Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) during this violent fight… especially for the one who gets out of it - by virtue of boredom.

~保護者~

"Beat Down"

~保護者~

Kaden sat irritably within his newly restored citadel, still seething over the fact that he'd had to fight off all these fucking incarnations of Light itself that had attacked him earlier. He'd also been forced to use his magic to repair the damage they'd done to his make-shift home, which pissed him off further. They were just lucky that he had managed to send the triplets away before the building had been destroyed, or he really would have made them suffer. More than they had already deserved to for everything else.

Doing he best to keep a lid on his anger for now, he swallowed the piece of bloody meat he had been chewing (he had finally been convinced to eat a little bit) as he finally finished perfectly sharpening his sword's already lethal edge. He used his freshly sharpened blade to tear another piece of meat free from the body he and his daughters had been feeding off of, then muttered to said daughters. "Take this out of here. Eat whatever you want and then dispose of it. I will not have it rotting within the building."

Pleased to have permission to eat until they were full as opposed to practicing endurance by only eating enough to remain alive (as they had been doing for several months by now), the children quickly obeyed. "Yes, Father," one of them intoned. Then the trio disappeared with the corpse, leaving nothing but thick bloodstain behind.

Setting his sword aside, Kaden addressed the only other person in the room. "Zareil."

"Yes, Kaden?" Zareil asked, raising an eyebrow. She'd been watching the children from a distance and observing how they acted, but now her full attention was on him.

"It would be wise of you to leave soon," Kaden told her simply before taking a bite out of the scrap of meat he had cut free.

"Well, I think it would be best if I know more about what people I'm gonna be interacting with," Zareil answered, crossing her arms.

Kaden took some time to consider that before saying, "You will not be interacting with Sonic or Silver. I will keep them and the children away from the fighting."

"Eh, why Silver? I get Sonic, but Silver isn't even your child," the demoness huffed.

"His damage output may be high, but his defensive abilities are overall low," Kaden huffed back. "Regardless of whether or not he is my child, he remains my blood. I will not have you killing him unintentionally."

Zareil sighed and waved it off. "I won't hurt him unless I'm forced to. If he gets in my way, I'll have to at least get him out of my way."

"I will not let him be in the way," Kaden retorted simply. Then he added, "Or Kial. He will be arriving back with the group shortly."

"Oh? The newest of the Gods? What's he coming back for?"

The only response she got was a vague shrug that really explained nothing, but Kaden nevertheless continued. "The Goddess of Stars will also be there. Try and kill her if you wish, but do not touch Locke. Doing so will enrage her and make her more… annoying to deal with."

Zareil instinctively growled. "If she thinks she can hurt me this time, she's got another thing coming. I'll rip her limbs off."

"Feel free," Kaden invited, voice uncaring. "But you will not attempt to fight with the Balancer, Rose, or Calypso. You are to leave them contained where I trap them."

"Why not the Balancer and Rose? I was easily able to overwhelm Rose, and that Balancer's abilities aren't much better than hers, if at all," Zareil muttered. "I could kill them both easily."

"Because he is an irritating bastard. Because any flares of Light she lets loose could alert the Immortals to what is going on. Because working together they might have enough Light to do you genuine harm. Because I said no." He tossed her a sharp glare. "Need I continue?"

She snorted at him. "I might just ask you to if you let me consider it more."

Though it was undignified, Kaden let out a soft snort of his own and turned away again. "There are others you are free to kill if you wish. You likely cannot truly kill Tails, but you are welcome to try and end him and his new companion. Marthal and Astra are open to slaughter if you so choose, as well. You can also try your hand at Shei, assuming you can get close enough without him poisoning you."

Zareil smiled. "I've wanted that witch dead since you corrupted her. I'll take pleasure in finding some torturous way to kill her."

Kaden nodded once, then said, "You wanted a rematch with Espio's mother as well. You may have it, but you are not to kill her. She may prove useful later on due to his ties to her."

"I didn't want to kill her as it is. She seems like too much fun," Zareil answered. "It's rare for me to find someone who can match my strength."

After giving another vague nod of agreement, Kaden told her, "Armaris and Espio will be there. You are still to test him and see how his abilities have grown, but I will remove and contain him elsewhere until you are ready to deal with him. As for her, she is weak. I see no point in letting her remain alive and in my goddamn way."

