[Doom Central Command]

2 days has passed since the Phantom Terrorist have declared war on the Resistance. Clyde is sitting in his chair, watching the events happening in the world on the display monitors. Orbot enters the command center and approaches the jackal.

"Sir, it is ready." Orbot asks.

Clyde turns and looks at Orbot with a satisfied look on his face.


[Doom Manufacturing Center]

Orbot is escorting Clyde to the machine they've been working on for the past couple of days in the manufacturing center. Cubot is standing right in front of it as Orbot and Clyde walks up to him.

"Good afternoon, my lord. We are finished manufacturing Project Titan." said Cubot.

Clyde gazes upon the giant machine and he is impressed with what he's seeing. "Hmm. Not bad, you two. I like how it looks." said Clyde.

"Thank you, sir. Project Titan is designed to absorb any types of energy from alien life forms. It is also capable of draining all life energy of an entire planet. We have been working very hard to make sure that it works properly." said Orbot.

"Have you tested it yet?" Clyde asks.

"Yes, we've found and captured a couple of wisps. We tested it out on one of them and it worked like a charm." said Orbot.

"Would you like for us to test it again?" Cubot asks.

"Yes." said Clyde.

"Bring in the second test subject!" Cubot shouts.

A couple of Doom robots enters the lab holding an innocent white wisp hostage. The wisp is chained up and it is trying to break free but to no avail. Orbot goes up to the machine, flips the switch, and turns it on. A small suction vacuum tube comes out of the machine and aims at the frightened wisp. As the vacuum turns on, it is slowly sucking all of the Wisp's energy out of it's body. The wisp cries in pain as the machine is sucking out it's energy. Hyper-go-on energy is also the Wisp's life source. If a Wisp is drained of all it's energy, it will turn into a nega wisp. After the machine is finished taking all the energy, the color of the Wisp changes from white to violet.. Clyde is wondering what happened to the Wisp.

"Hmm? What happened to it?" Clyde asks.

"The wisp transformed into a nega wisp, sir." said Orbot.

"Nega Wisp?"

"Yes. Whenever a Wisp is drained of their Hyper-go-on energy, a negative version of that energy is formed and they become corrupted."

The Nega Wisp charges at Clyde but it is being pulled back by the chains. The jackal is staring at it unfazed by it's attempt to attack him.

"I see that it became more violent. Well, this isn't what I expected to happen. Wait. Then again." Looks at Orbot. "Orbot. While the Wisps are in this state, can they be controlled?"

"Well, it's possible for the normal Wisps, but their Mother is a different story. Dr. Eggman once drained the mother Wisp's energy and tried to control her when she was in her Nega form, but she was beyond even his control and she went a rampage. Sonic managed to defeat her then she returned back to normal."

"Then how is it possible for her children to be controlled?"

"Despite their change of personalities in their Nega forms, Eggman was still able to force them to help him with his schemes and some were willing to side with Sonic to oppose him."

"Hmm." Clyde uses his powers to try and see if the Nega Wisp can be brainwashed. After struggling to resist, the Wisp gave in and is now under Clyde's control. It stops trying to attack him and just looks at him.

"Oh. It worked." said Cubot.

Clyde is thinking about this. "Hmm. Let's see. So the mother Wisp can't be controled in Nega form but the smaller Wisps can. If the doctor is unable to control her, then it's likely that not even the Phantom Ruby's power can, too. Which would probably make sense due to her being the most powerful of all the Wisps. If I drain her Hyper-go-on energy, she'll wreck havoc on the entire galaxy. I could careless if she destroys her own or other planets, but she could come across and attack the Earth. And I would have to destroy her. But... doing that could be risky. The mother is the reason why the Wisps has such power and they could be connected to her. If she dies, the rest of the Wisps could die, too. The creatures could be of some use to me, so I don't want to waste an opportunity by destroying them all. So, how is this going to work? Hmm..." Clyde thought.

"Sir, is everything alright?" Cubot asks.

After he is done thinking, Clyde smiles in satisfaction. "Yes. Everything's fine. Great job, you two." said Clyde.

"Oh. Thank you, my lord." Orbot and Cubot said.

"Should we start sending it off to outer space?" Cubot asks.

"No, not yet." said Clyde.

"Huh? But why not?" Orbot asks.

"The satellite is now under the Resistance's control. If we send it off to space right now, the Fox boy will likely track it then build something to help them investigate what we've sent off. We're gonna have to do something about that satellite first." said Clyde.

"I have a question, Sir, why didn't you try to destroy the satellite a couple of days ago?" Cubot asks.

