Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this horrible confrontation… especially for the one whose identity is finally revealed..
~保護者~
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Hello, MelGamingPlays! Yeah, and we've got another cliffhanger here as well, haha! And if you thought you hated us (but mostly me) before, then you're really gonna hate us (me) more after this because of what I've just revealed! XD And yeah, poor Shadow... poor guy isn't much help right now and he's not okay with it.
~保護者~
"Eyes of a God"
~保護者~
Reality returned slowly. The first sensation to filter through the mind-numbing darkness was… heat. Untold amounts of searing, deathly heat. It was like fire or magma, except… somehow worse? Impossibly hotter, too, even. Or at least it felt that way. Recalling what Tails had told him about the demonic varieties of fire and the like, Sonic supposed this was just natural. That just didn't make it any more pleasant.
Next, Sonic became aware of feeling dirt and rocks beneath him. It didn't take a genius to deduce that he was laying on the ground for some reason. So, with a groan, he shifted his arms to push himself up. The ash-laden dirt wafted up around him in a suffocating cloud, causing him to cough uncontrollably for a few moments. Hearing other coughs, he called out quietly, "Everyone okay?" A couple choked replies met his ears, but that was all. There were other sounds, however. Worse sounds. More terrifying sounds.
The low roar of flames both distant and close by was what first prompted Sonic to straighten his ears and listen. Through this constant noise, he quickly detected others. There were the apparently normal sounds of demons (namely snarls, screeches, thunderous roars, and so on), the sounds of erupting fountains of magma and the coinciding lava flows, the hissing of countless vents of smoke and steam, the constant rumbling of minor earthquakes and landslides and such… It was so loud in some ways, and yet so curiously quiet. Maybe it was just the pumping of blood in his ears, as a result of fear, causing him to go somewhat deaf.
Finally daring to open his eyes, Sonic looked at his friends. Everyone was covered in dust-like particles much like he was, leaving them rather filthy, but no one seemed to be injured any more than they had been earlier. They looked dazed like he was, but everyone was apparently recovering well enough. Waving some of the dirt away from his face, he asked no one in particular, "Why were we just… dropped here?"
Steam huffed faintly, walking up closer to him. "We're about to find out, I presume," he muttered in irritation, briefly checking to make sure he still had his sword.
Cream stood on mildly shaky legs and brushed herself off… for all the good that did. "Where are we?" she asked quietly.
"One of the God's worlds," Shadow muttered. He allowed Sonic to help him up without complaint. "He created this one, along with several others. This is his favorite, and the one he lives on."
"Which means he's got some sort of plans for us, I assume," Armaris answered, her eyes roving the landscape with disdain. She better not be here.
A sharp cracking sound was quickly accompanied by a spurt of lava shooting out of the ground by Sonic's foot. He recoiled in alarm, then moved away from the spot with Shadow and Cream in tow. "If he does, he's taking his sweet time getting to it," he groused. "What's the point of stranding us here if he's got something he wants to do with us?"
Steam slowly unsheathed his sword and began walking, ignoring the question for a moment in favor of forcing his Light down so as to not attract attention. "We need to get moving. Standing still is a bad idea."
"Going anywhere else isn't gonna be any better!" Sonic retorted, though he was mindful to keep his voice down. He, too, was not keen on drawing any attention to their little group.
The green hedgehog almost rounded on Sonic, tension painfully obvious as he stopped moving and took a breath. "Sonic. Whatever happens, the longer we sit still, the more likely shit is going to happen and get worse than it needs to be," he muttered, not bothering to turn. "Keep your guard up and your presence down."
The faint glow his eyes gave off showed that Shadow was busy scanning the area as he said, "It is too late for that to matter. We are being surrounded."
Hearing this, Sonic began looking around rapidly. "What? I don't… see anything."
Armaris' ears folded down as she attempted to keep her Darkness from being noticeable (as if that would be possible with the danger she felt she was in). The thought of being surrounded by these things was stressful enough, but knowing they were surrounding you? That was an entirely different story. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
"There is no way we can fend them all off," Cream murmured. Glancing around at the others, she asked, "What should we do?"
Steam shifted visibly, letting the tip of his blade rest in the dirt and ash that laid around him. "Stay calm, as best you can. Don't act rashly."
"That's great and all," Sonic growled, "but what do we do? Like she said, we can't fight them off."
"Let them come," Shadow growled back, the glow in his eyes fading away. "It is the least likely way to get us all killed, presently."
The cat of the group was almost ready to give an outburst at that seemingly ridiculous plan. "What the hell do you mean 'let them come'? Are you insane?" she snapped quietly, gritting her teeth.
Shadow chose to ignore her in favor of watching the first of the demons rise up out of a nearby lake of lava. Soon, others began making their presence known. Some emerged from dark crevices in the ground, some flew down from above, some burrowed their way to the surface by creating their own holes from far below… And, sure enough, they were soon totally surrounded. Yet, despite the murder in their many eyes… none of them made a move to attack. Sonic's brain did not quite compute. "The hell is going on?" he whispered under his breath to the others.
Steam kept a firm grip on his sword, but never raised it off the ground. "If they hurt us, the likelihood is that they'll piss of their God. He probably gave strict orders regarding that… or, at least against killing us."
"Why would he do that?" Cream asked, nervously eyeing one demon as it edged closer to them. It looked wild and jittery, almost as though it was too wound up to follow its potential orders to not attack.
"In all honesty, there are some in the group I can imagine him not wanting killed or hurt. He may have other plans." Steam watched a demon directly in front of him without fear, staring it directly in the eyes for now.
One of the stronger demons in the group, one that walked upright on two legs like a person, walked over to them. Before Sonic could react, the demon grabbed him, wrestled him away from his brother and the rest the group. It began to drag him off, wrenching Caliburn out of his hand and tossing it away as they went. Before he could even protest, the demon began flying off with him squeezed tightly in its bulky arms.