Zareil raised an eyebrow. "I know she's physically and emotionally weak, but what do we know about her beyond that?"

"Little," Kaden admitted without pause, "but she shows miniscule potential at best. I am not interested in the idea of her corruption."

"Well… we know she's the spawn of a demon, and that she's very close to Espio. If she has any powers or abilities that we don't know about, as well as being useful in helping to further manipulate Espio, we could use her for that," Zareil countered lightly. "She's also obviously not made to fight how she does. She's too weak for it. Could have other potentials."

"Regardless, I am uninterested," Kaden reminded simply.

"At least let me figure out what other powers she might have before we kill her off."

Though Kaden waved her off, he didn't show signs of being the least bit upset about her continual arguments. "Do as you wish," he told her instead. "I do not care."

Zareil seemed slightly pleased at this, but didn't show much more. "Anyone else?"

There was a small pause, then Kaden answered with a frown, "The chameleon that has been hanging around Shadow… test him for me. Find out how he fights, how he behaves… anything you can. I do not trust him."

"Do you know anything about him?" Zareil dared to ask?"

"Little," Kaden said now for the second time. "He appears to be strong, but I know nothing about what he is capable of."

Zareil nodded slowly before walking closer and leaning against the throne with her elbows propping her body up. "So… mind telling me why you're so protective over your blood relations recently?"

Kaden shot her a fresh glare. He would not tell her the truth, that whatever tiny sliver of his old self that Analia had been sustaining all of these years was more awake now than normal. That he was aware of it himself was a problem in and of itself. If others were starting to be aware of it… Damn you, Analia. "I am not," he growled lowly. To a point he was telling the truth. To a point being protective was normal for a demon. But that only extended to keeping one's offspring and maybe other relatives alive. That was all.

"Then, why am I fighting that chameleon partially for the reason that he's been around Shadow? Do you think he's going to kill Shadow, or is there something more that you're not telling me?" Her expression was serious as she leaned in a bit closer. "I'm not blind."

In a flash, Kaden had his sword pressed into her throat, cutting a thin line into her skin. "I suggest you shut your mouth," he warned quietly.

Zareil narrowed her eyes. "Let me attack Shadow. I won't kill him, but it shouldn't be an issue if I rough him up, right?"

Scoffing, Kaden lowered his sword and looked away. He thought about this for a time before finally muttering, "Leave him unconscious when you are done." He didn't say it aloud, but this was for Shadow's own sake. Another normal demonic reaction with their children was to defend them against undue pain. The pain of extreme withdrawals qualified well enough. This was an instinct he could act on without drawing any further suspicion.

Her lips quirked up in a small smile and she leaned a little closer. "I can certainly do that."

As he had done earlier, he scoffed and waved her off again. "Go, then. You are wasting your own time."

Zareil teleported her spear in hand and armor onto her body, a wild grin on her face. "I'll be back soon." Without another word, she then teleported herself to Mobius. Summoning her Darkness forth this time, the demoness punched a hole in the barrier of the Highlands and landed within the village with her wild grin still more than apparent.

As promised, Kaden immediately did his part by trapping everyone within one large barrier of his Darkness. It surrounded Hyale and all those in it, preventing anyone from escaping or signaling for help. Then that barrier shifted so that only those who were not going to be a part of this fight remained within the village. The rest were forcibly moved quite a distance away, still within the barrier. Those who were left behind (everyone Kaden had said Zareil could fight) were left within a trap of their own, but soon they were all forcibly separated. Within seconds, each individual was stuck within a barrier trap of their own.

Not a full second after that, a portal opened up and Armaris and Espio were violently yanked through it from Ylden's realm into this one. The portal then snapped shut as Kaden ensured that Ylden would have to stay put. Armaris was then stuck within a trap just like all the others while Espio was grabbed again and forcibly teleported away. After that, everything went quiet.

Zareil slowly began walking forward, idly twirling her spear in hand. "So, it's already been far too long since I've had a chance to… 'acquaint' myself with you all again. A few of you are new to me, but just know that I'm the one who killed that bunny and crocodile." Her gaze shifted over them all with a twisted smile. "So, let's go from here. Who wants to be the first to have their face smashed in?" Her gaze fell on the three mortals, Tails, Wery, and Marthal. "How about I handle you three first? It's always nice to remove the weakest links."