"If I did that, they'll just have it repaired then build stronger defenses for it in case if we try to attack it again. And they'll be more prepared for a second attack. In the outpost, they've set up soldiers and their own defense system. They need that satellite to help them track down every prison facility and arsenal factory around the world. They cannot afford to let anything bad happen to it."

"In that case, if we send out some of our stronger forces to their outpost, Sonic and his friends will have no choice but to try and stop them from destroying the satellite. The troops they have over there will need their help." said Orbot.

"Exactly, Orbot. While they're busy fighting, that's where we'll send the Titan to outer space. I want at least 50 robots sent over to their outpost. After you've sent them off, I want you two to get started on building the Wardroids."

"Just robots, Sir? No Soldiers?" Cubot asks.

"All I need is one." smiles evilly. "And I know the perfect man for the job."


[Central City]

Meanwhile in Central City, Team Sonic and the Avatar is breaking into another one of the Phantom Terrorist's arsenal factories, destroying everything in the process. Doom soldiers, robots, and four Giant robots are fighting with Team Sonic, trying to stop them from destroying the factory.

"You guys are better than the last ones we've fought, I'll give you that. But you're still small time compared to us." said Sonic.

Sonic dodges one of the giant robot's attacks then spin dashes through it's stomach, causing it to explode. Then he uses his light speed attack to take out several soldiers and robots. Tails is cutting down multiple robots using his twin tail attacks, the Avatar is using their burst wispon to take out multiple soldiers, and Knuckles is fighting the last three giant robots using physical force.

"We can't let them destroy this factory. We must defend it with our lives." One of the soldiers said.

Sonic smiles smugly at the soldiers remark. "Heh. Good luck with that." said Sonic.

Despite the soldier's efforts, their no match for the power of teamwork coming from Team Sonic. Knuckles eventually defeats the three robots then moves on with taking out the soldiers.

"NO! HE'S DESTROYED THE GUARDIANS!" One of the soldiers said.

"You darn right, I did! And you're next!" said Knuckles.

"They're too strong! We can't win!" Another soldier said.

After a long battle, Team Sonic has taken out all of the soldiers and robots.

"Nice work, Team, now let's wreck this place!" said Knuckles.

"Alright!" Sonic and Tails said.

Team Sonic begins destroying everything in the factory. The factory is now starting to explode. Team Sonic leaves the factory before they get caught in the explosion. Sonic claps his hands and brushes himself off.

"Did I ever mentioned that doing stuff like this is more fun than I thought?" Sonic asks.

"This isn't all fun and games, Sonic. We need to destroy most of the factories and save and recruit more civilians in the next two days." said Tails.

"Okay, Tails, where's the next arsenal factory located?" Knuckles asks.

Tails takes out his Miles Electric Device. "Okay, the next one is in-" Suddenly, the signal is starting to disrupt to the point where he can't tell where the next factory is located. "What the-?!" said Tails.

"What's wrong, Tails?" Sonic asks.

"It's the signal, it's being disrupted!" said Tails.

"What?! But how?!" Knuckles asks. Knuckles's communicator starts ringing and he answers it. "This is Knuckles; The head captain of the Resistance. What is it?" Knuckles asks.

Over Radio. "Captain Knuckles! This is the leader of the Resistance Outpost defense squad. We're under attack by Doom robots! There's too many of them and they're trying to destroy the satellite! We need backup and we need it right now!"

"Okay, don't worry. Help's on the way." Knuckles hangs up then looks at his teammates. "The outpost is under attack!"

"Not good! We need that satellite. We can't locate the rest of the factories and prisons without it!" said Tails.

Knuckles contacts Silver and Team Chaotix. "Silver. Have you guys made it to the prison facility in Spagonia?"

Over Radio. "Not yet. Is there something wrong?" Silver asks.

"Yes. The Phantom Terrorist has sent out an army to destroy satellite."

"That's not good! We're on our way!" said Silver.

"No, Silver, we can handle this. You just stay focused on your mission. We'll contact you when we're done." said knuckles.

"Are you sure? We can help." said Silver.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine." said Knuckles.

"…Okay, Captain. Just be careful." said Silver.

"Understood." Knuckles hangs up. "Alright, Team, let's move!" said Knuckles.

"- Okay." said Tails.

"- Let's do this!" said Sonic.

Team Sonic and the Avatar dashes off to the Resistance Outpost.


[Resistance Outpost]

At the Outpost, the Resistance troopers are facing off against the Doom robots. Every one of the troopers are armed with Lightening, Burst, Cube, and hover wispons. However, the robots have force fields, 10 giant robots, laser canons, and they have more manpower than the troopers. Some Resistance troopers manage to take out some robots and even a couple of giants, but due to difference in manpower, the robots were overwhelming the troopers. Some robots even got past the soldiers and are damaging the satellite. Team Sonic finally arrives to the scene. Sonic destroys the robots who are trying to destroy the satellite. The captain of the defense squad approaches Knuckles.