Cream started to bend down to help Shadow, but the pair of them were soon also grabbed by a couple of strong demons who began to haul them away in the same direction as Sonic's captor had gone. Steam managed to step back long enough to sheathe his sword before another demon snatched him off the ground. Armaris received similar treatment, but she struggled against her captor violently and angrily with no intent on letting this happen if she could stop it. The demon responded by striking her harshly in her face to force at least temporary compliance. She and Steam were soon being carted off after the rest of the group.
Their demonic captors began rushing across the landscape at great speeds, not allowing any of their victims a chance to really make out where it was they were going until they were unceremoniously dumped (and quite painfully so) on another rocky outcropping. This one was just beside a sheer cliff overlooking the vast ruins of some sort of a city that looked like it had suffered a brutal and fiery end many, many years ago. But looking the other way, Sonic spied a sight deeply more concerning to him. There was some sort of a second cliff that rose up even higher than the one they were on, and from where he was sitting he thought he could just make out a part of a building of some kind… and a very dark aura was emanating from it. That wasn't even the worst of it, however, for somewhere beyond that… he could sense it. That aura. The God's somewhere up there… Not in that building, but… nearby.
Steam was noticeably tense, ignoring the pain all over his body as he moved to stand. Is this… going to go the same way as last time?
It was Cream who was the first to speak up. "We should move," she warned softly. "This rock is not stable, and there is… a great deal of lava down below."
Though Sonic was not at all keen on the idea of willingly climbing up toward that horrible aura, he recognized that there wasn't much choice. Not everyone here could exactly survive falling into molten rock, after all. "Yeah… okay. Fine. Let's just go, then." It occurred to him after he spoke that literally climbing probably wasn't necessary, so he instead hoisted Shadow back up and jumped to the higher ledge instead. Cream soon flew after them using her large ears. Armaris faded into Steam's shadow as the hedgehog leapt after them.
Almost as soon as they were on solid ground again, Sonic realized they were in the middle of a few more ruins reminiscent of those in the city far below. But it was what lay beyond these ruins that concerned him. Up on a high hill overlooking this flatter area stood a dark and ominous crumbling citadel of sorts… and it was from their that that aura was reaching his senses. Oh, there is no way in hell that I am just waltzing in there.
Despite this thought process, Steam began walking up the hill. He didn't bother saying a word, and this action was enough to prompt Armaris to bail out of his shadow quickly and look to the group. "What's wrong with him?" she dared to ask.
Unable to come up with an explanation, Sonic stammered out, "I… Uh… I don't… know?" With this weak response given (one he mentally kicked himself over because he sounded like a moron), he glanced at his three remaining friends. "Do we… follow him?"
"I can't imagine that staying out here is safe," Cream hesitantly responded, "but… going in there is arguably a far worse option." Shadow remained stubbornly silent, lips pressed together in a thin line of unspoken anger and other negative emotions.
Armaris racked her brain for ideas or anything that might help her understand the situation better. Ultimately, she only had one good idea. "If we were dropped this close to the building… chances are that we're gonna… get forced in there regardless…" Her voice died out at the end, a tinge of fear entering her voice.
Oh, how Sonic wished she hadn't said that. "You can't be serious," he murmured, dismayed.
"I wish I was fucking with you," she practically mumbled, wrapping her arms around herself.
Seeing that he was already a fair ways ahead of them, Cream let out a heavy sigh and said, "We should follow Mister Steam. He seems to believe we must go, as well." She walked after him without waiting for a response, practically forcing Sonic to give in and start doing the same. Shadow didn't exactly have much of a choice in the matter.
Armaris sunk down into Sonic's shadow this time, trying to keep herself under control. It won't happen… it won't happen…
Walking up toward Steam, Sonic took note of Armaris's presence in his shadow. He chose not to gripe at her about it, instead focusing on asking Steam tensely, "The hell are we doing going in there?"
"Avoiding what happens if we don't." Steam thought for a long moment, realizing that what he said was useless and instead attempting to give a proper explanation. "The God is waiting for us. Whether we want to be there or not, he's going to make sure we get there. For our own health, it's best if we comply for now and try to figure everything else out soon," he glanced to Sonic, then to Sonic's shadow for a short moment. "I know it's not what either of you want to hear, but we've got to roll with this for now."
Almost as though to emphasize how correct he was, a demon suddenly appeared behind them and very roughly used its massive head to headbutt them into the open doorway leading inside. This naturally caused Sonic and Cream to both trip, pulling Shadow and Armaris down with them. There were a couple of growls and complaints, but soon they got back up again and resumed unhappily following Steam as they had been before. It was pitch black and ungodly hot inside, but finding their way through the wide halls was surprisingly straightforward and easy. This building wasn't at all the maze inside that Sonic had been picturing… though it was larger.
"Where exactly are we going?" Cream asked, voice softer than ever. She looked around with wide, fearful eyes at what few bits of crumbling wall and whatnot that she could see.
Steam glanced around, continuing to walk. "There's a room, somewhat central in this building. The God frequents it."
Lovely, Sonic inwardly replied, absolutely dismayed yet still. Then he reflected, This feels like such a fucking trap.
"Whatever happens, don't piss him off. We may still have a chance to get out of this," Steam murmured to the group, a sigh escaping him. He didn't like doing this, but it was the only way he knew to keep them safe.
This is not ideal. He should have been told before this. Long before this. Unexpectedly, Shadow let out a short sigh. "...Try not to think too much," he muttered to Sonic specifically, "about any of this. Not right now. There will be time later, once we are no longer here. For now, you have to remain focused on survival."
