Guardian

by yasha012

I used to want to save existence... I saw it as this beautiful place, capable of fostering life in all of its many forms. A place with the potential to nurture so much Light. But the closer I got to it... the more I fought for it… the better I could see the Darkness waiting within… the evil we would all rather forget. (Part 4 of the Hero series; sequel to "Eternal Shadow Falls".)

45. Death's Own Shadow

Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this curiously abnormal assault… especially for the one who must hold his tongue.

~保護者~

REVIEW REPLIES:

Hello, MelGamingPlays! Those are some really insightful thoughts you had on the matter! Thanks for sharing them! It was fun to read. :) And haha, yeah, most of us don't get to be brought back to life... unlike some people. XD

~保護者~

"Death's Own Shadow"

~保護者~

With Tails, Espio, and Armaris now all gone, Sonic and Cream busied themselves with quickly preparing for the upcoming battle as much as possible. But - and this was important - Vector noticed that Shadow wasn't doing the same. Now, that just didn't sit right with the crocodile. He knew his friends, and he knew them well. He also knew that Shadow did not willingly just sideline himself from combat. Something had to be wrong, and now Vector was determined to figure out what it was.

A couple pointed questions rather quickly rooted out the answer he sought. "We were attacked," Sonic explained to him, a deep frown set upon his face. Shadow seemed to almost scowl before visibly tuning them out. "Him, me, this guy we recently met named Steam, and Espio. That girl I mention that Espio's involved with - she's behind this whole mess. Don't ask me how, but she got ahold of some weird sewing needles that were imbued with some kind of magic."

Cream piped up to help explain at that point. "We aren't privy to any specifics as to how any of it worked or how the magic did what it did, but we rather quickly discovered that it had a different effect on each victim. In mister Steam and mister Sonic's cases, they appear to have lost the ability to use one of their powers. Mister Steam can no longer regenerate. And we fear the attack blocked mister Sonic's access to one his greater powers, though we don't yet know which one."

Apparently it was possible for Sonic's frown to grow even deeper. Who knew. "Tails suggested it could be one of the big ones, like Light or Darkness, since my normal abilities seem to be in tact. We don't know, though, like Cream said."

Vector crossed his broad arms, worry coursing through him. "...What about the others?" he asked.

Sonic nodded to his half-brother. "Well, as you might have seen when I helped him in here, Shadow can't really walk anymore. At least, not most of the time. He can sort of limp for short distances once in a while, and he can occasionally manage to stand, but that's about it. He's also got trouble with fine and gross motor skills with his arms and hands. Kinda screws up his ability to do much of anything - hence the bad mood."

Turning her head, Cream looked at the blue hedgehog. "He said it was one of the chips implanted in his brain, did he not?"

"Yeah," Sonic growled. "He did. But, like Tails pointed out, even with all of his know-how, we just aren't gonna be able to fix that chip, more likely than not. We'd need a healer present, not to mention a highly trained surgeon, if we were to ever even attempt it."

"Is… all of this the reason behind those weird marks on Espio's arm?" Vector found himself asking after a short pause. "I kinda thought he got himself some sorta tattoo or somethin' at first, but that's not the sort of thing he'd do."

Sonic sort of snorted at the tattoo comment, but his amusement rapidly bled away. "You'd be right about that," he responded with a sigh. "It's definitely not a tattoo, but it is somewhat related to that attack." He grew quiet for just a moment, thinking, before continuing on to say, "I heard a bit of what you and him were discussing earlier. He mentioned to you how he kinda has Darkness and all that."

Now that he had the opportunity to feel surprised about that revelation, Vector certainly did. "Yeah… now that you mention it, he did bring it up when I asked about those Hollows."

Cream dropped her gaze, looking at the hands she had been keeping in her lap this whole time. "I would wager that he did not go into detail. Is that correct?"

"Yeah," Vector agreed. Then, taking in their concerned expressions, he slowly asked, "...Why? Is somethin' the matter?"

"You… could say that," Sonic hedged. He cleared his throat, also looking away, then heaved a heavy sigh and met the croc's gaze again. "Look… this is hardly the ideal way for you to find out, but I don't know that he'll tell you and us doing it is better than you finding out some other way."

Not tell me? The concept was so foreign as to nearly be laughable. Sure, Espio was never the talkative or trusting type. That much was true and would always be so. But he trusted Vector, didn't he? He'd said so more than once. There was no way that had been some sort of a lie. Vector refused to believe it.

"Oi, I didn't mean it like that," Sonic huffed, grabbing Vector's attention again. "He does trust you, don't get me wrong, but this… this is something he's still coming to grips with. I don't know when - or if - he'll ever get to a point where he's ready and willing to accept it, let alone share information about any of it with people who aren't already in the know. It's just… one of those kinds of situations."

Slowly, ever-so-slowly, Vector let go of that piece of concern and nodded his head. "Yeah. Yer right. I shoulda known it was an unusual set o' circumstances." He gestured with a hand for Sonic to proceed. "Go on, then. What's this all about?"