"Captain, thank goodness your hear. We've manage to destroy a few robots, but there was no way could've take them all out on our own." said the Captain.

"You did a good job holding your own, Soldier. Now, let's take them out together." said Knuckles.

"Yes, sir!"

Team Sonic and the Avatar are helping the Outpost Troopers take out the robots. While they are fighting the robots, the replica of the most powerful member of the Jackal Squad; Brawn the Jackal, is floating in the air above the outpost, watching the battle. Clyde calls him from his earpiece.

Over Radio. "So, Sonic and his two closest friends are the ones who showed up, huh? Good. Alright, Brawn, do your stuff." said Clyde.

Phantom Brawn nods his head then flies down to the battle. Brawn's landing makes a big hole in the ground and the dirt flies all around him. The landing catches the attention of Team Sonic.

"What is that?" Tails asks.

As the dirt settles, the team gets a good look at Phantom Brawn.

"Another Jackal?" Sonic asks.

Some of the troopers starts shooting at Phantom Brawn only for the latter to dodge by jumping up in the air. Brawn lands on the roof of the Outpost and he is trying to pick up the satellite.

"The satellite!" Tails shouts.

Sonic leaps up to the building and uses his homing attack to knock Phantom Brawn away from the satellite. The blue hedgehog lands on the roof and looks at the jackal.

"Sorry, buddy, but if you want to destroy this satellite, you're gonna have to go through me first." Sonic charges his spin dash then launches it at Phantom Brawn. The jackal blocks the spin dash the pushes Sonic back. The jackal quickly dashes towards Sonic then punches him in the stomach, knocking the blue hedgehog off the roof. Sonic catches himself and Phantom Brawn jumps off the roof. The replica readied his fighting stance and he is prepared to fight Sonic. Sonic gives the jackal a cocky smile and chuckles. "Hehehe… So, you want to fight me, huh? Alright then, bring it on!" As soon as Sonic and Phantom Brawn begins their battle, Knuckles interferes and stops Sonic from charging at Brawn. "Huh? Hey, what's the big deal, Knuckles?" Sonic asks.

"Sonic. You go help Tails and the Rookie. This guy's mine." said Knuckles.

"Hey, no fair, I called dibs on him!" said Sonic.

"Yeah, well I'm the captain. And as your captain, I order you to go help the others while I take this guy down myself." said Knuckles.

"…Hmph. Alright, 'Captain'. Whatever you say." said Sonic.

Sonic dashes off to help the others fight the robots. Knuckles and Phantom Brawn observes one another.

"Judging by the look of you, I say you're the strongest jackal, right?" Phantom Brawn doesn't reply to Knuckles. He just stares at him with a serious expression on his face while still in his fighting stance. "Not much of a talker, huh?" Knuckles smirks at him. "I get it. You want to let your fists do the talking. Very well, then." Knuckles touches his fists together a couple of times then readies his fighting stance. The two fighters glare at each other for a few more seconds then Knuckles shouts to Phantom Brawn: "COME ON!"

The battle begins with the fighters charging at each other. Knuckles lets out a battle yell as he is charging at his opponent while Phantom Brawn remains silent. Knuckles attacks Brawn with a left jab only for the latter to dodge then lands a body shot on the Echidna. The strike was strong enough to send Knuckles through the wall, outside of the outpost. Phantom Brawn follows Knuckles. The echidna lands on the island's ground. Phantom Brawn attempts to land another solid hit on Knuckles while he's down only for the red echidna to move out of the way. Knuckles lands a solid blow to Phantom Brawn's face, but the jackal shakes it off then retaliates back at Knuckles. The two exchanging strike after strike on each other and blocking and dodging each others punches. Phantom Brawn dodges a punch from Knuckles then he grabs him by the leg and begin swinging him around and slamming him down on the ground multiple times. Knuckles manage to recover then kick his Brawn in his face, stunning him in the process. While his opponent is temporarily stunned, Knuckles takes no chances and droves his fist straight into the jackal's stomach, causing him to spit-up and sent him flying through trees. Knuckles chases after Phantom Brawn. After crashing through multiple trees and bushes, Phantom Brawn lands on the beach of the island. He gets up and sees Knuckles going in for another punch. Phantom Brawn puts a cube-shaped barrier around himself to block Knuckles' attack. The Echidna pulls back away from the barrier, and readies his fighting stance. Phantom Brawn drops his barrier then charges at Knuckles. In response, Knuckles attempts to land a punch on Phantom Brawn only for the Jackal to catch it. After catching his fist, Phantom Brawn smirks at Knuckles then he teleports both of them off the island to another location.