"What are you talking ab-" Sonic cut himself off abruptly when the corridor they had been walking through all at once opened up into a pitch-black cavernous space right before them. If the hall had been dark, this was something at least ten times worse. Even with his strong night vision, he couldn't make out anything ahead of them. "Aw, hell," he whispered to himself. "The fuck…"
Steam let a fire form around his hands to light the area around them as best he could without using Light. In response to the sudden influx of non-existential-energy-related light, a figure in a lone and worn stone seat shifted slightly. They were reclined sideways in the chair, legs kicked up over one arm rest and head on the other with their arms behind said head as a sort of cushion. They were facing away from the group currently, in such a manner that had they been standing their back would have been to the small group. The demon in question then tilted his head back to look at them with one glowing, malevolent eye cracked open… and Sonic's entire world came crashing down around him.
"Kaden," Steam muttered lightly, eyes narrowing faintly as he stared intently at the demon before them. Hearing that name about made Sonic's heart stop.
His gaze sliding briefly to Steam, Kaden shifted and stood up. His annoyance with the green hedgehog was apparent, but for the moment he chose not to address Steam. He focused instead, and quite suddenly, on Sonic's shadow. With the vaguest motion of his hand, he all but ripped Armaris out into the open and flung her to the ground. Armaris hissed loudly at Kaden, rolling to her feet quickly and grabbing at her sword in an act of defiance. Kaden responded by suddenly appearing in front of her, wrenching her sword out of her hand, and flinging it away. "None of that," he warned quietly. "Unless you want your arms broken."
The fact that he actually spoke only further cemented Sonic's state of shock. It was, after all, further proof that this was real. Yet… he didn't want to believe it. This can't be true. It… can't be…
Armaris' show of defiance wavered somewhat, trying to relax herself despite the immense turmoil she felt. God damn it...
Apparently satisfied with her lack of retort, Kaden turned away from Armaris for a moment. He seemed to ignore his sons for the moment (much to Sonic's immense relief and deep pain) in favor of giving his attention to Steam. He said nothing to the green hedgehog, merely took out his earlier annoyance on the younger man by effortlessly putting him through the nearest wall with a blast of deeply corrupted Darkness. There was little doubt that the attack was too weak to kill, but it was certainly strong enough to leave most people in a daze. Sonic's mind could barely process what he was seeing, still stuck in a loop of, This can't be real, and This can't be him!
"Mister Kaden…" Cream breathed in alarm, eyes wide as she looked at the spot where Steam had been standing seconds before. "W-Why did you-"
"Save your concern for yourself," Kaden murmured, suddenly turning to her. Before she could even ask (assuming she actually wanted to), he icily elaborated, "You are not worth the effort of corrupting… your life is useless. If you want to keep it, regardless… I suggest you earn yourself the right to." Without another word and with no further warning, he hurled her through a wall as well. This time, the attack was severe enough to send her all the way back outside… where a multitude of demons were now gathering. Demons strong enough to aid in sufficiently guarding this world even while many of the usual legions were away. Demons she was now forced to face… alone. The goal for her in this moment was clear.
He intended to let her die, torn apart by beasts born of pure evil.
And Sonic… Sonic couldn't handle that. "Dad…!" he managed to choke out. Those same glowing, malevolent, demonic eyes turned on him then, and his breath caught in his throat. Remembering everything Tails and the others had told him up until this point made his nauseous with fear and pain and god only knew whatever else. But the memories wouldn't stop coming.
"We know that Jet has been fighting two separate wars," Espio told him frankly, ignoring the second question Sonic had asked. "One is against a former student of his, an Immortal who turned to darker influences and succumbed to their lure. That student commands armies of his own, armies of a race known colloquially as the 'Tel'or'."
Sonic felt his frown deepen. 'When I was revived, and I heard those voices… the voices were Jet's and Cadora's. ...Assuming Cadora is actually real. And Cadora… he mentioned that Tel'or being "here" just before Jet told him to take shelter. Then I was revived, and when we were talking… Cadora mentioned there being trouble that Jet was off taking care of. Was he fighting them?' Shaking free of his thoughts for now, he asked, "And what about the other enemy?"
Tails and Shadow traded a long, heavy look. "That threat… is a bit more complicated," Tails eventually said. "And it's the one we know the least about. But we do know the threat is a demonic figure. …Well, the literal god of all demons, actually."
Choosing to ignore for the moment the fact that he hadn't even known before (so far as he could recall) that demons existed, Sonic found himself questioning, "Who… or what… are they?"
Once more, the pair traded a look. Shadow's gaze had taken on a very harsh quality again, and it took no time at all for Tails to relent. "You're really, really better off hearing it from Jet than us. He can explain it far better than we can. It… It might make the news a bit easier to bear."
(-)
"Immediately upon spilling the blood of the current god or goddess and ending their life," Jet murmured, "the killer is elevated. They become the new ruler, gain all of the special abilities that come with the role, and so on. This is how the current god came to be god. He grew vastly more powerful than Amnikaribah, slaughtered it, and claimed the proverbial throne. Now, when comparing him to other evil entities in existence, he is second only to Malevolence itself."
Sonic thought for a moment, then asked, "You mentioned that not all demons are born demonic. Does the god or goddess of demons have something to do with that?"
"Yeah, actually," Tails responded. He pushed his glasses up again, almost anxiously. "See, one of the unique abilities that only the god or goddess has is the power to turn other people, animals, and so on into demons at will, even ones that were never beings of Darkness before. That's what happened to the current god, actually. He was a normal person, once. A semi-Immortal, but otherwise normal nevertheless."
'A semi-Immortal?' Sonic thought in surprise. 'There aren't a whole lot of those out there, right?'
