Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in these interconnected scenes… especially for the one who wastes no time.

~保護者~

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Hello, MelGamingPlays! "How" indeed... Tails has mentioned that their goal is to save Kaden, but he's never mentioned how they intend to do that. Makes one wonder what the plan might be, doesn't it? Well, she and Kaden were critically injured back at the end of EotS. Everyone thought they had died. Now we know that they had not. However, while the group has seen plenty of Kaden over the years, no one seems to have determined what became of Analia. No one, that is, except for Steam... who's lived through much of this before. Hope that helps explain things. :P Anyway, yeah, Espio's having a time of it trying to keep himself somewhat in check. There's no telling how much longer he'll be able to maintain control, which is... a bit of a problem. *sweatdrop* Thank you for reading, as always, by the way! Your support means a lot and we always look forward to your reviews! Trust me, 10k isn't much of a grind for me. I pretty regularly make chapters that are way too long and have to break them up XD Still, I'm grateful that you appreciate our efforts nevertheless. Thank you again for reading, and I hope you enjoy this latest installment!

~保護者~

"Rampage"

~保護者~

Sein quietly stopped himself and Steam along the way, sitting on one knee long enough to focus his aura and sense everything around them. He picked up on two particularly familiar auras, opening his eyes and standing once more. "Steam. Go to your left, towards where the main fight was. That Cream girl is there. Stay by her and help fight for the time being." Sein almost walked off, the stopped himself and cleared his throat. "And please try not to aggravate your wounds anymore. No more fights with people that kick ass, got it?"

A deadpan expression was all Sein got in response, Steam walking off in that direction without any resistance. Sending the hedgehog off on his own felt like potentially sending him into another situation that he'd try to help, but Sein felt it was the right move this time around. With that, the hawk blurred out of sight between the trees, allowing nimble movements to carry him to his destination. He appeared directly in front of Sonic, digging his sword into the ground to stop himself. His sudden arrival less than two feet ahead of him made Sonic jump and let out a little yelp that his brother absolutely would have classified as "undignified". "The hell?" he asked once he caught his breath enough to speak.

"Sonic, yeah? Cool, good to see you. You alright?" Sein asked, pulling his sword out of the ground and sheathing it back within his gauntlet. He ignored the fact that he'd scared Sonic for the moment, more worried about the current state of the hedgehog.

Hand over his heart, Sonic let out a heavy breath. "I was a little better before you scared me half to death," he groused. Then he glanced around Sein almost expectantly, as though expecting to see something. When he didn't see what he was looking for, he returned his attention to Sein and quietly demanded, "...Where's Jet? I thought I sensed you two come here together with his mom."

Sein glanced away. "Jet's fighting the God. Alana is helping maintain the hordes of demons. Jet asked me to come and find you guys to see how everyone is and what's going on."

Ears folding back in worry, Sonic asked, "Is he… okay?" Worry for his friend and his father plagued him, but he did his best not to dwell too much on the latter issue for now. He still hadn't truly processed anything he'd witnessed and otherwise learned today, but as Shadow had told him earlier… survival had to be the main focus for now. Thinking could come later.

Sein frowned softly. "Honestly, I don't know. I want to hope that he'll come out of this alright, but…" The hawk sighed softly and began pacing. Sonic warily eyed the demons that Sein's presence had temporarily warned away. "I wanted to stay and help fight, but he asked me to leave…"

Though asking "why" was tempting, Sonic suspected he had some reasonable guesses as to what the answer to that would be. So, instead, he voiced a different concern. "I don't sense them here, though. Did they… Did they go back?"

"I… don't know," Sein answered honestly, rolling his shoulders. "I haven't seen either of them since I went searching for you guys."

Sonic pursed his lips together. That can't be good… can it?

"Hey, Sonic. Can I ask you something?"

Emerald eyes blinked twice, then Sonic replied, "Uh… yeah. What?"

Sein turned to him, blue eyes holding back what he could of his concern. "How did Jet grow up? His home life, in particular? Do you know?"

