instinctively and trying to make herself smaller. The lilac hedgehog is met with an amused chuckle at her act, pure delight in the voice. "My dear, you are truly one of a kind with your submission. Among other things." The teal demon purrs, watching as her eyes crack open slowly.
"W-why do you continue this? Why haven't you killed us yet, o-or left?" Eve asks timidly, faintly struggling against his iron like grip.
The teal-splashed male hums lightly before another snicker surfacing as he bites his lip. "I suppose you are right. What fun would it be if it ended right away?" He questions rhetorically. "I have just woken up from my nap, so we'll play a game." He states, moving his hands to rest against the sides of her head.
With the way his acidic green eyes were gleaming, it was not a question. They would play a game until he won or grew bored with it. "And as a measure of good sportsmanship, I'll allow you a head start. Run and hide from me, my little lotus but you will not escape my grasp forever." He chuckles, gripping her chin in one hand before nosing at her pulse point, earning him a confused and scared squeak.
The demon takes her scent with a deep breath, releasing a deep purr with the exhale, feeling a shudder going his spine at the addicting flavor at the tip of his tongue.
"Why not start now? Run back to your friends." He orders, releasing her and watching her dart frightenedly back to the crowd of clashing powers. Mephiles growls in pleasure, talons raking down the tree he had pinned her to, wondering what other sweet sounds he could pull out of her.
~x~
Out of breath, Eve launches herself into the yellow kit, whom was located near the combat vehicle, trembling as she clings to him. "T-Tails, we need to get out of here!" She gasps, sapphire eyes darting around before squeaking as her eyes land on the hedgehog that had cornered her, standing in the middle of the torrent.
"Enough." He commands easily, a bored expression resting on his face.
Each of his companions give up on their battles, quickly coming back to his side without a word. The ginger vixen named Fiona, casting cold eyes on Silver. Rosy, the pale pink hedgehog blowing a kiss to the fallen and tired Sonic before giggling quietly. Grim, the ashen wolf regarding the team as pathetic and crossing his arms. The green hedgehog male smiling with sadistic glee towards his rival in speed. And the leader, regarding none of them, but reptilian eyes seeking Eve out from behind the crowd of tired warriors.
"We will be returning for now, I require rest and your idle battles do not suit me presently." The ebony hedgehog states, turning away from the Guardians before a large golden ring appears in front of him, shimmering a blue portal that he doesn't hesitant in walking through, disappearing with the rest of his group.
Sonic growls in anger, picking himself off the ground. "Hey wait!" He speeds to the portal to pull them back, but it closes and disappears before he can get the chance, allowing him to follow unceremoniously unto the ground with a curse.
Blaze sighs lowly, looking at her friends with tired eyes, registering the pained and equally tired looks they were giving her. "We should go Sonic. We need to get back to our post and heal. In case, they come back." She states, placing a hand on the male's shoulder.
"Of course, they'll be back." He snarls, pulling his shoulder away from her touch and getting up with a huff. "Damnit!" The male shouts, wind picking up as he races back to the district without them.
The feline merely shakes her head at his attitude, issuing the order to return, as if it needed to used. The team was battered, rarely ever facing opponents that had intelligence or needed this much of their strength, and they still lost in a way.