Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this scene of intense planning and preparation… especially for the one with a plan.

~保護者~

"Course of Action"

~保護者~

Everyone was seated at the table aside from Satsuno and Seiko, who were still getting much-needed sleep. Lia was happily chatting with (or at least at Myriu) in between bites of food, while Soren did his best to help keep the little girl somewhat calm and focused on the task of actually eating. Cear was focused primarily on eating, while Myriu idly listened and replied to Lia after chewing her food. Shadow, meanwhile, was sitting beside Soren and idly picking at his food. He'd managed to eat a few bites, but his appetite was coming and going and he wasn't sure if he could stomach much more. Which was… a bit vexing, honestly.

Toru glanced over at Shadow every now and then, a touch worried about whether or not the hedgehog would be eating much. It bothered him that he didn't know what he could do to help in this situation. He decided it best to simply eat his own food and leave the situation alone for now. Eventually, Shadow was able to eat a few more decent-sized bites before setting his chopsticks down and giving up. He looked over at his kids to make sure they were eating. Seeing that they were, he opted to leave them be. Toru took a short break from his own food to glance to Shadow. "That all you can eat for now?" he asked softly.

Flicking a glance in Toru's direction, Shadow nodded a little. "Yes."

"That's fine," Toru said gently. "Do you want me to save you some for another time, or just let it be?" the chameleon asked. Given that he doubted he'd be able to eat any later on, either, Shadow just sort of waved the idea off. Toru nodded in response before letting his gaze wander over everyone at the table. "Feels like a big family, eh?"

Shadow looked over at everyone gathered at the table. "I suppose so."

"In a way, it's everything I've wanted for some time now," Toru admitted quietly. "I never really expected it to happen like this, but I'm glad it's with you." Hearing this, Shadow looked at him for a moment. It took a second for it to sink in, but when it did he looked away with a slight smirk tugging at his lips. It wasn't about him feeling smug, or anything, though. He supposed it was… happiness? Or something similar, perhaps? He wasn't really sure. Toru took a moment and wrapped an arm around Shadow with a gentle smile before picking up their plates to go begin the cleanup process.

While Toru was away in the kitchen, Shadow's ears suddenly perked. He mentally turned his attention to the front door well before anyone even approached it, much less knocked. It took less than a second for him to figure out who was there. That wolf… Li. Why is he here? Then the knocks came, relatively quiet at first before a second set of knocks happened at a much more appropriate volume. Seeing as how Toru was busy, Shadow got up to answer it himself, opening the door for Li without much of anything in the way of a greeting.

Li, at seeing Shadow, suddenly froze. Luckily, Sein was standing beside him and gave him a gentle nudge which seemed to shake him out of his temporary shock. "Oh, right… sorry. Uh… hey, Shadow. I just wanted to come and… well… talk to you for a little bit, considering you weren't feeling great the first time." The wolf looked like he would have simply continued, but he apparently decided against that and fell quiet.

Using his knowledge of how to handle the same sort of shyness from his own son, Shadow kept his tone perfectly calm. He opened the door wider and stepped out of the way so they could come in and said, "Don't linger on the porch, then. There are seats inside."

Li didn't seem totally sure, so Sein decided to speak up. "I assume it's fine for me to come in as well? I came with him 'cause he's shy and all."

Shadow glanced at Li knowingly. "I noticed." He then stated, "I wouldn't have made the invitation general if I wasn't sure."

Sein nodded with a smile and ushered Li inside, moving him along to step inside so they wouldn't just be standing in the doorway. He then nudged Li again, prompting him to speak. "So, er, Shadow. Do you remember what we talked about the first time? If not, I can tell you everything again. That's no problem for me."

Much to his chagrin, Shadow had to admit, "I do not remember everything. Though I remember what I assume to be the most important pieces of information."

"The… major thing was that I asked you at one point if you wanted to work with me. You obviously know a lot about a kind of weapon that I'm unfamiliar with, and I thought it would be interesting and beneficial to us both to share knowledge and work on things together," Li explained. "I also asked if you wanted to do this to potentially… well… become the God of the Forge, but that's not a thing you have to decide any time soon."

He did more or less remember all this, actually. That was good. As such, he was able to reply with minimal additional thought. "I am interested in potentially working together," he confirmed. Though, he didn't mention the last bit at all. That was a bit… much for now.

Li nodded with a small smile. "If you really want to, then I just wanna let you know that you'll have full access to my forge, my materials, tools, and anything you need from there," he said easily. "Of course… if I don't have something, we'll either have to make it or find it, but we can cross that road when we get to it." Shadow inclined his head, understanding all of this fully. Li then finally took notice of how many other people were in the home and he gave a soft frown. "You… probably wouldn't be interested in staying gone for any extended periods of time, all things considered."

Blinking, Shadow turned his head to look at the table again. "That would be… somewhat complicated," he agreed slowly. "Recent revivals have ensured that."

"I get it. I wouldn't ask you to leave your family for longer than you wanted to be gone," Li said.

Sein rolled his eyes and nudged Li. "I'll fix that issue. You two talk a little, and I'll be back in a short bit." He turned his attention to Shadow. "It's fine if I just teleport back in, yeah? Noticed the tech and such."

"I will leave the security systems off for now," Shadow assured, not batting an eye.

The hawk nodded and teleported away, leaving Li and Shadow to talk. "So… your focus on weapons is guns, right?"

"Primarily," Shadow shrugged. "I build and handle explosives as well. Little else."

"I'd appreciate you keeping explosives out of the forge," Li quickly said, chuckling nervously. "But I trust that you're careful. Just… if you're there, try not to blow up my stuff."

"They will remain in this realm," Shadow told him easily, not bothered at all.

Li let out a relieved exhale at this before clearing his throat and asking another question. "Do you use pre-built parts primarily, or have you crafted the pieces of your weapons as well?"

"When I am pressed for time to build something, I use whatever is on-hand," Shadow said. "For the weapons I rely on most heavily, everything is built by hand."

"Good to hear," Li replied. "What about conventional weapons? Swords, spears, staves… Do you know the process for forging those kinds of weapons?"

That earned another shrug. "I have never had the means to even attempt to learn such a thing."

The wolf gave a slow nod, gradually beginning to think of various things before snapping himself back to reality. "So, we both stand to actually learn a lot," Li said, giving a gentle smile. Shadow murmured an agreement of some sort. Li glanced away, unsure of what to say. Luckily for him, Sein reappeared around that time and handed a device over to Shadow.

Shadow took the device after a second and gave Sein a very vaguely quizzical look. Sein blinked once before finally understanding and explaining himself. "This is a teleporter, more specifically an Immortal-crafted teleporter I got from Jet. Using this, you could easily travel between realms. Once you've been to Li's forge, you can teleport back." That only earned a small nod in response, nothing more.

