Author's note:
Hello everyone! Didn't expect this update to be on Halloween? Well, I figured why not. I do have some news for you all. THE EPILOGUE IS FINISHED! However, before I post it, I will be looking over this fanfic for any final remasters and fixing any grammar errors! The chapters that have been remastered so far are the prologue and chapters 1 - 22 (still tweaking chapter 11 a bit)! For grammar errors, I really do need your guys' help on looking for any grammar errors. The easier I can get those errors, the faster I can put out the epilogue! If you see any grammar errors, I'd appreciate you guys tell me on the reviews or pm. That is all! Happy Halloween! :)
Shout-outs:
Fanakatsuki - Infinite can be caring indeed, but I guess he doesn't want to show it that much. ^^;
chrisj32347 - Thank you very much! :)
Bajy - Indeed there is much more, but who knows what will happen next. ;3
Thanks for reading and PLEASE review! :D
Chapter 28: Infinite's Choice
Saura was back to laying down on the bed with a new bandage on her left arm and side. Luckily, Sonic allowed Infinite to stay in the room as long as Saura keeps an eye on him and he behaves with Vanilla, Cream, Cheese and the medics. The adult rabbit continues to patch the wolf's wounds while the red bird and the other two medics, an aqua female dog and brown female bear watch over the process to make sure Saura isn't freaking out or if the derealization will happen while Infinite watches the two rabbits and wolf with his arms crossed. Vanilla finishes putting bandages on to Saura. The adult rabbit looks to the wolf. "There you go. Now, try to rest up Miss Saura," she says with a smile. Saura smiles a bit to bow her head down a bit to show her gratitude.
"I'm glad you're feeling better Miss Saura," Cream says to the wolf with a smile. Cheese flies next to the young rabbit as he cooed in joy. Saura looks to the young rabbit and her pet chao curiously. She wonders what a child like her is doing here. "Oh, my name is Cream," the young rabbit starts to introduce herself. "And this is my special friend name Cheese," she also says to mention her pet chao. "Mr. Sonic and the others told us a lot about you. It's nice to meet you," she added with a little bow.
Saura looked surprised when Cream mentioned Sonic telling the young rabbit about her. Are they friends with the blue hedgehog? Saura frowns a bit to show a nervous look. The wolf shivers a bit as she looks down. Shaking her head, she looks back to Cream, who is now showing a worried expression. "I-it's… nice to… m-meet you too… Cream," Saura was finally able to say. The wolf noticed the young rabbit look surprised along with Vanilla and Cheese. Thinking she may have said something wrong, Saura looks away. "S-sorry," she mumbles her apology.
Cream then grew a big smile grew on her face until she heard Saura apologize. "What are you sorry for Miss Saura? You didn't say anything bad," Cream says to the wolf with a smaller smile. Cheese cooed as he flies to Saura and nuzzles to her cheek as the little ball floating on his head changes to a heart. Saura stiffens at the sudden contact; however, with the way the little chao is nuzzling her, it caused her to start giggling a bit.
Infinite shows a surprised look. He never heard Saura giggling before. And seeing the little chao making her giggle like that, the jackal started to grow jealous again as he tightens his grip on his arm and growls quietly. The medics can hear the jackal growl and tensed up as they watch him.
When Cheese stops nuzzling Saura and the heart returns to a ball, he flies back to Cream who was giggling as well. "Cheese seems really happy to hear you speak," she says to the wolf with a smile. The little chao cooed in response with excitement.
"It's true," Vanilla says with a smile. "You have a lovely voice," she compliments while her smile is present. Saura looks to the adult rabbit with surprise at her compliment.
"And your voice is quite lovely…"
Saura's surprised expression grew as she remembers Infinite telling her the same thing. The wolf looks to the jackal, who had a little look of anger at the two rabbits and chao. When Infinite noticed Saura looking at him, his facial expression changed to a look of confusion and some surprise. The wolf blushes and looks away a bit. Vanilla noticed Saura's reaction and looks a bit worried. "What's wrong Miss Saura? Did I say something bad?" she asks.
Saura flinches and shakes her head. "N-no m-ma'am," she responds quickly. Still having that phrase from Infinite in her head, the wolf continues to blush. "I-it's just that… um… s-someone else s-said that to me before," she answers. She lightly looks back to Infinite who is still giving her a confused look. "S-someone… very important to me," she mumbles as the blush grew on her face.
