Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) throughout this rescue operation… especially for the one with the strong emotions.

~保護者~

"A Speck of Light"

~保護者~

Wave let out a heavy sigh, eyes roving over the group. "Just about time to go," she announced quietly. "Jet's monitoring things. The barriers have faded a lot. He estimates we've got just a few more minutes."

"Wait, I thought he went back home?" Silver piped up, open confusion written all over his face.

"Clones, sweetie," Wave teased, managing a fleeting smile despite all of her nerves. "He makes a pretty regular habit of using at least a few of them at any given time. Essentially, they allow him to fully and properly exist in multiple places at the same time."

Silver's mouth made a little 'o' of mingling surprise and understanding. Tails interjected with an unusually grumbly comment of, "Something tells me it isn't the clone that's over there right now." He worked as he spoke, brow creased in concentration as he helped put the finishing touches on Wery's device with her. Wave had done as she'd promised and helped to integrate a means of keeping an eye on all the Darkness in and around Steam, so as to keep them informed about corruption attempts. He was just finishing it up for her, since she had gotten busy with her mental communications.

"It better be," Wave groused, eyes closing. "He did promise, the bugger."

Sonic left off pacing along the nearby wall long enough to ask, "How long now?"

"Two minutes," Wave answered. Then she murmured, "He's getting antsy. Won't say why. We need to be ready precisely on time, just in case. Tails, Wery, are you almost done?"

"Maybe… Crap, we are seriously gonna miss this deadline if-"

"Tails-"

"Hold on…" The two foxes continued diligently for a moment before Tails sighed and leaned back in his seat at the table the two had been working on. "I don't know… it should work. Just wish we had more time to be sure. This whole thing is too risky for my liking. Too many variables we can't do much to control."

Emerald eyes drifted to Wery. "Think it'll be enough?"

"I… assume so," Wery murmured. "I don't know, but it should work. I can make calibrations as needed, though…" She frowned and returned to working, a determined look on her face.

Tails nodded. "We'll do what we can with the time left. Just… don't expect perfection here, guys." Sonic left them to it, resumed his pacing.

Blaze looked over at Steam. "You are being quiet. Are there other things amiss already?"

Steam bit his lip. "I don't like the idea of putting Rose and Toru into this, but I couldn't persuade them otherwise even if I wanted to. Putting my own life at risk is my life, and I just want to make sure everyone gets back safe." Even if that means I don't.

Abruptly, Sonic stopped again and pointed an accusatory finger at Steam. "Oi. Knock that shit off." He shifted the finger to Toru and added a bit more sharply, "And you, if you let anything happen to you, I'm gonna do my damnedest to make you regret it on behalf of that fucking irritating brother of mine. Rose'll be fine, it's you two I'm fucking worried about."

The chameleon huffed, glaring faintly. "I'm gonna come back with Shadow no matter what. If they try shit, I won't allow it." The anger in his tone was obvious the more he spoke.

A curt nod. "Good. And Steam, seriously, enough with that shit. I swear, it's like I can hear you when you start thinking like that." With that said, Sonic tensely claimed a seat against the wall he'd been pacing beside.

"Alright, fine," Steam huffed, turning his attention to the sky. "I'm just seriously worried. I know exactly how this should go down, but things can always go other ways."

Wave cut in before Sonic could reply. "One minute left, guys," she warned. Maybe half a second later, she suddenly exclaimed, "I swear to everything- Sein, you and Alana need to have a talk with that kid of yours! He just swapped places with the clone, the absolute jerk!" Eyebrows upraised in surprise, Alana tossed her husband a look. They both decided to stay quiet, at least for now.

Steam turned his attention to Wave. "I'll do everything in my power to make sure he doesn't have to get involved at all."

"That might be why he went there himself," Amy ventured to guess. "Just in case he does have to get involved."

"Doesn't matter," Tails interrupted. "We're just about out of time. Steam, you guys've gotta go."

"Got it," Steam answered, quickly teleporting away with Rose and Toru in tow. The hedgehog gazed to Jet, taking a moment for a deep breath before speaking. "You weren't supposed to come this close yourself," he murmured.