"For the record, I'll apologize in advance for the history lesson," Sonic started off, managing a small and fleeting smirk. "It's just necessary. See, as you might've learned over the years travelling with my weird-ass family in particular, Light and Darkness have some nuances to them. Light generally reflects good and purity and all that, but even then it's still possible for those with Light to feel and do negative things, such as getting angry or attacking another person or creature. It doesn't go far enough to affect how genuine or… whatever the Light is, but still. Light's all about being able to overcome that sort of thing, after all. Making sense so far?"

Another nod. "Yeah, I'm followin'."

Sonic returned his nod, almost on reflex. As he spoke, his ears remained perfectly still and straight, listening for any sign of the brewing danger outside. "Right. Well, Darkness is a whole other can of worms. Those nuances that I mentioned before run deeper with Darkness than with Light. 'Cause, see, for the sake of balance, there can't just be good and evil. There's also neutrality. That's where dad's brand of Darkness comes in. It's neither good nor evil, it just… is. The alignment of the energy has no bearing on how he chooses to act, though. Unlike those with Light, for example, he's not predisposed to acting pure or the like."

Vector was definitely getting the picture now, though he tried not to think about where Sonic was going with this. "That makes sense," he agreed thoughtfully.

"But there definitely is evil Darkness," Sonic continued, now wearing that frown again. "From what I can gather, that energy is part of what birthed Malevolence, if that tells you anything. And it's not the only evil being of Darkness out there. Every single demon in existence, along with their God, falls under this category. But so do some miscellaneous creatures and people here and there… along with at least one distinct and separate race of people."

Realization dawned like a ray of sunshine… only it was nowhere near as warm or comforting. "You ain't serious," Vector gaped. His mind refused to wrap around this concept in the slightest.

"He is," Cream murmured, voice oh-so-soft. "Please believe me, we all wish this was not so. But after everything that we've learned, sensed, even directly seen… We simply cannot deny the truth."

It was difficult now to keep this conversation going, what with how deeply in shock Vector now was, but he had to gather more information. Information was a detective's greatest asset, after all… "And… the marks on his arm?"

"Miss Wave had a theory about them," Cream sighed, "and I regret to say that it seems she was correct. I very recently was allowed into the archives Espio's people keep, detailing their history and the like, and there were several books that I read. One of them almost exclusively discussed markings. The markings are visual representations of the clans various individuals are from. There were three clans who were more powerful than the rest, only two of which are relevant here."

"Right. His mother was from one and his dad from the other." Sonic idly tightened and loosened his grip on his sword at regular intervals. "Even before we knew about this whole mess, Espio was aware of that detail. He mentioned it once or twice in the past."

With a small incline of her head, Cream continued. "One of these clans, his mother's, was represented by a dragon - much like Aku, the dragon outside right now, Mister Vector - coiled into a spiral with its head in the center. They were also well-known for their amber eyes, which could turn gold when an individual had enough Darkness flowing through them to ascend into a Dark Form but did not do so. The other clan was his father's. It was represented by a sort of four-point star, one that took on a simple diamond shape."

Judging by her grave tone, this story wasn't going to get any better. Vector wasn't real pleased with that. Ain't this bad enough without her piling more bad news on top of the rest? he silently lamented.

Thankfully, the bunny didn't appear to be reading his thoughts right now. She continued talking, no doubt aware of his dismay but also clearly intent on getting this done and over with. "The state that his markings are in now," she said, "are a sign of the immaturity of his power. It's only just been awakened, after all. But as it emerges more and more and likewise continues to grow in power and ferocity, essentially 'maturing', the markings will also grow and change. Considering that he hails from two clans, the final appearance of the marking will almost certainly incorporate the dragon and star together somehow. But…"

When she trailed off, Sonic looked to her in open confusion. "But what?" he asked. "I thought that was it. You didn't mention anything else to me."

"There is one more thing," the bunny admitted quietly. "I meant to tell you, but we wound up falling asleep, and…" She trailed off again, but quickly drew herself up and pressed on. "So I will tell you now. All three of you."

Vector glanced at Shadow. So you are listenin', huh?

"It is true that individuals from these clans sported markings that they were famous for," Cream told them, "and it is true that they seemed to outsiders to always have those markings. However… those with power that had fully matured were distinguished from their kin by no longer being branded in the same manner as the children and other weaker members living within their clans."

Sonic's emerald eyes went wide. "You're saying that their marks disappeared?" he breathed. She nodded once. His dismay only grew. "If Espio Darkness ever reaches that point, then… then we won't know what sort of state he'll be in at any given time, especially since he tends to hide his aura and other energies from people's senses. We'd have to constantly watch how he behaves in order to be sure if he's his normal self, or…"

Cream nodded grimly again, and Vector winced. He looked at Sonic with imploring eyes. "You don't think he'd ever… get to that point, do ya?"

