See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer
Chapter 8: A New Family
Tempest laid quietly in her hospital bed as she listened to Infinite explain everything that had taken place over the last two years while she was in a coma: he told her about his fight with Shadow, how being called weak pushed him over the edge, obtaining the Phantom Ruby and becoming Infinite, helping Eggman start the war by defeating and capturing Sonic and taking over most of Mobius.
He told her about being defeated and then Eggman ripped the Phantom Ruby from his chest, forcing him to run for his life after Eggman ordered his robots after him; he told her about how he almost bled to death until Nyx saved him, even though he had killed her old friends. Then he told Tempest about their secret friendship that blossomed into a romance and now he was married to Nyx and expecting his first child.
"I mean I wasn't completely absolved of my transgressions as I have to perform community service for five years and I've only completed two and a half at this point, but it's not so bad. People are slowly starting to trust, I have many friends now and I'm married and going to be a father in two more months", said Infinite.
Tempest was taken aback by all she was told, she couldn't believe that all this went down. "What happened to the rest of our squad?", she asked. Infinite looked down to the floor in sadness, he almost didn't want to tell her but he knew it would cruel to hold the truth from her. "Despite having broken ribs and a punctured lung, Levi took care of you. Unfortunately, Crimson, Steel and Bruiser all...died; Levi kept them in cryogenic tanks this whole time to keep them from decomposing because he couldn't bury them", said Infinite.
Tempest gasped in shock before she started crying into her pillow, Infinite felt terrible for telling her about that but he knew if he kept that to himself and let her find out later, it would've been much worse. After a few minutes, Tempest stopped crying and just stared blankly at the wall behind her.
"So...what about Levi? How's he doing?", she asked. "He's alright, he came out of surgery an hour ago and he's resting right now. I'm just glad that you're both still alive, and I hope you can forgive me for putting you in this situation in the first place", said Infinite sadly. Tempest smiled as she reached out and held his hand, "I don't care about that, all that matters is that my big bro and my little bro are alive and okay. I heard I'm getting a new leg in about three days and the docs say I need to spend a few months of physical therapy before I can use it properly, but it's fine", she said.
Just then, Nyx walked into the room holding a tray of hospital food. "Hey there, I thought you might be hungry so I went and got you some food", she said as she set the tray down on the sliding table. "Oh, Tempest this is my wife Nyx. Nyx, I'm sure you've met Tempest", said Infinite. Tempest smiled, "So this is the wife you were telling me about, huh? Gotta say Zero, she's a real cutie. You sure know how to pick 'em", she said.
This made Infinite blush and laugh, he was happy to see that Tempest was starting to act like her old self again despite the tragic setback that was losing her old teammates and half of her right leg. "Oh, I almost forgot! Infinite, Dr. Reiner wanted me to tell you to meet him in Levi's room. He said that when he wakes up, there's some important information he needs to give you both, and Levi was beginning to come around when I peeked in", said Nyx.
Infinite left the room and made his way to the other side of the hall where Levi's room was; sure enough, the teenaged jackal was slowly waking up as Dr. Reiner was replacing his I.V. bag with a new one. Levi looked up to see Infinite smiling down at him, "Hey there, little buddy. How are you feeling?", asked Infinite. "I'm alright, my chest feels kinda stiff and a little sore though", said Levi.
"That is a common feeling after having surgery in the chest area, a little rest and some pain medication will clear that right up. Now then, Infinite, the reason I asked you here is because I assume Levi will be in your care once he's discharged from the hospital, so as such I need to inform you on what needs to be done", said Dr. Reiner.
He turned around and pulled something out of a box on top of the sliding table, it looked like a white face mask with a black outline.
(If any of you have trouble picturing what this mask is supposed to look like, it's the white and black face mask accessory that you earn as a reward in one of the levels in Sonic Forces).
