Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this time of desperation… especially for the ones who need saving.

~保護者~

"Inbound"

~保護者~

Alana almost seemed to be in shock. It was the best way Wave knew how to describe the way the older woman had reacted to the news of Jet being captured. She almost seemed to be reacting to some sort of old trauma, but Wave couldn't fathom what that trauma was. Unable to help herself, Wave had passed her off to the staff in the medical ward and briefly gone to Lucas. It went without saying that she spared him the details and didn't say the full truth, but even so… telling that sweet child that his daddy was going to be gone for a while was still not a conversation she'd wanted to have with him.

There had been tears. She'd expected tears. With the nanny's help, though, the child was calmed and put to bed. Only once he'd been taken care of did Wave go to check on Kath. She was pleased to see that the hawk was finally asleep again, but something was… off. Asleep or not, he seemed uneasy. Azerel did, too. His hackles raised before Wave's eyes as he seemingly focused on something she wasn't yet aware of. Without her favored powers, she was scrambling to readjust to using aura senses as opposed to magical ones.

By the time she'd managed to locate the newcomer, Azerel was becoming vocal with his displeasure. "Cyril?" she mumbled, frowning to herself. She cast a glance at Azerel, who was snarling loudly enough now to start to wake Kath in spite of the medicine in his system. "Azerel, hush!" she whispered to him. "Why are you growling at Cyril? He isn't-" Too late, she sensed the stark difference in Cyril's energies. With a gasp, she whirled around to face in the direction where she could sense his energies coming from. No… No, it can't be…

All at once magic slammed through the walls of the palace where Wave was, tearing through the walls after mere seconds of being exposed to it as Cyril approached quickly. Wave was forced to try to defend herself with a barrier of aura energy, but she was still slammed through a wall for her efforts. Knowing she had to act fast, she used her powers to teleport, Kath and Azerel away, closely followed by Arkiri and everyone else on this floor. Everyone else could evacuate on their own. They'd have to.

Cyril appeared by her and launched another attack of a similar manner, giving her no more time to recover. His eyes… weren't the same. Orbs once filled with brightness and joy were brimming with anger and ferocity. Wave threw up another barrier before launching her friend away long enough to stand. "Cyril," she breathed, still in shock. "What happened to you?"

The finch returned and floated in the air before her, magic of all colors swirling about him. "Nareish." He said nothing more, the magic beginning to coalesce around Wave with the intent to crush her.

Unable to do much to defend herself, Wave tried to keep him talking long enough for her to think of something, anything she could do to salvage this situation. "Why are you working for her?" she demanded. "It isn't like you, Cyril! There isn't a bad bone in your whole goofy body!"

"Wasn't my choice. She didn't give me a choice," Cyril muttered, closing the magic in further around her in agitation. "I hate her, but I can't do a thing about it right now."

The idea of Cyril of all people hating someone sent a cold chill through Wave's body. This isn't you, Cyril… There has to be some way to free you…! As the magic closed in on her and her aura barriers cracked under the strain, Wave gritted her teeth. This is bad… I can't do anything against this...

"Stop resisting," Cyril muttered, forcing the magic further and further. He hadn't wanted to do this, but it wasn't his choice, as he'd said.

"You kn-know I can't do that," Wave muttered back, managing a weak smirk. "Gotta reputation to uphold, you know… I'm supposed to be strong."

"I had hoped you would have your magic," Cyril admitted. "You would have found a way to beat me. But you lost it. You didn't tell anyone, did you?"

Wave closed her eyes. "I wanted to tell Jet, first. I was panicking. He's… good at helping me work through things logically. Things just kept happening." Pain made her shudder, but she suppressed the reaction shortly afterward. "You didn't see him, Cyril, but the state he was in… I couldn't burden him further. I also couldn't just leave him. There wasn't a chance for me to tell you, the only other person I would have told, either."

"You should have beaten me," Cyril muttered. "That would have prevented all of this. I chose to come after you instead of helping whatever is controlling Eila because I couldn't handle torturing someone. I know that. I wanted you to beat me, kill me. Whatever it took." Cyril closed the magic in further. "But you can't!"

With a bitter chuckle, Wave mumbled, "Yes, well… I live to disappoint." No sooner than she'd finished speaking, she coughed badly in pain several times. "I wouldn't have killed you, anyway. You know that. No matter what happens, you're my friend. You're my dorky, doofus of a friend, and I would have found some other way to help you. I'm sorry that I can't."

Cyril snapped, but not necessarily at her. "Beat me, dammit! Find a way! I hate this!" His hand moved and he launched her away, his magic tearing through more of the palace.

With brutal force, Wave slammed into the ground. She coughed again, wincing in pain as she pushed herself up. "I can't, Cyril," she murmured. "Without magic, the only substantial power I have is my aura. It can't do anything against your magic, and you and I both know it."

He didn't like hearing this, lashing out at the ground near her with his magic, causing her to fall back down. "Wave… you're supposed to be so much better than me! You are better! Why is this happening?" he demanded.

"Not better," Wave groaned, shuddering in fresh pain. "You and I were always pretty on par, I think." She coughed once again, this time tasting blood, and grimaced a little. With shaking arms, she pushed herself up a second time. Then, almost soothingly, she murmured, "You're losing it, Cyril. I don't know if you can control it, but try to reign in your anger… It's only going to make you feel even worse."

"Shut up," Cyril muttered, lifting her off the ground. "Shut up, please. I chose this because I couldn't let anything bad happen, but here we are. For what it's worth, I'll regret everything if I'm ever freed from her."

"I know," Wave coughed. Whatever remained of her barriers flickered and then vanished. "And- And, sorry. Shutting up isn't my strong suit. Pretty sure you know that."

"Whatever happens to Jet… know that I wanted nothing to do with it. In the future, I know I'll want to try and remain friends." Cyril increased the pressure, his eyes glowing. "But I don't think that's possible now." Wave couldn't reply anymore. She coughed up more blood, her body shuddering in pain as his magic closed in around her. Black spots started filling her vision, but she wasn't so out of it that she missed the sudden sound of a new voice from behind Cyril.