Tails continued. "Now, normally when a person or whatever is turned, it's done when they're alive. This means that, overall, their bodies and whatnot remain the same. Their powers are unchanged aside from becoming corrupted, demonic versions of themselves - such as a normal fire power becoming Demonfire or Hellfire. The most important thing to take away from this, though, is that they get to keep their own body."
"When it happens to someone who is dead, however," Jet stated quietly, "it is a different matter. The freshly deceased are the only ones who are at risk of being turned, but because they are dead their newly corrupted, demonic souls are often put into the bodies of lesser demons who lack the power to resist these souls taking control of them. Generally, the only exception to this comes when some necromancy is used to reanimate the person's corpse for their soul to reinhabit, thus allowing them to keep their own powers and whatnot."
"'Generally'?" Sonic echoed. "There's another exception?"
"The current god wasn't a mortal," Tails reminded, "and the death he experienced wasn't one of the kinds that could have permanently killed him. As such, he revived, but… Amnikaribah captured and corrupted his soul long before then. So, when he revived, he got to keep his own body without the aid of any black magic or anything. He got to keep all his own powers and whatnot, too, which definitely played a role in him being able to so easily kill Amnikaribah later on down the road." The fox indulged in a heavy sigh. "And… it ties into why we haven't been able to stop him yet."
(-)
It was Shadow who answered this time, though it took nearly a full minute for him to do so. "Father lives."
The answer made Sonic sit up straight. 'He's… he's… alive?'
"But… Sonic… It's not so simple," Tails cautioned. He was pleading for understanding again, this time through his voice, though he didn't outright explain what he wanted Sonic to understand. Instead, he told Sonic, "And, before you ask, no… we can't go see him or otherwise contact him."
"Why not?" Sonic demanded, voice almost breaking. He was already feeling emotional, though he was doing his best to curb it. He suspected he was nearly on the verge of failing.
"Because he doesn't have a communicator anymore, or anything else we can use to contact him," Tails murmured.
"And the world on which he now resides," Jet added simply, "is so vastly dangerous that venturing there for any reason at all is a fool's errand." It honestly startled Sonic to his his friend's gaze suddenly so distant… and so dark. He spoke, it seemed, from experience… awful, awful experience of a sort that was often better left unexplained. "Setting foot on that world would be the only way to contact him, but to do so would be to invite death itself to try its hand at ending you."
"But why?" Sonic heard himself blurt out. "Why would he be in such a horrible place, let alone live there? It doesn't make sense."
"Let's just… say he lives for danger these days," Wave answered with another sigh. "Trust me, it doesn't bother him at all."
Sonic didn't understand. Not fully, not yet. "How could you know that if you can't get anywhere near him?"
"We have run into him a few times," Espio suddenly said, speaking up finally. "We know enough from those encounters."
(-)
Sighing, Sonic slowly asked, "You said that Dad thrives on danger now… but why? Why would he live like that?"
"If anything, you should know that people change," Wave told him, voice soft. "He's no exception to that. As I'm sure you recall, he's always been drawn to the darker sides of life. He's always been drawn to combat and struggles and mortal danger and the like. Without your mother around to help keep him safe and away from such a lifestyle…" She shrugged and turned away fully. "Let's just say that that, among other things, had an impact on him."
(-)
His aura full of as-of-yet unspoken concern, Sonic reached out and took his sword. Then, before he could even ask, Jet said, "Kaden is alive. His injuries are mild at worst. He is fine."
Relief flooded Sonic's aura, but more concern soon filled it. "So how did you get so beat up, then?"
"I was forced to aid the God of Demons, very briefly." A slight pause. Then, "He did not take kindly to the assistance."
"Why in the hell would you have to help him?" Sonic demanded, all mingling concern and confusion.
"Doing so was the only way to help your father."
"You're not telling me why, Jet."
"Let's just say it's due to proximity," Jet eventually said.
"Proximity?" Sonic echoed in disbelief. "Are you telling me that Dad lives near that thing?"
"...Near enough."
(-)
"I know what you guys said about the trouble with going where near Dad is and all, but…" Ears lowering, Sonic looked away. His voice was quiet now, his aura so full of pain… "Isn't there some way that I can see him?"
"In all likelihood…" Jet responded, a sigh in his voice, "you will see him again at some point, regardless of whether or not you yourself go to him. It may take time, but word will spread to him that you are alive now. He will seek you out."
(-)
Sonic crossed his arms, mostly in a subconscious effort to maintain body heat. Though, he hardly needed it with the magical scarf he was still wearing. "I need you to try to explain something for me." Tails blinked. "The fact that Jet interfered in a fight or whatever with that demon god… that's not the only reason why they might go to war, is it? I mean, there's the obvious 'good versus evil' reason and similar ones, but… aside from that."
For some unfathomable reason, Tails smiled. A very sad, regretful smile. "The God of Demons wants to replace Malevolence as the most powerful evil entity in existence, remember. He can't very well do that when a stubborn-as-hell Immortal keeps butting in, now can he?"
Not for the first time since he'd been revived, Sonic was struck by a strong feeling. 'There's something I'm not being told… something I'm not supposed to know, maybe?' He pursed his lips together, debating. Should he pry, or leave well enough alone for now?
That was a decision Tails made for him. "Hey, guys!" he called out loudly to Shadow and Espio, who were already heading back over...
(-)
"You look at things too simply, Sonic," Jet murmured, gaze growing more distant again, "ever still trying to see existence as black and white, good and evil… everything either existing one way or another and never in between. Years ago, it took you too long to accept even something as simple as a person being a thief and a good person at the same time… remember?"
Something in Sonic instantly softened. "...Yeah." He looked away, then sighed. "Yeah, I remember."
"A similar situation is at play here," Jet told him. "We can no longer trust everyone we should. Likewise, many whom we normally could never trust are now among our best allies. You can try all you like to look at these matters in simple terms, but there is nothing simple about this war and all those involved."
