Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) throughout this worsening conflict… especially for the one whose private war is truly just beginning.
~保護者~
REVIEW REPLIES:
Hello, MelGamingPlays! Well, as sad as I absolutely am that this has happened (seriously, Kaden is one of my favorites in this series :( ), I'm still glad that it managed to surprise you. That was 100% the goal, so I'm glad it worked out. Erm, please don't kill me though. XD Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed! Hope you enjoy this one, too!
~保護者~
"Borne of Darkness"
~保護者~
By the time everyone went through the portal, Espio had already resumed fighting against the nearly endless horde of demons. The only reason that he paused in the midst of the battlefield, despite how risky it was, was because he sensed the portal's fluctuating energies as people passed through it. Shortly following that was the return of the God of Demon's aura (a fact which only worsened his already poor mood). He debated whether to go toward or move away from that aura, but gave the debate a rest for a moment when he picked up on another aura - both familiar and not. ...Armaris? It definitely was her, but it was different. That edge to it was… one he had never wanted to have the misfortune of sensing.
Armaris scoured the battlefield with practiced ease, her sharp red eyes taking in her surroundings momentarily before heading in Espio's direction while simultaneously ignoring anything and everything around her. The only exception was the demons who dared be in her path, which she made short work of with wind blades sharp enough to slice through rocks. That fucking bastard better not touch Espio.
Espio glanced over Armaris for a brief moment, taking in her condition before deciding that she was still herself to enough of an extent that she was not a threat. He chose not to say anything to her about it - no doubt she would take great offense to such a thing - and focused instead on the fight once more. He disappeared from view due to sheer speed, and instantly demons began to literally lose their heads once more. All the while, he kept a silent look out for the man he knew was watching this go down. He is close… incredibly so. He stabbed a demon in the face, splitting open its skull with lethal force, then flung it aside. …But where?
"Hey, assholes!" Armaris called out, standing straight as she allowed wind to circle around her in a dangerous fashion. As soon as she felt like she had any of the demons' attention, she unleashed a hellish storm of wind blades to cut into everything around her that she deemed a threat. As she did this, Espio started to move toward another threat, only to feel a slight stab of alarm (where did that emotion come from?) when he was lifted off the ground by black energy and then violently flung through the trees. He crashed through several huge trunks before he managed to catch himself, adhering to the side of a separate tree and crouching down defensively.
For the moment, Armaris was trapped in a massive horde of demons that she had pissed off, battling them off with far more viciousness and brutality than before. Steam finally had the chance to arrive at the scene of the current battle with a quick and powerful pillar of Light, followed by dangerously sharp wisps of blue flame-like magic that cut into and tore apart the demons from the inside out. Steam glanced over the now noticeably more demonic cat with a concerned frown, but said nothing more and continued along. I've got to get to Espio.
At about the same time, Espio dropped out of the tree just in time to avoid a half-hearted attack. That blow was... soft. He frowned, not appreciating the fact that he was very clearly being toyed with.
Steam appeared, watching Espio carefully and quickly turning his attention in the direction the attack had come from. Where are you, Kaden…?
Another flurry of attacks came, forcing more high-speed dodging, and Espio mentally alternated between cursing about it and finding himself somewhat enjoying the challenge. It had been an incredibly long time since he had been pushed to move this fast against any enemy other than Nakea… and he soon found himself having to move even faster to dodge yet another attack. In spite of himself, he felt a small rush... a thrill quite unlike anything he ever felt outside of combat. But taking any degree of enjoyment out of a fight such as this was dangerous beyond measure, and so he sought to focus. Looking around, he swiftly dodged yet another attack that truly could not hurt him much. He is playing games… Of course he is. He huffed to himself and landed on the side of another tree.
Steam stayed out of the way of the attacks for now, quickly heading off to try and intercept Kaden before he could get ahold of Espio. His eyes briefly shifted up to the sky as several thoughts coursed through his mind. He pushed those aside and resumed his focus on what was ahead of him. "Kaden!" he shouted, intending on gaining the other man's attention.
It seemed as though Steam was ignored. ...Mostly. A rather violent wave of energy crashed over the green hedgehog, but that was all. Most of the remaining energy that was just unleashed centered around Espio and slammed him with brutal force into the ground. Being unused to fighting against energies in general, Espio was fairly helpless to counter it and did his best to just shake off the impact. He dodged a couple of other attacks in rapid succession, deciding it best to remain in motion… for all the good that would likely do him against an enemy like this.
Luckily, Steam was able to conjure up a barrier around his body. Though it shattered upon impact of the attack, it mostly protected him from further harm. He growled weakly, clenching his hand around the handle of his sword in agitation. Fuck.
Not two seconds later, there was a violent impact on the ground between the pair, knocking them in opposite directions and blanketing the area in Darkness so thick that virtually no one would be able to see. As such, Espio felt the threat coming more than saw it, and it was that small saving grace that allowed him to parry the oncoming sword slash that came at him. They broke apart almost instantly, but swung their swords at one another again repeatedly with immense speed and force. Shockwaves erupted from the pair, resonating from each point of contact. Several of those shockwaves were powerful enough to tear up the ground and uproot some of the surrounding trees.