Li nodded his thanks to Sein for the help before turning his gaze to Shadow. "So… what do you think? Do you want to work alongside me and such?"

"I said I was interested," Shadow reiterated calmly. "I would not have said so if I did not mean it."

"I just wanted to make sure," Li admitted sheepishly. "I don't want you to feel pressured, since this is just something for you to do if you feel like it." When Shadow didn't say anything, he fell into a short awkward silence before suddenly asking, "Do you want to go see the forge?"

Thinking on his feet, Shadow turned his head to look toward the kitchen again and quietly called, "Toru."

The chameleon poked his head out, looking at the three in vague confusion. "What? I'm almost done."

"The dishes can wait," Shadow huffed. "Come here for a minute."

Toru let out a mock annoyed groan and walked over, raising an eyebrow. "What's even happening over here? Didn't bother to listen in this time." Rolling his eyes a little, Shadow gave him a brief run-down of what was going on. Toru nodded slowly and shifted his gaze to Li. "I assume I can join you guys?"

"Oh, absolutely," Li said. "It's not a problem to me."

Toru nodded again and nudged Shadow. "Go talk to your kids real fast, I'll go finish up what I was doing."

Slight movements of his eyes betrayed the fact that Shadow was currently viewing something only he could see. "I already messaged Amy. She agreed to watch them for now. I will be back in a minute." With that said, he walked into the kitchen to retrieve the pair. Toru walked off to do what he said he'd do, leaving Sein and Li standing together waiting.

Li glanced to Sein with a hopeful look. "Do you think he's actually interested?" he asked quietly.

"Of course. He's not the kind to lie about that," Sein said, chuckling. "Relax a little. I promise everything is okay." Li nodded affirmatively, but that didn't get rid of all of his apprehension. He was still nervous, hoping this would all go over well. A couple minutes later, Shadow reappeared in the house. He happened to arrive more toward the living room, however. This startled the cat (who had apparently been sleeping on the couch unnoticed) and caused her to go charging over to Li for affection and reassurance like the traitor she was. Li was vaguely surprised by this, but ultimately simply leaned over and gently petted the cat.

Toru finally came back as well, seemingly having finished cleaning up the dishes and rejoining them all. "So, are we all good to go?" Shadow nodded a little. Sein nodded as well, and Li smiled. With this knowledge, the wolf teleported them all into his realm.

The area they appeared in was something more akin to a living area, but it wasn't anything grandiose or large. Enough furniture to seat a few guests and keep them entertained. There were two doors off to the side and one in front of them, the latter being the one Li actually walked to. He opened the door and led the way into his forge. The forge was impressively large, with a high roof full of what seemed to be air vents. It was all one room that extended quite some distance away. Weapon racks that were obviously just recently created covered much of the free space, with some of the closer ones being filled with various types of weapons.

Nearest to them was a fairly expansive space dedicated solely to the forge itself. Several different kinds of furnaces lined the left wall with a rack of tools not far from it. To the right was a well-sorted collection of various materials. Toru took this all in before murmuring something that he didn't expect he would be saying. "This is fucking impressive." Too busy looking over everything still, Shadow didn't pay Toru's words much mind and didn't add to them.

Li, feeling well within his element, smiled brightly. "This place used to be a lot more. A thing happened and a massive fire swept through, destroying… well… pretty much everything. I'm working on recreating my collection, and making some more of the things that made my life a bit easier."

Seeing as how no eyes were on him for the moment, Shadow surreptitiously started scanning things that were in his line of sight so as to learn more about the way everything had been made and using what materials. He was far more curious about it all than he'd let on earlier in their conversation. This is... more than I expected. I should have expected more.

The wolf walked around and showed them various things, explaining their purposes, how they worked, and so on as best he could. Eventually, once they had more or less seen everything, Li turned to Shadow and asked, "So… what do you think? Do you think that you could work in this area?"

Shadow didn't hesitate to nod. "Yes."

Excitement washed over Li and he nodded quickly before Sein tapped him on the shoulder, effectively saving the group from a long ramble. He cleared his throat and collected himself in response. "Alright. Just a note, there's a spare room here. If you ever feel bad, need to take a nap, or just want to rest after working on something, you're free to use it. Novei always crashes in mine," he explained.

Blinking once, Shadow simply responded, "Alright."

Li seemed a bit nervous again for a moment before finally asking, "Is there anything you need for me to have here? I assume you've got special tools you need for guns and other things you make, right?"

"I can handle that," Shadow told him. "I have excess that can be moved here at a later time."

"And if necessary, we can make some replicas that would help when working on semi-Immortal weapons… assuming you don't already have that," Li said, chuckling sheepishly. Shadow nodded a little in agreement. The wolf suddenly realized something and added, "Make sure you can use that teleporter to get back here. I'd hate for you to not be able to come here when you want."

Turning his attention to the device, Shadow did as he'd been asked. Sure enough, he was able to leave and promptly return with ease. "It works fine."

Li gave a gentle smile. "Good to know. I assume I'll see you sometime soon. And know that you're always welcome here, whatever the reason. Same goes for you, Toru, and your families," the wolf explained. Toru gave a nod in response.

Seeing as how Toru didn't say anything, Shadow internally sighed and did so instead. "We understand. Thank you."

"Not a problem," Li said. "You can take your leave whenever you want. I'll be heading out to go check up on something and gathering some resources." Shadow cast a glance at Toru, waiting to see if the other man was ready yet. The chameleon nodded in response to him. As such, Shadow promptly sent them home.

Toru crossed his arms and smirked. "Someone's getting some cool connections."

Crimson eyes rolled for the second time in the last half hour. "Whatever. Dumbass."

"It's a really cool thing, regardless," the chameleon said. "I mean, he's the real deal. That shit was exquisite. Not many could ever ask for more if they wanted to make their own weapons."

"Mm-hm," Shadow agreed quietly, going to sit down. His never-ending fatigue lately left him wanting little more than to stop standing as soon as possible.

Toru joined him without much hesitation, smiling. "If this is something you're wanting to do, go for it. I'm absolutely stoked for you to have this kind of chance."

"It is worth looking into," Shadow said, shrugging, "but I do not know when I would ever have the time." Much less the energy.

"Just take it when you can," Toru said, shrugging. "Even if you get to go over there for a few hours one day every so often, so long as you can make some stuff or even learn new skills it would be worth the wait."

"I suppose so," Shadow replied noncommittally.

Toru wrapped an arm around Shadow with a smile. "We can talk about all that more sometime soon. You need to rest a bit more, and we've got that thing Steam messaged about. It would be good for us to at least be in a call so we're informed."