'Including you.' Gaining another frown, he turned back to face Jet. Eventually, he asked, "How does this apply to the God of Demons?"
Finally, he shifted and braced his hand on his knee in order to stand up. "You know not the forces I contend with in facing that man." Jet stared deeply into the flames, catching glimpses here and there of melting buildings, massive demons, signs of his recently lost fight that were rapidly being obliterated… and amidst it all, he saw the one ultimately responsible for it all. A dark shape appeared and stood on a nearby rise in the ground entirely engulfed in fire, staring at them and not moving. Their visage was constantly distorted and shifting due to the flames. Sonic saw the figure soon after Jet did and all but leapt to his feet, eyes wide. No doubt he, too, could sense the nearly impossible levels of malice and power that were now flooding the area once more.
Eyes wide, Sonic muttered, "It… looks like… a person…" Jet inclined his head in answer. Emerald eyes swung around to face the hawk, pleading for an answer Jet could not give. "It looks like a person, Jet," Sonic said, voice strained. "I thought-"
"That demons cannot be anything other than monsters?" Jet looked at Sonic out of the corner of his eye. "Make no mistake. Aside from their eyes, a demon can look as ordinary as you, or Tails, or even Cream. Demons may be monsters in most regards, but many of them are also people. There is no black and white… even in regards to evil."
Shaken to his very core, Sonic snapped his gaze back to the not-so-distant form of the God of Demons… only to find that terrible stare now focused solely on him. The amount of fear this focus instilled in him was unlike anything Sonic had ever felt before, and it caused his knees to buckle beneath him. He fell into an awkward sitting position, unable to look away as the dark entity below took a slow and ominous step forward. Though he wanted to, Sonic couldn't stand up. He felt weak, breathless, paralyzed.
At his side, Jet snapped his sword out of its sheath and pointed it at the God he had already earlier faced. "That's enough!" His voice was powerful, carrying a deep and unquestionable authority that Sonic had almost never heard his friend actually exercise. It echoed across the space separating them from their enemy, and said enemy came to a stop. Looking up at them once more, they slowly grinned… and then vanished within the flames.
(-)
There were a lot of questions Sonic could have asked in response to that, he knew, but for now he opted to settle on just one. "I won't press you on too much since you don't seem to want to want to talk about any of it… but there's one thing I want to know about." He looked Steam straight in the eye. "No one else is telling me shit so I don't expect you to, either, but do you know what's going on with my father?"
Pain entered Steam's eyes and he looked away, unable to maintain eye contact. "...I do know. I'm just…" He scratched at his head forcefully, breathing growing labored. "It's a lot to take in and explain…"
Eventually, Sonic also looked away. Silence filled the space between them just as the barriers flashed into existence and roared upward into the sky. The roar was felt rather than heard, but his ears nevertheless flattened purely on instinct. Only after he straightened them again did he decide to reply. "Thanks for being honest," he mumbled. "I prefer not being lied to, even when I can't be filled in on details."
(-)
Sonic was stunned. "Wait, hold on a minute. You don't want to kill the God of Demons?" he demanded.
The fox's hands raised in a placating gesture. "I'm getting to that, just let me explain," he pleaded. Sonic simmered down reluctantly, and Tails let out a heavy sigh. "Look… the God is this huge, powerful, vast evil. Okay, we get that. We can't not know that. But, the thing is, he used to be a person, Sonic. A good one. And when he was corrupted, the goodness that was in him held out against that corruption for as long as it could. That 'light', if you will, inside of him has slowly been consumed over the years, but a tiny sliver his goodness, his past self, is still in there. Jet and the rest of us… we want to use that 'weakness' to save him. Not to end him."
None of what Sonic had been told made any sense at all. There was no way, no way that any of this could be right. "Tails, why in the hell would you want to save a monster like that? It isn't right!" In his anger, he found himself standing up, letting his blanket fall to the floor in the process.
Slowly, Tails lifted his solemn gaze from the floor to look at Sonic. Very quietly, he stated, "Because, these days, the one sustaining that tiny sliver I was talking about… is your mother. She's trying to save him, too. Isn't that enough?"
Too shocked to speak, Sonic fell utterly silent and sank back down into his seat. "Mom… Mom is?" he whispered faintly.
Tails looked down again. "Yeah. We don't know how long she's been doing it or how she even is doing it, but… it's her energy. There isn't any doubt about that." Silence fell again. It threatened to persist for a long while and likely would have, had Tails not persisted. "Look… I know you aren't thrilled about this, but eventually you'll understand why. Please, you're just going to have to trust us. If not all of us, then at least your mom. Okay?"
Slowly, very slowly, Sonic gave a slight nod. "...Okay."
(-)
"Okay… so one last thing. Is anyone planning on telling me who the hell this guy is?" He thought for a second. "Oh, and why in the hell my dad apparently lives somewhere near to him?"
Tails hesitated, visibly wracking his mind for an explanation. He opened his mouth to speak, faltered, then let out a gusty breath of air. "Like Wave said… your dad basically lives for the danger these days. That's about all I can say for him. And as far as who the God is, I can't… tell you that. I just can't." He looked up at Sonic. "But I do know who can."
Frowning, Sonic replied, "Then please tell me that, at least."
"Jet," Tails answered with no further hesitation. "You still trust him, right? More than you trust just about any other person in your life, alive or dead?"
Quashing his frustration at the change of subject, Sonic gave a curt nod. "Yeah. Of course I do."
"Then you can trust him not to be lying to you about this."
In this moment, Sonic reflected how much he wished that this was all a lie. He also wished that he had never been exposed to this truth… no matter how hard he had been fighting to learn said truth for so long. But looking at the man standing before him, looking into those eyes… Pain and shock seemed to be all that he was capable of feeling as he looked on. Stared, really, because he could barely think, let alone react… And yet, somehow, he realized he could hear himself talking. "W… Why did you bring us here?" he whispered. His voice was little more than a choked and pathetic whimper, even to his own ears.