Steam filled his entire body with Light once he fully understood the situation, attempting to draw attention away as he readied his sword. I'm so fucked. The influx of Light predictably drew a lot of attention his way. The Darkness blanketing the area lashed out at him while many of the demons began converging on his location. In the meantime, Kaden and Espio continued to fight, their swords clashing loudly as they moved all about the battlefield at nearly impossible speeds. Steam was quick to enter battle with the demons, sure to keep a barrier around himself to keep the Darkness off of him as he fought off his attackers.
Several minutes of tense combat followed, part of it ending abruptly when there was a huge impact somewhere off in the woods away from Steam. Following that impact was another violent shockwave that tore up even more of the trees, and it even travelled far enough to level many of the houses and other buildings on this side of the village. Some demons got caught up in it as well and were killed by it. But that wasn't the worst part. No, the very worst part was the immense explosion of vast, non-demonic Darkness that followed after the initial shockwave.
Armaris turned her attention in that direction immediately, shooting off with a single farewell swipe of her blade that beheaded the demon attempting to stop her. Steam's face shifted to one of minute horror, knowing that there was only one source that could have used that kind of Darkness in this area. Nothing much seemed to happen after that explosion, however, aside from Kaden's aura inexplicably just… leaving the area in its entirety. The veil of Darkness that had been preventing those caught up in it from seeing faded away. As soon as she was able to see, Armaris moved on to find the source of the explosion with obvious anger burning in her eyes. "That motherfucker better not have touched him!"
At the epicenter of the explosion, energies briefly raged about in a violent and frenzied cyclone before gradually tapering out and fading away, leaving the immediate area eerily silent. Gritting his teeth together harshly, Espio, who had been powerfully slammed backward into the ground, pushed himself up and ripped out the blade that had been stabbed deep into his chest dangerously close to his heart. He frowned deeply as the Darkness comprising the blade weakened and then vanished entirely in his hand. Muttering a curse under his breath, he grabbed his sword and stood up, barely taking notice as his injuries rapidly healed all at once. He shifted his arm to look at it, noting that there weren't any markings present at all. Armaris walked forward slowly, her body crouched down as she watched Espio quietly for a moment. "Are you okay…?" she asked softly, her previous anger and hate buried for the time being in lieu of care and concern.
"...Fine," Espio muttered distractedly, shifting his sword to use the reflection to get a better look at his shoulder. Seeing the distinctive mark that was present there, he frowned again. The black symbol of a serpentine dragon coiled in on itself now marked his skin there. The dragon was in the shape of a tight spiral with its head at the center and its mouth open. In between its jaws, almost as though it was going to bite it, was a small diamond-shaped four-point star. The sigh of the mark caused him to narrow his eye.
The cat walked forward quietly, circling around him curiously to look over his body as he had with her earlier. "You seem… relatively okay, too…" she muttered, a touch confused. Espio chose to ignore her this time in favor of nimbly leaping out of the crater that had been formed around him in the ground. Armaris followed him for now, walking in front of him and tilting her head curiously at the mark. "Is your Darkness… there…?" That question also went ignored. Espio instead whipped around and stabbed through the neck of a demon that had flown over to investigate what was going on over here. The attack slammed the beast into the ground with enough force to create a brand new crate. Distinct and unmistakable black energy crackled around Espio's hand as he gripped the handle of his sword to carry out this attack. "He made your Darkness more… mature… didn't he?"
Still refusing to answer her questions, Espio ripped his sword free and flicked some of the blood and bits of flesh off of the blade. Around this time, Steam walked into the area with his sword in hand. His eyes roved over the two assassins, examining them quickly. Espio's Darkness was progressed further all at once and Armaris has limited the functions of her mind to keep the demonic tendencies away… Fucking hell… "Hey, Espio. What did Kaden do to you?"
Frustrated by how he'd been cornered and attacked like he was, Espio muttered crossly, "He stabbed me." He said nothing more about it, briefly turning his attention to the chaos of the battle still raging around them. The violence and the bloodshed called to him, and he was just itching to sink his blade into something else… someone else, even. But he could tell that his energies were still fighting to settle themselves, and that left him feeling vaguely sluggish and out of sorts, prompting him to remain where he was for the moment. He did not feel right, physically or otherwise, as instincts and thoughts and desires that felt at once foreign and normal flooded him. Everything was all off-balance right now, but allowing things to settle for a moment would likely resolve that issue. So, for the time being, he opted to stay put, part of his mind fighting against these new and violent urges… and the rest of it urging him to just accept and follow through with them.
But there was something else, too, that was demanding his attention. As the Darkness flowed endlessly through him, the regeneration process seemed to actually continue. Much of the usual pain and general discomfort of his lungs (which had never quite functioned properly his whole life) was ebbing away in waves and his ruined arm… was tingling. It was the only sensation of any sort that he'd felt there since before his arm had been paralyzed. He was reminded then of the tales he had heard as a child about the remarkable regenerative abilities of his ancestors, but only now was it occuring to him that their Darkness had likely been behind it all along. ...Interesting. Leaving it at that, he again scanned the battlefield ahead of him. Rushing in before he was ready would be foolish, but the urge to join the fight was growing stronger and stronger with each passing second. In an effort to briefly distract himself from that, he shifted some of his focus back onto Steam and Armaris. He had been so caught up in other matters for the past couple of short moments that he had nearly begun to overlook the fact that they were still there.
