Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this dangerous interaction… especially for the one who has so much boredom in need of alleviation.

~保護者~

"Wicked Game"

~保護者~

Silver was taken aback by the scene of destruction he, his father, and the other lucky escapees walked into. People were unconscious. Several trees were badly damaged. The ground was shattered. It looked like some violent force of nature had just torn through the area with reckless abandon, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. Who knew, maybe comparing that demon to such a force was too massive of an understatement. She didn't go all out here, he thought with slowly dawning realization. There's no way she did. And yet… even Uncle Shadow and Espio's mom were taken down.

Looking around, he grimaced. He may not have been able to see what had gone on here, but he and Sonic had certainly heard it. All of it, in fact. They knew what had been said, what had been done. People had been taunted and laughed at. They had been brutally beaten. Three had even been abducted. It was horrible.

After helping Calypso carry Espio's two small children to Aniko (he didn't doubt that the chameleon would want her grandchildren close), Silver turned to see Sonic already rushing around and checking on everyone. He took a moment to check on Tails and Wery before hurrying over to Shadow, who had received one of the most brutal beatings of them all. Silver winced upon looking over his uncle's condition.

It would be so easy to dwell on everything that had happened here. There was so much negativity… so much pain. Talking usually helped to lighten the mood. He knew that very well. Only, there were few people who were likely to let him talk with them. Aniko was… scary. Calypso didn't chat much with people she didn't know well, but nevertheless was currently speaking with Blaze. Tails and Wery weren't awake yet, and Rose was healing them. Sonic was busy with Shadow. Eila was… well, Silver thought it best to just leave her be.

That left Toru. He seemed pretty relaxed usually, didn't he? Maybe he'd be less so now, but maybe he would still refrain from getting ticked off by Silver approaching him. Surely it was safe enough… right? Welp, here goes nothing. I've really gotta ask him about what happened, anyway. Maybe that'll be my excuse for approaching him out of the way. ...Maybe I need a better one, though… Sighing, he shook his head at himself and walked over to the chameleon. Initially, however, his plan was derailed when he saw something bizarre. "You're healed already?" he blurted out. "I didn't think Rose had healed you yet."

Toru's attention was thoroughly dragged toward the silver hedgehog, a look of faint curiosity on his face that was neatly veiling some level of anger toward the previous events. However, when he spoke, there was no actual anger in his voice. "I didn't need to be healed. I have regenerative abilities."

"Whoa, really?" Silver asked, surprised. Then he grinned. "That's epic."

The chameleon chuckled softly at this. "I suppose so. Any chameleon that's had their Darkness awaken has them, so it's really just natural."

"That officially makes it even cooler," Silver declared.

Toru shrugged softly. "Think whatever about it. I'm glad I have it, though, all things considered."

That brought the seriousness of the situation back into focus, and Silver's smile faded. "Yeah… I imagine. Hey, you okay, by the way? Well, obviously you are now, but it seems like everyone got pummeled pretty badly."

It took Toru a moment to keep his anger in check, if only because of the reminder regarding the battle. "I'm alright. More so concerned about everyone. Shadow got the hell beaten out of him, Aniko's pride took an even harsher beating than she did, and so on and so forth. It's rough." He glanced away, frowning softly.

"Trust me… I heard." Silver pointed at one of our ears. "See, my race doesn't have special powers usually, aside from some families having Light or Darkness. But we do have special senses, so Dad and I… we heard everything." He paused, sighed a little, then murmured, "Thanks, by the way… for sticking up for my uncle like that. It means a lot."

"Hm?" Toru asked, turning his attention back to Silver. "What do you mean?"

Though he shrugged, Silver said, "When that lady started confronting him initially, you tried to get her to focus on you instead. I get that it didn't work, but it was awesome of you to try anyway."

Toru smiled faintly. "I try to help people out when they're in sticky situations like that. It's nothing, honestly." It slowly began to dawn on him that Silver said that he had heard everything, which meant he'd have to have heard what Zareil said. Toru cringed internally, cursing that woman for how brazenly she'd spoken about them.

Silver refrained from reading Toru's mind in any capacity, but his abilities still allowed him to sense the shift in Toru's mood. As such, he decided to play it safe and not bring up his original question just yet. Instead he asked, "How'd you manage to fight her so long, anyway? It sounded like you managed to hit her a lot."

The chameleon took a moment to consider how to approach this and whether it would even work to just say it was natural for him, which to some degree he supposed it was. In the end, he decided that since Silver was indeed an ally and apparently related to Shadow, it wouldn't hurt to reveal a little bit of information. "First of all, I'll say that even for a chameleon, I'm pretty damn strong. I could probably fight against Aniko or Espio and hold my own for a damn long time, win or lose… If that explains anything, which I hope it does."

"Makes sense so far," Silver nodded. He kept his comments to a minimum for now so Toru could keep talking.

Toru took another moment to decide exactly how to explain the next bit, since it was indeed crucial for him in that battle. "The other major factor was a specific power I have, the ability to copy powers. I copied an ability that she was using and used it against her to my advantage."

The hedgehog's mouth made a small 'o' and then he said, "I've heard of that. Well, I haven't heard a lot, but I think Tails has mentioned it before. There are certain things you can't copy, right? Like Light, aura, those sorts of things?"

"And, if I had Light, it could kill me. I'd never copy it anyway, since I've got Darkness and all, and my people tend to have a hatred for it. Or disliking," Toru explained easily.

"You know what I mean," Silver huffed, though he smiled in amusement.

"I suppose I do," Toru answered. "Anyway, have you heard anything else about it?"

Silver thought for a moment. "If I did, I guess it was way too long ago. I don't really remember, honestly."

Toru shrugged. "It's fine. As far as I know, it's one of those extremely rare powers. I can copy most any power as long as it isn't extremely special like Light and Aura, or some sort of family-specific power. I also can't copy basic abilities, like how Aniko can fuel herself with anger to be stronger, faster, or power up other parts of her fighting. Plus I can only have a few copied powers at a time."

With a slow nod, Silver indicated that he understood. "That makes sense."

"So…" Toru held up a hand, flames erupting from the palm. "I can have powers that chameleons just don't, such as fire."