There was a long and uncomfortable silence. "I… wish I could say that I know that he wouldn't," Sonic finally answered, "but… Vector, we barely have any grasp of the forces he's contending with right now. Despite apparently being in an immature and 'weaker' state, it's powerful enough that he's had next to no control over its influence on him from the start. Honestly, it's a miracle that he hasn't had a full-on outburst yet. It seems to me that nothing more than sheer stubborn willpower is preventing him from losing it completely, sometimes." He looked away, another unhappy scowl marring his features. "If things continue to progress at the rate they have been, if things miraculously improve at some point, or even if nothing changes and things remain the way they've been this whole time… I hate saying it, but it's… virtually guaranteed that his Darkness will still find a way to grow and worsen eventually, regardless. It's too powerful, even as it is now, for it to go back to laying low at this point. That just… isn't going to happen." He stood up, gripping his sword tightly and shooting a dire look at Cream. The sudden shift in focus was a welcome distraction from them all. "Anyway… not to be rude, but we've gotta go. Sounds like our guests are starting to knock at our door, so to speak."

Cream also stood, glancing first at Shadow and then at Vector. "Please remain in here, both of you. Aku will defend you as best as he can, and so will we. You will be safest inside." Shadow let out a soft and indelicate snort, but offered no further input.

Vector, meanwhile (having never been one to enjoy fighting beyond punching the snot out of general thugs or a robot here and there), agreed fairly readily. "Yeah… Yeah, yer right. We'll stay put. Don't you worry 'bout us, little lady." His use of his old nickname for her made her giggle - and just like that, she and Sonic were gone. Now, there was nothing left for him or Shadow to do but wait.

~保護者~

Armaris traveled the animal trails quietly, on the hunt for Steam. He'd disappeared at some point earlier, and she wanted to make sure that he knew what was happening. Only when she neared the internal border of one part of the barrier did she find the Balancer. Her fur stood on end at the large amount of Light flooding throughout the hedgehog's body, a faint hiss escaping her despite her not wanting it to. This sound attracted Steam's attention, his eyebrow raising. "What's up, Armaris? You getting ready as well?"

"Don't act so nonchalant, Steam. You took on a leadership role then vanished from the group. You can't do that, especially when we're all in danger," Armaris snapped lightly, an agitated expression on her face.

Steam sighed softly, emotions buried so that he wouldn't let them take control. "Armaris. As soon as the threat arrived, I needed to step away. As the Neutral Balancer, the balance of all of existence takes its toll on me. More evil fills me with Light, and more good fills me with Darkness. With you, Shadow, Espio, and the countless other chameleons in this place… I can't stay nearby, lest I hurt someone."

The cat's eyes widened momentarily in realization before she huffed indignantly. "Could've said something first. Regardless, I'll let the others know that you're nearby and ready. Don't be a fucking dumbass, got it?"

"I live for it," the hedgehog snorted, turning away and returning his attention to the barriers. With that response given and an eye-roll from her, Armaris headed off to return to the group.

High up above, a crack suddenly split the barriers with a resounding and thunderous boom. As if one cue, more massive cracks began spreading up from the ground around the barriers all across the Highlands, splintering and stretching more and more with each passing second. Enough of the barriers' collective integrity was lost that the demons became visible outside of them all at once. Countless roars, yells, snarls, and so on created a jarring cacophony that began to filter into the once silent and almost peaceful wilderness, a testament to just how many demons were actually outside. And more were no doubt coming.

Armaris spun around to witness all of this, her eyes visibly widening before she bolted, letting her Darkness carry her back to where Sonic and Cream were as quickly as possible. "Who all is where?" she called out as she approached the duo, sliding to a stop nearby to them.

Upon hearing her voice, Sonic whipped around. He and Cream were standing in the middle of the middle of the village, each waiting intently for the demons to break through. "Vector and Shadow are still in the house," he responded quickly. "Dunno where everyone else is. Tails is probably in the air by now, then."

"Which means that Mister Espio will be looking for a sword while he can," Cream murmured. "He will not willingly go into this fight without one."

Sonic frowned slightly. "You're right… but there's no telling where the hell he went to get one." He shifted his gaze to Armaris. "Think you can track him down, and maybe stay with him? Fighting together, you two should be completely safe."

"The thing that worries me about that is… well, our Darkness. If mine reacts to a demon's, then… well, god knows what would happen if Espio's also reacts to mine or a demon's," Armaris muttered, visibly bothered by this idea.

"That may be so," Cream agreed, "but at the same time, there is no promise that that will happen. And if he begins to get out of hand on his own, you may be just about the only one who could interject and prevent it from escalating too far."

Armaris fidgeted faintly, her mouth shifting as she tried to think of something to counter that argument. She did not like taking risks like that, but it seemed that the pros outweighed the cons in this particular scenario. "Fine," she agreed reluctantly. "I'll do what I can."

Relieved, Sonic nodded. "Do you have any idea where he might have gone? I mean, I can't imagine that this village is hiding a damn armory or some shit."

"It isn't," Cream helpfully supplied.

