Chapter 15 – Big Wave, Big Wipeout

Clay's POV, Metropolis (around noon)

The plan was in action.

We all got into the Resistance shuttles and army trucks which were disguised as Eggman Empire Vehicles. I was sitting in a truck with Bubblegum, Emerald and the Sapphire Squad. Sebastian was with the Yellow Squad while Mecha joined the Red Squad to deactivate the generator.

I hadn't told anyone about my missing brother yet other than the Sapphire Squad and Sonic, but the look of Gen's face told me that I REALLY need to tell them at that moment…I wasn't sure if this was the right time to tell; especially when we were about to throw a huge attack on Metropolis.

"Oh boy…" I said, looking out the window. I saw the white gates of Metropolis as the vehicles came close to them. It was heavily guarded by Eggman Empire and luckily, the civilians from the city evacuated at the start of the war. This was going to be a huge one and my mouth felt dry.

"Oh boy…" said Bubblegum.

"Oh boy," said Emerald, copying us.

"You can say that again," I mumbled.

"OH BOY-!"

Bubblegum slapped Emerald on the cheek. "You don't have to say it in some kind of Mexican accent, idiot!"

"Hey!" called Vlad who was driving the vehicle. "Shut up, please! We are almost there!"

The vehicles got near the city gates while the shuttles flew by, nearly touching the buildings. Fighter jets could be heard flying by through the air, ready to shoot down Eggman's ships.

"OK, 30 seconds, guys!" said Shark for final instructions. "Once the vehicles open, be quick on your feet and clear the city. Stall Eggman for long to give the Red Squad time to get into the generator. Once they destroy it, we all capture Eggman and get out from the city."

"Good luck, everyone!" said Bubblegum. "May God be with you all!"

Everyone cheered at this.

Vlad steered the vehicle to the checkout point of the gate along with the other disguised vehicles. A monitor appeared showing Eggman's face and the gate doors opened.

"Who is this?" said Eggman.

Vlad popped his head out from the window.

"Hello there, old friend!" he said bluntly.

"WAIT! You?! Aren't you the same bear who broke into Death Egg, placed into prison and escaped with that blue rat?"

"SURE AM, BASTARD!" yelled Vlad, opening the doors.

All hell broke loose as every Resistance soldier ran out from the vehicles and got past the gates. Just before Eggman could realise what was going on, the guard robots were reduced to pieces.

"HOW ABSURD!" screamed Eggman.

At this, all the soldiers from the shuttle jumped out and landed onto the buildings, destroying the robots. I ran through the firearms and used my Wispon and powers to fight and defend myself. I never felt so alive in this moment! In fact, I REALLY enjoyed it.

Robot pieces were flying everywhere.

It was madness.

"C'mon!" called Bubblegum, grabbing Emerald's hand and used her grappling gun to pull herself up onto a building.

I followed them using my grappling gun.

"Wait!" I called, jumping onto the same building and ran after them. "Shouldn't we stick with Sapphire Squad?"

"Too late!" said Bubblegum. "At least the three of us can stick together."

All of a sudden, a large Death Egg Robot appeared. Emerald screamed as we halted.

"SPLIT THIS!" yelled Bubblegum. "Rookie! Let's do this again!"

"Got it!" I said, taking out my Wispon.


Mecha's POV

If there was one thing I am grateful of for being a bird is that I don't have a nose. To put it simple, I didn't have to smell THIS:

"Ugh…" said Minty as both of us along with the Red Squad travelled through the SEWERS. "This is most stupidest and smelliest place I've ever been."

"Your green fur matches that gunk there!" said Mic.

"Shut up!"

We were running through the dark and creepy sewers. It was dark….cold…smelly…and indeed ugly. It was a long tunnel with two platforms on each side with a river filled with yucky water. I was just grateful that I wasn't with my original squad. I wasn't in the mood to be with them despite having my mind on the mission.

And of course, I was happy for Mic for giving me a spare Wispon, so that my Yellow Wisp could rest in it.

Finally, we reached a specific sewer hole that we were supposed to go through.

"OK," said Richard. "This leads to the base of Eggman's Metropolis HQ. Let's hope this does NOT lead to the mouth of the toilets."

Richard and Mic started to climb up the hole using a ladder that was left there – for some strange reason. Minty was about to come along, but stopped and looked at me.

"What is it?" I said.

I noticed that I was becoming more uncomfortable towards Minty. She was pretty suspicious of me and kept glaring at me. I felt like she was invading my privacy especially when she came up with that 'video' topic.

Minty just shook her head. "Nothing. C'mon."

I shrugged and followed her.

Within seconds, we were able to get to the lower level of the tower. Richard punched the sewer door opened and got through the door. He helped get Mic out.

"OK," said Richard, pressing onto his ear piece. "We are already at the tower. How are things looking?"

