Guardian Chapter 168: Battlescar, a sonic the hedgehog fanfic

Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this violent conflict… especially for the ones who have lost control.

~保護者~

"Battlescar"

~保護者~

Tianak had made a huge mistake, coming alone to her. Yes, she'd called for him, but she never made it so that he couldn't bring others into this. He was alone, and she was furious. "You're a goddamn fool," Cere bit out, wrapping her fingers slowly around the handle of her halberd.

The demon blinked once at her, frowning a little in thought. "It's quite foolish to think that a single God or Goddess can face me. It'll take at least two of your calibre."

"Shut the hell up," Cere snapped. "You corrupted someone I view as a daughter. I have cared for her for eons. If I could, I'd end you here and now."

Tianak rolled his eyes, and that was the second mistake that Cere needed. Before his lips could part to allow sound to escape, the pole of her weapon crashed into his face, searing his skin with the ungodly amount of Judgement flowing through it and shooting him away some several hundred feet away. Cere gripped her halberd tighter, allowing her energy to flow freely.

With all the hatred she could muster as she watched Tianak stand back up, Cere brought the blade of her halberd down and split the very earth he stood on. Judgement surged forth from the depths and threw him off his feet once more. It was growing hard to see past the furious flow of energy, but Cere could tell where her target was. She appeared in front of him and grabbed him by the throat, relentlessly pounding him into the ground, casting powerful hexes in the midst of her divvying of justice.

Even when his chain whip cracked around her legs and spikes of Darkness pierced her, she didn't stop. She drew blood, shattered the ground, and seared his skin all at once, more and more with each attack. He didn't get the luxury of standing on his feet anymore, she decided. Her halberd was suddenly buried in his gut and she grabbed him by the top of the head, ripping her weapon free and launching him away again.

"By the power of Judgement, and my status of the Goddess of Judgement, I cast judgement upon-"

Cere paused only because Sona suddenly crashed into her, pulling her into a deep hug. The woman cried something almost unintelligible, but somehow the Hexan understood. Her gaze fell on Tianak, she let out a faint gasp. She'd beaten Tianak within an inch of his life, and any more might have killed him. Her energy receded and she shakily wrapped her arms around Sona, holding the younger woman close. I almost made the biggest mistake of my life. I… almost killed the God of Demons.

~保護者~

Mere seconds had passed since Armaris's purification. Rose had died for a moment, then inexplicably returned in a form that looked just like the Faein's but entirely composed of Light instead of aura. Now she was back to normal and holding her sister. Espio barely took notice of these things, his focus instead entirely on Armaris's prone form. He was on the opposite end of the battlefield from her location. It would have taken but a second to reach her… had a barrier not suddenly appeared just an inch or so from his face.

The barrier was visible but entirely clear, like perfectly clean glass. He attempted to break it apart, only to be surprised when his Darkness merely bounced off of it. Turning, he soon came to realize that he was surrounded by a ridiculously large dome. It was like a miniature battlefield on its own. This has to be her doing.

Seeing his predicament, Sonic and a few others hurried over. "What the hell?" the hedgehog muttered.

Locke dropped down beside him. "Just a second, let me see if we can't get you out of there a different way." He jumped up, then burrowed into the ground as Espio watched, silent. Seconds later, Locke emerged with a newfound layer of dirt coating his fur. "No good," he reported. Though he shrugged in an almost casual manner, he was frowning. "You're surrounded beneath the ground, too."

It wouldn't have worked, anyway. Espio kept that thought to himself, sword tightly gripped in his hand. He turned away from the pair of them, eyeing his surroundings closely. She would not have gone out of her way to trap me in such a space if she intended for escape to be easy… or for me to be in here alone.

"The hell do we-" Sonic started to ask, but he was cut off.

There was a flash of energy, and suddenly a demon stood a short distance ahead of Espio. The demon was very clearly an anthropomorphic dragon. Sonic, having met Pyros once and learned from Kaden that all such dragons were supposed to be extinct, stared in shock. Said dragon was standing with his arms crossed as he looked around in vague confusion. His scales were a deep and dark blue, with yellow eyes scanning his surroundings. "The fuck?" Espio gave no answer, eyeing the man up and down without an expression. Surely Nareish wasn't trying to do what he thought she was trying to do…

Steam immediately ran up to the barrier with widened eyes, grabbing his communicator and calling Jet at the same time. No, he can't fight Espio. At first, Jet didn't answer. It took him so long, in fact, that the call dropped. But then, not two seconds after that, he was calling Steam back. The hedgehog answered immediately. "Jet, Nareish is going to force Espio to fight Kalek, and Kalek is my dad," he said in a panic, staring at the barrier. The Privilege I have isn't strong enough to break in. Fuck.

"Wait there. Do not do something stupid." Jet hung up. A split second later he was just there, his cloak billowing behind him a bit from the residual breeze of his rapid teleport. He quickly took stock of the situation and who was present, though he knew he couldn't stay here long because of the Void. "Get Saethrim," he directed immediately. "He has spatial manipulation and I am giving him the temporary Privilege to pass through Immortal barriers. He can separate them before either has a chance to fight should they choose to attempt it." The hawk vanished after that, and not a second too soon. A bit of Void energy crackled on the ground where he'd been standing, but thankfully died out.

Steam teleported away without a word and grabbed Saethrim, teleporting back with the da Asani immediately. It didn't take long for him to understand what was happening, seeing as he warped his way inside the barrier. "So, seems like Nareish is gonna be a thorn in our asses," he said aloud, glancing between Espio and Kalek. "From what I can tell, she wanted you two to fight."

Of course she did. Espio scoffed and sheathed his sword… if only because even he could sense how much this situation was scaring Steam. "I assumed as much."

Kalek scoffed a little. "People don't get to decide when I fight. I was in the middle of trying to eat," he grumbled, looking at Saethrim. "So, are you gonna get us out or…?" Espio just blinked.

Saethrim passed on a small smile to Kalek, chuckling. "Me and you might go on a tirade against her soon, but it's not a good idea just yet." He winked and put his hands behind his head, warping the three of them out of the barrier. "I recommend going back to your world and making sure the new God doesn't just collapse entirely. He seems to have taken a royal beating." Saying nothing, Espio just turned on his heel and walked off toward where Armaris was.

Jet, meanwhile, took the Privilege back from Saethrim and dismantled Nareish's barrier. He hadn't dared to risk the attempt while people had been inside, due to the Void continuing to act out. But soon it was gone. Steam watched as Kalek teleported away, crumpling under the sudden relief and falling to his knees. Saethrim walked over and collected Steam off the ground, holding the other man under one arm as he appeared in front of Sonic and unceremoniously dumped Steam in the blue hedgehog's arms. "Here, take this. He's in a state of shock."

"Think some Light can help with that?" Sonic asked, not bothering to waste time with other questions.

"Maybe, but I need to get going. Figured he'd be better off in your hands than mine," Saethrim said, vanishing suddenly once more.

Helpful. Sonic knelt down with Steam and started carefully applying some Light.

Steam practically absorbed it, and it didn't take long for the distant gaze in his eyes to refocus on everything around him. "Fuck!" He would've thrown himself to his feet had it not been for the Light Sonic applied, leaving him relaxed enough that his natural instincts didn't kick in as harshly.

