Chapter Eight - Operation: Big Wave


Sonic was a bit wary of Shadow as they started heading back to the resistance base.

"So...how do I know you're the real Shadow?" He asked. "After all, you could be another fake."

"Infinite, the being you and the resistance have been fighting, can create virtual reality projections of things and people. They aren't really there but have mass and form because of the way the brain perceives the illusion and they have no heart or soul." He explained. "If I wasn't really me, I'd have left you to die there or killed you myself." Sonic had to admit, that made sense. Shadow may act cold and callous towards him and certain people but even he wouldn't ruthlessly attack his friends. Well not anymore anyway.

"Virtual reality? So all those familiar faces part of Eggman's army; Zavok, Chaos, they're all fakes?" He asked. Shadow nodded.

"Soulless, perfect replicas based on information Eggman is feeding Infinite." He said. "The problem is, despite them not being real, they're just as powerful as the beings they're based on and hit just as hard. According to the data Bev and I have been gathering in secret these past few months, he can create infinite numbers. Fitting really, given his name."

"So fight after fight he can just keep cranking out counterfeits."

"Exactly. As it stands, we have no chance of winning this." Sonic scoffed.

"Of course we can win this, we always do. We just haven't figured out how we're going to do that just yet." He said. "But I have a feeling we will. We have to." Shadow shook his head a bit. Unlike everyone else, he could see right through Sonic's act. It was completely like him to stay positive, even in the bleakest of situations, but it was becoming shockingly clear to everyone, even him, that the odds were massively stacked against them and the ever increasing chance of failure was looming above them all. They returned to the base where Tails and the others were working to figure out just what the Phantom Ruby could do. "We're back, don't worry. This one's the real Shadow. Turns out that the one spotted working with Eggman was a fake."

"A fake?" Knuckles asked skeptically. While he and Shadow weren't what one would call close, they usually were together rather frequently due to the fact that Rouge was usually working with the black hedgehog.

"Yes, a fake. One of many Infinite has created to terrorize the populace and inflate the ranks of the opposing army." He said.

"But how is he making so many? And they seem so real." Amy said.

"Could this be the work of the Phantom Ruby? And if so, how do we stop something like that?" Tails asked.

"We can't. We'll have to find some way to destroy it if we want to stand a chance of defeating Eggman." Bev said.

"But we don't even know how it works." Silver protested. "How do we destroy something we have no information on?"

"It tricks the brain into thinking that whatever is created by it is real and seems to be emotionally bonded with whoever wields it. The only way to deal with that would be to create something to counter it and we don't have the time for that." Shadow said. "As it stands, Eggman is preparing for something but whatever it is he's been keeping extremely tight-lipped about it and even I couldn't figure it out."

"Wait. Tails, didn't you say that Kira has a prototype of the Phantom Ruby?" Rouge asked. The fox nodded.

"Yeah, but Eggman said they were defective. I could take a look at it and see if I can figure something out but I'll need to work fast." He said. Kira handed over her prototype and Tails took a look at it. Unfortunately he couldn't figure out much from just that and he didn't have near enough time to run a full diagonstic test on it. All he could tell was that it similar to the synthetic Chaos Emeralds he had made before which meant it definitely wasn't as powerful as the real deal. "I wish I knew exactly what emotions trigger this."

"You don't have time to figure it out unfortunately. I just got word that Eggman's forces are undermanned at his headquarters in Metropolis." Knuckles announced. "They may be staged somewhere else so this could be our only chance to get in and take the city. We're going to focus our efforts on a full frontal assault to take back the city from Eggman's army. I call it Operation: Big Wave."

"Who cares what it's called, what matters is whether or not you have a well thought out strategy since we only get one shot at this." Silver said. Knuckles glanced away sheepishly.

"Well I thought the plan up in about a minute and a half but that's neither here nor there. What we're going to do is go in hard and fast and we're not stopping until Eggman's army is completely destroyed." He said. "Sonic, I want you and Shadow to hang back here. The last thing we want is Eggman to know that Shadow is back on our side. The rest of us are going in guns blazing. We've got the strength and the spirit to win this and there's no finer group I'd wanna fight with."