"It's pretty smooth," said Knuckles while Mic helped Minty to get up. "We'll surge forward and weep the enemy away! Better get to the generator now. I'm not sure how long I'm able to get our troops to keep up with the action."

"Copy that," said Richard.

I was the last one to get up. Minty held out her hand towards me. Naturally, I refused Minty's help to get out of the hole. Trying to be polite, I waved my hand and stood up.

"OK," said Richard, charging his Wispon. "Let's do this thing. We will go up the tower, head to the generator and you know what we are going to do with it. RIGHT?"

"Oh yeah," said Mic slyly.

"It's going to SO AWESOME!" said Minty mischievously.

I said nothing. I was PRETTY mousy about what they planned to do. And when I meant their 'plan', I meant that they were going to do something UTTERMOST.

Wait…am I confusing all of you now?

Richard looked at me and pointed to a nearby massive computer. "Mecha. I want you to stay here, use that computer and track down the map of the tower. Tell us if anything happening in this tower and let us know if there are any robots coming after us."

"Are you sure?" said Minty suspiciously.

"We are talking to a guy who has an IQ of 300," said Mic. "He's smarter than Eggman and Tails combined! I bet he can make better gadgets than I could."

I tried to smirk, but I didn't have the energy to feel happy. Apparently, nearly all my emotions were drained ever since I eavesdropped on Rookie and Sonic late at night.

I just nodded awkwardly.

"Good!" said Richard. "Let's go, team!"

They were about to get into position when something flew by outside…and it had a red ruby on its chest.

Dear God…

"INFINITE?!" exclaimed Mic.

"What?!" said Richard. "I thought that clown was somewhere else!"

"Dang it! Eggman must have called him over! We got to hurry or else the Resistance will be nothing but scraps!"

Richard, Mic and Minty all ran off through a huge door. Minty stopped for a while before looking at me, but I wasn't bother.

I was looking at…that…jackal…with…the…ruby.

I muttered something in French. Vivid memories appeared in my mind. I shook my head, trying to forget them. I didn't want to remember them. I didn't want to scared. I didn't want to remember those times. I had to do what I had to do.

"Just keep calm, Mecha," I thought. "No one will know about your past. They won't understand. You will be better once all this is over."

I looked to the side to see Minty still standing in her spot. To my embarrassment, I had a few tears in my eyes. I quickly sucked them up and gave Minty a glare, before heading towards the computer.

Sighing, Minty left.

I just hoped she wouldn't tell the others about…what happened when that video took footage.


Clay's POV

We looked upon the remains of the third Death Egg Robot we disposed. I was shaking. It was both AWESOME and FRIGHTENING at the same time. I nearly died by being shot!

"Oh boy…" said Bubblegum, prodding one of the arms with her spiked shoe. "Didn't take too long, eh?"

We continued to run and slid across grind rails. That was when we saw INFINITE FLYING NEXT TO US.

"Oh shoot," said Bubblegum.

The black creature flew away from us before forming a red energy ball at his right palm causing red energy to spread all over the place.

All of a sudden, we stopped moving and all the colors turned inverted.

"What…" I said.

"The heck…" said Bubblegum.

"Was that?!" said Emerald.

For some reason, we turned upside down before it caused us to fly upwards.

INFINITE AFFECTED THE GRAVITY OF THE CITY.

We flew upwards and hit the top of another building platform.

"OW!" I said as I hit the platform head-first.

"This…sucks…!" hissed Bubblegum.

"WATCH OUT!" cried Emerald, pointing to something.

There was something flying towards us.

It was a gigantic silver mask – similar to Infinite's mask – connected to a long black snake-like thing.

It was nasty.

Scary.

And horrible.

It flew towards us.

"IT'S GODZILLA!" screamed Emerald.

"It's not, you IDIOT!" said Bubblegum, pulling me and Emerald out of the way.

The monster smashed into the building, breaking part of the platform.

"Run!" said Bubblegum.

We started to run away from that monster as it chased behind us. I looked up to see the bottom of the city. I spotted a lot of Resistance soldiers running in all directions, confused. Sometimes, they were flying in the air for no reason or disappear out of sight. The gravity had been affected and everything was pure madness.

"Stay calm, everyone!" said Knuckles who seemed to be struggling. "What you're seeing isn't real! It's just the illusions Infinite is making!"

"It's no use!" said Ash. "Our troops are scattered in the confusion!"

"How are we going to-?!

One of the soldiers' voices through our ear pieces was disconnected by a loud crackling noise.

"This is bad!" said Silver. "Our forces were all gathered together and now they're plunged into chaos!"

"ANOTHER GODZILLA AHEAD!" screamed Emerald, pointing in front of us.

"For god's sake, Emerald!" snarled Bubblegum.

Another monster struck off the building we were on. I quickly grabbed Emerald as Bubblegum and I both used our grappling guns to swing across the other side, using one of the falling platform boards.

"So much for a nice attack," I said nervously.