Grinning anew, Silver said, "That's cool. Wish I had a power like this."

"It's a bit much to keep up with. I only really copy powers that I think could be useful later on just to avoid not remembering what I have available to me," Toru answered easily.

This prompted Silver to laugh a little. "That's probably the most responsible way to do it."

Toru nodded. "Yeah. Definitely helps, though, to only keep the ones that are the most useful."

"Also pretty reasonable." Silver paused, thinking, then admitted sheepishly, "Okay, so maybe I shouldn't wish for a power like this. I dunno if I could be trusted to manage it."

The chameleon laughed softly. "Stick to whatever powers you have. Focus on them and make them as powerful and versatile as you can."

"No issues there," Silver smiled. "I've really only got, like… one or two, so focusing heavily on them is pretty easy."

"Oh?" Toru asked. "And what are they, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Well, my main power is psychokinesis," Silver answered. "I got it from my mom. Apparently she was the last person alive who had it, so it was really fortunate that I got it, too. I can do all the usual mental stuff, like telepathy, moving objects, and so on, but I can also make myself fly, make myself travel at insane speeds, teleport, create objects from my mind, and stuff like that. It's pretty handy." He stopped, made a realization, then quickly added, "Oh, but I haven't been reading your mind, I swear."

Toru raised an eyebrow. "Better not. I highly dislike the idea," he murmured softly. He wasn't upset about the idea, but the chameleon certainly seemed very serious.

"I sort of… guessed that, so I didn't do it," Silver answered. "Anyway… my only other power is another family one, so far as I know, but before I get into it, do you know what Dragonfire is?"

"Not really, but I suppose I understand what it should be unless some idiot named it improperly," Toru answered.

"Okay, well basically it's this special super-strong fire that only dragons are supposed to have," Silver said. "I never did find out how, but one way or another my Gramps was born with it. Only, it was different than normal Dragonfire. Like regular fire, it should have been a color like red or orange. 'Cept, his was made this unique shade of blue because of that power and his magic power mixing. So his fire has special properties and a cool special color. Does… that make sense so far?"

Toru nodded. "Yeah. It makes enough sense up to this point."

"Right. So, my dad ended up with the same kind of Dragonfire that my Gramps has, but Uncle Shads and I ended up with our own weird versions of it." He carefully conjured up just a tiny flame into his hand, since he had no real idea how to control this power very much. "I learned about this power so soon before I died that I never got to train with it, but the fact that it's cyan in color like my psychokinesis probably means they mixed, like Gramps' magic and his fire did." The flame vanished from his hand.

"I get it," Toru answered slowly. "And what about Shadow's, then?"

"You know… it's weird," Silver frowned. "Gramps is a living embodiment of Darkness so I've been told, believe it or not, but Uncle Shads has never had any access to his own Darkness except through what's called Darkfire. Dragonfire that's fueled by Darkness. It's the only attack-based power he's ever had, so far as we know."

The chameleon nodded slowly at this, keeping it all in mind. "Sometimes that sort of thing does happen."

"It sort of doesn't make sense, though," Silver shrugged. "According to Tails, Uncle Shads was built to be able to handle various powers, but he doesn't actually have any. And, from what we all know about the guy who made him, it seems really unlikely that he would've done that for no reason. That is, built Shadow to handle that stuff if it didn't even matter."

"They might be dormant, all things considered," Toru murmured, frowning in thought.

"That's the only guess we have," Silver agreed. "Otherwise Gerald was really dumb, which probably isn't true." Toru glanced around for a moment. He wasn't sure how to continue this conversation, and he normally wouldn't just do so. So, he didn't. Sensing that this might be his last chance to do so, Silver coughed a little and carefully asked, "So, uh… if I asked a particular question about a certain comment that was made during that fight, hypothetically, would I be made to regret it?"

"Are you gonna be an ass about it?" Toru asked, eyes narrowed slightly in Silver's direction. "There's asking a question, and then there's being my mother."

It was definitely not safe to ask about that, and as such Silver didn't. "I genuinely just wanna ask a question," he assured quickly. "I never try to be an ass when doing so, but if it comes across that way for any reason I'll definitely say sorry about it. And probably run for my life if necessary."

Toru sighed softly and waved it off. "Go ahead and ask, unless others are listening."

Golden eyes glanced around for a few seconds, then Silver shook his head. "Doesn't look like they are." He returned his attention back to Toru. "I'm gonna go ahead and guess that what she said isn't true, right?"

"Eh?" Toru asked, raising an eyebrow. "Gonna have to be more specific."

Apparently being indirect wouldn't work. Silver sighed a little. Here goes nothing. "Well, you guys don't seem to know each other super well yet or anything, so am I correct to guess that she was wrong about the comment she made about you guys dating?"

The chameleon scoffed slightly. "I haven't dated anyone in my life, and I don't really know him well enough to attempt that sort of thing. We're more or less acquaintances, I guess."

Silver nodded slowly. "You know… that might be true, but I've gotta say… my uncle does seem to trust you. That's kinda huge, if you ask me. He's normally got huge issues with… well, everything to do with trust, actually."

Toru's mood shifted in a slightly unexpected way, far more somber than before. "I suppose I didn't notice, honestly. Kinda similar for me, since my mom is an absolute piece of shit and my dad died a long time ago. Other than Espio, I don't really have friends."

Deciding to risk his very life like the true hero he was, Silver directly asked, "What are you actually feeling? I get that asking is probably not the best thing to do, since chameleons don't usually seem to like it, but… I really want to know. My family is the most important thing to me. I like to know how the people around them are acting and why, especially since so many members of my family have already been hurt in the past."

The chameleon stared for a long moment at the hedgehog, weighing his many choices. He didn't want to upset Silver, but at the same time he wasn't really sure how to approach this. He could keep up the front, or Silver may already know and it could be a waste of time. So much more went through his head in a short time before he sighed and set a hand on Silver's shoulder, gripping it firmly but without any intent to hurt him. "Silver."

The hedgehog in question did his best not to flinch. Uh-oh. I might've fucked up. "...Yeah?"