[West side island – Emerald hill zone]

Phantom Brawn transported him and Knuckles to the now ruined West side island's, Emerald hill. They both pulls back from each other then Knuckles looks around and sees that he's on another island.

"Huh?" said Knuckles.

In canon, Knuckles has never been to Emerald hill zone before so he's not sure where he is. While the Echidna drops his guard, Phantom Brawn charges and lands a solid strike on Knuckles in the face, launching him to a nearby palm tree. Knuckles gets up, rubs his face, then growls at his opponent.

"Grrr! Cheap shot!" said Knuckles. Phantom Brawn gives Knuckles a cocky smile then charges at him. Knuckles charges back at Phantom Brawn.


[Doom HQ]

While Sonic and the gang are battling out with Phantom Brawn and the Doom robots. Clyde is helping some of his soldiers put the Titan inside a rocket ship. They manage to put it inside and close the hatch.

"The machine is now ready to go!" One of the soldiers said.

"Good." Turns to the pilot. "Hey, you."

"Sir?"

Clyde creates a purple cube projectile then gives it to the soldier. "Take this. This is a projectile that can trap it's target. Once the target is inside, they are blocked from using their powers to escape. Use this on the mother Wisp. Now, get in the ship!" Clyde demands.

"Yes, sir."

The pilot enters the ship, activates it, then launches off into space. Clyde starts chuckling.

"Hehehe… Yes." said Clyde.


[Resistance Outpost]

The rest of Team Sonic and the Outpost troopers are winning the battle against the Doom robots. Sonic is using his light-speed attack, boost ability, spin dash, and homing attack to combat and destroy each of the robots. Tails is using his spin dash, rapid tail attack, and his own homing attack for combat. The Avatar switches to their void wispon to suck their enemies into a void then destroys them.

"Sonic, where'd Knuckles go?" Tails asks.

"He's fighting that jackal guy, but I think he's taking him on outside of the outpost. He'll be fine, though." Sonic turns and looks at the Avatar. "Hey, Buddy, how are you holding up?" Sonic asks them. The Avatar looks at Sonic and gives him a thumbs up for three seconds then they go back into battle. "Alright, everyone, we're winning the fight, don't stop now!" said Sonic.

"Yes, sir." Tails and all of the remaining troops said.


[Emerald Hill Zone]

Knuckles and Phantom Brawn are still engaging in a serious No-holds-barred battle. Knuckles is more serious now that he's away from his friends and the Resistance troopers. And Brawn is now using the Phantom Ruby's energy to combat Knuckles. Phantom Brawn punches Knuckles in the stomach, causing him to spit-up then he fires an energy blast at him, launching him to a giant rock. Phantom Brawn then charges at the Echidna. While the jackal is in close-range with him, Knuckles quickly punches the ground with enough force to trigger an small volcanic eruption with fireballs coming out of it. The fireballs hits and stuns Phantom Brawn. Once he saw an opening, Knuckles begins a continuous assault of punches on the stunned jackal. His final punch sends Phantom Brawn flying into a rocky wall then he falls down on the ground. Knuckles charges at the downed Phantom Brawn for another punch, but the jackal quickly gets up and teleports out of the way. After realizing that his target vanished, Knuckles looks around to find Brawn.

"Argh! Where'd he go?" Knuckles asks himself. Suddenly, Knuckles hears something. He turns around, looks up in the air, and sees a volley of cube projectiles heading right for him. "Oh, shoot!" Knuckles shouted.

Knuckles moves out of the way of the projectile's range. As Knuckles is running away after dodging a few of the projectiles, hundreds of other projectiles chases after him. Knuckles dodges all of the projectiles then he jumps high up in the air to get to Phantom Brawn. Now the combatants are fighting in the air, dodging and blocking each others attacks in the process. Phantom Brawn grabs Knuckles by his legs throws him back down in the island, causing him to crash hard on the ground. Brawn rushes towards Knuckles while infusing his energy into his right fist. Knuckles gets up and notice that brawn is pursuing him with a punch that's packed with a ton of the Phantom Ruby's energy. Knuckles jumps out of the way of the attack, causing Brawn to punch the ground. The punch was so powerful, that it had enough force to split the entire island in half. The island is now broken by Phantom Brawn's powerful punch. But still, Knuckles ain't backing down.

"Heh! You think that scares me?!"

The Echidna charges full force at Phantom Brawn and the jackal does the same. Phantom Brawn's and Knuckles's fists collided. The sheer force of their clashes causes the island to break apart and lava erupts from the ground. The island has been destroyed by the clash and Knuckles has been blown away by the impact. Phantom Brawn pursues him then launches a barrage of energy blasts at him. Knuckles quickly recovers and dodges most of the blasts by gliding. However, one of the blasts hits him, which caused him to crash land on south island.