The initial response he received was a thoughtful hum. That was a sound that was burned into Sonic's memory already, for it was a sound that Kaden had often made when he had been normal. Back when he had been himself. But this man… This… demon… This was not his father. It… couldn't be. The man's voice, however… it was the same. He responded to the very same name as always. His appearance was unchanged, apart from his fur seemingly permanently taking on that blackish hue that it always had when he'd been filled with Darkness, and his eyes were now fiery and glowing and oh, so wicked…
What have you become?
Too late, Sonic realized he had spoken those words aloud. His father's head canted slightly, regarding Sonic with a dark mellowness that sent chills down the younger hedgehog's spine. "Become?" Kaden echoed slowly. Then he turned away, glancing toward where he'd flung Steam as a few loose pieces of rubble clattered to the ground. "That much should be obvious." As he spoke, intense Darkness gathered around Armaris and slammed her into an undamaged wall, pinning her there. Tendrils of it began slowly forcing their way through her, injecting potent taint into her own energies in an unhurried but relentless and forceful manner. The cat screamed in agony, trying her damndest to call upon her powers, any of them, to force Kaden to lose focus. Despite every last inch of her body screaming for it to stop, nothing responded. Her mind numbed at the pain, and her powers seemingly refused to work, to help her protect herself.
Call it instinct or mere reflex, but whatever the reason Sonic began trying his damnedest to conjure up some Light for protection (whether just of himself or not, he wasn't even sure). Only, it became apparent that he couldn't… that this energy (of all the ones that could have been chosen) was the one that he had been blocked from accessing by that magic attack seemingly so long ago. Yet, despite his inability to tap into even the vaguest trace of the energy, Kaden apparently took notice of what he was doing. Sonic wasn't sure what exactly what his father did, but the next thing he knew he was sitting against a wall with a pounding pain in his head and shoulder blades. Had he been slammed backward? It seemed likely.
Kaden, meanwhile, lowered his arm and issued the same nonchalant warning he had earlier given to Armaris. "None of that." Stifling a soft groan, Sonic forced his eyes open just in time to see Kaden kneel down in front of him. A fresh wave of fear hit, and Sonic hated that he had cause to feel this way about his own father. They were so close, Sonic loved and trusted him so much… What the hell had happened…? But Kaden spoke again before Sonic could blurt anything out or pull anymore stupid stunts that went against his better judgement, his voice a touch lower and somehow vastly more threatening. "Light cannot help you here, Sonic," he murmured. Something about the way his name was said in such a cold tone made Sonic tense up further. "It cannot save you. If you wish to remain alive, I suggest you refrain from calling upon it from here on."
Tails's comments about how protective demons were over their children, how the God was no exception to this rule, and how said God simply wouldn't kill his own kids hit Sonic all at once. Faced with this threat so close to his person, however, made all of that seem like a lie. Or, at the very least, little more than wishful thinking. It didn't matter that Kaden had always been extraordinarily protective of his own accord even when not a demon. The fact remained that he now was a demon… a demon who looked prepared to injure or kill anyone and everyone present at the slightest provocation. Sonic's heart pounded forcefully in his chest.
Glancing around, Sonic located Shadow, who had somehow managed to pull himself up enough to sit against a separate wall after Sonic had been thrown aside. He didn't look hurt or like he had been flung as well, so the blue hedgehog allowed himself a small breath of relief. His relief was short-lived, however, when he suddenly realized that he could definitely hear the sounds of a violent struggle outside. Oh, no... That's Cream! Being so bold was likely one of the worst ideas he'd had so far since coming here, but he nevertheless found him asking, "Why did you send her out there? Why are you trying to kill her?"
Those glowing eyes briefly shifted to the hole that had been made when Kaden had cast the bunny out a mere minute or two ago. Then, almost casually, he responded, "As I said… she is useless. Corrupting her holds merit, but is unlikely to be worth the effort."
Corrupting h… Suddenly, Sonic thought back to another event that had just occurred, and his gaze swung to Armaris. "Is that what you're doing to her?" he demanded, his words shaking as they left his mouth. He may not have known Armaris well by any stretch of the imagination, but that didn't mean she deserved this!
Ignoring the question, Kaden stood. Based off of everything Sonic had heard thus far about how his father was as a goddamn demon, he honestly expected a harsh reaction in some form or another. Yet, Kaden remained entirely calm. Almost… docile, even, at least when compared to his usual self. It wasn't until Sonic noticed the pile of three sleeping little kids next to the seat Kaden had been reclined in earlier that Sonic suddenly understood why this was the case. It was because the triplets (whom Sonic realized for the first time absolutely did look like hedgehogs and certainly resembled their shared father closely) were home and… "safe". Or at least as safe as anyone who lived such a violent life could be.
On top of that… other matters seemed to be going his way as well, so far. He had gotten what he wanted, after all. He'd successfully busted down the barriers surrounding the Highlands and invaded the territory. He'd gotten Sonic and the others (with only two or three exceptions) to this location with ease. Jet and the others on New Babylon didn't seem to know what was going on - or they did but were somehow being prevented from coming here. He was succeeding in every conceivable fashion right now… and though that seemingly made him more patient and tolerant for the moment, Sonic was forced to acknowledge that none of this boded well for himself or his friends regardless. No matter how calm Kaden was being right now, his behavior toward poor Cream was proof beyond proof that he did not have benign intentions with any of them. But what was he working to accomplish? Killing those he saw as useless and corrupting the rest, as he was doing to Cream and Armaris? No, it couldn't have been that simple. It couldn't have been.