"Great speech commander, lets give that oversized easter egg a good old fashioned beat down." Vector said with a toothy grin.

"We'll have to be careful though. They have more in sheer numbers and while the idea of a quick, focused attack isn't bad we still have to be on our guard." Tails said. "We've got this Sonic on our side after all and if we can destroy the main Phantom Ruby we should be able to send him home, at least I hope so anyway. This is new territory for me and I'm still not so sure if it'll work or not but I'm willing to give it a shot."

"Then its settled, lets head straight for Eggman's HQ. Its time to save the world!" They rallied their forces, leaving a decent sized group to guard the base with Shadow and Sonic before everyone armored up. Kira, Bev and Myke were getting ready together the three of them planning to go in as a team to provide some extra firepower separate from the ground and air forces. When everyone was ready they all switched on the communicators and set a course for Metropolis. "Alright team, time for Operation: Big Wave! We'll surge forward and sweep the enemy away! Lets go!" They all charged into the city, opening fire on the mechanical army before them. Unbeknownst to the resistance however, was that that had been exactly what Eggman hoped they would do.

"I really don't know what that rabble thought they could do with an all out attack." He said with an amused chuckle as he watched them play right into his hands from a remote location above the city. "Go smash them to smithereens!" Infinite nodded and headed off. Back on the front lines; Kira, Bev and Myke were giving it their all carving a path of broken smoldering robot bits.

"I'm going to go ahead to find a way into the base!" Kira radioed to her companions as a group of armored Egg Pawns and Motobugs started towards them. "You two stay safe!"

"Who put you in charge?!" Myke yelled. "Don't go getting yourself killed!"

"I'll be safe!" She spilt from the group, glancing back to see Bev utterly annihilate a group of bots with her Lightning Wispon in such a way that she resembled an Olympic ribbon dancer while Myke ruthlessly bashed anything that dared stand in his way to pieces with a single swing of his Cube Wispon. She gripped her Drill tightly and swung from freeway lane, to freeway lane destroying robots in her path. She swung out towards a four-lane highway and was soaring through the air when suddenly he showed up. Infinite. Her blood ran cold and time seemed to slow to almost a halt as the color drained from her face. She locked on to the single golden eye his mask revealed and felt a bolt of terror run down her spine. The whole encounter lasted maybe ten seconds at most but it felt like ten years as he zipped passed her and a strange ringing sounded in her ears as the Phantom Ruby on his chest began glowing. She suddenly found herself upside down, with huge elongated and inky looking versions of Infinite attacking the city.

"Stay calm! Everyone keep calm! What you're seeing isn't real!" Knuckles ordered over the radio as the troops began seeing the hellish looking Infinite illusions as well.

"Its no use commander! Our troops are scattering in the confusion!" One of the soldiers radioed back. Screams echoed over the comms as whole swaths of troops were wiped out or too terrified to continue fighting.

"This is bad! Our troops were all gathered together and now everyone's plunged into chaos!" Silver said, trying to keep things calm and orderly on his end but to no avail. Kira was trying to keep calm and keep her feet on the ground but the ground was quickly disappearing as the giant Infinite clones smashed into anything and everything and the real Infinite kept augmenting reality to keep them confused.

"This is Eagle squad, reporting in! Our team is caught under heavy enemy crossfire! Requesting back up at once!"

"Snake squad, requesting reinforcements to deal with the clones, over!"

"This is Fox squad, we can't hold out much more we need help, stat!"

"Eighty percent of our forces have been wiped out and we've completely lost contact with the rest!" Amy radioed as complete and utter chaos overwhelmed her and her team.

"One flip of the Phantom Ruby and everything falls apart on us!" Vector said, his team fighting off as many robots as possible.

"Kira you and your team are our only hope now since you're the farthest!" Knuckles said.

"Negative commander, just Kira! Myke and I are pinned down on all sides!" Bev said.

"I can't get anywhere near the base! The clones are cutting off all highway access, I'm running out of stuff to stand on!" Kira radioed, swinging to safety just as another platform was destroyed.

"We can't keep going on like this, as much as it pains me to say it we'll have to fall back and live to fight another day!" Espio said, breaking free of the robots cornering him and Charmy.