Sonic immediately stopped. "Hey, take it easy," he told the other hedgehog. "Everything's fine now. They didn't fight."

"I know…" Steam murmured, pushing himself to stand and rubbing at his face. "It's just… if they had, he would have died…" the man mumbled. I don't feel right...

"They didn't. That's the thing you need to focus on for your own sake right now. Knock it off with the if's and but's. Being pessimistic about this kind of thing is only going to make you feel like utter shit." Sonic stood up and brushed his legs off.

Steam turned at Sonic and for the briefest moment it seemed like he was about to snap, but he ultimately just planted his face in his hands. "All I could think about was that Kalek is my father, and I almost just watched him die. It's so fucking hard to ignore that."

"Pay attention to who you're talking to," Sonic retorted with a small scowl. "I know what it's like. And I'm telling you from weeks and weeks of experience, don't focus on that."

"I know!" Steam replied. "But fuck." He turned away and stormed off. He wasn't angry, but he wanted to be alone… despite the fact that he was currently trying to call Tara.

"Hello?" Tara soon answered.

"I need to talk," Steam replied shakily, teleporting some distance away to sort of secluded himself by some shrubbery that had been far from the battlefield. "Please."

"You do not need to wait for permission, Steam. Say whatever you need to."

"Nareish was going to force Espio to fight Kalek. If that had happened… Well, I'm sure you know," Steam mumbled, looking away. "It didn't happen, but…" he trailed off, falling silent. It feels like something so minor now...

"Talk to me," she prompted. "Tell me what you are feeling and thinking. I will not allow you to bottle it up."

A few tears formed in Steam's eyes and he nodded, despite the fact that this wasn't a video call. "I'm scared. All of a sudden, I know that Kalek could just… die and I might not be able to do anything about it. I don't want that."

"Is there anyone out there who can prevent it?"

"Jet," Steam said. "But he's having to fight to keep control over the Void."

"I still want you to talk to him," Tara directed. "No excuses. Talk to him and at least see what he has to say."

The hedgehog was quiet, nodding. He entirely forgot that this was a call, and didn't respond verbally to what she'd said. "Other than that… we saved Armaris… Rose died briefly, then revived because she's turning into an Immortal, and things are okay as far as I can tell."

"Good. Was there anything else you wanted or needed to talk about?" There was a bit of noise on the other end of the call that seemed to indicate she was resituating wherever she was sitting. "If not, you should get going for now."

Steam forced himself to stand, nodding again. "Yeah, you're right," he agreed softly. "Thanks, as always."

"Of course, Steam," she murmured. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Steam said with a gentle smile. "I'll text you later."

"Please do. I would appreciate it."

"Alright. I'm gonna get going. See ya."

"Goodbye for now, Steam."

~保護者~

Though he couldn't help but sigh in relief that it was all over, Silver still couldn't help but sway when his feet touched down on the ground. Whoa… woozy. He rubbed his hands over his face. Oh, man, she was tough to hold back. Way tougher than Iblis. And she broke free somehow, even with all the other people helping to hold her. I may need to boost myself again… if I can.

For now, he brushed that matter aside. Lowering his hands, he happened to spot someone nearby who he thought might be one of those "da Asani" he'd heard about before. Deciding to be friendly as per usual, he called out, "Hey, you okay?" while cautiously approaching.

The man's breathing was unsteady and he stared in the direction of Rose for a long moment. It finally clicked that someone was talking to him. When it did, he straightened his posture and glanced at Silver. "I'll be fine," he murmured.

Silver looked in Rose's direction and felt himself shiver a little out of residual fear. Then he returned his attention to the other man. "Are you hurt or anything? I can help you get closer to the others if you need the help."

"Don't bother," he answered. "I heal quickly. Focus your attention on anyone else that might be injured."

"Okay. I just wanted to make sure. And, also, seriously… Thanks for all your help here. You were awesome." Silver tossed the da Asani a wary smile that was still trying to be friendly while he worked on deciding who to approach next.

A smirk managed to break out onto his face. "I was the original God of Mythical Beasts. If I couldn't kick ass, what would I be?"

This show of returned friendliness helped Silver relax a lot. "That's hella badass," he replied. "Real quick, before I go do what you told me to, mind if I ask your name? Mine is Silver. I'm Sonic's kid, if you happen to know him."

"Saethrim. If you wanna know more, ask Kial," the da Asani said. "Or any of the older Gods and Goddesses. They know me well enough."

"Okay. Nice to meet you, dude." Silver turned and walked away to check on Eila and Rose next. Saethrim gave a sort of acknowledgement of that, disappearing rather quickly.

Eila was calmed by now, luckily, but Rose was still holding her close. The younger of the two looked up at Silver, blinking once. "Hello, Silver," she greeted gently.

"You two alright?" he asked quietly, kneeling down by them.

Rose nodded. "I am okay. My sister is… rather, was, upset," she explained. "Understandably."

Silver nodded a little. "Yeah. I think we all are, honestly. What the heck happened back there?"

"I think it would be best explained to a large number of people as opposed to individually. I do not fully understand it myself," Rose admitted gently.

"You're becoming an Immortal," Eila whispered softly. Silver stared blankly, unable to comprehend this little revelation.

"Perhaps, but… we still need to speak to others. We do not have all of the information, and there are gaps that perhaps people such as Sein, Alana, and Jet can fill in," Rose said. Her attention shifted from Eila to Silver and she gave a weak smile. "Other than this… I can say assuredly that I am okay. I will need a new dress, however." She looked down briefly at the hole that was there, wincing at the obvious blood present.

Silver chuckled a little in spite of his mental exhaustion. "Probably, yeah." He started to stand but swayed again. Given that, he was quick to settle back down into a crouch and tried to make light of the situation. "Guess I'm staying here with you guys for a minute," he said sheepishly.

"Do you need help?" Rose asked gently, genuine concern on her face despite her own obvious exhaustion.

"Nah, I'm good. Just wore my brain out a bit. Mental powers and all that." Silver smiled reassuringly.

Rose nodded to him. "I understand. Please, rest all you can. We are safe for now."

You say that, but… Silver moved into a proper sitting position. "I can't shake the feeling that this isn't fully over yet. Nareish got thwarted way too easily back there. She's gotta be up to something more, right?"

Eila shifted in Rose's arms, pulling back from her younger sister. "Certainly… but, with someone like her, we can't know what it is. If we need rest, it may well be best to take what we can get."

"It… might be possible? Erm…" Silver uncharacteristically hesitated, ears lowering. He looked away from them. "Without… Without going into detail, I died to Malevolence a long time ago. And, I guess, as a result of that I'm able to sense where it is and kinda-sorta what it's doing...? And… well, I'm pretty sure it was talking to someone in her realm a few minutes ago."

Rose immediately stood up, eyes wide. Uncharacteristically, she demanded, "Do you know anything more about this?"

Sighing heavily, Silver shook his head. "No. I only really just started noticing these… feelings or whatever right before I mentioned them to you."

Eila was noticeably shocked when Rose suddenly vanished elsewhere, blinking. I… What? She looked at Silver, frowning deeply. "Can you tell me more about the feeling?"

"No?" Silver hesitantly replied. "Just what I said before."

"I understand," Eila murmured. "If you have anything else that you want to look into, simply say so." She waved her hand lightly. "You should be able to just directly go to my room if you need to." Silver just nodded in a distracted manner. Suddenly, he didn't feel so good. Eila moved a little closer to him, frowning. "Are… you okay?"

