[Mobius, Green Hills, Chao Garden]
The moment Shadow heard the loud, voice of a child scream out in fear and horror from the depths of the Chao Garden, the effect was instantaneous.
The ebony warrior bolted towards the location of the owner's young voice, fire scorching grass beneath the feet of the Ultimate Lifeform as he sped deeper into the Garden. Chao shied away from him, terrified by the flames that burst forth from the sole of his shoes.
His keen eyesight quickly picked up the tiny mobian rabbit scrambling away from a mass of winged imps, clutching her pet Hero Chao tightly to her chest, her eyes wide with fear and terror. Within seconds Shadow was at the girl's side, coming to a stop in front of the child, shielding her from the eerily intelligent eyes of the adult Chao. The kit sobbed behind him, and a quick glance at the child resulting in him noticing the blood dripping down her left forearm. It looked like a bite...
Chao aren't known to be aggressive... His keen eyes picked up the fresh blood around the mouth of a particularly large Chao. The normally calm and playful creature was standing in front of the mass of imps, blank eyes staring down at the far larger hedgehog.
Another thing Shadow noted as he stood in front of the creatures was the strange gathering of Chao around an unknown object that was probably the cause of the child's screaming. He noticed with confusion that several of the Chao's fur was stained with specks of red, but a quick examination of their movements told the bio-engineered male that they weren't injured. In fact, the blood looked old, a few hours at most. But how did it get on the Chao...? From the few that sported the round, floating blob of matter hovering a over their heads -one they lost as they grew older- Shadow could tell they were Neutral Chao, and only Neutral Chao, a very strange sight indeed.
His attention shifted to what the little imps were guarding with such zeal. He needed to know what they were treasuring away. He allowed golden fire to gather in his hands, making the rabbit behind him sob louder and run away towards the entrance of the Garden, carrying her pet with her. Instead of shying away from the lethal flames, the winged creature merely stared at him unblinkingly, unusual alert orbs staring into his own with peculiar disinterest.
What the hell. Letting the dangerous energy dissipate, Shadow switched tactics, walking over to the strange cocoon. Instead of fighting him the Chao scattered, revealing what they were hiding within their makeshift nest.
A familiar blue figure laying limply on the ground, covered in cuts, bruises and lightly scorched fur.
"Damn it."
In his defense, nothing that could be said was more fitting.
Shadow was at his rival's side within moments, the rest of the gathered Chao scurrying away as their jobs were done. A gloved hand pressed against the slim throat of the young hero; the Ultimate Lifeform sighed as he felt a strong pulse beating within the thin appendage that supported the speedster's quilled head. Good. It meant that he could kill the idiot himself. Pulling the smaller hedgehog up in a sitting position, Shadow used the hand on the Faker's neck to pinch the base of the azure's left ear with his claws. Hard.
The effect was instantaneous.
A pair of green orbs shot open and an angry, indignant screech of pain burst forth from Sonic's mouth, the sound making the nearby Chao flee for the trees. The causer of the pain however stayed up, not even flinching at the sharp sound.
"What the hell, Tails...!?" The Faker slurred as his eyes darted around the Garden, trying to locate the source of the sudden pain. The leaf-shaded orbs settled on the taller male holding their owner up, before narrowing suspiciously. "What the hell, Shads?!"
"Welcome back to the living world." Shadow deadpanned, letting the arm wrapped around the sapphire waist fall away. The Blue Blur spluttered, nearly falling on his back as his support was taken away. "Now can you explain how the fuck did you end up here?"
Sonic blinked at him owlishly, dazed jade eyes struggling to banish the sleepiness away. "...end up where...?"
"You're kidding me." The Ultimate Lifeform stared at him with a flat, exasperated look. "You don't think you ended up here, like this-" He gestured the bruises and healing cuts that littered the younger's body. The way Sonic followed his hand and stared at his battered self in surprise made his scowl deepen. I didn't think he would be this stupid. "-out of fucking nowhere?!" A nearby Chao shrieked, making the ebony hedgehog glance away from the sapphire speedster.
Too busy scanning for the surrounding area for threats, he never noticed the thin film of red dulling the jade eyes.
Realizing the animal had cried out because it had been pushed by it's compatriots into the pond, Shadow's gaze returned to the blue annoyance, who suddenly looked more aware.
"I fought someone. He managed to defeat me." The Faker lightly stated, shifting uncomfortably on the grass. The older male noticed the way the movement seemed awkward, graceless, almost robotic, but filed it to the fact the speedster wasn't used to being defeated. Shadow knew the annoyance long enough to have seen how irritated and grouchy the younger got after he managed to defeat him in a spar.
