Not gonna lie, I legit feel bad for Infinite XD I gotta do something for him in the future to do him justice

Sanctum and Steel are wonderful characters and I hope to see more of them in the future ;w;

Please look at their DA and Tumblr!
5courgesbestbuddy

With a startling flail, Sanctum gasped as he shot straight up from his spot on the ground; the cubes clinging to his person falling away as he sat up with a pant.

Beside him, Scourge grumbled and snapped upward; the once again werehog blinking in mild confusion before he looked down in a silent pout.

"...Are we back?" Sanctum asked, casually patting the ground before reaching over and patting the fluffy forest green beast. The purple markings glowing in the low light as Scourge gave a faint pouting grumble of a whine as he winced from his cheeks getting slightly squished together.

"We're back!" Without realizing it, the armored hedgehog pulled the fluffy beast into an actual hug; happy to be free of that nightmarish realm and genuinely happy that Scourge 'found him' again.

With a sharp flush of pink on his cheeks, he quickly pulled away from the soft fur and forced himself to stand despite how light headed he felt. "Right, where's Steel and that jackal-"

In an aura of red energy, a large tree slammed down into a pile of rubble, above the pile; Steel scowled and panted at the mess.

"WOULD YOU JUST STAY DOWN ALREADY- Oh hey guys, you're back!" Steel called out with a tired smile to the reawakened pair, his eyes twitching faintly as the glow beneath his bangs shifted to a faint yellow in color.

Scourge gave a lazy wave before he stood on all fours, the teen flying down and resting beside Sanctum's side. "You guys...not being dead is nice. I wasn't sure what the cubes did." he panted quietly.

"Illusion magic or something, it's a long story. Look-" Sanctum turned towards the youngest of their team," All of his attacks are based on illusions, we strip the illusions of their power we can actually beat him down."

"I mean...I've been doing a pretty good job of that," the young time traveller gestured to the destruction before the trio. "...Where's the jackal?" Sanctum asked cautiously," Probably in the hole."

"What hole- Oh blissful anarchy, what did you do?" The crimsons and startling blues widened when they realized it wasn't just a pile of rubble before them, but a hole that was 'punched' into existence and filled to the brim with debris.

With a meek shrug, Steel rubbed the back of his neck as he slowly blinked; his energy crackling dangerously," I just kept throwing buildings at him and then trees and garbage. I think that 'weak' talk made him legit go into a rage. He...hasn't been very good at dodging."

"Steel what- how deep is that?!"

The albino hedgehog paused for a moment as he looked up, his fingers flicking against his palm as he counted quietly; his eye twitching under a spark of energy crackling down his cheek,"...No idea!"

With a mildly curious look, Scourge quietly prowled towards the massive pile, his pointed nose twitching as cold blues narrowed at the debris. "Well, is he dead?!" Sanctum looked between the pile and Steel, the vivid crimsons slightly wide from the carnage they apparently missed.

"Surprisingly no?" Steel shrugged," I mean, this dude is stubborn. He keeps crawling out and screaming and then I hit him with more. We've been at this for a while now."

"A while?!" For a moment, Sanctum looked back to the spot he and Scourge once laid upon, his expression widening before deadpanning," Steel, how long were we unconscious?"

"Uh…"

"Steel."

"I was kinda busy with the masked weirdo, sorry I haven't been keeping track!"

With a low snarl, Scourge backed up from the pile towards the duo as the rubble twitched and shifted.

"Steel we could've been in there for hours!"

"Dude, he was trying to murder us, I was slapping sense into his edgy mindset! What do you want from me?!" Steel questioned with mild exasperation as a migraine began to split across his skull, the glow beginning to darken into a sharp red beneath his bangs.

With a world shattering roar, a flash of red erupted from the rubble; the trio's gaze locked on the sight of the emerging of a furious jackal. Hovering ominously over the hole of trash with a look that could kill in his single seeable eye," All...of my hate…"

"...What point of just 'lay down' don't you get? Seriously dude, you dodge almost as well as Gohan in the beginning of Z.." Steel sighed softly, his expression going half lidded as the inkling of a potential monologue was on the horizon.

Sometimes he hated being right.

"ENOUGH OF THIS! YOU THREE HAVE DISTRACTED ME ENOUGH WITH YOUR ANTICS! YOU WILL SUCCUMB TO MY INFINITE POWER-"

"Not really...Infinite, more like finite when it comes to the point but...whatever you say." Sanctum muttered under his breath, the soft chuckle from the werehog making the looming jackal more furious.

"I WILL ERADICATE YOUR PITIFUL EXCUSE OF AN EXISTENCE FROM THIS REALM AND ALL THAT WILL REMAIN IS YOUR DROOLING SELVES, DISASSOCIATED FROM REALITY!"

"You already tried that on two of us and your weak excuse of emotional manipulation was tier one at best when you're bragging about it being a tier three."

"What...what does that even mean, Sanc?"

"Steel, not right now, we're handling an out of control being."

The trembling enraged form went still, the eye disappearing from the mask as the jackal straightened," Oh...so you want more?"

"Not really, but I am going to beat you into the ground for thinking you can do that to the two of us…" Sanctum spared a look to the younger of their odd team," And for making Steel create a 'who knows how deep' hole in the ground filled with actual rubble."