"I, uh… I don't feel so hot," Silver admitted. "Kinda lightheaded and nauseous."

Eila looked him over with her eyes and powers. "You're not sick… but that doesn't explain much unless it's somehow related to you being able to sense Malevolence."

"It… drained all my Light from me, ate it, and I died. That might be why this is happening…? I don't know." Silver groaned and put his head in his hands. "I don't like thinking about this."

The woman winced and cautiously moved closer to him. "It's okay… we can focus on something else. Everyone else seems to be more or less okay, right?"

"Um… yeah… Is my dad okay?" Silver rubbed at his eyes but tried to smile a little. "Kinda hard to sense him while I'm going wonky."

"I think so," Eila murmured. She blinked once before standing and offering a hand to Silver. "I can take you to him, if you'd like."

"Honestly, yeah. I'd appreciate that. Thanks, Eila." He managed to open his eyes and give her an actual smile while accepting her hand. "I knew I was right about you. Thanks for proving me right and therefore proving how awesome I am." That very last part may have been a joke, but the rest of it was incredibly genuine.

The cat chuckled a little at him, but she wasn't sure what exactly to say. "I did my best."

"I can tell," Silver replied. He swayed a little on his feet again, then sort of stumbled, but thankfully he managed to catch himself. Man, this does not feel great.

Eila quickly wrapped an arm under his, trying to help support him. "Just stay close by me, okay?"

"Will do," Silver agreed with a weak chuckle.

She managed to smile to him, teleporting him to Sonic.

Once there, Silver raised a shaky hand. "Hey, Dad." Sonic was by his side in an instant when he saw Silver was getting help walking, but the younger hedgehog continued talking before he could say anything. "I, uh, don't feel totally stellar at the moment. Not hurt, though. Just woozy."

That wasn't much of an explanation. Sonic helped him to sit and flashed a glance at Eila. "What happened?" he asked her, though not in an accusatory fashion. Only, Eila didn't really get the chance to answer. Silver told his dad the same thing that Rose and Eila had been told, and Sonic's ears went back. "Aw, hell," he whispered. "That's… That's… bad." The last time those two colluded, one Immortal got possessed and killed two others and then tried to kill Jet. What if they're planning on doing the same thing again? Swallowing hard, Sonic motioned for Silver and Eila to stay put. "Listen… both of you wait here, alright? I need to talk to the others, see if they're sensing anything."

Sonic turned and hurried off without waiting on an answer.

~保護者~

Finis had taken Cere to their home. Therin followed suit, taking Sona along with him whether she liked it or not. Alana had departed back to new Babylon along with Wave and Storm to check on everyone there while Anlia left to do the same on Mobius. Things were winding down here for those still remaining… until they weren't.

An explosion of black and crimson energy ripped across the battlefield shortly after people began to leave. Kath, Azerel, and Nier were swept up in it and sent flying. The wolf was unconscious by the time he struck the ground, and his two Babylonian companions were badly injured. Then there was a second blast, this one centered right on top of Espio and Armaris. He tried to shield them both with his Darkness, but his hasty barrier shattered under the force of Malevolence's attack. When the attack ended, he was still holding himself up, but only just.

At nearly the same time, Locke, Steam, Cyril, Satsuno, and Seiko were ensnared by energy and utterly pinned while being attacked by something akin to electricity. Eila and Silver were then subjected to the same fate. That very same attack then started surging toward Sonic and Toru, only for it to all just… stop. Almost as if Malevolence had been interrupted somehow. Though, that sounded too far-fetched to be anywhere near true, surely.

There were a few seconds of silence. People waited with baited breath to see what would happen. The group's tension was nearly palpable when a portal of the same energy burst into being in their midst some fifty feet in the air. A horrific, sword-wielding entity of some sort emerged and, very briefly, those who had lain eyes on Malevolence in the past were stunned. This was most certainly not Malevolence. The thing could shapeshift, sure, but this being's energies weren't quite as vast or quite as terrifying to behold. Even still, though… this was by far the single strongest Spawn of Malevolence that had ever been witnessed by anyone in this era. And that alone was terrifying enough.

No sooner than the creature had landed on the ground, a tendril of energy shot out from it. The tendril shot back through the portal, ensnared something, and yanked with an undue amount of force. Shadow was roughly dragged through the portal by his ankle and slammed into the ground. Thankfully, he landed on his feet in a crouch and didn't seem to have been badly harmed yet.

However… something did seem to be wrong, and everyone could see it. Shadow's eyes and energies weren't normal. His pupils were narrowed into thin, animalistic slits. His energies were cold, calculating, fear-inducing, predatory. And the way he snapped that tendril without any real effort in order to stand… That just shouldn't have been possible.

The spawn seemed pleased to have an audience, because of course it did. It rushed toward its apparent target, weapon drawn. Shadow leapt nimbly out of its way a few times, but was stopped short by a wall thick layer of Malevolent energy encasing his leg. The spawn's sword swung toward his face. With less than an inch to spare, a blade of Darkness suddenly flashed into existence and parried the blow. Shadow didn't even so much as blink or seem fazed.

Somehow, that sword began fighting the spawn all on its own, forcing his enemy to give ground and back away without him ever touching it - as though he was just controlling it with his mind or something equally ridiculous. It would have been perfectly logical if he'd been paying attention to the movements of that sword and the fight in general, but he wasn't. Instead, he cast his gaze about the battlefield. And everywhere he looked… dead demons began to rise.

There was little nearly anyone could do but try to get out of the way at that point. Most were too badly hurt from the initial assault to handle getting caught up in this as well. All they could do was run - and watch in a mixture of shock, dismay, and awe as those once-defeated demons continued to reanimate and exert all of their newly returned fury on the spawn. Shadow, meanwhile, continued to seem unbothered by any of this, as though it was somehow fine and normal. All he was focusing on now was freeing his leg.

He succeeded within moments. Almost as soon as he did so and began approaching his attacker again, a voice suddenly entered Toru's mind with the intent of spurring him into motion. It was Jet. Though he was almost never able to use thought-speech, he was sure as hell managing it now. Desperate times and all that. "Grab him!" the hawk snapped. "We can't risk his Darkness becoming infected because he went near that thing again!" He followed that up with one last quick thing. "Physically grab him! He's resisting being teleported!"

Toru forced himself to stand, suddenly tearing through the battlefield and launching into action. He slammed his full weight into Shadow and wrapped his arms tightly around the hedgehog in a bear hug, forcefully holding him close and attempting to teleport. "Shadow we need to leave now!"

Unlike the night before, Shadow didn't seem to recognize Toru very quickly. In fact, he didn't recognize Toru period, at that point. Because of that, he fought to get out of Toru's grip while still resisting being sent away. He had mostly wrenched himself away from Toru when Sonic suddenly teleported over and grabbed his brother as well. "What the hell is going on?!" Sonic asked with wide eyes, stunned and all at once made terribly afraid by the aura Shadow was putting off.

Toru clenched his fists. "Shadow, dammit! Listen to me!" he snapped. "We need to get the fuck out of here, now!" He turned to Sonic, a silent plea in his eyes as he yelled, "Help me get him out of here!"

