See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer

Chapter 9: Scars of the Past

Nyx, Infinite, their new family members and their friends were gathered at the Sunset Heights Cemetery for the funeral of Crimson, Steel and Bruiser.

When they were first planning this funeral, Infinite was worried that they didn't have enough money to cover the expenses, but Nyx had reassured him. You see, three months after her parents were killed and she was released from the mental ward, Nyx was contacted by the Sunset Heights First National Bank and told that her parents had taken out a huge life insurance policy on both themselves and left her all the money.

They had originally left her 1.3 million dollars but since they were murdered as opposed to dying of natural causes, the amount had doubled to 1.69 million dollars; Nyx had placed all the extra money into a separate account that only she had access to and decided to only use it in case of emergencies because she already earned enough money as a doctor.

The money in this account was more than enough to pay for the costs of the funeral, from the caskets to the tombstones to having the bodies made presentable to having the funeral at the funeral home.

Now they were gathered together to bid farewell to the three former members of the Jackal Squad; Infinite stood up and walked up to the podium to give a eulogy for his deceased comrades.

"Crimson and Steel were the most reliable and toughest members of my squad, a pair of brothers that didn't always get along but still cared about one another just as much as they cared about their fellow squad members. Crimson always knew his way around a tight spot and you never had to worry about getting lost in the desert with Steel on your side, he had excellent navigation skills.

"Bruiser wasn't always the smartest guy around but he was the strongest, if you ever got trapped under something heavy, you never had to be afraid you wouldn't get out if Bruiser was around. He was also the most sensitive guy I knew, when he wasn't helping us in a fight, he'd always just stop to admire the beauty of nature.

These three weren't just my friends and comrades, they were the only family I had in a time when I was alone and had no one, and even if I've been blessed with the fact that two of my former squad members are still alive and living with me and my new family, I still honor the memory of my three fallen friends and I will always remember the good times we had together.

"And I hope that they can find it in themselves to forgive me for causing the chain of events that led to their unfortunate demise, and one day when my time comes, I hope we can be reunited and spend an eternity together in peace. Thank you", he said.

Infinite's small speech made the majority the guests cry at how beautiful it sounded, it showed how much he truly loved his former squad members and how guilty he felt for playing a part in the events that led to their deaths. The three caskets were then lowered into the ground and buried, the epitaphs above their graves were shaped like crosses because it made it easier to tie Bruiser and Steel's green headbands and Crimson's red scarf around the top part of the crosses as a way to honor them.

Everyone got up in groups of two to place flowers by each of the graves and them they stopped by Infinite, Levi and Tempest to offer their condolences before they went home; Infinite and his family stayed behind for a little while longer. The three remaining jackals looked upon the graves in sadness and also...happiness, they were sad that their three brothers were now gone but they also knew that now they were at peace and one day they'd all be reunited in the afterlife someday.

~Time Lapse: Three weeks later~

We find Infinite, Levi and Metal Sonic in the park on a rather sunny cloudless day; Nyx had taken the day of work to go help Tempest find a job in town, Levi had gotten a job as a technician at a computer company but due to him still recovering from lung surgery, they allowed him to start working after he was fully recovered.

So he was enjoying this pleasant day by relaxing on a park bench with his big brother while they both watched Metal Sonic playing with Finn by letting the puppy ride him like a horse; Levi took a deep breath as he felt the purified air filled his lungs, he had been seeing the doctor every few weeks so they could monitor the progress of his recovery.

As it turned out, Levi's recovery was going quite well; his lungs were getting stronger by the day and Dr. Reiner informed him that after one more month passes, he would be allowed to remove the mask and live without it, but for now he still needed to wear it.

Levi laughed as he watched Finn tap Metal Sonic on the back while the blue robot hopped around on the grass like a frog, "The little guy sure has a ton of energy. Imagine when he gets older, and starts running around all over the place", he said. Infinite laughed in agreement, "Oh boy, I'm not sure if I'll be able to catch up to him. Hopefully he'll be less rambunctious than I was when a baby, I mean he's also Nyx's son so maybe he'll be reserved like her", he said.

Just then, the whimsical music of an ice cream truck flowed through the air as a truck drove up to the entrance of the park, "Hey, I'm gonna go get some ice cream. Do you want any?", said Levi. "No thanks, I'm not really much of an ice cream eater, and Nyx said not to give Finn too much sugar", said Infinite.

