Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) during this hellish confrontation… especially for the one heroes are finally prepared to face.

~保護者~

REVIEW REPLIES:

Hello, Guest! Reply from Blazing Winds: Glad to see you enjoy it! If you think that the last couple chapters ramped things up, then just wait. You're in for an absolute treat this chapter. I suppose. Depends on what you think a treat is. Also thanks for reviewing. Very nice.

Reply from yasha: Oh, yeah, he really has. He seems to be the favorite target of Nareish for various reasons. It doesn't help that Kaden and Zareil have also been interested in him. He's had it a bit rough. But, yeah, other characters did as well. Things are ramping up indeed... and they're bound to get worse before they get better. It's just the nature of things, eh? Anyway, enough morbidity. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! We appreciate so much and seeing your review was a welcome surprise this morning. Hope you enjoy the new chapter!

Also, I edited it, but Blaze up there initially put "thank for review" instead of "thanks for reviewing". He swears it was intentional. I'm not buying it. Either way, it was funny and I hope you think so, too. XD

~保護者~

"Containment"

~保護者~

Steam took a look at his communicator, checking over all of the information he'd gained from last night. Silver had lost his powers, Blaze didn't have access to her special fire, Kath had experienced a near meltdown on top of still being sick, Shadow was in a bad physical state, something had happened to Rose and Aniko (but nobody knew what in particular yet), everyone had lost contact with Ylden entirely, Novei was missing (according to Li), Eila was in extreme pain and couldn't move, and Toru's sister was paralyzed. That also took Toru out of the fight, since he would be protecting Myriu.

Luckily, there were already people protecting Kath, so that wasn't a serious issue at the moment, and Shadow could fight remotely. Silver needed to be sent somewhere safe, so he would go where Eila was (Steam hoped to god that wouldn't backfire somehow), and he wasn't sure if Li would be able to join. He'd hoped to get some help from the wolf, but he understood that finding Novei was important.

And so, Steam had to revise his plan almost entirely. Luckily, some of the key people he needed were still here, but losing so many capable people really hurt things. He couldn't shake the thought about knowing Nareish was a wildcard still, who could do anything at any time and further ruin things. The hedgehog could only momentarily forget it when he walked up to Espio, his family, and Armaris. "You guys all prepared?" he questioned, a concerned frown on his face.

"I am sure of it," Aniko murmured. "We have collected our weapons and have been discussing strategies for various things."

Steam nodded slowly. That… was definitely relieving. "So, here's the bit of a plan I have for you four in particular. Espio and Aniko, when the hordes arrive and until the generals show, I would appreciate you doing some control and keeping them off everyone for a short time. Shei, you can fight the generals or the hordes as you wish, just be safe. Armaris, your skills in attacking a wide range of enemies and defensive capabilities make me need you to control the hordes. Is everyone okay with that? Any particular questions?" Shei nodded once, but Espio didn't give any particular reply.

Aniko nodded. "I'm fine with that. You've clearly given it thought, so I will follow your words. However," she glanced to Armaris. "Considering your experiences, would you rather remove yourself from this battle?"

As if offended, Armaris scoffed. "I'm tired of being pushed around by these bastards. It's time they see I'm not some ragdoll."

"I get that," Steam replied. "Just be careful and do not let anyone get hold of you. You're the one of the most susceptible to corruption of us all, so your safety is very important." When she only huffed, Steam turned to Espio. "I trust your abilities to fight the generals. Just be careful in case something unexpected happens. Enemies have their eyes on you, and nobody wants to see you taken away again."

Espio tossed him a small scowl. "I will be fine."

"I trust that," Steam conceded before turning quickly, hearing someone running behind him.

Wery huffed and puffed for a moment as she made it to the group, holding up a set of gloves to Shei. "Here… you go…"

With visible confusion, Shei signed to her (albeit not in the chameleon-specific version of sign language), "What are these for?"

"Oh, right! They're for you so you can effectively use your poisons," Wery explained. "They'll allow you to store them in small capsules around your fingers and release them for whatever you need to, as well as just directly from your fingers and hand. The material should hold up."

That was… impressive. And also very thoughtful. The few seconds it would take him to remove his normal gloves, should the need arise, could potentially prove fatal. With these, that was suddenly no longer a conver. "These are remarkable. Thank you for your consideration." Once he was done signing, he took the gloves and set above replacing his usual ones with them.

Wery nodded quickly. "I can make some better ones soon, but I figured this would be helpful with everything going on. I gotta get going though, lots of stuff to calibrate real fast!" With this, she bolted, obviously intent on working on whatever she had her hands on now.

Steam managed a smile and nodded to the chameleons and Armaris thankfully. "Thank you for all the help. It really means a lot." Though she said nothing, the small smile Aniko flashed him was enough to understand. He waved lightly and walked off, heading over to the next group he needed to speak to.

Sonic, Silver, Amy, and Blaze were in the midst of their own conversation when they noticed Steam approaching. Steam waved gently, noticing that they'd seen him. "Hey, you guys all okay?"

"Uhh… more or less?" Silver answered, ears a bit low. "Nervous as hell, though. 'Specially me." Amy gave his arm a comforting squeeze, but had resolved already to stay quiet so others could speak.

"Me too," Steam admitted. "And for all intents and purposes, I'm sorry for what happened to you two in particular," he said to Blaze and Silver. "I never could have predicted it, but it still bothers me."

Blaze shook her head. "You have nothing to be sorry for. While it is troubling, we'll get through it and be alright."

"Speaking of this," Steam started. "I wanted to discuss what we're planning. Since Silver isn't going to be here, I wanted to ask you three to help with crowd control. You're both skilled fighters, and I know what you're capable of. Are you guys okay with doing that?" he asked Sonic, Amy, and Blaze.

"Yeah… it should be fine," Sonic sighed. "We're both still a bit rusty, but we're a lot better prepared than we would have been if this fight had come any sooner."

"If you guys need anything from me, just say the word. I've got enough time to grab something," Steam said.

The other hedgehog let out a second sigh. "Do you really think this is going to work?" he asked. "I keep trying not to let my hopes get up, but it's… hard when you want it to work so badly."