The cat gave a sigh. "He's likely looking for something that was in his family. Something he was given or was passed to him, or whatever. His family was a bit particular about the quality of their weapons, and said weapons often showed that. So, it makes sense for him to go for something that wasn't made as a 'common' weapon," she explained simply, glancing off into the distance for a moment. "I don't see him doing anything else."

Sonic answered with another nod. "Maybe you should go find him now, then, while there's still a minute or two of safety on our side."

"Alright. I've got a good idea of where he should be, then." Without waiting for a response, Armaris teleported to the site that used to be her adoptive family's home. Her mood noticeably worsened at the fact that it wasn't there, a flicker of anger present in her eyes before she began walking in search of Espio. A rather short distance away from the location of the former home, at the outskirts of where the old village of Hyale had once stood, a sizeable tree suddenly fell away with a deafening sound. It had been standing where a small meditation room had once stood, one built and used by Espio's mother. The building was no longer there, however, and now… well, neither was the tree. That seems like a good place to look. The cat quietly walked forward, her eyes roaming the area as she recalled what used to be the surroundings in this place. It's… too different. Deciding she didn't want to be reminded of pain, she turned her attention to where Espio was standing. "Whatcha doin'?" she asked rather casually.

Temporarily ignoring her, Espio shifted and kicked down another tree before launching both huge trunks out of his way. He then made quick work of dislodging the trunks (also via harsh kicks) and sent them flying away as well. With the area where the building had once been sufficiently cleared, he knelt down to grasp at the handle of a heavy steel-like hatch that had once been covered by the building's floorboards. Inwardly, he found himself reflecting, I did not expect it to still be here.

"So, I see you're not speaking. I'll do the honors, then. Find something?" she asked, walking closer to inspect whatever it was that Espio happened to be looking at.

Still not saying anything, Espio took hold of the handle. He had to really dig his heels in as he pulled, forced to put considered strength into the action of yanking the hatch open due to the particular material it was made out of. When he finally got it open, the door slammed backward into the ground with a painfully loud sound. Damn thing… he mentally cursed before dropping into the dark space below. Armaris dispersed into the darkness of the space, following behind Espio quietly.

Almost as if of their own accord (but really by virtue of a common ninja trick), several ancient candles suddenly lit, illuminating the narrow weapons-filled space. There were, naturally, all manner of blades present: knives, shuriken, short-swords, hand-axes, and so on. He, however, ignored all of these, gravitating instead to a particular katana at the very back. Like many weapons crafted out of Darkness, its blade was pure black… not unlike the infamous Saika. However, the handle had more color to it thanks to the intricate gold vine like patterns woven into it. This sword was very clearly no ordinary sword, and he would never have considered it to be such. It had been his mother's favored weapon, after all… and she had been no pushover. Reaching out, he took the sword and its off of the shelf it had been laid on so long ago and push the sheath in the thin string-like black strap he had been wearing around his waist to hold the sword when he'd inevitably found it. After that, he simply returned outside. This was all that he had come for.

Armaris followed after him, but only after grabbing a dagger that she had once taken a liking to as a child. "Do we need to close this?" she asked. Up above, more cracks again began to appear on the barriers. The demons weren't making too much effort to gain entry yet, but they certainly were making their presence known.

Finally, Espio decided to verbally answer her. "Yes." Saying nothing more, he used a foot to lift the hatch and swing it shut again with great force, resulting in another painfully loud rush of sound. Dirt flew around them, and he grimaced very subtly in response to it before focusing on the task of properly guarding the hatch and the chamber hidden below. Taking the knife he normally used to cut open barriers (considering it to be useless for such a task as of this point), he stabbed it into the ground, creating a barrier around it that more than encompassed the area in question. With that done, he turned to leave before any more dirt could get into his lungs. He hated that shit, especially since it already felt like he needed to cough rather hard in response to it.

Armaris watched this for now before motioning back toward where Sonic and Cream were. "We should start heading back that way, unless you've got somewhere else in mind," she stated as she walked after him.

Having no intention of being near the others or staying in one place in general for the duration of this fight, Espio simply shrugged. A single cough escaped him before he jumped into one of the higher trees, both for the fresh air and the useful vantage point it provided. As he crouched on the branch he had chosen, he felt the need to stifle a few further coughs but, much to his confusion, the irritation in his lungs wasn't actually as bad as it would usually have been, even in response to such a thin cloud of dirt. Then his mind flashed back to the incredibly accelerated healing he had experienced when fighting Steam and he found himself wondering… was it possible that other, older damage done to his body was somehow also healing…? ...No. That was ridiculous, not to mention too much to reasonably ever hope for. So, rather than dwelling on it, he put the matter well out of mind and focused instead on the barriers… as well as the demons beyond them. They are taking their time to force their way in. Why?

Within a moment, Armaris was on a branch mere feet away, investigating the situation as well. "Is there any reason they aren't just tearing their way in?"

