Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in these separate conversations… especially for the one who has surpassed the limitations of living flesh.

~保護者~

REVIEW REPLIES:

Hello, MelGamingPlays! Haha, yeah, it has been! Hope you've been well, dude. I've been doing pretty well, myself. :) Glad you're enjoying the story!

~保護者~

"Splinter"

~保護者~

Shortly after taking off, Jet found himself on a lonely outcropping of cold, rocky land on the remains of a dead world. Taking a seat against a sort of natural wall, he closed his eyes and let out a breath, once more internally cursing the situation and his inability to effectively remedy it. Sein landed some distance away from Jet, letting out a soft sigh at the surroundings. Drawn to isolated areas… just like Alana. His musings were cut short as he approached his son, sitting a few feet away. "So… you like more or less complete silence, yeah?"

Jet offered Sein a brief glance. Though he considered not answering for the sake of maintaining said silence, he decided it was probably better not to ignore the question. Upsetting the parents he had only just met was far from an ideal scenario, in his mind. "...It's preferable," he murmured.

"I get it. Helps you think as well as process information." Sein chuckled faintly to himself, draping an arm over his knee. "You know, me and Li were amazing friends way back when. Ya know, 'cause I'm old as shit and all. We'd get into all sorts of trouble together, mostly because he decided to tag along with me and I'd get something started. Always drug him into it."

A few scenarios from Jet's own memories came to mind, but he chose not to voice them for the moment. Instead, he just asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

Sein cast a smile his way. "I mean, I'd rather us hold a casual conversation. I've noticed that, with good company, something simple like this can help spark thought and stuff. Thought I may try it with you." His genuine tone carried with it care and love, specifically pointed toward Jet. It was sound logic, but Jet wasn't entirely sure what to say to it. So, ultimately, he stayed quiet. "He actually gave me this really cool gauntlet back when I wasn't an old guy. Stores my claymore, as you saw, and actually let's me punch stuff really hard."

Jet wasn't even remotely amused by that lackluster explanation, and his bland expression showed it. Still, he did his best to hold his tongue and not resort to sarcasm. "Does it store your weapon with magic?" he inquired instead.

"Precisely. It also prevents unnecessary weight from being added to my arm so I'm not bogged down. It absorbs shock from impacts to prevent damage in that manner, and is virtually unbreakable."

Understanding this, Jet inclined his head. "I assume you granted Privilege for the creation of this."

He gave a nod in response. "Yep. This and the claymore. Granted it to Sothan - the previous God of the Forge - and Li helped in the process of making them." The hawk smiled brightly at nothing in particular. "Well… I used to have two of the gauntlets. Pretty sure that smug son of a bitch has it stored somewhere to mess with me."

"It is possible," Jet agreed quietly, basing his assumption off of what little he knew of the pair via stories from others such as Cere.

"Ah, I'll get it back eventually. Maybe. He probably has a few other things of mine that he just snatched from me. I think." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly with a chuckle. Jet merely shrugged in response. "Anyway… I actually have an interesting idea. How about we take turns asking questions of one another. Like, you can ask me something, I'll answer, and then I ask you one and we keep that process going." This actually succeeded in catching Jet's attention a little bit. He was a bit curious about some things, after all… "So, I'll start to try and get this going. What's your favorite type of blade?"

That was a question Jet had to give a bit of thought. "Lightweight swords," he shrugged, "in a general sense. I don't much favor any one type."

"Interesting. I tend to deviate towards heavier swords like my claymore. It's just one of those things that feels right. Works for me." Sein responded.

After a few seconds of thought, Jet asked, "...You two grew up together?" He was referring, of course, to Sein and Alana, though he was very hesitant to refer to them as "mom and dad" or something of the sort just yet.

Sein nodded softly. "Yeah. As a baby, I was orphaned in the middle of a war, and someone found me out on some battlefield alone. Brought me back to the palace, and I was raised there by Kath and Laralei. Just so happened that I was brought up with the lovely Alana," Sein glanced around as if looking for someone, then leaned a touch closer. "Don't tell her this, but I thought she was gonna bite my head off when we were kids. She was scary," he whispered, chuckling to himself.

In spite of himself, Jet found himself slightly smirking for just a second. With Kath as her father, after all, that was perfectly believable. But thinking about that meant grappling with the idea that his idol was, in fact, also his family… so he steered his thoughts away from that for now. "From what I've heard, you were… a handful."