Armaris watched the chameleon silently for some time as all of this occurred, her arms crossed in concern for what might be happening. "Espio…?" she questioned softly, eyes intently locked onto him yet somewhat distant. He tossed her a glance that was significantly colder than any expression he normally wore, saying nothing to her as he did so. Then looking away, he started walking toward the battlefield. Once Armaris made the realization that Espio was doing this, she let her mind go once more and followed him. She had no intention of letting these demons get away with ruining what was once her home. A short distance up ahead of her, Espio vanished, deliberately leaving her behind.
A quiet cough escaped the green hedgehog as he watched the two noticeably darker beings take off. If I piss one of them off… might piss the other off. I'm in no shape to be fighting one of them, much less both or potentially them and Kaden at once. Who fucking knows… Accepting whatever fate might come to him, Steam picked up his sword and began walking. "Where the hell are you, Kaden?" he asked, mostly to himself. Almost as though in answer to that, a tightly controlled explosion rocked a nearby section of the woods. The energies it was comprised of were distinct and unmistakable, giving clear proof of where the God currently was. Steam groaned and rubbed his face with his hand. Yeah, fuck you, too. Using the adrenaline high his body was still experiencing, the hedgehog launched himself in that direction, body aflame as he approached.
Kaden sat high in the branches of a burning tree, idly watching events unfold down below. A crater now marred the landscape where that explosion had taken place, leaving behind no trace of the buildings he had just attacked. There was no real way of knowing how many people might have just died, but the number was likely significant. A whole section of the village was simply gone now. His attention soon strayed from that matter, however, when he noticed Steam's approach. Interference… always interference. His calm demeanor bled away into a continuation of his earlier annoyance and he stood up, sword in hand, before dropping down to the ground far below.
"Asshole," Steam growled, tightening the hold on his sword as his body filled with Light once more. As much as he would've loved to have the chance to attack Kaden first, he needed to be more properly defensive for once in his life. He was starkly aware of the fact that this may be his last fight, or that these may be his last moments. Or a morbid combination of the two.
Without a word, Kaden vanished from view. He reappeared behind Steam and struck him down into the ground with a fierce strike to the back of the younger man's neck. Steam felt the shift of his spinal column, allowing his magic to flow through his body and support not only his bones, but his muscles, and everything inside of him. He rolled back to his feet and used his fire to slide his body forward and slash out with Light, a fierce expression on his face. Unwilling to suffer the agony that a burn from such energy would grant him, Kaden made quick work of dodging the attack and then retaliating with a powerful explosion of Darkness directly under Steam's feet. At the same time, he appeared beside the green hedgehog again and slammed Steam down again, this time via a violent stab through the chest.
Steam let Light explode from his body the moment he felt the stab, attempting to push Kaden away and stop the Darkness under him. Even now, he was already letting himself overflow with Light and driven almost solely by adrenaline. Hissing under his breath in a combination of irritation and brief pain, Kaden leapt away for just a second. This boy's Light was vexing, though not at all to the same extent as hers. Even so, he wanted nothing more in this moment than to destroy it utterly and rid himself of its presence. A growl escaped Steam's mouth as he stepped forward, an intense anger burning through the flames around his body. "You continue doing this shit after what the love of your life has spent all of her life caring for you!" Whether or not he was able to follow Kaden's thought process was unknown, but all he knew currently was that this fight was going far worse than he'd expected it to. "You trapped her and she's still alive! You just don't give a shit anymore, right? Or am I wrong, because you obviously still fucking care about Sonic and Shadow?"
Those glowing eyes narrowed and, without warning, Kaden flung his sword at Steam. It embedded itself into flesh and bone terribly close to several vital organs. "You know nothing," he muttered darkly, his demeanor now shifting entirely away from the one of calm and relative mellowness that he had been displaying before.
Steam ignored the agony this sword brought him as it drove deep into his body, grabbing it by the handle and ripping it free. "Then tell me what I don't know, bastard! Or am I close enough to the truth that you don't want to admit anything?" His anger shone through his words as he took another tired, yet determined step forward. Kaden felt no need to explain himself to anyone, much less to this fucking idiot. He used his Darkness to wrench his sword out of Steam's hand and bring it back into his own, flicking some excess blood off of it in a harsh motion as he watched Steam move closer. Steam had to force himself to stop where he was for the moment, already knowing that he might have pushed himself too far. Despite this, he felt something deep inside him say to keep fighting. Potentially it was his stubbornness, but he didn't need to be told twice to follow through. He let his golden magic flow around him, his anger slowly ebbing as his body's energy did. "In my timeline, I trusted and loved you like a father. In this one and my own, Sonic and Shadow do as well. Analia loved you like nobody I have ever met, and still cares. Yet you leave her in such an awful state that surviving is the only goal she should possibly have from day to day. It still bothers me that you, someone who was so good, would do that."
In that moment, there was a surge of energy and a rush of wind. It was impossible to say for an instant or so just what was happening, but the second that steel met steel with a harsh, clanging shriek it became clear. The shimmering white metal of Alkarus struggled mere millimeters from Steam's throat, having only barely managed to block Saika's stab in time. Then there was a small explosion as the two swords separated, throwing both Jet and Kaden backward. They both landed on their feet, glaring at each other harshly. Steam however, was thrown back with no physical capability of landing, only saved by two very careful and gentle hands. The hedgehog immediately recognized the hawk holding him and gave the weakest of smirks, only for Sein to grimace and turn his head quickly. "Alana! Get the kid out of here!" he called quickly, creating a barrier of aura around the two.