Espio answered with a small shrug. "There are potentially multiple explanations." That much was true. However, it was also true that only a couple of those explanations were at all likely to be correct. The most likely one he could think of was that they were waiting for stronger demons to arrive on scene or something.

"Think it has to do with those kids?" Armaris ventured to ask, her gaze briefly falling on Espio. "This could be drawing our attention, since it's pretty obviously gonna work."

"Unlikely," Espio responded. He gave his newly acquired weapon an idle, almost thoughtful twirl before continuing. "If Tails is correct and the God is truly that protective over his children, he will come here himself to retrieve them. With his strength, he has no need for diversionary tactics. He can simply force his way through any obstacles."

Armaris briefly thought over this piece of information. "If he's not diverting our attention… and he is coming straight here, isn't he likely to come straight for us?"

This made Espio's expression sour very subtly. "Not us… no. He may, however, go after a couple of the others." He left it at that, plainly refusing to say anything more about it. And, after a second, he added, "Regardless, in the beginning, he will go after the children before dealing with anything else."

"And that means we've got our own shit to handle in the meantime before we can even possibly try to deal with what he's coming at us with." Armaris muttered, her body readying itself to jump at a moment's notice.

"Stay away from the seal," Espio muttered to her, still eyeing the ruckus up above. "Regardless of what he intends to do afterward, it is in our best interest to let the God retrieve his children. It will only make matters worse if we stand in his way." Armaris nodded lightly, watching Espio for a long moment before blending in with the shadows around her.

At about the time she finished nodding, another massive crack split part of the barrier open high above them. Smaller demons were finally able to force their way through and began all but raining down upon the land below. With a mildly annoyed sound, Espio suddenly went invisible and took off. Armaris followed after him quickly, wind stirring wildly about the two assassins. And all around them… the barrier came crashing down.

~保護者~

Steam faintly felt the wind stirring in the air, his gaze following the source momentarily before he glanced back at the crack. By now, the demons had begun filtering in. Many had certainly sensed his overflowing Light and careened in his direction, causing the hedgehog to frown faintly. Odd timing… Definitely the same in that regard. Hm.

Raising his hand, Steam let out several high-speed orbs of Light that easily erased some of the small-fry. When this wasn't enough to curb the flood, the hedgehog left the ground in a leap and let loose a massive wave that tore through the sky as the barriers promptly fell. He quickly launched himself out of the way of a horde of demons that had definitely not appreciated his large scale attack. With no hesitation, his sword was drawn and he promptly slashed out to unleash several blades of Light that tore through this horde as more came upon him.

Large scale it is, then. Waiting until the last conceivable moments as the demons hoarded around him, Steam let out several massive explosions of Light to quickly tear apart the forces now focusing on him. A demonic fist connected with his back and threw him to the ground. The hedgehog chalked it up to luck that he was able to save the landing with a roll, spinning around as a noticeably stronger demon clashed swords with him. "Like hell I'm letting you get by with that one." In one swift motion, Steam spun around and cut clean through the demon and it's sword with Light flowing through his blade.

Steam's gaze fell on a demon that was certainly stronger than what he had just faced approaching rapidly, muscles tensing rapidly. Keep the attention on yourself, Steam, he told himself. Keep it away from them, no matter what.

~保護者~

In the dimness of the unlit front room of Espio's house, Vector shifted his gaze away from the outside world in order to check on Shadow… and noticed something peculiar. "Hey, erm, your eyes are kinda glowin' there, Shadow. They s'posed to do that?"

The moment Shadow blinked, the vague glow Vector had been observing vanished. "...Only occasionally," he answered in a vague manner that did not at all satisfy Vector's newfound curiosity.

"Such as… when?" the croc inquired.

His question earned a somewhat annoyed huff, but Shadow chose to indulge him for whatever reason. "Such as when I am in a dark space, or when I am scanning my surroundings."

Vector wagered that the latter explanation was the most accurate one for this situation. Said situation dragged his attention away, however, before he could comment on it. Cautiously, he peered outside. Seeing no immediate serious danger right by their position, he pulled his head back out of the doorway. Best not to make himself so easy to spot, after all. "Yeesh… How long's this gonna go on?" he found himself asking. "It looks like hell out there, and it feels like we've been listenin' to it for ages."

The black hedgehog frowned slightly. "An attack such as this by the God of Demons… is motivated. There is a purpose behind it. Unless his goal is strictly to kill us all, which is unlikely, then I do not think it will last long. Not initially, at any rate."

Vector looked at him. "Initially?" he echoed, dreading the explanation he was about to get.

"Our enemy is no fool," Shadow told him, voice suddenly and worryingly devoid of inflection and emotion. "As much as demons enjoy toying with their prey, he understands that the longer this drags out, the more likely it is that something will occur which prevents him from finishing whatever task he's set out to accomplish. His goals, whatever they may be, will be met quickly and ruthlessly. After that, however… After that point, he may well decide to stay and cause as much death and destruction as possible."

Though he didn't intend to, Vector audibly gulped. "Why… would he do that?"

