"The irony of grief is that the person that you need to talk to about how you feel is the person who is no longer here." - Author Unknown
*About a Month Later*
Infinite laid down in bed, facing the wall of his small, dorm-like room. His eyes were red from crying to himself, although he would never admit it to anyone else who questioned him. It was his little ritual, his way to never forget the lives that he'd lost.
Today was going to be a hard day for him.
He looked down at the shining object around his right ring finger, Amara's engagement ring. My engagement ring now... he thought mournfully. Why didn't I walk away with her? Today could've been ours, now it belongs to neither.
Today was supposed to be his wedding day.
After the standoff with Eggman and the robots cleared up, Infinite had taken the liberty of chasing everyone off and barricading the area from anyone until he had buried the bodies in an undisclosed location that only he knew of.
The remains of the Jackal Squad members were hidden and that was just what Infinite wanted, for them to remain in their final resting place for eternity without being disturbed.
As he felt another wave of grief well up within his soul, he heard the door open. He pushed himself up and glanced in the direction of the disturbance, only to feel the fur around his neck tighten and heard a click. He instinctively made a curious whine that sounded like 'Arr?' as he lifted his paw to touch whatever was now on his neck.
"Orders from the top, Captain Infinite, the boss doesn't want to have any feeling that you'd threaten him." A voice, coming from a little red robot, stated as he pushed a button on a remote and the device on Infinite's neck bleeped.
"What...? What is this?"
"Oh, just a little thing to keep you from mauling anyone," Orbot stated flatly, extending his arm to pet Infinite on the head. "Good dog."
Infinite growled, four little LEDs studded on his new collar turned yellow and bleeped.
Orbot became nervous and shook. "Uhhh, nice jackal? I wouldn't do that if I were you..."
Infinite barked at him and was instantly zapped with electricity, tumbling onto the floor after losing his balance on the bed. He tried to quickly get back up on his feet, still stunned, with the lights on his collar still glowing yellow as they began to beep again, speeding up almost like a warning. Infinite shook his head, trying to clear the annoying beeping from his ears. "What was that for?!" He snarled viciously, and the collar made a loud alarm before the lights turned red.
Orbot quickly wheeled away from the agitated jackal, seeing the shock had only made him more furious as opposed to subduing him. "Someone come quickly!" He cried to no one. "The collar did nothing to control him!"
Infinite lunged towards Orbot, but an intense surge of electricity struck through him, causing him to howl in pain and drop onto his chest.
At about this time, the backup that Orbot had called for, closely followed by their creator, entered the room with the expectation of a rabid jackal mauling the little bot. Upon the current sight of the little red robot cowering from the jackal who was laying flat on the floor, they were horribly disappointed.
"Uhh, Orbot? Why are you yelling about the dog on the floor?" Cubot scratched his head as Orbot got himself back onto his wheels and quickly removed himself from the canine's reach.
"This is more than just a dog, Cubot, he will be my instrument of ultimate destruction!" Eggman began.
Infinite stirred noiselessly, interrupting the mad scientist moment.
"Uhh, as long as he doesn't destroy the project..." He then returned to his previous, confident tone. "but that's what the shock collar is for! He'll be a loyal part of my plan soon enough!" He then took a few steps to grip Infinite's scruff and shake him before giving the jackal a light toss, which ended up only turning him a little to the left. "Get up!"
"Unghhh..." Infinite moved his paws to prop himself up a little, shaking his head out as his long tail lifted from the ground, rising like a cloud of smoke.
"'Well, it's about time!"
"Give me a second." Infinite mumbled, too worn to be annoyed. He struggled to get back onto his feet and even once he was up, he had to use the mattress of his bed to support him. He turned away from the group and rolled his eyes, embarrassed that he had to hold himself up with his left arm. Sounding a single scoff, he pressed his other arm against the bed to allow himself the balance to turn his head. "Typically you don't barge in here, what's different?"
"The final tests have been completed for the first part of the experiment. That's all you need to know."