"What is that?", asked Levi. "Its specially developed breathing apparatus, fully tested and approved for use by the Mobian Department of Health. You see, Levi, two of your broken ribs had punctured both of you lungs; the damage wasn't too extensive but it was still severe due to the amount of blood you were coughing up.
"Due to your injuries and the surgery, your lungs are now very weak and prone to infection. However, this mask will assist you in breathing as well as using a built-in filtrater to purify the air you breathe in. You'll need to wear this for the next four months until your lungs fully heal; you have to wear it at all times, but its flexible and waterproof so you can sleep and shower with it on.
"The only times you can take this mask off is to eat or brush your teeth, much like invisible braces. Do not remove it under any circumstances aside from the two I mentioned or else you risk exposing your lungs to bacteria, and you also need to take it easy as to not strain and injury your lungs", said Dr. Reiner.
Levi and Infinite were in shock by what they heard, but Levi took the mask and placed it over his nose and mouth; he slowly took a breath and felt how easy and comfortable it felt to breathe with the mask on. It let out a sigh of relief as he laid back in his bed, "Ah, this feels good. Thanks a bunch, Doc", said Levi.
Dr. Reiner smiled, "Yes. You can feel a significant difference between breathing with the mask and without, it's designed to help your lungs with the strain of expanding and contracting as they take in oxygen. Now, is there anything else I can do for you before I go see my other patients?", he said.
Levi shook his head, "No thanks, Doc. I'm good, just feeling a little tired is all", he said. Dr. Reiner left the room, leaving the two jackals alone in the room. Infinite sat next to Levi, "Guess what? Tempest finally woke from her coma, she wasn't very happy when I told her about what happened to the others but she's doing better, and she'll be getting her new leg soon", he said.
Levi let out a small laugh followed by a short yawn, "That's good to hear. I'm feeling pretty sleepy now, Zero", he said. Infinite smiled as he patted Levi on the shoulder, "Alright then, I'll leave you be for now. Let the doctors know if you need anything", he said. Levi smiled back, despite the fact that it couldn't be seen because of the mask, before his eyes fluttered closed and his breathing slowed to a steady rhythm as he fell asleep.
~Time Lapse: Two months later~
In time, Tempest and Levi were discharged from the hospital; Levi continued to wear the face mask as his lungs still weren't fully healed yet, but he had gotten used to wearing as it. And Tempest was given a new robotic leg, the surgery and recovery was tough for her, but she was able to adjust in time; in fact, she actually liked her new leg.
Nyx had to call up a construction crew to add a few additions to her house to make room in her home for Levi, Tempest and her new little bundle of joy. For you see, in those two months, Nyx gave birth to her son, Finneas or Finn for short. The little wolf/jackal boy had jet black fur like his father, but he had a skunk-stripe of white fur going from his muzzle to the dock of his tail; he had a head of dark purple hair like his mother and his eyes were heterochromic, with one being purple like his mother and the other being yellow like his father.
The additions added to Nyx and Infinite's house gave them three extra rooms: one to be shared by Levi and Tempest, one for the three robots and the last one was a nursery for baby Finn. After moving in, the two jackals soon became acquainted with Infinite's other friends; they were still apprehensive of Shadow because of what happened, even after Infinite explained everything, but they were slowly starting to trust him.
We now find our strange family at their home; Nyx was at work that morning and Infinite was at home because he didn't have any tasks that morning. Levi was upstairs in his room taking a nap, Infinite was in the kitchen making lunch and Tempest was sitting in the living room watching tv with Orbot, Cubot and Metal Sonic while little Finn was playing in a playpen in front of them.
Just then there was a knock at the door, "Metal! Can you get that? I'm a little busy in here", Infinite called out from the kitchen. Metal Sonic approached the door and answered it, revealing Silver standing in the doorway with two year old Maria holding his hand and carrying two month old Ruby-Emerald in his other arm.