"Put… my daughter… down."

Cyril took this chance to release Wave and turn to the new arrival, eyes narrowing. "Are you strong enough to beat me? You had better be, or I can't promise I'll be able to stop again."

The tan Hexan, Wave's father Han, narrowed his eyes right back at Cyril. With a small motion of his hand and a flash of gold, he drew a Hex in the air and slammed it into Cyril. Once he was knocked away from Wave, Han took the opportunity to teleport his daughter to their home realm. "You wish to be beaten?" he muttered. "Unusual."

"I didn't want to hurt her!" Cyril snapped, magic lifting him off the ground. "I didn't want this! She was supposed to win!"

Han frowned at this, his mind working quickly. "Some form of corruption…? ...I see. Nareish, then." Shaking his head, he drew another Hex into the air in front of him with a finger. "I apologize for how much this will hurt. It will put you down for a time. Perhaps we will find a solution for you before it wears off."

"It won't hurt as bad as I will after," Cyril murmured, his magic receding into his body. He didn't have to fight Han, and he knew it. With Wave gone, he was safe to simply stand there and accept it. For only the second time in all of his life, he cursed. Fuck you, Nareish.

"I understand." With a flick of his finger, Han hurled the symbol at Cyril and let it overload the Babylonian with endless pain until Cyril's body finally gave out. He rushed forward and caught Cyril before he could hit the ground, then teleported to the Lost Hex with him. It was the only safe place he knew.

~保護者~

Several hours of brutal training came and went. As he'd always done, Gerald had forced Shadow to work immensely hard in a short span of time, pushing him past his limits over and over again until Shadow was unable to keep it up anymore. Only once he'd reached that point had the training stopped for the time being. Now Shadow was restrained on yet another cold metal table, and all he could do was tensely watch as Gerald worked away nearby. Everything hurt and he was beyond exhausted now, but he didn't (rather, couldn't) let himself focus on that. He needed to stay alert, to pay attention to what Gerald was doing. If he didn't, he wouldn't be able to brace himself for the next bit of hell when it came. For his own sake, he needed to be ready.

"Hm, so she was right. Your body is attempting to bear a spawn," Gerald murmured. "Not being aware of that for the whole process is a pain, but that's no matter." He stood up and pulled a large device to the table, performing in-depth scans of Shadow's body before once more returning to the computer. "It does bear DNA that's of a race I was unaware of, so I'm led to believe it was with the mate you so perfectly chose for me."

The confirmation of what Shadow had suspected might be the case made his blood run cold, but after a second his mind inexplicably chose to focus on another detail. ...Mate?

Gerald rolled his chair over and sat with his hands held together in his lap. "Tell me, what is this person like?"

Though unable to disobey a direct command, Shadow did have the ability to stall very briefly. Sort of, anyway. It wouldn't accomplish much, but annoying this bastard was good enough for the moment. "Referring to personality, or…?"

The man sighed. "I did not strip enough of your free will away, it seems. No matter. Tell me of his mannerisms. How he responds to things. You surely know what I want to know, being the best of my creations." Well, there went that. This command was too detailed. He had no leeway. With no other options, he reluctantly began giving Gerald the information he wanted. Gerald leaned back in his chair, thinking. "A chameleon with those sorts of… traits… The emotion can be discarded, but the violent tendencies are what excites me the most. I can make good use of that."

Internally, Shadow cringed. But he knew better than to react that way on the surface. In fact, he knew better than to react that way at all. He found his mind suddenly reminding him, Weapons don't have emotions. None. Stop reacting.

"I may need to get more… samples soon. See what can be done to produce more spawn and create more weapons. You won't object to that, right?" Gerald asked. Unable to tell this man 'no' regardless of how badly he wanted to, Shadow remained silent. It was more productive than pointlessly trying and failing to protest. "Good to hear. Next we'll begin further updating your code and removing that… freedom you hold onto."

Shadow forced himself not to react, even internally. He'd known this was coming, and part of him was already resigning to it. He was just a fucking tool, after all… It didn't matter what he wanted. More and more, it was starting to feel like it never had mattered. That everything he'd ever done in his life had only led him back here… Suddenly, it all felt so pointless. Why had he bothered when at the end of it all nothing had truly changed? He still belonged to Gerald. He was still a weapon. He still had no purpose, no reason for ever having existed beyond that.

It was all so fucking pointless…

~保護者~

She couldn't have come back at a better time.

That thought rang loud and clear through Tails's mind for the umpteenth time as he glanced in Wery's direction. She and Tails were working as hard as they could, trying desperately to find Shadow and figure out what was happening with him. Shortly after Tails looked back at his screen, he drew in a sharp breath as his stress levels spiked. "No way…" Swallowing hard, he forced himself to focus and said quickly, "T-Toru, I found him… but according to this, he's somewhere that hasn't even existed since South Island fell!" He drew in a calming breath, but it didn't fully help. "The person who created him, he used this place called the Space Colony ARK as his base of operations, and th-this…" With a shaking hand, he gestured at the image on screen. "This is it."

The way the chameleon reacted was hostile, but not toward the foxes. No, Toru visibly lurched toward the image of the ARK, knowing that's where Shadow was being held. His intention was obvious. "Where?"

In response, Tails pulled the necessary data for Toru and sent it to his communicator. "It's in some other realm… I don't know how you're going to be able to get there."

"I will find a way," Toru muttered, already looking over what he was sent. Seeing this made his blood boil and his Darkness slowly reach out around him.

Tails nodded slowly, his expression tight with emotion. "Toru… I can only begin to imagine what's being done to him there. Do me a favor, for his sake, and trash the place."

"I'll tear it's sorry existence out of this universe," Toru answered before Wery spoke up.

"Toru… please be careful. We don't know what exactly is happening," Wery said in a gentle murmur.

In response to that, Tails said, "It might be a good idea to take Steam with you. He's about the only person who's free, and it's better than going alone."

Toru didn't say another word, teleporting away in search of Steam. When he found the hedgehog, he had the temptation to simply go alone after seeing the state he was in. Stress evident on his face and it had grown obvious he'd had some sort of anxiety-related event happen recently. He knelt down by Steam and shook the hedgehog. "Are you alright?"