"Argue pedantics with me later," Jet murmured back, gaze focused on the realm before them. All across said realm, demonic activity could be seen. The barriers were fading away. "We are out of time."

Turning his own attention toward Kaden's favored planet, Steam nodded. "I'll hold you to that. Get us down there."

"Rough landing." It was the only warning Jet bothered to give before sending the three of them off, depositing them directly outside the towering ruins of the citadel.

Toru felt it approach, his Darkness flaring in response as he shifted to grab hold of his tachi as they were all dropped hard onto the ground. He closed his eyes and relaxed his muscles as the metal of his blade screeched against the polearm wielded by his enemy. "You'll pay," was all he said in response, lifting his silver eyes to regard Zareil momentarily. Then the fight was on.

They both felt the shockwaves as their weapons clashed, the movements of the spear tearing gouges into the ground as the tachi maneuvered gracefully through the air in deadly and perfectly aimed slashes. In reality, neither had started fighting yet. Zareil was waiting, Toru was biding. So, they continued this harsh dance of whirling metal until the chameleon's eyes could no longer find his allies. Now you die.

The first blow was devastatingly powerful, the residual energy clearing the soot and ash in a wide radius. The second knocked Zareil off balance, and the third disarmed her. Sheathing his weapon, Toru moved forward and landed an open palm strike against her arm, throwing a shockwave through Zareil that almost visibly rippled across her skin.

Though Zareil was capable of regaining her footing quickly, she cried out at the sudden pain as Toru pulled his arm back and tore flesh from her body. Barely visible threads extended from his palm before disappearing entirely and the fight continued.

The two resumed combat hand-to-hand, Zareil doing her best to weave around the attacks while Toru unleashed a furious flurry of blows that just barely missed. One particularly dangerous attack came and Zareil bent backwards, sending her foot careening into his chin. She launched herself into the air and followed up, landing several hits that should have devastated Toru. His eyes never left her, even as she continued the vicious onslaught.

Then a realization came with some of the most intense pain she had felt in a long time. The same threads from earlier suddenly appeared and ripped the skin from her body followed by small chunks of the flesh underneath. Their feet hit the ground and Zareil made some distance between them. Never did she imagine that something like this would have happened, and certainly not to this degree. Her gaze shifted toward the citadel briefly as she called out to Kaden mentally. "Can I let loose?"

Kaden had forgone formal speech by now. He didn't seem to give a damn about much at this point (for whatever reason), as his curt tone appeared to imply. He just wanted these people dealt with. "Do it." Darkness and rage fueled her body and she let everything go, renewing her fight once more against this damned chameleon.

Steam, not all that far away from the ongoing fight, watched Kaden intently. Already he knew that shit was going bad real fast, but it was far from unmanageable. "Kaden, this doesn't need to happen how it's starting to. I know that you're being affected by Analia's Light, so there's part of you that's still you."

Kaden left off eyeing the Light-filled crater that had been formed the last time he'd tried to go anywhere (how he hadn't previously known that Steam had items with that much Light in them on his person, he had no idea) long enough to toss Steam a hateful glare. However, he said nothing. What that meant, or whether that ultimately had no meaning, was unclear. Steam took a moment to breathe, relaxing his otherwise painfully tense muscles. "I don't want anyone hurt. I don't want to see your kids suffer. I don't want to see you suffer. If this keeps up, your family could lose you, and it's going to hurt people deeply."

The remark Kaden gave in reply was oddly bland. Not angry, not hostile, just… blank. "I am not suffering."

"Not right now," Steam agreed softly. "But a time comes where you will. Everything begins to weigh down on you and that pain is immeasurable. I don't want it to be worse on you, because then everyone who still cares about you is going to hurt. Jet, Sonic, Shadow, Analia, and Locke all give so much of a shit that they've been trying to find a way to save you because they don't want you to die in this state and be alone."

For a few seconds, Kaden's mind was torn between a decidedly demonic response… and one that was distinctly not. "Caring" is a weakness, was the first thought. The second was, They should have stopped… long ago. But then the conflict was gone, petering out almost as inexplicably as it had come. He found himself idly twirling his sword in one hand as he said, "I do not care for their pain."