Infinite listened carefully when Vanilla asked what's wrong to Saura. He hears Saura's answer and stiffens a bit. He didn't think Saura would mention him. And much to the wolf's mumble, the jackal heard it, for he starts blushing in response. Suddenly, he sees Amy coming in to the room. "Cream, Blaze and I are going to go tell everyone the good news with Sonic and the others. Do you, Cheese, and your mom want to come?" she asks the young rabbit.
Cream and Cheese began to smile. "Sure, we'd like to see everyone else again," the young rabbit answers. Vanilla smiles while the little chao cooed a bit.
Amy smiles and noticed Saura is trying to get off the bed. "Uh no," she mumbles as she walks up to the wolf. The pink hedgehog made sure Saura gets back on the bed. "You are going to stay here and rest," she says in a serious tone. Noticing the wolf had a pout look on her face, the pink hedgehog sighs. "You'll be fine. It's mostly about the war being over," she says to Saura a bit softer. That way, only the wolf can hear her. Amy then turns to the three medics. "You three should come as well," she says to the three. "We could use more medics to help the soldiers," she added with a smile.
The female brown bear looks to Amy with a worried look. "A-are you sure about that Miss Amy?" she questions. "I don't think it's wise to leave Miss Saura alone," she added with concern.
Amy smiles to the female bear. "She won't be alone. She'll have Infinite here," she explains. Noticing the three medics tensed, the pink hedgehog sighs a bit quietly. "Don't worry, the door will be locked when we leave. Plus, Saura can keep an eye on him," she added. Before any of the medics can question, Amy starts rushing them out of the room while Cream, Cheese, and Vanilla follow. Once the medics, two rabbits, and chao are out of the room, the pink hedgehog stood next to the jackal. "I know you like her," she states quietly with a little serious tone. Infinite starts to blush as he glares at Amy. "Use this chance to talk to her and tell her how you feel. No one likes to be left in the dark after admitting their feelings," she says with a bit of concern. The pink hedgehog then leaves the room and shuts the door.
Infinite watches Amy leave until she closed the door. He sighs a bit quietly and looks to Saura, who is looking at her wrist and seems to be securing her grabbling hook. Confused, the jackal walks to the wolf. "What are you doing?" he asks Saura.
Saura flinched when she heard Infinite. Looking towards the jackal, she chuckled a bit nervously. "I-I was just making sure my grabbling hooks are still on… I… I couldn't use them before," she replies as her chuckling dies down a bit.
Infinite had a surprised look and then frowns in concern. Even though he has a guess, he still wants to know what happened when Saura was under the Phantom Ruby's control. He watches the wolf check the other grabbling hook to see if it's in good condition. Finally, he places his clawed hand on to Saura's shoulder to catch her attention. "Saura, what happened? You were fighting something or someone and couldn't hear me… nor anyone else," he asks.
Saura flinches a bit as she stops checking her grabbling hooks. She looks down a bit as she recollects what she saw. "It was…" she starts to say but stops. Realizing she can't hide it, the wolf sighs. "It was Nevil," she finally answers. Unaware of the grip on her shoulder, Saura thinks about the other wolf she saw. "And someone else," she then added.
Infinite's grip lessened a bit in confusion. Someone else was there besides Nevil? "What do you mean by someone else?" he asks.
Saura shakes her head a bit. "Sh-she… she said she was… me," she replies while she starts to think. "The me who had died that day," she mumbles out quietly. "She had wounds… on all of the places I had hurt myself on… and they were bleeding," she starts to explain. "She tried to warn me about Nevil. And then, Nevil came and attacked us, killing that other one in the process," she added.
Infinite stiffens a bit as he looks down in confusion and worry. Another Saura, how can that be? Whatever it was for, Nevil clearly wanted it- er, her gone. "And then, Nevil tried to have me afraid again," he suddenly hears Saura. The jackal looks to the wolf, so he can listen. "But this time, I didn't allow it because I thought about you and the others. I wanted his illusions to stop since I know the time I had during the war was real: meeting Commander Knuckles and his crew, rescuing Sonic, saving you, stopping the sun, getting to know you, making friends, and defeating Eggman," she continues while staring down at her hands. "I don't want it to all be fake. And then, he… he…" she then says as her grip tighten a bit around her legs while shaking. Infinite frowns as he waits for Saura to speak. Instead of continuing, she said something else. "I am so sorry about what happened to your friends," the wolf says to the jackal.