"What kind of experiment?" Infinite felt like biting him, but he was too worn to even set off the sensor attached to his collar.
Eggman seemed to become frustrated, noticing that Infinite obviously didn't notice the phrase 'that's all you need to know.' However, he was able to prevent an outburst, likely because of fear, and regained composure for a reply. "The very experiment your precious female died protecting..."
Infinite took a painful breath, collar instantly turning yellow as the memory painfully forced itself into his brain.
The Jackal Squad had been hired, not only to defend the at-risk base, but to protect a valuable new asset that Eggman was studying, one so valuable that Infinite was refused any information regarding the study.
No one really figured out if Shadow had been sent to purloin the asset or if he was just bent on the destruction of property and the demolition of lives. One thing was certain, however: the base was compromised...
and the Squad was dead and buried.
"But enough about the experiment itself, all you need to do is follow your orders."
Infinite's collar, whom's lights remained yellow, bleeped as it detected rising hostility. "I take orders from no one until I am told the nature of the order." He then took a deep breath and his collar's light's returned to green, frustrating Eggman.
"You think you're in control here, don't you?" The doctor's voice became harsh.
"There is a difference between holding one's ground and uprising. I am in control of myself. Can you say the same?" Infinite's voice stayed flat and monotone, the lights around his neck remaining green.
"You are sorely mistaken, Captain. You are in control of nothing. I control you and everything you see." He turned to see Infinite looking straight into his eyes, however bent over and head slightly ducked, as if he refused to agree but at the same time did not will hostility.
The jackal remained silent and still; his collar's lights remained green, angering the one who desired rule over him.
"Why you little..." Eggman then took the remote from Orbot. "those green lights don't keep you safe, I control them too." He then pressed a button, unleashing a surge of electricity into Infinite similar to the one he'd experienced when his collar had reported him as 'aggressive and dangerous.'
The jackal screeched in surprise, unable to anticipate what was happening to him as he tumbled to the floor in intense physical pain. He tensed into a twitching ball of fur, remaining in the shape even after the electricity ceased to plague his body.
As soon as his twitching ceased, robots were ordered to seize him, tying a chain around the base of his muzzle, latching it onto another chain being secured to the jackal's neck and chest before fastening a jet black muzzle onto him. They pulled his body up off of the floor and forced the now-barely-conscious Infinite to stand on his feet and walk.
Infinite, who was lacking the strength to do absolutely anything he was being forced to do, followed every direction given to him, too beaten to fight. He was led into a large chamber of the lab, where a vital monitor, prepared to begin its monitoring, sat attached to a creature-sized observation chamber.
A small, purplish-red stone sat on the monitor.
"Captain Infinite, go stand over by that chamber." Orbot pointed towards the foreboding chamber.
Infinite nodded the best he could, which ended up being a restricted effort that produced more sound from his chains that actual movement before going straight over to stand precisely in front, his legs shaking as he did his best to stay upright. I just want to be left alone... his tired thoughts whimpered. Everything either hurts or is so numb... He groaned as he felt his chains being fastened to a pole and felt the muzzle release him. An odd feeling sprung up in him, instantly feeling an intense urge to cry as he looked around at the situation facing him.
"This," Eggman proclaimed once he caught Infinite's wandering gaze, holding up the odd-looking stone. "is a special gem with the ability to twist reality and the minds of those it affects. I call it, the Phantom Ruby."
Infinite was now willingly paying attention; he now understood why he, Amara and the others had been hired and why the scientist was willing to pay such a large amount for the squad to work for him. This gem was unlike any other tech that anyone had been able to use, possibly an even greater weapon than the Chaos Emeralds. Warping the mental workings of a creature was unheard of, same with completely changing reality.
A futuristic weapon capable of completely redesigning Mobian society... or worse.
"You see, this gemstone, this ruby is capable of taking any possible reality that you could dream up and turning it into the real world. You've actually come into contact with it before when you and your Squad first ambushed me at my base near your little thug-run Badlands. I am certain you remember."