"All lies. All of it. Don't listen to any of them," Sein said immediately, as if panicked. "They're all crazy." The older hawk attempted to keep a straight face, but found himself snickering lightly. "The lot of them." Reminded very strongly of his own friends, Jet felt some amusement as well. Sein coughed, as if to clear his throat. "Anyway… uh, how old are you? I notice that you look…a bit younger than I would've expected." His eyes wandered as if unsure as to whether he'd even said that right.

The question was a little out of the blue, but Jet nevertheless didn't hesitate to answer this time. "Seventeen," he answered without thinking. Given that their kind was only considered an adult at twenty-one, this made him quite young still. Not that he had given that an ounce of thought in a very long time.

Sein blinked a few times. "Oh. Wow. I'm twenty-three. That's… wow. Interesting."

Pure blue eyes glanced at him. "What?"

"I… didn't expect it," the older hawk admitted. "It's just kinda… almost mind-blowing to me?"

"You're not explaining why."

"I don't exactly know for myself."

"That doesn't make sense."

"I know it doesn't, but that's how it is."

Having no further responses at this point, Jet fell silent. He supposed he did sort of understand where Sein was coming from, but even so… he would have preferred to hear it. Still, there was no point in voicing that small matter, so he didn't. Instead, he focused his efforts on thinking of a suitable question to ask for his turn. But thinking of a question to ask proved suddenly difficult. His earlier curiosity now proved elusive, swathed in the nervousness he had been feeling all along - and which was only worsened by the proximity. There was one little detail, one little realization that tenaciously took hold and refused to be pushed aside, however. And, without ever meaning to, he found himself voicing it. "...You're nothing like him."

A few blinks served as a momentary response while Sein took time to process this and what it could even mean. "I- what?" he asked, bewildered.

Inside, Jet sort of cursed himself. He hadn't meant to say anything at all. The problem was, he didn't know how to deflect the question without inviting harsher prodding. So, with extreme reluctance, he mumbled, "Ross."

Sein sat up a bit straighter with a notable frown slowly growing onto his face. "What about him?" Who the hell is Ross?

At this point, Jet began to try his usual tactic of avoidance. "Nothing."

"I don't wanna prod and hurt you somehow, but this is obviously something that's bugging you. You can talk to me if you'd like."

After considerable silence, Jet slowly conceded a tiny thread of information. "Growing up… I was told… he was my father."

Sein's eyebrows lifted curiously, though concern flickered faintly through his eyes. Taking a moment to remember what he'd been told, he slowly let these emotions flow into his aura. "I guess he wasn't exactly… stellar at it."

Jet frowned to himself and admitted, "No."

"Eesh." Sein sighed softly and leaned his head back. "You grow up with your friends? Learn to be mature and all that way?"

"...Only after a certain point," Jet sighed. He ignored that last question as being irrelevant.

"I feel you on that. I eventually got to kinda set out on my own, not in the palace. Started to grow up alongside the friends I'd made. Li, Alana, Sona, and a fair number of others along the way. It was… weird. Not having anything but yourself and those people who try to stick by you."

Though that was something Jet deeply understood, he didn't have much to say on it. Instead, he deflected by standing up and tentatively offering, "Kath built a new home on New Babylon… if you wish to see it."

Sein's breath hitched for a moment. He… what? "Are… you serious?"

"When Babylon exploded," Jet answered carefully, "common knowledge was that only those who escaped with Laralei survived. That was incorrect. Many more Babylonians than those with her escaped to a new world, where they reformed their society. Kath was forced to take up the mantle of ruler in Laralei's absence. Everything they - he - built remains there today."

"I…" He fell silent for a long moment, trying to control the flood of emotions welling up within him. "Yes- I mean, yeah. I'd like that." He smiled faintly, tears slowly forming in his eyes. Having no base of reference from which to make sense of this reaction, Jet simply nodded and teleported away.

~保護者~

Word traveled fast.

News of the attack on Sonic and the others had reached Tails in a Babylonian marketplace through Wave. She had given him little time to collect himself or recover from the shock. He hadn't even gotten a chance to finish his shopping. The two had travelled to the palace medical ward almost immediately, wasting as little time as possible. There, they had found their fallen friends resting in some of the beds near the entrance to the ward, silently recovering from whatever had been done to them. Feeling dismayed, Tails sank into a seat beside the nearest bed (it happened to be Shadow's) and tried to put his myriad of thoughts into comprehensible words. Eventually, he settled on just asking, "Will… they be alright?"