"...Yeah, I'm… I'm fine. Just… a bit worn out," Steam explained before realizing who was talking to him. He immediately shifted to stand, eyes narrowed. "What happened?"

"Someone took Shadow to this 'Space Colony ARK'," Toru muttered. "Tails wanted me to take you so we could rescue him."

The chameleon watched as Steam visibly shifted through a range of emotions. Panic, fear, concern, anger, and then downright fury. Steam had a past history with this, but Toru wouldn't get into that. He wanted this kind of aid since Steam seemed to know what was happening. "We're going, now," Steam growled, already teleporting them both away.

They floated before the ARK, in all of its technological prowess… the massive prison that Gerald had created to house his various creations. It wasn't just that, but also the man's home. Steam wanted nothing more than to watch it fall. Toru shared this sentiment and decided to make it come to fruition, rocketing himself into the massive thing and ripping a hole through the walls to get in. Toru could tell where Shadow was as he walked down the hallways. His Darkness lashed out at everything around him except for Steam, tearing into and through the metal with ease.

Lockdown procedures began and Steam acted quickly, launching himself forward and blasting massive holes through every door that slammed shut in their way. When one wouldn't give to an attack, he instead shoved his fingers between the crack and pried it open with all of his strength. Various other security measures tried to stand between Shadow and the both of them, but Steam knew the layout. He knew this building. He had almost always been conscious, always aware. Seeing everything he'd once wished he could forget forced his anger to new heights, levels of which he hadn't experienced in a long time.

Finally, they arrived at a final lockdown door. Steam grabbed Toru's arm and muttered in a surprisingly calm tone. "Subdue Shadow immediately. If we don't, he'll be forced to fight us."

Toru nodded and tore the door down, removing it from the wall and slamming his body none-too-gently into Shadow's as his Darkness and the power he'd copied from Zareil surrounded the hedgehog's body. Steam however approached Gerald who was frantically typing away at his computer. Before Steam could lay a finger on the man, he was transported away with every piece of undamaged equipment in the room, including the ones he used to help him command Shadow.

Steam slammed his fists against where the computer had been, growling in agitation. "Toru, tear this place apart. I'm taking Shadow back."

The two traded spots, Steam teleporting away with Shadow while Toru's Darkness went wild. He could feel it rising, but he didn't expect the change that came with it. His already black body shifted somehow further as it transformed into Darkness while his silver eyes became a pure, glowing white. He let out all of his fury and hatred at once, watching as the ARK was torn apart, piece by piece. To say he was pissed was an understatement. I will find you. I will brutalize you. My mother's death will be a joke compared to yours.

When the ARK was sufficiently destroyed and hardly anything but scrap remained, Toru turned to Steam and allowed him to teleport them back to Mobius as his body slowly returned to normal. Despite the intense exhaustion quickly overwhelming him, Toru moved into the workshop with Steam, watching as Wery and Tails (very reluctantly) administered a controlled amount of electricity to render him unconscious.

He watched silently as Wery and Tails worked tirelessly to deal with whatever Gerald had done to him on the ARK. He couldn't comprehend it, but he could sense their urgency. Steam's anxiety returning full force. Everything around them. Before he realized it, his own body slipped into an unconscious state, falling asleep as there was no energy remaining for his body to run off of.

Toru's eyes snapped open, and he was suddenly aware of time having passed. He was on some sort of bed in the workshop. Steam wasn't there, but Tails and Wery were. And so was Shadow. He stood and walked over to them, watching as they worked. Wery seemed far… less panicked than she had been earlier that day. Not to say that she wasn't still going at this fervently, it just seemed a bit of the urgency was gone. "What happened while I was asleep?" Toru asked slowly.

Tails started at the sound of Toru's voice, but he quickly relaxed and took in a deep breath. "A… A lot?" he mumbled weakly. "We had to take some drastic measures, but… I think we were successful. There are these chips Gerald installed in Shadow when he was an infant. One allows him to control Shadow, taking away his free will and forcing him to obey. Another blocks his emotions, aside from the ones Gerald sees as beneficial at times. Such as hatred. We had help from Amy, but we managed to safely remove those. I've never dared to before, but… we just had to this time."

Wery spoke up after Tails. "I've been working to rewrite this code. It's a mess, but a genius mess. Nothing I have comprehends it, so I'm having to learn it as I go so we can remove traces of what this guy did to Shadow."

"...Do you guys mind if I watch?" Toru questioned.

With a shake of his head, Tails answered. "No. It'll be good for you to stick around, anyway. He's probably going to regain consciousness right about the time that Wery finishes. He's going to need you to be here. I can't even imagine the state his mind and emotions are going to be in after going through all of that again."

Toru nodded. "I had no intention of leaving."

Wery smiled in his direction. "You're a good boyfriend, Toru. I'm glad Shadow has someone like you in his life."

In response, Tails nodded, managing a fleeting smile of his own. "He's happy with you. Happier than he's ever been with anyone else. I don't know how much he realizes it yet, but I can see it. And I'm happy that he's happy. Thank you, Toru, for helping him feel that way after so long."

The chameleon blinked a few times. Was it really that much to him? Eventually, he only nodded. He couldn't formulate much in the way of responses due to how exhausted he was. "Good to know."

Returning his focus to Wery, Tails asked, "How much more do you need to do? I don't think we have a ton more time left before he starts waking up. I don't know about you, but I don't want to use my electricity on him ever again."

"I can… probably have it done in ten minutes. Like I said… this is a mess. One that only the programmer can comprehend," Wery murmured, returning to her computer.

Tails nodded again. "Right. Toru, we'll let you know as soon as this is done, okay?"

"Thank you," Toru murmured, taking a seat behind them to watch the two work. As this went on, he supposed that he had to admit something. He trusted these two a lot more than he'd ever expected to. Maybe it was because of their relationship with Shadow, or maybe he just saw them as beneficial since they could help Shadow in ways Toru never could. Whatever it was… he trusted that they'd do the best work they could manage.