Suddenly, another flash occurred and the gravity reset back to normal. Luckily, we were able to land onto a nearby platform. To my horror, I saw many Resistance soldiers falling through the air towards the ground high below.

One by one, they were all slaughtered.

"This is ridiculous!" said Bubblegum.

Gravity was affected again and this time, we were falling SIDEWAYS!

"WHOA!" I screamed.

I looked around as we flew through nowhere without control. Fire and smoke was spewing out from the buildings and many ships were seen being blasted to pieces or shot down.

"Metropolis is a really fun place, eh?" said Emerald, eating a JAR OF PICKLED EGGS.

"WHY ARE YOU BEING SO CAREFREE?!" yelled Bubblegum.

"Well, I wasn't able to get breakfast because I've overslept."

"THIS ISN'T THE TIME FOR A PICNIC!"

We slammed into a building, but for me, I was unlucky.

I flew into the center – it was just thin glass – and broke through it. Glass shattered as I charged through, but I was lucky to not get any cuts.

"ROOKIE!" screamed Bubblegum.

The effect wore off again and I was sent falling. Luckily, I landed onto a bridge though the pain was there.

"Ah…" I groaned, struggling to get up. "What's happening today?"

"This is Eagle Squad!" called one of the soldiers. "We're caught in enemy crossfire!"

"Snake Squad requesting reinforcements!"

"This is Fox Squad! We can't hold out much more!"

"This is Gold Squad! We are losing many troops!"

"This is Green Squad! Infinite is attacking us!"

"This is Sapphire Squad! We are in a tight space!"

"This is Pink Squad! We can't move any further!"

Various cries were heard from here and there, pleading for help and mercy. They were so many of them. The noises were deafening. It was too much! I saw in the distance a squad caught in a battle with many robots.

Unaware that one of those monsters were behind them.

"NO! NO! NO!" I cried, trying to get their attention. "GUYS! WATCH O-!"

It was too late. The monster swung its hand and destroyed the building they were on. That was just the beginning of my problems. The second I saw the destruction, loud noises could be heard from my headphones.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

There were a lot of destructive sounds and last screams, mixed with explosions, flames and rips.

Static filled my ears.

My ears were ringing from this.

And then…it was silent.

"59% of our forces have been wiped out!" called Amy, reporting from the HQ. "We've lost contact with them!"

"There are too many illusions happening around the city!" called Tails. "Everyone is in danger!"

"One flip of the Phantom Ruby switch and everything falls apart on us!" said Vector tired.

Suddenly, I heard laughter. Something flashed over my eyes.

"Idiots…"

"No, no, no…" I said.

"There is no reason to resist."

"Stop! Please stop it!"

"Your savior…is no more."

The memory of Infinite killing those people back in Australia flooded my mind. It ended with me seeing Belt looking at me…about to be shot.

"STOP!" I howled.

I collapsed onto the floor and started to breathe hardly. It was so hard to breathe like that. I could hear my heart pounding, my body trembling and sweat dripping from my fur.

I felt tears in my eyes. No matter how hard, those horrible memories get to me. I didn't know why I get them and it was so disturbing for me. I felt like I was stuck in some kind of cage and the only food I had were just nightmares. Nightmares that I won't forget. I wondered why I was being reminded by them.

"Just why God are you doing this?" I said my voice cracking.

I heard Knuckles growling in frustration. "We can't go on like this."

"As much as it pains me to say it," said Espio. "The best we can do now is live to fight another day."

"RUN FOR IT!" screamed Mandy.

I got up and broke into a run across the bridge.

"Our Big Wave has washed out!" said Knuckles.

"We haven't lost," pointed out Silver. "Let's fall back and regroup."

"Everyone retreat! All squads get out of Metropolis now!"

"The Red Squad is our only hope now," said Amy. "I hope that they are OK."

I looked around. The scene was hopeless.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I looked up.

A large building was falling down.

It was GOING TO FALL ONTO THE BRIDGE!

Not again.

Screaming, I turned around, but it was too late. For some reason, I knew this time I wouldn't make it out alive.

The building collapsed on me.

The bridge broke.

Debris, glass and wires slammed into my back.

Everything went dark.


Third Person's POV

"OK," said Mecha through Richard's ear piece. "The generator is right at the next door. Hurry up, guys. Almost all the troops are scattered and killed."

"Copy that," said Mic, using his Wispon to blast the door opened.

"Wow!" said Richard. "Would you look at that?"

They saw a large room that hold the generator. It was incorporated into the base of the shaft's pillar, which narrowed around the reactor. In the centre of the generator lied a structure resembling a nucleic acid double helix, covered by metal plates. It was surrounded by a circular platform which had three tubes – each one containing Phantom Ruby prototypes – and a bridge that was connected to the door Richard and Mic were at. It also had a ring around it with laser drones attached to it.

"Eggman must have lost his money to make this one!" said Richard.