You don't have to fucking tell me twice! Using the expanded knowledge of his Chaos that Utavi had granted him in the past, Sonic gathered up his power and teleported the three of them straight back to Shadow's house. That one action was exhausting as hell since he'd never done it before, but it was the only way to force Shadow to submit to being moved in such a manner. Or, at least, that was what Sonic had hoped. It's a damn good thing my guess was on point.

Shadow continued to struggle against them. The sensations of terror and dread Sonic had been experiencing from his brother's aura intensified, but he didn't dare let go. He also didn't dare to retract his Chaos yet, either, since what little he currently had enough access to in order to use seemed to be among the only things keeping his brother from breaking free a second time. "Toru, what the hell is going on?!" Sonic questioned again. He didn't understand what was happening. All he could do was continue to hang on as hard as he could.

That was when Shadow suddenly let out a furious hiss of some kind, and Sonic's ears shot straight up. No Tokarian or Black Arms could make such a sound. Sonic didn't understand it at all. Absolutely none of what was happening made any sense, much less should have been possible in any way. This'd better be one damn good explanation! he decided in a mix of frustration, confusion, and mounting alarm.

Without warning, Ghune appeared before them. She quite immediately grabbed Shadow's head, draining a flask of blood into his mouth while using her magic to force him to ingest it. "Gods be damned," she muttered. As was quite natural for anyone after being suddenly forced to drink something, Shadow was left coughing and was quick to turn his head away the moment he was able to. Ghune's actions proved to be their saving grace regardless, however, for he was finally distracted from trying to escape from them. Now he was focused on getting the coughing to stop. Ghune quickly forced Toru and Sonic off him. She then aided in Sonic's attempt to subdue Shadow with her magic and grumbled, "That was quite a lot of my blood."

When Shadow didn't reply, Sonic spoke instead. "Seriously, is anyone going to explain this?" he muttered, still in shock.

"He's a vampire," Ghune said immediately. "That's why I fed him a flask of my blood. I figured it would be enough to at least end the frenzy."

Sonic sort of… gaped at her for a second. Then, after a lengthy pause, he looked at Toru. "Did… you know about this?"

"There's so much shit that's happened that all of my focus has been on trying to keep anything from being stressful or upsetting to him," Toru admitted. "So, yeah. I knew. Just haven't had a chance to tell anyone."

"And… And how long has this," Sonic gestured vaguely at Shadow and Ghune, "been a thing?"

"Couple days?" Toru said. "Time's really melding together right now."

Ghune ignored them in favor of directly examining Shadow, narrowing her eyes as she looked at his pupils and listened to the sound of his heart. Are you still in a frenzy or is it safe to release you? It didn't take long for the unintentional coughing to finally stop, much like when one choked a little on some water. But even still, his pulse was elevated and his pupils weren't entirely rounded back out. In spite of that, he was no longer struggling and seemed to be regaining a handle on his emotions and aura. "Speak. What are the names of the other two present?" she demanded. "I will only release you if you can identify these people."

It definitely took a moment, but Shadow was able to answer her. He let out a breath and mumbled, "...Sonic and Toru."

Ghune glanced at the blue hedgehog and Toru before dropping her magical hold on him and looking to Sonic. "Release him. I will provide him with more sustenance shortly. Keep an eye on him." She vanished after saying this.

Sonic was quick to do as told, then helped his brother sit down. Shadow seemed a touch out of it, like he wasn't entirely cognizant of everything just yet because of not being entirely himself again yet. As such, Sonic resisted the urge to pepper him with questions just yet. Though they were there regardless. What the hell just happened? How did you do all those things back there? How the hell did you fend off a spawn of Malevolence by yourself? How the hell did you end up in a "frenzy"? It was for the best to hold off on voicing these. Sonic just laid a hand on his brother's shoulder comfortingly for now, trying to let Shadow know he was there and lend the other hedgehog some silent support. Shadow was aware enough to notice that at least, and to thankfully not display a negative reaction to it.

Toru sat down in front of Shadow, patiently watching and waiting to see what would happen. Of course, there was the distinct possibility that something could go bad, but he was sorely hoping that he would be surprised by it being something nice. Around a minute passed, and Shadow seemed to come around more. He quickly grew much more aware of his surroundings, and a flicker of confusion betrayed itself in his eyes as he glanced around. The last thing he remembered was being in the place Ghune had sent him to and reading a book. How in the hell had he ended up back here? What the fuck...?

"Shadow," Toru said, frowning. "Do you remember anything about what just happened?"

Toru's voice drew Shadow's attention back to him and, soon, the hedgehog was shaking his head a bit. "...No."

It was obvious that Toru was fighting back tears, gritting his teeth. That sight made something in Shadow's chest suddenly hurt, and he decided straight away that he never wanted to see such an expression on Toru's face ever again. Then Toru spoke, distracting him from that though. "You were attacked by a spawn of Malevolence, then you proceeded to fight it."

"You were fending it off, too," Sonic muttered. "No idea how, though. The bastard felt strong. And I don't know what the hell you did, but a shit-ton of dead demons started coming back and helping you fight."

Toru pushed himself closer and wrapped his arms tightly around Shadow, clutching the hedgehog as close as he could. "I know you couldn't help it, but for fuck's sake," he murmured, only growing quieter as he spoke. "Don't do that…" Shadow had no real response to give as far as words went, but he at least nodded a little. And, despite how generally uncomfortable he was in regards to hugs, he did at least sort of hug Toru back with an arm.

After a pause, Sonic gave his brother's shoulder a squeeze and then stood up. "I've got to go check on the others, make sure they're okay. If either of you need anything, call me. I don't care what time of the day or night it is or whatever else is going on on my end." He was pretty well aware of the fact that he wouldn't get a reply right then, so he just teleported away.

The chameleon waited a few seconds before asking, "How do you feel?"

Shadow had to take a moment to consider that. "Restless," he eventually admitted. "I don't know why."

Toru frowned a little, and then he stiffened when Ghune reappeared with another flask of blood in hand. Shadow glanced over at her. His gaze caught on the glass container. The chameleon stood and frowned at the sight, but ultimately just watched as Ghune walked up to Shadow and handed what she was carrying over. "Drink. Do not delay. This should end your need to feed for now."

Had he been entirely himself again, Shadow probably would have at least attempted to refuse. But since he wasn't, he didn't. He just took the flask and did as he was told. Ghune watched quietly before looking at Toru. "Next time, do not charge a vampire in a frenzy. If he had had less control, he may well have drained you-"

"Don't tell me what to do," Toru bit out, turning away from her and watching Shadow. "I wasn't going to just stand to the side."

You're a fucking fool. "Fine," Ghune said, returning her attention to the hedgehog among them. It didn't take him long to finish and wordlessly hand her back her flask. He'd entirely emptied it again. "Speak to me how you feel, having consumed more blood," she said, frowning.

It again took Shadow a moment, but he was able to answer truthfully before too long. "Fine," he sighed. To substantiate his claim, his pulse was indeed calming now and his eyes were rapidly returning to normal.

"Good." Ghune clenched her fist. "To think that a monster such as that would blatantly attack you…"

"Malevolence has hunted me before," Shadow suddenly revealed, looking away with a scowl. "More than once. It was only a matter of time before this happened again, in hindsight."