The only response she got was a shiver of fear from Tails, a barely contained yelp from Wery, and a bristling hiss from Marthal. Zareil grinned and walked into the trap holding Tails, her gaze falling on him. "So… how's it feel to face the person who killed you and two of your friends again?"

Though still shivering, Tails managed a teeny reply of, "I've… gotta be honest, it's… not great."

Zareil knelt down by him, just as she had when she drove her spear through him the first time. "It wouldn't take much to kill you again. You're not all that, especially compared to some of your allies."

Tails winced, already expecting to be struck down a second time. "Trust me… I'm very aware of that."

"I'm very glad you don't try to be more than you are. That much kept you alive this time. Don't expect this the next time we meet." Though she said this, she didn't spare him from a sharp smack to the temple before standing and stepping out of the trap once more. He fell over, immediately unconscious. Next, she walked over to Wery, a more thoughtful look on her face as she stepped into the trap. "So… you're some new friend of that fox, right?"

Wery's body visibly trembled, so much so that she could barely keep her footing. "I- I- I-" she stuttered so harshly that she couldn't speak more than that one word, tripping over herself as she fell back.

Zareil laughed at her, nearly doubling over. "Oh my god, you're a riot. I've seen people be scared but here you are scared enough for three people! It's amazing." She didn't notice at first, but it soon became incredibly obvious that Wery had done something. A look at her legs told her that she was locked in place (temporarily) with something like the stuff she remembered people used for roads on this planet. "Huh, so you've got a little bit of defiance. Next time, make sure that you can actually do something, though." Zareil snapped her legs free of the cement-like mixture and gave the female fox the same treatment as Tails, walking off and entering Marthal's trap. "And now you, hm? What are you gonna do?"

His fur bristling some more, Marthal hissed at her again. "Fuck off," he told her, baring his teeth in instinctive hostility.

"Oh, you're more special than I thought." Zareil walked closer and examined him. "You're a cat, but you're also something else. Care to explain?"

"Why bother?" Marthal shot back. "Not like you'd give a shit in the end."

"I like to know what I've killed," Zareil countered. "On top of that, I might find use for you and keep you alive."

That earned a third hiss, but Marthal soon muttered with his tail lashing side to side, "I'm a yokai. There. Satisfied?"

"Actually…" Zareil grinned. "That means you're kinda similar to a demon, yeah?" He glared, refusing to confirm or deny this despite definitely knowing the truth. He honestly suspected she did as well. "If you could prove to me that you've got any significant skills, I might be able to convince the God to corrupt you. Or would you rather suffer?"

"Do you honestly expect me to believe I have a choice?" Not that Marthal intended on ever choosing the first option, but… well, still. Arguing tended to piss people off, and that was all he was after here. If he was gonna die anyway, he may as well deserve it.

"Survive this and I'll consider it a deal," Zareil smiled, malicious intent in her eyes as she used her Darkness to surround him. "I hope I can make use of you, though. That would be great." Her energies suddenly began poking and prodding all over his body like needles, rushing over every inch of his skin to cause pin pricks of intense pain.

"Let me the fuck out of here!" Marthal shouted at her, the pain triggering his normally rather dormant temper. "I'll claw your smug fucking face off!"

Zareil had been in the process of turning around before slamming her foot into his gut. "Don't talk back," she suddenly snapped, the pin pricks suddenly shifting to be more like daggers. "I'll be the one clawing, cat." She didn't give him time to respond, walking out of the trap. She walked off toward Sona, entering the trap and dragging the Goddess out. "You are coming with me."

Whether Zareil expected it or not, an intense inferno of flames blasted through the area and over the several traps of Darkness, Sona absolutely pissed at her. "You already know I'm not going down without a fight."

When the flames died down, Zareil stood practically unharmed. "So, let's say that hurt me. What are you going to follow it up with?" The demoness watched as Sona's scimitar appeared in her hand and clattered against the armor, a frown appearing on Zareil's face. "Disappointing." Zareil let go and delivered three powerful blows to Sona's body, the first two seeming to defy logic and trap her in place before the third launched her with such force that she collided against the barrier somewhere else and damn near broke through it. The demoness then had the desire to go against one of the chameleons, her foot tapping rapidly as she considered her next target before walking to Shadow and stepping into his trap. "Surprise. It's me again. The one you shot but didn't kill."

Crimson eyes were set in a hard glare. "I would not object to remedying that."