Alana, who had already begun to focus on damage control elsewhere, appeared beside her husband in a flash. She took one look at Steam and Kaden, then nodded once. "I will guard him while I eradicate the demons," she murmured curtly, bending down to heft the hedgehog up. She tossed their son a look without comment. She trusted him to be able to handle this, and if not… well, she assumed that was what Sein was staying here for. They would be fine, and as such she vanished and left them to it. At about the same time, Jet and Kaden clashed again several more times, causing explosions to rip apart the area around them each time their swords met. The last of these explosions had the same effect as the first, sending them both skidding backward on their feet until they were able to catch themselves and stop the momentum.
Sein used this opportunity to rush in, claymore slashing out in a dangerously powerful arc that sent forth a blade of pure aura that threatened to tear into the air itself as it soared. Immediately after this, he lunged out with a quick punch filled to the brim with aura. His punch was blocked almost casually with an upraised arm, then Kaden whirled and kicked Sein in the side with enough force to create a shockwave. At the same instant, he hurled a torrent of flames at Jet to force him away when the younger hawk started to move forward again. The blue hawk skidded to the side several meters, gritting his teeth lightly as he watched Kaden momentarily. His attention briefly shifted to Jet in mild concern, but he didn't let himself dwell on that. He's my son. I believe in him.
A surge of immense wind blasted the flames away into near nonexistence and, just like that, Jet and Kaden were violently fighting again, moving about with so much speed and frenetic energy that they could barely be tracked by most people. When they broke apart, Jet gave into a flare of anger and snapped, "Where is he, Kaden?! Where the hell is Sonic?" As he spoke, he clutched at a fresh slice wound across his left side.
His head canting slightly, Kaden murmured back, "I don't know… or care." Then he added rather casually, "But he is alive, if that is what you are so concerned about." Jet managed to glare even harder than before, somehow.
The blue hawk's eyes widened a margin, several realizations hitting him at once. "Hold the fuck up." He walked forward. "That's Kaden? You turned into this?" Sein seemed incredulous, even a touch pissed for a moment. Kaden's gaze slid over to Sein, not a trace of recognition in his eyes and no emotion visible on his face.
Honestly, Jet would have growled if he could have. "Not willingly," he muttered, "but... yes. That's him." Kaden had never given himself to any of this of his own accord. This had all been forced upon him. It was an important distinction, one he felt had to be made… even if now was not exactly the best time for it.
"I'm not finished yet, so hold on a moment," Sein responded, walking forward more. Glowing demonic eyes watched in silence. Kaden crossed his arms, almost amused as he watched them. For the moment, it was that amusement and nothing more that was keeping him from attacking again. Sein glared hard. "Here's the thing that would have bothered me more than it even being willing. How can you not care where your kid is? That's your blood. That's the life that you helped bring about!" Furious fists clenched tightly and aura flared intensely. "I can't even fucking fath-"
Steeling his nerves against any possible verbal backlash that might be coming (damn Ross and his lingering influence, truly), Jet cut in... by using a term he had once hated uttering for any reason. "...Dad."
Sein's voice caught at this, his anger entirely fading in lieu of extreme concern. That was when he realized what he was doing and glanced away. "Sorry… just… sorry." His aura didn't fade though, a testament to the righteous fury he felt at the thought of a father acting in that manner.
Jet shook his head, dismissing the apology and changing the subject. "Someone needs to check on them," he said quietly. "...Sonic and the others." Kaden raised an eyebrow vaguely.
"I'll do that…" Sein turned to leave, then glanced back. "Be careful, Jet." Jet winced, almost as though he knew he wouldn't be able to do that. "You're my kid, and I love you." He didn't wait for any responses, blurring out of sight immediately after.
~保護者~
It was only after much of the writhing tide of demons had been pushed back that Alana was finally able to return inside of the building where she had set Steam down several minutes before. Stabbing her sword into the badly damaged wood flooring, she approached the wounded hedgehog and knelt down beside him. "I asked you to put pressure on this," she muttered, brushing aside some cloth that had been laid over one of his stab wounds. "You will bleed out if this is not tended to."
"Haven't been able to… really move much." Steam murmured softly in response, faintly chuckling. "Kinda got the shit beat out of me, as if that wasn't obvious enough."
"If you could not do what I asked, you should have said something," she huffed, moving one of her hands to begin applying adequate pressure to the wound herself.
"I thought I could, then I couldn't."
"And that rendered you incapable of speech?" was the smooth reply, no trace of anger in her tone. But, also, there was little amusement to be found. It was just cool, calm, collectedness, the very same kind her parents so often displayed in these sorts of situations.
Steam chuckled a little more in response, wincing faintly. "You kinda remind me of Tara… Just a little, but enough for me to find it funny despite me kinda… whatever my current state is."
Alana glanced at him with a slightly upraised eyebrow, but didn't immediately respond. When she did, she spoke while standing up and allowing the cloth to fall. "...Wait here. I believe I have something that will help." Saying nothing more, she turned and walked over to a small bag she had brought along with her and then at some point dumped in a far corner of this room.