Levi nodded as he was handed five dollars from Infinite and walked over to the ice cream truck, "Excuse me, can I have a single scoop of strawberry with rainbow sprinkles, please?", he asked. The female cat inside the truck smiled as she accepted his money and gave him his change before going to get his ice cream cone.

Just as he got his ice cream, Levi turned around and bumped into someone, almost dropping his frozen treat. "Oh I'm sorry. I didn't see you there", he said to the person he bumped into. When he looked at them, however, Levi paused and felt like his heart had stopped. Before him stood a middle aged male jackal with a white gotee.

The jackal looked at Levi in shock before his face slowly stretched into a smile, "Levi? Son! Hey, I've been looking for ya for years. How ya been?", said the man. At this point, Levi had dropped his ice cream cone on the ground but he didn't care as he felt bone-chilling fear creep up his spine; he started having a panic attack and even began screaming.

Infinite and Metal Sonic heard his screaming and came running to the entrance of the park to find Levi down on the floor on his knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Infinite, while holding Finn, bent down and held Levi close to his body as Metal Sonic stood in front of them.

"Unfamiliar Mobian, identify yourself immediately!", demanded Metal Sonic. "Metal...t-t-that's my d-d-Dad...!", Levi croaked out. Infinite suddenly became very angry, he stood up suddenly and gave Finn to Metal Sonic before walking over to grab the man by the collar of his shirt. "So you're the bastard!?", snarled Infinite.

The man was suddenly confused, "Yeah, I'm Richard, Levi's pops. What's the big deal?", he said. Infinite became even angrier, "What's the big deal!? What are you, crazy or stupid?! Have you forgotten the Hell you put your son through...!?", Infinite suddenly stopped yelling and moved closer so he could whisper into Richard's ear.

"Meet me near the abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town in two hours", he growled before he let go of his collar. Infinite walked over to Levi and helped him stand up, and led him away as Metal Sonic followed close behind while holding a sleeping Finn.

The small group made it back to their house, where Infinite led Levi up to his room and helped him lie down and calm his breathing. "It's okay, Levi. Just relax and breathe, you're safe. No one is going to hurt you", said Infinite as he gently rubbed his back. Levi slowly started to calm down as he took deep breaths through his mask, he even beginning to doze off as well.

Infinite left the room and walked downstairs where he spotted Orbot and Cubot playing a game of chess, and Metal Sonic was sitting on the couch while gently rocking a sleeping Finn. "Uh...not that it's any of our business, but did something while you guys were at the park today?", asked Cubot. Infinite sighed as he sat on the couch next to Metal, "Levi's father had randomly showed up and Levi had a panic attack. I can't believe that bastard decided now would be a good time to show his face, it just..."

He trailed off as he felt himself seething with rage, his hand gripping the arm of the couch. He sighed heavily and sank into the couch, "I'm sorry for my outburst, it's just that when I first met Levi, he told me about his life. He told me about how abusive his father was and...and...how his father had molested him", Infinite growled.

Orbot and Cubot gasped at that despite not having lungs to take in oxygen and therefore not really able to gasp, "Oh my that sounds quite awful", said Orbot. "Yeah and it's pretty sick too!", said Cubot despite basically repeating what Orbot said.

Infinite sighed as he looked over at his son, who slept peacefully as he nuzzled into the warmth of Metal Sonic's metallic body. "I just want my family to be safe and happy, why does Fate constantly try to throw a wrench into it? [Sigh] I'll be right back, keep an eye on Levi and Finn until I return", said Infinite.

He got up and left the house, walking to where that abandoned warehouse was located just outside of town. He saw Richard leaning against the wall of the warehouse, he sighed as he tried to keep his anger under-wraps. "Oh hey, I was wondering when you would show up. So mind telling me what all this is about? And why my boy was screeching like a banshee earlier?", said Richard.

Infinite once again took a deep breath to keep his anger under control, "Look, your son ran away from home and joined my mercenary squad to get away from you! You physically abused him while he was busting his chops trying to pay for your gambling debts and then one night, you got more drunk than the village idiot in medieval times and you molested him. If you didn't realize that, you're either stupid, have memory loss or you're just a sick bastard and you just don't care that you've traumatized Levi so severely. So I'll give you a minute to explain why you're here", he said.