Infinite's mind answered for both instantly.
"Ok, guys... and Amara, the new building shouldn't be too far away. From the news going around Raziel's place, it belongs to that Eggman fellow that the authorities are havin' some trouble with. But we're not here to aid the people who want our lives, in fact, forget about them right now; let's have some fun with the piece of civilization at our border. We're gonna raid it and take what we want, for us and only us."
Cheers erupted from Remy and QuickStrike, Hunter clapped and Amara nodded with a smirk on her face, her hand resting on the top of her hips.
"Now we're getting into the fun messes!" Amara declared with a pump of her arm. "I'm looking forward to watching some so-called civil dude get his!"
"You don't get to kill him, Amara. That's got Infinite written all over it as the captain here, you're just the hot chick that belongs to him." Hunter muttered, giving Amara a shove into her chest to make her stumble, she instantly began snarling at him once she regained her balance.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure you get yours, too." With a flick of her tail, she walked away from him and stood next to Infinite as if she was going to begin giving orders.
Infinite turned his head to whisper discreetly into her large ear. "You ok, Amara? You've been a bit... explosive lately... also sort of moody."
Amara's face twisted with her awkward discomfort. She looked down at the golden canyon sand and pushed her foot into the sand. She kept her focus on driving her foot into the sand until Infinite gripped her upper arm.
"...Amara?" Infinite looked deep into her gold eyes, moving his hand from gripping her arm to holding her face as he saw her eyes begin to glisten with tears. "...Are you...?"
Amara shook her head out, a deep conversation buried into her mind was controlling her outward actions as she nearly leaped into Infinite's arms and began to cry. She instantly began gasping for air through her tears before mumbling into his shoulder.
"Woah, hey, I didn't mean to upset you, Amara." Infinite placed a paw on her back and rubbed. "There we go, Mara, look at me..." Amara looked up at his face. "did I say something that upset you?"
Amara took off her gloves and sloppily tried to wipe away the rivers pouring out of her eyes with her paws, having little success as she drenched her painful scars more than she dried her eyes. She gasped in pain as salty tears came into contact with her acid-scarred paws, attempting to grasp both palms at once as a new wave of tears began.
Infinite took one of her burning paws in each of his, then proceeded to bark orders as he sat down with her. "Remy! You go get a cloth or something, make sure it's clean. Hunter! Go back to that trading post and get an anesthetic or a sedative or whatever they're calling it, just make sure it's a liquid. QuickStrike! Stand guard."
The others quickly nodded and dispersed.
"Ok, Amara, I sent the others to get stuff to help. You just gotta breathe."
Amara replied with a pained groan and a nod. "It hurts, it hurts so much... it feels like something's burning through my paws!"
Infinite nodded. "I know, Mara." He maintained a gentle grip on her paws as they waited for the others' return, watching Amara and responding to her every slight change.
If she cried a wail of pain, he would begin nuzzling her and whispering into her ear before kissing her forehead to remind her that she wasn't alone, if her breathing slowed or sped up then he'd correct the speed by doing breathing exercises with her.
A while after the others left, Amara's paws developed a bleeding split, worsening the pain, Infinite gently tapped the wounds to draw blood away.
To bring more comfort to his fiancée, Infinite let her curl up in his lap, she whimpered loudly while she settled her muzzle in the crook of his neck, her paws in his.
QuickStrike, having heard many of Amara's wails, decided to check back in. "Hey, Boss, how's things going over here? She doing any better?"
Infinite looked at the female that he was cradling "She's still in a lot of pain... I hope those two get back soon."
"Uh, you do know those two are nutjobs, right? And I'm not even sure if Hunter even likes Amara... you know, in the one way that he's allowed to."