[South Island Beach]

After the crash, Knuckles stands up and Phantom Brawn lands 5 meters away from him. Both of them stop fighting because they are tired. So they're just staring at each other. Knuckles is panting heavily and Phantom Brawn is panting from his nose. Suddenly, Clyde calls Phantom Brawn via earpiece.

Over Radio. "Good work, Brawn. The Titan has been shipped off to space. Your work here is done." said Clyde.

Phantom Brawn nods his head and Knuckles stops panting. "Let's finish this!" Knuckles charges at Phantom Brawn. "YAAAAAAAAAAH!" Phantom Brawn vanishes before Knuckles could land another punch on him. "Huh?" Knuckles looks around to find Brawn but he is nowhere to be seen. "Where'd he go now? Did he just…disappear?" Knuckles asks himself. Tails contacts Knuckles via earpiece.

Over Radio. "Hey, Knuckles, we're looking everywhere for you. Where are you?" Tails asks.

"Tails. I'm on South Island." said Knuckles.

"South Island? How'd you get there?!" Tails asks.

"The Jackal teleported me off the outpost to different islands."

"Did you beat him?" Tails asks.

"He disappeared right before I was about to finish him off. What about you? How's everything going in the Outpost?"

"We've destroyed all of the robots. The satellite and the rest of our soldiers are safe now."

"Great work. Contact Silver and let him know that the Outpost is safe now. I'll get back there in no time." Knuckles hangs up then he gets a call from Amy. "This is Knuckles."

Over Radio. "Hey, Knuckles. It's me Amy." said Amy.

"Amy, what's the problem? How's Zero?" Knuckles asks.

"He's feeling a lot better than before. Have you decided what you'll do with him yet?" Amy asks.

"No, not yet. Why?"

"I think we should let him join the Resistance."

"Amy, you are aware that-"

"I know. What he did was wrong, but he really wants to help save the world now. The Infinite we all knew and hated is long gone. I think we should give Zero a chance."

"I don't know, Amy."

"Why? Shadow, Rouge, and even Omega are our allies and they once helped Eggman. If they can get another chance, why can't Zero?"

Knuckles scratches his head. "Well, Shadow…wasn't as vicious as Infinite was."

"But still, don't you believe that anyone should get a chance to earn your trust?" Amy asks.

Knuckles is thinking about whether letting Zero join the Resistance is a good idea. After he has made his decision, he responds: "I'm on my way back to HQ." then he hangs and contacts Tails. "Hey, Tails, something urgent came up at HQ that needs my attention. You, Sonic, and the Rookie are gonna have to carry on without me for awhile."

"Is everything alright, Knuckles?" Tails asks.

"Everything's fine. I'll catch up with you guys later." He hangs up then walks off.


[Resistance Infirmary]

Back at the Infirmary, Zero is still laying in bed and he is still depressed. He is looking up at the ceiling, thinking about everything Infinite has done and he recites what Clyde and his other detractors said to him.

"The old me was too weak, too pathetic to remember." said Infinite.

"We all know that you're weak. There's no point in trying to prove otherwise. You're just as guilty of their demise as he is. And Infinite's birth was no one to blame but yourself. Do you really believe that becoming a hero will help you redeem yourself from the lives you took?" said Clyde.

"That name of yours, the name that I gave you, 'Zero', describes everything about you. I called you that, because I predict that when you grow older, you will be nothing. A weak, pathetic, and a worthless man, who'll never amount to anything but be a failure. That's why I called you that!" said Axel.

"Worthless. Don't show your pathetic face around me ever again." said Shadow.

Tears starts coming out of Zero's eyes.

"Still can't face the truth, huh?" said Infinite.

Infinite appears standing right beside Zero. "I told you to leave me alone." said Zero.

"And I told you that I'm not going anywhere. You're such a crybaby, you know that? Face it, Zero, you're never going to be anything more than a failure in life. You had your chance to be somebody, yet you threw it all away for power. Axel was right, you're a failure. Always have, always will."

"Shut up." said Zero.

"You can deny it all you want, child, but you can't change what you are. Ah, that look on your face; that's the look of someone who's slowly giving up hope. The look of pain, sorrow, and sadness, it's delicious."

"I said, go away!" Zero shouts.

Infinite rubs Zero's forehead. "If you want me gone that badly, then you know what you must do." said Infinite.

Closes eyes. "GO AWAY!" Zero shouts.

Infinite suddenly disappears then Zero reopens his eyes. The jackal hears someone open the door so he wipes off the tears from his eyes and sits up. Amy enters the room holding a tray with a hot bowl of soup.