Richard gave him a sad expression as his sighed, "Look, I know I did some terrible things and I can't any of it back, but I just want to start over and try to be a better person and father. So what do you say? Will you give me a chance?", he said. Infinite looked down and shook his head, "I'm sorry but you wasted your chance when you put your hands on Levi in a place no child should ever be touched. I appreciate that you've at least come to terms with your horrid behavior and are trying to clean up your act, but bringing you around Levi would only damage him even more. So...goodbye", he said as he left.

When he came home, Infinite saw Levi sitting at the table eating a bowl of soup. "Hey there, how are you feeling?", asked Infinite. "I'm okay, Metal made me something to eat after I woke up. What happened to my...Dad?", said Levi. Infinite scoffed, "I met up with him and he said he was trying to change his ways and wanted to start over with you but I told him he had lost his chance when he violated you. And while I appreciate him going to the effort of becoming a decent person, it's too late for him to reconnect with you and I left", said Infinite.

Levi sighed as he finished his meal and placed his mask back onto his face, "Well it's better that way, I don't think I would've been able to try to reconnect with him. He...hurt me so much and I'm still afraid of him, so it's for the best that we never have any contact with each other. Thanks for helping me out, big brother", he said. Infinite smiled as he patted Levi on the shoulder, "Always happy to help, little buddy", he said.

The next day, Levi was back at the park playing with Finn on the grass as Metal Sonic watched over them; Levi held up a twig as a bright yellow caterpillar crawled along it, "Look Finn, it's a caterpillar. Soon it'll turn into a butterfly, neat huh?", he said. Finn moved closer to the twig as the caterpillar crawled onto his nose, the little pup let out a sneeze at the ticklish feeling of its hairy legs on his nose, the force of the sneeze sending the caterpillar flying into a shrub.

After sniffling, Finn let out a giggle and clapped his tiny hands which made Levi laughed; he then picked up the stuffed bear he brought with him and gave it to Finn, who hugged it. Behind them, Metal Sonic sat on a bench looking at a ladybug that had flown over and landed on his metallic finger; as he stared curiously at the insect, he didn't notice the shadowy figure slowly approaching behind him. Metal Sonic barely had time to react before the figure electrocuted him with a taser.

The poor unsuspecting robot fell to the ground, twitching uncontrollably; his spastic movements were scaring Finn as Levi noticed what happened, "Metal! What's wrong? What happened?", he asked fear. That's when he saw the shadowy figure and he suddenly held his infant nephew close to his body as he began shaking in terror, "No! Please...stay away from us! Get away!", he shouted but the figure stepped closer.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

Meanwhile downtown, Infinite was with Tempest helping her find a job and she finally got one: a mixed martial arts instructor; during her time as a member of Infinite's squad, he learned that aside from thievery and lock-picking, she was excellent at hand-to-hand combat and Infinite thought that now that the squad had been disbanded and everyone was starting a new life, he felt she shouldn't let that talent go to waste.

The two of them were now walking to a cafe to have lunch, "I can't wait to start work on Monday! I am so gonna whip those wimps into shape", Tempest said excitedly. Infinite laughed, "I hope you'll at least go a little easy on them, you need to remember that many of those people learning it are novices", he said. Just then, Infinite felt his cellphone vibrating inside his pocket.

He reached in and pulled his phone and saw that it was Nyx calling him, "Hey babe, how's it going?", he said. "Infinite, this is no time for joking around! Something is wrong!", shouted Nyx. Infinite was taken aback by her panicky voice, "Whoa wait a minute, Nyx! Calm down and tell me what's wrong", he said. "I tried to call Levi a few minutes ago to check on him and Finn but he's not answering his phone, and then I tried contacting Metal Sonic but it keeps telling me he's not online. What's going on, Infinite? I'm scared", said Nyx.

Infinite was beginning to grow concern as well, he knew Metal Sonic was always online and Levi never missed a call unless he was in the shower and couldn't reach his phone. He tried to call both of them himself but neither answered, which only caused him to panic internally. Just then, his phone rang again and he saw that it was Sonic calling him, so he answered it.