Another sound drew the attention of Sonic, Shadow (whom Sonic was just realizing had been oddly silent this whole time), and Kaden back over to the hole Steam's body had made in the wall. It seemed several more pieces of debris had fallen. Suddenly looking annoyed again, Kaden called out (albeit in a voice barely louder than his usual quiet one) to him, "On your feet… You are irritating to listen to."
Steam emerged from the hole, glaring and gritting his teeth in anger and pain. He had his sword unsheathed, but once again not raised. Instead, he was using it as a sort of crutch for the time being. His body hurt, and it was everything he could do to ignore the pain and continue along without showing it all over his features. "Leave… them… alone…" He growled, breath short from the recent impact. Seemingly prepared to ignore that little command, Kaden responded by trying his hand at blasting Steam through another wall… despite having just told Steam to get up. The green hedgehog, despite his injured state, was quick to surround his body with an intense golden glow followed by a similarly glowing sword slash to stop the attack. At the very least… he's not going all out on us now… Steam's eyes shifted in the direction Cream had gone. Do I save her or try to keep Kaden off of Armaris…?
Struggling to sit himself more upright, Shadow finally spoke up. "Why are we here, Father?"
Steam cut in quickly, his gaze shifting over to Shadow. "Probably for all the things he's been doing so far. Getting what he wants, eh?"
"You are ignorant," Kaden retorted, his annoyance toward Steam visibly growing.
"Then explain," Shadow responded, being remarkably bold. Yet, his ears were nearly flattened back against his head, an obvious sign of just how threatened and unsafe even he was feeling.
"Are… you going to kill us?" Sonic found himself whispering, though he hadn't intended to speak at all.
An ominous glint in his eye, Kaden responded slowly, "No… not all of you."
"Just those two, then?" Shadow asked, glancing at Steam and then in Cream's general direction. "And those you left on Mobius?"
Unexpectedly, Kaden shook his head and crossed his arms. "You are being shortsighted," he responded, still being remarkably mellow. It was so unusual as to be frightening, especially given what he now was. "Some of you are far more valuable alive."
"Like as a demon?" Armaris spat hatefully, fists clenched as she continued her struggle to get free. "Fuck you."
"How insightful," Kaden murmured in mild disdain, turning away. He walked toward the back of the huge, spacious room, actually daring to fully turn his back on the triplets without any apparent care in spite of how brutally he had attacked Hyale in order to retrieve them not long ago.
Steam watched Kaden for the time being, notable agitation in his eyes. "It's about the attacks, isn't it?"
Sonic felt his heart drop at the implication. More attacks?
In response, Kaden grabbed a large piece of what looked to be a mirror out of a pile of loose rubble, then flung it backward toward Sonic and Shadow. Sonic managed to catch the sharpened bit of glass, then warily looked into it. Much to his dismay, all he could initially see was fire. Slowly, however, the image shifted, and he realized just what he was actually looking at. It was the Babylonian palace, and the entire building and everything around it was ablaze. There was virtually nothing left that wasn't on fire… But things soon got worse from there.
New images covered the shimmering surface, showing new horrors each time. Sein was swarmed with demons, the beasts clawing and tearing feathers from his body as he fought back as best he could. Alana and Jet were trapped together somewhere just within the densest part of the gardens, surrounded by flames and being relentlessly blasted by the demons surrounding them. Kath and Azerel appeared to be actually trapped inside the burning palace itself, struggling to help others get out while being horrifically burned in the process. The lot of them were struggling against demons stronger than anything Sonic had ever seen before. Watching all of this pain and suffering, he could only stare in mute horror… especially when he spied the barely-contained fear in his best friend's normally shielded eyes. Jet…!
Amaris glared at the images, her teeth visibly changing as she snarled. Fucking bastard.
Before anyone could say anything about what they were being shown, the images shifted drastically from one scene of utter hell to another. The blurry motion settled down within a burning city that was very clearly Mobian in design, and Shadow tensed noticeably. Sonic did, too, but even more so when he saw the familiar white cat amidst it all. Astra was situated in front of the city, a massive magic circle forming in front of her. Once it was fully prepared, a massive, grey, snake-like creature began crashing through the buildings and tearing up any ground underneath it.
The image shifted again, this time showcasing a female cat who looked distinctly… demonic. Her gaze was cold and indifferent to the wilderness in front of her as she set it ablaze. The only emotion that ever showed on her face was pleasure as she watched it all burn away to nothing more than ash. Armaris' eyes widened minutely in fear before a new surge of pure hatred burned throughout her body at the sight of her mother. Every instinct she had said to break free from this place and tear that woman's throat free from the undeserving piece of shit that she was related to.
Though Sonic definitely wanted to ask Armaris what was going on with her (aside from the obvious corruption gradually taking place), he remembered Shadow's earlier command to think about everything later and focus on surviving this instead of anything else. Soon, he was forced to focus more, anyway, on the images as they shifted once more. They blurred drastically for a long moment, settling down only when the village of Hyale suddenly came into focus. The settlement was still standing somehow, but it was absolutely in shambles. Demons filled virtually every crevice of the settlement right alongside their usual dense flames. Many shinobi could be seen fighting, and even Aku was visible at one point, but the mirror's image seamlessly drifted over all of them… focusing almost exclusively on a smoking heap of wreckage laying on the ground a ways beyond where the barriers had once stood. Upon closer inspection, Sonic realized with dawning horror that it was the twisted, smoldering remains of the Tornado-Z. And Tails was nowhere to be seen.