"I doubt you have that kind of power, without your pathetic little guns," Zareil murmured with a smile. "So, either hand them to me or I take them forcibly." As if he would just hand them over... Instead, Shadow immediately grabbed for one of his weapons in order to make use of it. Her hand grabbed the gun first and she idly tossed it away from them both. "Oops. I let go."

That she had been able to move that fast wasn't particularly surprising, but it was vexing. Shadow bit back a growl of frustration as he quickly weighed his options. Zareil, however, was mildly surprised as she heard Toru's voice. "Oi, bitch. What the hell do you want with him?" Shadow quickly glanced in his direction, mildly caught off-guard by the random outburst.

Zareil smiled, almost sweetly, as she grabbed Shadow up by the head. "Aw, are you upset that I'm gonna beat the shit out of your boyfriend? So considerate." Shadow sort of stiffened, then immediately glared at her again.

"Who the fuck are you calling my boyfriend?" Toru snapped, fists clenched. "Why don't you just piss off and fight the people you're really after?"

"If I did that, I would have to stay here until everyone besides the people I'm interested in were dead." With this said, she turned her attention back to Shadow and collected his other handgun and storage cube faster than he could react in order to throw them out of the trap. She then grinned again before giving him a similar treatment to Sona. A strange energy held him in place as she relentlessly threw powerful punches into his body, her words accentuated with each hit. "Next. Time. Think. Before. You. Shoot!" The final word was met with a similar strike to what Sona suffered, a blow to the head. When she realized this wasn't enough, she let the energy holding him dissipate before spinning around and delivering a second powerful blow directly to his temple.

Zareil idly disregarded Shadow's unconscious form after this, walking over to Toru's trap and dragging the chameleon out. "Fight me, since you want it so bad."

Toru wrenched his arm free of her grip and grabbed her helmet with such ferocity that he was able to tear it from her head. "I also called you a bitch. Why don't you at least acknowledge what I said, huh?" He didn't wait for a response, twisting and delivering a kick that actually staggered her momentarily. She felt herself stop in place when Toru laid a hand on her armor, only for several blows to land on her armor and not move her at all.

"What are you doing?" Zareil muttered, raising an eyebrow. "You're not even attempting to hurt me."

"My job," Toru snapped, delivering a strong elbow to her jaw that suddenly sent her rocketing into the ground below. The earth below them cracked and left an unusually massive crater that was then further deepened by the onslaught of attacks Toru let out.

Zareil endured this for some time. She forced to discard her armor when it was utterly crushed against her body by the oncoming attacks before she grabbed Toru's wrist and slammed him into the crater she'd just been in. She would have returned the favor, but she felt her body stop where it was. The demoness knew what this was, because it was her own power. "What the hell are you doing to me?" she demanded sharply.

Toru pushed himself to stand, removing his gun from it's holster and placing the barrel against her forehead. "Don't underestimate me, ever." He pulled the trigger and watched in satisfaction as Zareil's head shot back with the force behind the blast, then dread when it came back forward with a hateful snarl.

"And I recommend you don't do the same." Zareil broke herself free of the energy holding her body in place and grabbed Toru by the neck, slamming him into the ground with more than enough force to crater it with each hit. She then saw fit to slam him face-first into the ground and kick him as far away as she could manage. "Annoying bastard." Her attention was then locked onto Shei, despite the many hateful protests received from Aniko. Zareil walked up to his trap and fixed him with a curious gaze. "I don't wanna bother with killing you. You could be a useful asset."

Shei's response was a swift one-handed sign, one that basically meant a simple fuck you. Then, moving faster than she could, he quickly used that same hand to tug his mask down off of his face and bite the glove off by one finger… for his poisons and other such abilities were far more potent when his skin could touch his enemies. His other hand was already holding a dagger visibly coated in some kind of acid that didn't eat away at the blade itself but would do so to anyone who was touched by the stuff.

Zareil rolled her eyes. "This is why I think you'd be better as a demon. Your powers would let you just kill things without even having to really fight, as boring as it can be. Since you obviously can't speak, I'll say to nod or shake your head. Want to be corrupted?" Not that she was giving him an actual choice, but it felt better to her this way. Narrowing his eyes, Shei just stared at her.

"Touch him and I'll rend your bones apart and forge them into a new sword to stab through your skull," Aniko snapped furiously, voice full of hate and her body lowered as she readied herself to attack at a moment's notice.