"Yeah," Wave assured, voice soft. She lingered by the doorway, arms crossed and eyes downcast. "Jet checked them over. Their lives aren't in danger and, as you can see, they're not injured." Turning her head, she looked at Cream. The younger woman was seated between Sonic's bed and Espio's and looked quite distraught in her own quiet way. "Although… as Cream communicated to me, Armaris determined that they are each suffering a single negative effect from the attack."

"Right… Yeah, you told me." Tails sighed. Slowly, he shook his head, unable to hide his dismay. How could this have happened?

The trio drifted off into silence before Cream finally broke away from her own thoughts. "Where were you, Miss Wave?" she murmured in question. "I had thought that you and Mister Jet were still at the Vault with us."

Wave looked away. "We were, but… Jet sensed some trouble elsewhere after having a sparring match with his dad. It was serious enough to require his attention, and when he took off I went with him. His parents followed us as well, just in case." She frowned to herself. Her jaw was tight, teeth somewhat gritted. "You guys were within the barriers. You were supposed to be safe. But, even so, we shouldn't have left you alone. I'm sorry for that."

Tails shook his head. "Don't be," he told her. "It's not your fault." There was a pause before he thoughtfully added, "And it's not their fault, either. These are dangerous times right now for anyone. We all know the risks. We accepted those long ago."

"That doesn't make it right," Wave answered. Silence again fell for a time, but eventually she ended it by saying, "It feels like they'll be waking up soon."

Cream, who had been monitoring their friends' minds this whole time as well, was quick to agree. "Yes, it does. They've recovered quickly." Despite the relief this revelation brought her friends, she still seemed upset.

Hearing this, Wave nodded toward Sonic and Steam. "Those two possess magic. As such, they'll naturally have a certain degree of resistance to other magics generally. Assuming of course that they don't have a specific weakness to any specific magic in particular. They'll probably be the first ones to wake up."

"Makes sense," Tails agreed. He didn't have much in the way of comments to make, for once.

Before he was able to continue, Sonic shifted. His expression scrunched up in pain and he almost instinctively began rubbing at his temples. "Ugh, my head," he groaned, turning over onto his side.

He sat up and Tails quickly stood in response.. "Sonic! You're awake!" When Sonic winced, Tails lowered his voice apologetically. "Sorry. That was too loud. Sorry." Only once the wincing eased did Tails continue. "You okay?"

Though he didn't exactly seem to be, Sonic said, "...Yeah. I'm not dead yet so, you know."

Wave managed a smirk. "And we're all grateful for that," she remarked. "I'll be back in a sec. I'll get some medicine for that headache." Turning, she walked out of the room.

"Do you feel any different, Mister Sonic?" Cream asked in obvious concern. "Those needles you all were attacked with were magical in nature. Armaris was worried that you may have mostly lost use of one of your powers."

That snapped Sonic to full attention. "What?" Hastily, he lifted his hand and called forth a small fireball into the palm. Satisfied that that power remained, he let it vanish and then sped from his bed to the other side of the room in a flash (though his headache made him instantly regret doing so). Wincing again, he muttered, "The usual stuff seems to be here…"

"What about your dad's magic?" Tails asked.

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, it's fine, too. I can just sort of… feel it, I guess. That it's there, I mean."

Tails frowned. "If none of those powers were affected, do you think… that maybe it has more to do with your Chaos, maybe? Or the Light or Darkness you get from it?"

A sense of dread rose up in them, filling the air with tension. "...You… don't think that's possible, do you?" Sonic practically whispered.

"I hope not," Cream murmured, looking down. "For all our sakes."

True to her words, Wave returned not two minutes later with a small glass in hand. In it was an equally small amount of purple-ish liquid. "Here," she said, extending it out toward Sonic. "This is the medicine. It should take care of that headache pretty much immediately."

Sonic eyed the drink skeptically. "It looks like literal poison," he told her distastefully.

She huffed. "Do you really think that we'd market poison as medicine?"

"...No."

"So drink it, then, smart-ass."

Sighing, Sonic took the cup and did as he was told. Much to his relief, it didn't taste like anything, good or bad. And, sure enough, his headache instantly began to ease. Finally managing a small smile, he said, "It's official, I love Babylonian medicine now."