Wery finished before the ten minute mark, something that Toru was keeping track of. He watched as she connected to Shadow and uploaded whatever she'd been working on. Then, Toru stood and walked over to Shadow, hoping beyond all hope that Shadow was okay. He hardly even registered his sister climbing up on his back to watch with him.

Turning around in his seat, Tails said quietly to him, "You can safely take him away from here, now. We're done, and he's not going to… do well, being surrounded with equipment right now."

Toru thought about this for a moment before nodding and carefully scooping Shadow into his arms and teleporting away. Wery turned to Tails with obvious concern in her eyes. "This… this isn't over, is it?"

The other fox grimaced. "Not by far. Gerald won't give up that easily, and he won't be beaten that easily, either. In the past, he was only finally stopped when South Island exploded with him on it… if that's any indication of what we're up against."

"Well, I'm not going to let him hurt Shadow anymore," Wery said, already beginning to type away at her keyboard. "See if I can't teach him that hurting people is bad."

Somehow, Tails managed a fleeting smile. "I won't let him get away with it, either. Let's take him down a few pegs."

Meanwhile, Toru had taken Shadow to the Highlands, wanting to keep the hedgehog far away from technology and anything that could be perceived as equipment. He and his sister patiently awaited for anything to happen, hoping most for Shadow to awaken. After a few minutes, Shadow started to show signs of coming to. He grimaced a bit, body tensing up in response to the pain he was still in after the day's events, and turned his head away. "Hey, Shadow. Can you hear me?"

It took a moment, but Shadow managed a vague nod in reply. There was no real indication of how awake he was yet, though, even as he started trying to move to push himself up. Toru took a slow step back just to give the other man some room. "You're not on the ARK anymore. You're in the Highlands, in Hyale. It's me and Myriu here with you," the chameleon explained softly.

Eventually, Toru's words and voice registered and Shadow quickly sat up, alarmed and confused and hurting all over even worse now that he'd moved so abruptly. What… What the fuck? Where-

"Me and Steam rescued you," Toru continued in a murmur. "I destroyed the ARK. It's gone," he explained further.

Despite Toru's assurances, an emotion that Shadow hadn't felt since his early childhood started to rise up in him. It took him a minute to recognize it as panic. Immediately, he tried to force the emotion back and to control his breathing, mentally chastising himself all the while. Calm down. Calm down. Stop reacting. You're not supposed to react. Calm down.

Toru could feel this emotion rising and he took a risk. Setting his sister aside, he gently set a hand on Shadow's. "Hey, it's okay. You're here with me." Shadow didn't register the touch, too unfocused by his barely-controlled emotions to notice it or make sense of what Toru was saying. Seeing that it wasn't enough, the chameleon gently moved closer and set his forehead against Shadow's while grabbing the hedgehog's free hand with his own. "Shadow, I need you to listen to me. You can hear me, right?"

For a fleeting second, Shadow's eyes managed to focus on Toru. He drew in a ragged breath and nodded once, but that was all he was able to do in response before he grew unfocused again. Toru gently shifted his arms around Shadow's shoulders and pulled him into a soft hug. That brought Shadow back to himself, a bit. At least, enough to hear what Toru said next. "You're safe here with me and Myriu. Gerald can't hurt you as long as you're with me. I'll make sure of it."

A panicked shiver tore its way through Shadow at the mention of that name, but he was focusing on the rest of Toru's words more for the moment. Though, it was by no means easy for him to. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to make sense of what was going on, where he was, who was there… It was just so damn hard… His heart thudded roughly in his chest as another wave of emotion tried to strike him down. As with before, he quickly resorted to berating himself in an effort to deal with it all. Stop reacting. Stop reacting. You know better. Stop reacting.

As if sensing these thoughts, Toru began talking again. "You're safe here. We're in Hyale, on Mobius. Just me, my sister, and you. It's okay," he assured ever so softly, trying to comfort Shadow by tightening the hug slightly. "Just us, safe together." That physical sensation dragged Shadow out of the depths of panic a bit like it had before, and he was able to breathe a touch more normally. He focused on said breathing for now, knowing in the back of his mind that it needed to be brought under control before he started hyperventilating.

Toru seemed to understand and tightened the hug as much as he could without making it uncomfortable or painful, doing everything he could just to make sure Shadow felt safe. Eventually (Shadow had no real way of comprehending just how much time had passed), Shadow got his breathing under control for the most part. With it, his heart rate began to finally calm as well. He was beginning to calm down, he could feel it, but he still needed to hear it one more time… just to be sure. "Wh… Where am I?" he almost whispered, barely suppressing a small shudder of residual fear.

Hearing this from Shadow wrenched Toru's heart out of his chest, and he repeated with no hesitation, "In Hyale. With me… Safe in my arms."

Slowly, Shadow nodded. He repeated that information back to himself over and over in his mind until it felt like it really stuck, then let out a small and shaky breath. "...Okay…" He felt himself shudder again, this time badly, but with it much of his previous tension fled from him. Finally, he was able to start relaxing… even if only physically. Everything else was happening more slowly. All things considered, he opted to be grateful that it was happening at all.

"Do you want to go home or stay here?" Toru asked gently. "Whatever choice you make is fine, as long as you feel safe."

It was surprising to admit to himself, but Shadow found that he felt safe enough for the time being. At least, so long as Toru remained close. He chose not to say that bit aloud, though. "...Stay," he mumbled. Drawing in a deep breath, he tried to steady himself further. Calm down. This time, this internal command wasn't angry or full of self-loathing, or even really commanding at all. It's… safe. He's here. Calm down.

"Of course," Toru murmured. "We'll stay here as long as we need to."

Shadow nodded a little. Eventually, once he'd collected himself a little more, he said, "I don't… understand. How did you get there?"

"Steam teleported me there," Toru murmured. "He helped me come find you." Shadow nodded a little again, unsure what to make of that or how to reply. "He knew the place well and made sure we went the right way."

That was… good. If Gerald had had even half a chance… "He would have used me to kill you."