"What did that person look like?"
"It was a hedgehog...black and red. Freaky golden eyes. I thought it was you." Faker's head tilted to the side in a strangely bird-like fashion, a frown gracing his features as he struggled to remember the event. "He chased me all the way here...got me with his freaky tentacle shit a few times." He pointed the sharp, thin cuts that littered his body. They weren't bleeding, but they didn't look pleasant to sport. "Got knocked out after that. Why are you asking?"
"I fought against it as well." The obsidian and scarlet hedgehog sighed as he rose to his feet. Figures that the imbecile had nothing interesting to say. The Faker merely stared up at him, confused and slightly relieved.
"So you got him?"
I'm not commenting on that. The Ultimate Lifeform straightened his spine, brushing off the few strands of grass that clung to his pelt. "I suggest you meet up with the fox soon." The older male informed the sapphire with a no-nonsense tone. "After today's events, he'll probably want to see you."
With that, Shadow warped away, leaving the puzzled blue hedgehog behind.
"What just happened...?" Sonic muttered as he stared at the spot his older rival had been standing mere seconds ago. The Neutral Chao were slowly gathering around him once more, eager for his affection. The confused speedster dazedly allowed the little creatures to climb onto of him and settle on his lap and atop of his head, the imps purring happily as they swarmed around him.
I believe I saved your behind.
You started it. Small teeth were grit together as their owner fought to reign in their temper. You made me kill those people. The Blue Blur wasn't a stranger to taking lives, unfortunately; many times he had been confronted with dealers, mafia and serial killers intent on taking him out, or sometimes he hit a bit too hard, forgetting that the beings he was fighting weren't made of tough, unfeeling metal, but rather flesh and bone. But the fact he had mindlessly slaughtered so many innocents, it made something inside of him shrivel up, weeping and wailing in despair...
I... He felt the sentient parasite shift inside of his mind, the creature's malicious presence strangely subdued. I'm sorry, little one. The beast managed to croak out, dragging a short gasp from it's host. I was just so hungry and they hurt you and you screamed and it hurt-
Pained emerald eyes slid shut. Just...just don't do it again. I don't think I'll be able to handle it.
The parasitic creature let out a soft croon. I promise. I'll do my best. Before Sonic could retort, the sentient stone continued. No more innocents...but if someone attacks you, I will retaliate. I'm the Twilight Manacle; anyone who hurts you gets eliminated.
Sonic was smart enough to know it would go through it.
xxxxxxx
[Mobius, Green Hills, Chao Garden]
After the disgruntled Shadow left, Sonic had no idea how much time he stayed in the Garden playing with the surprising number of Chao that were surrounding him. The tiny little creatures giggled and pipped cheerfully around like minuscule, winged babies; the cerulean hero couldn't help but think of them as absolutely, unbearably cute and fluffy.
They pulled themselves on his lap, some fighting for the right to snooze on top of his head, and those who couldn't get near enough climbed over their brethren in a attempt to snuggle up to the confused, slowly horrified blue hedgehog, for he was starting to notice that any Hero Chao who tried to get near him the normally calm and cute Neutral Chao turned into devils, growling and barring their teeth threateningly. Some actually used the little sharp things.
The Blue Blur didn't know if he had try to break up and calm down the aggressive chaos or simply run for the hills. After seeing a Chao with a spiky orb atop of it's head nearly get one of it's wings bitten off for flying too close to the azure speedster, Sonic voted for the second option.
Dear Chaos, he never knew the imps could be this scary.
There was a series of hisses as a small, ebony-furred Chao equipped with large, shiny red eyes and a pair of bat-like wings was thrown out of Sonic's lap by a lighter one who bore an exceptionally long tail ending with a arrow tip. The dark Neutral Chao growled indignantly, flapping his small black wings before throwing itself at the whiter one with death in it's eyes -just as the said opponent did the same. Sonic saw this, however, and was quick to use his keen reflexes to catch the two flying bundles of seething hatred before they could injure their enemy.
The small Chao looked up at Sonic, glaring accusingly as they squirmed in the sapphire speedster's iron grip. The blue hedgehog impassively stared back, reproaching, causing the imps to scowl. To anyone seeing the trio -like the Twilight Manacle- the young hero looked a lot like a annoyed mother catching her children in the act, and the entity couldn't help but feel all giggly watching the strange display. The sentient parasite glanced at the two angry Chao, admiring their furious attempts at tearing each other's throats. Almost like the yellow fox kit did to Ogilvie when the said idiot did stupid and daring stunts that could easily break his neck -and it just happened that a nearby onlooker managed to catch it on camera...