Toru took a long, deep sigh before shaking his head. "What do you know?"

"Erm… nothing, really?" Silver answered hesitantly. "I just have guesses, basically. And I dunno how accurate they are. But I always sort of pick up on bits and pieces of people's moods, so that's kinda been tipping me off a bit. I can't really turn that sense 'off' so to speak, though, so… uh, sorry about that. I swear I'm not trying to do it."

"Me and your uncle are friends, Silver," Toru offered softly all of a sudden before laughing. "Oh, man your reaction was priceless!" The chameleon grinned a little, pulling his hand back. "I wouldn't kill you for genuine, harmless curiosity."

Silver stared for a moment. "You- You scared me on purpose?" He paused, running that over in his mind, then laughed a little as well. "Jerk." He shook his head, huffing, before continuing, "I've gotta admit, though… I'm really surprised. Uncle Shads doesn't really make friends, usually. I think he's only ever had… two? ...No, three, but she doesn't count anymore, trust me."

"It's probably just because I'm a really relaxed person, and I'm unusual. I don't always fit in among chameleons, or the 'normal' people of the world, so the people like me tend to find it easy to get along with me." Toru took a moment to think on this before adding, "Well, that's what my experiences tell me, at least."

"That's kind of true of some people I know, minus the specific chameleon bit obviously," Silver said. "It's just really not true of him, which is why it's surprising. I dunno how to explain it very well, I guess. He just… doesn't get on with people normally, so it's cool that you two are managing it."

Toru smiled. "I'm glad we get along. Your uncle seems like a good man."

"If you can survive the temper, yeah," Silver laughed. "I don't know how I managed to, to be perfectly honest. I kinda used to tick him off a lot when I was a little younger. Played too many pranks and stuff."

"Well, you seem to have done pretty well, then," Toru answered easily.

Silver nodded a little. "I have one more question and then I swear I'll leave you alone."

"Hm?" Toru asked.

"Do you care about him?" Silver asked. "You don't have to give any details or anything, but I would like to know if you don't mind too much."

Toru considered this before relenting a bit of information. "I suppose I do, honestly. I'd consider him a friend, after all."

"That's good to hear," Silver answered with a small smile. "My one request, in that case, is that you don't give him cause to shoot you. He needs more than just two friends, if you ask me."

"I'll keep it in mind," Toru said gently.

"Alright, well… I have a promise to keep, so with that in mind I'll see you later," Silver replied after a slight pause. "Thanks for putting up with me and, you know, not murdering my poor self."

Toru smiled. "You're fine, Silver. You seem like a good person as well, so I've got no reason to actually do anything to you."

"Glad to hear it," Silver chuckled. Then, with a wave, he turned and hurried off to where Blaze was.

~保護者~

Once Silver set her down, Espio's daughter looked around for a long moment before taking the few steps necessary to bridge the little gap separating her from Aniko. She stared up at Aniko for a short time, her normally exhausted and wary eyes filled with the unbridled curiosity that was normal for toddlers (such as she technically was for a chameleon). Despite her very babyish expression, her words were as clear and coherent as they had been the last few times she had spoken. "Why do you keep sitting with me? Why does my father leave me with you?" She then pointed at Sako and followed up with, "Who is that? He looks like Mother."

Aniko gave a soft smile to her grandchild, slowly setting a hand on the girl's back. "I keep sitting with you because you are my granddaughter. Espio is my son, so he trusts me to take care of you when he has to handle something." Her gaze followed the pointing and her smile managed to soften further, a rare sight from this woman. "His name is Sako. He's your little brother, and he looks like your mother because he has the same mother."

The little girl struggled with the word for a second, but soon repeated, "Brother?" She was quiet for a short time before suddenly perking up. "Name… Father gave me one." Now she was beaming up at Aniko. "I have my own name now."

Whether or not it was intended, Aniko's eyes practically sparkled with joy for a moment towards the girl. This was... wondrous news. Names were special to their people. It was good that she had one. "Tell me your name, little one. I will call you by that, just as your father does."

This only made her even happier and she immediately said, "He called me Zei. He said it means something in our language, but I don't remember it."

Aniko took a moment to think about this, a small frown on her face. This frown faded and made way for a bright smile. "Your father named you exceptionally well. Where we are from, it often remains cold and wintry. We can often go many years without warm times. Spring is rare, so when it comes it is celebrated. Those times are referred to as Zeis, which means 'early blooms'. This is reference to a very special, early spring we once enjoyed many years ago, and the many flowers that bloomed then. To name a person this is to say that that their life is as rare and special as those beautiful flowers were. He cherishes your life, appreciates it."

Zei stared up at her with wide eyes before finally whispering, "Really?"

"We as a people do not give names thoughtlessly. He chose this name for you for a reason," Aniko explained softly.

After another lengthy pause, Zei plopped down into the grass and said, "I like having a name. Mother used to just call me 'girl'. I didn't like that."

If only because this was a child, Aniko refrained from letting her anger show. "Your mother was not a nice woman. She did not appreciate your life like your father does."

This caused the child to frown. "She always told me he wouldn't ever come find me and that he wouldn't try to. I always wished he would. I didn't… like it there."

"She didn't tell your father that you existed. She kept you from him, and once he learned that you were alive… he came straight for you," Aniko murmured. Struggling anew with her anger and the urge to strangle someone who was already dead, the woman took extreme care to try and keep it under wraps.

Finally, Zei smiled. "I know. I saw him coming. Mother calls it… auras, I think? I could sense it a lot. I think he was mad, but he didn't get mad at me. He was nice."

Aniko nodded slowly at this. "He wanted anyone who would dare stand between you and him to try and do so, simply so he could take them down. I would have done the same, in his situation."

In response, Zei looked up at her. "You would have come, too?"

"Of course. My husband, your grandfather, would have as well. All of us would have come to take you away from there, and we wouldn't have stopped until you were safe," Aniko murmured. She then thought to add, if only because this woman was essentially attempting to become part of the family in a more proper manner, "And someone who cares for your father would have as well. You will likely meet her soon."

"Is she the fuzzy lady?"

Aniko couldn't hold off the amusement she felt with that comment. "The black, fuzzy lady?"