"Oh yeah, boy!" said Mic.

Richard looked at Mic. "You know what to do. You and Minty blow up that generator and I will take watch just in case anybody gets in."

"Speaking of Minty," said Mic. "Where is she?"

They looked around. They realized that the green hedgehog wasn't with them.

"I thought she was behind you the whole time!" said Mic.

"I swear she was behind me!" said Richard. "Where could that girl go?"

Little did they know was that Minty quickly ran back to the lower level. She didn't want to let that Mecha bird get away with it.

She is going to ask him questions.

Now.


Mecha's POV

I rubbed my face with both hands. Outside was horrible. Many troops were blown to pieces and the forces were narrowing down. I can't believe it. I thought that the Resistance would win this battle, but they weren't able to survive the Phantom Ruby's powers.

"Darn it," I said. "This is a bloody bloodshed. They better stop that generator or-"

BLAM!

I heard the door exploded. I looked up from the computer to see Minty coming to me.

She was coming to me.

FUMING.

"Eh…" I said surprised. "I didn't know you were coming. The generator wasn't destroyed so-"

That was when I felt the cold barrel of Minty's Wispon touched my forehead. It was a Void Wispon.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't banish you from reality," said Minty bitterly.

"Que? Why are you acting strange for a moment?" I said, trying to stay calm.

('Que' means 'what' in Spanish)

"I would be asking YOU that question."

"Pfft. Just get to the point."

"My point is ARE YOU WORKING FOR EGGMAN?!"

The world around me stopped.

My eyes narrowed. "I thought I said 'no' and told you to shut up about it."

"Well TECHNICALLY, you didn't say no. I don't like you. You are hiding something from us!"

"I wasn't! I don't know anything about Eggman from some video and I don't want to talk about it!"

"Is this your evil plan?"

I was getting agitated.

"What evil plan?"

"Isn't it obvious? You're a SPY from the Eggman Empire. You are working for him and that slimy Infinite monster. I knew it because you were trying protect HIM from Shadow, eh?"

My heart skipped a beat.

What the hell did she said?

That was when my Yellow Wisp came out. He squeaked at Minty.

"Stay aside, Wisp," snarled Minty.

I started to stutter. "T-That ridiculous!"

"You are calling me ridiculous? The video I saw proves EVERYTHING! Besides, from what I heard from Richard, Mic and Ash, you were acting like a jerk to everyone around here! You are nearly as worse as Angelica, but you had the balls to put everyone down and make them feel horrible! That is the sign of a BULLY and I hate BULLIES! Your actions means that you work for the bad guys!"

I stood up and spread my arms in exaggeration. My Yellow Wisp did the same thing. "Oh, please! I'm one bird out of ten thousand nuisances! It's not like anyone cares about me and I don't EVEN want to work for anyone – including Eggman – in the FIRST PLACE."

"THEN WHY ARE YOU SECRETIVE ABOUT NOT TELLING ME WHAT HAPPENED?! WHY ARE YOU ACTING SO MEAN?! WHY ARE YOU WORKING FOR EGGMAN?!"

That did it.

I had enough.

My eye twitched.

"I'M NOT WORKING FOR EGGMAN, OK?!" I yelled. "I won't tell you what happened, but the reason why I don't want to tell you about it because I want to forget EVERY BAD THING that happened in my life. I don't want to remember all those stupid times when I'm feeling like trash! I will only tell you that I got THIS SCAR during that day! It just reminds me that the second you make friends, they will just BURN IT TO THE GROUND LIKE EVERYONE ELSE or JUST DIE IN YOUR OWN CARE! But I...I...I'm worried for everyone, SO ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?! Besides, there are many other jerks so who are you EVEN blaming?! Get back to the generator right now before I rub the floor with your spikes!"

That was when my Wisp hit Minty in the face. She yelped and rubbed at the part where she was hit.

"If not," I said, looking at my Wisp. "I can get Yellow to drill into your skull."

Minty gritted her teeth. "Screw you, man! Your threats don't scare me as now I see who you are and your Yellow Wisp won't dare to harm one of us. Maybe YOU should be the one to watch out and protect yourself. Better put those goggles on. Oh wait! You threw your safety goggles away! You were the one who wore stupid goggles."

Something snapped inside of me.

"Shut…up…" I said in a deadly voice.

"Huh?" said Minty.

"I SAID SHUT UP! Don't you dare say anything about my goggles. They come from my friend, FINN! He gave it to me and they mean so much ever since he died. Hell, he died for NOTHING! I only gave them up because I wasn't a good friend to him. What am I even saying? Maybe you should just shut your mouth, climb into bed and forget about it! You can just stop wandering about like a self-appointed hanging judge and drop your gavel! You c-c-c…c…"

When I said my last line, those words felt toxic to me. I was choked up. The fiery in my eyes slowly disappeared as I thought about Finn.

Finn.

Did I…just considered him as a friend?