"I'll try not to die in the meantime," Steam responded simply, resting his arms on his chest.
"You are too similar to my husband for your own good," she sighed. "Always rushing into danger with no thought to the consequences…" She grabbed the back and dug around for a second, retrieved a small vial of Babylonian medicine from it. With it in hand, she walked over to Steam and knelt back down.
Steam's faint half-smirk, half-smile faded in favor of a concerned expression. "I knew the consequences of this. I accepted that I might die, and that held little in comparison to the things I might have helped. There was no way you guys would just ignore this, and even if you couldn't have shown up, the gods and goddesses would. The lives of people more important than myself were on the line."
Blue eyes looked at him intently for a long moment before Alana told him quietly, "You do not give the importance of your life enough weight," she murmured, looking down at the vial as she opened it up. "Your friends will need you to remain alive, Steam. You cannot ignore that."
About that time, his communicator received a small flood of messages from the friends of his own timeline. An alert was sent out regarding the critical danger his life was in, and they had apparently seen it. So… I forgot to turn that off… welp. Steam let his head fall back gently, ignoring the messages for the moment. "I'll respond to them when I can sit up."
"That would be now, if you would so kindly drink this," Alana retorted smoothly. She hadn't necessarily intended to use this medicine, given its rarity due to its ability to utterly heal a person entirely no matter their condition, but it was clear that this was a situation where its use was deeply warranted. Bringing it along wasn't such a silly idea, after all. They would all just have to be exceedingly careful from here on... for that had been her only vial.
Steam almost scoffed, rolling his eyes and sitting up to take the medicine and drink it. "I'll join you in a second. Gonna let them know that I'm alive, not gonna die and all that."
Alana nodded once and stood, but said, "You need not join me, specifically. I can handle the riff raff on my own. It would be more prudent for you to find ways to help elsewhere." She walked back over to her sword and yanked it up out of the floor.
The hedgehog sat himself against a wall for a moment, nodding as he typed out a message to someone. The medicine acted quickly, and he pushed himself to his feet quickly. God damn. Babylonian medicines… Steam shook his head and teleported away, intent on finding Armaris.
~保護者~
Steam landed in what was now a clearing, several fallen trees littering the ground. Armaris stood in the middle of it, her Darkness flowing around her in a smoky, mist-like way. The air was the same way, a haze hanging in the area as a result of her increased usage of Darkness. The moment he arrived, the cat turned and bared her teeth with her sword held at the ready. Only when he made no movements in response did she realize that he wasn't a threat. "The fuck do you want?" she asked harshly, obvious anger burning in her voice.
The hedgehog sighed softly. "To make sure you're alright," he murmured softly, unsheathing his sword and spinning around to cut down a stray demon that had tracked him down.
Armaris didn't take kindly to him in the slightest, shifting forward in a threatening manner. "I don't need you watching over me. I can take care of myself," the cat hissed.
"And I'm only here to make sure that nothing else changes that, like Kaden-"
The cat snatched Steam up by the throat when he uttered the name, hand tightening in the hold. "Don't. Ever. Again." she warned, her red eyes visibly shifting. "You're tired. The fuck happened to you?"
"Fought him. He kicked my ass. Alana saved my ass. That was about the extent of it." Steam answered honestly, turning off notifications on his communicator for a moment. "Held him off long enough for three of the Immortals to show up, so that's good.
Armaris frowned noticeably for a moment before letting him go, before walking off. She was pissed, still, and needing something to take it out on. She would be damned if she was going to let herself take that anger and use it on someone who didn't deserve it. Steam had proven to be a decent person so far, so he wasn't a target. Wait… Why am I even contemplating that? She growled and scratched faintly at her head as if to chastise herself. Steam followed her for the time being, not intent on leaving her alone. His thoughts briefly wandered to Espio, wondering how the chameleon was doing.
It perhaps should never have come as any sort of a surprise that the single easiest way to track the chameleon down was by heading straight for where the worst of the fight (aside from Jet's clash with Kaden) was still taking place. There, Espio fought with his usual speed and lethal precision, but there was a definite edge to it all that hadn't been there before. The biggest indication of the change was the way he was fighting. As opposed to delivering one killing blow to each enemy, killing them off efficiently and without a second wasted, he was now taking the time to brutally cut up each of his foes before finally ending their lives. There were many demons who had lost all of their limbs and had their torsos or backs (sometimes both) sliced clean open before finally being relieved of their heads, for example… and their corpses littered the battlefield, staining virtually everything in the vicinity a deep, dark crimson. He was so far only fighting demons, but there was no telling how much longer that would last. Especially since the evidence that he was escalating was so clear and so abundant.
The cat watched silently for a long moment as Espio fought in this manner, conflicted on whether to join him or not. Her eyes shone brightly for a moment as she walked forward, grabbing a demon out of the air and ripping it's head clean off with no hesitation. "Espio." Armaris called, tossing the demonic head into the face of another of the surrounding enemies.
Hearing his name, Espio landed on the side of a tree and looked down at her and Steam. He was rather soaked in blood, crimson dripping from his blade. "What?" he called back in obvious agitation. His gaze and voice were as cold as they had been before, if not even more so.