There was a moment of silence from Steam before he nodded. "I get it, but I am certain this will work. I'm ready for several things to happen, and I'll be prepared to deal with it."

Sonic nodded slowly. "...Thanks. For everything."

"It's nothing," Steam answered with a smile. "I came here to do a job, and I'll be damned if it doesn't get done." Sonic just nodded again, too overwhelmed with emotion to trust himself to speak any further. Steam set a hand on the other man's shoulder. "Let's get through this shit together."

"Yeah."

Knowing there was little more to be said, Steam moved on. His sights set on Jet, his family, and Wave and he gulped. They had the most important part in this mission, and if anything interrupted that… there was not much he could do except get everyone out of the area. Still, he forced that thought away and walked up to them. "Hey, how's it going?"

Seeing him, Wave glanced at Jet and shrugged. "About as well as can be expected, I guess."

Steam nodded slowly, frowning. "Do you guys think you're ready?"

"Honestly, I don't know exactly how ready we are for this. It's a lot, and it's risky, but I'm sure we'll pull through," Sein admitted, a small smile on his face. "I've got faith in everyone here, and you've been working tirelessly on this plan. Which reminds me, take a fucking break after this is all said and done, alright?"

"We will all need rest after this," Alana murmured. "For now, however, we must focus on the task at hand. Fantasizing about rest will only draw our focus away."

Sein nodded to this, and Steam shrugged. "Yeah, that's fair." He then turned his attention to Jet. "Most importantly, I need to know if you think you can handle this. It's a big deal for you, I know, and we can figure out something else if it's needed. I don't want to put you through something that's too much."

Clad in his cloak armor for the first time in a while, Jet shook his head. "There is nothing else that will work. I am staying."

Steam nodded slowly, watching Jet's eyes briefly before accepting what was said and handing a crystal over to Jet. "If you happen to need it, just in case. It's filled with Eona's Light. I'm sure you'll know what to do if you have to do anything with it."

Jet accepted the crystal before meeting Steam's gaze for a brief but stern moment. "Do not do anything rash."

"I'll only do what's necessary to get this done," Steam halfway agreed. "Fighting Zareil is rash in its own right." With a small nod, Jet broke eye-contact and looked away again. Steam glanced to Wave. "Stay close to them. You know your part of the plan, so do your thing and do it as well as I know you will."

"I won't stray far," Wave promised with another meaningful glance at Jet. "You can count on that. I'll keep the demons off their backs."

Steam smiled gently. "Thanks again, all of you."

Sein beamed. "Not a problem, kid."

The smile on Steam's face grew the tiniest bit in response as he walked off, this time teleporting over to Rouge and Knuckles since they were near-ish to the rest of the people he needed to talk to. "Hey, you guys doing alright?"

"Mostly," Knuckles grumbled. He then let out a sigh. "I'm still just trying to wrap my head around everything that's going on. But we're ready as we'll ever be, aside from that."

Steam nodded. "Sorry for you just being revived and then thrown into all this. Not happy with it, personally."

The echidna shrugged. "It's the price we pay for doing what we do. I'm not too bothered by it."

"Well I, for one, am very happy to see you again, Knuckie," Rouge smiled, moving to hold his hand. "And not just because you'll be useful." He huffed at her, earning a laugh.

A smile broke onto Steam's face once more before he grew serious again. "I hate to kill the mood, but I have something to ask of both of you once this is over. Do either of you know what happened to Eila?"

The pair traded a look. "No, not in detail," Rouge answered, smile fading. "We weren't there when it happened."

"To keep the story short, she's physically handicapped for a while. She… won't be able to take good care of herself," Steam explained slowly. "I wanted to ask if you two could help care for her while she's recovering, since I know the both of you aren't extremely judgmental and can actually get along with her well."

"I've got nothing to be judgmental of," Knuckles shrugged. "I only just met her. Not like I'm prying into her history or anything."

"Regardless," Rouge said, "we'll do what we can for her after this fight. We won't mind."

Steam smiled again. "Glad to hear it. And Knuckles, I know you will, but I'd appreciate you keeping an open mind the more you learn about her. There's a lot to it, and she'll be really slow to talk about it all."

"I'll do my best," Knuckles replied honestly, "but I don't make a habit of making promises I can't guarantee I'll be able to keep."

"I'm sure you will," Steam murmured. "Just try. That's all we can ask of you." An idle glance to Rose revealed who the 'we' was really referring to. "Back to my main reason for talking to you, I'd really appreciate it if you guys worked with Sonic and Blaze to keep the crowds of demons under control. Rose and Armaris are going to be fighting the hordes en masse, but we need people who can keep the enemies off them a bit. I trust you guys can handle that?"

"Yes, we'll be fine handling that," Rouge answered. "Oh, that reminds me. No fire, Knuckie. It apparently won't work."

Knuckles grunted an acknowledgement. "I still have my fists. I'll be fine."

Steam decided to correct Rouge gently. "You can use your fire, but the burning and all that from the fire won't work. You can still use it to add extra force to your attacks." She nodded upon hearing this. "Do either of you have questions before I move along?"

"No, we're good," Knuckles answered after looking at Rouge to make sure.

"Alright. Just let me know if you think of anything," Steam said before walking over to Cyril and Rose. From here he could feel how distraught she was, and that was not normal by any means. He could probably count the times Rose had been this visibly emotion on both hands, perhaps just one hand. Even so, he approached gently. "Hey, you guys okay?"

Cyril chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, turning to Steam. "Nervous. Little shaky. Maybe even scared, but I'll be alright."

Steam's eyebrows furrowed when Rose said nothing for quite some time, seeming lost in her thoughts. He shifted to get a better look at her face when she suddenly seemed to come to. "I am fine. A bit distracted due to the state my sister is in, that's all."

He watched her intently, the emotions temporarily seeming to fade from her eyes before Steam sighed. "Just be careful. Try not to let it get to you too much. We've got her somewhere safe, and she still has her powers. She can protect herself with Silver's help."

Rose shifted her gaze away, but nodded. "I will attempt."