Idiot, bumbling fool of a host.
"Don't fight over me. It's not worth it." The azure one chuckled, amused, ignoring the parasitic creature's irritated hiss. Sonic could feel the beast shifting at the back of his head, pacing furiously like a caged lion, irritated and cranky from the Chao's shrieking.
He lifting himself out of the mass of giggling, hissing and mewling crowd of Chao carefully, not wanting to step on them and injure the poor things in any way -and get his toes bitten off in the process. Sonic kept the white and the black Chao trapped in a tight grip however, just in case the two imps tried to throw themselves at each other once again. Behind them, the mountain of Neutral Chao watched him go with keen, intelligent eyes. They glanced at each other and shrugged before dispersing across the Garden's grounds, returning to their usual activities.
"You see, the only idiots who get to do that are my fans." Sonic joked -only to shiver at the thought. Urgh, not now...He carefully set down the chaos on a nearby rock, vigilant of any aggressive behavior between the two.
The Chao briefly growled at each other, tails twitching around like a irritated kitten's, alarming the blue hedgehog who got ready to intervene. But instead of tearing the other's face apart they looked up at Sonic, who looked ready to leave. Sonic tilled his head sideways, confused by their behavior.
"What?"
In answer, the Chao raised their tiny hands toward him, in perfect synchronization, the darker one's eyes wide and pleading, while the other had a bored, expecting look on his face. Sonic's face fell at the sight. Oh no. He was not bringing the imps with him; he was not ready, nor would he ever be, to care for such kind of creature, especially two of them...and quite frankly, he had more important things to worry about, and keeping the duo would only end up making things worse.
"No. Can't do that, sorry buddies." He turned around to leave; only to yelp painfully as the two chaos were suddenly atop of his head, their little claws digging into his fur and the skin beneath. It may not look like it, but Chao were like cats, capable of retracting their little claws when they wanted to cuddle and play, but if the situation was deemed necessary, they could unleash their wrath and their small, needle-like claws aided greatly their cause.
Like now.
"Ouch! Not the quills!" Sonic screeched painfully as he tried to dislodge the winged duo, cringing as the small claws dug deeper into his skin. The speedster felt the Manacle raise it's metaphorical head, ears perked up as it became alert and aware of the pain, before it relaxed and retreated to the back of Sonic's mind, apparently judging that the horror that it's host was suffering wasn't worth attention.
You're utterly useless... Sonic deadpanned with a groan, demonstrating his displeasure to the parasite. He earned nothing but a disdainful huff in return. Not a literal huff, as it couldn't make sounds since it lacked a physical mouth, it was more like...well...even he couldn't explain it with words. The young hero could hear the words rather than their owner's voice, and he could sense gestures such as growling, snickering, pacing or even a simple shrug -even if the creature didn't posses a pair of shoulders in the first place. This was all very, very strange, and Sonic knew it would take a long time to get used to.
Ahem. Back to his current problem.
"Guys this ain't cool at all! Stop it!" The cerulean hedgehog hissed, glaring up at the two small creatures -only to gulp at the far more threatening glares the Chao sported, a look that could put Shadow's to shame. Both imps were looking down at him eyes that clearly stated What are you waiting for? Go on! as if the winged creatures were expecting the blue hero would carry them to his house. Which was a major no. Just nope... He already had a crazy parasitic being running amok in his mind -a low, warning snarl echoed at the back of his mind at that, and Sonic did not need two others polluting his environment.
The sapphire speedster was about to open his mouth when he felt the Chao's claws press against the base of his ears.
Crap. The sad realization came that he hadn't much choice. His precious, sensitive ears were at stake, as well as probably anything else that was in range of the Chao's lethal appendages. It looked like the animals wanted to come with him, no matter how much he fought.
At his realization-stricken face, both imps gave him a stare that felt like an indignant now you get it. Sonic sighed as he picked up speed, the little devils who claimed his head hostage now nuzzling against his pristine sapphire quills, a instinctive reaction many of Sonic's passengers often had.
"Tails did say I needed some company..." The Blue Blur muttered, his voice losing itself in the roaring winds.
xxxxxxx
[Mobius, Green Hills]
"By the love of all those who want me dead," I'm speaking about you Twilight. The creature merely snorted at the furious claim. "What happened to my house?!" Yep. Perfect. Seemed like his above got thrashed -again.
How joyful.