Normally, Sonic would have had two reactions to this question. One, defensiveness for Jet's sake, as the hawk seldom liked letting anyone know about his childhood. Two, utter disbelief that he was being asked such a thing on a battlefield. But his second worry was mostly allayed by the fact that Sein's mere presence was generally keeping the demons away from them. At least, momentarily. And his first worry… may have been somewhat unfounded. This guy is his real dad. He's gonna find out, either way. And he has a right to know. Sighing to himself, Sonic tugged at his ear a little in a display of his sudden nervousness. "...What's... he mentioned to you so far? Anything?"

"I heard of Ross. That was who Jet knew to be his dad. The man wasn't… 'very nice', as he told me," Sein murmured, eyes hardening faintly.

Sonic's eyebrows raised at the simplistic wording, but didn't comment on it. "That's… putting it lightly," he said carefully. "Ross was…" He trailed off, searching for a tactful way to explain any of this, then let out another - and heavier - sigh. "Look, this is probably gonna hurt like hell to hear, okay? But I'm gonna have to be blunt about it. There's not really a way to ease the blow."

The other man tensed at this, his aura flaring up faintly in a display of agitation. Not at Sonic, not at the situation, but at the fact that he couldn't be there to have prevented it. Taking a moment to calm himself down, the Immortal let out a breath and motioned for Sonic to continue. "I need to know."

"Yeah. I figured." Sonic tugged at his ear again. "Ross was… an angry man. Didn't used to be, from what I've heard, but after the man's wife died something in him subtly snapped. It took time, but based off of what Jet's told me Ross steadily got angrier and angrier over the years. And when Jet was seven…" The hedgehog looked away, not quite wanting to see the fire of fury he expected would be coming. "That was when Ross hit him for the first time."

Sein's aura snapped back to life momentarily, slashing through the tree behind him and knocking the whole thing down. His fists clenched tightly, righteous anger filling his very being before he managed to quell it once more. "Sorry… just… continue."

"You're fine," Sonic assured quietly, still looking down. After a long moment he did as he was bid, saying, "It… gets worse. The slapping around pretty rapidly evolved into kicking, shoving, hitting with objects… you get the idea. Sometimes the beatings were so bad that Jet couldn't even pick himself up off the ground afterward."

Surprisingly, the hawk managed to keep himself… calm. It was plainly obvious within his eyes that hatred and borderline fury raged deep inside, but for now he was okay. He was calm. Sein took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "Is there more?"

Sonic nodded once, very slightly. "Yeah. What Ross put him through wasn't just abuse. Though, there was a lot of that, and it wasn't just physical. He was verbally, mentally, and emotionally attacked pretty much daily, too." Finally, he forced himself to release his poor ear before he could hurt it from all the tugging. "Ross neglected him pretty severely, too. Stopped feeding him, locked him in his room or a closet or basement or pretty much wherever, didn't talk to him for days or sometimes weeks on end. By the time he and I met when we were fourteen, he'd become adept at prying the planks off of his window, sneaking out, and stealing whatever he needed on any given day to keep himself going. He could never be gone long enough to sustain himself properly, but… it kept the edge off the hunger and stuff, I guess."

"Is that all?" Sein asked, a touch of his emotion slipping out into his tone.

"That's the basic run-down," Sonic murmured. "We probably don't have time to go into much detail about everything, or about the effects all of that had and still has on him, but… yeah."

"I don't want to hear any of that right now. Honestly, I can't handle it at the time." Sein's aura flared back to life around him, eyes glowing brightly.

"I didn't think you would," Sonic answered, keeping his voice level so as to not further aggravate the other man. "That's the other part of why I'm not telling you."

Sein turned away, then cast his gaze back to Sonic. "Stay behind me as we go, alright? I really don't want you getting caught up in my aura."

Starkly reminded of the sheer destruction Jet had caused with his own aura in the past, Sonic wisely complied and moved in behind the hawk. "Yeah. Right." Sein spared no words in response, allowing his aura to surge outward in front of him and grab a tight hold of whatever demons came within its reach. They were swiftly reduced to nothing as the hawk walked forward with his claymore now drawn once more.