With Cyril unsure of what to say, and Steam knowing this would get them nowhere, the hedgehog switched topics. "So… The main reason I'm talking to you guys is to discuss what you'll be doing. Rose, you said you'd be fighting the hordes to the best of your ability, and Cyril, you said it would be okay to pit you against one of the generals?"

Rose said nothing, simply nodding as Cyril spoke up. "Yeah, that's fine by me. A bit of luck and random chance will get me through anything, as always."

Steam nodded gently to them both before suddenly setting his hand against Rose's arm. "Look, I know how you're feeling, but for just this fight, just for now, I really need you focused. You can do this, but you can't get bogged down by everything."

There was a faint movement of her arm before she gently pulled away, this alone shocking Steam a bit. She looked to him, a small frown on her face. "I will do my best, Steam."

Knowing better than to push this any further, Steam could only nod again. "Be safe, both of you." Cyril nodded, and Rose returned to her thoughts as the hedgehog walked away to Tails and Wery.

Wery noticed Steam approaching, but then she suddenly remembered something and lost focus on him, only to turn back moments later and blink. "Oh, hey, Steam."

Steam chuckled softly and waved. "Wery, Tails. How's everything coming along with you two?"

"Erm… well enough," Tails answered distractedly. "I've finished preparing the ship. Just getting all my weapons and robots and everything else online. Shadow's going to make use of them so I can focus on flying and whatnot."

Wery shifted her focus back to her tablet. "I've also got a few things going, but there's no way for me to explain it all quickly," she admitted nervously. "I'm just hoping it all works okay."

"I trust that you guys will do what you do best," Steam answered. "Once this is done, I need you guys to perform a scan on Rose. She's obviously not doing well, and I'd appreciate some information on what's happening."

"Yeah, I'll make sure it gets done," Wery answered before suddenly shifting. "Is this what the 'fight' side of fight or flight is like? Just rushing to get ready and not being able to focus on being scared?" She didn't realize that she'd given no context to the situation she was referring to (her own emotional state), and as such didn't make an attempt to explain further.

"I'm guessing flight. Just try to breathe, okay?" Tails set a hand on her shoulder briefly before returning to what he was doing. As he did so, he asked Steam, "Is there anyone else you need us to pay special attention to in that regard once this is all done?" Wery died at contact with her idol, at least internally, but said nothing.

Steam frowned briefly. "I'd appreciate you checking on Armaris and Jet if possible. Jet's not gonna be doing so well after this fight, I imagine, and Armaris has been aggressive. Want to make sure she's not being corrupted from afar like Shadow obviously was. Eila would be a good person to check on as well, to see how her body is healing. If there's anyone else that I can think of after the fact, I'll say so."

"I was already planning on keeping an eye on Jet," Tails nodded. "We'll make sure to check Eila and Armaris, too."

"Thanks a lot, Tails," Steam said with a gentle smile. "Means a lot."

"'Course."

With this all said and done, Steam turned to walk away and shifted his thoughts to what was about to happen. Could he really fight Zareil alone? Did he really have a choice? The thought of it was a bit intimidating, but it was something he had to do. As such… he was going to do it. His thoughts after that point were interrupted when Locke came striding up to him from some indeterminate point in the distance. He and Knuckles shared a look (they had been reunited the night before and emotions were still running high between them) before he focused on Steam. "Hey, kid. Hoping I'm not late."

"Thank god you're here," Steam said, chuckling gently. "I was beginning to think you'd ruin that perfect streak of yours with showing up when you're needed most." He winked and smirked.

"Hey, I'm quite proud of that perfect streak," Locke joked right back, though he looked and sounded as tired as ever. "Wouldn't ruin it for the world."

Steam's smile died a bit, but he tried his best not to let it fade completely. "You sure you're ready for this? It's a lot to put yourself through."

"I'm ready," Locke answered without hesitation. "I know Jet and Wave can handle this, especially now that they finally have the backing of other Immortals, but I can't just sit idly by and watch."

"I understand that," Steam murmured. "You just don't need to push yourself too hard."

At this, Locke openly laughed, just a little. "C'mon, kid. Would I even be me if I didn't push the boundaries now and then?"

"I suppose not," Steam chuckled. "But seriously. Be careful, and don't get yourself involved in more than you can handle. I've got backup plans. If shit gets too bad too fast, say the word and I'll do what I can."

"I'll stick near Wave and Jet," Locke told him firmly, "to help keep the demons away from that trap you were telling me about. Besides, if I'm close, I can help manage Kaden if need be."

Steam nodded gently, crossing his arms. "I assume Cere and the others are watching what's about to happen, yeah?"

Locke nodded. "Most of them are either guarding Analia or prepared to help kill off demons before they even get onto the planet. They'll be trying to limit how many enemies we have to deal with here."

"As long as they don't get too involved…" Steam murmured. "If they do too much, this plan will fall apart and we'll all need to get the hell out of here. I trust that they know what they're doing, though."

Another nod. "They know the risks and are being mindful. Try not to worry too much."

"Hard not to," Steam admitted slowly. "I've got everyone's lives on my back. If this fucks up, it's gonna feel like my fault no matter who tries to say otherwise."

"I get that. I do. But I also need you to understand that putting this much burden on yourself right now isn't a good thing. Focus on your plan and what needs to happen, not what might happen." Locke put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a light shake. "We'll cross those bridges when we get there and only if we have to, not a moment before. Stressing yourself out ahead of time won't do any good."

Steam rubbed one of his hands across an eye before a tear could escape. "I'll do my best, but it's hard. I'll try not to get too wrapped up in those thoughts."

"That's all I ask." Locke removed his hand. "Where are the demons at? I assume some scouts, at least, have been seen if we're all gathering."

"If there's more, then I'm not sure. Espio alerted us and I worked with him to eliminate the ones that showed up last night," Steam answered.

"Where were they?" Locke pressed. "Tails and the others have mostly been around here, from what I've seen, so I assume it was around here?"

Steam frowned. "They were in Hyale," he answered. "That's what has me most concerned. If he wanted information on what the majority of us were doing, he would have sent them here, so why the Highlands? That's something I can't figure out."