An entirely unnatural sound of irritation escaped Ghune and she stormed off a distance away, pressing a finger to her temple. Toru took the chance to kneel by Shadow and set a hand on his shoulder. "So you're feeling normal now, right?"

Shadow's expression relaxed noticeably when he glanced at Toru, took in the stress on the other man's face, and nodded. "Yes."

It helped Toru immensely to be told this, evident by the sudden relief washing over him. This was enough to calm the chameleon down. "Oh, thank god," he breathed out in a shaky sigh. The obvious stress and fear Toru had had prior to this made something in Shadow tense up and want to say something, but frankly he didn't know what. So he just stayed quiet for now.

There wasn't much time between Shadow making this choice and Ghune returning, radiating an aura that made even Toru a touch wary. "One of my leads in the area you were staying within was killed, and others were injured. I am accelerating the move for my kind to join this war. It sickens me that even evil beings would-" She cut herself off, planting her claws in the skin of her forehead. "Shadow, your training will be expedited. You will know control of your abilities in the next few days. Toru, stay by his side and use this if another situation arises." She tossed a seemingly normal rock to him. When it touched his skin, he could feel the light thrum of magic. "If you call for me while holding this, I will come. Understood?"

Shadow listened in silence, paying close attention to what was said while also keeping a careful eye on Toru. The chameleon's sudden and uncharacteristic wariness had him just a bit tense without realizing it, though not because of Ghune. It was more because of concern. Toru, meanwhile, just sort of nodded and Ghune continued. "Shadow, I will inform you now that I am going to revive the Black Arms race, even if I must manage it myself." Her gaze wandered away from him. "I am glad it did not cease to exist." With this, she vanished once more, leaving the two entirely alone.

"...What?" Toru eventually asked. "Reviving a whole race?"

Crimson eyes blinked slowly. "She is capable," Shadow said after a short pause. Then he added, "And this is… necessary. I did not tell you at the time, but when you first visited the hive with me there was a significant issue. I sensed no more fifty-two individuals left in the entire hive. In the past, they numbered in the millions. They were brought to the brink of extinction. It was pointless to mention because there was never anything you or I could do."

Toru wasn't sure how to take that news. "That's… awful," he murmured. "I don't like them, but… they haven't done anything bad."

"No. They haven't." Shadow was briefly quiet, then he sighed. "That individual you met that day with me took charge after Father's second-in-command died. He excommunicated me from the hive, and because of that I didn't know until we visited what sort of state the place was in." Had I known… perhaps I would have been able to defend Father's home better than I wound up doing. I should have tried harder to stay.

"That fucking sucks," Toru said in a sigh. This kind of news wasn't… what he expected to be bringing his mood down, but it genuinely wasn't good. "I'm sorry that you had to deal with that."

Shadow shrugged. "Father is back now," he reminded quietly. "That alone will make things… better there."

"They respect him and all, yeah?" Toru asked, curious. "Since they were apparently thriving and all before… In numbers, that is."

"They respect him more than outsiders can understand," Shadow shrugged. "Even I cannot fully appreciate the depths of their obedience and whatnot. I am an outsider as well, to some extent."

Toru nodded at this, crossing his arms. "I suppose you're right. The respect chameleons show amongst themselves is completely different from most other races in a few ways, too." Shadow blinked at him again, waiting to see if further explanation would be given… mostly just because he was curious. Toru didn't elaborate at this time, seemingly lost in thought for the moment.

In the silence that followed, Shadow did his best to recall the day's earlier events, but still found himself drawing a total blank. "...Toru," he eventually had to ask, "what exactly happened? Not just a quick listing of events this time. I don't need to hear the same type of explanation twice."

The chameleon sighed a little and nodded. "So, obviously that thing attacked you where you were staying. You had that same aura about you as when you first went into that state for feeding. You began controlling a blade of Darkness, apparently with your mind or something, to fight back against it. You made a ton of demons rise from the dead to attack it as well." Shadow frowned as he listened to this. "Oh, that and you were really fucking strong, and you hissed. That was fucking weird."

"'Hissed'?" Shadow echoed, incredulous.

"Mhm." Toru looked at him. "As funny as it could be to lie about that, it's the truth."

"What the hell…" was all Shadow could think to say to that, letting out a heavy breath as he did so. He quite deliberately shifted focus off of that afterward. "And I could not have been that strong, Toru. You have always been capable of overpowering me if you so chose."

"Well, If you don't believe me, would you believe Sonic?" Toru asked with a raised eyebrow. Shadow gave him a vaguely puzzled look. In truth, he hadn't stopped yet to wonder how or why Sonic had wound up here with them. "Do you believe me or not, because I will teleport to him and have him explain this if needed."

Shadow gave Toru one of his usual frowns. "You have not yet explained your reasoning for even making such a claim," he pointed out with a huff.

"The fact that I wasn't able to teleport you here on my own as well as you nearly being able to break out of my hold even with Sonic's help," Toru answered, gently pulling Shadow close to him a second time. Shadow wasn't sure what to say to that, due in no small part to being distracted by being hugged again. "For now… as much as I hate to say it, we should wait for Ghune to come back. She's the only person who really understands this shit."

Sighing again, Shadow nodded. "That is likely the best course of action," he agreed. Then he very slightly nudged Toru off of him with a vaguely petulant complaint of, "You stink of demon blood." Despite his words, he shifted a little in Toru's hold to lean his head against the chameleon's chest in an unspoken moment of calm contentment. He was perfectly at ease right where he was and wasn't bothering to try to cover it up for once.

In fact, he was rather openly (albeit loosely) returning Toru's hug with both arms now, with his arms under the chameleon's. He had no idea why he suddenly felt this… placid and inclined to hold and be held, but he didn't spend any real time thinking about it. Toru apparently didn't either, very quick to simply wrap the hedgehog up even closer to him with a gentle smile.

At that moment, all they could feel was warmth.

~保護者~

Sonic reappeared back on the battlefield and quickly took stock of the situation. He happened to land by Eila, who Silver had been knocked away from earlier. Despite his lingering misgivings about her, he didn't hesitate to kneel down and ask, "Hey, are you alright?"

Eila shifted vaguely and hid one of her arms from his view. "I'm… fine," she blatantly lied.

"...You know I can hear your pulse change a bit when you lie, right?" Sonic asked her. One of his ears flicked almost as if for emphasis, but in reality it was unintentional. "But if you don't want my help, that's fine. Just say so and I'll leave you be for now."

"I don't want anyone to see it," Eila admitted quietly, shrinking down a little. "It looks bad, even healed."

Emerald eyes averted themselves. "I won't look, then. Alright?" He unstrapped his communicator and held it out for her. "Here, yours looks wrecked. You can borrow mine however long it takes for you to get ahold of your sister."

Eila hesitated for a moment to accept this, reaching out and cautiously accepting it. Her mind quickly began using the device, sending Rose a message at the same time as unstrapping her own. "Thanks," she murmured.

"Yeah. Don't mention it." Sonic stood up. "Send yours to Tails when you get the chance. He's an inventor. Fixing tech like that is kinda… 'his thing'. And, like, holler or something if you need anyone." He hurried off after that, heading to the next closest person. It was Nier, who was with Locke at the moment. They both assured him that they were alright and shooed him off to check on other people.

He wound up finding Steam next, and as with before he quickly knelt down. "Hey, dude," he greeted with a heavy sigh. "How're you holding up?"