"You… you'll care a lot," Steam murmured. "More than you can imagine. As bold and brash as I am, I'm not going to lie about something like this because you matter to me as well. That's why I'm even here. I'm risking death because I'm trying to do my damndest to help you, your family, and everyone that cares about you."

Barely listening to him at this point, Kaden weighed his options. To move was to risk death by purification. To stay put meant accepting another defeat. Ultimately, he had to decide which undesirable outcome he hated the least, and he wasn't about to take the matter lightly. This required a moment of thought… which was hard to achieve when there was a person prattling on mere feet ahead of him.

Steam seemed to catch on to what was happening and frowned, though that only told part of the story. It was frightening to be face-to-face with Kaden like this once again, to say the least. He had no desire to be putting Kaden at such risk, but he also couldn't just leave Shadow here. That wouldn't work either. "Kaden, please. You don't have to do this. Let us purify Shadow and we will leave. Nobody wants this."

The twirling stopped abruptly. Kaden caught his sword and levelled Steam with another bland look. "And why, pray tell, should I let you go?" he drawled.

Fuck. Steam shifted, trying to make sure he could cover any area he needed to quickly before speaking. His mind ran at full speed, trying his hardest to think of something before he blurted out, "Because you're better than Amnikaribah."

That stopped Kaden short, mentally tripped him up in a way. He stared, frowning, at Steam for a long moment before it registered what Steam had just said. When it did, his immediate response was to clutch at his sword tighter and mutter a soft, "Fuck you."

"You hated Amnikaribah," Steam said, realizing that this was his absolute best chance. "You hated it for what it did to you, pulling away your soul after death and corrupting you against your will. You hated it for forcing this life upon you. You turned against it and killed it for that. Is that what you want to do to Shadow? Do you want to repeat history with him, doing the exact same thing that was once done to you?"

Some of his usual fire had come back into Kaden's eyes, but he still made no moves to attack, even as he muttered more emphatically than before, "Fuck you." But then he turned around, eyes suddenly full of unspoken conflict as he glared in the direction of Rose and Shadow. Earlier, there had been gunshots and general sounds of struggle. Now, things were quiet, and there was Light. A tiny, tiny part of him started to wonder… was it so wrong to just… let that remain? To let her continue? And the more he tried to quiet that thought, the more loudly it seemed to scream at him… until he damn-near couldn't drown it out.

Steam took this opportunity to speak again, knowing that he could prevent a lot of problems if this worked. "I know how much you care about your sons. Sonic and Shadow mean so much to you, and I get it. When someone hurt my son, I tore them apart, but we both don't need to make the mistake of being the one to hurt our kids." Kaden remained silent, aware of Steam's words but not fully taking them in as he argued with himself over and over again in his mind. He had never, never experienced so much internal conflict since Amnikaribah had corrupted him and he… didn't know how to handle it.

Further away, the fight still raged. Sword clashed against spear once more as Toru and Zareil raged on in their battle. Perfect, practiced precision from them both came in the form of deadly arcing weapons meant to end the battle should one hit. Suddenly, the blade stopped and Toru tore off, somehow managing to drag Zareil with him. Threads extended from his tachi to her spear alongside an interconnected web between their bodies as Toru relentlessly drug the demoness into everything in their immediate surroundings while resuming his vicious melee blows.

Try though she might, there were far too many threads to simply break. Instead, she opted for a power she'd already used on Toru once. The chameleon's body stopped in place, but before she could act, hers did as well. The two were held firmly in place, fury-filled glares seemingly trying to rip through the other's skull with the sheer amount of hate they held. Toru broke the sudden silence, a hiss breaking out from him. "I will fucking kill you for what you've done to Shadow."

"Try it," Zareil spat in response as they both resumed being able to move. The threads were severed, but Toru still had the upper hand. Attack after attack knocked aside any defense Zareil could muster, allowing him to brutally beat on her body in the most vicious manner he could manage. He didn't want her to die in one hit. Toru wanted her to suffer. He wanted her to pay for what she had done. After some time, Zareil suddenly found an opening and grabbed Toru by the neck and slammed him into the ground, pouring out her Darkness in an attempt to corrupt him. "I'll reunite the both of you as demons, bastard."