"Espio is right, out big wave is washed out! We haven't lost yet, but we have no choice but to fall back and regroup! Get out of the city by any means necessary and may you all make it back in one piece." Totally overwhelmed, the resistance scattered and pulled back from the fight much to Infinite's displeasure as he was hoping for more of a fight than that.

"I wonder if this world can offer me a real challenge." He mused as he watched the resistance run off with their tails between their legs. Kira had just managed to escape unscathed and was heading back to base when she spotted Infinite up ahead. Unfortunately he spotted her as well. "And as if to answer, the world sends me a trembling child." Kira backed away a bit before turning tail and running only to be stopped when Infinite suddenly appeared in front of her again and this time much closer. He leaned forward, whispering in her ear. "Are you going to fight and die here, or run away in fear like your pathetic resistance?" She backed away from him, nearly paralyzed by her own fear.

"I...I..." She stammered, heart racing and mind swirling as he stared her down. Suddenly, her pocket felt warm and she was overwhelmed by a sudden sense of confidence and as if he were right next to her she could hear Sonic, clear as day.

"Don't be scared! This is your moment to shine!" He said. "Keep going! Don't let your fear own you!" While she wasn't one hundred percent over her fear, she clenched her fists and glared with fire in her eyes, surprising Infinite.

"I choose to fight!" She declared.

"Fine then. I will teach you fear, then pain. And then. Well at least the fear and pain will end." He said. "The strong always vanquish the weak and when I do end you, you will have only your own frailty to blame."

"Why don't you stop running your mouth and fight me!" She shouted. He growled, firing odd globs of almost digital looking blocks at her. She managed to dodge one but the second the other hit her she was suddenly surrounded by canons and only had a split second to get out of the way before the fired. She shook her head, reminding herself that what he summoned wasn't real and struck out at him with her Drill, nailing him in the side. She took off a good bit of his fur, leaving a nasty gash behind. He pressed his hand to his side, blood pooling in his palm, and let out a chuckle that was so cold it shook Kira to her core.

"Well, well. It seems that behind that fear is a spark of defiance after all. And those eyes...it feels like we've met before." He said, amping up his attacks. Kira kept on her toes, especially now that he was summoning Egg Pawns to try and keep her distracted. Eventually though, Infinite grew tired of toying around with her. "You've put up a good fight, and even one so great as I seemed to underestimate how much the feeble cling to hope, but this is the end for you." He fired orbs of red energy at her, causing her to backflip away from him lest she get hit. The prototype slipped out of her pocket as she dodged another orb which he didn't let go unnoticed as she picked it back up. "Ah, I remember you now. You ran from me before. I let you go then and yet here you stand ready to throw it all away. Curious, but no matter. This will be the final goodbye." That ringing sounded again and suddenly Kira was facing down seven energy cannons charging to fire and no amount of telling herself they weren't real couldn't get them to go away as Infinite chuckled above her.

"I'm not going to die here." She growled, standing her ground. "I'm not going to die. I'm not. I refuse!" The cannons fired and miraculously they missed her completely.

"What?! How is that possible?!" Infinite growled, momentarily losing his cold composure. "It can't be, unless..." Kira dodged the second cannon shots with a well timed jump but that left her open to Infinite who gladly took the opening to slash her across the stomach. Kira went crashing to the ground, blood already staining the front of her dress as she looked up at Infinite hovering above her. "No matter, it doesn't matter how you managed to avoid that. Tell the resistance this; they only have two days left before certain destruction. Let them contemplate the inevitable until I end this once and for all." He turned his back and flew off, leaving Kira to writhe in pain. The wound wasn't too deep, if he was aiming to kill she either got stupidly lucky or he more than likely let her live to send his message. Either way, she wasn't going to be able to do much with a bleeding stomach wound. She managed to limp her way back to base, sheer willpower keeping her from passing out until she crossed the threshold of the planning room, collapsing in a heap on the floor much to everyone's shock.

It took a few seconds for everyone to process things before the room dissolved into complete chaos. Myke, Sonic and Bev were completely freaking out while Knuckles tried calming things down and Amy went to get Vanilla. When the dust finally settled and Kira was bandaged up and resting things were still pretty tense. Knuckles was beyond pissed once Kira, now more or less awake told them what Infinite had said.