Toru sighed. "He would have used you, but I would not let you kill me. I was going to bring you back safely, no matter what." Suddenly, it occurred to Shadow that he wasn't being controlled anymore. Fresh alarm shot through him as he tried to work out why that was the case. What the hell sort of game was Gerald playing at now? Toru leaned back just enough to see Shadow's face and frowned. "What's on your mind?"

Despite having intended on keeping the matter to himself, Shadow found himself immediately replying, "He doesn't just stop controlling me. He never does that."

"He can't," Toru explained. "Tails and Wery made sure of that."

Gradually, as Toru's words sank in, Shadow allowed himself to relax again. He hadn't felt like this for the majority of his life, so tense and afraid and irrational… He didn't know how to handle it, so he tried to focus on other things. "You said… the ARK is gone?"

"I destroyed it," Toru confirmed. "It's gone."

Hearing that helped a lot more than Shadow had expected it to. The relief was intense, and he gave himself time to work through that emotion before finally forcing himself to open his eyes. He was eager to drop this matter entirely, but there was one more thing he knew he needed to bring up. The trick would be saying it in a way that Toru would understand without necessarily letting Myriu know just yet. Looking away, he quietly revealed, "Gerald… performed scans. They confirmed that the blood took hold, Toru."

Toru's eyes widened before his will seemed to resolve. That's fine. "When the time comes for us to make a decision on what to do, I'll be there with you. We can talk about this more when you've calmed down and are able to think clearly again." Shadow only nodded, too drained and exhausted all of a sudden to reply any further. The chameleon shifted back a little bit and looked more fully at Shadow's face. "How are you feeling?" That only garnered a shrug as a response. Toru hugged him close again. "Don't worry about it. I'll happily sit here until you're feeling okay."

It was right about then that Myriu spoke up, walking over and joining the hug. "I want you to be okay, too, Shadow."

Safe. He was... safe.

~保護者~

Analia finished healing the remainder of Rose's exhaustion, wearing a rare frown. Retracting her hands, she murmured, "I cannot supply you with an immense amount of Light, Rose. But I will share with you everything that I can spare. If you are able to subdue her, bring her here. I will… do what I can for her."

Rose stood with her lips trembling. The thought that her sister was in danger was enough on its own, but… that Astra had been brought back? That she was corrupted again? That once more, her life goal returned to bringing her sister back safely? Her heart ached and she couldn't help it. The pain was immense. "I have to fight her… again…" the woman murmured softly.

"I know." Analia transferred as much Light as she could immediately spare into Rose, intent on aiding the other woman as much as possible. "Focus on rescuing her. That is all that matters right now."

Without much warning, Rose suddenly hugged Analia. This whole situation felt wrong. She didn't want to face her sister again. Not again… "I don't know if I can. I never succeeded once in my entire life…"

"You will not be alone this time," Analia told her softly, hugging her back with gentle arms. "I will be with you however I can and, if it becomes necessary… I will call upon aid far greater than my own. We will retrieve your sister. I promise that."

Rose hugged a bit tighter. "I will try to do well… I will try," she murmured. She couldn't make herself leave just yet. The pain was… still too much to bear alone.

Analia gave Rose a gentle squeeze before pulling back a bit. "I know it hurts, Rose… but you must go. Time is of the essence. More than likely, your sister has already done things she will regret later. The sooner we can remove her from the situation, the better it will be."

The cat pushed herself to stand and unsheathed her blade, taking a long moment to stare at it before nodding. "...Thank you again, Analia. I did not deserve the amount of help you have given me, but you graciously offered it."

"Of course you did, sweetheart," Analia answered, shaking her head. "You have always been deserving of help. There is nothing wrong with that."

Rose allowed the Light she'd been gifted to flow through her before nodding. "Thank you." With this said, Rose teleported away. The moment she arrived at her destination, she was forced to defend herself from a wave of magic meant to shove her away. Then, she saw it. Her sister standing in front of her.

The words spilled forth from the other woman's mouth, spells uttered in retaliation to her appearance as Rose drug up a barrier of Light in front of herself. As the attacks kept coming, Rose sensed someone else approaching and she brandished her blade, a frown making its way onto her face. Wordlessly, Fyrnir flew into the fray, clear intent to defend "Eila" showing in his expression. Rose shifted, almost imperceptibly before suddenly appearing in front of Fyrnir, quickly slashing at him. Petry's eyes widened as she watched this, ceasing her magic attacks temporarily (much to Rose's pleasure).

Fyrnir dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack that had been aimed at him. He drew his own weapons, dual shortswords that he began to use to try his own hand at creating slashing injuries. Rose shifted back in front of him as magic coursed past them and flicked her sword, parrying the attacks before returning the favor with a vicious left hook (courtesy of Steam's teaching). This sent the man wheeling away from the blow with a pained grunt. Rose was quick to follow him, narrowly sliding under the next wave of magic spikes to grab Fyrnir up by the foot and toss him into the barrier "Eila" had formed. Keep the Syxan between yourself and her… and you should be able to last.

Seeing that this was not working and that her ability to fight was impeded, "Eila" waved a hand and lifted Fyrnir up. "Return to Syra. Someone is coming. I cannot fight with you in my way." Though angry about having proven himself to be a dead weight as always, Fyrnir was at least obedient. He teleported away without comment. She then turned her attention to Rose, shaking her head. "I have not had the pleasure of meeting you… properly. Your sister… she is dead. I am Petry, and I have taken her place." Petry's eyes glowed with the gray of Dark Magic and she growled. Rose was standing there, waiting. Waiting for her to do something. So, she did. Casting the same spell she'd used against Jet to suppress his powers, Petry grinned as she felt the actively used Light fade. It wasn't gone… but Rose simply couldn't use it.

Rose was unbothered, approaching slowly with her sword slowly being sheathed. "You say my sister is dead. That you have replaced her. You believe you are her superior." Rose shook her head in dismay. "...I will bring you down, and bring my sister back."

Petry sneered at her. "We'll see about that." She resumed her attacks, spikes, magic circles, everything she could think of, but somehow Rose avoided it all. She couldn't land a solid hit on the other cat, no matter what she threw out. Though… Rose couldn't advance. That was good enough, she supposed.