"Good," Wave chuckled. Then, her smirk fading, she added, "Hey… when you're ready to, you might want to go see Jet and let him know you're okay. He was pretty worried."

Hearing this, Sonic sighed again, ears lowering slightly. "It was my own damn fault for getting caught… but, yeah. 'Course I'll go." Turning, he cast his gaze over Steam, Shadow, and Espio with worried eyes. "Anyway… you said Armaris guessed at what that needle did to me, Cream?"

The bunny nodded. "Yes. She examined all of you, I suppose you could say. I don't know exactly what she did."

"What did she say about them?" Sonic asked her.

Before she could answer him, Steam rolled over and groaned, muttering something under his breath as he slowly pushed himself to his feet. "The fuck…?"

"Morning, sleepy-head," Wave said with little of her usual humor in her tone.

"Ah, be quiet," he tiredly snapped back in a mildly amused tone. "Not like I was exactly asleep normally or whatever."

Cream gently cut in. "Mister Steam… do you feel alright?" She met Wave's gaze for a second before continuing. "Lady Armaris checked you all over after the initial attack and had some concerns about you potentially losing use of a power entirely."

"I… don't know. Give me a minute," he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes for a moment. "I can tell something's off, but I'm not sure what."

"Well that's problematic," Tails sighed. "We'd better figure out exactly which of your powers was affected sooner rather than later. The same goes for you, Sonic."

"No shit," Sonic grumbled, arms crossing. "We'll be in deep trouble if we end up having to figure this mess out in combat or something."

"Where's the shadow kitty at?" Steam suddenly asked, glancing around as if expecting her to pop up from some random corner or behind someone. "She go off somewhere?"

"To report back to Cere, yeah," Wave answered.

He nodded slowly. "Alright, gotcha. Just wondering and making sure nothing else… happened. I-" Steam suddenly cut himself off with a groan and a hand to his face. "Fucker messed with my regeneration…"

Tails unexpectedly perked up, ears going straight. "Regeneration?" he queried. His interest was to be expected, given that he was previously the only one in the group with any notable regenerative capabilities.

"Yeah. A power I use and abuse daily. Very useful when you have an up close and personal fighting style."

"...I get it. That makes sense."

Sonic cut in before the conversation could continue. "Anyway," he said, "Cream, did Armaris examine the other two?"

Looking sad again, Cream nodded. "She did."

"And what did she say?" Sonic prompted when she didn't initially continue.

With a sigh, Cream revealed, "In the case of Shadow, she said that something neurological was affected. Miss Wave and I have detected it as well. But, for some reason, we have not been able to ascertain specifically what is wrong."

"It… probably affected something that he relies on, to a degree. If the effect on me is any indication, at least," Steam proposed, shrugging softly.

"That's what we've been worried about," Wave responded. "It seemed too unlikely that the effect would be minor, all things considered."

The green hedgehog frowned faintly. "It's neurological, which means it was aimed at his implants or… perhaps some natural function?"

Tails suddenly buried his face in his hands and groaned. "If his implants were messed with… especially if any of the special chips in his brain were… there might not be any fixing of the damage, ever. I've barely been able to repair them from very minor damage in the past. Those implants and chips are physically in his brain, and I'm not a neurosurgeon. I can't do the kind of surgery that would be required."

"May have to wait to see, in that case. Can't really… figure out much about it if he isn't awake and all."

Sonic was frowning deeply now. "And what about Espio, Cream?"

That sad look deepened. "The effect was readily detectable in him," she murmured. "His Darkness began to fluctuate wildly within moments of you all passing out. It seems to have settled for now, and there have been no flare-ups yet since then, but we're deeply concerned that it will resume doing so any time now."

"I'll do what I can to balance it out if that occurs, though I can't promise it'll be something that lasts long. Espio's speed is something I can't match, and with… part of my battle tactic gone, I'm gonna struggle more," Steam explained, crossing his arms in annoyance.

"This is going to be a problem for all of us," Wave sighed. "No one here can do much about it, overall."

As she spoke, Shadow finally opened his eyes and (as was usual for him) immediately sat up on full alert for danger. He wasn't used to sleeping or resting in general, after all, and it wasn't as though his last memories had been all peace and happiness. Sonic was by his side in a flash. "Easy, there," he said. "It's over. She's gone." Frowning at the sudden proximity, Shadow waved Sonic out of his personal space. The movement was a little shaky and uncertain, but Sonic brushed it off as a result of having just woken up with a bit of a rush of adrenaline and all that.