"Over the years, we have given him many reasons to be pissed off," Shadow muttered, frowning to himself. "He does not take kindly to annoyances, people who get in his way, situations which result in the loss of strong demons, and so on. And, aside from that, he himself is a demon. Death and destruction are among the chief things they live for."

Once more, a commotion outside drew Vector's attention away before he could reply. He turned back to the doorway and poked his head out again just in time to see the large dragon (he thought Cream had said it was named "Aku"?) rear up and release a beam of energy from its toothy mouth. The attack tore straight through the chest of a large and bulky demon… but failed to kill it. In fact, it seemed to only piss the creature off. He quickly ducked back inside before he could be spotted. "Man!" he exclaimed quietly. "Those demons are nothin' to laugh at! I don't think I've ever seen a livin' thing be able to take a hit like that and keep on fightin' like nothin' ever happened to it."

Shadow shrugged and answered, "That is part of why they are such a severe threat to us, and to everyone and everything else. As you said, they are not to be trifled with."

"The, uh… The dragon out there'll be able to keep them outta here, right?" Vector found himself asking. A creeping dread started to fill him, closely followed by memories of how useless and vulnerable and endangered he had been during the war with the Nocturnians. And these enemies promised to be vastly worse than they had ever been. What if-

"Aku may be old," Shadow said calmly, cutting into Vector's thoughts, "but he and Espio trained together from their youth, learning from one another and pushing each other to greater feats of speed and strength all the time. If one is not weak, then the other certainly will not be."

That was… actually… surprisingly effective at comforting the croc. Huh. Never woulda pegged him as the soothing type. He thought on that for a moment, then sort of smiled. Guess having a kid'll change a person like that. 'Specially when the kid used to be all lovey-dovey and whatnot. Returning his attention to Shadow, he let his smile fade away. "Guessin' there's not much we can do to help, is there?" he sighed.

"If there was," Shadow replied evenly, "then I would not be in here."

Just like that, Vector decided not to press the matter. He allowed the subject to drop and resumed his wary watch of the battle raging outside. That Shadow was deeply perturbed (or maybe even just pissed off, who could really say) was clear. Vector thought it to be in his best interest not to do anything that might cause that anger to shift toward him. True, it did seem as though Shadow took his emotions out on people a lot less nowadays than he once had, but even so… Vector had only just been brought back to life. He decided he would rather not get into a spat with any of his old pals if he could help it, especially not so early on. And also… he really didn't want to die again. Not so soon after finally being given back his life.

~保護者~

In the heat of the moment, Sonic felt that he was justified in his immense sense of regret over having sparred earlier as opposed to sleeping. The mental attack Astra had executed on him had left him with a severe headache earlier, after all. Sleeping as much as he had earlier certainly helped him now, but it was starting to rear its ugly head again. God, he hated it. Like any normal person, he hated pain and strove to avoid it. How was he supposed to do that when he was already in pain? For that matter, how was he meant to avoid future pain when his headache was making it so hard to focus?

Focusing. Yeah, that was probably a good idea. He could do that. He could ignore his headache. It wasn't that bad, right? Surely he was just being dramatic or something. Not that he was dramatic. Absolutely not. He def- Aw, crap! Not cool! Leaping backward, Sonic quickly looked down to his side where a demon's claw had just neatly shaved his fur down to a shorter length. It had damn-near cut him, purely as a result of his inattentiveness. Because of course it was caused by that.

A wave of psychic energy blanketed the area, reducing the demon to little more than dust within seconds. Cream walked up to him as the wave receded, a worried light filling her eyes. "That was too close, Mister Sonic," she very gently admonished. "What is the matter? You are not paying attention as you should be."

Sonic heaved a heavy sigh. "It's nothing," he grumbled. He quickly cut down a rather puny demon that lunged for them, barely sparing it a glance. He tried not to think about the fact that it might have been some sort of a baby.

Her usually kind and happy expression shifting into a small frown, Cream responded, "Do not lie to me, Mister Sonic. I can sense it when you do."

He winced. Right… I forgot about that. Plus, she's never exactly appreciated lying… not that most people would. Another sigh escaped him. At about the same time, she unleashed a somewhat violent explosion that briefly deterred the demons that had again started to rush at them. If nothing else, she had probably bought them another few seconds. "You're right… sorry. I've just… had an awful headache since that attack on Babylon, and I guess it's kinda messing me up."

Unexpectedly, the normally sweet bunny actually huffed at him. "Why did you not say so sooner?" she asked him. Without warning, her energies began to cloak him with a soft light. "I may be able to read minds, but it is not as though I am always doing it."

"Um, I-"

She tutted at him, blasted away a few more demons, then allowed the psychic energies around Sonic to dissipate. "There. The damage done to you was minor, and therefore it was easy to repair." Finally, she managed to smile like her usual self. "Your headache should fade away now. And next time, please, do say something when you are in pain. Some of us are capable of helping, you know." With that, she turned and calmly walked away, leaving him alone to resume taking care of his part of the fight.