"Hey, I made you some soup." said Amy.

"Um…thanks. You can put it down on the table." said Zero.

Amy places the tray down on the table. "I talked to Knuckles. I think he's going to offer you a chance to join the Resistance."

Turns and looks at Amy in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah. I told you, you'll be able to get another chance. Aren't you happy?" Amy asks.

Zero gives Amy a false smile and he's trying hard to sound excited. "Uh – Y-Yeah! I'm very excited. Ha-ha. Now, I can uh- get a chance to redeem myself and… make amends with Sonic and the rest of your friends."

"Um…okay. Knuckles will be here soon. So, be ready." said Amy.

The pink hedgehog walks out of the Infirmary. Zero returns to being depressed after she walks out the door. He decided to get out of bed, go up to a mirror on the wall, and look at his reflection. His reflection quickly turns into Infinite, which spooks Zero.

"(Sings) Still here." "HAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Infinite laughs.


[Resistance Main Headquarters]

Amy is back on her computer and Knuckles enters.

"Hey, Amy, I'm back." Knuckles asks.

"He's still resting in the Infirmary." said Amy.

"Okay, thanks." said Knuckles.

Knuckles goes to the Infirmary to see Zero.


[Resistance Infirmary]

Knuckles enters the Infirmary and sees Zero sitting on the side of the bed looking down at the floor.

"Getting better, huh?" Knuckles asks.

Zero looks up and sees Knuckles. "You're…Knuckles?" Zero asks.

"That's me." The Echidna walks up to Zero. "I won't forget what Infinite did, but Amy is right, maybe you do deserve a second chance." Knuckles sticks his right hand out attempting to shake Zero's hand. "So whaddya say? You want to join the Resistance?" Knuckles asks.

"…I'm sorry, but no." said Zero.

Knuckles is confused on why Zero now refuses to join. "Huh? Why not?" Knuckles asks.

"I have my reasons. Right now, I just want to go." said Zero.

"Go? Out there?"

"Yes."

"What are you crazy? You can't go out there there's tons of soldiers and tanks patrolling out in the streets. If you go out there, you'll be blown to bits!" said Knuckles.

Zero gets off the bed. "I appreciate you healing me. I'll be going now."

Zero is trying to walk out the door only to be stopped by Knuckles. "Hold on there, buddy, you're not going anywhere." said Knuckles.

Zero pushes Knuckles aside. "Out of my way."

Knuckles grabs Zero's shoulder then pushes back towards the bed and he is close to the table where the hot soup is placed on. "I'm sorry, Zero, but I can't let you go out the—" Zero quickly grabs the bowl of soup then throws it at Knuckles. "ARGH!" The soup burns Knuckles and shouts in pain. Zero runs out of the door while Knuckles is stunned.

Amy hears Knuckles scream. "Huh? What's going on?!" She gets off her computer then opens the door. She sees Zero as he ran past her. "Zero?!"

"AMY, STOP HIM!" Knuckles shouts.

"ZERO, WAIT!" Amy shouts.

Amy chases after Zero.


[Sewers]

Zero is running and leaping through the sewers with Amy hot on his tail.

"ZERO! COME BACK!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Zero is trying to get away from Amy so he runs faster. Amy increases her speed as well in order to try and catch Zero.

"ZERO, STOP! WE CAN HELP YOU!"

"I DON'T DESERVE ANYONE'S HELP!"


[City]

Zero made it outside then he starts leaping from building to building. Amy leaves the sewer as well but she lost Zero.

"Zero? Where'd he go? Not good." Amy contacts Sonic. "Sonic! Sonic, can you hear me?"

Somewhere else in the city. Sonic, Tails, and the Avatar are standing on top of a building. "Amy? Yes, I can hear you. What's wrong?"

Over Radio. "Zero got out!"

Sonic, Tails, and the Avatar are shocked. "WHAT?!" Sonic and Tails said.

"But how?!" Tails asks.

"I don't know. Knuckles came back to offer him to join us then the next thing I know is that he got pass Knuckles and ran away!"

"Amy, calm down, do you know where he went?" Tails asks.

"I was chasing after him in the sewers, but once he got outside, I lost him. Sonic, you have to find and stop him, I think he's trying to get himself killed!"

In a panic, the Avatar dashes off first to go find Zero. "Buddy!" Sonic and Tails shouts.

"Don't worry, Amy, we'll find him!" said Sonic.

"Buddy, wait up!" Tails shouts.

Sonic and Tails follows the Avatar and all three of them hurries to find Zero before it's too late. Meanwhile with Zero, he is still leaping from the rooftops then he's decided to jump down to the ground. The jackal is tired from all that running and jumping that he is sweating and panting heavily. He looks behind and sees that he got away from Amy.