The moment Toru realized what was happening, his rage only managed to grow further. His Darkness flared in response and began fighting back the corruption before it had a chance to set in. It wasn't a pleasant situation to be in, and he had no desire to be dealing with this right now. However… he could do very little about it. So much of his focus went into pushing Zareil's Darkness back that he simply couldn't make up a plan to get out of this. He instead let his instinct kick in, wrapping a leg around Zareil's body and suddenly twisting his body so violently that he could throw the demoness several miles away. Desperation creates a lot of strength. Fucking hell. This bought him some time, so he knelt down and simply breathed, existing in the moment.

Something his father taught him was that sense of self was an important matter in preventing Darkness from taking over. Toru needed a moment to simply remind himself of who he was, what mattered, why he was here. Then, he drew his sword and planted it against Zareil's throat when she appeared, a cold, yet level gaze fixed on her. "Stand down."

Zareil gritted her teeth, obvious hate brimming within her as she stepped back. She was not about to let Kaden get involved in this. It was her mistake to have underestimated Toru, and it showed in the fact of how badly her body was bleeding. If this kept on how she'd been letting it, she would die. Not that she was going to allow that to happen, but now the gravity of what had happened just now was weighing down on her. Fine.

Elsewhere, Steam stood almost perfectly still. His heart-rate was audible (at least, he thought so) and the stress was getting to him. Kaden being quiet… often didn't bode well. He didn't want to grab one of the bombs again in case that provoked Kaden, but at the same time… he wanted to be prepared. For once, as his sense of self-preservation kicked in, the hedgehog did nothing. It seemed the safest.

When Kaden shifted, it was to tilt his head up toward the sky. He watched it for a few seconds, almost as though he'd been distracted from his private struggle and from Steam by something else. A faint frown appeared on his face a moment later, then he scoffed and looked away. Without having given any warning that he was about to do anything at all, he suddenly murmured a brief spell. "Prima Takt."

Just like that, Darkness-infused magic appeared swirling and pulsing in the sky. It thrummed with a steady rhythm not unlike music in some odd way, and portions of it lit up repeatedly as unseen attacks struck what was apparently some form of ever-shifting barrier. As this all happened, Kaden tossed Steam one last glare… and this time it was vastly less conflicted and unsure than it had been before. "Do what you will," he finally conceded, though he no longer sounded even remotely okay with the idea, "but leave." Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) for Steam it seemed Kaden now had another visitor… and Nareish demanded far more of his attention than was worth wasting on anyone else right now.

"Be safe," Steam murmured with a nod as he turned to head towards Rose. That… Fuck. That could have been awful. Not giving any response, Kaden flicked a look at Zareil (who he used his Darkness to promptly whisk away) and teleported off to wherever the new threat was.

Inside, with Shadow safely transported back to Mobius, Rose leaned up against the wall of the citadel briefly, catching her breath. She'd protected herself… decently well, but there was definitely blood. She wasn't entirely sure where, but the fact that it was present at all was not a pleasing sign. Her senses picked up Steam rushing toward her and something inside of her relaxed. The woman allowed herself to go limp as the hedgehog quickly picked her up and began heading to Toru. Despite the state she was in, she managed to smile softly while she spoke. "When we return… please take me to my sister. I wish to see her." A slight nod from Steam served as the response before Toru arrived to them and they all teleported away.

Steam landed back on Mobius with Rose in his arms and Toru following immediately behind him. The chameleon immediately went to Tails while Steam teleported Rose away to her sister and walked up to whoever was nearest with a weak smile. "I feel like shit, but we did it."

"I knew you could," was the honest reply. Amy's smile was light and happy… and full of a surprising amount of trust. "I really did. Call it... having a good feeling about you."

The hedgehog scratched the back of his head, nervously and sheepishly. "Thanks."

Suddenly, Amy's green eyes got a glint of mischief. "You know… maybe you ought to go talk to him," she murmured, nodding in Espio's direction. "I hear he's still fond of a certain method of… stress relief. And he might be willing to share, maybe."