The demoness waved her off. "Shut up. This doesn't concern you." Kaden. Think we should corrupt him rather than kill him? Keep him controlled and he's a good asset. The only response she got was the mental sensation of him waving her off, essentially telling her to do whatever the hell she wanted.

Zareil smiled and let her Darkness freely surround him. "Enjoy being a demon, Shei. I'm sure you'll like it as much as I do." With this said, she began slowly corrupting him, despite Aniko's screams of rage growing louder in the background. So you are angry. Good. You're gonna need it if you want to fight me.

"Let him go!" Aniko shouted in rage. Every muscle in her body felt tense and hot, especially as her Darkness threatened to bubble to the surface.

"Nah," Zareil answered with a smile, walking to Aniko. "We're going to fight. You beat me and you can have your husband back. If I win, I go after your son and his woman. Fight hard." Without any warning, not that Aniko needed one to be ready, Zareil grabbed her and threw her out of the trap.

Sword and spear collided with concussive force, ripping up the remaining ground that wasn't marred by the previous fights as they both blurred in and out of sight. Zareil was visibly pleased by the fact that Aniko was keeping up and actually outperforming her for the moment, as if fueled by the rage just like Zareil was as a berserker demon. Zareil knew she could finally go all out and released the energy she'd essentially stored within her as unfettered rage, a roar escaping her.

The force of their fighting lifted their feet off the ground every few hits, whatever was left of this area practically no longer the same unless it was directly protected by one of the many traps Kaden had created. Zareil was forced to duck under a particularly powerful sword slash before giving chase after the admittedly fast chameleon. It took her a few seconds, but she was able to grab Aniko by the ankle and slam her against the very trap that held Shei, held in place to view the corruption occurring. Whatever snapped within Aniko pleased Zareil further, especially as Aniko was able to viciously break free of the grip holding her before slamming the demon against every viable surface around them with more than enough force to shatter everything they touched.

Aniko was forced to let go as demonic Darkness crashed over her body, only serving to further piss her off. Threads spread over the entire village, allowing her perfect and free movement to collide with Zareil at any angle. She made use of this, using her advantage to drag the demon through the various threads she wasn't jumping between to slice Zareil's skin open. She then pulled them from everything they'd been attached to and surrounded the demoness's body to constrict her with more than enough power to draw blood all over her body.

Zareil freed herself with a strong movement of her arms, slamming into Aniko and holding her in place as she relentlessly battered the chameleon's body with the strongest blows she could manage, over and over. Aniko's body held strong, and she even surprised the demon by catching her fists and reversing the situation to be on top of Zareil. Aniko drug Zareil across the ground at her highest speeds, making sure to further slam this threat to her people and family against whatever she could that she knew would break.

This back and forth battle continued for several minutes before Zareil was finally happy with the fight. He suddenly picked Aniko up by the waist and bent backward to slam the woman's head against the ground with enough ferocity to nearly shatter the entirety of her neck. "You let this drag on too long, Aniko. You let me get this angry, and by extension let me corrupt your husband and beat you. Too bad you don't use your Darkness, or you could get back up and keep fighting." Zareil left the struggling chameleon woman to her own devices and idly contacted Kaden once more. She's as interesting as I thought. Aniko's anger works just like the berserker demons, letting her grow more powerful as she gets more enraged.

Once finished, Zareil then walked back over to Shei. Satisfied with the corruption he'd endured, she sent him off to Kaden's world to be dealt with further before walking to Marthal. "You still alive in there?" Rather predictably, a furious hiss was the only answer she got. "Ah, good. You go straight to the one I serve. Have fun." She let the attack on him go and surrounded him with her own Darkness before sending him off to her home world as well.

Suddenly, she remembered someone that was still here. A certain black cat that had interested her deeply. She walked over to the trap that was housing a peculiar shadow and stepped in. Zareil easily grabbed Armaris out of her shadow and looked into the cat's face. "You have his eyes. Not your mother's. Use your demonic side."

Zareil was only mildly caught off guard by the oncoming response, if only because she knew that Armaris had a few instances of being far less than courageous. "Fuck you, and fuck off. I'm not like you."