Infinite froze when he heard what Saura said along with her facial expression. The wolf is crying since tears are rolling out of her eyes along with a look of sadness. Is she understanding more on his point-of-view? After a sigh, Infinite hugs Saura gently. "There is nothing for you to be sorry about," he mumbles gently.
Saura continues to cry silently a bit as she returns the hug to Infinite. After a minute has passed, the wolf wipes her tears out of her face. "Nevil showed me you, Sonic, and Tails laying on the ground… lifeless," she says to continue. The wolf was unaware of the jackal's gasp. "He's done it before with my parents… But when he did it to you guys, I felt so… lonely and shattered… that I wanted to kill Nevil myself," she confessed while shivering a bit. Saura takes a deep breath to calm herself down a bit. "But then I saw strange black figures around me. They all reminded me of you and everyone else. It's what helped me snap out of it," she then says with a small smile. The wolf stops her smile as she remembered her next move on Nevil. "I could've finished him, but my mom and that other wolf spoke to me… So, I let him go. And finally, that same wolf appeared again. The next thing I know, I was standing next to you and the others," she finishes her story.
Once Saura finished her explanation, Infinite looks down to her with a concern expression. "Saura, would you still try to kill your uncle if you could?" he suddenly asks.
Saura thinks about Infinite's question carefully. She still remembered what that other wolf said before. Letting go is the only way she can be free… She then looks to the jackal with a true smile. "No, I wouldn't. If I do that, then I'll lose that part of me and never feel the same. And I don't want to give that part up," she answers.
Infinite widens his eyes in surprise a bit at Saura's answer and her smile. Seeing that smile makes the jackal's heart start pounding rapidly and follows his instincts. He gently places a clawed hand on to the wolf's cheek. And then, Infinite places his lips on to the wolf's in a strong passionate kiss. Saura was shocked as she feels the jackal's lips on hers. She thought about moving away, but Infinite held on to her tight the point she couldn't move. The jackal finally breaks the contact and watches the wolf closely. Realizing what he just did, Infinite blushes, but continues to look at Saura. "You really are amazing Saura," he suddenly says. The wolf's blush increased as she shows a confused look. "You faced your fears and stood against your nightmares. I had a feeling you would be the one to overpower the Phantom Ruby. And now, you had wanted to become my friend, even after what I've done," he added with a sad chuckle.
"But, there is one problem," Infinite continues. "Since that day you saved me, I started to feel something even more towards you; this feeling was strong, stronger than the bond I shared with my squad. That feeling continued to grow every time I see you," he says with a little sigh. "I never knew what it was… until you convinced it yourself," the jackal convinced as his blush grew. Saura continues to show a confused expression. "Not only that, every time I see you with that blue savior and his friends, I began to feel jealous. I wanted to be the only one you think of, and it's something the Phantom Ruby has no power over. And then, I heard your story. You are just like me, but you chose a different path than I did. Because of that, I wanted to understand why you took that route and how you accomplished it. Now, I know everything and where I should go," he finishes. Infinite moves back, but only for a little bit, as he moves his clawed hands to hold Saura's right hand. Once he has a hold of the wolf's hand, the jackal brings it close to him a bit. "I just hope, you can share that path with me," he says to the wolf with a bit of hope.
Saura's blush grew until her face is red. After hearing Infinite wanting to walk in the same path, a smile starts to grow on her face. However, that stopped when she remembered confessing her feelings to the jackal. Shivering a bit, Saura watches Infinite. "A-are you… s-sure? Even though I-I'm in… l-love with you," she asks nervously.
Infinite had a little surprised look, but that ended when he slightly chuckles. He then has a small smirk on his face. "Really, Saura?" he starts to say. "Surely, my little affections have been giving you hints," he comments while watching the wolf. After seeing the confusion look on Saura's face still present, he sighs a tiny bit but smiles sadly. "You did say you've haven't had much contact with anyone before the resistance," he says. The jackal releases the wolf's hand with one of his clawed ones, so he can use that to place it on her chin. Making sure she is looking at him, Infinite leans close to Saura as he moves her hand on to his shoulder. "Then, let me show it to you again," he whispers.