~保護者~

As Sein had indicated, Cream was fighting fairly close by to where Sonic was. She was also close to Aku, Vector, and the semi-devastated remains of Espio's house, keeping both herself and the building within some barriers as much as possible. She worked on defending all three of them to the best of her ability. Things were going relatively well for the most part, all things considered. Demons were dying (as much as she hated to think about such a thing as death), she was mostly uninjured, what remained of her guardian's home was still standing, Aku was doing alright up in the tree, Vector was still alive, she was focused…

Until she wasn't.

A shrill screech far too close to her head destroyed her concentration and caused her to double over in sudden agony. Her lapse in focus caused her barriers to drop as well, prompting her many adversaries to rush in for an easy kill. The enemies never arrived, all of them vaporized by a geyser of Light that surged upward and around Cream. When it all faded, Steam was crouched down by the bunny, a faint growl escaping him.

Clutching at her ears in pain, Cream forced herself to stand back up straight. Though she was wincing, she managed to offer a wan smile and a small, "Thank you."

"No problem. It's what I'm here for," Steam murmured, standing back up straight as well. He returned the smile gently, his gaze quickly shifting over the battlefield. The hedgehog blinked a few times, turning around momentarily before quickly scooping Cream off the ground and moving away with her. "We gotta get out of the way."

Sensing the incoming torrent of energy, Cream inclined her head. "Yes. I feel him coming."

Deep blue aura surged from the treeline, lashing out at demons so violently as to slice them apart with ease. Sein emerged amidst the whirling storm of energy, launching powerful blasts of aura at any demon that was anywhere near being a threat to the people he was searching for. As he neared Steam and Cream, the aura faded down until it was nothing more than something like a barrier around his body, no longer a threat to anything living around him. "How are you, Cream?" he asked softly, his apparent anger having faded alongside his aura.

"I am alright," Cream murmured. The pain in her ears was fading, leaving them with a painful ring but nothing too terrible anymore. "Are you alright?"

The hawk gave a gentle nod. Sonic caught up at about the same time. "I am. A few things are bothering me, but outside of that, I'm relatively fine." In spite of her suspicions about his very last statement, Cream didn't pry. She gently removed herself from Steam's grasp.

Steam glanced around the area, frowning. "Seems like most of the demons ran from you, Sein."

Sonic's right ear flicked. "...Yeah… I think anything with half a brain did. Aside from us."

"Don't sell yourself short, Sonic," Sein huffed faintly, turning to walk off in another direction.

This earned a slight scowl from the hedgehog, as that wasn't what he'd meant at all. Must everyone take jabs at me all the time?

Steam snickered softly at Sonic, heading after Sein for now. "Come on. With Sein and Alana around, we should all be a touch safer. And I doubt any demons will come back this way, seeing as Sein is heading from here."

"Nevertheless, I will remain here," Cream said. "I do not intend on leaving Aku alone to defend Mister Vector and the house." Sonic was briefly ready to argue, but wound up holding his tongue for once. He saw her point.

Sein gave a smile back to the bunny. "Not a problem. If you need any help, you can use your mental powers to get our attention." He chuckled faintly, his smile growing somewhat. "Be safe, alright?"

She returned his smile fairly readily. "Of course. You all be safe as well."

Looking around one last time, Sonic half heartedly assured, "We'll be fine." ...More or less... I hope.

"And you two! Stay sharp. Don't let your guards down until this ordeal is over. Even though me and Alana are fighting alongside you, we can't al-" Sein was cut off by Steam tossing a pebble at his back.

"Oi. Don't explain the basics of battle. I'm not daft, and Sonic's no pushover. We'll handle our own," Steam huffed.

Sein oh-so wanted to comment on Steam's past performances, but fought every urge to do so and instead kept walking. "Alright, alright. Then, let me lead it off with one thing." Steam raised an eyebrow, and Sonic just watched, waiting for the man to speak. It took a long moment, as if he were just making it up on the spot before he said, "You can't go back and change the beginning of things, but you can continue where you are and change the ending whenever you please."