Armaris couldn't prepare herself for the corrupting energies that crashed over her body, her body tensing and writhing at the same time as Zareil attempted to coax out her demonic energies. "Come on, I don't have all day. I still need to fight your boyfriend, or whatever he is to you." She kept this up until she got the results she wanted, bared fangs and very demonic eyes. "Ah, good. Now show me what you can do.

It was admittedly sad. Armaris's attacks truly lacked the amount of power they would need to so much as scratch Zareil. Her body wasn't much stronger, one strong kick planted into her stomach enough to ground her. "You don't fight like you were born to. Neither of your parents were physical fighters, so what makes you think that you are?"

Armaris lay on the ground, clutching her pained stomach in a curled up ball. "Fuck off…" she muttered defiantly, unable to protect herself as Zareil lifted her back off the ground.

"I'm sparing you. Be glad, because Kaden wanted you dead. I think you could have some use, so you'd do well to prove me right. Also consider picking up a new fighting style more befitting of you." With this 'advice', Zareil teleported her off to Kaden's world as well. I'm ready for Espio, now. Sufficiently pissed and eager to fight. The demoness then teleported away to where she could sense Espio, twirling her spear. "Been a while, Espio. Ylden train you well?"

Espio narrowed his eyes at her and bit out, "I have no reason to answer your questions."

"Well, you may want to. I'm the only reason your girlfriend is still alive, and I could very well go and kill both of your parents right now. If they don't serve enough purpose, it's not outside of my ability to end them in front of you," Zareil answered in kind. "Watch your tongue."

A sword formed in Espio's hand. "I don't care what you do," he muttered.

"Oh, really? What about your kids then? They're pretty defenseless. Boring fights, but I guess I could do it," she said idly, looking at the tip of her spear.

That made his grip on his weapon tighten almost imperceptibly. "Touch them and I will remove your arm."

"Just my arm? Too scared to kill me, or do you just not care about them?" Zareil asked, walking closer. Knowing she likely sought to get a rise out of him, Espio did nothing more than shift into an offensive stance in preparation to fight her off if need be. "Ugh. You don't even bother with the talking part which is what's fun. Oh well." Zareil gripped her spear and lowered her stance, watching him quietly. "Whenever you're ready, I suppose."

Rather than carelessly rush in and attack, Espio decided to ask a question of his own. "All you care about is testing me… is that right?"

"I've wanted to fight you for a while, Espio. The thrill of the fight is what I seek, but what Kaden wants… that's a different story," Zareil answered with a smile.

"I have no interest in fighting you," Espio retorted, glaring at her.

"You better, or things will get a whole lot worse for you and all of your friends," Zareil threatened, her demeanor finally showing all of the pent up rage she'd prepared for this. "Fight me or they all die."

An edge of coldness entered his tone as he told her frankly, "I already said it… I do not care what you do to them."

"Good. Because I'm also the one who killed that bunny and crocodile. I'm sure they miss you, but I guess it doesn't matter, right?"

This caused his eyes to narrow further and he moved subtly, but seemingly without truly doing anything at all. "It doesn't," he muttered. Then, shifting his grip on his weapon, he added, "Let me be clear… I would never lose against someone like you."

A pulse of Darkness shot out from Zareil's body all over the surrounding area with a smile. "Then prove it." When she realized he wasn't actually going to attack first, she groaned. "Oh, you're so fucking boring." The demoness stood up straight and walked toward him. "Fine. I guess I'll attack first." She gave a half-hearted attempt to slam the butt end of her spear against his feet, not caring if it actually hit or not.

Espio dodged without even having to try to as he murmured, "And you are slow."

"You're boring me. I don't wanna go all out if you're not doing anything," Zareil huffed.

"I see no reason to bother," Espio responded simply. He brazenly turned his back on her and started walking away.

"Don't fucking walk away," Zareil snapped, her Darkness slamming down into the ground around him.

Espio appeared several feet away from the attack, unscathed and unbothered. "I will do whatever I please," he answered simply.

Zareil appeared in front of him, Darkness flared powerfully as she brought her spear down at him. Espio blocked this attack with his sword, sending sparks of energy crackling around them as the ground shattered. He still showed no outward reaction on his face or in his eyes as he did this, still seeming just as unbothered as before. This seemed to further enrage her, an emotion that sparked several more powerful attacks launched at him. With how close she was, she wasn't going to be doing much more than this.