"Whatcha doing?" she asked calmly, silently observing the fact that some of the demons now seemed to be ignoring her. Fucking hell. Pieces of shit think I'm one of them. Espio looked away and idly flicked some excess blood off of his sword. Choosing not to answer her (because, really, the answer should have been obvious and he wasn't in the mood to entertain such a pointless conversation), he instead briefly resumed fighting. He killed several demons in a fairly gruesome fashion when they lunged for him, then allowed their bodies to drop to the ground far below without a word. She raised an eyebrow faintly at him, then decided it wasn't worth it to comment on the matter. Instead of simply standing there, the cat unsheathed her blade and went to work with him, cleanly slicing through the demons that so much as looked at her.
Steam watched this whole display, unsure of what to do. The two were both easily agitated by various things, and he had no intention of pissing them off. The demons soon noticed him despite his attempts to hide his aura and presence, to which he responded by letting Light fill himself once more as he joined the fight. The sensation of that Light buffeting his senses made Espio grit his teeth in response to the previously foreign painful burning sensation that he felt throughout his being while so close to Steam's Light. He refused to move away, though, refusing to be driven out of the battlefield by something as stupid as a bit of pain. As such, he focused entirely on other matters… like cleaving the head off of some demon's shoulders. Then several shinobi leapt by him, pursuing a few targets of their own, and he found himself glaring after them. The urge to cut them down as well struck out of nowhere, but whatever part of him that remained in control stayed his hand... but only for now.
Armaris glanced over at Espio as she caught a demon's blade in her hand and struck her other palm against it to snap the sword in two, tilting her head faintly. She didn't dwell on this, throwing the piece of her opponent's weapon into its face and kicking the metal shard violently enough to send it flying straight through. Steam paused for a moment at observing both of these events, letting his Light fade out. The hedgehog was quick to punch a demon into the ground, then use the currently downed enemy as a projectile to crush a few others.
After ripping open several demons and then kicking them into the ground to let them bleed to death, Espio again watched as some villagers passed by him, Armaris, and Steam while lost in their own fights. He raised his arm in preparation to fling his sword through one of their heads, but for whatever reason stopped and slowly lowered his arm again. Then, cursing under his breath, he took out his sudden frustration on yet another demon. The creature soon lost all eight of its disgusting limbs (including some grotesque tail), had multiple massive tears cut into its body from all manner of angles, and was then kicked through several trees. A split second later, he sliced through its throat, nearly killing it but not quite. As with the several demons he'd fought before this one, he simply left it to suffer and die on its own after bringing it to that point.
Armaris winced faintly when a demon's darkness whizzed past her head, her eyes glowing hatefully as she stormed over and grabbed the demon by its maw, viciously ripping it's jaw open and then apart before beating the beast's head in with the removed part of its body. That was when she noticed her borderline feral growl, stopping in her tracks for a moment to fully stop that action. To distract herself, she briefly turned her attention over to Espio and watched the show before her. Before she could even realize it, she was enjoying what she saw.
Upon seeing the slow turn of the two dark beings' personalities, Steam put it on himself to attempt to intervene. "Hey, Armaris! Mind helping me with something?" The cat turned and glared in agitation, making Steam temporarily believe that this had already gone sour before she walked over rather calmly. When she was near to him, after having blasted a demon into nothing more than a grotesque blood splatter, he whispered, "Go fight alongside Espio. Try and see if he'll talk to you about something. We need to gauge how far gone he is… or isn't." Armaris groaned audibly, smacked him across the face, then stalked off and vanished to appear near Espio.
At about the time she showed up, Espio was abandoning another demon to die in the dirt somewhere amidst the trees. He had brutally kicked its skull in after having stabbed and sliced it multiple times, but after that point he had seemingly lost interest in favor of fighting a more exciting opponent. The drive his ancestors had to constantly test their mettle against powerful foes was hitting him hard right now. Armaris decided to pursue him, taking to the trees and eliminating riffraff that dared be near them. "Hey, Espio. Remember that time I took your sword and ran around the village, refusing to give it back?"
Frowning noticeably, Espio tossed her a glance. He felt a random spike of anger over the memory and muttered a simple, "Yes," as he stabbed a demon through its skull and then kicked it away.
"Do you also remember right after that when you convinced me to give it back and we relaxed to watch that sunset?" she asked, tilting her head faintly to watch his reaction. This time, he scowled at her and refused to answer, choosing to resume focusing on killing the demons that were still - stupidly - swarming them. Then, once there was a lull in the fighting, he took a second to uncomfortably shift his sling. His left arm was tingling again all of a sudden, and he did not enjoy the sensation at all. "I still remember that sometimes, when I'm just out on my own doing things. Meant a lot to me that you sat there."
Doing his best to shut her voice out, Espio turned away entirely and dodged a lunging demon. As he tore open its throat with his sword he told her darkly, "I don't care." He ripped his sword free and gave it a small flick to get the bits of grimy flesh off of it.
Armaris raised an eyebrow. "But I do. Doesn't that matter?"
Another glare was tossed her way, this one distinctly more hateful than before. "No," he shot back, clutching tighter at his sword. The urge to strike her down and make her bleed stabbed at him with sudden and nearly dizzying force, but for the moment he remained rooted to the spot. Whatever small part of him that was still in control prevented him from carrying out this idea, from escalating beyond the point of simply desiring to do something as opposed to actually doing it.