Zei nodded innocently. "She talked to Father a little before we came here."

"She can be problematic at times, but she is a very nice woman. She cares about you, Sako, and your father much more than your mother did." Aniko thought for a moment before adding, "Though… I would not say the 'fuzzy' thing. She may not like that."

Young eyes blinked. "Why?"

Aniko smiled. "She is funny, to say the least. She would not refer to herself as 'fuzzy'."

"But… she is," Zei said.

"Just because something is a certain way does not mean you must say it. There are times for the truth, and times to not speak. That is one where you should not say what you think, because she might not like it," Aniko explained softly.

Suddenly, Zei grew scared. "Would she not like me anymore?"

The way Zei reacted rubbed Aniko the wrong way, and it made her further want to strangle Nyokae for her treatment of this sweet child. "Armaris… she would care for you no matter what. She stops at nothing for those she cares about, even if it means she gets hurt. Something like that could not hurt her opinion of you."

Tiny hands wiped at watering eyes and Zei asked very quietly, "Father will always like me, won't he?"

"He will feel more than 'liking' you. He will love you, Zei," Aniko answered with an unusually kind tone. "He will love you more than I ever could in the entirety of my life, because you are his child." Saying nothing anymore, Zei crawled over to Aniko and curled up against her side, sucking on her thumb a little once she was settled down. Aniko held her close, eyes closing as she thought over the conversation. You are loved, Zei. You will not be treated that way ever again if I have any say in it.

~保護者~

Surrounded by darkness so deep that even the likes of demons could not have seen through it, Silver immediately tried to remedy the issue. No amount of blinking or squinting could remedy his blindness, a fact which worried him greatly. Then he squirmed and found that he couldn't move. He had no idea where he was or what had happened, and his heart began hammering in his chest as he was suddenly and vividly reminded of the place where Malevolence had taken him, drained him, left him dead. Hoping to banish his fear through the use of words as he so often did, he hesitantly called out, "Hey, uh… anyone else out there?"

"I'm here," Steam called out quickly. "Not sure where we are, exactly."

"Can you not see, either?" Silver asked him. "I'm really hoping that my eyes weren't, like, broken or something."

"You cannot 'break' eyes, Silver," Shadow suddenly answered, sounding vaguely annoyed.

"Don't start bickering," Toru huffed at them. "Let's figure out what's going on before we do any of that."

"Does anyone remember what happened?" Silver asked in lieu of another response. "Last thing I remember was something kinda… grabbing me. Then nothing. I didn't even see what it was."

"Pretty sure that's what happened to us all," Steam muttered. "I have a bad feeling that I know what's going on, and I'm not happy about it."

"You could stand to explain further than that," Shadow muttered. His mood remained sour because he was still in pain, as Rose hadn't had time to heal him yet before this had happened.

"I can't or I risk altering things a bit. I do know that this is likely Nareish's doing," Steam huffed. "Or, some order of hers to one of her many 'pawns'."

"Uh… who?" Silver asked, utterly confused.

Steam sighed. He'd have facepalmed at himself if he could. "The leader of the Trokkelar Army. A threat that's just as serious as Kaden."

Given that he'd been revived well after most everyone else had received the explanation about this particular threat, Silver remained at an overall loss. He had heard a tiny bit about it, but not much. "So, uh… I don't suppose anyone has any ideas on how to get out of here." He paused, then added, "Also, my powers aren't working here. ...Wherever… here is."

"We'll get to leave when we're sent out," Steam answered softly. "We can't do much but wait."

"That… doesn't sound safe to me," Silver replied hesitantly. "Won't we just die first?"

Suddenly, a female voice seemed to sort of chuckle from some distance away. "A single strike can alter the course of history, you know. And it so happens that striking you is one of my intentions on this day. Care to see how events will unfold in response to it?"

Steam groaned. "God damn, you don't fucking change. Annoying as ever."

"I do try, little Balancer." There was another chuckle. "I must say… your attitude is amusing."

"Yeah, yeah, get it over with," Steam muttered. "You're gonna try and fuck with us, right? Go ahead. Stop wasting our time, and your own."

"My time, Balancer, is endless." The darkness surrounding them faded a little, but only just enough that they could slightly make each other out and nothing more. "Given that fact… perhaps I will keep you here longer, purely to see how long it takes for you to lose your little mind."

The hedgehog almost laughed. Almost. It wasn't funny enough to him to do so, though. "While you're at it, mind phoning home? I left something there and it would be nice to get it back."

This made the woman laugh again and the darkness faded even more. They could now start to see an ornate throne roughly ten feet ahead of them with a shadowy figure seated upon it. Or, rather, lounging within it. "My, you are feisty. Perhaps I should keep you here for a few millennia. It would be a welcome distraction from all the monotony."

Steam shrugged. "I'm not the biggest fan of you, so I'd have to disagree. Kinda fought you in the past. We kinda beat you."

"A different version of me, perhaps… And I am aware of it already. I have had my eye on your home for some time now. Perhaps in the future I shall set foot in it myself." She changed positions in her seat slowly as she seemed to ponder over the options before her. "As for now… I think I shall send you on your merry way. I have my questions regarding you, but I believe I can find the answers myself. So… begone."

She flicked her fingers, as though to knock a fly away. This resulted in him actually being flicked by an unseen force, causing him to rocket back a sizable distance before disappearing entirely. Before he vanished, however, he made time to shout one last thing. "You're lousy at this and lose because you're a dumbass!"

Toru blinked a few times before sighing. "Sheesh."

Meanwhile, Silver eyed the spot where Steam had disappeared, feeling a bit defeated. Lucky…! I want out of here, too…

Finally, the darkness cleared enough that the three remaining victims could see one another clearly. The woman, however, remained shrouded in a fog-like cover of blackness that obscured her from view. This didn't seem to be a deliberate attempt to hide, however. It just seemed that that was how this place was. "Now, then… I have a little proposition for the three of you. Care to hear it?"

Toru sighed again at this. "Go on, like the hedgehog said. Whether you're wasting your own time or not, you're wasting ours. I tend to like having my recreation time."