"Sonic, I'm not in the mood to hang out with you right now, I'm in the middle of a crisis right now!", he said. "Okay but I just thought you'd like to know that Amy and I found Metal Sonic lying on the ground on our way to the park to have a picnic, I called Tails because he's lying here twitching like a fish out of water", said Sonic. Infinite abruptly hung up the phone as he hurried over to the park with Tempest following close behind him.

When the two of them arrived at the park, they were greeted by Sonic, Amy and Tails who stood over the fallen form of Metal Sonic. "What happened to him?", asked Infinite. "Someone or something must've overloaded his circuits with electricity, there doesn't seem to too much damage to his internal processor so I can fix him up", said Tails. He repaired the damage and Metal Sonic was able to start back up, "Metal, what happened? Where's Levi and Finn?", asked Infinite.

Rather than tell them, Metal Sonic activated his memory banks and replayed the footage of what took place within the last two hours, and when he saw the footage, Infinite's face contorted into an expression of extreme rage; his eyes nearly turned red and his hand squeezed into a fist so tightly that his claws almost pierced his skin. "I'll kill him!", he growled through his gritted teeth.

Meanwhile, Levi opened his eyes to find himself in a dark place; he looked down and saw, to his horror, his arms and legs were tied together. He struggled to break free but the ropes were too tight, so he gave up; Levi took a breath and then started to panic as he had just realized that his mask was no longer on his face, meaning that his still recovering lungs were now exposed.

A coo from the left of him caught his attention and he turned to see Finn locked inside of one of those crates used to catch and trap lobsters; the little pup looked scared and confused as he clung tightly to his teddy bear while sucking on his thumb. "Finn? What's going on here?", Levi asked fearfully.

Suddenly he heard the sound of dark laughter, he looked up and saw that four shadowy figures were approaching him from the dark; once they stepped into the dim lights of the room, Levi felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach. Three of the figures were revealed to be Tony and his gang of tigers who had harassed him for money before he met Infinite, and the last figure revealed themselves to be his father Richard.

"D-D-Dad! Wha...what are you doing...?", Levi stammered. Richard didn't respond but rather he slowly stepped closer to him and punched him in the face. "You thought you could just run away? I OWN YOU! And as such, I can do what I want with you and you can't do anything about it. Now then..."

He trailed off as he turned towards the three tigers behind, "So you said he owes you money since he borrowed some from you and didn't pay back, so here's my proposal: I'll pay you all the money you want if I let you beat this little wuss for a little while. I need to teach him a lesson but I don't entirely feel like it and you fine gentleman also have some beef with him so I'll leave you to it", said Richard.

Levi began breathing heavily as he started panicking, the burly tigers surrounded he and proceeded to take turns punching and kicking him into the dirt; Levi kept screaming and screaming for them to stop, especially when he felt one of his ribs cracked, but they never relented. In fact, they took great pleasure in the pain they were causing him while Richard watched with perverse glee.

Then a small whimper caught his attention and he turned to see Finn burying his face into the plush fur of his stuffed bear, sucking his thumb as tiny tears fell from the corners of his eyes; being only a two month old baby, the loud noises were scaring him. Richard smirked as he opened the lobster trap, reached inside and pulled Finn out by his long fluffy tail. "Heh, funny little squirt ain't he?", he said as he shook Finn around which caused the pup to start crying hysterically.

Despite the pain he was in, Levi still managed to look up and see his bastard of a father swinging his nephew back and forth like a washcloth. "Leave him alone!", he shouted in defiance. This caught Richard's attention as he motioned for Tony and his goons to back off, "So this kid is important to you, huh? Who even is this squirt? Were you babysitting for someone before we caught you?", asked Richard.

Levi spat out some blood before speaking, "Yeah...he's my nephew! When I ran away, I met a jackal named Zero, or Infinite as he goes by now, and joined his squad. We treated each other like brothers and even now he's still my big brother and that makes his kid my nephew, even if we're not related by blood. So...you can do whatever you want to me...just don't hurt Finn, not that you would because even someone like you wouldn't hurt a baby", he said.

Richard let out a small chuckle as he slowly placing Finn on the ground before walking over to Levi, "You're right, I won't hurt a baby. But since you asked me so kindly, I can hurt you", he said as he gave Levi a swift kick to the ribs. Levi coughed before his eyes fluttered closed and he passed out; little Finn whimpered and continued crying.