Steam was caught off guard by the sudden insightful statement, before he slowly nodded. "And that's what we'll damn well do."

~保護者~

It was apparent when Jet's fight with Kaden truly began.

The auras the pair had previously been keeping under wraps exploded outward with enough power to snap even the most massive of the trees in the area in half. It was thankfully contained the the immediate area they were in, but the explosion nevertheless drew Alana's attention to the dangerous confrontation that was taking place. She narrowed her eyes in that direction, emotions plaguing her, yet soon forced herself to turn away. Though the fight her son was involved in would no doubt be terrible, she believed in him. He was her boy, after all… That alone was enough to merit her unyielding faith in his abilities.

There was another reason for her willingness to stay put, too. Aside from all the demons she was currently fighting (truly, their ranks hardly seemed to diminish no matter how many of them died), there was a reason. An important one. And it was deceptively simple on the surface, at least to any outsiders who might have hypothetically learned of it. That reason was her husband, her partner. It was Sein.

For Babylonians, unlike many other cultures she had encountered, society was largely matriarchal. This stemmed from the fact that the first Babylonian to be created by the Faein was a woman - their people's first queen. Societal expectations had evened out drastically over the countless millions of years that their kind had existed, but some aspects of the once-extremely matriarchal society still remained with them to this day. One of those aspects tied into their biology as well, the way they were just wired to be. That one aspect? In family relationships, men focused on child-rearing while women focused on defending the home and those in it.

Some bits of this truth had shifted somewhat over time (for example, as they had grown more civilized, the need for mothers to constantly protect their homes from wild creatures and such had diminished), but nevertheless this truth did indeed remain true. However, it wasn't purely because of societal rules. Those rules had partially been established around the way people already functioned, after all. So, while Sein really had no experience with parenting, she trusted his instincts - instincts that had been passed down from the beginning and honed essentially to perfection. He would keep their son safe. She knew he would.

Reminding herself of all of this helped Alana to relax. Her own instincts were badly riled up in this situation, screaming incessantly at her that she had to find a way to defend them both from every individual threat, but that wasn't feasible. In this situation, it wasn't even necessary. They could handle themselves… and they had each other. More than that, most of Jet's friends were here as well, adding an extra layer of support for him if he at any point needed it. He would be fine. They would be fine. And with that knowledge, she rushed back into battle, her heart a little lighter and her fears fairly allayed.

They will be fine.

~保護者~

Though Sein, Alana, and Jet, alongside the many other fighters available across the planet, had largely wrapped up the fight before they were forced to leave the battle behind and rush off to Mobius… Kath couldn't help but reflect that things hadn't been wrapped up quickly enough. So much devastation had been wrought in so little time that his home was scarcely recognizable anymore. He hadn't seen this level of destruction since the last major war between their people and the Therians when he had scarcely turned sixteen or so. It had been a long time. The reminder of what it was like to experience such a thing was decidedly unwelcome.

Up until a few short minutes ago, there had still been demons everywhere. Those godforsaken beasts had been driven mad by all the death and chaos and hard begun charging him and the other survivors and one massive, frenzied cluster of bodies and claws and teeth. Forced to not hesitate, lest even more people wind up killed, he'd been forced to rush in despite the risk to his personal safety. Letting loose proved difficult due to him having only just been revived such a short time ago, but he managed to fight well enough to kill a large number of the demons on his own without sustaining too many injuries.

It helped to have a magical - not to mention temperamental - wolf as a battle partner.

The rest of the horde bypassed them, heading for the palace itself. Or what remained of it. Hellfires had burned it nearly down to the foundations in some places. Much of it was still smoldering. The people who were still inside faced enough danger without being directly attacked as well. The demons appeared ready to capitalize on this distinct disadvantage. That would not do. Their foolishness was all the more reason for them to die.

