"Guys! I just received a blip!" Tails said as he looked at his tablet.

A few weeks had passed since Sonic arrived and Gadget had joined the team. Not much major had happened since then. A few small battles with Eggman's robots and some search and rescue missions for displaced townspeople, but nothing particularly special. The mysterious masked villain was still yet to be tracked down and Tails had yet to have an encounter with Eggman or his goons. But all of that was about to change.

"It's from Shade!" Tails said. Everyone except Sonic and Gadget gasped in anticipation. "She found Sonic! He's been kept prisoner in a high-security prison, and she was caught too. We need to rescue them, guys!"

"Hold on," Knuckles said. "if this is really as high-security as she said, we shouldn't all go, it'd be reckless and then we'd all be caught. We'll send two people." Rouge volunteered immediately. "Okay. That's one. Who else?" Everyone backed away. Then, one voice in the back spoke up.

"I-I'll go." Gadget stuttered.

"Gadget, no! It's too dangerous!" Tails exclaimed. "I'll go instead."

"No, Tails." Gadget replied. "You're too valuable to the team. I'll go. I know my way around Eggman's machines. I'll pop up the portal to the Twilight Cage. Rouge and I will go through."

"But what if you're caught by Eggman's robots?"

"We'll fight our way through if necessary." Rouge said. "Right, Gadget?" Gadget nodded.

"You'll leave tomorrow then." Knuckles said. "Get some rest, you'll need it."

The next morning, as they were packing up, Knuckles confronted Gadget.

"Hey, rookie. I haven't known you long, but I just wanted to say good luck. Over these past few weeks, I've been watching you closely. The passion you've put into even the smallest of tasks has been greater than that of any other recruits we've had before. I believe in you." Gadget smiled. "Oh, and by the way," Knuckles turned around to grab something off of the table. "you're gonna need this. It's a wispon." He handed the bright red weapon to Gadget. "Use it wisely." Gadget nodded.

After a few hours of treading ground, they reached Eggman's Tower. Rouge picked the lock with her nails.

"Y'know, for a monarchist world power, Eggman sure doesn't have very good security." Gadget commented. Alarms started going off. "Did I jinx it?"

"You jinxed it." Rouge replied flatly.

"Well, guess we're gonna have to fight our way through."

"Yep. Let's go, rookie."

Rouge and Gadget fought their way to the top of the tower, kicking through Egg Pawns and burning Buzz Bombers to a crisp. When they reached the central computer room, they were surprised to see Eggman wasn't waiting for them there.

"This is gonna be too easy." Rouge said, running to the control panel.

"Rouge, wait! It might be a-" Gadget started.

"Augh!" Rouge screamed as she was knocked back by a portal opening in the center of the room.

"-trap."

A masked Jackal stepped out from the portal.

"Well, well, well." The jackal said. "It seems I have more ants to crush."

Gadget helped Rouge to her feet. "Who are you?" he asked.

"That is none of your concern." The jackal replied.

"Well, I gotta call you something, right? I mean, what else am I gonna call you when I tell my friends how I beat you? Do you really want your tombstone to read 'The Masked Clown?'"

"Ha! I like your spirit, weakling. Just for that, I may not make you die as painfully." The Jackal said. "If you must call me something, refer to me as Infinite."

"Alright, Infinite, prepare for the butt-kicking of your life!" Gadget replied, rushing forward and pushing the trigger on his wispon. Infinite laughed and touched the gem in the middle of his chest, and the entire room had a red hue. Suddenly, several cannons appeared floating above Gadget and they all shot at once. Rouge dived to push Gadget out of the way and got hit instead. Gadget toppled over. He looked up at Infinite again, and suddenly it all clicked.

Two years ago

Gadget hid behind a piece of rubble as a masked jackal floated in midair.

"This is my city now!" the jackal exclaimed and several townspeople appeared, weapons armed and ready to fire. All at once, they shot at the jackal. The jackal touched the gem on his chest, laughing as the projectiles floated around him and then reflected back at the townspeople, right at their heads. One by one, each townsperson collapsed, dead, in the town center. Gadget glanced to his left to see the last of them, his own mother, collapse. He ran to her limp body crying, questioning the reality of it. He put his head over her heart. Nothing. Suddenly, anger seeped through him. He got up and faced the jackal. From his mother's limp fingers, he grabbed a wispon. He shakily aimed it at the jackal.

"Fool." The jackal said. "Do you wish to die just as these other have?" Gadget considered this for a moment, then decided that it wasn't smart to go after him now. He was just a kid, he couldn't face him like this. But he swore to himself that one day he would find him and he would get his revenge. He ran off, dropping the weapon.

"That's right, weakling. Run home." The jackal was pleased. No one could question his power, and he would simply obliterate those who did. But at the same time, he felt a certain remorse. How many of those he killed had families? Friends? It brought him pain to remember how he felt that long ago day. No, he couldn't think this way. These pathetic lifeforms deserved what they got for questioning his power. He was Infinite, he couldn't be weak.

Back to the Present

Anger surged through Gadget. This was the guy who killed his mother. He vowed he'd get his revenge. He wasn't backing down from that vow.

"I can see you've taken enough of a beating already. I'll just leave you to die. Farewell!" Infinite said before vanishing.

"Dang it." Gadget said under his breath. He looked to his right and saw Rouge lying there in pain. He rushed over to her. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine, it'll heal. Just activate the portal and find Sonic without me. I'll go back to the base. I'm sorry I can't help you more."

"It's alright." Gadget said. He helped Rouge get to her feet and watched as she limped out the door. He walked up to the control panel and messed around with it until he found the right combination of buttons to activate the portal to the Twilight Cage. As soon as it opened, he hopped in.