…it was already too late.

The memory of Finn dying came to me again.

For a moment…I swear that…I saw him in front of me.

I…I saw a vision of him the teal wolf.

"M-Mecha…" he whispered. "You're scaring me a little."

And then, the vision disappeared.

I started to tremble.

I…I did consider Finn as a friend.

The first time I ever admit it.

Minty noticed my mood change. I briefly saw the apologetic look in her eyes.

"…i…i…if you really think I'm bad…" I sniveled. "…t…t…then just kill me already…"

I collapsed onto the floor and was about to break down. Not wanting to be seen as an idiot, I hid under the computer desk and covered my teary eyes. I desperately tried to hold back tears, but that failed. All I could do was just cover up my eyes.

It was one of those moments when I tried to hide my sadness by acting stoic as stone. Tears would make me look pathetic and define me as a mistake so I always suck up my tears. But at times like this, I couldn't hold onto my emotions. I tried to push them away, but…

For the first time in years, I let myself sob on the floor.

Great. Now I revealed my vulnerability.

Minty bent down. "Mecha…"

"D…don't look at me…j-just go away…o…or…just kill me…" I choked, trying pathetically holding back tears. "…kill me when you have the chance to…"

Minty sighed. "I wasn't going to kill you. I was just trying to get you to spill the beans. I kind of…exaggerated a bit too much."

"J-just kill me already!" I croaked out.

"Just please tell me what you know about Eggman and Infinite," said Minty quietly but firm. "I won't judge you."

She…won't…judge me?

"W-Why so? A…a…after all I've done…why would you help…a stupid…train wreck l-like me? I…I don't deserve your respect. Maybe…Angelica's right. I'm a mistake…"

"Just please tell me. It's just you and me. No one else. I know that you are upset, but once we're done, then it's all over."

I felt her hands removing my hands away from my eyes. I tried to cover them, but I didn't have the strength to move. I met Minty's face and the worried look of my Wisp. I just stared at Minty with tears rolling down my face uncontrollably.

I felt humiliated.

I closed them. "P…please don't look at me."

"It's OK," said Minty. "Let it out."

"…you…you are just trying to make me a mistake…"

Minty sounded shocked. "W-what? I didn't say you are one! I'm just trying to figure out what's going on with you in that video, but I can't if you won't help yourself. Please tell me what you know about Infinite. Tell me."

I sighed. There was no other choice. I couldn't get out. Minty wouldn't let me.

Fine then.

If she want to make me uncomfortable, I will do it and we will continue the mission. That was what I thought about her.

I took a deep breath.

"It all..." I said but trailed off when I saw a LARGE DEATH EGG ROBOT LOOKING AT US.

The red circle of it started to glow.

"RUN!"

"Oh no," said Minty.

ZAP!

I didn't remember what happened, but the robot shot a laser at the building, causing nearly the whole level to crumble down, before stomping away. When I opened my eyes, I saw a large hole in front of me.

I looked around, realizing that Minty wasn't with me.

"Minty?" I called. "Minty!"

"DOWN HERE!" called Minty.

I looked down the hole to see a lot of debris hanging from the level due to being connected by tough metal wires. On one of the hanging rubble, Minty's foot was tangled and caught in another wire. She was held upside down.

"Hold on!" I said.

Jumping down and landing onto the hanging parts recklessly, I made my way to Minty. However, as I got close to her, the part where Minty was hanging on…starting to break. Apparently, that debris was connected to the level with a now-unstable wire. It started to twist and break.

"Gotcha!" I said as I got close to Minty.

However, the wire broke. I nearly fell, but I quickly grabbed the wire with my right hand and grabbed one of the hanging debris connected to the level with my left. This only made it worse.

I looked down…it was a long way down.

TOO high.

I started to whimper.

The debris was too heavy. Even though I was strong, I couldn't hold the weight. I couldn't pull the debris Minty was stuck on upwards and we were too far away from the level floor. The fact that Minty's foot was caught in wire didn't help the situation.

"I…I can't…hold on…" I gasped. At that moment, I wasn't buff. I wished I could throw Minty up to the level, but I couldn't. "Just…hold…on…"

My Yellow Wisp started to panic and flew towards me, trying to pull the debris up.

"Y-you can't…" I said weakly. "I'm sorry…but…you're too small to pull the both of us up."

Hearing this, my Wisp started to freak out. He then clung to my chest, shaking.

Minty looked down. It was a long way from there and once I let go, we would be tumbling down below. It was very high and we would be instantly killed when we touched the surface. Nobody could survive a fall like that. Not even Sonic.

I cursed for anthropomorphic birds born with no wings. I could really use some wings at that moment.

"There's only one thing to do…" said Minty. "Let go now."

"NANI?!" I said shocked.

('Nani' means 'what' in Japanese)

"Let go off this stupid thing right now. Go off and help my friends."

My eyes widened realizing what she was intending to do.