"Oh, he likes me just fine." Amara declared, pausing for a harsh wince. "He's just still salty because I decided that I only wanted to be intimate with Infinite." She kissed the base of Infinite's muzzle to emphasize her point. "If I had just been a female belonging to the captain of the Jackal Squad, Hunter would've gotten his turn with me." She winced again and looked down at her paws as if she was anticipating the skin to be burning right off of her before resuming. "However, I decided that I didn't want to live my life that way, especially after what happened to my mother. After I realized I had fallen in love with Infinite, I decided he'd be my only. No offense to you, Quick."
"None taken, Amara. I know how close you and the boss are, in fact, I see it right now." He snickered at his little tease, Infinite and Amara chuckled. "How are your paws, Amara? They seem to still be hurting you badly."
"They still hurt," Amara curled her head deeper into Infinite's chest. "and they're starting to dry, which isn't good." She tried moving the fingers on her left hand, trying to grip Infinite's hand with hers. She ended up only growling in pain.
"What happens if they dry?" QuickStrike's expression bore features of both concern and bubbling curiosity.
"The salt will dry into the acid that's in her scars. She'd be like this for days."
"Oh, that's not good. Do I need to get some water to keep them from drying?"
Infinite turned to Amara, knowing that putting anything on her paws would be entirely painful.
"Do you have any water?" Amara asked, halfway in between sounding parched and sounding desperate.
"I do. Are you asking for a drink or to clean your paws?"
"Both sound nice... if just dunking my paws in water would get rid of the salt and acid."
QuickStrike pulled out a small bottle of water and handed it to Infinite, who had to set one of Amara's paws on her lap to grab it. "Here, Amara, you can drink this."
Infinite put the bottle to her lips and tipped it upwards to allow her to drink.
While Infinite was helping Amara drink, Remy and Hunter returned.
"Hey, Boss- oh, that's sweet..." Remy clasped his paws to his chest as he observed the pair.
Hunter rolled his eyes. "Ok, I got what you told me to get, do you want it or not?" He stuck out his arm, which contained a small vial of a liquid sedative.
Infinite looked up from Amara. "Yes, I want it! Why would I order you to get it if I didn't want it?" He then turned towards Remy. "You got a cloth?"
"Sure do, Boss! Had to buy one, but I have one right here!" He held out a dark green fabric, allowing Infinite to set the bottle down and take it.
Hunter also held out the vial for Infinite to take, but was much more annoyed than his energetic companion.
Infinite turned his head to curl it up against Amara's, whispering softly to her. "Alright, Mara, we've done this before but it's going to hurt a whole lot. You ready?" He watched her pained face as she nodded, bracing for her burns to intensify. Reaching for both the cloth and the vial, he poured the sedative onto the cloth, then capped the liquid and placed the wet cloth around Amara's right paw. He gently squeezed her paw as he pulled the cloth towards her fingertips, making sure that the sedated cloth was able to reach all areas of her paw.
Amara screeched and began a gasping pant, clenching her teeth and shaking her head. She then thrust her head forward to kiss Infinite's lips, trying to give herself a distraction from the pain.
Infinite pulled back for a second, "You're doing good, Mara. Just keep holding on, babe..." before he reinitiated their distracting kiss. Once he began again, he took the lid off the vial and poured more of the sedative onto the cloth before beginning to clean her left paw.
The onslaught of pain was so intense that Amara ripped her head back and cried out, pressing her head into his chest as tears began to leak from her eyes again.
Infinite had both of his paws busy with treating her but did his best to soothe her.
"Hey, Amara, it's gonna be okay. It shouldn't take too much longer to finish cleaning your paws, then you're gonna feel a lot better." QuickStrike's worried voice sounded choppy and rough, but he was somehow able to help.
"Okay... alright..." She began with two gasping breaths.
Infinite did one final swipe across each of her paws before handing the cloth to QuickStrike. "There. We're done. How do you feel?"
Amara brought her head up from Infinite's chest then looked down at her paws, gingerly trying to move her fingers. "They still kinda hurt, but not as bad as they did."
"Good. Now, we're too far from home to take you back, so you're going to have to raid the base with us. Do you think you can do that? I wouldn't give you orders to do anything crazy like battle the guy head-on, since you'll have to let your paws heal a bit."