"You made a mistake," Rose muttered, suddenly vaulting herself off of her sword and slamming her fist into the barrier that was perpetually around Petry. The spellcaster backed up out of brief surprise and fright before using her magic to launch the other cat backward. Closer inspection revealed that Rose's bare fist… with her natural strength had cracked the defenses. She waved a hand and repaired the damage, but she knew now that this wasn't going well.

"How the fuck did you do that?" Petry demanded, already creating a second barrier around himself.

Rose walked forward, tearing the dress from her body to reveal the clothes underneath. "You underestimated me. You didn't pay enough attention." The stance she took, the way she moved her body was all reminiscent of Steam as her well-toned and muscular structure solidified her defense. "You will pay for what you've done to my sister."

Petry launched into a rage, magic pulsing through everything around her. Rose felt her footing loosen, but she didn't move. Even as magic spikes tore into her skin, she didn't lose her ground, only moving forward. Despite her best efforts, Petry couldn't stop Rose approaching, thrown up against the wall with the ungodly force behind the next punch that shattered through both of her barriers. "You shouldn't have any of your powers!"

"You're right," Rose answered, rolling forward and grabbing Petry off the ground even as a sword comprised of magic ripped its way into her stomach. "I don't. But you… You do. You have everything my sister has at her disposal and you couldn't beat me."

She tried and tried to break free, but Rose didn't flinch in the face of pain. So… she tried one last tactic. "Y-you won't hurt me! This is Eila's body!"

Rose blinked once before shaking her head. "You misunderstand. I won't hurt my sister. You… you're not her." Petry didn't see it coming, the blindingly fast fist knocking her out cold on contact. Rose turned her attention to where she could sense Sein fast approaching as she held her sister's unconscious body in both hands. Go wild. Teach them what happens when you mess with family.

Sein could sense his son, traces of the fear, the anxiety. Everything. His flight through space accelerated as Aura flowed around him. He crashed through the building with all the fury of a scorned father, crushing Fyrnir into the floor with just the pure force of his landing. One swift kick and blast of Aura sent the Syxan crashing through the wall, dead. He rushed through the building to where he could feel his son's presence, more than ready to tear through everything in his path.

Deep in the heart of this unusual structure, barely-controlled energy was rising. It was cold, full of fury and building malice. Jet and Syra were both right in the middle of it, whatever it was, and neither was moving about. Whatever was going on, they weren't truly fighting. Without hesitation, Sein rocketed through several walls, landing on ground that he assumed would be safe near this odd event.

The room was already largely in ruin. Jet was on his hands and knees, covered from head to toe in vicious injuries and coughing up thick globs of blood onto the stone below him. The energy that was flooding the area was very clearly originating from him, coating everything in an ethereal purple fog-like substance. Some of it had coalesced into something more solid, however - a giant clawed hand that was slowly crushing Syra to death. Jet's own hand was raised, clearly controlling the movements and grip of the one on the other side of the room.

"Jet?" Sein called, trying his best to get his son's attention. "What's going on?"

Almost as though he hadn't heard, Jet didn't answer. Syra let out a weak chuckle and said something in her native tongue, something that Jet was able to understand. Gritting his teeth tightly together, he slammed her into the ground and tightened the hand's grip on her further. But the more energy he expended doing this, the more he seemed to sway and fade out of focus. He was barely conscious right now, and it showed.

Sein tried once more to call out, to get through to Jet, still earning no response. The energy itself, however, started to slowly respond to him. It deepened around Sein, slowly seeping inward and drawing energy out. It wasn't something Jet was controlling or even seemingly aware of, more something that this energy seemed to do by nature. "What are you doing to my son?" Sein demanded, trying to back away to remove the feeling of having his energy drained. Once he was out of range, the fog simply stopped reacting, as though he'd never been there.

Predictably, no reply came. Across the room, Syra finally stopped breathing. Almost as soon as she did, the hand flickered several times before suddenly vanishing, leaving her to drop lifelessly to the ground. Jet coughed several more times, swaying again as the energies around him suddenly receded to some degree. Sein watched tensely, not wanting to approach unless it was safe to do so but also incredibly concerned for the well-being of his child.

In the end, he didn't have to wait long to be able to do something. The energy continued to recede. Once it had fully vanished, Jet finally slumped over, completely unconscious. Sein immediately rushed in, sliding on his knees to stop by Jet and quickly begin examining his body. "I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner…" he murmured softly. Despite knowing that it may hurt him, Sein collected Jet's body off the ground and quickly teleported back home to Babylon, holding his son close. "Alana!" he called harshly as he examined the damage to the palace before quickly beginning to move toward the nearest medical ward.

Hearing his shouts, someone poked their head out of the medical ward. "She's not here right-" The woman cut herself off upon seeing Jet and threw the doors fully open. "Get him in here, quickly!"

Sein moved fast, practically sprinting through the doors. Help was called for and soon there were a couple of doctors rushing over. They collected Jet from him and set to work stabilizing his condition while the palace healers worked on multiple other patients. People had been hurt during whatever attack had been carried out on the palace earlier, that much was clear. Seeing all of the destruction as well as these injured people, the hawk quickly turned to whatever nearby staff he could find. "What the hell happened?"The staff member shook their head in dismay. "Some sort of magical attack. Everyone from this floor was teleported away, but people on the floor immediately below weren't so fortunate. Your wife is helping return those who were saved back to the building."

Knowing that Jet was in good hands, Sein teleported away to find his wife. As it happened, she returned to the building again at that time, having gathered up more scattered people to return home. Seeing Sein appear, she rushed over to him. "Sein?" she demanded, eyes brimming with terror. "Where is our son?"

"In the medical ward," Sein answered, wrapping his arms around her. "What happened to the palace?" he questioned.

Alana hugged him back tightly. "I do not know," she admitted. "I was still… After you told me Jet was gone, I was not… well. The first thing I became aware of again was Wave teleporting us all away."

Sein frowned, thoughtful and concerned. "Do you know where she is now?" That earned a small shake of the head. Frowning further, Sein gently removed himself from the hug. "Let's focus on bringing these people where they need to go. Then we can find Wave and figure out what happened."