Shadow recalled the message. Though he, like Toru, hadn't really looked into it. It was something about a meeting or whatever, and he'd lost interest after reading that much. "I need to retrieve Lia and Soren in an hour," he said, choosing not to bring up the topic of Steam's message. "It makes more sense to stay awake for such a short period of time."

"You rest a bit, and I'll get the kids for you," Toru offered. "Alright?"

Huffing, Shadow elbowed Toru in the ribs. "Why do you insist on not giving me choices?" he asked, pretending to be more annoyed than he was.

"You like to make choices that don't benefit you, so I make those for you and keep some of the responsibility off," Toru said without hesitation. "If I don't, I'm damn sure nobody else can."

Shadow huffed again, refusing to acknowledge how true or not that statement was. Toru chuckled a little and elbowed him back lightly. "Go on. Rest a bit. I'll handle everything."

There was no real point in arguing. Shadow knew that and so just stood up to go to his room. However, instead of just going off on his own, he took hold of Toru's arm and tugged so that Toru would also get up. "You come as well," he mumbled, looking away. He hated sleeping. He made no secret of that. But… Whenever Toru was there, the nightmares didn't come. Not usually. And even when they did, they were mild and went away swiftly. It all felt… safer, somehow. So even though Toru would have to leave soon, he found himself requesting this regardless. "...For now, at least."

Toru was visibly a touch caught off-guard, but he didn't resist and even smiled in response. "Of course, Shadow. Any time," the chameleon said gently, standing with Shadow. "Let's go."

~保護者~

Steam quickly typed away on a laptop he'd borrowed from Tails, opening up connections for anyone that wasn't currently present and needed to keep up to date (aside from Cere, who was using a special power of hers to communicate through a mirror). His stress was visible on his face this time, but he seemed to be in control of himself. Ynder spoke softly, setting a hand on his shoulder. "Do you need more time? This is a lot of responsibility. I would not he against giving you a bit of reprieve so you can calm yourself."

The hedgehog didn't even respond for some time, continuing to type on the laptop before slowly nodding. "You had some things you wanted to say anyway. Now is the time."

The Goddess of Fates nodded in response and removed her hand from Steam's shoulder to direct her attention to everyone gathered. "I believe this is everyone that will be present?" When Steam gave a nod, she finally spoke up to where all could hear her. "I will simply begin by introducing myself. I am Ynder, the Goddess of Fates. I have come to aid in giving information regarding what situations will be coming your way in the near future."

People traded looks, but ultimately no one said anything. They instead just waited for her to continue. Seeing this, Ynder resumed speaking. "As a few of you may be aware, your enemy, Nareish, has busied herself with reviving many of the ancient enemies that have been faced in the past. To my knowledge, she has revived Iblis, Mephiles, Dark Gaia, Gerald Robotnik, Black Doom, and a number of powerful Nocturnians. It remains possible that she has revived others that I am simply not aware of."

Looking pale, Silver and Blaze traded another look. The mere mention of Iblis and Mephiles had set them on edge. However, the one that caused the most stir was Ynder's bringing up of the Nocturnians. "They're back?" Amy almost whispered. "The Nocturnians, I mean. I… We almost didn't defeat them the first time. And we had much more help back then…"

Steam decided to step in, turning his attention from the laptop. "As far as we can tell, it's not the entire army like it was before. Just people like the generals and some of their beasts. Not to mention, we're all stronger and more skilled than we were back then. If we can deal with Ix and Shade, which I assume she also revived, we should be able to handle it all in the end."

This earned a small scowl from Sonic. "Do you realize the lengths we had to go to just to kill those two? I had to use every last ounce of my strength to take out Ix alone."

"We are not all stronger, either," Blaze added, shaking her head. "For example, I have never had a lot of raw power. That has not changed just because I am alive a second time." Amy mumbled some sort of agreement about herself as well, specifically referencing her psychic abilities.

Steam mentally scolded himself for his own poor wording before giving a nod and admitting, "Yeah, that is true. Poor wording on my part, but the idea remains. I'm already working on plans to handle them, and I'll reveal more when I've got something solid on it. For now, we've got a bigger threat on the horizon."

"Without Uncle Jet helping us, we're probably screwed," Silver sighed. "He was instrumental the first time, obviously, and since these guys are all probably gonna be stronger than they used to… We're going to need his help again."

"And I'm sure we can get his help, it'll just take time. He's going through something I couldn't hope to explain," Steam admitted. "And it's really not my place to tell everyone." His gaze unintentionally shifted to Wave, a faint grimace appearing for nothing more than a second.

Wave met his gaze evenly, not a trace of her usual humor showing through her demeanor. "I've been checking on him. He's surprisingly alright for the time being. If all of this crap really starts going downhill soon, convincing him to join us won't be a problem." It's later on that I'm worried about.

Steam continued without waiting for anyone else to speak up. "Outside of the Nocturnians, our current problem is absolutely going to be… when the Faein go back to sleep."

A murmur passed through the small crowd before Tails admitted, "We heard about that. And, well, we've been worrying about it. When they do this, Nareish and Kaden will be free again. Analia apparently has some sort of a plan to help Kaden, but we don't know if there's enough time. And then there's Nareish…"

"I personally believe Nareish will sit back and watch what she thinks will become a shitshow," Steam murmured. "I won't deny she might intervene, but… for once we have the numbers to deal with things. Kaden is our priority at the moment, because Analia's plan has a lot of merit. She wants to purify him." The hedgehog gave people a moment to let that sink in before adding, "Zareil is currently leading the demons. She's either going to plan a full assault using Iblis, Mephiles, and what demons she can bring here, or a covert operation to retrieve Kaden when the trap holding him falls. Either way, I have plans in place."

This time, it was Knuckles who answered him. "Based on what I've heard about her condition, Analia is going to need some serious protection. Got a plan for that, too?" His tone was calm, not accusatory as though he thought Steam was leaving out important details. Mostly, he was just seeking additional information.

Steam was about to speak, but a woman's voice sounded out from a mirror that had been placed on the table he had been working at. "I have done so in his stead. She will have protection from the Gods and Goddesses."

Satisfied with that statement, Knuckles nodded. "Good to hear."

"Yeah. Thank you, Cere," Steam said, shifting his gaze to the mirror for a moment before returning his attention to everyone else. "Currently, Tails and Wery have helped to build a barrier system fueled by Light from Rose. They have also helped build a number of devices using the same idea to give people a weapon with Light, as many of you have probably seen now. We're gonna be making full use of them."

Wery suddenly spoke up from where she was sitting with Tails. "The barrier has a central casting point with several energy relays that we can place quite some distance away. That helps us ensure that it stays up longer, even if an enemy damages one part of it. Unless they destroy all of the parts or drain every crystal, that barrier is likely going to stay up."

"Do you think it will be enough to stand up to all these enemies?" Amy asked her. "Or, are we going to have to use multiple at once or something?"