Calling upon the energy that had so long ago been gifted to him, back when an ethereal being whose name he dared not carelessly speak had bestowed upon him the title as her soldier, the Soldier of Light… was incredibly difficult when he was so tired. The fatigue he'd been suffering since his revival had not ebbed like he had hoped it would. Sleep was likely necessary, but now was not the time. Concentrating his power, he unleashed a shockwave of Light that rippled through the ruins of the palace and its grounds, simultaneously healing the people it encountered and smiting the demons who failed to escape in time. The few who did cheat death this once did not do so again. With sword in hand, he ensured it. No more people were going to die here today.

Not while he was still breathing.

~保護者~

Novei held Li in one arm, leaping through the walls of the palace to drag the wolf away from the sights that were obviously causing him vivid flashbacks. The wolf had vanished for quite some time after the God of Demons set the realm of his forge ablaze, leaving nothing behind but a hellish inferno. She landed on the ground in a crouch, holding Li close and doing what little she knew to comfort him in this situation. She became starkly aware of a large demon closing in on her, setting the wolf down long enough to stand and elbow the monster with enough force to snap one of its legs off. She then proceeded to pick up said leg to beat the demon into the ground. No emotion came to her face, but she found herself vaguely smiling regardless. Destruction wrought by her seldom had much of an effect, but it seemed now was one of the times when it did. Her gaze fell back on Li, who was slowly pushing himself to a standing position. "Li. You are not well. I will fight."

"No, no. I'll be fine. Just… shaky."

The Therian woman walked over to him, kneeling down and setting a hand on his forehead. "Relax yourself, wolf." She then pushed him down to a sitting position before standing upright once more. A massive blade materialized in her hand, slashing out with such force that a shockwave exploded outward from the impact of the weapon on the ground. Demons were crushed by the wind from her swing, hacked into pieces by her weapon, or momentarily incapacitated by the sheer force of the shockwave. She dematerialized the weapon, turning back to see Li back on his feet and clashing with a demon. He held a sword of his own design. Novei watched as the wolf deftly twisted his blade, snapping the weapon of the demon and cutting its head off in a single, fluid motion. "I said to relax yourself. Do not make me force you down."

"Novei, we're good friends, and I get that you're protecting me, but I need to fight right now. This is going to shit fast, and we've got no choice."

Novei tilted her head in confusion. "You have no need to fight. I am fighting."

Li groaned in frustration, not willing to try and explain emotion in this situation. "Okay, just… just let me fight for now, okay? Please?"

"Mm… Fine. I will allow it." Novei walked calmly, or perhaps with no emotion at all, toward another demon. The demon slashed her face, but hardly broke through her skin. Her fingers ran over the wound softly, regarding them with curiosity before deciding to return the favor. She swung her arm out, watching as her hand tore through the demon's body like butter. The wolf, however, fought with much more precision. He ran forward, expertly slicing through the weapons and bodies of any demon that was in his path with ease only attained through years of practice. Novei cast her gaze back to regard Li's fighting style something swept her off her feet and launched her into the air. She was vaguely confused at this, her gaze shifting to glance down at the offending creature with a minute glare. The thing launched itself up at her, intent on tearing her apart while she was off the ground. It certainly didn't expect for her to catch it's claws in her bare hands, much less for her to twist herself so violently as to rip the beast's arms from it's body. The Therian then swiftly used the removed demon arms to send the body flying away into a horde attacking some Babylonians nearby. These things act as if I cannot fight in the air.

"Novei! Watch out above you!" Li called quickly, shifting his feet and throwing his blade. Novei looked above her and let go of the demonic limbs in favor of Li's weapon, blocking a slash from another demon that approached from above. She hit the ground with enough force to create a crater, causing her to cough painfully. A brief heat flared through her body as she pushed herself up, tossing Li's blade back to him and wrenching the demon's sword from its hand and violently tearing through the disgusting body of the foe. The wolf caught his blade in midair, frowning. And she's annoyed… lovely.

~保護者~

We thought we had suffered enough.