Suddenly, Toru was dragged forward a little bit. The woman sounded like she was smiling when she said, "I do so hate rooting for the underdog. But you… you are interesting. You are resourceful. You remind me of my little pet… although less broken of mind than she was. Such a shame that she died… Perhaps one day I can find another like you to replace her." She abruptly shoved him back to where he had been before. "However, I know you would not bow to me. You would not submit. I happen to like that about you."

The chameleon sighed a third time. "You don't listen, do you?"

"I listen when I choose, as does anyone," came the unconcerned reply. However, after that, she decided to get to the point. "The rules of this little game are truly simple. I have questions, among other things. Cooperate, and perhaps you will all be fine. Refuse to, and there will be consequences."

"Then tell us what you want us to do," Toru answered. That was initially answered with the sensation of some unseen hand flicking him in the forehead hard enough to snap his head back. "You fucker."

She laughed a little. "I suppose I will start with you, since you are so vocal. First of all… I have had my eye on you for some years. How has mother dearest been?"

"Still being useless, drinking tea all the time and sitting on her ass," Toru said easily. "Does it matter?"

That didn't earn an answer. Instead she said, "You know… you and her are quite a lot alike. It is rather interesting to behold."

Toru raised an eyebrow. "I… don't really think so. If you were actually watching me for years, you'd know that we're more or less on opposite ends of the spectrum in most ways. Guess I should expect that from someone that acts no better than a six year old."

"Most… not all. Enough similarities remain for it to matter." There was a slight pause. "Your personality is interesting. You are calm… perhaps relaxed to a degree. That makes you difficult to annoy, much less rile up. It could be argued that that makes you more fun to toy with, given the time to do so."

Suddenly, he was flipped around, tossed up into the air, and caught by his tail. He was left painfully dangling like that, all of his weight pulling on the sensitive appendage. Toru's eyes widened not in pain, but out of direct anger as he glared at her. "Oh, fuck off with this shit! This is the second time this damn week!"

Out of nowhere, there was the sound of a hard impact and Shadow's head was whipped to the side as he took a hard blow. The woman chuckled softly. "None of that, young shinobi. Disrespect and disobedience will cause harm."

Toru's anger flared far more harshly than it had before, but he held his tongue for now. "What's your game here?"

"As I said… it is simple," was the answer. "If you do not cooperate and do not behave, he takes punishment. And you, robot… if you do not cooperate, your little nephew will similarly suffer. Do we all understand?" Eyes wide, Silver just gulped.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Toru muttered. "Fine. I'll cooperate. I won't be happy about it though."

"So easily? I must say, that is disappointing." The woman almost sounded as though she was disappointed, but it was hard to say. However, she started ignoring him after that point and turned her attention to Silver. "Oh, and one more thing, little Light user… you are playing for your own safety. So I recommend you behave as well."

Silver gulped again. "Uh… right… got it."

Toru decided to speak up once more. "By the way, I only like to play games with children that act good."

There was a brief pause. Then, just when Silver started to hope that everything would be fine, Shadow abruptly took another hard blow, this time to the side. He cursed under his breath, the first words he'd spoken in a while, and this made the woman laugh. "You two are… amusing. Both together and apart."

"So, would you like to get started? My tail hurts," Toru muttered.

Naturally, she started making him swing roughly side to side as she spoke. "I will talk with you more in a moment. Wait your turn, reptile." She turned her attention to Shadow again. "You have gotten off rather lightly in this war, haven't you robot?" she murmured. "This is… what, only the second or third time you have been injured so severely…?" When he answered with nothing more than stony silence, she audibly smiled. "I will greatly enjoy working this to my advantage."

Silver dared to ask, against his better judgement, "...What do you mean?"

"There is power in blood, even among demons," the woman answered, laughing softly. "There are few better ways to 'piss one off' than to harm their spawn. And I have before me a swell opportunity to do just that."

"Are you talking about the God of Demons?" Toru asked, an eyebrow raised.

Shadow unexpectedly answered him with a muttered, "Don't."

This earned another laugh. "And whyever should he not ask? Do you not wish for him to know? Everyone else does. What is one more person?"

The chameleon glanced to Shadow. "Don't worry about it. I've got an idea of what's going on." Shadow just scowled at nothing in particular and didn't speak.

The woman was quiet for a time. "You know… I believe we have room here for one more person. That might liven things up a bit. Up for some company, you three?"

"Bring back the hedgehog. He was funny, at least," Toru huffed.

"Indeed… however, I believe I have a better captive in mind." With a dark flash, the woman suddenly caused Novei to appear and quickly immobilized her just as she had done with the others.

The Therian viciously attempted to free herself with the strength she had and snapped loudly, "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

Ignoring her, the woman said, "Find a way to get along with this one, chameleon… she is going to be playing on your team, as it were."

Toru's eyes widened faintly and he leveled Novei with then-narrowed eyes. "Hey, what's your name?"

"Why the fuck does it matter to you? I was busy and then this bitch dragged me here!" Novei snapped.

"Oi!" Toru yelled suddenly, managing to actually grab Novei's attention. "There's more at stake here than you know. She's playing a twisted game, and if we don't cooperate, she's going to hurt people. If me or you disobey, she's going to hurt Shadow. If he does, or Silver does, then Silver gets hurt. Do you get it?"

Novei glared at him, then at the two hedgehogs. "Fine. I'll try and play nice. But…" Her gaze fell on the woman's figure. "You touch Li and I will actually fucking tear you apart."

There was the sound of another hard blow being delivered and the woman very lightly chided, "Ah, ah, ah… no threats, love. That will not do."

"It's not a threat," Novei answered.

Toru groaned internally. Fucking hell…

The woman, clearly amused, laughed softly once again. "You are just as amusing as I had hoped. Do you make a habit of being so vocal?" As she spoke, she unexpectedly cast Silver away some distance, as he wasn't needed right this minute. She would focus on him later on. He yelped as he was flung off into the darkness again.

"Is there a problem with me speaking my mind?" Novei asked.

"Oi!" Toru snapped lightly. "Please stop. You're going to get someone seriously hurt."