Locke was now frowning as well. "Kaden's always got a plan, contingency plans, side-plans… you name it. If he sent scouts up there, it was for a reason. I've not got a clue in hell what it might have been, though."

"Well… I guess it's essentially my plans against his now," Steam muttered. "Though… that also bothers me."

"I don't blame you," Locke grumbled. "This is… troubling, to say the least."

"We'll find out when it happens… but if you realize anything, alert everyone you can," Steam murmured.

"I will," Locke assured. "I'll keep my eye out, if nothing else."

Steam glanced around. He couldn't think of anything else to say at the moment, so he looked back to Locke. "Is… there something I should do before we leave? I'm not used to directly leading a group like this."

"Not my forte, either, to be honest," Locke admitted. "It seems like you've done all you can, though. Now it's just a waiting game, as much as that sucks."

The hedgehog nodded slowly and glanced at a crystal he'd kept in hand. The strong Light had kept him calm so far, but he dreaded the idea of using it. If he had to, that would be revealing one of the biggest tricks he'd been keeping up his sleeve since he'd arrived. He tightened his fist around the crystal and looked up. "I think I'm ready as well. Done all I can to prepare."

"Then all we can do is wait."

~保護者~

In the wilderness close to a mile from Hyale, Steam leapt over a demon as it crashed into the ground below him, twisting and delivering a violent kick to another attacking him while cutting the one that had attempted to do the same in half. Every attack of his was fueled with Light and bursts of flames to create extra force, since he had no intention of giving them any chances to get near his friends. He had to follow this all up with swift dodging and skillful grabs, tearing through demon after demon that approached him.

At one point in the midst of this, Steam snatched a demon by the leg and used it to launch another into the air that was trying to take Sonic by surprise before viciously dragging his blade through it's throat. Elsewhere on the battlefield, Sonic, Amy, Blaze, Knuckles, and Rouge did their part to manage the incoming hordes to the best of their ability. They were aided by Locke and Wave, who fought to give Jet and his parents plenty of space to get to work preparing their trap. Overhead, Tails lent aerial support to everyone as much as he could with Wery in the backseat.

Cyril made a show of his fighting, careful footwork and well-aimed throws of his cards keeping several demons at bay all at once while Rose neatly sliced through every demon near her with perfectly placed attacks. The two of them fought in near sync with each other, protecting the other from being overwhelmed. Not far from them, the chameleons operated in loose tandem with one another, slaying demons faster than most people could see and keeping many of the stronger ones from getting to Sonic and his larger group.

Armaris fought a short distance from them, dark tendrils swiping in vicious arcs in all directions at any demons that dared to come within their range. Magic rocketed through the air and tore through the ranks approaching, only for them to file back in and make the effort seem meaningless.

This is going well so far, Steam thought to himself, never once letting his gaze leave the demons shifting around him. They're just sending in fodder, but Zareil or Kaden will join soon, alongside their generals eventually. Stay alert, everyone. Though he knew nobody could hear his thoughts, except maybe Rose or Wave, he decided to pretend that they could because it made him feel a bit more secure about everything happening. Just then, his sword was wrenched from his hand from behind and the hedgehog made a quick move, bending backward and ripping the demon's head off with his legs to reclaim the blade. Asshole.

The group kept up their fighting, managing to keep the seemingly endless horde back enough that everything remained… somewhat okay. Then Steam felt their presences approaching, the generals. He whipped around to face Espio and Aniko's general direction and called, "Generals are coming! Get ready!"

Whipping around, Shei spied the incoming threats and nudged his wife to get her attention on them as well. Espio had already locked eyes with several and was making his way toward them. Aniko trained her gaze on one in particular, every muscle in her body tensing as she used her threads to none-too-gently tear a massive hole in the oncoming demons so she could rush alongside her son. "Be safe, Shei!" she called as she left. Shei only nodded as he rushed back off into the fray.

Several more generals arrived at that point, forcing other people to also work on fighting them. However, Locke and Wave took over for them, as they didn't have anything else they had to do just yet. Cyril was quick to take his place alongside them, singling out one to face on his own as he finally pulled a Tarot card with a wide grin.

Cyril would have stayed, but he sensed the particular one that he was meant to fight and moved off, idly apologizing for not getting to stay longer while he blindsided his enemy with a neat roundhouse kick. "Hey, sorry to interrupt the lovely day you're having, but now your opponent is me. Leave the lovely lady alone," he said, putting himself between the general and Rose. Somewhere off behind him, Amy let loose a blast of psychic energy. Tails fired a missile into a cloud of demons near his ship. Drones and other creations remotely controlled by Shadow fired relentlessly upon every enemy they could get a lock on.

The enemy Cyril was facing ultimately didn't directly respond, only briefly checking the spot they'd been hit before shifting into combat with the Babylonian. To say it was a difficult fight was an understatement. Both were having an incredibly hard time landing a hit. The general was obviously skilled in evading, while Cyril's unpredictable movement style made him a difficult target. Cyril suddenly ducked as an arrow of Light from Rose impaled the general, then he made his move. He didn't have many offensive capabilities, but he knew how to use his cards.

First he blasted the demon away with a powerful wave of fire from one card, then threw them into the air with the next, and finally knocked them back into the ground with a large amount of force from the last card. Cyril didn't give up his chase either, making full use of the 'The Fool' to overwhelm the still recovering enemy. "You seem like you'd be such a fun friend if you could simply drop the aggression, but you seem to not enjoy my quaint mannerisms, so I'll send you off with a pleasant, yet not-so-pleasant move." Grabbing the demon's arm by the elbow, he quickly pulled them over his back to bring his knee into their abdomen before shoving a card into their body and launching them into the surrounding woodland. Wow, that's a good stress reliever. With this thought out there, he quickly took off to make sure they didn't get a good chance to recover.

Nearby, Rose had continued her part of the fight with her bow, sniping down demons with well placed arrows made of her Light. As the fight grew on, she could tell that this would not be enough and began creating crystal pillars around her while still carefully picking the enemies off. Once she had everything set up, the woman let her Light explode outward to quickly remove any demons from her immediate area only to leap and fire an arrow into a crystal below her, launching the arrow in several different ways into the many other structures she'd made. With this, her arrows multiplied as they bounced within, only to suddenly flow out into a massive storm that pelted any demons around her. She then did the same with her Light, allowing these beams to create a near impenetrable area that she could move as she pleased.