Leaping backward, Espio dodged her attacks and then rushed in to deliver a punishing kick to her abdomen that launched her a short distance away. Zareil stabbed her spear into the ground and launched herself back at him, attempting to drag his feet out from under him with a swipe of her spear followed by a leaping kick aimed for his nose. Espio made use of the momentum generated from dodging the blow aimed at his feet to jump out of the way of her spear, then swung his sword down and dragged it across the length of her back before kicking her away again. Feeling this, Zareil spun around and tore after him, launching a flurry of attacks with her spear.

Every attack that wasn't dodged was blocked with Espio's sword, then he suddenly grasped at virtually invisible threads of energy he had wrapped around her earlier… back when they had still just been talking. Using these as leverage, he wrenched her forward with enough force to easily stab his sword through her gut. "You are the boring one," he accused quietly as he ripped his sword free.

Zareil scoffed, shifting her muscles in a way that she snapped the threads. "You've barely bothered me yet," she muttered, hardly even noticing the pain in her stomach. "Everyone goes for the stomach, so it doesn't even faze me."

"Give me a reason to bother, then," Espio challenged coolly, eyeing her in case she made even the slightest movement.

Zareil didn't move, only smiled. "I just might do that, then." She knew Espio would notice it, so she didn't bother trying to hide it. A clone appeared behind him and swung at him with a fist as Zareil let loose a wave of Darkness to force him up against the attack. Espio merely did what he had done before, making use of his speed to dodge the attack without real effort. This allowed the attack to slam into her clone instead of him as he reappeared a safe distance away. You know what, Kaden? Fuck this. This is boring as hell.

Although he hadn't the last few times she'd contacted him, Kaden did so this time. He even had the gall to sound supremely amused by her "plight". Return, then, if that is what you wish.

Don't send me after him unless he's already riled up for a fight. Now I've gotta find something to fucking torture because of this. Zareil looked to Espio and huffed, glaring. "I guess watching your mom die will cover the disappointment that was whatever… this was." The demoness then teleported away without another word.

Scoffing, Espio took advantage of the fact that he could leave now and teleported straight back into Hyale. Ignoring everyone else for the moment, he walked straight to Aniko, knelt down, and rolled her over to observe the obvious wound on her neck. As he'd suspected, her regeneration had kicked in and was already healing it. He let out a small huff and nudged her a little to see if she was conscious to any degree.

Her eyes opened and she frowned, taking a second to realize that it was her son and reaching up to hold his shoulder. "Are you okay?" she asked softly, intense concern deep in her voice.

A measure of the coldness in his demeanor faded away, as did the sword he had formed in his hand. Glancing at the blood on him, he answered with a simple, "Yes."

For the first time in a long time, she shed a few tears. "She took Shei. Corrupted him, then sent him away…" It wasn't often that anyone saw her vulnerable in this way, much less her own child. Now, though, she couldn't control what she was feeling properly. "I couldn't stop her."

Suddenly showing signs of anger, Espio glanced around to make sure no one else could see this before telling her firmly, "I will bring him back. They are not keeping him."

"Don't let them lure you into a trap," Aniko murmured softly, gripping his shoulder tighter. "Please, don't."

Promises held real weight to their people. He did not make them lightly, nor without due cause. But he didn't hesitate to make one here. "I won't."

Aniko pushed herself up finally and wrapped her arms around him, an intense pain within her that she usually would have simply concealed. "I love you, Espio. Be safe, no matter what you do. Okay?"

Simply hearing her say that first line (how many times had she ever openly said that?) was enough to evaporate most of his unusual mood. He sort of sighed, but relented enough to hug her back a little with one arm and say, "I love you, too."

This choked her up for a moment, more than the damage she'd sustained from the previous fight, enough so that she continued to hold him close. "You are precious to me, my son… I cannot bear the thought of losing you."

There were probably a variety of things he should have said in response to that, but in the end Espio could only think of one. It was another promise. One he suddenly had every intention of keeping. "You will not."

This was enough to convince Aniko to finally let go, pushing herself up to her feet and glancing around to the now ruined area that was her beloved village. "I… our home…" She didn't have the words to say. It pained her to simply gaze upon this.

"It can be rebuilt." Espio paused, then added more firmly, "It will be."

"It simply hurts to see it destroyed in this way. I… hate it," Aniko murmured.