"Things had been going so well with Operation: Big Wave, and then everything went to shit when Infinite showed up." He said, clenching his fists.

"Those fake Shadows that Sonic mentioned were created with the Phantom Ruby as well like those Infinite clones right?" Silver asked. "Even if its a fake, its just as strong as the real deal and if they're like the giant Infinite clones they're even stronger. What are we going to do?"

"I have no idea and we only have two days left." He sighed. While the others continued discussing their options, Shadow pulled Rouge and Sonic to the side.

"Did you find that intel I asked you to?" He asked. She shook her head.

"Not yet, I'm still working on it. But I did find reports that Eggman's database is located in the Chemical Plant. If we check it out we might find something." She said.

"That sounds like a promising lead. We have to figure out just how exactly the Phantom Ruby works so we can put a stop to Infinite and Eggman." Sonic said. "Tails, could you go and check it out? You're the one with the most technical know how to break into Eggman's files. I'd go but I'm worried about Kira and want to keep an eye on her." Tails nodded.

"Sure, I'll take this Sonic with me and we'll be back as soon as possible." He said. The two of them headed out and Sonic checked on Kira.

"You doing alright?" He asked sitting down next to her. Outside of relaying Infinite's declaration of doom she hadn't said a word to anyone else since she got back. Naturally, Sonic was worried and wanted to make sure she was going to be okay. She shook her head a bit, staring at a blank point on the wall. "You can talk to me Kira, I'm here for you. We all are." She turned to him and the sheer terror and broken look in her eyes shook him to the core. He'd seen her scared, he'd seen a lot of people scared, but this. This was complete and utter terror with a super sized side of traumatization. Anger welled up inside of him and he pulled her into a tight, protective hug. Infinite was going to pay for this. He was going to pay for every single life he had upturned or ended. With Chaos as his witness, Sonic was going to make Infinite pay. For everything. "I won't let him hurt you or anyone else again. I promise."

"Thank you, Sonic." she said softly. Being in his arms instantly made her feel better and safer and they sat in comfortable silence for a bit.

Meanwhile, Tails and Sonic had made it to the Chemical Plant.

"Man, I haven't been here in years. I'm surprised the place is still functional." Tails said as he looked around. "Then again I'm not all that surprised. Anyway, lets get in and find what we're looking for before Eggman figures out we're in here." They made their way to a spot where Tails could remotely access the Database, crawling around, over and at one point even through hazardous machinery. "Now I remember why I hated this place, its a potential death trap. Okay, lets see what we can dig up. Failed battle plans, yadda yadda...blah blah robot designs...who the heck takes ten terrabytes of selfies and how? Oh wait, here we go." He clicked on the folder labeled "Virtual Reality Weapon: Phantom Ruby (DON'T DELETE THIS FILE, STUPID)" and copied it onto the Miles Electric before heading back to the base to tell the others. "It says here that the Phantom Ruby can take control of people's visual and depth perception to feed the brain false information and create an entirely new reality as long as the subject is under its control. So its just like Shadow said, it creates ultra powerful clones of whatever the holder imagines and because the brain is tricked into thinking its real it basically is real. Like a dream so real, if you bump yourself then your sleeping self bruises. Hard to believe, but it makes sense. Seems like Eggman had been experimenting with it and if I'm reading this correctly then there might be a weakness."

"This is big." Silver said. "We have to find the weakness and put a stop to it. If we can take out the Phantom Ruby then there goes a huge chunk of Eggman's army but we'll have to plan this smartly. We only have two days left and that's not a lot of time."

"I don't like sitting on the sidelines like this though, but Silver has a point." Knuckles said. "We're stuck spinning our wheels until we come up with a solid plan. Thankfully it seems like Eggman is staying on the down low."

"Way to jinx us, Knucklehead." Amy chastised as an alert popped up on the screen. "Looks like Metal Sonic was spotted in the city."

"Is it a fake one?" Shadow asked to Sonic's utter confusion.

"Why bother making a fake of something that's already not real? Wouldn't it just make more sense to build more Metal Sonics?" He asked. "In any case, it's getting wrecked all the same. Come on, Kira. Some fresh air and a good fight will do you some good."