Kira and Grimm -the two Chao couldn't be named anything else as, after all, they were devils- immediately made themselves at home; Grimm, the whiter furred Neutral Chao, sat on the couch that looked more like a roasted piece of wood than actual furniture while Kira, the darker one, proceeded in eating every last food available in the house. Salad, chips, pots of ketchup, chili and instant pasta -not the best food there was, but it didn't matter to Sonic how much extra calories he ate, they would be burned during his long runs- were disappearing at a rate that could be only described as alarming. Chaos, even he didn't eat as much as the small imp did..
It took less than three minutes for the small, black-furred tummy to be round as a ball. His gigantic meal capable of feeding several villages finished, Kira pulled himself in a tight ball and started dozing off on the half-broken couch, his oversized stomach making the task of rolling up like a content cat very, very difficult. The darkly colored Chao looked up at a scowling Sonic and gave the azure hedgehog a long, distressed whine.
The Blue Blur merely glared.
"You brought this upon yourself." He retorted stoically, frowning as Grimm, in a effort to annoy the other, poked the smaller chao with his strangely long tail, making Kira growl in discontentment. But the darker one could not fight back as his stuffed stomach demanding sleep and restricted his movements. The scarlet-eyed one shot a enraged glare to the large Neutral Chao, before looked back at Sonic. He gave out a long, distressed howl, making the speedster cringe.
"Fine fine! Stop whining, you big baby!" The hedgehog-turned-slave muttered to himself as he scooped the young Chao. Arms full, the cobalt one headed for his room, a victorious Grimm hovering over his head as he did so.
To annoy him further -and blissfully oblivious to the fact he posed next to no threat for the blue hero- Sonic was forced to tuck in Kira on his own bed as the black Chao howled and growled threateningly each time the azure rodent tried to place him on a pillow on the floor, or at the foot of the bed. Instead, the Chao took his bed hostage and curled on the thick, woolly blue duvet and bared his long, needlelike fangs, hissing like a aggravated cat whose owner managed to douse with water.
As much as Sonic wanted him off the bed, the urging want to remove the Chao from his bed went through the window and turned itself into pancake on the pavement at the sight of the little black animal's razor sharp, pearly white teeth.
He bites me with that and my arm will fly off... The azure thought in silent dread, not wanting to imagine how a sliced off arm should look like. He narrowed his eyes, looking down at his new bedmate with obvious distaste, but let it slide as Grimm suddenly landed next to his smaller companion; Kira first snarled, ears folded tightly against his head. But before he could chew out the whiter Chao -or before Sonic could grab the larger one by the tail and pull Grimm out of biting range- the grayish imp unceremoniously flopped besides Kira and wrapped his long barbed tail around the other Chao.
Silence. For several moments, none of the room's occupants dared take a breath. Kira's crimson eyes were wide, his tiny mouth flying open at the audacity as he stared at the larger Chao in disbelief. Grimm himself was already snoring the day away, one chubby little arms wrapped over the other creature. The scene unfolding in front of Sonic was cute, true, especially how Kira's cheeks flushed as red as his eyes and how he leaned his head down to sleep, his tiny little button nose nuzzling softly into the pale fur of the other. Grimm tried to move close, to hug the other tighter, but Kira gave a clear growl as warning.
It seemed like the darker Chao still didn't forgive him.
As Sonic lay down with the tiny creatures, he wrapped his fawn arms around the sleeping animals and pulling them under the warm duvet cover. Chuckling at the squawks and hisses that followed the movement, he Blue Blur wondered how hard it was going to juggle with caring for the little Chao and taking care of his current situation.
xxxxxxxx
[Hell]
"Dead. Shredded. Torn apart."
"Will she be alright?" A young bird demon asked cautiously, watching as the matriarch floated above the lifeless ruins that littered their broken world.
Mephiles shrugged at the youngling's words.
"She'll be fine. The death of Laveth was a blow to her pride. She was supposed to be one of the strongest of our kind, a possible successor to our current Dark Gaia in a few millenniums." The crystalline demon answered with a calm demeanor, his calm recollection not wavering as Dark Gaia made a sharp turn to the right, passing around the emptiness that was their world and scattering her terrified descendants away. Her globulous emeralds eyes were large and unfocused, clouded by the state of shock she achieved upon receiving the news of how easily one of her most direct descendant was dispatched.
"Powdered. Slaughtered. Our kind was humiliated." Dark Gaia kept on, her massive clawed hands clenching tightly and her tail swishing around like a irked cat's. There was a moment of silence, then everything went downward when the immortal queen suddenly exploded in rage.
She roared, flaring her arms and tentacles around, smashing one of the numerous floating ruins and knocking several petrified demons across the dark void. All of the younger immortals scattered like terrified bunnies, the only remaining people staying behind being a strangely passive Mephiles, a few brave -or insolent- demons.