"The only people left to return are Arkiri, his wife, Azerel, and father," Alana murmured. "Father was… almost seizing from the sheer height of his fever. It was not safe to move him."

"I see," Sein answered. "Let's do that quickly, then."

Nodding, Alana teleported straight back to where she'd come from and hurried back over to the people she'd mentioned. Kneeling down beside her father, she quickly asked the couple, "Do you think we can move him?" As she spoke, she felt his forehead with a hand. His body was wracked with more frequent convulsions than before, clearly building toward a proper seizure. Azerel paced close by, clearly agitated and watching intently.

This time it was Tarin who spoke. "If we do… it must be done with the utmost care. This is growing far worse than I would be comfortable with," the woman murmured.

Alana nodded a little. Taking in a calming breath, she quickly teleported everyone back to the palace. Her father had been allowed to rest in his room up until now for the sake of his own comfort, but that was no longer feasible. She sent him straight to the doctors and rushed back over to Sein. He looked to her and shifted uncomfortably. "Do you have any idea of where Wave might have gone?"

"Perhaps back to her father's realm?" Alana suggested. "She told me she spends a great deal of time there." Her stomach twisting itself up into knots, she glanced toward the medical ward. "Sein… what happened to Jet?"

"I… I don't know," he murmured before quietly explaining the things he'd seen when he'd arrived there.

Her eyes widened in a mixture of shock and dismay. "He… crushed her to death?" she repeated in undertone. "That isn't like him, Sein…"

"I know… I just…" Sein trailed off. "I don't know. I don't know what's going on."

Suddenly shaking, Alana wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. "What did they… do to him?"

Sein held her close. "I don't know… but it wasn't good."

They remained like that for a time before word was sent to them that Jet was stable. Alana immediately tightened her hold on Sein. "We need to go see him… I need to go see him."

Without a word, Sein nodded and teleported them both into the medical wing where he knew Jet was. Alana's heart lurched at the sight of his condition and she clasped a hand over her mouth. It was for the best that she was saved from speaking when one of the doctors did it first. "We had to hook him up to… just about everything for a bit there," he said upon seeing them. "He stopped breathing on his own, his heart tried to give out… you get the idea. One of the healers had enough time to heal the worst of his injuries, though, before they returned to the other patients. He's a lot more stable now."

Swallowing hard past the lump in her throat, Alana choked out in a whisper, "He will be alright?"

The doctor nodded. "Yeah. He's gonna be out for a while, I'd wager, but he'll recover." He glanced back to Jet before asking, "I was told he went missing. How… long was he gone, exactly?"

"Just… a few hours," Sein murmured. "I was able to find him fairly quickly."

His words had the doctor frowning. "That's… not possible." Before either of them could even ask, he went on to explain, "Some of these injuries are substantially older than that. For example… Look here, look at this one. It has to be weeks old, at least."

Alana stared at the indicated injury, unable to make sense of what she was seeing. "How can this be? He was not injured prior to vanishing. We know he wasn't."

Sein didn't like this and he very carefully brought Alana closer. "We need to talk about something in depth after this," he murmured.

After a pause, Alana murmured a weak thank you to the doctor before tugging Sein back out of the room. She led them to a secluded area and turned to face him. "What is it?"

"Remember the energy I told you about?" Sein questioned in a whisper despite the seclusion.

"Yes… of course," Alana murmured back.

"Do you think it could be the cause of those injuries?"

"Sein, how could that be? You saw for yourself that they look older than it is possible for them to be. It makes no sense."

Sein gently set a hand on her shoulder. "I don't know what that energy was, Alana," he quietly revealed.

"Whatever it is," Alana murmured, "it cannot simply bend time to make those injuries possible. Something else must have occured. Something we are missing." There was a slight pause, then her eyes widened. "S-Sein… our son is tied with the Void, remember?"

The hawk's eyes widened. "Fuck," he muttered. "Was that the Void, of all things?"

"I do not know what else it could be," Alana answered. "There is no other energy in all of existence that behaves the way this one did, and the Void is the one energy no one has previously seen."

Sein didn't know what to think. The Void was what might have hurt his son in that way? He couldn't do anything about that and it made his blood boil, but also… it made him fearful. "What do we do?"

Though feeling just as fearful, Alana kept her voice mostly level. "I don't know, Sein. If the Void is indeed what influenced his actions, then it is possible that whatever those people did to him… only strengthened how deeply the energy is bonded with him. But for it to influence him so directly at all…" She trailed off, but the sentence finished itself in her mind. He must have accepted its influence at some point… But when? And why?

It bothered Sein so much to think about, but he had no idea what exactly to make of the situation. He was quiet, eyes narrowing as he tried to figure out what they should do with this information. "That's not good."

Alana shook her head, dismayed. "What if he is still behaving abnormally when he wakes?"

"We'll have to deal with that when the time comes," Sein answered slowly. "We don't have a choice, especially since we don't know the nature of what's happening."

Ultimately, Alana could only sigh and nod. "I suppose you are right."

Sein held her close, breathing out a heavy exhale. "We'll do whatever we can for him."

Closing her eyes, Alana murmured an agreement. "I know."

~保護者~

With their immense hearing, Sonic and Kaden could hear much of what Shadow and Toru were speaking about within the safety of Hyale. Too many important details were missed for them to get a complete picture, but they heard enough. Almost on reflex, they traded a look, Sonic's full of alarm and Kaden's briefly revealing his confusion. Then anger took hold. Sonic was the first to make the connection between Shadow's abnormal emotional state and the mentions he'd made of a certain Gerald. Age-old hatred and pain rose up within him, but he was startled back to reality by a thunderous impact.

Whirling back around, he watched his father's Darkness recede with obvious fury. Though barely audible, Sonic heard him cursing under his breath. He was directing pure venom at the trap, at himself for his inability to escape it, at Jet and his parents for creating it in the first place, at Gerald for daring to lay even a single finger on Shadow… But he was contained. Kaden couldn't do anything meaningful from where he was, and they both knew it.