"W-what?! No…no, no, no, no, NO! Don't do this!"

"You do this!"

"But you will die!"

"But it's not worth both of us dying! At least one of us survives."

"NO! If…if…if anyone deserves to die, I do…I was the mistake…"

"But you care about your teammates' safety," said Minty "Do you?"

My eyes started to water. "I…I…I guess so…but not now! Your friends are waiting for us! I…I can't let someone die! First, I took away someone's parent, then I let a group of people die, I let someone who see me as a brother be killed and now YOU! And I didn't mean for these things to happen and I'm NOT PROUD OF MYSELF FOR THAT! I…I won't let this happen. I should be the one to die!"

"Listen to me!" said Minty firmly. "You are strong, but smart. I hate to admit this, but you are better than me and if you really want to not let people die, then you got to know what is best for them. You are better than me…the Resistance needs you. Yes, you are mean, but after what you said to me, I realized that you are NOT a TYPICAL BULLY. Not because you are powerful to begin with. Besides, you are holding the one thing that will keep you safe and I can't go anywhere. I'm stuck. I can't get that stupid wire off my foot. You can't as well as the second you let go, we will all be dead. DO IT!"

"NO! I rather die!"

"Don't say stupid things like that!" yelled Minty, her eyes teary. "Just promise me this; don't be mean to others anymore, OK?"

I was silent.

"Well?" said Minty. "What are you waiting for?"

"I…I can try to keep your promise…" I said. "…but I won't let you go…"

Suddenly, I cried out in pain. Both my grips were loosening. I felt as if my arms and bones were about to be ripped apart.

"Kick Eggman's butt for me," said Minty. "Say to Richard and Mic that…I'm sorry for doing this."

"NO!" I screamed.

But it was too late.

I wanted to let go off my left hand, but my mind told me to let go off my right hand.

And I did.

The wire came out from my right hand.

I watched as the debris I was trying to carry fell. So did Minty.

I gasped.

She looked at me with a determined face as she fell down at a high height. I watched in despair as the brave green hedgehog saluted as she fell to her death and disappeared through the fog that covered up almost the entire city. Even though it was hard to see if Minty crashed onto the ground due to the fog, it was obvious to conclude it.

Minty Thinson is gone.

It was my fault.

Unable to bring myself together, I started to breathe hardly before I started to cry again.

I let myself cry again.

I felt tears rolling down my face.

I felt guilt.

Another life is lost because of me. Even though I never get to know Minty that well, I couldn't help but weep at the thought of killing someone who was an ally to the Resistance.

"I am such a mistake," I thought miserably.

As I cried, I saw my Yellow Wisp staring at me. He started to cry as well. He flew to my chest and wrapped his tentacles around me. I would be disgusted, but I didn't care. I was too upset.

I was thinking of letting myself fall, but I decided it was best to get back up on the level. With all the strength I had, I climbed upwards and collapsed onto the safe level floor. I stood up and looked down at the hole.

"You are such a pathetic bird. I'm rather surprised that nobody loves you. You let one who looked up to you die. Do me a favour. Run, screaming and I'll let you live. Let this be a reminder of how you're nothing. You're such a big mistake."

In anger, I kicked the computer – which was still standing – breaking it.

It is my fault.

What would Richard and Mic think about this?

"I'm…I'm so sorry…" I said crying. "…for…for everything…"

I continued to sob for a while, hiding my face in my hands. After a while of sobbing, I heard my Wisp screaming.

I opened my eyes and saw him moving around, trying to catch my attention.

"W-what?" I said shakily.

My sorrow slowly faded away. I heard…glitching…and demonic breathing. It didn't take me long to know who that was.

It was INFINITE.

My Yellow Wisp stared at him in dread.

There were only two words I could say.

"Oh crud…"


Third Person's POV

"Are you almost done with the destruction?" asked Richard as he checked the hallways.

"I'm almost down!" called Mic from the generator room. "Just one more box!"

"Alright," said Richard, deciding to call on Mecha and Minty. "Mecha. Minty. Is everything good down there?"

There was no response.

"Guys…hello…do you hear me?

Silence.

"…do you hear me…GUYS?"

Just nothing.

"…this is not funny…are you OK?"

But neither Mecha or Minty call back.

"…guys…guys…GUYS!"

Richard started to go into hyperventilate.

No.

It can't be true.

He already lost his family, his friends and not one of his friends again!

Then, he realized who might did it all.

"Infinite…" growled Richard.

He turned around to meet the silver mask.

"Oh no…"

"You again…" said Infinite. "I remember you. You ran from me before. You survived then, but you throw it all away now. Curious."

"I'm only throwing that sick deal you made with me because YOU killed my family!" snarled Richard.

"Do you think you can defeat me? That fear…I can still smell it from you…"

Richard started to shake.