"Matron, we must rethink our-"
Regardless of his rank, regardless of who he was, the one who had spoken, the reptilian immortal was lost to the world as the gigantic tooth-filled maws of the Queen of Darkness fell down on him like the blade of their most hated enemy.
He was swallowed whole, along with the ancient rocks that had served as floor for him during his last moments. Many of the immortals, let it be angel or demon, who had tried to be brave and decided to stay and try to console their enraged ruler had fled as quickly as their limbs could afford them to.
Gaia hardly chewed the demon. Rather, she just swallowed, not even bothering to check if the creature she had trapped inside her terrible jaws had died before shoving it down her gullet. That little fact made the smaller immortals around her fear the Matron more.
That is, all except one.
"Laveth was a fool."
Mephiles' loud proclamation made heads turn.
The crystalline hedgehog stood, awaiting his response, arms crossed tightly over his chest, ignoring the alarmed looks his fellow fiends gave him. His acidic green eyes were glued to the gigantic form that was the current leader of the immortals.
Within moments Gaia reacted.
"What are you talking about, halfbreed!"
The gargantuan arm shoot forward, gigantic clawed hand clasping around a defenseless hedgehog-like demon, lifting the far smaller demon off the ground and to Gaia's eye level. The bright, almost toxic green eyes glared at the tiny immortal with hatred. Gaia was about to open her mouth and throw the pathetic creature down her throat when she caught Mephiles' expression.
Despite having the threat of being eaten alive looming over him Mephiles' expression did no waver. Rather, the crystal-skinned male seemed to be awaiting a correct response from the monstrous Matron.
"Are you going to answer, vermin?"
"As I said before," Mephiles said lightly with out a hint of fear, but still loud enough for most of the demons and angels present to hear him. "Laveth was a fool and suffered a fool's death. She never prepared her attack. She had always been rash and acted as such during her last task. She didn't even give the host a serious injury." At this point, even Dark Gaia looked perturbed by the gall of the once-god of time. "Unlike her, I have a effective plan to take care of our current pest problem."
As if it was possible, the immortals listened even more closely the exchange. Gaia herself was in a lost for words, for none of her descendants or anyone else had ever dared to even think about talking back at her. But even with all that, Mephiles' strange and sudden speech made her attentive, keeping him away from her maws.
"What is that idea of yours, halfling?" The Matron boomed out, making sure to mock his current status. Mephiles silently fumed at the comment, but made sure to not voice out his thoughts, as it would surely speed death for him.
The black and purple immortal had been separated from his angelic twin Iblis not long ago, and since his return to his home world he had been often mocked for his defeat at the hands of a trio of mortals. He had been a experiment, a test, to see how strong the creature created out of a fusion of both bloods would be. Solaris had been a god in it's own right, a third Gaia, and only the Chaos Emeralds had brought the winged beast down. Both Light and Dark Gaia had been relieved by it's death -though they never voiced it out loud, realizing with smugness that if the heavenly creature could be taken down by a couple of mortals, there had been nothing to worry about in the first place.
To his credit, Mephiles didn't do much other than blink as his leader subtilely insulted him for his previous failure. Many of the immortals present at the meeting silently admired his self-restraint; many of them would have paid heed to their screaming instincts the moment the gigantic emerald eyes zeroed on them.
"While active, the Twilight Manacle could kill a lower or mid-level demon with ease if the said immortal isn't prepared for the fight. I believe we should strike in public daylight." A unsettling grin speed across the crystal demon's features, his first action since Dark Gaia had swept him off the ground. "When the Manacle is deactivated; as a mortal, the host won't stand a chance."
"But we have no idea what the host looks like!" A demon shouted from among the gawking crowd. Several others immortals agreed to this. The Manacle was a expert at manipulating all types of Chaos energy, and the fact it a large quantity of CHaos only made things worse. It was what made it so dangerous, even in it's sealed form; while in a host, it could suppress it's own Chaos signature, allowing it to become virtually untraceable among the crowd of mortals.
Mephiles shrugged nonchalantly as best as he could, for he was still trapped in Gaia's massive, clawed hand.
"We release the Lybra on the city. With it's keen abilities at searching and lowering it's own energy signature, it will sniff out the Twilight Manacle with ease." At that most of the beings assembled whopped with joy at the expectation of subduing one of their biggest enemies. At that plan, Gaia's laugh was feral as she gently brought her descendant back down, careful to not rip him apart with her claws as she could do with ease.
Maybe keeping him around was a good thing...
As Dark Gaia set down the crystalline male among his brethren, she never noticed the strange, vindictive glint in his eyes.
I've been wanting to add Kira and Grimm for a while...
