Chapter 37: Mysterious Plan

The following day, Miles and Sonic had reached Green Hill which had been transformed into a semi-arid desert. There, they found Eggman in his hovering Egg Mobile meeting with a masked figure that held a pink gemstone in his hand.

As Sonic and Miles watched from behind a pair of boulders, the masked figure crushed the gemstone and said gleefully, "And with that, all the Phantom Ruby prototypes have been destroyed."

Eggman snorted. "It was a defective model, only able to record the DNA of the one who triggered it."

"Correct," the figure said, placing a hand on the pink triangular gemstone attached to his chest. "Only someone with the same level of willpower as I could activate it."

"But it doesn't matter, now that the lab's locked down in Mystic Jungle," Eggman frowned. "Speaking of which, did you happen to see Sonny there?"

The figure nodded. "Yes, but he was no match for me."

"Did you finish him off?"

"No."

"You imbecile!" Eggman snapped. "With Sonny running loose on Mobius, he could ruin my plans for good!"

"I wouldn't be too concerned," the figure assured.

"Sonny is…alive?" Miles muttered, wide-eyed.

Then the figure glanced toward the boulders, forcing Miles and Sonic to duck.

"What is it, Infinite?" Eggman asked.

"Nothing," the figure replied after a pause. "So, we're moving forward with the plan?"

"Of course!" Eggman insisted. "Once it's finished, the Resistance will be no more and the world reduced to ashes. From there, I shall create the true Eggman Empire I've always dreamed of without any interruptions whatsoever!"

Silently, the figure known as Infinite levitated into the air and took off. Just then, Sonic emerged from behind the boulders despite Miles' objections and ran toward Eggman. Surprised, Eggman was briefly knocked back before putting up a glass shield over the Egg Mobile.

"Disgusting rodent!" Eggman grumbled. "I don't have time for this!"

As he steered the Egg Mobile toward a set of dry hills, Sonic followed.

###

After Sonic defeated Eggman in his Egg Dragoon, which had been rebuilt since the time he revived Dark Gaia, Miles met up with the two of them using the flying apparatus.

"We did it, Sonic!" Miles said happily and turned to Eggman. "Now tell us where the Phantom Ruby is, Doctor Eggman, or I'll call the Resistance to deal with you as they see fit!"

In response, Eggman laughed.

"What's so funny?" Miles demanded.

"If you think you've got a chance at stopping me, then you're wrong!" Eggman insisted. "In three days, my plan will be set into motion and eliminate anyone who stands in my way including yourselves!"

"Mind telling us what this 'plan' is?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise!" Eggman then set to work on restarting the Egg Mobile, which had crash-landed after Sonic defeated him. "They say the anticipation of the end is worse than the end itself, though maybe not in this case."

Then before Miles or Sonic could stop him, Eggman took off in his Egg Mobile laughing.

###

"All right, rookie, I've got a tough assignment for you," Chuck said to Ava through the headset. "While Silva and Sonny are recovering from their battle with 'Infinite,' I need you to enter the city Eggman's currently attacking and rescue the civilians there. You got that?"

"Loud and clear," Ava acknowledged and ran along Park Avenue which ran straight through the city taking down Badniks right and left. Meanwhile, Espen's forces fought against the towering robots that rampaged nearby. Amelia encouraged Ava to report on any civilians that hadn't evacuated, which he did, allowing Espen and the others to rescue them once the giant robots had been dealt with.

"Nice work, kid!" Sonny congratulated. "I knew you could do it."

"T-Thanks, Sonny," Ava said shyly.

"Don't hog all the glory, though, or I won't look good," Victor chimed in.

"This isn't about you, Victor," Charles interrupted. "He just showed those Badniks who's boss for crying out loud!"

"Still, it does concern me that there were more of those Death Egg Robots than usual," Silva stated nervously.

"Death Egg Robots?" Ava was confused.

"The really big ones," Chuck explained.

"Hey, Chuck," Rouge abruptly said.

"What is it, Rouge?" Silva asked.

"I'm picking up two life-readings at the lab in Mystic Jungle, where Sonny fought Infinite," replied Rouge.

"That sounds awfully suspicious," Chuck noted. "Rookie, head over there and figure out who these readings belong to. It could be a false alarm, but we can't be too sure."

Once Chuck's signal died out, Ava left the city while Espen's forces escorted the remaining citizens out.

###

"Now if Eggman said Sonny was in Mystic Jungle, then maybe he's still there," Miles pondered out loud. "We've got to warn him about Eggman's plan, whatever that may be."

Sonic in turn nodded and took off into the casino-filled Mystic Jungle. Sometime later, he came across a young boy standing before a sealed off entrance holding an unusual gem in his hand that seemed to glow with a red light. Recognizing it, Sonic ran over to the boy who was startled.

"It's okay," Miles assured, flying down on his apparatus. "He's a friend."

"Who…are you?" the boy asked nervously.

"My name is Miles Prower, and this is Sonic," Miles said, gesturing to the blue hedgehog. "He's not from around here, you see, but is helping me track down Sonny who's a friend of mine."

"I-I know S-Sonny," the boy responded.

Miles' eyes widened. "Really? Then tell me where he is."

In response, Sonic shook his head and pointed at the gemstone the boy was still carrying.

Seeming to recognize it, Miles asked, "Where did you get that gemstone?"

"O-On the ground," replied the boy.

"May I have a look?"

Reluctantly, the boy gave the pink gemstone to Miles who examined it carefully.

"It looks like the Phantom Ruby from Sonic's world, but its coloring is slightly different. Is this what Infinite was talking about when he mentioned Phantom Ruby 'prototypes'?"

Surprised, the boy asked, "Y-You encountered Infinite?"

"The creepy guy with the mask?" When the boy nodded, Miles said, "Yeah, but I don't think he saw us. How do you know him?"

"He-he killed everyone I loved, but spared me," the boy answered, clenching his fist. "Then I saw him again, right here, beating up Sonny and-and Silva."

Gasping, Miles demanded, "Are they still alive?"

"Yeah, but they're recovering at home-base."

"Home-base? Are you part of the Resistance?"

"Uh-huh. My name is Ava Taren, and I joined the Resistance yesterday."

To be continued…