Before Armaris could say or do anything else, Steam threw himself at her and grabbed her, teleporting the two of them a short distance away. The fact that Espio hadn't been moving at all said a lot to the hedgehog, which was enough to allow him to ignore the fact that Armaris was currently trying to throw him against the ground. "Why the hell did you do that?" she hissed, claws digging into his shoulders.
"Because he's currently trying to keep himself in control. With too much pressure, though, he might lose that control and attack you. I assume that the last thing either of you really want to do is fight each other, much less potentially kill one another," Steam explained calmly, setting a hand on the cat's shoulders. This explanation seemed to be enough to make her release him, but she still pushed him away and stalked off somewhere else. Steam sighed softly and rubbed his face with his hands. Goddamn… With that, the hedgehog walked back to the area Espio was in.
By now, Espio had gone on the move again, killing demons with renewed anger and violence. He hadn't begun escalating beyond this point (to the point where he was willing to do these things to people) so far, but his ability to maintain that truth was rapidly diminishing. Overexposure to the Darkness this newest cluster of demons was letting out began heavily drawing out his own. Soon he was forced to stop for a minute, crouched on the side of a tree as he struggled to cope with the violent flare-up he was now contending with. He closed his eye tightly and shook his head a little as though in an effort to clear it, gritting his teeth painfully all the while. A faint but unmistakable aura of Darkness visibly faded into existence around him.
Steam walked until he was a short distance from the chameleon, frowning faintly. He didn't say or do anything for the time being, not sure as to what to do in this moment. As he thought, a particularly strong demon showed up and let out a blast of corrupted Darkness at the two. Without thinking, the hedgehog turned and absorbed the attack into his body so that it wouldn't affect Espio further. He gritted his teeth and growled angrily as the energy certainly had an effect on his body. The sensation of yet more Darkness interacting in the area prompted Espio to finally open his eye again. He stood up stiffly, watching Steam for a long moment before simply returning to the battle without a word. "Hey, Espio. What's wrong with you? Why were you crouched down?" Steam didn't realize how awfully part of his question was worded with the demonic energies still within his system.
A demon lunged for Espio and bit down savagely on his good shoulder. He kicked it off with enough force to rip its head clean off. He then wrenched the jaws open and threw the head onto the ground with his wound already healing. The injury, however briefly it was there, caused more of his Darkness to rise all at once in response. There was a distinct edge to it that was detectable now that the energy was flaring up so much higher before. That edge was distinctly demonic in nature, bearing some of the telltale signatures of Kaden's own Darkness. After all… he had been stabbed by a weapon made of Kaden's Darkness, triggering this whole mess to begin with. Espio himself wasn't demonic, but his energies were absolutely worse off due to this situation.
After a long moment of tense silence while he tried to adjust to all of this, Espio gave a brief and angry reply of, "Nothing."
"That's bullshit and I know it," Steam said, crossing his arms with a raised eyebrow. It was only now that the hedgehog realized just how badly he'd worded his statements, internally cursing himself for having not chosen a better course of action previously.
Gritting his teeth again, Espio turned to face him again. His eye glowed faintly from within (an effect of the demonic Darkness that had been forcefully injected into him, no doubt) and his expression was cold and full of sudden hate that he'd been mostly keeping a handle on up until about a minute ago. Grasping at only a couple fraying threads of control over himself at this point, he muttered a dark warning. "Leave or I will cut you down." He was only barely managing to force himself not to slice Steam open there and then, and that control was rapidly dying out.
"Honestly, I can't," Steam explained, frowning as he tried to decide how to make this make sense. "I'm trying to make sure you don't lose control, and then I kinda… made it worse."
"Why?" Espio demanded, raising his sword a little. He eyed Steam intently, picking out points of weakness and general vulnerability in just a second or two and running various courses of action through his mind at the same time. He wanted to hurt people... to cut them open wide and make them bleed. The desire was powerful enough to be nearly unbearable, and it was only growing worse the more that time went on.
Steam sighed softly. "The short version is that your Darkness has a high potential to seriously change your overall personality and thought process. If you lose control, you could attack, hurt, and possibly kill people that you care about."
His assertion only made Espio's mood darken further. Several names and faces flashed through his mind, but no good thoughts or emotions surfaced in response to them. He almost immediately came to a simple conclusion. Shifting his grip on the handle of his sword, he told Steam harshly, "I do not care." He whipped around for a second to kill a demon that had intruded, but just as quickly returned his attention to Steam. Somehow, in that instant, the hatred he had been displaying before seemed to escalate quite a bit.
"Is that so?" Steam pressed, his eyebrows furrowing. "Because I recall you trying not to attack those other shinobi or Armaris. Was that supposed to be a show, or were you actually trying to avoid hurting them?"
The only reason why the sword that Espio hurled into Steam's chest in that moment missed the hedgehog's heart was because of a minor shockwave that rocked the area from some other part of the battlefield rocked this area enough to throw off the ninja's aim at the very last possible instant. It was clear, however, that that was very much intended to be a killing blow. He internally cursed, glancing in the direction of the interference with another surge of anger. Damned demons… Using a nearly invisible thread of energy, he forcefully wrenched his sword free of Steam's chest and brought it back into his hand.
Steam hardly even gave his wound any attention, groaning at the fact that he'd just been injured again in a serious manner. "Fucking really?" he asked, lifting his sword (though not in a threatening way).