"Yeah, I think I can. I'll just be there to scare him and take out some bots."
Infinite nodded, then used his scarf to dry her eyes. "That's my girl." He loosely wrapped bandages around her palm, then slipped her gloves back onto her. He grabbed onto her waist and helped her stand up.
"You're alright, Amara?" Remy approached her with some concern.
"I'll be alright. I've had to deal with this since I was two, I'll be fine once we get home."
"Well, good riddance!" Hunter growled, whipping his tail back and forth behind him. "Can we go now?!"
"Yeesh, Hunter. We're going. No rush." Amara replied with a bit of her own annoyance.
With a flick of his tail, Infinite stepped in front of his squad and led them to Eggman's new base, where they slipped through the defenses with ease.
"Raid the base!" Infinite boomed as he sliced through a large robot with his sword. "All that tech is sure to fetch a hefty bounty!"
The four other jackals followed their leader in close pursuit, Remy being the closest to Infinite, QuickStrike and Amara were close by and near each other with Hunter taking up the rear to ensure the injured first lieutenant wouldn't become a target during the raid. Each jackal was doing their own special task: Hunter was throwing daggers into the mechanical workings of the robots, QuickStrike hacked through all obstacles with his ax. Remy both barreled through bots with his size as well as his blade while Amara ran through the metallic guards to prevent her from having to use her wounded paws.
"Jackal Squad!" Infinite began his order. "Move in for the kill!" He then launched himself over a robot and landed right behind it, his sword going through the android as he came down. He resisted all urges to turn around to see Amara and instead barked another order. "You guys take care of the robots!" He stood up straight and ran deeper into the base, voice deepening into a snarl. "I got the target." As he sped away from his squad, Infinite saw a little flying vessel. That should be it. He then pulled out his sword and jumped to attack the vessel's controller, swinging down his sword for a final blow.
However, instead of striking Eggman's flesh, Infinite's sword came into contact with his stone and sent the jackal's mind flying into a different reality.
One that was decimated and in flames. Crumbling and hopeless as lightning danced across polluted clouds.
The jackal looked around, so did the mad scientist that had been brought along. They both were in almost disbelief of the scene, Eggman stunned at the desolateness of the world that dwelled in the dark corners of the jackal's deepest desires, and Infinite disoriented as he recognized the place as his home... except that it wasn't home. Somewhere in Bloodpool Canyon is what he told himself, but as he looked deeper into the details, he feared what it likely was: a worldwide Defied Slums.
As soon as it began, the false reality disappeared with the cry of a creature behind him. "What the-" Infinite turned to the sound in disarray, but was smacked to the ground by his target, his shoulder colliding with the desert ground.
"Oh, ho ho ho!" Eggman declared in victory against the fierce criminal. "Now you are an interesting guy. I like you. How about I hire you to lead my forces? Together, we'll take over the world!"
The other Jackal Squad members, who had been overtaken by the robots, did not approve of the proposed job. Amara snarled and growled as only Amara could while Remy tried to talk sense into him. "Boss! Don't be tempted by him, we'll all be fine!" At his statement's conclusion, Remy turned his head to the right to look at Amara. A concerned thought crossed his mind as to whether she'd be alright.
She was a flaming fluff-ball of fury and had been since her mother abused her. Always fighting, usually in some sort of pain, rarely understood.
He knew the job would be a long-term deal, and worried that Eggman wouldn't attempt to understand her in a way even remotely close to how Infinite or them did. Much worse was the thought of what might happen to her if she happened to become pregnant at some point in the job. Remy could see their potential client was all kinds of shifty and ambitious, instilling a fear into the jackal concerning a scenario and a life that, as far as he knew, didn't even exist at the moment. He didn't need to run off the list already forming in his head about what could happen to her if she carried a pup during that time, it only amplified his anxiety. Infinite likely wouldn't have the time, ability or place to protect his little family, Remy fretted, leaving her and her child at Eggman's will.
Coming back to reality, Remy listened to his boss' words.