"What do we do now?", asked Tony. "I say we drag my poor excuse of a son out into the desert and just leave him there, maybe he'll learn to man up or the buzzards will peck his nuts off but hey, either way I'll be satisfied", said Richard. The tigers laughed as two of them walked over to pick up Levi's limp body but they stopped when they suddenly heard a strange low humming noise, it sounded like a lawnmower with a dying motor.

The group looked around and didn't see the source of the strange noise, all they saw was Finn sitting on the floor bawling his eyes out while his teddy bear laid on the ground beside him. "Did you guys hear something?", asked Tony. "I didn't hear anything. Stop fooling around and pick his sorry ass up already", said Richard. The tigers continued to lift Levi up but then they heard the sound again, only this time they also saw a bright red light.

They looked and, to their shock, they saw Finn's teddy bear floating in the air while surrounded by glowing red cubes; suddenly, the bear began expanding in size, its black beady eyes turned red, claws extended from its paws and a demonic sharp toothed smile spread across its face. The tigers dropped Levi on the floor as they looked on in horror, that's when they also noticed those same glowing red squares were surrounding Finn but he didn't notice as his were closed tightly while he kept crying.

The teddy bear lifted it's right arm and pointed a claw at Tony and his goons, its toothy grin dropping into an angry snarl, "YoU bAd...yOu NeEd...pUnIsHmEnT!", its said in an angry, almost robotic voice. The three tigers backed away in fear and screamed as the monster toy flew towards them with its claws extended and began attacking them.

Richard stood back in horror as he watched the monstrous toy tear the three tigers to shreds, he looked down and saw that Finn was still crying and screaming as the glowing red cubes floated around him. When the bear was done, it suddenly turned around and was about to attack Richard when the sound of doors trying to be opened could be heard.

The monstrous toy then shifted back into a normal teddy bear and fell into Finn's tiny hands, the little pup didn't stop crying but he did calm down and just kept whimpering as he gripped his bear.

Just then, bright sunlight filled the room; as it turned out when Richard had kidnapped Levi and Finn, he took both of them to the same abandoned warehouse where Infinite had told him to go away and never show his face again; Infinite had realized that as well and he and the others, along with the police, had made their way to the warehouse to save them.

They had just burst in as the cops rushed over and forced Richard to the ground and handcuffed him while the others rushed over to Levi and Finn, "Oh my Chaos, my baby! It's okay sweetie, Mommy's here now!", shouted Nyx as she rushed over and picked up Finn. She held her whimpering son close to her body and rocked him gently, the little pup stopped crying and nuzzled into her neck; Tempest rushed over and picked up Levi's limp body.

"He doesn't seem too badly injured, but he is still hurt and we need to take him to the hospital now", she said. Infinite turned towards Richard who was being held back by the cops, "You're extremely lucky that I'd be sent to prison if I tried anything on you, otherwise I'd beat you within an inch of your life for kidnapping my brother and my son. But since you're not worth the effort it'll take for me to finish you off, I hope you rot in jail", said Infinite.

"Not only that, but he's also going away for murder and attempted murder as well. We found three tigers over here, looks like he tried to butcher them. Two of them are dead while the last one is barely breathing", said one of the officers by the fallen bloodied bodies of Tony and his goons. Richard suddenly snapped out of his shock and yelled, "I didn't do any of that! It was that baby! He turned his toy into some kinda monster and attacked them! I swear!"

Everyone looked at him like he was insane, none of them willing to believe a sweet innocent baby was capable of such a thing. Just then, a cough caught everyone's attention; it was Tony who had drawn their eyes to him. "I-it's true...that baby just...sat there crying his...eyes out, and then these...red glowing squares started...floating around him. Then his...bear toy...turned into a...monster and attacked us. You're kid has some freaky magic powers..."

Tony trailed off as he passed out and was carried away by the paramedics along with Levi while the cops dragged Richard away. Everyone else stood in shock by what Tony had said: Finn's teddy bear turned into a monster and attacked them while red glowing squares were encircling Finn as he cried due to the amount of fear he was experiencing. But they quickly pieced together what he meant when he said "red glowing squares" and it terrified them.

Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 9 and...I don't have much to say this time, so I'll just leave it here and let you guys tell me what you think of this chapter in your reviews. Come back soon for Chapter 10; until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!