Most of the remaining threads of Espio's control were severed the moment he followed through with the idea to stab his former ally and he immediately went in for another attack. Faster than most could follow, he lunged forward and kicked Steam in the same spot where the man had just been stabbed, sending Steam hurtling backward through the trunks of several trees. He was back by Steam in a flash and, no longer trying to fight the urge to injure and kill, he dealt another deeply painful and borderline life-threatening blow. This time it was in the form of a wide slash that went diagonally up from Steam's left hip, up across his chest and stomach, and then up the right side of his neck. The wound was deep enough to where several organs had very nearly been cut, but the artery in Steam's neck had been avoided… very slightly. The reason for that little detail was deceptively simple. The desire to hurt was just stronger than the desire to kill for the moment.
The hedgehog hardly reacted for a short time to all of these attacks, Light slowly beginning to fill his body once more as he pushed himself to stand. "Oh, that fucking tears it." Steam picked up one of the fallen trees, swinging it around him violently to take down several others and create a new clearing. There was no way he'd fight Espio in a heavily wooded area. As he did all of this, Light practically radiated from his body in a dangerous way. Naturally, Espio was quick to move out of harm's way, adhering to the side of a tree on the very edge of the little clearing Steam had just made. He frowned at the sight of all this freshly open space, but ultimately said nothing about it. Saying nothing at all, in fact, he dropped down out of the tree. Steam's Light brushed like fire against his senses, but as with before he simply ignored the pain. Steam threw himself into the air immediately, letting out several waves of Light in various directions, all seeming intent on trapping Espio as one soared directly for him.
Without thinking, Espio released a wild burst of Darkness. It crashed into the waves of opposing energy, tearing them apart. He vanished from view at roughly the same time, reappearing directly behind Steam. A single sword stroke was all it took to slice the hedgehog's back clean open, then he again kicked Steam down with great force. Steam took the kick in stride, rolling back onto his feet and turning quickly, then teleporting forward and returning with a quick and powerful slash of his Light filled blade. Espio was quick to parry the blow with his own sword. Darkness crackled ominously around the blade. The outpouring of energy from these two opposite forces caused an explosion seconds later that he dodged effortlessly, coming to land neatly on the ground. Steam was pushed back, but otherwise fine as he had shielded himself well ahead of time. The hedgehog stood there, watching Espio intently.
Though he was more than ready to attack again, the feeling of a new aura nearby gave him pause. Someone was intruding upon their little scuffle, much to his disdain. It took but a second for him to recognize the aura as Sein's, and his gaze narrowed hatefully. But he stayed his hand… for now. He understood the Immortal's personality well enough to know that the man would not let this continue. This much was true. Sein stepped into the clearing with his sword drawn. "It's time this stops. Your fight is pointless, and nothing good comes of it. I ask that both of you sheath your weapons for now." Steam was reluctant, unsure of how safe of an idea that really was before relenting and slowly sheathing his sword. Despite this, his eyes remained on Espio, ready for anything to come of the situation.
Though he definitely looked ready to continue fighting, however, Espio seemed to hesitate again for the barest of moments as though he was internally fighting himself again. A small voice of reason made itself heard in his head… though even that voice was weakening. I can't… do this. This needs to stop. After a long moment, a memory tugged at the edges of his mind, stubbornly making its truth heard. This is… ...wrong.
Sein frowned at this, letting his body relax. "Espio. Please don't continue. I can't tell you what to do, but I don't want to fight you, or for anyone else to have to."
That little voice of reason returned, briefly drowning out the roar of dark thoughts that had been clouding his mind. Thoughts both good and bad bitterly clashed, with neither effectively winning over the other this time. In that moment he decided to leave. Almost too softly to hear, Espio scoffed… but, tellingly, he turned away instead of attacking again. Though it occurred to him that separating himself from those who might be able to somewhat help was not at all a good decision, he was too angry to care. And… he didn't trust himself not to cut either of them again if he stayed any longer. Leave, he told himself, willing his body to cooperate and ignore the again building urge to kill. In the span of maybe a single second, he had vanished into the trees back toward the mass of demons still destroying his village. At least they could be slaughtered without worsening all of this internal strife…
Sein sighed once more, walking over to Steam and looking his body over. "Holy hell. What the fuck are you doing?"
"I made a mistake. A demon attacked and I absorbed the Darkness to prevent it from hitting Espio. Fucked up my mood and I ended up pissing him off," Steam explained, crossing his arms and shifting uncomfortably.
Sein sighed softly and set a hand on the hedgehog's shoulder. "One of the hardest lessons in life is learning that you can't do it all. When you try to do it all, one thing breaks apart and the rest crumbles down. Let others help, alright?" he murmured softly, tender eyes focused on keeping them both safe. Steam said nothing, moving to walk off quietly as his magic rolled off and into the air. The hawk watched him quietly, then set off after the hedgehog. He admired the tenacity of Steam certainly… but it seemed the hedgehog had bitten off more than he could chew. It's easy to throw yourself into this position… but damn near impossible to maintain it alone.
~保護者~
9,389 words this time. Hope you all enjoyed! I promise, things may very well get worse from here! XD Many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all his help! Posted (at about 12:35 p.m.) 12-11-19.