"Little irritated," Steam admitted easily. He wasn't at all injured right now, most likely due to his regeneration, but that didn't change the fact that he was exhausted. "I'm not going to take this shit with Nareish any more."

"I don't know that that necessarily had anything to do with her," Sonic admitted. "Malevolence has gone after Shadow before. It even managed to kill him once. This could be a continuation of whatever the hell it was trying to accomplish back then."

"Well," Steam said, sitting up finally, "I have reason to believe she's somewhat involved here, too. It doesn't change my plan."

"Yeah. I heard a bit about the blueprints from Tails. Following through on your idea is risky as shit, but probably for the best regardless." As he spoke, he carefully looked around, searching for any sign of his son. He soon spied Silver sitting not too far away, sort of pouting to himself and trying to brush the dirt out of his fur. He was obviously fine if he could manage to be that childish after such an attack.

Steam turned his attention to Silver briefly, frowning for a moment. "Yeah, I'm aware." He stood up, letting out a sigh. "We need to make sure Espio and Armaris are okay. Aside from Espio, Armaris was defenseless against that."

"No kidding. And his barrier just collapsed almost as soon as it was struck." Sonic pursed his lips together and stood up. He spied the pair some distance away right where Armaris had earlier fallen. Espio was slowly pushing himself up and appeared to have a bit of trouble doing it, but before long he'd managed to regain his feet.

Steam teleported over and quickly picked Armaris up off the ground with a wince some couple feet away from where Espio was standing currently. It was obvious she'd taken a bit of a beating from the attack, but whatever Espio had done definitely saved her from a far worse fate. Judging by a quick comparison of their wounds, it was clear Espio had physically shielded her as much as he could manage in that short moment. "Espio, are you feeling okay?" he asked, looking over to the chameleon in question.

Somehow, Espio found that he actually was, aside from his injuries. His Darkness was strangely under control despite what had just happened. "Yes." His eyes lingered on Armaris, looking her over closely.

"We can take her to Amy," Steam said. "She'll be okay, but these wounds need to be healed."

Espio was in front of Steam in an instant. He carefully took Armaris from him, holding her for the first time ever in any fashion while he quietly insisted, "I will handle it."

If the situation leading up to this had been less serious, Steam might have smiled. "Alright. Let me know how she's feeling when she wakes up, okay? She'll probably need you to stay around her a bit more than usual."

"I will remain with her." His promise given, Espio vanished.

While Steam had been talking to him, Sonic had gone to more thoroughly check on Silver. Once done with that, he hurried back over to Steam. "Did you see where Kath and Azerel went down? They 've gotta be under this rubble or something somewhere, because I don't see them at all."

Steam turned to look around and grimaced, taking a few fast strides before the rubble was suddenly lifted into the air by multi-colored magic. Cyril was there, rapidly sorting through it all in search of the very two Steam had started looking for. It didn't take long for Sonic to spy normally pure white fur amidst the debris and he ran over in that direction. "It's Azerel!" he called out to the Babylonian and Steam.

Before Steam had a chance to react to this sight or Sonic's words, Cyril landed on the ground and let loose a pulse of his magic, tossing the rubble into the air before he reduced it all to nothing more than dust and deposited it somewhere else. Steam, meanwhile, teleported to Azerel and rapidly checked over the wolf's body. Unfortunately, the wolf was still just as unconscious as he had been when he'd initially hit the ground. He wasn't breathing very well, either.

When Cyril didn't see Kath immediately, his panic visibly rose. "Oh, crap," he muttered, stretching his senses as much as he could. Where did you go?

It thankfully didn't take too long for an answer to come. Kath almost sort of "warped" back into view a few feet away, stumbling from the impact and due to his injuries. Both of those factors contributed to him almost immediately collapsing onto his knees with a pained wince, both of his hands instinctively clutching at his right knee. Cyril quickly lifted him off the ground with his magic and pulled the older man into his arms, focusing his magic on trying to heal what wounds he had. "Kath, can you hear me?"

"Yes," Kath bit out between gritted teeth. His leg was a mess and his most grievous source of pain at the present moment.

"Good," Cyril said, continuing to work on healing him. "Jeez, this is awful." Kath's other wounds were quickly healed, leaving just his leg with massive damage. The injuries on that appendage stubbornly resisted Cyril's efforts to repair them. Unfortunately, it was plainly apparent that hawk was too hyper-focused on his severe pain to offer up any explanations as to how and why this was so. Rather than give up, Cyril kept trying, frowning deeply. Please heal… please.

Seeing the problem, Sonic ran over with Azerel. "Aw, hell." His mind raced, soon settling on a single idea. "He's gone to Eras to heal before, Cyril. Do you think you can take him in far enough that the Light can start working on those wounds?"

"I'll have to try," Cyril answered. It didn't occur to him that he didn't know what or where Eras was, but he opened the portal anyway without having intended to. He looked at it and blinked. How do I keep doing things like this? he thought to himself as he went through it.

Once Cyril was gone, Sonic used some of what little Chaos energy he had left at the present moment to send Azerel off to Mobius (more specifically to Amy) despite the vast distance from here to there. Then he turned and ran off again, because he had two more people to check on. Namely, Satsuno and Seiko.

For better or for worse, he actually found Caliburn first. He damn-near tripped on the chunk of rock it was under, but a slight jump saved him from that fate. With one hand, he reached down and snatched up his weapon before his feet hit the ground again. Then he sheathed the sword and continued on his way. It would have been a lie to say that he was surprised to find the pair of them close by to one another as usual. Really, it was relieving. Seems to me that they're always okay when they're together.

Still, just to be safe, he looked them over while slowing his pace and more respectfully approaching. Satsuno was seated on the ground, looking somewhat annoyed as he dumped dirt out of one of his shoes. Aside from being covered in a layer of filth from the blasts, however, he seemed to be entirely fine. Sonic had a sneaking suspicion that Seiko's magic had been enough to ensure that for the both of them. He glanced at her to confirm or deny that assumption.

She was a bit worse off than Satsuno, sporting quite a few nasty looking injuries. They didn't seem to bother her much, judging by how she stood up to meet Sonic and walked to him without trouble. "Are you alright?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm fine, yeah," Sonic assured. "Are you? Those look pretty, well, painful."

"I'll need to see a healer," Seiko admitted without hesitation. "But it is nothing too serious. If you need my help with anything, just say so."

"Not… at the moment. But, uh… turns out I have an explanation for what the hell happened earlier with Shadow." Satsuno straightened and looked over, ears perked attentively.

Seiko blinked. "Explain."

"I only just found out about this from Toru, but according to him, for about two days Shadow's been… a vampire." Sonic sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "As insane as that sounds, I saw plenty of proof myself once we got him away from here." That was a hell of a public way to show other people, too… Not that that was his intention. Probably.

"'Vampire'?" she echoed.

"Yeah. And apparently what we saw with that little skirmish was a combination of him retaliating after being attacked and also supposedly being in a 'frenzy' or something." Sonic lowered his hand with a weak, useless shrug. "That was about the only explanation I got."

Satsuno was silent throughout this, but when Sonic finished talking he decided to contribute to the conversation. "...New vampires can experience two kinds of frenzied bloodlust," he suddenly explained. "The desire to merely kill in response to anger, and the desire to feed. If he was indeed beginning to experience both, then it is fortunate that he was taken away as swiftly as he was."