"Phew…lost her." The jackal sits down on the road, waiting for a tank or soldier to find and take his life. While he is waiting, he recites more things Clyde and his hallucinations said to him.

"It's quite tragic to see the ones you love die in front of you. Especially, when they died from your foolish mistakes."

"Why didn't you listen to us, Zero? Why?" Claire asks.

"None of this would've happened if we'd left you to die in the desert." said Scar.

"We trusted you! And you just led us all to our deaths!" said Radar.

"It's your fault that we're dead!" said Ace.

"You really are pathetic. You had your chance to be somebody, yet you threw it all away for power. Axel was right, you're a failure. Always have, always will."

Zero is now crying his eyes out. "I…I…am weak. I..I am pathetic. I…am…worthless." A tank appears and it spots Zero. It points it's canon at the jackal and is about to kill him. Zero closes his eyes and accepts his fate. Suddenly, the Avatar uses their grapple to grab Zero and saves him from being killed by the tank. After the Avatar saved Zero, Sonic and Tails destroys by using their rolling combo. The Avatar places Zero back on a rooftop. The jackal is angry at the Avatar for saving his life.

Angry. "You?! Why'd you do that?"

Sonic and Tails lands in front of Zero and the Avatar.

"Zero." said Tails.

"What the heck were you thinking?" Sonic asks. Zero walks away but Sonic stops him by grabbing his arm. "Hey, wait!"

Zero swipes Sonic's arm away. "Don't touch me! Leave me be!" Zero demands. The jackal tries to walk away again, but Tails flies and lands in front of him.

"Zero, listen to us. This is not the answer!" said Tails.

Zero pushes Tails aside. "Get out of my way!" The Avatar uses their grapple to grab Zero's ankle, causing him to trip and fall on the roof. "Whoa!" The jackal is trying to free himself from the grapple hock. "Let go of me! You don't understand!"

"Then help us understand! Please, you don't have to do this!" said Tails.

"I'm no use to you all anymore, and I tried to destroy you. Why should you even care?"

"Because we forgive you!" said Sonic.

"Huh?"

"I mean, no. We won't forget what Infinite did, but you've changed now and you're trying to do good." said Tails.

"Becoming a hero won't make the pain go away. I joined Eggman, I got my family killed, and I've became a monster and tried to destroy the world."

"Family?" Sonic asks.

Zero realizes that he mentioned what happened to his squad. "Darn it!"

"Zero. What happened to the Jackal Squad? Why did you join Eggman? Tell us." Sonic asks.

Zero growls in anger then he calms down. "You want to know something about me, Hedgehog? Fine. I might as well tell you. I was born in a desert outside of a city called 'Grey City'. My mother passed away after giving birth to me and my father blamed me for her demise. He gave me the name 'Zero' because I was destined to be a failure. Zero means nothing and that's what he and everyone else saw me as. My father was a retired bandit who worked for Clyde. When I was twelve, I tried to impress him by stealing items from Grey City's stores and show him what I've stolen in order to win his love. Despite my efforts, he still hated me and I got caught and was sentenced to 3 years in jail. After I've served my sentence, I went back home to confront him and he didn't even notice that I was gone. I couldn't stand him anymore, so I ran away, hoping that I will someday forget about his existence like he forgot about mine. Later after that incident, I came across two members of the Jackal Squad, Ace and Scar the jackal. They took me to meet the others and their leader, Stryker the jackal. Stryker wasn't just my friend, he was my boss and I looked up to him as an Idol and father figure. The other jackals loved and respected Stryker so much for what he did for them, that they called him 'The Ultimate Mercenary'. I wanted to be like Stryker. I wanted to be the new Ultimate Mercenary so I can be loved and respected by others around me. And I wanted to be something that doesn't make me feel weak. I manage to complete the initiation and earn the chance to join the Jackal Squad. I trained and worked hard to become a valuable member of the squad. And I considered them my friends and family. Our goal was to steal many valuable items from different cities, so we can earn enough money to make our own empire. Years later after Stryker died, I finally became the new Ultimate Mercenary and the leader of the squad. One of my squad members found Eggman, and we tried to steal all of his technology so we can sell them off for a bounty. That's where I came across the Phantom Ruby. I joined Eggman for three reasons: If we had the Phantom Ruby's power, it'll help us get closer to achieve our goal. I can watch the world be destroyed, and we could also become stronger than ever before. At first, my squad opposed the idea of joining the doctor, but I convince them follow along, which was the worst mistake I've ever made. One week has passed since joining Eggman, we were assigned to guard the doctor's facility. Everything was fine…until," Zero clenches his teeth in anger. "he showed up. Shadow infiltrated the facility. He destroyed my squad and he only sparred me. Before he left he told me: "Don't show your pathetic face around me ever again.". I failed to avenge my squad, what he said reminded me of my father, and I regret not listening to them ever since. Eggman offered me a chance to get stronger by letting me fuse with the Phantom Ruby prototype. If I didn't go through with the offer, I'll never get the chance to avenge my squad and destroy Shadow. And I'll have to live out the rest of my life as a coward and pathetic man. I didn't want to go through that so I accept the offer, and that's how I became Infinite."