Perhaps it would be best not to mention what had happened to the old village, then. Or even this one, prior to her arrival. So Espio held his tongue as he stood. Flinging several knives in various directions, he struck the traps people remained within and shattered them, thus freeing those people. Then turning, he called out to one person he suspected was still conscious as well. "Toru."

Toru pulled himself into the area, obviously in some pain from his own fight but otherwise okay. It was a mere coincidence that he arrived as Espio called for him. "What?"

"Rose will be free in a moment. She is to heal everyone she can. I'm leaving."

Toru frowned deeply at this, but ultimately nodded. "Come back in one piece."

"As if I wouldn't," Espio muttered, walking off in the direction of Rose and Eila. True to his word, he had them both freed in just a second and teleported them both over to Toru and Aniko. He then made quick work of freeing all the other people who were trapped before disappearing from the area entirely. Toru was quick to do as Espio had (indirectly) asked, letting Rose know what needed to be done before watching as she and Eila both set about helping in their own ways, Rose working to heal people while Eila used her magic to repair the things around them.

By some miracle, at about this time, Shadow managed to wake up on his own. He gritted his teeth for a second as he moved to push himself up, then spat some blood out of his mouth. A few choice curses were muttered as he moved into a sitting position and set about irritably swiping blood off of and out of his eyes. Toru walked over and gently set a hand on Shadow's shoulder. The hedgehog initially tensed at the contact, but relaxed again once he heard who was there. "We both got fucked up a bit, didn't we?"

"You could stand to mention it less," Shadow muttered, still trying to rub his eyes clean. It was a bit hard to do, since he had fur and all.

"It's easier to make light of a situation by acknowledging it." Toru carefully began setting about helping Shadow with his current task. Shadow sort of paused and just… let him do it, unsure how else to react. "Honestly, though, I… I feel like shit because I couldn't stop her."

"No one could," Shadow pointed out evenly. He continued to just sit there for a moment, unable to decide how to react to what Toru was doing, before eventually sucking it up and resuming what he had been doing before as though nothing was amiss.

"I wanted to stop her because of what she did to you," Toru murmured quietly after ensuring nobody else could hear.

That made Shadow pause again. After a second or two, he asked, "...What?" He immediately decided he sounded like a moron and so said nothing else after that, internally grumbling about his stupid-ass question to himself as he finally managed to open his eyes.

Toru sighed softly. "I hated to watch that. It… hurt."

Shadow looked at him for a long moment, debating how to actually reply to that before finally looking away. "I'm fine," was all he wound up saying, the words almost coming out mumbled.

"You'll be fine once you're healed. Sit still or I'll force you to, okay?" Toru frowned at him. "And don't think about arguing."

"And how, pray tell, would you force me?" Shadow huffed, crossing his arms and looking back over.

"With my mysterious shinobi ways," Toru joked half-heartedly. "I'd literally make sure you can't get back up until you're healed."

The idea of being trapped like that was hardly an enjoyable one to dwell on, especially since it was meant in jest and nothing more, so Shadow let out another huff in an effort to remain somewhat relaxed. "I doubt you could. Your 'mysterious' shinobi skills would not be enough."

"Yeah, sure. Ignore what I said and you'll find out," Toru said easily, crossing his arms.

Shadow glanced at him, almost slightly sullenly. "Idiot," he accused quietly.

"Asshole," Toru joked in return.

"Hardly," Shadow retorted. He shifted a little, his pain making sitting in any position uncomfortable, but decided not to chance it and stayed seated regardless. Seeing what Toru might actually do if he stood up or something wasn't an experience he wanted to have right this minute. After a small pause, he mumbled, "You do not need to babysit me. Go deal with others if you are so concerned."

"Rose has that handled," Toru answered with a little shrug.

"You still do not need to sit here staring" Shadow responded. His effort to gain some distance between them in order to better think on things that had happened was… not working. Apparently he needed to work on that. "I am not going to run away or otherwise do anything foolish."

Toru sighed softly, arms crossed tightly. "Fine. If I come back and you're not where I left you, though, I'm hunting your ass down."

"At least wait until I find my guns," Shadow found himself replying with a small huff.

"Alright, then." Toru smiled at him before slipping off to go help the others in the group.

Relieved to finally be alone, Shadow closed his eyes and delved into his thoughts.

~保護者~

7,628 words this time. Hope you all enjoyed, and many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support. Posted (at about 2:35 p.m.) 06-21-20.