"Even in this timeline, you somehow manage to know me," Steam muttered, chuckling briefly. "Thanks for the idea. I'll… definitely see about it." With that said, the hedgehog walked over to the aforementioned chameleon with a gentle smile. The shinobi in question glanced up at him, having been busy watching Sako and Zei messing around with a couple of toys on the ground in front where he was seated. Predictably, he opted not to be the one to start the conversation. Steam shifted and laid in the grass, suddenly unwilling to stand as a result of the sheer level of stress creeping up on him. "I'll be straightforward. Would you mind sharing some of the alcohol your people make? I could use a drink."

Espio quirked a brow. After a moment, he inquired, "You are capable of handling something that strong?"

"Dealt with it a few times. Part Babylonian and all," Steam murmured.

Ah. That more or less explained everything, so any previous concerns Espio might or might not have had (he wasn't prepared to admit to anything) were swept away. "I need more to work with than 'a drink'. Not all of our flavors are palatable to other people."

Steam frowned briefly, momentarily able to forget his problems. "I'd prefer something bitter. Perhaps a bit harsh, taste-wise."

That would do, Espio supposed. He stood, Sako reflexively clinging to him as he did so. He murmured a quick instruction to Zei, telling her to stay put, then teleported away. A few moments later, he returned with three different bottles with varying degrees of the traits Steam had listed. Not caring if Steam downed all of them, he simply deposited the bottles beside the hedgehog and reclaimed his seat. Steam, without hesitation, gave a nod of thanks and began his drinking where he lay.

By now, Toru had already spoken with Tails (who had tracked Shadow's location for him), and the chameleon returned to Shadow's home. He teleported inside and quickly went to the hedgehog's room, emotion overwhelming him. Yes, Shadow was obviously in pain, and yes it hurt to see that. However… he couldn't get past the intense feeling of joy that overwhelmed him and finally allowed his silver eyes to fade back to their usual grey-ish white. The hedgehog had sort of sunk into a cross-legged position beside the bed, a little shaky from the pain of his purification but otherwise clearly fine. Toru was so relieved. He walked over beside bed as well and sat down, forcing himself to hold all those emotions back temporarily. "Hey… you alright?"

Tearing his gaze away from the bullet hole that he'd left punched into his own wall, Shadow dared to shoot Toru a small glance. His expression tightened, almost contrite, and he quickly looked away again. "...Yes," was all he eventually said.

Toru gazed at the hole and nodded gently. "It wasn't you. We'll get it fixed, but know that you had nothing to do with that. I'm glad you're home, and I'm glad to be home with you."

The hell I didn't. Deciding it was best to leave that thought unspoken, Shadow mulled over other things instead. It took almost everything he had in him to find the words to say it, but eventually he managed to get out, "I didn't… want to do that. To shoot you." Why was voicing a straightforward apology so difficult? It was right there, lingering on the tip of his tongue, but for some reason he just couldn't get it out into the open.

"I know," Toru answered easily. "I know you didn't. The fact that you hesitated while corrupted said a lot. Not to mention that you didn't even really aim to hurt me seriously. I'm not even concerned with it, because it doesn't matter. You're back." It grew increasingly difficult to contain his emotions as everything came crashing down on him at once. He felt so happy once more, and all of that happiness was because he had Shadow.

Despite Toru's continued assurances, there was still one more thing Shadow felt needed to be fixed. Or, at least, addressed. And it was just as hard to talk about as the first thing was, though he somehow managed it. "I did not mean what I said that day."

Toru suddenly hugged Shadow, a few tears escaping despite his struggle to keep them away. "I know you didn't. It's okay. I promise." It wasn't, but, for now… Shadow opted to let himself push those lingering thoughts aside. He sort of awkwardly hugged Toru back with one arm, not trusting himself to say anything more. Without much further warning, Toru pulled back just enough to drag Shadow into a kiss, unable to control himself any more. He'd wanted to do this for so long, but now he felt that he had to. And it was worth it.