As Aniko clashed fiercely with her general of choosing, she couldn't help but feel like something was amiss. Her Darkness flared more aggressively than ever before, and she couldn't contain her emotions in the slightest. Every attack was fueled with everything she had in her. As such, when she threw her enemy into the ground, she felt a dark satisfaction and gave chase. For once, she couldn't help how she was feeling, but a part of her said it was okay.

Then, all of a sudden, Zareil landed on the ground, fury in her eyes. The heroes had been performing admirably, and she was sick of it. In an attempt to take someone down, the demoness launched her spear at Knuckles. Before it could even properly leave her hand, Steam was in front of her and parried it with hardened skin. "Oh hell no you fucking don't," he growled, delivering a devastating kick to her stomach to throw her away from the others. "You're fighting me."

Zareil's spear returned to her hand and she glared, fist tightly wrapped around her weapon. "You fucking pest," she snapped, bringing her spear down on the ground and causing an explosion of Darkness that threw him into the air, forcing him to teleport away to not be obliterated by the oncoming beam. Then the fight was on, sword clanging against spear to parry every blow that came at Steam with practiced ease. He supposed he was glad for the training he'd quietly done with Kial and Cere, as this would have not been possible without them. The momentary distraction of those thoughts was enough to let his feet be swept from under him, forcing him to block the weapon attempting to come down and crush him.

Steam felt the force of the impact under him, and saw the ground crater around him, but he couldn't focus on the pain. She attempted to launch a blast of Darkness at someone else and he forced it off course with a carefully placed beam of Light while she tried to press the spear into his throat. Flames exploded around him and he launched her off him and got to his feet, rushing at her and shoving his blade between her weapon and her hand, giving her no choice but to drop it or suffer.

Fists rushed past his face, a clear as day reminder of his days as a professional fighter. A clean duck and a roll cleared him temporarily from harm as Zareil swiped at him with her spear that she was wielding in the other hand and brought it down into the ground where he'd stood just the moment before. His skin hardened in time for him to parry the next oncoming blow from her weapon and return with a blast of Light to the demon's face.

A growl escaped from the demoness as she lashed out with a wave of Demonic Darkness. Steam leapt back and teleported past the corrupted energy, skidding backwards to narrowly avoid the spear tearing through his stomach. "How the hell are you doing this?" Zareil demanded harshly.

"Maybe I'm just a better fighter than you," Steam answered, flicking his forearm to once more parry a nasty blow. "And maybe you're not good enough to kill me."

The ensuing roar of anger was deafening, enough so that Steam had to cover his ears so they wouldn't start ringing. Metal crashed against earth with such force that it cratered the ground yet again and threw the hedgehog into the air. A blast of fire was all he could manage to avoid the spear piercing his skull, wincing as it nicked his ear. "I'll tear you to shreds!" Zareil screamed, the crushing force of her Darkness slamming Steam against the ground.

In all his years of fighting, he'd endured so much and so many serious injuries. Enough of them were far worse than what Zareil had put him through that he'd usually be able to shrug it off, but something was different. The faint feeling that she was trying to corrupt him was there, but he couldn't focus on that. He twisted his body sharply and spun on his back to his feet, once more barely avoiding a dangerous attack with her weapon.

Steam unsheathed his sword again and clashed against Zareil's spear, his ears folding down with every meeting of metal. It didn't stop coming and he kept blocking, parrying, and clanging against every hit to keep the deadly weapon from colliding with any part of his body. A single hit and I'm done.

A strike came down that he had no choice but to roll to avoid. It came in a sweeping arc to catch him by the back and toss him to the side. His instincts screamed at him when Zareil trailed after him, rolling on the ground and swiping out with his sword to parry her spear from piercing his abdomen.

His fist slammed into the ground and flames exploded from his action, launching him into the air high enough to throw his weight into an axe kick. Zareil hit the ground face-first and Steam took this chance to distance himself from her. Hardly a second later, a wave of demonic Darkness crashed through everything around Zareil, forcing Steam to bolt off away from it before throwing himself back at it with a Light-filled kick to break a hole just large enough to get himself through it. "I told you that I'm a better fighter than you, Zareil," Steam muttered, dusting his shoulders off with a frown. His eyes met hers and he glared, far more harshly than he usually would. "Stand down or I'll keep tearing your ego apart."

Steam could have sworn for just a moment that everything had begun melting around her when the painful realization hit him. Hellfire poured out from her body and began scorching everything it touched, forcing Steam to back up quickly lest he burn up in the growing blaze. What the hell do I do here? He had to ask himself before gritting his teeth and launching himself through it, despite the pain it caused him, to tackle her and throw her even farther away from the rest of the group. He had to take a moment to recover, holding the burn marks over his body as they stung. Fucking hell...

Without any warning, an unmistakable low and smooth voice interrupted the both of them. "Zareil… that is enough."

Zareil growled deeply, a hateful glare aimed at Steam. "God dammit," she muttered.

Steam gritted his teeth, clenching his fist painfully and preparing for anything. "Kaden," he replied. "Getting between her and the person she wants to kill won't help anything."

Kaden gave Steam a cold look before turning his attention fully to Zareil. In demonic tongues, he muttered to her, "Losing control of yourself in this manner is unacceptable. You know this."

She replied in kind, much of her anger suddenly seeming to just vanish. "I don't understand how he's avoiding what I throw at him!"

"It is likely that he has fought you before, in his own timeline," Kaden remarked, idly blasting a stray demon away when it wandered close to him.

"He's irritating," Zareil muttered, grabbing her spear. "I want him dead."

"Then make him so," was the idle reply. "I have other targets to focus on." With that said, he simply vanished.