Which meant Zareil was the one Sonic really needed to worry about. He quickly looked over at her, determined not to be caught off-guard if she decided to act. When she didn't seem to be doing anything just yet, Sonic cautiously turned his attention to trying to calm his father down. Only, the best idea he had for accomplishing that definitely had the chance to go wrong for him. At least I know he won't let Zareil injure me. ...Erm… much. "Hey, Dad… pretty sure you shouldn't be cursing the Immortals like that."

Glowing demonic eyes shifted to him, still full of unbridled fury. "I would like to see them stop me," Kaden spat, fists clenched.

"Not saying they would," Sonic answered placatingly. He wracked his brain for a minute, trying to remember the name he needed. Once he landed upon it, he said, "Teria is supposed to always watch over everyone, right? She wouldn't approve of you lashing out at the Immortals like that."

It took a second for it to click, so far as Sonic could tell, but once Kaden realized what Sonic was talking about he cursed again. "I don't give a fuck what she thinks."

"You used to," Sonic shrugged, feigning careful indifference. "Thought you might appreciate the reminder, just in case some part of you still does." A few seconds passed. He watched his father curse again before, by some miracle… just crossing his arms and sitting down against one wall of the trap. Internally, Sonic heaved a sigh of relief. He's not attacking the trap anymore… good. It's not like he can break out of it, anyway, but if those beings of Light start attacking again… He'll need his strength in order to defend himself. There isn't much I'll be able to do to help.

Zareil watched this quietly, taking a seat by the trap to simply… observe. She didn't often care much about Sonic, but she had to admit that this was beginning to pique her curiosity. What exactly are you planning?

Sensing her attention, Sonic tossed her a decidedly more wary glance. This is the same person who killed Cream and Vector. I have to be careful. Still, she'd been peaceful enough for the most part. If only for that reason, he decided to play it safe and kept his hand away from his weapon as he moved to also sit.

"What do you think you're doing?" Zareil suddenly demanded, idly twirling her spear in hand.

Crap. A furtive glance back at Kaden showed that he had resumed tuning out the world around him as he so often did since becoming trapped, so Sonic decided it was safe enough to speak somewhat freely. Doubt she'd appreciate a lie… and I really don't want to feel that spear for myself. "I just wanted him to calm down," he admitted cautiously. "I can't defend him very much on my own if we're attacked again. I understand that he's angry - believe me, I am, too - but conserving his energy is for the best right now."

Zareil scoffed openly. "And why do you care? He's your enemy."

"He's my dad, first," Sonic murmured. "He's always been my dad, first. I wouldn't be enemies with him if I didn't have to be."

"...And?" Zareil questioned. "In case you do not realize, familial relationships aren't that strong."

"They are," Sonic argued. "...For most of us, anyway."

Once more, the demoness scoffed. "I don't get what he sees in you."

Though that stung, Sonic outwardly only shrugged. "Sometimes I don't, either."

Zareil stabbed the end of her spear into the ground and stood. "I am already tired of this silence."

Kaden abruptly resumed paying attention and cast her a sharp glare. "Do not wander off. Stay put or go home."

"I wasn't going anywhere," Zareil answered.

"Then sit your ass down," Kaden muttered. "I do not need your creating trouble."

Though she growled, the woman obediently sat down within seconds, returning to twirling her weapon. "Fine."

Kaden muttered something derisive under his breath, then returned to his thoughts. Sonic looked between them both before sighing internally. Hopefully I'm not left alone with them for too much longer…

Zareil glanced at Sonic. "Do you have a problem?"

"None," Sonic answered quickly, looking away. "Just… tend to watch people. Bad habit. Won't happen again."

"Good habit," Zareil corrected. "Watching people means knowing what they're doing."

Sonic subtly released a nervous breath. "...Yeah… I guess so."

"The hell is up with you?" Zareil muttered. "One second you're doing something intelligent, the next it's idiotic."

At this, Sonic huffed and crossed his arms. Even demons can't give me a break… "Gee, thanks. Appreciate it."

"When you're faced with adversity, show no fear. Give your enemy no edge over you," Zareil suddenly explained. "Your… breath. That spoke enough of your tension."

...Damn. She's right. "Yeah, I know, just… tend to forget." Sonic caught himself nearly sighing but stopped himself.

"Lift your posture, ready your arm to draw your blade at any moment, but steady it from movement until the time is right," Zareil continued. "And be prepared for anything."

Confusion started to rise in Sonic upon hearing all of this. Still keeping his tone completely cordial so as not to spark a fight, he dared to ask, "Why are you giving me advice?"

Zareil blinked once. She hadn't realized what she was doing, and now she was unsure as to why she'd done it in the first place. "It does not matter."

Deciding it best not to push his luck, Sonic just nodded. "Right. ...And… I guess, thanks. I'll keep all that in mind."

"Good," Zareil muttered. Where had all of this come from? She despised Sonic's existence, yet she was trying to help him? Was it something to do with Kaden? Kaden, for his part, didn't appear to be paying attention once again. Only, instead of sitting with his eyes shut lost in his thoughts, he had his gaze trained on the sky above, watching it… rather intently. The demoness glanced to Kaden, eyes narrowed. "What is it?" she questioned.

After a moment, Kaden told her in irritable undertone, "Light is gathering just beyond the planet. The energy feels the same as before." Hearing this, Sonic tensed up and quickly looked into the sky as well. Try though he might, however, he just couldn't sense what his father could.

"How long before you think it becomes an attack?" Zareil questioned lightly.

"Not long," was the dark reply. "Perhaps a day at most... should they decide not to gather their strength further."

"Should I draw up an army to combat it?"

"No. Save them for a worthier cause." Kaden's eyes narrowed a degree, and he glanced in the direction of several chameleon villages - including Hyale. "There is already an army here, after all… and they will not take kindly to the arrival of these particular foes."

Zareil let a growl escape her. "I trust your instinct."

Inwardly, Sonic was more tense then ever before. Espio, I hope you and your people are ready... Seems like you're about to face hell on your doorstep all over again.

~保護者~

10,614 words this time. Many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for his help and support. Posted (at about 9:20 p.m.) 12-29-20.