It was only then that Shadow managed to actually relax, albeit without exactly meaning to. He only pulled back when he finally needed to catch his breath, and when he did he mumbled a small, "Idiot." Somehow, it almost managed to sound somewhat affectionate… even to his own ears. He tried not to think about it much.

The chameleon smiled brightly to Shadow. "Maybe, but you love me, eh?" he teased gently.

Hearing Toru actually say that was a bit of a shock, but not necessarily an unpleasant one. It was still difficult to comprehend the speed with which everything was happening, and yet… Shadow couldn't entirely deny Toru's words. He didn't even bother to try. Because that would be lying, he knew it would be, and lying to Toru just didn't feel right. "Shut up."

"Make me," Toru dared, his smile shifting to a mischievous grin.

Ultimately, Shadow knew only one way to accomplish that. So, huffing, he closed the distance between them again.

~保護者~

Rose winced as her sister carefully began stitching her wounds. She had imagined it would be painful, considering she opted for someone that did not specialize in healing. However, she would have it no other way. Being by Eila's side was enough to render that pain as nothing more than a moot point. Another wince as the stitches were placed, then Eila spoke. "You really shouldn't have gone. He could have killed you, not to mention Zareil and Kaden. If any of them had gotten ahold of you…"

"I understood the risk," Rose answered, a smile on her face. "I was a required party, and I volunteered."

"I still don't want to lose you again," Eila muttered. "You're one of the few things keeping me together, and I'm still loosely bound."

Rose shook her head. "You are forging your own life once more. You have made friends, and I hear word of you suddenly having a boyfriend as well. That is pleasing."

Eila blushed and huffed. "Hey, shut the hell up. That's not what's happening."

"He said the two of you have kissed. Did you intend it to be a… 'fling'?" Rose questioned, feigning ignorance. They both knew what she was doing, and Eila wasn't sure whether she should be mad or happy that Rose was still… like this.

"I'll kick his ass," Eila murmured. Hesitation, then she spoke again. "He only told you, right?"

A gentle laugh escaped Rose as she nodded. "Of course. He felt it necessary for me to know that the two of you were in a relationship, as I am your sister. I do not see why he believed he "must" tell me, but it was sweet of him regardless. Speaking of, where has he been?"

"New Babylon," the older sister suddenly answered in an annoyed growl. "Somewhere I can't go unless I feel like dying."

Rose tilted her head gently. "Then who are you so happy about?"

Eila turned her gaze more fully to Rose. "Are you reading my fucking mind?" she questioned harshly, a glare pointed at the younger of the two. "Mom…" the word hit her like a truck as suddenly as she'd mentioned it, but she chose to ignore the emotional weight behind that word. "She had mental powers. Did you inherit any part of that?"

"I… am not sure," Rose murmured. "Do you believe so?"

The older sister's silence said everything. It wasn't as… surprising as much as it was concerning. She'd been doing this for eons without knowing. However, Eila broke her train of thought. "Steam asked you to fight Zareil directly sometime soon."

A soft nod served as the initial response. "He believes it is best if I am the one to fight her. My Light, alongside whatever preparations he is going to have, should be enough to hold her off for some time. I will be okay."

Eila sighed, shaking her head. "I want this to end. I'm sick of… everything. I want to settle down somewhere and live out whatever misery will come my way."

Rose set a hand on Eila's cheek, her ever-present smile shining through. "My sister… your life will not be constant misery and strife. You have already proven so with the friends you are beginning to make. Focus on that and let yourself be… happy."

Hand on hand, a single tear fell from one of Eila's eyes. Having Rose back in her life and still caring for her this much meant more than she would ever admit or be able to explain. And so, she cherished it as if it would be the last time. Something told her, though… that this would not be the last. She felt that, deep within her mind, she would always have the unwavering love of her sister.

That was enough to bring some of the light back into her eyes.

~保護者~

5,246 words this time. Many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support. Y'all, this fight went way better than we were thinking it would. Even our most bare-bones idea was for this fight to really not go well (though they would still save Shadow regardless), and then things just went... really good somehow. Eh, for the most part, anyway. Posted (at about 6:00 p.m.) 12-02-20.