There was no hesitation in her next attack, her spear colliding with Steam's side faster than he could manage to react. His body was sent flying into the trees, but he forced himself to stand the moment he was close to the ground, swiping his sword to stop her blows as best he could. It seemed that Kaden's words alone, whatever he'd said to her, was enough to make her fight more rationally, and that was a serious problem for Steam. He was banking on her being angry and out of control, but now… He suddenly felt the sensation of being held in place as her spear pierced his stomach.

Elsewhere, Locke stopped what he was doing when he saw a familiar form approaching. Feeling quite grim all of a sudden, he dropped out of the air and landed on the ground in front of his old friend. "Hey, Kaden… been a while." Predictably, his greeting was largely ignored. Sword in hand, Kaden rushed him, forcing Locke to block with one of his arms in order to spare his face. The blade tore through skin and dug into bone, but the echidna barely reacted with more than a wince. "You're holding back," he accused lightly. "You've been off your game lately. Seems like it's pretty bad now. Something on your mind?"

Still determined to ignore him, Kaden kicked Locke away. As the echidna went hurtling across the grass and through a tree, Kaden looked into the distance and frowned. By the time he'd fully made sense of what he was seeing, Locke was back and Kaden was tossing him a hot glare. "You believe I would be fool enough to waltz into that?" he muttered.

"No, not really," Locke shrugged, picking a leaf out of his hair. "I'm kinda figuring that we're not gonna give you much of a choice in the matter. And trust me, we're prepared to use more force than even you can easily overcome." Not saying another word, Kaden was upon him again. Their private battle had begun.

By now, elsewhere on the battlefield, Cyril was stuck in a relentless loop of dodging a sword and various other types of attacks. The enemy had realized that his entire battle style relied on the cards on his belt and was now taking great care to keep him from getting to them. Cyril wracked his mind for a way out of this, and it came in a stray demon being thrown across the battlefield by some attack. He saluted the general and allowed himself to get hit by the demon so he'd be sent a distance away. Once he was capable of moving again, he grabbed a Tarot Card. A faint grimace came on his face when he realized it was the Strength card. "Eh, oh well."

The Babylonian snatched up a stick from the ground and parried the sword blow coming at him with a grin, knowing the surprise on the demon's face was true. "Ah, you gotta forgive me. Magical surprises are indeed my specialty." He then proceeded to engage in a careful battle of sword against stick, with the wooden thing in his hand now somehow more than capable of standing up to a semi-Immortal's blows, at least temporarily. When it finally snapped under the pressure, Cyril did a backwards somersault and waved his hand, causing the ground to surge up at the enemy and hit them in the head. "I'll teach you to fear me yet!"

In his own fight, Steam felt the spear's pole collide with his head more times than he could count, his only saving grace being the magic he was forced to now use to protect himself. Fucking hell. Seeing that everyone else was doing okay gave him the tiniest bit of relief, but he couldn't dwell on that as the demon relentlessly pounded away at his slowly dwindling defenses. A quick movement allowed him to escape the endless blows and wrap his legs around Zareil's neck and twist, throwing her into the air where he collided with her in a massive explosion of Dragonfire and Light, sending her further upward. Now's as good a time as any to make use of this trick.

The hedgehog then propelled himself after her, bringing his knee up into her stomach, following up with another knee once he caught up to her soaring body. The third hit was far more powerful than the last two, an even larger explosion of Dragonfire accentuating his axe kick to rocket her into the ground. He could feel blood loss creeping up on him, but he ignored it temporarily and rushed after Zareil. The only reason he'd even thought of something like that was a fight he'd once had with Jet, as much as it pained him to remember.

Further away, a different part of the plan was commencing. Not for the first time, Jet cast a sharp glance in Locke's direction while he and his parents worked. He's keeping Kaden busy for the moment… but it won't last long.

Sein followed Jet's gaze, a deepening frown on his face. "You alright, bud?" he questioned in a soft manner.

"We don't have much time left," Jet warned quietly, hoping beyond hope that Kaden wasn't paying attention to what they were saying. Lord only knew his ears were sensitive enough. "Kaden won't bother with Locke much longer. It isn't his primary goal."

"We got this," Sein encouraged, keeping quiet as well. "We'll pull through, okay? Don't forget that."

It was at that point that Alana spoke up. "I believe we are as ready as we can be," she said. "We cannot afford to spend more time on this. We will reinforce and seal it once he is inside."

Sein nodded. "You're right." His gaze trained on Steam in the distance, grimacing. Hold on just a little longer, kid. We're almost there.

"How are we going to get him in here?" Alana then asked. Jet was silent, already thinking that matter over as quickly but as accurately as he could.

"I'm not sure, we might have to force him in," Sein murmured. "Though, if you guys have any ideas, I'm all ears."

"Force will be the only method that works," Jet interjected. "It is just a matter of how best to force him into it."

Sein frowned. "We can't take him by surprise. I'm sure he knows what's going on. He's probably ready for us to try."

Jet nodded a little, not unlike Sein had done moments before. "If we are able to contain him on a much smaller scale, perhaps via our auras… we may be able to throw him in before he can react. But we will need to be swift. He will be faster than even Shei or Espio if he feels the need."

"Think it's worth the shot?" Sein questioned.

"It may be our best shot," Jet answered slowly. Perhaps our only one, as well.

"Then let's go for it," Sein said. "No holding back."

Alana opened her mouth to say something, but closed her mouth sharply and dodged to the side when an explosion of Sunfire sent Kaden rocketing past her. He caught himself within a second or two and landed neatly on the ground. Knowing it was now or never, Jet began gathering up his aura as quickly as possible. Immediately, both Sein and Alana joined him in this.

For Cyril some distance away, the battlefield now was his weapon. He threw all manner of things at his opponent, including but not limited to: various rocks, sticks, the ground itself, and tree branches that he could grab. Truthfully, it was because this area was more or less clean and he'd neglected to get a proper weapon, so his last card wasn't exactly the best to have gotten. But now… it was gone and he could grab another. His grin grew wider than ever and he suddenly asked, "You ever met a master gambler?"