"Oh that's right….Only two of you went into my illusion….Didn't you?~"

"Uh, Sanc-"

"What? Are you going to send all three of us?" Ebony gasped, his hand resting over his mouth in mock horror before he slipped into a monotone," How utterly terrifying…"

With a deep chuckle, Infinite raised his clawed hands as a multitude of cubes appeared behind him," Not there….but to a different place...A place you will never be able to free yourselves from.."

The jackal barely suppressed the flinch as those crimson orbs narrowed in mild anger," Don't you dare-"

"Oh yes….I know a place for the likes of you!" Infinite bellowed as he slashed his claws downward, a rip splitting across the ground as the trio stood on a floor of twitching cubes," Enjoy your painful ends as I revel in victory over this world...and your lives~"

With a deep and powerful bark, Scourge bared his teeth in a snarl; beside him Steel quivered in a barely contained panic as he realized how close he was to...well him.

"Translation," the teen cleared his throat," 'Bite me' or 'No one will find your stupid mask when I'm through with you', it's between those two."

"Oh I'm going to enjoy this far more than I should…" Infinite drawled as he flicked his index finger down; the single golden orb narrowing with a sense of smugness as cubes swirled and twisted over the trio.

"OH NO YOU DON-" Sanctum lunged upward towards the jackal, an ice blue lance beginning to form in his hand as he lashed the limb forward with a snarl.

Only to blink in confusion as the jackal disappeared with the world around him.

"Oh…."

"Wha- Sanc!"

The lifeform allowed the red aura to encase him and guide him back towards the 'ground', though his crimsons were taking into account that the entire world was nothing but darkness and the faint red glow of cubes.

"He did it again…."

"Wait, this is the place you guys went?" Steel questioned as he looked around with curiosity before grimacing a shrug, the headache becoming worse.

"It's...lacking something."

"It's similar but different, there were actual rooms last time."

"So...no freaky tunnels?" Steel carefully stepped around the massive werehog as Scourge shook his head. "Wait- there was a tunnel?" Sanctum asked, the ice blues meeting his crimsons as he gave an affirming bark.

"Hmm...then that means there's probably still an opening around here."

"I mean, we could move towards the freakishly bright light down there." Steel pointed down the path, deadpanning slightly at the older pair," But...usually a 'bright light at the end of a tunnel' kind of means...y'know."

Before the armored teenager could retort the sass, the trio tensed when the ground beneath them spasmed and twitched into cubes. Glitching and vibrating before a few began to fall away to the void below.

"Well we don't have much of a choice now do we? Move!" Sanctum quickly nudged the youngest forward before the oddball team tore down the runway.

The cubes singing and crying out in response as they seemingly began to fall away faster.

"WHAT IS THIS PLACE EVEN?! THIS- WHY ARE THERE SO MANY GLITCHES!?"

"Steel just move!"

In a wince, the time traveler looked back and noticed that the forest green werehog was beginning to fall behind. It was then he remembered the shift in his ability when he-

"Gah, hang on I got an idea!"

With the last of what he could muster, Steel encapsulated Sanctum and Scourge and made his aura flash; propelling the trio quickly towards the bright light.

With a sharp scream, Steel felt his body fall forward as a blinding headache split across his skull in an explosion of agony; barely registering the fact they fell through the light and collapsed back onto the dirt and stone with a groan.

Panting, Sanctum looked back as the void began to close behind them; his fury growing from the sheer ridiculousness of the situation.

"GRAAAH!"

Whipping around, the eldest hedgehog finally registered his team on the ground.

Falling beside Steel, Scourge snarled as purple mist began to spew from his body, cringing and growling as he tried to muffle the noise.

"Wh-" blinking, the world came more into focus as the void finally closed and faded away behind them, the clear sun beginning to shine like a taunting overlord.

"...Sanc…" Crimson orbs peaked down as Scourge crawled and forced himself on his knees before turning Steel over.

"I think we need to...Regroup before we tear this guy a new one," Ebony drawled carefully as he knelt beside the unconscious teen.

"Yeah...I might need a sec to remember how my legs work after that mess." Scourge winced as he panted, his body feeling out of whack from feeling so many different energies in one day.

"I think that cube shit messed with...whatever makes me turn. I think I'm gonna-"

"Do not. Not on Steel." Sanctum pushed Scourge away by the face gently before looking down as Steel groaned weakly.

"Alright, maybe we can find someplace to recover. Can you stand?"

The ice blues looked at him for a long moment before wincing and forcing himself upward," Yeah...I got it. Think you can get Steel?"

"Already on it."

Scourge ignored the sass for a moment as he relished in the feeling of standing upright again," ...So...How badly you wanna smack this guy with me?"

"Before or after the hell we went through?" Sanctum frowned, even if the chuckle made him feel a bit more...light.

"Heh...I'll share first hit with ya."

"How sweet of you…" Scourge outright laughed at the sass before trailing off into a pained wince," Your dry humor is gonna kill me one day."

"Mm...Not today though," Sanctum quietly pulled Steel up and over his shoulder," Come on, let's go see if that city holds any promise."