Steam's eyes widened minutely, concern and anger flickering across his features. No, fuck… That didn't happen before…
Shadow visibly froze at the sight, eyes locked on the image until it again shifted. This time, it appeared to have a lot of difficulty focusing, jumping around all over the place until it finally seemed to get a lock on whatever it was tracking. The image cleared just in time to show it as Espio dodged a frighteningly fast demon that had seemingly been pursuing him. He wasn't in great condition at the moment, but not to the point where he would be terribly aware of his own wounds. More concerning, however, was how incredibly dark the markings on his arm were at the moment. Sonic again spoke without thinking, driven by a small wave of anger over everything he had been seeing. "You planning on killing him, too?" he demanded.
"I can take little pleasure in ending the life of one who doesn't care for it," Kaden retorted smoothly, walking back over to them at an even pace. His gaze shifted to the mirror and the picture displayed on it as Espio briefly braced himself against a tree, forced to spend time ripping weapons that had been stabbed into him - a true testament to how completely serious the fight had been getting since Sonic and the others had been gone. "And aside from that…" Reaching out, Kaden took the mirror from Sonic with surprisingly gentility - though it was likely with the sole purpose of not breaking the mirror itself. "...He happens to be vastly more useful than most others."
The implication that Kaden wasn't the only one interested in him (implied through Kaden not saying that Espio was strictly useful to him alone) made Sonic tense as he remembered that woman... and the shadowy army that she worked for. Are... they all after him...?
Little had changed with Armaris' mood, obvious hatred flaring through her now red eyes. She knew there was more to come, and the thought only intensified the flood of emotion she was currently feeling. "Don't you fucking dare."
"As if you have any say," was the murmured, uncaring response. Darkness flowed from his hands into the mirror, converting it into a portal before the group's very eyes. Faster than Sonic's eyes could track, Kaden slipped through the portal, leaving the portal hovering where it had formed in easy view of Sonic and the others.
Seeing the opportunity, Sonic regained his feet. "D… Do we follow him?" he asked shakily, eyes locked on the portal. He watched as Kaden neatly dropped down onto the battlefield, surveying the area briefly before walking in the direction of the newest fight Espio had been dragged into. Shadow remained staunchly silent again, watching events unfold without comment.
Steam took this chance to hurry over to where Armaris was now, Light quickly filling his body and sword before he lightly stabbed his blade into the blanket of Darkness covering the cat. He made quick work of this, freeing Armaris and catching her before she could fall and hit the ground. He took a moment and set her down so she could recover before moving off in the direction of Cream, motioning for Sonic to wait for a few seconds. He refused to leave anyone behind, and he'd be damned if he was going to let that bunny die to some fucking demons. Calling on more Light than was probably necessary, he cut down whatever demons were daring to attack Cream and quickly checked her over to make sure she wasn't too injured. However, she most definitely was injured, though not gravely so. Still, she was more than grateful for the help, and expressed that in the form of a wan smile and a soft, "Thank you."
The hedgehog managed a weak smile, chuckling. "Not a problem… let's… go get out of here." Steam began walking, closing his eyes for a moment as he tried to ignore the pain. I wish he would've already been fighting me. Adrenaline would be nice.
Once the two of them were inside, Cream hurried over to Sonic to try to help Shadow up, but the darker hedgehog was curiously adamant in his refusal to let them. The brothers were already in a fairly heated argument, taking out much of their stress and other emotions on one another. "Leave me here," he snapped, words nearly lost beneath the sound of a rare snarl.
"For fuck's sake, why?" Sonic demanded. "At least tell me why you're being such an ass about this!"
"Look at that!" Shadow shot back, directing Sonic's attention back to the portal. "Do you honestly think I would be anything more than a liability there? Here is marginally safer, if only because of them." He nodded pointedly at the still-sleeping triplets, who seemed utterly and blissfully unaware of the situation at hand.
Sonic was quick to catch on this time around. He simmered down substantially and sighed, "Because most demons won't dare start a fight near them, for fear of losing their own lives." Shadow nodded once, tensely.
"I can't stay and let that shit-face hurt my goddamn friend," Armaris growled, pushing herself to stand and slowly walking over with malice in her eyes. "That bastard."
Steam moved forward and quickly stood between the cat and the portal, shaking his head. "I won't stop you from helping, but please realize that if you throw yourself at him, he will corrupt you further and turn you into a minion, or something else. Don't be rash."
Armaris snarled at the hedgehog, grabbing him roughly and nearly throwing him aside. "Don't fucking tell me what to do," she hissed, slipping into the portal without another wasted word. Steam managed to stop himself from falling over, but that didn't help with the further aggravated wounds he had suffered thus far.
Sonic tossed a long-suffering glance at his brother before finally releasing a heavy sigh. "Fine… we'll leave you here for now. But I swear to fuck, if you get yourself killed…" He trailed off, not trusting himself to finish that sentence. After a second, he cleared his throat. "Just don't, alright?"
A second of silence passed before Shadow broke eye-contact and turned his head away. "As if I would," he mumbled, all the heat and anger already gone from his tone.
More or less satisfied with that response, Sonic turned his attention to Steam and Cream. "We need to go." He looked through portal, noting how close Kaden and Espio now were to one another, and felt his pulse begin to race.
Steam winced faintly as he nodded, walking over to the portal. "If either of you need me, say something. I'll do whatever I can."
"We should all be ready to aid one another at a moment's notice," Cream pointed out reasonably. "Working together is our best hope of survival."
"Yeah." Sonic walked to the portal, teleporting Caliburn into his hand as he went. Wasting no further time, he jumped through the portal. Steam followed him without hesitation, his own sword in hand. Cream went last, psychic energy gathering around her as she went.
It seemed the real fight was only just beginning.
~保護者~
9,865 words this time. Please don't kill me over this, guys! I know it's painful to know the truth, but I don't wanna die over it! *sweatdrop* Ahem. Anyway, many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help. I hope you... erm... somehow managed to enjoy this. Oh, and, a bit of fair warning... things will be getting worse from here. ;) Posted (at about 12:15 p.m.) 12-06-19.