"It won't stay up forever," Wery admitted. "Especially if that demon, Iblis, or other really strong demons begin attacking it. It's mostly an attempt for us to either separate parts of the demonic forces from one another or to buy us time if we really need it. If we use it as a diversion in the middle of the fight, we could theoretically break them away from one another and take them down methodically as opposed to having to brawl it out. Just a theory, though. I'm always willing to listen to other ideas."

Hearing this, Silver's ears perked. "Iblis is a demon?" Blaze shushed him.

Sonic opted to ignore his son for a moment in favor of asking, "This is great and all, but I'm not hearing a plan to handle the rest of the guys that were revived. What about the Metarex, for instance? I saw evidence that they were back when I stormed the ARK. And what about people like Black Doom? We have no idea what he's going to do."

Toru's voice came from the computer. "Black Doom won't be a threat. I'll make sure of that."

"We don't know that for sure," Blaze frowned. "He's blatantly attacked Shadow and Lia both before. There is little preventing him from doing it again."

"I know. I was made aware of that. He did that for a very specific reason, and he will not do it again. There's no point," Toru answered. "I'm also going to be personally speaking to him soon, so the matter will be resolved quickly."

Steam nodded slowly at this before finally speaking up again. "I'm currently working on tracking down the Metarex. They've been fairly quiet. When I have more information on their numbers and where they are, I can more accurately come up with a plan. However… we need to purify Kaden before they have a chance to get to him." He directed his attention to Sonic. "In the event that anything happens, we need to be able to protect him because of what could happen if he can't protect himself for any reason."

Wasn't that… Wasn't that how Ivo caused that ruined future timeline, or something? Using Dad's power while he was in that coma to destroy everything… Shaking that off for now, Sonic responded, "I don't know how feasible that is. They also were only beaten with a shit-ton of help. For one thing, we didn't even land the finishing blow on their leader. Cosmo did that."

Ynder spoke up when it seemed that Steam wasn't sure of what to say. "There is also new help available to you. Pyrun, Yareis, and Eirza are all here, to start," she murmured. "You also have the aid of two more Immortals, Eona and Zenith are awake, and a few new Gods have awakened recently." Her gaze fell on Cyril, who rubbed the back of his head sheepishly at the attention. "It is yet still possible."

As word had spread to them (courtesy of Wave) by now about Cyril, no one batted an eye. Amy did, however, lay a hand on her husband's arm. "You're forgetting another thing. We're all used to it now, but remember back then… none of us knew Jet was an Immortal and had the abilities that he does. He was keeping it a secret for one reason or another. He's not anymore. That means he can and will freely use the full range of his powers when necessary. That will help a lot." Sonic sighed and nodded, acquiescing to her point.

Steam silently thanked Ynder for her help before speaking. "Does anyone have anything else they want to ask, or that needs to be addressed?"

"Erm, she," Silver pointed at Ynder, "said Dark Gaia is back. What's the plan for that thing? It put Gramps in a coma last time."

"Yeah, I remember," Steam murmured. "Without a doubt, we're going to need him and Analia, but I also think that Sonic may well be ready to help them when it arrives. You were recently given some direct knowledge, correct?"

Sonic's ears perked. "Yeah, but… Look, I don't think that's even going to be needed here. Just in this one situation, I think… I think we have all that we need."

"Right," Steam murmured. "The magic that you, Kaden, and Seiko possess is strong against beings of Darkness… which is what Dark Gaia is. I… overlooked that."

Blaze straightened immediately. "Seiko?" she repeated. "Was that not the name of Kaden's mother?" Silver glanced at her with wide eyes while Knuckles and Rouge traded a surprised look.

"She and Satsuno were revived. They're resting since it was so recent," Steam revealed.

A few stunned words were exchanged before Rouge talked over them. "Well, that's good to hear. We could use their help."

Steam nodded. "Absolutely." He returned his attention to the group as a whole and asked, "Is there anything else?" He caught sight of movement from where Aniko, Armaris, and Espio (along with his kids) were, but he wasn't specifically sure who had done what, then it clicked that someone was missing entirely. "Anything that happened that we… don't know about?" he questioned carefully.

Aniko was quiet for a moment but ultimately spoke up. "A… creature appeared and attacked Shei and myself. Whatever they did has brought out latent energies within him and has left him in a… dangerous state."

"Energies?" Knuckles asked with a deep frown, looking their way. "What are you talking about?"

The woman turned her attention away, obviously just pained by the thought. "He was… born to the first spawn of Malevolence," she almost whispered.

Before anyone else could say anything, Espio unexpectedly spoke up despite typically being very silent when in a crowd like this one. "He has left for now. There is no immediate danger from him so far as we know." Armaris didn't speak up, but she did turn to Espio and begin whispering quietly to him.

"His heritage goes back to Malevolence?" Rose asked gently, tilting her head as she looked to Espio. Kial seemed a touch concerned as well, but he didn't voice it openly.

"Apparently," Espio answered, no emotion present in his voice. "We only learned of it somewhat recently." Though tempted to question why nothing was said before, ultimately Sonic knew the answer. Chameleons were an intensely private people. Espio and his family were no exception to that. As such, he decided to bite his tongue on this one.

Rose gave a gentle nod. "If my aid can help in returning him to a normal state, please say so. I would be willing to do whatever I am able," she murmured.

Since her Light was having a profound calming effect on everyone (as Light was known to do), everyone was able to think rationally about this. As such, no one sounded too upset even when Tails pointed out, "We have no idea what Light would do when introduced to an individual with that kind of energy. It's possible that things could go very wrong very quickly."

"I understand what you mean," Rose murmured in reply.

Wery frowned a little. "Then what should we do? It doesn't sit right with me to just… not try something. I don't know him well, but I'd hate for him to be worse off because this happened."

Hearing all of this, Zei abruptly stopped running around and turned to face her. "Daddy's daddy needs special help. Like… uh-mortal."

"Immortal," Espio softly corrected, already thinking about what she'd said. And, of course, how she'd even know such a thing.

"In that case," Sein abruptly said. "I'm always willing to help out. Maybe me and Alana could help do something soon?"

Wave's foot tapped rapidly for a moment. "I'll talk to Jet. Being the most advanced Immortal present for a long time now, he must know what an Immortal's intervention could have been doing for Shei in the past. I'm assuming there was some sort of seal, but there may be deeper intricacies to the matter I'm missing."

"Wait," Sonic frowned, "seals involve magic, yeah? And they can't just be undone usually. You have to forcibly break them, which requires the attacker to have magic of their own."

Cyril blinked a few times at this thought. "Honestly… it makes sense. It wouldn't have been any of us, surely, but that sounds like a type of magic that could be really useful for me to learn."