Novei groaned and rolled her eyes. "You sound like Cere."

"So you have had dealings with her and her kind, then?" the woman asked, as amused as ever. "And yet you still believe you and your allies can kill a God?"

Novei shrugged. "Probably."

"You are afflicted with a vast amount of overconfidence, I must say… In fact, you may well be entirely delusional."

The Therian shrugged again. "Okay. Probably doesn't help that I normally punch people's faces out of existence when they're annoying like you."

"And yet you are not always terribly good at that," the woman remarked as she struck Shadow again. This time he was hit in such a way that left him coughing against his will for a moment.

Novei's eye twitched, but she managed to hold her anger just this once. "I'm not a semi-Immortal, if you didn't notice."

"And yet you often carry yourself as though you believe you are on equal footing with them… why is that?" the woman questioned lightly. "You know that you are inherently weaker. Why pretend otherwise?"

"It's better to die courageous than to be a little whining bitch," Novei muttered, annoyance evident in her tone. "If I'm going to die, I'll die fighting."

"Perhaps I shall have to prevent that little dream of yours from coming true," the woman murmured. "I would find it far more fitting if you were to die alone in whatever little hovel you once crawled out of."

"You'll have to make sure I die by killing me or sending someone to do it for you." Novei's anger was slowly flooding her tone, and it made Toru's heart sink. "I won't just die."

"Mm… that can be arranged, I believe. You are not strong, girl, nor are you brave. Foolish, perhaps, but nothing more."

"At least I don't hide behind pawns and keep my enemies from fighting me directly, bitch," Novei snapped. "Or are you too fucking scared to fight the Immortals yourself?"

"Love, I have been killing them for nearly as long as your little race has existed," the woman purred as she immediately began attacking Shadow once more. There were a lot of unspecific blows landed on him in various places, and the final one resulted in a harsh metallic snap that made him hiss nearly inaudibly between his teeth in clear pain.

"Then why aren't-"

Toru snapped at Novei, a deep seated glare on his face. "Shut the fuck up!"

"Make me, bastard!" Novei snapped right back, struggling anew as much as she could within whatever was holding her still. "I'm going to speak and I'd like to see you stop me."

"Damn it!" Toru's shout was enough to actually confuse Novei into being quiet for a moment. Normally the only person she knew to get that loud was Sona, and she was an angry woman. Was Toru actually mad? She… wasn't sure. Emotions weren't her… thing.

The woman was laughing a fair bit now. "My, you two are entertaining. Perhaps I should trap you together more often."

"That's not a good idea," Toru muttered through gritted teeth.

"And whyever not?" was the casual response. As though she didn't know.

"You obviously don't want to draw a lot of unnecessary attention. You're doing this to get at the God of Demons, but you don't want the Immortals here right now, right?" Toru asked, frowning deeply.

"Hm… perhaps that is so. But it is hardly important to you, I dare say." She gave no indication of doing it, but using the same unseen force that was keeping everyone held in place, she covered Shadow's mouth to keep him from talking for now.

Toru managed to frown further. "It's important because I know you wouldn't start making this a consistent habit. Getting her would obviously garner attention from the Gods and Goddesses, while continuing to kidnap me would draw people like Espio, and even potentially the Immortals. Part of me thinks you don't want that, at least not right now."

Soundlessly, she began tightening her already firm hold on Shadow bit by bit. She kept her tone light and unconcerned, however. "Actually… while I do not wish to confront your little Immortal friends right this very second, your chameleon friends are always of interest to me. I do so love your race. You are all so volatile and heartless… I quite enjoy it. And he has always been especially interesting to me… from the moment he was born."

Toru ignored all of this, continuing further. "And you're not going to actually kill him, are you? You just want to hurt him. You want the God of Demons pissed."

"Luckily for you… he will survive this encounter," the woman smiled. "...Mostly. At the very least, he will be alive when I send him away. I cannot promise his survival after that, however." The chameleon seemed to sigh, but he stayed silent otherwise. She turned her attention to Novei. "Done with our little outburst, are we?" The Therian huffed, but otherwise didn't disagree. "I thought that might be the case. Ah, well. It was fun while it lasted. Have fun telling your partner about this adventure, I suppose." With that, she cast the Therian back off to where she had been before.

Now, Toru decided to speak once more. "So, why not attack me? Why only Silver and Shadow?"

"It is less entertaining to hurt someone who is incapable of remaining in pain for terribly long," was the flippant reply. "I much prefer prey that can continue to suffer."

"What else do you want from us, then?" Toru asked.

"From you? Little." All of a sudden, there was another snap (this one of bone) and she chuckled lightly, plainly just as amused as ever by the severe damage she was causing. Toru cringed and fell silent. He didn't have anything else to say here. "However… there is one thing I think I will show you." She audibly began to smile as she asked him, "Care to feel the pain he feels? I can assure you it is not mild."

"Go ahead," Toru answered. For some reason, she thwacked him in the forehead again, as she had done earlier. The chameleon's eye twitched in obvious agitation, but he didn't bother speaking again. She abruptly filled his mind with the sensation of all the pain Shadow was currently in, anyway, including the extreme crushing he was still being subjected to. Via this, it was plainly obvious that more was broken and otherwise internally damaged than the two things that had so loudly snapped apart. Worse yet, Shadow was being crushed so hard he could barely even breathe by now. Despite all of this pain, Toru managed to mutter, "Why does it have to be him?"

"Because he is inherently a weaker target, for one thing… and because he so often fades into the background of people's lives. Taking his brother, on the other hand, will draw more than enough attention to immediately bring Kaden here. That would not leave much time for fun, would it?" The woman sighed, but not in any upset manner. "And besides… it is so easy to break things that are already broken. This one merely happened to be broken in various ways before I ever grabbed him."

Toru gritted his teeth from both agitation and pain, only barely managing to properly speak. "You want Kaden pissed. Why?"

"That," she murmured, "is not for your tiny mind to worry about. You need only worry about finding your way home. I cannot promise you will land directly back there." She suddenly sent him off out of her realm without further warning.

Only once he was gone did Silver manage to finally find his voice again. He was dragged back over to where he had been before just before he asked, "You... You're one of the people who've been trying to get Espio's Darkness all out of whack, aren't you?"