The Babylonian had to neatly lean back to avoid his head being chopped off. He quickly balanced on his hands and delivered a strong kick to the demon's chin before continuing. "Guess not. Consider yourself lucky, 'cause you've got the displeasure of meeting the best of the best!" He activated some unknown power of his and snatched a tarot, his grin only growing when he saw The Moon. Suddenly, he was dodging every hit without even trying, seeming to know exactly what they would be doing before they knew. Careful movements allowed Cyril to put his enemy in a chokehold before realizing he wasn't sure where to go from here. Before he could really think too deeply on that, he watched as another arrow of Light pierced the head of his enemy, killing them instantly.

He smiled brightly to Rose, waving his thanks before moving on to rejoin the fray… only to find himself snatched up in the claws of a demon that didn't even seem to realize it was holding him by the arms. "Uh, little help?" he yelled out.

Somewhat close to the struggling Babylonian, Steam found himself barely avoiding being impaled several times over, the hardening of his skin no longer being enough to keep the end of the spear away. Every time he grabbed his sword, it was knocked free of his hand. He'd stopped trying to grab it, because every time he did so it left him open to suffer another wound. He couldn't afford to take much more damage, but the situation was not dire enough for him to do anything drastic. Hearing Cyril, he took the opportunity to briefly escape and free the Babylonian from the unsuspecting demon's clutches with a powerful punch. "Cover Rose before she gets swarmed," he said before teleporting Cyril away.

He didn't have time to react, feeling Zareil's spear stab through the lower part of his chest this time. The wound on his abdomen was healed for the most part, but a fresh one left him momentarily limp from the pain. Fuck, fuck, fuck! With little hesitation, he sent himself flying backward, further down the spear and slamming into Zareil to knock her into the ground. Hitting the ground was an awful sensation, the vibrations reaching inside his body and causing him to cough up an unhealthy amount of blood, not that he hadn't already been doing so before.

The demoness threw him off of her spear and into a tree, pinning him up against it with her foot with her spear planted firmly against his forehead. "Any last words?" she spat, letting her Darkness creep outward and surround him. Steam for once said nothing, shifting his head and biting down onto her spear to shift it when she lunged forward, only able to tear his cheek open and nothing more. He returned the favor with vicious punches to her temples, driving her back with the sheer force behind each hit. He was pissed, and now he just knew he couldn't let her get the best of him again.

On the other side of the battlefield, Jet gritted his teeth in response to the energy-related strain he felt as his aura battled fiercely with Kaden's Darkness in an effort to pin him down. Locke had been forced to go elsewhere to help Wave, meaning this was on him and his parents to handle. As he'd warned, though, Kaden was fast. And, incidentally, he was also not too keen on the idea of being captured. He wasn't prepared to make this easy for them. Still… he had willingly come near the trap to begin with. Maybe some small part of him did want this to happen? To finally be saved after so many years? Jet hardly dared to hope.

Sein fought back as hard as he could, already feeling his body wanting to shift into an Aura form with how much he was putting out. Instead of fighting this feeling for now, he allowed it to happen. It would be more tiring, but this sort of battle was worth the downsides. Following his lead, Alana also allowed herself to shift, as she knew it would give her even more aura power to work with. Jet, however, didn't follow suit. His eyes glowed from within as he tapped into even more of his own power, and it was more than enough to keep up with them.

With not one but three Immortals pressing down on him with all their might (all of their non-existence-breaking might, at least), Kaden found himself struggling to properly fight back. Fighting one Immortal was one thing, but fighting three was an entirely new experience for him. To be perfectly honest, he didn't know that he had expected anything else, or what he had expected at all. Which begged the question of why had he come over here to begin with. Locke's words rang in his ears, that he was "off his game". The man was more correct than Kaden was willing to admit aloud.

His brief distraction provided just enough of an opening for Jet to fully encase Kaden in his aura. Alana immediately set about helping him and dragging the sphere (with the fiercely struggling demon now fully inside) toward the larger, more secure trap. All the while, they used their auras to suppress his movement, his powers, everything that they could in an effort to keep him under control long enough. Sein backed them both up, putting his all into this. It's working… just a bit more…

They had successfully dragged him to within about five feet of the trap when the sphere of aura energy violently cracked all over before damn-near shattering. Vast swaths of Darkness poured out of every opening, and Jet felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. If he's able to go into his Dark form despite us suppressing him, we won't be able to hold him any longer! Damn!

Magic and Light exploded from the other side of the battlefield, Steam crying out something as a massive snake made of the two energies surged through the horde of demons and drug Zareil with him, effectively drawing as much attention to himself as he could. Every demon he touched was vaporized by the immensely powerful Light coursing through his attack, taking out whatever he collided with as he ravaged the enemy forces.

Now that he had the opportunity to do so, Jet reluctantly grabbed the crystal Steam had given him. It was best saved for emergencies and, well, this most certainly was one. Probably the worst emergency he'd faced in some time, as a matter of fact. Left with little other choice despite how much he knew this would harm Kaden, Jet flung the crystal at the hedgehog down below at high velocity. When it made impact, the explosion of Light proved to be more than enough to quell every last bit of Darkness Kaden had been putting out. With that, he unceremoniously flung the now agonized demon into the trap and sealed it shut with his parents' help.

Now that Steam knew Kaden had been contained, his attack faded out of existence and he plummeted from the sky, only barely managing to make a landing that didn't kill him on impact. Despite the damage he'd caused Zareil, she had managed to protect herself enough that she was still standing and landed over him, poised to kill if she hadn't felt the sting of Rose's blade in her back. She pulled away quickly, ready to fight her as well only for her gaze to shift in Kaden's direction. For once, she felt herself pause out of… something akin to fear. It wasn't actual fear, but she couldn't believe it.

A red fog began seeping from her body and she batted Rose away, rushing at the Immortals with the intent to kill them all. The fog quickly began to cover the battlefield, surrounding most every being in the area. Jet and Alana turned to her, ready for an additional struggle, as Kaden pushed himself up with agony laden arms. Seeing her coming and knowing this would end even worse for them if she was also captured, he snapped at her, "Leave, Zareil!" his Darkness violently slamming against the walls of the barrier-like trap in response to his fury. However, residual traces of Eona's Light caused the display to quickly peter out. He cursed while simultaneously snarling.