"My magic can do that sort of thing," Sonic revealed to him. "That's part of what it's meant for. Ever heard of the ancient mess with Dark Gaia ages ago? It wound up sealed within the planet. The reason why is because I got this magic from my dad, and he used it back then." After a slight pause, he sighed heavily. "On that note, I'm pretty sure we can all reasonably assume who broke this particular seal."

Ylden, who had been hiding silently against a wall, let out a deep sigh of his own. "Yes. For that matter, I'm absolutely certain of who it was. It would have needed to be someone like him…" All of which I only know due to the long broken one I placed on Armaris…

Silver raised a hesitant hand. "So… question. Lady Seiko - uh, I think that was her title? Anyway, wasn't she the most powerful person with this magic, kind of… ever? Since Gramps's Darkness was so powerful, he got some less potent magic overall than hers, yeah? Which is why using so much of it to seal Dark Gaia that first time wound up killing him, because it attacks him, too, when he uses a lot of it. And yours, Dad, was never that incredibly powerful to begin with."

"Yeah, that's about right. You thinking she might be able to handle this?"

"I mean, maybe? I don't know for sure obviously, and I don't know if she'd want to help, though."

"That's something we can ask later, when she's recovered more," Steam replied. "Of course," his attention shifted to Espio, Aniko, and Armaris. "Would you allow us to try and help? I understand hat this is a really delicate matter."

Espio turned his head to look at Aniko. "She was one of the only allies our people had in the outside world long ago," he reminded her quietly, as if she needed him to. "Father met her personally more than once, did he not? If that is so, then I will trust his own judgement and, as such, trust her."

"I will as well," Aniko said gently. "Especially if it brings with it the chance of returning him home safely." His sharp ears picked up on their words, so Silver relayed their decision to Steam once he was sure they were done talking.

Steam nodded slowly before glancing to Ylden. The man seemed troubled, but he thought it best to simply leave that unmentioned for now. "Is that everything for now?" When nobody spoke up after several seconds, he moved on. "The next thing I want to speak about is the plan for when Zareil ultimately brings her forces here to try and take back Kaden. There's a good bit to it, and feedback is welcome. Silver, Blaze… first and foremost, I'll make sure you two are removed from the area Iblis is in. I won't allow you two to be subjected to that again."

Both of them flinched visibly. "We are… We have always been more concerned about Mephiles," Blaze admitted quietly. "He is far more dangerous and… far more likely to make one suffer. Iblis will only kill. He will torment."

The green hedgehog fell silent for a moment. "I understand. Regardless… it's unreasonable to ask you both to potentially be faced with those two. We can talk more about where you guys can help after, alright?"

"I agree," Sonic said firmly, crossing his arms. "You two aren't going anywhere near either of them if we can help it, alright?"

Silver swallowed hard. "Yeah… Right."

Steam cleared his throat. "Now, I want everyone to know that they can object to any part of this plan, whether it includes them or not. There are some things I don't want to ask people to do… but ultimately it's up to you guys if you think my choice is okay."

"Understood. Please proceed," Rose answered gently.

"Alright." Steam turned his attention to Kira. "You are the only person directly available to us that has a power based on water. I'm asking that you go to where we're planning to face them all and prepare the area so that the fires can't spread rapidly."

"Of course," Kira answered with a smile. "I'd be happy to help. I'll fight, too, but making sure things are ready will be my first priority."

"Wery, Tails, I assume you both can help her do that as well. I trust that you can figure out something?" Steam asked.

"Got it covered," Tails promised. "I've already got a variety of robots that can be quickly repurposed for the sake of helping with this."

Steam nodded. "Good to hear. Adding onto this, I would like to ask that anyone with a fire power do what they can to aid with that during the fight. If the fight keeps you preoccupied, that's fine, but we don't want those fires to spread." His attention shifted to Rose. "I have to ask that you refrain from fighting on the frontlines. Your Light may prove invaluable and I need you to not overextend yourself as you tend to."

"I do not-" Rose started to say gently before Kial's hand cut her off by settling on her shoulder.

"You do," Kial murmured. "It may be best for you to fight from a distance this time." Though she didn't like being called out in this manner, she ultimately nodded and motioned for Steam to continue.

Before he could speak up, however, Ylden chose to do so. "I'm going to be remaining close to the trap to keep an eye on Kaden. If Zareil breaks away or other demons come when it falls, we're in for a shitshow with nobody else around."

Steam slowly gave a nod. "Got it. Not a bad plan." He turned his attention to Sonic. "I want to ask that you not be stationary in any particular part of the battlefield. You've got incredible speed and power, and I think it would be beat if you moved around and helped where you're needed."

"I'll do what I can," Sonic replied.

"That's all I can ask for," Steam said. "Therin. If you'll be around, I want you scouting the battlefield and watching for anything unusual. You're one of the best at gathering and relaying information."

The God of Thieves happened to be with Cere, and so spoke through the same mirror she had used earlier. "I was planning on it. I'll find a good vantage point once we know where we're fighting, when the time for that comes."

Figuring that this would be the case, Steam nodded. "All of our magic users. Cyril, Eila, and Wave. Sonic can help too, but mostly I want to ask that you guys help keep the hordes thinned and help in fighting Iblis, considering you'll likely do more damage to it compared to the rest of us." Wave nodded grimly, saying nothing for now.

Cyril gave an easy nod. "Whatever I can do. Also, keep in mind that I can use my cards on other people as long as they have magic," he explained.

"I'll keep that in mind," Steam said, before turning his attention to Eila (who until now had been hidden within a cloak of magic). "Is that okay?" he asked her.

Eila nodded slowly in response. "I will do my best," she murmured.

Steam let out a soft sigh. "Espio and Aniko, I'd like to ask that you do as you did last time and help in dealing with the stronger demons that come. Toru, if you're able, it would be good for you to join them."

Espio blinked once, thoughts still mostly elsewhere. "Fine." Aniko simply nodded her agreement.

"I might be preoccupied. I'll get back to you about it soon," Toru answered easily.

"Understood. Amy, Knuckles, and Rouge. I'm going to ask that you three stick together and work as a team. Knuckles, you can work on the fires and help clear a path for the others if necessary. Rouge, you can fly and help in doing the same, while Amy can heal and also help clear paths. If you think you're needed somewhere, I'd appreciate you working to help if possible. Is that alright for you three?"

"Sounds good to me," Rouge agreed.

"Mm-hm. I'll keep the fires at bay. My fists won't do much to help, so I'll focus on that." Knuckles crossed his arms. "Takes some pressure off Sonic, too."

"My only concern is my hammer," Amy admitted. "It's wooden. It'll burn to bits in no time flat. Which means I'll need to get my hands on something more durable, somehow."