"That is not quite how I would word it... but yes," the woman chuckled. "How very astute of you."

"Which means that the lady that Nyokae worked for was you, right?"

"Indeed. Such a shame that she died... she was such a good little pet. So obedient and willing..."

"Were you just... using her?" Silver dared to ask. "To get to him, was she just... a means to an end?"

"In a manner of speaking," the woman responded thoughtfully. "She, however, was the one to cause events to unfold how they did. I may have sent her his way, but I did not foresee the path they would take together." Her earlier smile colored her tone again as she continued. "Long and patiently I watched their rivalry grow… I saw strength in their ire. There was fire and fury, but also more… A new path forward. One that could join their passions and drive them further - a sum even more powerful than its warring parts."

"But... it didn't work."

"Not entirely. And yet, I cannot in good faith claim that she failed me. She served her original purpose well. She ensured he took a path that would lead him to be even stronger alone than they could have been together, and that pleases me."

"You... won't get away with this," Silver whispered.

"I already have," she purred. "You are merely deluding yourself. You see, once war has been undertaken, no peace can be achieved by pretending there is no war. For too long, however, that is just what existence chose to do. I was kept out of mind, forgotten... and I have had free reign to do as I pleased because of it. If not that a few pieces of my lovely puzzle have yet to fall into place, I would have already won."

Suddenly feeling bold, Silver told her, "You'll be killed."

"I already have, just a few times," the woman murmured. For some reason, she didn't strike Shadow in response to his words. Silver was privately grateful for it. "However, I have not yet met my true death. Until I do, I will continue my activities, the same as I always have."

"What do you hope to achieve?" Silver asked, hoping to gain any insight into what this frighteningly bored woman wanted.

That earned a soft, thoughtful hum before she sad, "Demons, some say, do not see how the rest of us do. They look beyond, into the infinite... into the dark. I see power in their vision for the future, a reality where people like them and like I reign supreme and do not have to submit to those who would try and rule us. That is the reality I will create for us all." Suddenly, she dragged Silver closer and murmured, "People such as your grandmother... they try so valiantly to prevent futures such as this. However, they fail to see one simple truth. Light as bright as theirs... casts long shadows."

Feeling weak with fear, Silver tried to ignore the painful hammering of his heart. Can she actually do this?

"Existence," the woman continued, "is nothing but a struggle to continue to exist. It is a never-ending conflict, little Light user." She laughed. "This won't end well for one of us. And darling, it won't be me who falls."

Without warning, she spun him around so that he and Shadow were facing one another as a shimmering black blade manifested itself in the space between them. Silver's stomach barely had time to sink into the soles of his feet before the blade launched forward and ferociously tore open Shadow's torso. The dark hedgehog barely showed much reaction, but Silver knew him enough to recognize the faint glint of pain in those narrowed eyes, the tightness of that jaw, the tension in his posture. Shivering with renewed terror, Silver squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't watch.

He couldn't.

~保護者~

Silver landed hard in the dirt with a short cry, as he had landed on his face of all things, then immediately jolted up and looked around. He realized he was nowhere near the Highlands, but he could sense that Toru had been thrown here as well. Panting a little from residual fear, he wasted no time in flying over to where the chameleon was. Toru was sitting still at the moment, as if he were meditating. When Silver began approaching him, however, his eyes opened and he looked over at the hedgehog with concern. "Thank goodness," Silver breathed once he saw Toru. He landed on the ground beside him quietly, heart still pounding a little. There was some blood in his fur, but overall he wasn't hurt too much.

The chameleon looked him over and frowned. "Do you have any idea where Shadow is?"

Immediately, Silver felt himself pale a bit. "He's not here with you? She- She sent him away before I got to leave. I thought he would've ended up wherever you did."

Toru shook his head, then pushed himself to stand. "I stayed here in case one of you showed up. I guess we'll have to find him, somehow…"

"We need to do it fast," Silver told him, becoming visibly antsy. "She stabbed the hell out of him, and I think she tore up his throat. He was bleeding a lot."

Whether or not he intended it to, Toru's Darkness flared and he vanished with Silver directly back to the Highlands. The chameleon immediately went directly to Tails, a deep frown on his face that barely concealed his anger. "Can you track Shadow at all?" he asked.

Tails, who had been working a little on his ship again for lack of anything better to do to occupy himself, turned to face him quickly. "Wait, what? He's not here? Did he take off again?" As he demanded these things, sudden concern making his tone sharper than he would normally have liked, he immediately turned on his communicator and began typing on it. Silver, meanwhile, rushed to find Sonic and Blaze.

"I'll explain more later. Just find him if you can and I'll bring him back." Toru's gaze shifted and he caught sight of Rose. "I need you with me! We need your healing powers!"

That set Tails's heart racing, but he remained level-headed. "No, that might be a bad idea. How badly is he hurt?" He started to pick up on a faint signal from Shadow's communicator, but it was fading in and out terribly. Broken, then… not good. Harder to pinpoint.

"Silver told me his throat might have been cut and he was stabbed a lot." By this point, Rose had collected her sister and both were heading this way.

"Was anything non-biological damaged?" Tails demanded, still fighting to get a precise location.

"Maybe. I don't know what exactly was damaged." Toru thought for a moment, then made a realization. "It's really likely. We heard snapping sounds, among other things, while we were there."

"Crap," Tails muttered vehemently. "Okay, listen. Rose, heal his throat, but nothing else. If you heal his body around the damage to the non-biological parts of him, we'd be forced to re-hurt him just to get to those damaged areas and repair them. We are not doing that."

Rose nodded, and Eila spoke. "I'll keep him from bleeding out if the damage is too bad while she heals that."

Whether or not Shadow wanted Eila around, Toru wasn't taking chances. If she was going to help and was capable of doing so, he would take her as well. Toru's attention turned back to Tails and he frowned further. "Do you have any idea where he might be?"