~保護者~

This all seemed too easy. Too straightforward. Too… simple. For all the warning Jet and Wave and everyone else had been doing about the hell doomed to descend upon this, this fight was… going ridiculously well. To Sonic, nothing about any of it made any sense. Surely they were about to be fucked over, right? This couldn't just be a case of him worrying too much. None of his friends, not one of them, would have made such a fuss about this God and his demons if the threat they posed wasn't in at least one way severe.

Maybe it was best to put it out of mind, he reflected as he dodged a spiky arm that had just thrust itself toward his person. It damn-near knicked the special scarf he was still borrowing, ticking him off enough to create in him a small burst of unexpected strength. In using that strength, he was easily able to kill his attacker - despite the trouble this demon had been causing him before. Had that been the only enemy around him, he might have allowed himself to celebrate that little victory. As things stood, however, that was likely a terrible idea.

His idea that taking his focus away from the frantic rush of battle was emphasized when a sudden explosion sent one of his friends flying at incredible speeds through the air… and then straight through Espio's house. He winced sympathetically (and also out of a teensy bit of concern over how the chameleon might react to the damage later on), then started to move toward the scene of the crash. After cutting down a demon that moved in his way, he spied his friend blur away from the impact sight so fast he could barely see it. So that was actually Espio himself, then. What the hell could have knocked him back like that?

There was no time to dwell on his thoughts. All around him, countless demons continued to swarm. His sword could only kill so many of them so fast. He was forced to temporarily let go of any worry he had for his brother and Vector (reasoning that Aku was still protecting them and Espio would not have left them alone if they were in real danger) and focus on the fight at hand. Somewhere nearby, psionic blasts rocked the ground and missiles screamed through the sky in pursuit of airborne foes. Heads and limbs were removed from enemies with frightening speed and ruthless precision. Explosions aided in shattering the former tranquility of this place. His friends and the many villagers were doing well… he couldn't let them down by not doing the same.

More slashing and stabbing ended the lives of a few more demons in rapid succession. His worries bleeding away, he began to lose himself in the flow of the battle. Slash, dodge, stab, kill. Dodge, Dodge, kick, kill. Stab, slash, kill. Kick, dodge, kick, kill. On and on it went, seemingly for a veritable eternity, before something… something started to draw his attention away. A dark aura started to filter into the area, one reminiscent of some of the stronger demons around him and yet… different. In fact, it was arguably worse in every conceivable way. Drastically so, he soon realized. Seconds after the first distant waves of that aura reached his senses, it dawned on him all at once that he had felt this aura before… and that had been the one time he had witnessed the direct aftermath of one of Jet's confrontations with the God of Demons himself.

All of a sudden, he felt breathless as the full-force of the single most malevolent and heavy aura he'd ever detected blanketed the forest almost as though with full intention of smothering everything it touched. He spun around, eyes frantically searching through the mass of writhing demonic bodies. Time almost seemed to slow as the battle raged around him, though he was no longer taking part in it. Seconds that felt more like years passed before his eyes finally landed on a black and formless shadow moving at an even pace through the chaos, passing terrifyingly close by him but, by some insane miracle… never toward him. Instead, the shadow almost rather calmly passed him by without pause, heading deeper into the trees and ignoring everything around it. And, in that moment, all Sonic could think was, Holy fuck…

It was only a few seconds later before Steam landed on the ground not far from the other hedgehog with a quick, yet small wave of Light accentuating his appearance. His eyes were intently locked on the direction the shadow had gone, seeming to ignore a demon attempting to behead him in favor of treating it to a simple bash his sword hilt. "Sonic, stay close." He gave no warning or time to respond before stepping past Sonic and cutting down a demon behind the other hedgehog.

Well that was not an issue. Sonic felt rather frozen from sheer dread at the moment. It was still difficult to breathe, much less try to go anywhere. "That- Was that him?" he managed to force out after a moment of complete silence on his part.

"Sonic-" Steam almost snapped at him, catching himself before he could and sighing. "Yes, now please try and focus. We don't need to go into this fucked up more than we already are."

Yet another explosion very nearly cut off Steam's command. This time, it was accompanied by a small shockwave of dying magic. Sonic immediately took it to mean that the seal containing the three demon girls had just been broken. Then, all at once, that oppressive aura lifted and Sonic finally felt like he could fucking breathe again. Did he just… leave? Just like that? Something about all of this just screamed to his instincts that it was wrong, all wrong. It had to be.

Steam was forced to drop his sword by an armed demon. The hedgehog quickly launched two punches that blasted holes in the offender's body, then turned and kicked mere inches from Sonic's head to behead another of their enemy. "Sonic, please, try to focus. I promise that we'll come out of this okay, but I need you to not get fucked up before anything even happens," he pleaded in annoyance, reclaiming his sword and impaling the closest demon.