Kial spoke up with a gentle smile. "We can speak to Li about that. He might be able to craft something special for you," the bobcat offered.

"Oh, you're right! Will anyone be able to help me talk to him?" Amy managed a smile, equal parts grateful and sheepish. "I don't have any fancy powers or anything to help me with that sort of thing."

Steam nodded easily. "Absolutely. I should be able to take you. We can arrange that shortly. On that topic… does anyone else urgently need a better weapon? We can speak to Li on that matter and see what can be done."

For the second time, a small voice interrupted. This time, Zei was pointing right at her father. "His sword might break," she stated plainly, looking at Steam with innocent eyes. She explained no further, though. Espio looked at her quizzically, too surprised and confused to speak up for himself.

"I see…" Steam said. "Thank you, Zei." He turned his gaze to Espio. "We can arrange that, if it's fine by you."

Espio inclined his head. "...It will be necessary," he agreed after a moment. "If I have even a trace of the same energy as Father does, it will easily snap my current blade should it reveal itself."

"Got it," Steam answered. "Cere, can I ask you to get word to Sona and Locke that their help with the fires and in fighting Iblis would be appreciated?"

"Understood," came the woman's voice from the mirror. "They will be informed."

Steam turned his attention to Sein. "Can you and Alana do what Sonic will be doing, as in helping wherever is needed?"

The hawk confidently nodded. "Absolutely, and we'll help keep an eye on where Kaden is in case something happens there. I'll let Alana know when I return to Babylon and find her."

"Hey, Kath. You still on the call?" Steam asked, turning his gaze to the laptop.

Since there was no image, confirmation only came when Kath said a simple, "Yes," in response.

"I want to ask that you fight alongside Rose, taking down demons from afar. You running out of Light isn't a good situation," Steam said. "Is that reasonable for you?"

"Yes," Kath said again. "More than reasonable."

Steam turned to Kial finally. "Kial, I know that you'll probably perform best while facing the hordes due to your specific shape-shifting abilities. I want you to keep your senses sharp for any trouble from the others on the ground. Can you do that?"

"Absolutely," the bobcat confirmed. "Just do not be alarmed if you see a chimera rocketing onto the battlefield from orbit," he murmured in faint amusement. Silver started to snicker, but did his best to hide it behind his hand. Knuckles, meanwhile, openly smirked despite having zero idea what this guy was talking about.

Can't really speak for Jet, but I'll talk to him if the chance comes up. "Now… Armaris, I have a huge task to ask of you. I'm aware you recently tapped into your other heritage. Do you think that you can hold off Iblis in that form?"

Armaris crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes before glancing between Steam and Ylden. Did my father tell him…? Doesn't matter. "If I'm able… I will. I don't like the idea, but if it's necessary…"

"You don't have to," Steam murmured. "I'll give you some time to think on it. In the event you do agree, I'd like to ask Cere to stay near you and make sure nothing goes awry. You'll be in a lot of danger."

"Just shut up," Armaris muttered. "I'll do it, and I'll be fine."

Steam didn't press the matter further before looking over in Marthal and Tyria's direction. "Marthal and Tyria. I'd like to ask that you two focus on facing whatever demons you can kill. You're both incredibly skilled, and I believe you can work well together."

The yokai in question was curled up on one of the two couches, having been dozing and yet somehow still keeping aware of the goings-on. He cracked an eye open, tail-tip twitching here and there. "Yeah, fine. That's doable." Tyria only shrugged in vague agreement.

Sein suddenly spoke up. "Oh, uh… Someone was recently revived that you guys might know. An albatross named Storm?" Sonic's mouth immediately dropped open, wide eyes swinging to Sein in shock.

Wave similarly stared for a long moment before excitedly demanding, "Did you just say Storm?"

"Mhm!" Sein said, a smile on his face. "He showed up with this crazy magic staff thing."

"Yep, that's him!" Wave declared with a grin. "I'll fill him in on all of this and get him involved, Steam. And, on that note, uh… See ya." With no further warning and little more than a cheeky wave goodbye with her hand, she vanished entirely.

Steam had been attempting to stop her from doing just that, but ultimately sighed with a gentle smile. "I'll just talk to her when she's back," he chuckled before looking back to Sein and growing serious once more. "When Zareil inevitably joins the fray, I want to ask that you and Alana hold her off."

"Absolutely. I was planning to do so, all things considered," the hawk answered with a smile. "Though… there's one big thing you haven't addressed."

Steam winced lightly. "Yeah… I planned to fight Mephiles myself. I know how he acts, and I know how he fights. I should be able to keep him busy until we can take them both down."

"You have to act fast when that time comes," Silver further explained for the benefit of those who didn't know. Which was most people. "Those two are… They're a lot like how Cere and Finis are, from what I've heard. They were born together, live together, fight together, think together, and can only die together. So long as one lives, the other can't truly die. If you manage to take one of them down, you've got less than two minutes to strike a killing blow to the other."

"Which played a role in why they were unable to be defeated for so long, where we came from," Blaze sighed. "It is incredibly difficult to do."

Sein frowned a little. "I assume you're planning to find a way to take them down together to avoid such a potential, yeah?" he asked Steam.

The hedgehog nodded slowly. "That's what I'm hoping for. For now, I want our focus to be on controlling the situation and weakening them both until we can find a solid way to."

"If it comes down to it," Silver told him, "I can subdue Iblis long enough for you to beat the hell out of Mephiles in preparation to end them. If nothing else, I got very good at that much when facing those two. Holding Iblis back, that is."

"Can you do it from afar?" Steam questioned lightly.

Silver nodded. "Yeah, not a problem. I can find and interact with a force that big from just about anywhere at this point. If he was smaller, then it would be more of an issue." He chuckled weakly. "Good thing he's unreasonably massive."

Steam nodded slowly. "Thank you. If you can do that, it would be great."

"I'll see to it," Silver promised. "Just keep me apprised of the situation and when you want me to step in. I'll keep an eye on things regardless, but still." The maturity and surprisingly formal speech he was displaying caused Sonic to look at him with raised eyebrows. Silver promptly stuck his tongue out. The image of responsibility and "grownup-ness" was shattered in an instant.

"Is that everything for now?" Steam asked, shifting his attention to everyone around him.

When at last it seemed everyone else had said their piece, Sonic sighed and said, "I have one more thing… but it's going to sound crazy."

"What is it, Sonic?" Tails asked, turning to him. "It can't be that bad."

Sonic grimaced. "No, but it can be worse."

Kira decided to speak up, a small frown on her face. "What's happening?"

"No offense, but you won't fully get how bad this might sound," Sonic sighed. "You weren't there. Which, trust me, is the ideal outcome for you." When he started to stop, Amy nudged him to continue. He reluctantly did so, turning his full attention back to Steam. "Zareil has to be fended off. We know that, and I'm not disagreeing with that. But I don't think we should kill her."