Seiko glanced to Satsuno. "That woman earlier. She was one as well," she acknowledged.

"Yes. A powerful one."

Emerald eyes blinked in utter confusion. "Wait, you guys know about vampires already?"

The former king shrugged in a slow manner. "Only somewhat. I was attacked by one twice in the past, and through that learned of their existence. What knowledge I have is mostly what I gained from observing that individual."

"I guessed," Seiko said. "The woman had a similar aura to Shadow."

"Do either of you know if there's some way to help him?" Sonic asked, concern showing heavily in his eyes. Satsuno just shrugged again. He'd apparently decided to be entirely unhelpful now, much like Kaden sometimes would do in the past. But that memory gave Sonic a pang in his heart, and so he tried not to think about it much. Seiko frowned. "How was the frenzy stopped? Surely you would have not left him in such a state."

"That other vampire, whoever she is, showed up and literally force-fed him," Sonic told her. "But, you know, with drinking instead of- ...Anyway, she had a flask of blood and that seemed to help calm him down for the most part. She ended up giving him a second one a few minutes later to get him fully back to himself."

"Then, her aid may be necessary in this situation," Seiko said. "I firmly doubt we have the knowledge of how to handle it."

Sonic let out a heavy breath. "I was worried you'd say that… But if you're sure, then fine." He tugged at one of his ears a little, a bit of an anxious habit of his that showed itself now and then, but caught himself quickly and stopped. After that, he switched gears. "There's one more thing. I didn't get a chance to tell you before, but Dad woke up yesterday evening, around seven. Before I totally fill you in, though, I really want you to understand that he's safe and all that right now. Okay?" Grey eyes stared hard at him, their owner offering no comment about what he and Seiko had just been told.

"Continue," Seiko demanded, straightening her posture. Her tone wasn't harsh by any means, but the firmness certainly showed how important this was to her.

"Before I can get into all the details, there's one more thing I have to explain," Sonic said apologetically. "In a nutshell, you guys already understand corruption and all its crap. But the current issue is what comes after corruption. Even being corrupted for just a little while and doing nothing bad can seriously leave people feeling the worst they ever have once they're purified, emotionally speaking. And Dad… Dad was corrupted for a very, very long time."'Seiko let out a sigh, but didn't say anything for a long moment. She'd figured this would be the case, after all. "Continue," she murmured.

Her grandson obeyed immediately while Satsuno continued to listen in silence. "Given that, honestly… we should have been way more prepared for him to bolt when he woke up, but we weren't. He bolted despite Zareil trying to convince him not to, and she went after him. Erm, Zareil is a close friend of his, by the way. We think he might have feelings for her of some kind, which is why she was there."

Seiko crossed her arms. What kind of name is that? "Who is she?"

"In the past, she was a demon alongside him," Sonic admitted. "I have no idea what sort of history they have together, but nearly every time we saw Dad he was with her. He cared enough about her that whatever small part of him was clinging to his old self really fought to keep her safe, beyond anything that could ever be considered normal for a demon. ...Like he did for me and Shadow. And she's purified now, by the way."

She decided not to question this too deeply, instead wanting to change the topic. "How is he?"

"At first… he wasn't doing so hot," Sonic admitted. "We had no idea where he'd gone, only that he was safe for the most part because she was with him. But after barely a few minutes, he sent her back to us. Something like an hour later, she finally told us that he'd been attacked by some other demon. I guess he was fighting during that hour. Somehow, that other demon killed him, but it or someone else brought him right back to life. The one good thing to come out of that is that he isn't burdened with the role of God anymore, but… Obviously the rest of that is… fucking horrible."

He kept talking before they could respond to that news. "I'm fuzzy on the details after that, but Mom says he was taken to the Realms of Death to rest and recover. And… not just physically. I guess his emotions finally caught up to him and he broke down pretty badly. He's being defended by Zenith, wherever he is."

"I see," Seiko murmured. "Is there more?"

"Just… one more thing," the younger hedgehog sighed. "I have no idea how to broach this subject tactfully, even though I've been thinking about it this whole time. So I'm just going to out and say it. Basically, before he was corrupted and all that, Dad and my mom were life-partners and really in love. They were happy and all that, you know? Then the corruption happened and really screwed with everything. For a lot of reasons, they don't love each other romantically anymore, though Mom says that they'll always be 'the best of friends' like they have been since their early adulthood."

"Which… leads into more about him and Zareil." Sonic hesitated a second, gathering his thoughts. "...Right, jumping straight in. Sorry. Anyway, couples have kids. Everybody knows that. He and Zareil took that same step, though obviously I don't know if it was planned or even if those two are a couple at this stage. But they have triplet daughters together that are… if I had to guess, around eight or so."

Seiko blinked. "Oh. That's an interesting development."

Finally, Satsuno spoke back up. "I assume they were also purified safely?"

"Yeah, absolutely. Mom handled that, and she said they were fine." Sonic thought for a second. "If I remember correctly, their demon names were Alynn, Shyrr, and Tyrnn. I don't know if they'll end up keeping those names or not, though. Mom says that sometimes people who are born as demons and then purified change their names."

"Hm." Seiko frowned in thought, but it wasn't worth letting it linger or voicing it. "Is there anything else we need to know?"

"No, thankfully. That's all the recent stuff. But I'll tell you about any other developments." Sonic watched as Satsuno put his shoe back on, seeming to have become lost in thought somehow in the last two or so seconds. "Mom said she'll contact you both when it's safe to visit him. That's the only other thing."

"I may well still need to strangle Ylden for his lack of informing me-" Seiko looked to Satsuno. "Is Kaden the God of Death?" she asked suddenly.

Satsono's right ear flicked. "He was. No longer." It at first didn't seem like he would elaborate, but he soon did. "I believe I sensed him abruptly transfer the role around the time that Sonic described that fight taking place. But I was half-asleep and did not… entirely realize it had happened until just now."

"It's either Zenith or Ylden," Seiko reasoned. She snorted a little, obviously vaguely irritated. "That cat knows how to push buttons in all the wrong ways."

"Try not to give him too hard of a time," Sonic murmured. "From what I understand, he's been going through a lot recently. I mean, you guys saw the state his daughter was in earlier. Plus a guy he had a hand in raising was corrupted for a while not too long ago. And his friend Han is in… a sorry state, mentally, right now."

This made Satsuno visibly stiffen. "Han is?"

"This would all explain Ylden's intense silence," Seiko realized aloud. "Usually he has some form of wise-ass comment."

"What is happening with Han?" Satsuno pressed, entirely ignoring Seiko's comment for now.

Aw, hell. Is he friends with the guy, too? Shit… I should have been way less abrupt about that. "I don't know, exactly," Sonic admitted. "I know his daughter, Wave, really well. She's told me a tiny bit about what's going on during a call this morning, but she got so emotional that I had her stop and go lie down. We said we'd talk about it more when she felt up to it, so I don't know a whole lot."

Seiko let a sigh escape. "Damn. Is it possible for us to visit and see him?" she questioned.

"I mean, if you can get into the Realms of Death, probably," Sonic shrugged. "That's where she said he is right now, so Ylden can keep a close eye on him."