"I never thought I see you again. A coward like you wouldn't join the Resistance. I mean…they are ALL cowards and weaklings. You wish to end the war, but yet…those deaths still haunt you…do they?"

Richard started to tremble.

But not in fear.

"You're shaking again! That's what make you pathetic. Your fear will be your death…you will see your family again…in hell…"

"HOW ABOUT YOU GO TO HELL?!" roared Richard, managing to punch Infinite on the head.

The black monster moved backwards in shock.

"You killed…my family…" said Richard. "You killed…my friends…but now…I'm going to kill…you…"

"Hmmp!" said Infintie before laughing. "You stupid, scaredy cat."

"DON'T CALL ME A SCAREDY CAT!" yelled Richard.

Richard charged forwards while Infinite made cubes to strike at him. Richard managed to dodge every one of them and made his way to Infinite. The masked monster teleported away and kicked Richard to the ground.

The brown cat didn't give up.

The two got into a heated battle, but Richard was losing. No matter how many spins, flips, kicks and punches he could make, Infinite was still strong. He found himself being thrown to the ground.

"Just…" choked Richard. "Why…why do you do all of this? Why do you have to hurt innocent people?!"

"They are all weak and cowards," growled Infinite. "They deserve to die."

"But WHY?! THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO YOU!"

"You are wasting my time. The world is a cruel place where only the strong survives and the weak perish. I can't stand being weak. I want to burn this world."

"JUST WHY DO YOU HAVE TO TAKE AWAY MY FAMILY?!" roared Richard. "YOU RUINED MY LIFE! YOU RUINED EVERYONE'S LIVES, YOU MONSTER!"

The brown cat let out a battle cry of rage charging towards Infinite, only to be kicked in the face. Infinite grabbed Richard by the collar.

"Listen here, kid," snarled Infinite. "The world isn't about peace, love and all the nonsense. It's about survival. The strongest deserves to live. The weak deserves to die. I'm not weak. I have this power. And it will show the world that they proved me WRONG. People need to wise up and not underestimate me. With this power, I'm unstoppable. I will take down anyone who doubted me before all of this. Well…that's what it takes to be INFINITE."

Richard glared at him with fire dancing in his eyes…before slightly calmed down.

"You know…" he said. "I wasn't trying to KILL you. I was trying to DISTRACT you."

Infinite was puzzled. "What?"

"Take a look," said Richard, pointing at the generator.

Infinite looked at the generator…and froze.

Was it the fact that whole room was filled with million sticks of dynamite, thousands of tnt, at least one hundred bottles of wine, ten thousand balls of little plastic-like bombs?

Or was it the fact that there was a white-grey wolf standing on the bridge?

With a remote with a RED BUTTON in his hands?

Infinite just stared, shocked of the amount of explosives covering the whole reactor.

Mic just stood there, smugly holding the remote.

"NO!" screamed Infinite.

Infinite dropped Richard and charged towards Mic. But it was too late.

Mic pressed the RED BUTTON.

From outside, all the remaining Resistance soldiers were running to the gate and head towards the Resistance vehicles. They all stopped when they heard an explosion.

KABOOM!

They all looked to the center tower. It was…exploding. A loud and effective explosion could be seen destroying the tower. Flames and smoke covered the entire of the tower as pieces of the tower flew in the sky.

"Mission accomplish!" said Richard as he and Mic got out of the tower safely. "The generator is destroyed!"

The Resistance cheered hearing this. Even though they lost a lot of soldiers, at least they were able to destroy the generator. At least they got a small victory.

There is hope after all.

Knuckles sighed in relief as he watched the victorious sight. "One down, one left."

Meanwhile, Infinite shielded himself from the explosion. It only caused a bit of harm to him, but he quickly healed himself. Once the dust cleared, Infinite found himself on top of a broken and damaged tower; the generator destroyed.

He growled in anger. Just how did they get a hold of MANY BOMBS TO FILL THE PLACE?! And where are those two? He couldn't spot their bodies anywhere so either they were blown to ashes or they got out by magic.

"You know what…" he said. "Forget it…at least HE will bring the Dark Wolf to me…"

He lifted his hand up and out came Mecha; who was caught in Infinite's telekinesis. The bird was surrounded by a red aura and had his arms and chest tied around by chains. He surrendered quite easily and it wasn't unexpected.

"He will come to me…MISTAKE," said Infinite to Mecha before laughing.

Mecha could not do anything, but just watched. He bowed his head down in shame.

"I'm a mistake," thought Mecha.


Clay's POV

I struggled to open my heavy eyes. When I did, I felt cold. For some reason, I felt wet. My clothes were drenched in something that smelled like chlorine. My body stung in pain. My eyes opened seeing Charmy continuing to press my chest while I was face to face with Emerald.

Her LIPS on my LIPS.

I screamed like a girl and Emerald immediately stepped back. My scream was cut off when I started to cough out cold water.

"I ship it," said Sebastian with a smirk.