"Wait, what?" Silver asked, eyes going wide. "Why?"

"Just… think about it," Sonic insisted. "Even as a demon, Dad seems to care about her. As in, really care about her. Demonic or not, he's got some form of attachment to her. Her death might really hurt him, and I don't want to do that. He's been put through enough."

Steam let out a long, slow sigh. "You're exactly right. We shouldn't kill her. If anything, we need to keep her alive," he murmured.

"Is it possible to purify her?" Blaze asked slowly. "That seems to me to be the best course of action."

Ylden frowned. "Potentially, but it may well prove incredibly difficult. Keep in mind that she is comfortable with being a demon and actively tries to keep Kaden in the same boat. On top of this, she's likely to resist. We would have to convince her to let us if we wanted a chance to purify her with remote safety."

"She will fight it, then," Blaze murmured. "I thought so."

"...Here's an idea," Tails said. "Immortals can purify, too, and them doing it is a lot less dangerous for a demon than Light is. With her not being the God, it shouldn't be too difficult, right? I mean, Jet's done purifications like that a few times in the past."

"It may well be our best chance," Rose murmured quietly.

"On that note," Tails continued, "Sein, do you or Alana know how to do something like that?"

Armaris actually cut in this time, not giving him a chance to respond. "They did so for me. I was corrupted far more than I naturally am."

Tails put a hand on his chin thoughtfully. "Hm… be that as it may, that's far more minor than what we're looking at here. Sein, can you or Alana handle that?"

"...I'll talk to Alana about it. I'm not sure how possible it is, but we'll see," Sein said.

"If you aren't sure, we can always try and talk to Jet," Tails pointed out, "since we know for a fact that he can do this."

"Absolutely," Sein agreed.

Steam smiled a little. "If that's everything, we can all get going. I don't wanna keep anyone too much longer unless it's necessary."

Taking the cue, people began to gradually say farewells and disperse. It took no more than twenty minutes for everyone who wasn't staying here to be gone and for those who were to go their separate ways within the property. It was around this time that Wave reappeared and looked around. "Huh. Looks like I missed the goodbyes. Oh, well."

The hedgehog nodded slowly with a shrug. "Suppose so. You talked to Storm?"

"A bit, yeah," Wave agreed. "He needs sleep, though, as you can imagine. I decided not to burden him with too much just yet."

"Fair enough. He was recently revived," Steam answered. "Can I ask you something, though?"

The swallow blinked. "Go for it," she invited.

"How is Jet doing?" Steam asked, obvious concern suddenly flooding over him.

"He's about as well as can be expected," Wave sighed. "That isn't to say he is well, though. He and the Void are fighting a lot, but it's mostly confined to internal arguments. But I saw the Void physically lash out at his surroundings twice when I last saw him. Aside from that, though, he's acting like himself again. At least for now. There seems to be a lot of back and forth happening between that and him acting more like the Void itself personified to some level."

Steam nodded in response, some level of vague relief hitting him. "Glad he's doing better than I expected…" he said before crossing his arms. "I want to talk to you about something else, though." She motioned for him to go on. The hedgehog let out a long sigh before finally speaking. "I'm sure you're aware that there should be an energy keeping the Void in check, right?"

This made Wave frown. "Jet was saying the same thing. We talked about it just a little bit."

"If things go the way they did in my timeline, the energy that appears will be called Aether," Steam quietly revealed. "It chose me to be tied to, but it also highly considered you. I think that it will choose you this time."

"Me?" Wave echoed, a touch of rare disbelief entering her tone. "Why?"

Steam frowned a little. The explanation wasn't easy for him to comprehend, but… "It chooses someone who is neutral and fights to protect their friends," the hedgehog answered. "I don't really know how else to explain it, but there's not many people that are neutral, not in the sense that we are."

Wave crossed her arms thoughtfully. "I feel like I could be classified as pretty far from neutral. I've picked a very clear side in this war, you know. And all the other ones."

"Who are you fighting for?" Steam asked suddenly. "Are you fighting this war just because it's the right thing to do, or because there are people you care about? Maybe even a mixture of both?"

"Both," Wave frowned, "like pretty much everyone else."

Steam let out a sigh. "I… could never explain it myself. I'm sorry about that," he murmured. Fuck… I should understand that.

She sighed, but shook her head. "Don't be. It's not a huge deal. I don't get it, sure, but if I need to at some point I'll figure it out."

"I'm sure it'll choose you, though. There was some sort of quality that it saw that made us both the only people it was really willing to choose from in my timeline," Steam answered. "Maybe I got it mixed up with my own inherent neutrality from being a Balancer." The hedgehog went quiet and frowned deeply, thinking about something rather intently.

"Don't beat yourself up over it," Wave told him. "It's not a huge deal."

Steam shrugged a little. "Regardless… if you don't want to take their offer, you really don't have to. If you do, I'll do everything in my power to help you learn about it so you can make good use of what you have."

Her frown returned. "If I don't do it, who else can or will? I'm not saying I'm unwilling, but there isn't much of a choice to be made here."

"It would likely find someone," Steam answered. "But I get where you're coming from." Wave nodded a little. Steam turned his gaze to everything around them and frowned deeper. "Either way, it will help us a lot. I'm sure it will join the war and help us keep the Void in check."

"That's good to know," Wave said. "I'm glad to hear it."

"Me too," Steam replied slowly. "Let me know how Jet's doing if you see him again. I hate not being able to help him more."

"I will," Wave sighed. "I'm going to do my best to keep in contact with him."

Steam glanced to her. "Do you know of anyone else that's recently gotten involved in all of this? Ynder mentioned Eirza."

Wave's surprise was evident, but she kept a lid on it for now. Somehow, she'd missed that little tidbit of information before. "No, I don't know of anyone else."

"Alright. Keep a lookout for me, though. You go to places I'm never in, after all," Steam said.

"I will," she agreed.

Steam let out a gentle sigh before standing up straighter. "Am I doing okay at all of this? Outside of addressing the Metarex and stuff like that, people… kinda just accepted what I said. I don't know how to feel about it."

At this, Wave suddenly smiled. "We know a good leader when we see one, dumbass. People went along with your plan because they trusted you."

He tapped his finger against his thigh rapidly for a moment. "I'm worried that I'm gonna lead everyone into a death trap. After this point, I won't really be able to guess exactly what Zareil will do because she'll start becoming more unpredictable," he revealed.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," Wave said. "We can't predict shit, so we'll prepare for as many different variables as we can. And as far as the death trap thing, we're just as likely to die sitting around as we are if we charge at these guys head-on. People would rather fight before they die, given the choice. At least, these people would."