Pain was all the people of Mobius knew by the time Wave arrived on the burning planet from where she had been on New Babylon. The place she had for so long called home was woefully undefended, its inhabitants struggling immensely to cling to any vestige of life. Countless demons and citizens alike lay wounded, bleeding, dying, dead. Bodies littered every woodland, every lake, every road, every neighborhood, and every other conceivable place where they could be. Crimson stained what was one a pristine, peaceful world. And with each passing moment, the ocean was only flooded further.

No matter what many outsiders thought, the Mobians were a sturdy bunch. Adaptable. Difficult to put down permanently. They had fought for their world before, and they had no qualms about doing so again. Though very few had any genuine combat experience, their natural abilities often made up for it. The ground cracked and shot up sharply in spikes. Water flowed, froze, and sliced. Plants spontaneously sprouted, grew, and ensnared. Fires raged, explosions roared, and smoke hid. Brute strength aided in tearing limb from limb. The list only grew. Demons perished in droves. But they were never the sort to die alone… trained, as they were, to drag their prey down with them.

Unable to take her eyes off of it, Wave surveyed the carnage surrounding her. As she flew, leaving clones of herself everywhere that she could in order to help defend the people, her gaze continually found itself caught by the many bodies that littered the ground far below. Some lay in the ruins of their homes or other buildings. Some lay in piles in the streets. Some lay alone and abandoned where they had fallen. Some smoldered in the Hellfires that so fiercely ravaged the planet's surface. So, so many had died… Whatever end had been in sight before, she recognized now that it had been naught but an illusion. Babylon may have been safe, but here… here, there was more hell to pay. More blood to spill.

We thought we had sacrificed enough.

Fresh activity centered on the The Great Northern Highlands, home of the isolated and reclusive ninja society that the chameleons had so long ago forged. A portal was opening high above the village of Hyale in particular, positively oozing with malevolent auras. Black and red energies swirled together as the horned snout of a massive creature started to emerge. Thousands of smaller demons poured out all around it, diving for the burdened village with riotous screams and roars and bellows and just about every other sound one could conceive of. All the while, the much larger demon continued to slowly move forward and out of the portal, revealing itself more and more to the horrified world beyond.

By the time its vast red eye came into view, Wave had had enough. Flying in low and fast, she conjured up every ounce of magical power that she could muster from within. Glowing golden markings wrote themselves upon her body, filling the air around her with a soft and almost gentle light. But there was nothing gentle about the threat she intended to finish here in this moment. She picked up speed, binding demons hundreds at a time with her magic as she shot past them. As she flew, she ripped them away from any and every place where they were, taking no heed to whose fights she was interrupting or specifically whose lives she happened to be saving at that time. There were other things to worry about.

Scarcely a glance was spared when Wave tore past Sonic and Cream, nor was a word spoken between them in the instant she was there. More demons rocketed past the pair in her wake, soaring after her as she altered her trajectory and started speeding into the sky. Gathering her captives up above her, she cast harsh and explosive hexes for every since one of them at once. The marks that represented her work wrote themselves upon their skin, fur, exoskeletons, whatever. It didn't matter. They were there, and these demons were going to die… and send their summoner back to whence it had come. Glaring upward, she met the monster's malicious gaze. "You can have…" giving her finger a little twirl, she set every demon spinning like a volatile top, "...your demons back."

A single upward point of her finger was all it took. Trapped demons were flung toward her target by the thousands, each exploding violently on impact and killing the demons' whose bodies had been the catalysts for those explosions. Enough force was produced to jerk the massive demon's head up in a manner that caused it to bare its lethally sharp teeth in pain. A low, guttural roar sounded from that same head as it began slowly retreating back through the portal for now. As it withdrew, the portal began tightening shut around it, cutting off the flow of smaller demons and eventually allowing it to escape entirely. The few demons who didn't explode when hitting it did so in open air. And Wave… Wave still had work to do. There were people who still needed to be protected. Lives that needed to be saved. Waiting around was a luxury no one had.

Turning away from the destruction she had wrought in the sky, Wave teleported to the next source of dire of trouble.

~保護者~

5,052 words this time. Hope y'all enjoyed, and many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all his help! Posted (at about 9:10 p.m.) 12-14-19.