"Why did you want to see the world destroyed at first?" Tails asks.

"I've always hated the world. The world is filled with harsh rules of life, such as the strong survives while the weak dies, serve the strong, or gain nothing in life. Stryker was forced into the life of terrorism, Claire lost her mother and father, Brawn's adopted father was killed in war, he was a victim of a failed experiment and he lost his voice because of it, and he's been in out of an orphanage when he was a child. Ace, Scar, and Radar ran away from a hideous foster home and they had to steal to survive in the streets while trying to avoid being caught by the cops. When they told me about their past lives, I thought the world is really a lost cause and I thought that it was better off destroyed. Infinite was everything wrong with the world packed into one being and so is Clyde. In this world, the strong will always trample the weak. Why? Because they feel like they can. And that's one of reasons why Clyde chooses to be what he is."

"Zero." said Tails.

"There I told you everything. Now, you understand why I don't deserve to live?" Zero asks Sonic. The hedgehog remains silent. "What, no snarky and sarcastic response? You're not going to say anything?" Sonic is still quiet. Zero uses his claws to cut the Avatar's grappling line off his ankle then he gets up. "Hmph…as I thought. Now, leave me alone." Zero walks away, but Sonic grabs his arm again. "Huh? Let…go."

"Y'know, I actually feel sorry for you." said Sonic.

"Why?" Zero asks.

"At first, I thought you were just some homicidal maniac who teamed up with Eggman without any reason at all. But now I see you as a misguided individual who's just sad, lonely, and is suffering with grief. I don't know Stryker or any of your squad personally, but do you think that they would want you to be miserable over their deaths?"

"What do yo-"

"Answer my question."

"Well, Stryker did kill a lot of people when he was a soldier. And… he…he still wanted to move on and continue to live life."

"Exactly. I don't know what went down with Shadow and your squad and knowing him, I doubt he remembers. But don't you think your boss would want you to stay strong and move on from your mistakes?" Sonic asks.

"Well, he always wanted me to be strong. So…yeah…I think he would…but it's not easy…"

"I think you'll be fine. And regarding this whole 'Strong survives while weak dies', that doesn't seem true to me."

"How would you know? You were born to be the fastest creature in the universe and the earth's defender. Your friends also have powers that no ordinary person has. I'm nothing compared to you," looks at Tails. "even your little fox friend could take me down. You don't know what it's like to feel inferior, how could you possibly know that it's not true?"

"You're right, you and I are different. But you could have something deep inside you that even I don't have. Heck, you probably have advantages over me in some things."

"Like?"

"That's what you'll have to find for yourself." Sonic lets go of Zero's arm. "You're not weak, Zero, and you're not worthless. What you did wasn't right, and you'll have to live with it for the rest of your life, but you standing around here feeling sorry for yourself is not going to help you. We forgive you, but you'll have to forgive yourself." The Avatar walks up to Zero and places their hand on his shoulders. "Buddy?" The Avatar looks back at Sonic and nods their head. "Ah, I get ya. We'll leave you two alone." Sonic walks away. "Come on, Tails, let's get back to HQ."

"Are you sure it's alright to leave them alone, Sonic?" Tails asks.

"They'll be fine. Now, let's go."

Sonic leaps away. Tails looks back at Zero and the Avatar for a few seconds before he follows Sonic.

"You stood by me for all this time. Thank you." Zero said to the Avatar.


[Underground Resistance HQ]

Sonic and Tails arrives back to HQ. They see Knuckles talking with Amy.

"Hey, guys, we're back." said Sonic.

"Sonic, Tails." Amy notice that the Avatar and Zero are not with them. "Where's Zero?"

"And where's Rookie?" Knuckles asks.

"We stopped Zero. Buddy wanted to stay and look after him. Don't worry, he'll be fine. You alright, Knuckles?" Sonic asks.

"He caught me by surprise, but yeah, I'm alright." said Knuckles.

Suddenly, Silver and Team Chaotix enters the room.

"Silver, Team Chaotix? What are you guys doing back here?" Knuckles asks.

"Sonic, Tails, Knuckles. We didn't expect to see you here, too. Well, now that you're here, we need to talk." said Silver.

[End of Ch.11]