"Just as long as she doesn't reopen her wounds." Bev said sternly. "We can't afford any more injuries or casualties. We're stretched thin as it is."

"I promise she'll be okay. She's got me by her side after all." He said. They headed out towards the city which was eerily quiet aside from the occasional sound of a building crumbling further into rubble, the distant sounds of Death Egg gunfire, and the crackling of fire. "Strange, this is where Amy said Metal Sonic was seen."

"Maybe he's already gone." Kira said as they started walking across the dam connecting the residential area of the city to the business one.

"Yeah maybe. How's your stomach doing?"

"A bit sore, but I'm good." As they continued walking, suddenly a huge Death Egg robot sprang out from under them like a zombie, smashing the dam apart. They managed to land on a ledge as the robot locked onto them and drew its fist back.

"That was close. And this is about to be closer, hang on tight." Sonic said. He grabbed her hand and jumped out of the way as it smashed right through to the access tunnels to the Red Gate Bridge. Unsuccessful in smashing them to bits, the Death Egg robot started firing at them with it huge facial laser as the duo narrowly avoided annihilation thanks to Kira grappling onto the giant robot and using its size to their advantage. They swung around it a few times before blasting through its laser and into the access tunnels. It was a good drop down and Kira cried out a bit when they landed. "Hey are you okay?"

"M'fine. Just wasn't expecting that." She said through gritted teeth. She let Sonic check to make sure her wound hadn't reopened, blushing a bit when she raised the hem of the shirt she'd replaced her dress with until Bev fixed it to show him.

"Alright, let's keep going. We can't let these things keep rampaging around the city." They exited the tunnels and that familiar humming sounded before Metal Sonic appeared. "Ah there's that big hunk of scrap. So this is the work of the Phantom Ruby. Eggman's new invention is starting to be a real pain in my ass." They gave chase, dodging laser blasts and striking when they got an opening. Unfortunately that only made the Phantom Metal lose his temper so to speak and, engulfed in a bright light, charged at them. Sonic quickly pulled Kira aside just as Metal rushed passed, leaving scorched and burning asphalt behind as he circled around to try again. "Alright, playtime's over. We're running out of bridge and we can't let him get any further into the city."

"But how do we stop him?" Kira asked. There was only so much damage they could do after all.

"I have an idea. But you'll have to trust me." He said. She nodded and he held her hand as they continued chasing Metal. After the catastrophic failure that was Operation: Big Wave, Espio and Rouge finally manage to get to Sonic and explain their findings from before. The only way to activate their unique burst ability, what Sonic quickly had named Double Boost, they had to be thinking in sync and that was only possible if they shared their feelings. Rouge suggested to keep physical contact while doing so to make sure they could feel what each other felt much more strongly. "I care about you Kira. I trust you completely. I know that when we join forces there's nothing that we can't accomplish together. When we run together I feel a deep connection with you that I know you can feel too. When we work together we become one. You feel my pain and I feel yours but you also feel my joy. No one can break the bond we've built, no one can crush our friendship. Not Eggman. Not Metal. Not even Infinite. The sky's the limit when we team up!"

They both felt it, that indescribable rush of power, the yearning to be one that manifested so powerfully it became a physical entity. Fear was not an emotion they knew when they came together like this. It was raw, powerful, and pure and when they finally reached that plateau they knew that nothing that stood in their path stood a chance. Like a flame it ignited, sending them both down the bridge and smashing through the Phantom Metal like he was a wet paper towel. When the dust cleared and they came to a stop Sonic fully expected to be carrying Kira back to base, not that he minded, and was completely surprised to see her awake and alert. Sure she was worn out but she was still conscious and Sonic never felt more alive or happy. "That was great! You we're great! We're like a well oiled machine fighting, well a well oiled machine."

"Yeah. That was...incredible. I've still got goosebumps." She said, panting a bit. Her heart was racing so fast and not just from running. His words touched her so deeply and she felt herself fall for him a bit more.

"You were great out there." He said, holding out his fist. She smiled and fist bumped him. "Now, let's get back to base so we can put a stop to this war once and for all."