"You're right," Steam answered. "Though, I'm not exactly sure about one detail of my plan. I sounded confident… I hope, but I don't know if I'll actually be able to handle Mephiles."

She made a thoughtful sound. "Yeah… he's not going to be easy for anyone to handle. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you going after his ass all alone isn't the best option."

Steam crossed his arms. "It's not… exactly my plan, but I said it that way in case anyone was listening… including Mephiles himself."

Now for the third time, Wave frowned. "Tell me what the real plan is," she directed. Her tone brooked no room for argument or disagreement.

"I'm going to keep his focus on me," Steam began. "The idea is that I do that long enough for Eila and Cyril to trap him. They have incredible defensive magic, so they can hold him. I want to use that to my advantage while Silver is subduing Iblis to weaken him with my own Light so we can slowly take them down together. As far as how exactly to kill Iblis as well... I'm still working on a more solid plan."

Wave's foot tapped on the ground a few times. "You don't have a lot of Light, do you?"

Just to show her, Steam allowed his body to fill with Light. "It's nothing incredible like what Rose or Kath can conjure up currently."

"Then that might not be enough at all," Wave responded. "Mephiles is no weakling. Not that you are, but you get my point I hope."

"I absolutely understand," Steam answered. "It's another part of the reason I'm having Rose on standby and not fighting in the same way she usually would. If mine isn't enough, I can call on her, or borrow Light from her beforehand like we have been with those crystals."

"I see." Wave considered this before saying, "If it comes down to you needing help, though, I think you should turn to Kath first. His Light is more accurately Eona's. It'll have a much easier time taking out a being of Darkness, and doing so quickly."

Steam nodded. It made plenty of sense. "My only thing is fear of bringing him too close to someone that could force him to use it up, but he's also intelligent and will know how to make best use of it. I'll do whichever works best at the time." He gave a small smile. "Thank you for reminding me, though. That almost slipped from my mind."

"Yeah, 'course." Wave thought for a moment longer before adding, "Speaking of Kath… I don't know how aware you are, but he's been showing signs of stress lately. I'm not entirely sure what the cause is. I plan on keeping an eye on him, but a chaotic battlefield might start pushing him toward the edge. We'll have to be prepared for that, just in case, even though it isn't a guarantee."

"If the situation arises, I'll make sure someone can at least get him out of there. My grandfather is on Babylon and they're pretty close, as far as I've heard. I assume he can help?" Steam asked.

"So far as I know, yes," Wave nodded. "I'll inform him of my concerns as well."

Steam was quiet for a moment before gently asking, "What did Nareish do to Cyril? I heard about it, but he's understandably being quiet about it all."

"I can only speculate," Wave murmured, "but basically he was corrupted in some fashion and forced to completely obey her. She made him attack me, for one thing. He was also extremely angry and snappish, on top of swearing. All of which is not like him in any capacity."

The hedgehog blinked several times. "He… was swearing? I've only ever heard him say a cuss word like… five damn times in my life."

"Yeah. It was… extremely out of character." Wave looked away. "The time he attacked me was… hard. He kept snapping at me to stop him and fight back. I obviously couldn't for a variety of reasons, and that only made him lose his cool even more. I've never seen him like that, and I never want to again."

"He wanted you to stop him," Steam murmured. "Sounds right. He was hoping you could beat him and keep him from doing anything bad."

"And he was furious when I couldn't," Wave replied softly.

Steam let out a sigh. "I wish I could say I'd prevent that from happening again… but if it does, I'll do whatever I can to help. I'm really sorry you had to go through that, though."

Wave sighed a little. "Thanks for the offer. And it's okay. He's better now, and that's what matters to me."

"...Thanks for talking to me. I missed doing this with you from my timeline," Steam admitted. "It's been kinda hard not being around all the people I spent so much of my life with."

Hearing that admission, Wave offered him a smile. "Hey, just so you know, I wouldn't mind getting to know you better in this timeline, too. I don't have many close, personal friends, honestly. Yeah, I know everyone Sonic knows and everyone Jet knows and so on, but I'm not good friends with most of them. I'm open to making more bonds like that."

Steam managed a gentle smile in return, though it was a touch bittersweet. "I don't want to make friends with everyone to just… leave one day. Even if I do get to come back, it's just… I don't know…"

"Then we'll come visit you, dummy," Wave replied. "Some of us know how to go between timelines, too, remember?"

The hedgehog didn't respond immediately to that, rubbing at his throat a little before murmuring, "Yeah… I remember." Fuck… didn't expect to suddenly get all choked up like that.

Wave smiled warmly. "So if you can't visit," she reiterated, "then we will. And, by the way, that's not just an offer. That's also a command. Just saying."

Steam coughed a little and looked away, rubbing at his eyes furiously. Fuckin' hell… she's got me crying a little bit. "I'll… keep that in mind."

Wave took a seat… by hovering in the air. "Do you want me to stick around for a bit? You seem like you could use some company for a while longer."

The hedgehog unceremoniously plopped down, taking a seat as well. "Honestly… it'd be nice. I've been going nonstop for the past couple days. Don't remember the last time I sat down."

"You're as bad as they are… honestly," Wave griped. Then something occurred to her and she clarified, "Jet, Sonic, and Kath, that is."

"Rose, too, but I doubt you'd know her that well," Steam commented. "People get on my ass about it all the time. It's just all I've ever known. Can't stop moving." Wave murmured some sort of vague understanding reply. Steam shrugged. "I won't get into it. It's a story for another time, honestly."

"That's fine," Wave agreed. "I get it."

Steam took a moment before saying anything else. "I'm glad I was able to come here and help. It's really helped me find part of myself."

"Glad some good things have come out of all of this," Wave answered. "It can help me to keep going at it, hearing that sort of thing."

A slow nod came from Steam. "I agree. It helps a lot more than some people understand."

"It really does," Wave said, nodding a little.

Steam smiled gently before letting out a long sigh. "I might finally rest a little. I've probably been told like three or four times to do so, now."

"You really should, then," Wave told him. "I'll hound you about it, too, if need be."

"Alright, alright," Steam replied. "Go ahead and be like Sonic, then."

Wave smirked a little. "I will if I have to," she quipped. "Don't like it? Don't make me have to do it."

Steam rolled his eyes before leaning up against a wall. "Alright," he murmured. Despite how awake and alert he'd seemed up until now, the hedgehog quickly drifted off (due to overworking himself so heavily). Wave, meanwhile, settled into her own space and closed her eyes. She began to meditate, prepared to watch over him for as long as it took for him to wake up refreshed to some degree. After all he'd done for them, it was the very least that she could do.

~保護者~

11,926 words this time. Many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support, and also for coming up with almost every last detail for this plan of action. My own contributions were comparatively minor. Hope you all enjoyed. Posted (at about 11:30 p.m.) 03-27-21.