Steam raised an eyebrow at this, however, stepping a bit closer. "Can you stand up?" he asked Shadow, frowning in concern at the unusual movement from the black hedgehog.

In response, Shadow tossed him a small glare that almost seemed to say, "Why the hell wouldn't I be able to?" He moved out from under the covers and went to stand. For some reason, he was unexpectedly unsteady for the first few seconds as he did this and braced himself with a hand on one of the small tables. Once he felt more steady, he let go. He and Sonic were both frowning the entire time while Tails and the others watched on in obvious concern.

"Motor skills, or something of the sort," Steam affirmed, sighing. Fucking grand.

More than a little alarmed, Tails got to his feet and walked over to Shadow. "Here, let me do a scan to see if it's because of one of the implants or chips." Shadow silently relented, letting Tails do as he'd asked via his communicator. After a few seconds, he sighed heavily. "I… hate to be the bearer of bad news…"

"It's a chip," Shadow muttered, finally speaking up. He had done his own scan just now and assessed for himself what was damaged.

Tails nodded. "Yeah. And like I was saying earlier, I can't really… fix this. If we were to get someone who could safely do a surgery to get to the chip, then maybe…" He trailed off and shook his head.

"I… can't think of anyone capable enough besides maybe Amy or Analia," Steam answered honestly, sighing softly to himself. "I can go on a search or something, however…" His gaze flicked from Tails to Shadow. "I assume you especially would want it to be someone you guys know."

"Almost certainly," Wave agreed. "There are plenty of people capable both here and, to an extent, on Mobius, but this isn't about that. It's a matter of trust, you know?" That is to say, it's a matter of finding someone Shadow will trust... which may be impossible. Steam bit his lip as he thought, eyes growing a bit distant as he tried to remember anyone who might be able to perform such a procedure.

True to form, Sonic interrupted. "Hey, sorry to cut in, but where the hell did he go?" he asked, pointing at Espio's now empty bed.

"He's out on the balcony," Cream answered nonchalantly. Some of her previous upset seemed to have eased all of a sudden.

Wave looked down. "We're going to have to keep an eye on him."

Her comment made Sonic frown, but he didn't disagree. "You're probably right, but… I wanna be upfront with him about it. I don't want to pretend to trust the guy while secretly watching every move he makes or whatever."

"Are you wanting to do that?" Steam asked, raising an eyebrow lightly as he slowly shifted out of his thoughts.

"Actually, it might be better if she does it," Tails cut in, looking straight at Cream. "The two of them are closer than he lets on. He's more likely to listen to her. Right, Cream?"

She shrugged a little. "Perhaps."

"He will," Shadow asserted simply. He said nothing else on the matter.

Steam's gaze flicked to the left as a portal opened up, Armaris stepping through it and onto the floor near the group. "Sorry I'm late. Informed Cere of the situation so that the gods and goddesses are kept up to date on what's happening."

"That's good," Wave murmured. Sonic just nodded.

"What happened while I was gone? Seems like everyone's up at least." The cat glanced about the room, noting Espio's presence was missing. "Where's Espio?"

Tails was quick to fill her in on everything, finishing off by telling her, "And Cream says he's out on the balcony. He disappeared out there pretty much the second he woke up, I guess." He thought for a second, "Actually, come to think of it… You two know each other pretty well, right?"

Armaris gave a gentle nod. "Yeah. We met as kids and got… fairly close, I'd say. What's up?"

"I believe he is thinking that you might be able to help me talk to him," Cream said quietly.

"As to… the current situation, or…?"

"About the fact that we will need to monitor him. He will not likely take well to the idea."

She nodded slowly. "Ah… yeah. No, probably not. Though, I think he'll at least understand. I hope."

"The only way to find out is to talk to him," Sonic shrugged. As he spoke, Wave inexplicably vanished with a small golden flash of magic. "But, I mean, if you guys don't want to do it, you don't have to. I can."

"I'll do it. Hopefully I can relay it in a way that doesn't make this worse." She motioned for Cream to lead the way, straightening her posture. Taking the hint, Cream followed her out.

~保護者~

4,508 words this time. I sincerely hope you all enjoyed and, as always, many thanks to Blazing Winds for all of his help. Posted (at about 1:20 p.m.) 09-05-19.