Sonic started to do what he was told, he really honestly did, but that plan was quickly derailed when yet another explosion rocked the area. This one sent poor Cream hurtling away from the source of the blast and caused her to crash right into the two of them, thus knocking Sonic over with her in tow. Surprised though he was, Steam managed to keep from falling over completely and was quick to shield the two. His eyes shifted in time to watch as Armaris was sent flying into him, tumbling as he tried to catch her. With a groan, Sonic sat up, gently shifting Cream into a sitting position as well. "The hell," he complained, now nursing a badly bruised elbow. He noticed with concern that Cream looked pretty bruised up now, too.

Steam was fast to help Armaris stand, glad that she wasn't terribly hurt from the landing. However, she noticeably was clutching at her chest and stomach. Steam himself was already looking worse off, body scraped and bruised noticeably. Damn Nakea, fucking with my regeneration… "Are you guys okay?" he asked quickly, less concerned with his own wounds in favor of theirs.

Given that they weren't hurt beyond their bruises, Cream and Sonic didn't hesitate to nod. Armaris took a moment, catching her breath from the obvious blow she'd taken. "Might have a broken rib or something, but otherwise fine."

A crash dragged Sonic's attention away from the conversation and back toward Espio's already badly damaged house. Much to his dismay, more than half of it was now gone… and his brother was being rather violently dragged out of the wooden ruin by the leg. A demon sank its teeth deep into his thigh and then none-too-gently flung him toward Steam and the others… of course ending with him crashing into Sonic upon landing. Because who else would work as a landing pad? Fucking hell… Despite his irritated thought, however, Sonic sat up and immediately helped Shadow do the same. Much to his relief, it seemed that only one of those demon's rather large teeth had actually punctured Shadow's leg, but even so… the bite wasn't exactly shallow. "Why the hell are we all being tossed together?" he found himself demanding as he helped put pressure on the badly bleeding wound. Shadow, after all, couldn't put much strength into his arms or hands still.

Steam, seeing that the demons were no longer directly attacking them - for the rest of this encounter, he was hoping - and focusing instead on the Chameleons and Espio where he was, dropped down to help Sonic in placing pressure on the wound as his hands glowed golden. Come on… At least slow the bleeding… Magic flowed from Steam's hands and around the wound on Shadow's leg, slowly attempting to mend the damage done.

Once the wound was healed enough that Shadow could no longer see metal amongst the bloodied flesh, he waved Sonic and Steam off, no doubt just wanting to let be. He'd never liked being taken care of, so Sonic reluctantly obliged and removed his hands. "Seriously, why were we all tossed here?" he asked again. He glanced to the house, where Vector thankfully still seemed to be taking shelter with Aku still close at hand. Unlike the rest of the group, those two were still in danger. But why weren't they all? "...And why are we not being attacked anymore?"

There was a long moment of silence from Steam, the hedgehog obviously trying to figure out just how to say what he knew. "The demons are pulling us together for something. The best we can do is get ready for it, because any attempt to avoid it will lead to us being harmed much more."

Sonic was ready to call him out for withholding information. He really was. The words were there on the tip of his tongue, but they promptly died when an entirely new dark aura began to seep into the area. "Oh, what now?" he groaned.

Concerningly, Shadow's ears fell back. "Shut up," he hissed angrily. "Piss it off, and it will kill you, no matter what its orders are." Cream looked on in dismay.

Armaris glared off into the distance for now, obviously not in the mood to really be listening to that. Luckily, her sense of self-preservation took care of that much for her. "Got it."

"Just let things go how they will. We can get out of this alive if we don't piss things off," Steam murmured, primarily to Sonic.

"He is nowhere near that merciful," Shadow muttered, almost under his breath. "Enough has been done already to ensure many attempts on our lives today."

"It's not about him. It'll make more sense soon, but I can't say anything about it," Steam responded in kind, slowly managing to grow quieter until he seemed keen on staying silent.

Interruption came in the form of Cream standing up and, with a face blank from fear, pointed and whispered, "...Look."

Turning around, Sonic was alarmed to see another shadowy figure seamlessly floating across the battlefield. Unlike the first one he had seen today, this one had a shape to it. Its whole body seemed to be comprised an almost ethereal cloak with no legs beneath it, though it certainly did have arms. One of its hands was currently clutching a vicious-looking sword that was also comprised of nothing but shadows. Its helmet, too, was made of the same black energy, and the crowned and horned appearance of it only made this faceless entity look all the freakier in Sonic's opinion. "The hell is…" he trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.

"The Messenger," Steam muttered lowly, an unusual level of anger filtering into his eyes as he regarded the figure. No. Not fighting it now. That will fuck up way too much.

No further time was given to them. The shadow reached them without so much as the slightest sound. Then, right before Sonic's eyes, it grew and grew until it effortlessly towered over them. Before he could even think to try to run, it flew directly over them, blanketing them in shadows, and for a second… it was like everything ceased to exist.

~保護者~

8,665 words this time. For the record, yes, this is supposed to be fairly lackluster. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed, and many thanks to Blazing Winds for all of his help! Posted (at about 11:27) 12-04-19.