I sat up and I found myself near one of the pools in Metropolis. The Chaotix, Emerald and Sebastian were with me.

"He's OK!" said Charmy. "He is going to be OK!"

My Cyan Wisp flew to my face and squealed happily. She flew around my head.

I glared at Emerald. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT, EMERALD?!"

"I was saving your life," said Emerald.

"By KISSING ME?!"

"We were trying to do emergency CPR," said Charmy. "We saw you falling through the air and you landed into that pool."

"Good lord that was able to save you, dude," said Sebastian helping me get up.

I groaned and shook the water off me. "Well…thanks, guys. But NO MORE KISSES, NEVER EVER AGAIN!"

Emerald chuckled. Sebastian, Charmy and Vector just snickered. To my relief, my Wisp just shook her head.

"So what happened?" I said.

"Things went out of control when Infinite used the Phantom Ruby," said Espio. "A lot of troops were wiped out, but the Red Squad were able to destroy the generator. Now, all we have to do is run for it."

"Speaking of Red Squad," said Vector. "Richard said that they couldn't find Minty or Mecha. Where are they?"

"What?!" I said.

"I'm calling Mecha now," said Sebastian, pressing onto his ear piece. "Hello? Mecha…Do you hear me? Mecha…Mecha? It's me, Sebastian…Captain Mecha? Do you read me? Is anyone there?! Hello? HELLO?!"

"What's wrong?" said Vector.

"I CAN'T GET A MESSAGE FROM MECHA!" cried out Sebastian. "There is no respond! Nothing!"

Suddenly, a glitching noise could be heard from my headphones.

"Huh?" said Espio.

"What is that?" said Charmy.

"It's coming from Rookie's headphones!" said Emerald.

"Dark Wolf," boomed Infinite's voice through my headphones. "Dark Wolf. You think you've gotten away? Well, what do I have here?"

A loud thud could be heard.

"Say something to him."

Silence.

"I said 'SAY SOMETHING TO HIM'!"

There was some kind of cracking noise and a loud squawk of pain.

I recognised that voice.

"MECHA?!" I said.

"I learnt that he was one of your teammates, Dark Wolf. What should I do with him? Drop him from above? Dissolve him into pixels? Tear his HEART out from his chest?! I WILL do it, Dark Wolf. If you want him back, then come to me and we will make a deal. I WILL kill him if you are not back here by dusk!"

The connection went off. I just stood in horror.

"Oh no…" said Emerald.

"He got Mecha!" said Espio.

"Wait!" I said. "Where's Bubblegum?"

"She went off to find any soldiers who are still alive and trapped in the city."

"Then that means if she bumps into Infinite, she isn't going to make it out alive!"

"We have to save them!" said Sebastian. "We have to find Bubblegum and save Mecha from Infinite!"

"Not Mecha!" said Vector firmly. "Infinite is holding him hostage and he's too powerful. Besides, why would we help that bird after what he did?"

Good question. The problem was that I wasn't sure. I wanted to save Mecha from Infinite, but that monster was far powerful than anyone in the world. I didn't want to face him ever since our first encounter. I didn't like Mecha, but…I still hoped that there would be some good in him. I felt scared. I didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, the memory of Belt being captured flashed in front of my eyes.

"Just go. Run and hide somewhere safe! You got to go!"

I realized that if I don't want anyone to fall victim to Eggman, I have to do something.

I MUST do something.

I won't mess it up like last time.

I looked at my Cyan Wisp and gave her my bravest face. Her eyes widened as she realized what I was intending to do before relaxing and nodded at me. She sat on my shoulder.

Immediately, I ran to the other side of the pool and shot my grappling gun at the furthest building I could see.

"Wait!" said Charmy. "What are you doing?"

"You can't go out there, kid!" said Vector. "Infinite will eat anyone alive!"

"Yeah!" I said. "And if I don't find Mecha, he's going to die!"

With that, I jumped off the building and flew through the air.


AN: In the original game, Operation Big Wave is basically destroy anything in sight. If you ask me, Knuckles' plan is PITIFUL and meaningless. So, I expanded it, placing in the first Phantom Ruby generator at Metropolis. They just need to get rid of Eggman's army and destroy the generator. For those wondering how much dynamite Mic brought along...that's for you to come up with.

About Minty and Mecha, that scene where they were about to fall was based on a SPECIFIC scene you would all known in Avengers: Endgame where we last see one of our favorite female superheroes. I know that it's kind of painful to let Minty go, but...we're not done yet.

Also, let me know what you think about Mecha's breakdown in this chapter. I'm sure that it's surprising for all of you to see him like this. What do you think or feel?

As always, if you enjoy this story, be sure to follow or favorite this story, so you can get updates about this story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you think about this chapter. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).

For the next chapter, who do you think will fight Infinite? The only hint I can give all to you is that Chapter 16 is for all the girls in the world!

Until next time, keep on rocking!