"Hey Silver, how's it going? What are you doing here?", asked Tempest. "I came to bring Maria and Ruby-Emerald here for their playdate with Finn. I brought Ruby myself because Knuckles couldn't leave the Master Emerald unguarded", said Silver. He walked over to the playpen and placed the two little girls inside, the hedgehog toddler and infant echidna/bat giggled as they played with the toys and infant wolf/jackal.
"So how's Shadow doing?", asked Tempest. "He's alright, he had to work overtime so it's been just me and Maria at home for the past few days. It sucks, but he's getting paid a great deal and when he is home, we never seem to have too much fun", said Silver.
"Hey there Maria, how old are you now?", asked Cubot. "I'm two years old, Mr. Qubot", she said mispronouncing his name because she thought there was a 'Q' in it rather than a 'C'. Silver smiled at this before turning to the front door, "Well, I have to go now. I've got some errands I need to run, I'll come back to pick up Maria and Ruby at 4:00. Bye guys", he said as he left.
Infinite was just about done with preparing lunch when he heard the sound of his son crying from the living room, "What's up with Finn?", he called out. Metal Sonic picked up the small baby with surprising gentleness for a robot, but he was reprogrammed to respond to Nyx and Infinite's commands and one of them included being protective and gentle with their infant son; that and Tails implanted a microchip with a "Nanny Program" on it so Metal would know how to handle children.
"My audio sensors are registering a low rumbling sound from the infant's stomach, meaning he is hungry", said Metal Sonic. Infinite quickly went about making a bottle of warm milk for Finn, which he then gave to Metal who began feeding him. He then burped Finn and set him back down in the playpen, where he continued to play with the two girls.
Later on in the night time, after Silver came to take Maria and Ruby-Emerald back home, Nyx and Infinite were seated at the dining room table with their new family having a meal of mashed potatoes, steak and steamed vegetables; Finn sat in his high chair while his mother fed him a jar of mushy bananas and squash.
"So...I was thinking about helping you guys find some jobs in town. You two shouldn't have to sit around the house all day doing nothing", Nyx said to Levi and Tempest. The two jackals looked at one another before looking back at her, "Well I know my fair share of tech, so...I guess I can work as a technician", said Levi.
"Yeah but what can do? Before I joined our squad, I was a thief. And even after I joined the squad, I mostly just fought when I needed to and picked locks to get into places. What kind of job can I have?", said Tempest.
"Well...we can figure that one at some point. Right now...the most important thing is seeing to it that Crimson, Steel and Bruiser are given a proper burial. They deserve that much, and we can't leave them in cryogenic chambers forever", said Infinite. Everyone at the table agreed on that, they knew a funeral had to be held for the three deceased members of the Jackal Sqaud; it only seemed fair that they were laid to rest.
"Well, whatever happens, I know we'll get through it. We're a family now and no matter what happens in the near future, we'll always be there to help each other out", said Nyx. Everyone at the table all smiled in agreement, and after the mess of a life they had before this point, Levi and Tempest couldn't have asked for a better family.
The moment of silent reflection was interrupted by Finn letting out a loud burp followed by a giggle, this prompted everyone to laugh. "It seems little Finn agrees with you as well", said Orbot. Yep, they were quite a strange family consisting of three jackals, one of which has a robotic leg and the other wearing a breathing apparatus, a wolf, an infant that was part wolf and part jackal, and three robots.
A rather odd family but they cared about one another all the same.
Author's Note: That ends Chapter 8. Levi and Tempest are now trying to adjust to their new lives and Nyx has had her baby. If you're wondering what his full name is, its Finneas Octavius Snowfall the Wolf/Jackal; it's a long name, I know, but hey we all know your full name never comes up in conversation, not even when you first introduce yourself to people.
So next chapter, while the group plans the funeral for Crimson, Steel and Bruiser, a person from Levi's past comes back to threaten to hurt him and his new family. Can his new family help him? Find out in Chapter 9; until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!