"Understood," Seiko said. "Are there any other matters to attend to?" Sitting somewhat off to the side and behind her still, Satsuno suddenly felt a fierce chill run up his spine. Cold forced its way in, but nothing else happened that was in any way visible other than a quick shudder. It went unseen by his companions.

"I think that's it," Sonic told her. "For real this time."

"Hey," Steam suddenly said, managing to even briefly surprise Seiko with how suddenly he appeared. "We should get going. Things dwell in battlefields, and a lot happened here."

It didn't escape Sonic's notice that Satsuno was the first one to agree and stand up to leave. "It is getting colder here," he murmured. "That does not ever bode well."

Steam smiled a little to him. "It'll be good to get you back home to rest away from all of this. Sonic, if you could go ahead and teleport them back, I'll make sure to let any worried da Asani know that everything is okay."

Sonic gave Steam a puzzled look. What da Asani? The question was almost quite literally communicated through his eyes.

His smile faded. "I mean… We didn't give them a whole lot of warning before an all out war broke out. I figured I'd let them know things are handled and that they won't need to worry about bodies of demons."

...Now I know something is up. We aren't even that close to their world. Sonic pursed his lips together and quickly mumbled, "Time Stop." Time froze, but as always it wouldn't last long. As such, he cut right to the chase. "Spill. What the hell's going on?"

"Watch Satsuno," Steam said immediately, growing serious. "In my timeline, he was targeted by demonic possession. We cannot let that come to fruition, but we need definitive proof and a plan to handle it. Just go with my excuse and don't draw unneeded attention to it. It'll hide more if it thinks we're on its case."

"...Yeah, sure, I'll go along with it," Sonic agreed. "But, Steam, possessions of that kind require there to be some kind of an attack. That's what happened to Armaris a while back. He wasn't attacked at all. He's just been sitting here with us."

"He's a conduit for the dead," Steam argued. "Armaris, though her dad works in the Realms of Death, isn't."

"'Conduit'?" Sonic echoed, utterly confused. He then said another quick, "Time Stop." This was taxing to do, very much so, but he really needed this information.

"The dead can possess him far easier than any other individual," Steam explained. "He's like a bridge between the dead and living, hence why he can be possessed easily."

This made Sonic tense up more than he already had been. "Why might a demon be targeting him aside from just that? Give me any potential reason you can think beyond the obvious crap of 'he's strong' or whatever basic things like that."

Steam would have sighed, but there was no time. "I'm not sure. Maybe it wants to use him to get rid of someone who can stop it." He briefly glanced at Seiko. "Her magic can expel it, but if it's not there, I assume it could harm Satsuno."

"That magic can and does hurt beings of Darkness. It killed Dad once when he used too much of it." Sonic was quiet for a second. "What do you mean 'not there'?"

"If I'm wrong, which is a possibility, then there won't be anything to banish. Things are beginning to be different, and I can't rely just on what I know anymore," Steam acknowledged.

"Time Stop," Sonic said again. This was probably about the last time he could extend this freeze, so he decided to make this fast. "Aside from potentially behaving differently, will there be any other signs to look out for?"

"Tremors such as general shakes of his body, tensing and jerking of his limbs like in a seizure," Steam said immediately. "Watch his eyes, too, for any sign that they look unusual. Any changes in his voice are important to keep track of, and watch for him suddenly passing out or collapsing."

"Damn… alright." Sonic pinched the bridge of his nose. "What do we do if he is possessed and Seiko's magic doesn't work to save him?"

"Ylden is capable of expelling a demon from someone's body," Steam said. "By that standard, Kaden or Zenith could be able to as well."

"Okay. Anything else I need to know?"

"Anything else, I can update you on soon," Steam said. "End the time stop, and do your best to not look super serious. The less it thinks we know, the better."

"Yeah. Right." Time soon began to flow normally again, and Sonic pretended with surprising ease and accuracy to be equal parts serious and self-deprecating. "You're right…" he sighed, as though he'd just remembered something. "I guess this is the edge of their territory, isn't it? Telling the da Asani really isn't a bad idea. Hell, I'd want to know if I were them."

Steam rubbed the back of his head a little. "Yeah, sadly. That may be why the new God came out here. We also had Sein and Alana near Babylon, so I think he changed targets to keep from facing three Immortals at once."

"Honestly, yeah. Not many aside from Nareish really like the idea of challenging more than one Immortal at a time." Sonic sighed again, as he often did, then turned to his grandparents. "I'm gonna stay here and work on sending Silver home and helping Steam. You guys definitely need rest, too." He looked at Seiko in particular. "You mentioned being willing to see a healer, right? My wife Amy is one. I can send you guys to see her, if you want."

Seiko looked at Steam and Sonic for a long moment with a scrutinizing gaze before nodding. "Yes. It would be nice to be rid of the pain, before it becomes a problem."

"No kidding," Sonic agreed with a hint of a grumble in his tone. "If you don't immediately see her, just ask for Amy, okay? She's the pink hedgehog. Satsuno, you might have seen her when you were at Tails's house recently."

Satsuno blinked, then nodded. "Yes. We did not interact, but she was there."

"I will do so soon," Seiko agreed. "Satsuno, would you like to return to Shadow's home or go with me? I understand if you would like to rest immediately."

"I would prefer a bath," Satsuno grumbled, dusting off his arms a bit. So far, this was entirely in character for him. "I am filthy."

"Reasonable," Seiko said. "I will meet back with you shortly, then, once my wounds have been healed."

"Alright," he agreed easily enough.

Before Sonic could even ask if his grandfather was capable of teleporting far enough to get back to Mobius on his own, he was gone. Right… he got here by himself in the first place, even if that was through a portal. Makes sense.

Steam glanced at Seiko as her gaze bored into him. "Yes. We're hiding something, but it's in everyone's interest that you not know. If I tell you, everyone is in worse danger. Watch over Satsuno when possible."

Seiko seemed skeptical, but ultimately accepted this. "Possession?" she asked vaguely, raising an eyebrow. Sonic subtly glanced at Steam, waiting to see what the other hedgehog would say. It seemed best to follow his lead on this.

"Yeah. A different kind. You know what to look for, but don't act differently. We can't let it know we know just yet," Steam said. "Provided that it's there. It's still possible I'm wrong."

Sonic let out another sigh. "My question is… Let's just say you're right. Wouldn't he have fought it? I mean nothing happened that the rest of us saw or sensed."

"He can't," Seiko responded. "His ability to is severely limited at best, due to being a conduit for spirits. He can rarely resist, and even when he is capable he cannot do it for long"

"Crap… That's bad," Sonic mumbled. "Does that mean he isn't ever able to warn anyone, either?"

"Rarely," Seiko murmured. "It can happen, but… sometimes they simply invade before he has a chance to say a word."

The younger hedgehog sighed heavily yet again. "Right… I'll keep that in mind." Sonic crossed his arms loosely. "Steam told me things to look out for. Signs that a possession might be happening, I mean. So I'll be doing my best to help you keep an eye on him."

Seiko nodded and looked between them both. "Update me. Daily. I refuse to be out of the loop."

"Yeah, of course," Sonic promised quietly.

Steam immediately agreed. "Will do." Seiko vanished moments later, now working on a plan to protect her partner. Then, trading worried looks, Sonic and Steam headed off to get back to their own tasks.

~保護者~

12,719 words this time. Many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support. Posted (at about 6:25 p.m.) 10-28-21.