"Interesting. Recently I've felt as though I've been going through the motions, I've actually grown tired of the world as it is."
The four captured jackals gasped; QuickStrike lowered his head in defeat, Hunter proceeded to shouting unintelligible nonsense at Eggman for tricking their leader and Remy cast another glance at Amara, who seemed to be discomforted. She made a hardly audible groan and curled up closer to herself as if she was having internal pains other than her injured paws but trying to hide it.
"Let's do it, Doctor!" Infinite declared, not noticing the protests of the others or even the discomfort of Amara. "I'll help you change this world!
Remy tilted over in Amara's direction, with a bit of urgency. "Amara!"
She tilted her head towards him. "What?"
Remy noticed that she seemed to be doubled over as if something in her midsection was bothering her. "The boss is making a deal with that guy; you've gotta make some noise and get us out of here!"
She shook her head. "I can't... everything hurts..."
"That's it, Amara! Signal him to let him know you're hurting. He'll come straight over."
She nodded and bayed with pain, instantly becoming the full focus of Infinite's attention, and everyone else's.
Infinite took one look at her and gasped, whimpering for her before turning back to Eggman. "But first, let them go. We're going home for today."
"And just why is that?"
Infinite took another look at Amara, then replied emotionlessly. "My female is ill."
Eggman looked slightly taken aback. "What do you mean 'your female?'"
"That is the way we do things where I come from, the females belong to the highest-ranking male in the group. Now let them go. My female is ill."
With some hesitation, the robots were ordered to release them.
Upon release, all but Infinite instantly went over to Amara, helping her up and getting her over to her fiancé.
Infinite reached his arms around her body and clutched her close, hearing her quiet whimpers. "Hey, we're going home... I'm going to get Cor on the way back and we'll take care of you." He discreetly wrapped his tail around hers as they walked away from the scene, away from a raid that had gone completely off plan.
Shaking himself loose of the memory, Infinite returned to the present day.
The Squad had returned to their Bloodpool Canyon home without incident, where Infinite and Amara met with Cor to find that Amara was in heat.
Both Infinite and Cor ordered Amara to stay within the walls of the towering rock structure they called home. Cor first and foremost, ordered her to rest while her paws healed. Infinite then promptly added that she wouldn't join any missions or raids while she was in heat, then declared that he wouldn't either to protect his only vixen. The week was rough for all of them, Hunter accused Infinite of betraying the Squad and intentionally disregarding the lives of his fellow squadmates, Remy sometimes arguing in favor of the accusation. Amara had spent the entire week in one discomfort or another between her biological desires and her wounds, coming out of her den to eat and complain about everyone before returning to solitude. QuickStrike spent the time by attempting to stay out of all the messes, typically making runs to the black market with Cor to obtain supplies. When tensions against their leader rose inside the dens, QuickStrike put his voice and opinion in Infinite's favor. He also often accompanied Infinite to check on Amara, usually bringing a little 'gift' of food with him to ease her temper. Remy sometimes did the same, but had a tendency to be occupied.
At least they're at peace... Infinite sighed. At least she's at peace... she spent her entire life wounded from those acid burns... Infinite transformed his emotions into phrases, telling himself Amara had been in so much pain her entire life... it would be cruel to wish that she was still alive.
Eggman knew Infinite was remembering the event, the expression on his face as well as the signals coming into the remote from the canine's collar. He held out the gem to focus Infinite. "But there is one more stage before this gem can be a part of my plan: integration with a living source."
Infinite's expression clicked in shock, his collar bleeped yellow.
"Infinite, you and this ruby will become one, creating a new creature with the power of an unknown source. Do you understand?" Eggman held the remote in Infinite's line of sight, hovering a finger over the button.
Infinite cringed and whimpered slightly at the sight of the remote, remembering the pain. His mind flooded with mixed emotions, fears and doubts. He reminded himself of one thing.
Amara was at peace.
"Yes..." His collar turned back to green as he bowed his head. "...Master."