Once more, she paused. Direct orders like this weren't often poised at her, as she simply did what he wanted without hesitation. She fought with herself, wanting to ignore him but also not wanting to disobey. Ultimately she withdrew, unwilling to face his wrath or whatever fate awaited her if she had ignored him. Almost disbelieving of this turn of events, Jet watched her go for a long moment before fully returning his attention to adding layer upon layer of extra strength and defense to the trap with the help of Sein and Alana.

Far from where they were, Cyril found himself trapped amidst the fog, dodging around several demons as best he could. By now, his tarot was about to fade, but he wasn't sure what was happening. Nothing bad came from the fog. At least, that was what he thought until he saw Rose. The woman was lying on her side, curled up and sobbing loudly. He ran over to her, using the demons as stepping stones before scooping her up along with Steam and rushing over to the Immortals since Wave and Locke were keeping demons away from there.

Wave and Locke were busy "convincing" the hordes of demons to follow Zareil and take their leave of this place when Wave spied Cyril. In an instant, she was by his side and helping him ease Rose and Steam into the grass. "What in the hell?" she asked, eyes on Rose in particular.

"I think it's that fog! Get everyone out of there!" Cyril exclaimed.

There was apparently no time to waste. Deciding they would be safest at Tails's home (which Eila and Silver were sheltering somewhat nearby to), she teleported Rose and Steam there. Then she reappeared amongst Sonic's not-so-little group. "Time to go. See you in a bit." With no further warning, she sent them away as well. She reappeared a second time, this time in the air by Tails's ship. Holding it up with magic, she powered it down. "You two are going back, too. For safety's sake, and because we're mostly done here." She teleported them away.

One final time, Wave reappeared. This time, she was right by Aniko and Shei. She spied Espio in the distance, at odds with one particularly tenacious general that refused to leave or die at the moment. At least they were out of range of the fog, for now. "For your sake," she said quickly, "I need you guys to teleport away from here. None of this weird fog is reaching the village, so you can shelter there. I just need you out of it."

Aniko was going to agree, but she heard a decidedly loud roar (nothing like what Zareil had done earlier). Massive dark tendrils crashed through the battlefield as Armaris was apparently fighting a general suddenly. She gritted her teeth. "We need to get her under control before it gets any worse," she countered. "Can you do that without us or not?"

"Take her with you," Wave instructed. "I need to get back to helping Jet and his parents. If anything breaks their concentration too much this early on, Kaden might escape. They need more time to truly seal him in there."

The female chameleon growled again and shot off before the mist could reach them, borderline tackling the general and ripping his throat open before collecting Armaris and teleporting them both away with Shei. Wave spread word to Espio after that, who promptly left as soon as his opponent was dead. Wave returned to her position at that point, ready to help fend off whatever demons still remained.

~保護者~

"...Maybe the fight's wrapping up?" Silver mumbled to himself, peering out of the barrier anxiously. His ears picked up the sounds of people reappearing in Tails's home a ways away, but he couldn't tell yet if they brought with them good news… or bad.

Eila huffed gently. "Don't hold your breath," she murmured. "There's no telling if it's over. Just be prepared to run if something breaks that barrier."

His ears lowered. "Yeah… Tails is a great inventor and all, but I don't think he's ever spent much time on tech like this. I don't think it'd hold up if something hit it too hard. He seemed worried about it, too."

"I'll buy time if something does break it. Your primary objective is to get the hell out of here if that happens," Eila answered. "Your life is more important than mine, anyway," she added in a whisper.

"If I run, I'm taking you with me," Silver told her, wearing what was for him a very rare frown. One that was incredibly serious and firm. "I may not agree with who you were and I may not like the things you've done, I'll admit that right now, but I'm willing to trust what I've sensed from you lately. You're not the same person anymore, and even if you were… well, no one deserves to die to a tidal wave of bloodthirsty demons. They just don't."

"You sound like my sister," Eila muttered, as if unhappy. "Insanely bound to morals that might get you killed, no matter the situation." Her gaze shifted to him. "Not gonna say I'm mad about it, but know that if there was a choice as to who should live, it would always be you unless it was my sister. She's the only one who would make that choice."

"Without those morals, none of us would be here," Silver shrugged. "This war wouldn't be happening. The bad guys would just… win. If it gets me killed a second time, that's just what has to happen. I won't like it and my family and friends will hurt because of it, but that's the nature of what we do. We put ourselves in a position to suffer so that no one else hopefully does. And you… I'd say you've suffered enough for one lifetime."

For all Silver knew, she might not have been listening. At least, not until he said the last part. Her ears shifted and she did her level best to turn her head away, but she just couldn't. A few tears welled up in her eyes as she muttered, "Just know that I'm gonna make sure you live even if it means I die."

"Then I'll return the favor," was the even reply. "But I want you to know that I won't let you die just because you want to. It hurts now, but trust me… it'll hurt a lot more if you let yourself end it like this. Your soul will have to live with it for an eternity, and so will your sister." Silver turned his head to look at her. "I'm not here to tell you what to do or how you should feel. This is just… my opinion, I guess. Don't put yourself or her through anymore pain, if it can be helped. Alright? Just focus on moving forward. Baby steps are more than enough, at this stage."

The tears flowed whether she wanted them to or not. "I hate you guys…" she whispered, trying her level best to sound mad. Eila couldn't stop herself and closed her eyes. "Just shut up…"

Telepathic powers or no telepathic powers, Silver knew a bold-faced lie when he saw one. He managed a faint smile. "Sure. I can stop talking, if you want. Doesn't make my words any less the truth, though."

"...Please don't stop," Eila muttered suddenly. She couldn't voice it, both because she was crying a bit too much and because it hurt to admit that she enjoyed the fact that Silver was displaying any level of care or trust toward her. The son of one of the people she'd directly attacked. It hurt, but she couldn't tell him that. I appreciate it… so much.

Smiling even more, Silver sat down beside her and continued talking again, this time about things a bit more lighthearted that hopefully wouldn't cause her any more anguish for now. He saw it as the least he could do.

~保護者~

10,750 words this time. Many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support. Posted (at about 6:45 p.m.) 12-09-20.