Saura suddenly feels Infinite's lips on hers again. She stared in shock as she feels the jackal move his clawed hands to her back and behind her head. Finally, the wolf gives in and returns the kiss with her eyes shut. Saura then feels Infinite's tongue in her mouth, and she lets him in. She moans; however, they were muffled in the kiss although the jackal did hear it. The wolf feels the other's tongue exploring her mouth which caused her grip to tighten around the jackal. Saura then feels Infinite pull away which allows her to catch her breath. "I-Infinite," she says quietly.
Infinite hears Saura's quiet moan and growls a bit possessively. He places several kisses on the wolf's cheek and neck and then nuzzles there. "I love you, Saura," he says quietly. He hears Saura gasp which caused him to smirk. Before he could give her another kiss, Infinite hears someone outside of the room trying to unlock the door. Growling a bit, he releases Saura and watched to see who's coming.
Infinite and Saura were shocked to see Rouge AND Shadow walk in to the room. Instinctively, the jackal stands in front of the wolf to protect her. The bat noticed for she lets out a little smirk. "Relax jackal-boy, we didn't come here to take Saura away," she says to Infinite. "We actually came to see you mostly," she added. Infinite eye narrows in confusion as Saura showed a surprised expression. "We have looked up some information about your group, known as the Jackal Squad and there is news about them," she added as she placed a hand on her hip while the other one is behind her back.
Infinite stiffens and now glares at Shadow and Rouge. "There is nothing to say about them! They are all gone because of you," he says in anger while pointing at the black hedgehog! The jackal growls as he prepares to fight but stops himself for Saura's sake. "Just hurry and get it over with. I'm still not-"
"Some members of your squad are still alive," Shadow states with his arms crossed. Both Saura and Infinite look towards the black hedgehog with shock. "Yes, I did murder two of them, but they were the ones who tried to kill me. The rest of your crew, on the other hand, were hidden somewhere else during these six months," he explains.
Infinite stares at Shadow in shock until he mentioned two of his friends. The jackal glares madly at the black hedgehog. "Liar! Eggman told me the entire squad has been annihilated by you and no one was left alive! There was video proof," he yells in anger!
"Are you sure that is true? Or, was it the Phantom Ruby that showed it to you?" Shadow questions. Hearing Infinite growling, the black hedgehog glares. "If you want proof of that, you will have to head to the Shararah Desert near Seaside Hill. That is where they were last seen," he says to the jackal.
"However," Rouge suddenly jumps in. "You are still under arrest for assisting Eggman and murdering citizens of Mobius," she says to Infinite. "And as punishment, you are to help clean up Mobius to its original state and serve some time in prison for at least six months or more," she added.
Infinite glares at Rouge and Shadow while growling. How dare they tell him information about his squad and then say he can't go to them for six months! "W-wait," he suddenly hears Saura say. The jackal looks to the wolf with a surprised look.
Saura, after hearing what Shadow and Rouge are going to do with Infinite, had to say something! She noticed the jackal watching her with a surprised look while the bat and black hedgehog are just watching her. The wolf shivers a bit but stops herself. "Wh-what if one of the r-resistance members can w-watch him instead of s-sending him to prison," she suggested.
Shadow and Rouge looked at each other a bit and then back to Saura. "Are you sure about that? And if I were to guess, the only resistance member who can handle that is you," Rouge states to the wolf. "We also know a bit more about you Saura, niece of Nevil," she then says. The bat noticed the startled expression on the wolf's face but pretends to not see it. "We know what happened on that day along with how you kept yourself locked up. Do you really think you can watch over Infinite with no experience of the outside world?" she asks.
Saura looks away with a little frightened expression of Nevil being brought up by Rouge. Remembering all of her times during the war and resistance, she starts to try to get off of the bed despite Infinite trying to stop her. Shadow watches with a cautious and a bit of surprise expression. The wolf is determined, he'll say that. Once her foot is on the floor, Saura ignores the pain on her side and walks to the bat and black hedgehog until she is between them and the jackal. The wolf looks to the two with a determined look. "I don't think I can do it, I know I can do it. I don't care what everyone thinks of me or how I speak, that's their opinion. So, I am ready to take on that task," she says with confidence.
Rouge stared with surprise. She still remembered how shy and mutely the wolf used to be back in the resistance. Not only that, the wolf would also be shivering from time to time. And now, Saura is standing towards them like she can take on the entire world. The bat took a tiny step back as she watches the wolf.