There was a slight moment of pause, then Tails exclaimed, "Got it!" He didn't waste any time tossing the communicator to Toru. "It's right there on the map, okay? I've gotta get some of the tools I have here, but I'll join you guys as soon as I have them. I'll try to repair the damage as fast as I can." Toru nodded as he caught the communicator and strapped it to his wrist, then tore off with Rose and Eila in a teleport. They had no time to spare.

~保護者~

"Fuck!" Zareil exclaimed as she landed back on Kaden's planet, tossing her spear into a random demon as she stepped into the citadel. "That was a load of shit." Hearing her outburst, Kaden's ear flicked and he opened his eyes, frowning vaguely in her direction. The demoness looked to him, brushing blood off her abdomen and growling at nothing in particular. "Espio is boring."

"I believe he had the same complaint about you," Kaden said, amused anew by her attitude.

"Well I beat the shit out of his family and the girl he likes, killed someone he viewed as a daughter and another that he saw as a friend, and he's not willing to fight me? That's heartless, even for a fucking demon! At least we get revenge," Zareil ranted.

In spite of himself, Kaden smirked. "That is precisely why he remains so interesting," he murmured.

Zareil growled. "I don't care about him anymore, personally. I hope his skull gets crushed."

Kaden shook his head a little, allowing himself another moment of amusement before saying, "The two you corrupted… they may prove useful in their own ways. However, you did make a small error with Marthal."

"I didn't want to kill them all, so oh well. I thought it might be worth it to look into doing something with him."

"That is not what I meant," Kaden told her. "He is yokai. They are… uniquely challenging to corrupt. You should have put more effort into the attempt at the outset, or it is possible he could have broken free… given enough time to do so."

"That's why I stuck to hurting him as opposed to corrupting him. I thought you might have an easier time doing so," she huffed.

After a small silence, Kaden simply changed the subject. "Did you achieve what you wanted with her?" he asked with a vaguely annoyed gesture toward Armaris, who was contained within a small sphere of Darkness on the other side of the room.

"I forced her demonic side out. You can order her to show or use her powers and we'll know whether we should kill her or not," Zareil said easily. "She can ignore me, somewhat, but not you."

Kaden gave this some thought, then stood up and walked over to Zareil. "Perhaps this would be a decent time for you to practice this instead. I already stated I have no interest in this matter. It is your problem." He shared the necessary power with her without further warning.

Zareil managed a smile and walked over to Armaris, forcefully pulling her out of the sphere of Darkness and pinning her to a wall with an unusual energy. "Let's make this quick and easy. Show me the powers you have." She didn't leave room for Armaris to argue or disobey, even mentally ordering the cat to not attack them. Armaris reluctantly did as she was bid.

Luckily, Zareil was intelligent enough to make sure that Armaris didn't think it necessary to show what speed and strength she had. It started with a cyclone of wind, followed by a relatively small wave of Darkness. A pulse of Darkness Magic, her hair maneuvering on it's own as well as her jacket (which Zareil found to be odd). Then, it happened. Zareil watched as a red fog surrounded the cat, her gaze falling on Kaden. "I think that should be interesting for you."

This earned a vaguely raised eyebrow, but Kaden's only response was a quiet, "Hn."

Zareil turned back to Armaris and smirked. "Tell me about that red fog. What is it and what does it do?"

Armaris looked down, as if ashamed to even have this power. "Fear. It can make anyone that gets surrounded with it see their greatest fears. It can also create illusions, depending on what I want people to see from it."

Upon hearing this, Kaden's eyes narrowed. "Find a demon that can steal powers, Zareil. Now." There were just a few such individuals out there, but he knew they were on this world somewhere. While they couldn't steal existential energies, most anything else was fair game… and that meant this could be taken.

Zareil smiled and disappeared, reappearing in the room moments later with one such demon in hand. "Found one."

Satisfied with that, Kaden issued a silent command and the demon in question wordlessly gifted their power-stealing ability to Zareil directly and in full. That meant it was her power now. "You will only be able to steal two powers with this," Kaden warned her softly. "After this, you may choose on your own what to take from someone else."

Zareil grinned wildly, her posture straightening. "Oh, you know just how to brighten up my mood, hun."

Huffing, Kaden crossed his arms. "Just get on with it."

The demoness walked over to Armaris and grabbed the cat by the neck, lifting her up higher against the wall. "Thank you for making yourself useful to us. Now we won't have to kill you. Yet." Her grip tightened as she began taking Armaris's Fear power before she simply let the cat drop to the floor. "Done, Kaden. Now what?"

Kaden turned his head back to her. "I would recommend practicing with your new ability before attempting to make use of it elsewhere."

"Oh, but demons aren't going to be bothered. Wherever shall I use this power to practice?" Zareil asked, almost sweetly.

"Wherever that isn't going to get you killed," Kaden responded simply. "I would prefer it if you were able to return here in one piece tonight."

Zareil smiled. "Of course, but what are we going to do with Shei?"

"Espio is coming for him… and for her. I am interested to see how far he can get with his rescue effort on his own." Kaden offered a vague shrug. "If he succeeds for now, then so be it. They are not needed at this time. And given that you could not provoke him into conflict earlier, this will serve a similar purpose. Many demons will stand in his way before he reaches here."

The demoness huffed softly. "Oh, fine. I'll go find some weak people to terrorize in the meantime, I guess. If you need me to do anything…" Zareil winked at him, a smirk on her face. "Let me know."

"I already stated my expectation," Kaden responded with a huff of his own. "Return here in one piece." With that said, he turned to walk back to his seat.

"You know that's not what I meant," Zareil huffed in annoyance.

"Then what, pray tell, did you mean?" Kaden murmured, feigning ignorance if only because her mild upset was amusing.

"Don't you make me say it in front of our guests," Zareil answered, crossing her arms. Kaden smirked briefly in heightened amusement, but let it go. The demoness rolled her eyes. "Alright, I'm leaving." With this, she teleported away to test her new power. Kaden started to settle back into his seat for now, prepared to return to his thoughts, only to suddenly be alerted by a feeling.

Struck by a spike of sheer fury, he snatched up his weapon and disappeared.

~保護者~

10,722 words this time. Many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support. Hope you all enjoyed. Posted (at about 3:05 p.m.) 06-23-20.