Shadow, on the other hand, isn't too convinced yet. He steps a little closer to Saura and stares down at her as he eye narrows. The wolf stiffens a little as her confidence decreases a bit. The wolf glares a little at the black hedgehog in determination. The two kept glaring at each other for quite some time, making Infinite a bit quirky. The jackal wants to jump in and shield the wolf from the hedgehog who murdered his squad… two members, but he doesn't want to get involved when he saw the expression on her face a minute ago.
Finally, Shadow lets his arms loose as Saura still stiffens as her glare was decreasing a bit due to not able to hold it. "Brave," he comments. Saura showed a confused look. "Stupid, but still brave," he added. The wolf makes a little annoyed face with a huff. The black hedgehog looks to her with an unexpressive look. "Fine, we shall allow Infinite to roam free under your watch," he states to Saura. The wolf starts to smile big as she tries her best to not jump in joy. "But remember this," Shadow starts to say as he got close to Saura's face. This caused the wolf's smile to retreat along stepping back a bit as a scared expression is shown on her face. "If he were to cause any trouble that could put Mobius in jeopardy, you will be the one to receive punishment along side with him," he warns with a glare. Saura starts to shiver in fear from Shadow's threat until she gulps to hold it in to stand her ground. "Are we clear?" he asks.
Saura quickly nods in response. Noticing Shadow hasn't moved, she shivers a bit. "Cr-cr-crystal c-c-clear, s-s-sir," she says to the black hedgehog in a whisper. The wolf watches Shadow eye narrow at her which got her a bit more scared. Was it something she said?
"Good," Rouge butts in as she placed an arm around Saura's shoulders. The bat also distant the wolf away from Shadow for she noticed Infinite glaring madly at Shadow. "Now then, once you recover, you and jackal-boy are going to help everyone clean up the city first," she states. Watching Saura nod, she then remembers what Knuckles asked her to do. "Oh right! Before we forget, we have something for you Saura," Rouge suddenly mentions. The bat then pulls out a Lightning Wispon from behind her. The wolf smiles in excitement. "Now, this is no ordinary Lightning Wispon. This one will bring out your lighting whip and speed through enemies much faster than the other one," she added. Rouge hands Saura the Lightning Wispon and steps back a bit. The wolf looks to the wispon with a smile; but suddenly, the weapon starts to glow causing her to jump a bit. "Ah, one more thing I got to mention," Rouge says with a little giggle. "You and jackal-boy will have a little friend with you as well," she states.
Infinite growls at Rouge for saying "jackal-boy" too much. Before he can complain at the bat, the light leaves the wispon and fades to reveal a little yellow lightning creature floating. Its arms, body and tip of the head is shaped like a lighting bolt, but it has no legs. The creature opened its cyan eyes as it stretches a bit. It then noticed Saura and Infinite. It floats to the two and watches them curiously. Saura stiffens a bit but smiles. "H-hello," she says to the creature.
The creature starts to chirp as it floats in circles and zigzag formation around Saura and Infinite. Rouge chuckles a bit. "Well, he likes you both already," she comments. "That little fella is a wisp. Sonic had to save his kind one time, but some have started to live in our planet and aid us in defeating Eggman. Play nice with him," she says to the jackal and wolf. "Well, that is all we have for you two. Be ready when Knuckles gets here," she says to the jackal and wolf. The bat starts walking out of the room.
Shadow stayed put a bit which got Infinite to glare at him. The black hedgehog eye narrows at the jackal. "You should start putting the past behind you," he says with a serious expression. "Take it from someone who's experienced it," he added. Ignoring the Infinite's surprised expression, Shadow looks to Saura. "As for you, I expect you to do the same even if you've already accomplished it once," he states. The black hedgehog then exits the room and shuts the door.
Infinite watched Shadow leave with a surprised expression. Did Shadow face something a bit similar? Infinite's thoughts were interrupted when he sees the creatu- er, wisp floating near him. The little yellow wisp lands on Saura's shoulder. The wolf looks to it- well, him, and then to the jackal with a smile. Infinite smiles a bit back as he hugs the two, but mostly Saura. This will be a long set of time to rebuild Mobius. But, if his squad really is alive, he needs to find them. And to do that, he must help rebuild this world back to the way it was. He also needs to think of a better future, one where he can live happily with his squad and Saura.
