Just a quick head's up. For the purpose of this fanfic, Infinite will be a golden jackal (Canis aureus). While I've noticed that quite a few people have latched onto the idea of Infinite being a black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas), it is impossible for that species to hybridize with dogs due to how distantly related they are. Though admittedly, the art style of the Sonic franchise makes it pretty hard to figure out what (if any) species of jackal Infinite is. Plus golden jackal-dog hybrids do occur in Eastern Europe. I do want to keep this fanfic biologically plausible, hence why I did not use the punk bunny girl from the trailers...even though I wanted to because I really like the idea of her and Infinite banging.

CHAPTER 9

Avery woke up to the sound of a knock on the door. She recalled how Infinite entered Amy's house and shivered in fear. Unlike herself, Amy was not prepared at all for Infinite, hence he had no need to break into Amy's house. It could very well be Infinite at the door. The dog was frozen in terror. She was too scared to see who it was at the door. Then she noticed a blue blur whizz past her to answer the door. Should have known his speed could be a curse as well. Sonic then opened the door while the pit in Avery's stomach deepened. Both of them then saw who was at the door...Knuckles. Avery quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey! Just wanted to see how everything is going." The red echidna said with a light smile on his face.

"She is doing alright..." Sonic said nervously while looking back at Avery. The blue hedgehog was wondering if he should let Knuckles know about Amy or not. Speaking of that, what Knuckles said next made Sonic even more anxious.

"Amy's acting a little weird. Do you know what's up?" Knuckles asked. "She was all bright and sunny yesterday, but when I saw her today, she was constantly looking over her shoulder. She also looked like she just saw a ghost." Sonic and Avery looked at each other anxiously. Knuckles noticed this and he realized that they knew something.

"Is there something that you two aren't telling me? I believe I should know what it is, considering we're on the same side and all." Knuckles said with a slight growl in his voice.

We might as well tell the truth. Allies shouldn't lie to each other. Avery thought as she gazed at Sonic, expecting him to give a response that he would never give. How would Knuckles take the news about Amy? Might as well tell him and see what happens. Avery gathered up the courage to speak.

"Knuckles...Infinite almost raped Amy last night."

How Knuckles reacted surprised Avery. His mouth dropped in shock. He began to tremble and tears started welling up in his eyes. Avery had never seen Knuckles cry before. These were tears of despair and hopelessness. Knuckles proceeded to walk up to a wall, pressed his head up against it and began slamming his fist into the plaster.

"Damn!" SLAM! "God dammit!" SLAM! "Damn!" SLAM! "Damndamndamndamn..." SLAM! "Damn it all..." CRUNCH! Knuckles punched a hole in the wall as his speech degenerated into wordless sobs. Avery walked over to see if she could console the echidna.

"*sniff* I couldn't do it, Rookie. I failed you AND Amy!" Knuckles cried through his now stuffed-up nose. "I could have stopped him if I was there.

"No, you couldn't have Knuckles." Avery said softly. "You're not a superhero or something like that. You can't always be there to help someone in need. I know you want to, but that's just how it is. People will get murdered or raped and yes, it's awful, but that's just how things are. It's not healthy to beat yourself up over things that are out of your reach."

"No, you don't understand." Knuckles gazed up with her weakly with reddened-eyes as he spoke. "I could have been there last night! I didn't have to stay and work late at the former Resistance base, but I did anyway! I could chosen to hang out with Amy at her place. I could have stopped Infinite. Not only could I have stopped him from hurting Amy, I could stopped him from hurting you for good." More tears began to fill his eyes. "I could ha-hav-ha..." Knuckles then grabbed onto Avery and began crying into her shoulder.

"I'm a big damn failure, Rookie." Knuckles sobbed. "All of this is my fault..." Avery looked at Sonic. He then stepped out of the room to let the dog handle Knuckles. She gently pulled Knuckles with her over to the couch and they sat down next to each other.

"No. No it's not your fault, Knuckles. I'm not mad at you and I'm sure Amy isn't either. You did very well as the leader of the Resistance." Avery said with an arm around him. "But like I said, everybody has their limits as to what they can do. Even Infinite wasn't so...infinite. Instead of dwelling on what you couldn't stop, you should look forward towards making sure they never happen again."

Knuckles looked up at her again. His sobs have now changed into sniffles. He opened his mouth, trembling and weakly spoke.

"I've be-bee-en feeling very guilty abo-about all of this ever since you said you wer-were pregnant. It never would have ha-happened if I got there sooner. And there's nothing I can do abou-about it."

Avery nodded. "It's nice to see that you care about me Knuckles, but you should leave what's past in the past and look towards a better future."

"I-I guess you're right." Knuckles replied. "It's just that I can't imagine how you felt during that whole event. I mean, did you have a boyfriend prior to that or was Infinite your first?"

"My first." Avery replied sadly. Like most girls, she had crushes during her school days, but she never got to date anyone. All of her crushes preferred the females that were prettier than her. Avery really hated those females. The high school she attended was pretty much your stereotypical inner city school for kids from low-income families. Plenty of students from abusive households. It wasn't unusual to hear gun shots that were't very far away from the school. Nor was it out of the ordinary to walk in on drug deals while trying to use the restroom. Avery never had any friends at that school and frankly, she didn't mind that. All of the aforementioned pretty females that stole her crushes seemed to constantly bitch about their boyfriends and STDs. No way in hell could Avery befriend them. They didn't like her and she didn't like them.

It was stories of Sonic and his adventures that got Avery through high school, rather than friendships. She would often daydream about Sonic in class and wish that she could go on amazing adventures with him. The teachers didn't really care if she daydreamed, due to the high failure rate of that school (though Avery did not fail). It was those stories of Sonic that drove her to join the Resistance in the first place.

While it was mostly Sonic that propelled her through high school, there were some people that she knew on a more personal level that helped too. The only people at school she felt rather positively towards, were the few of the guys she crushed on. Avery often fantasized about one day meeting them later in life and falling in love. Those somewhat childish fantasies ended when the war happened. Her first time wasn't with any of her schoolgirl crushes, but Infinite. Not the males she loved, but a disgusting, violent beast that slaughtered thousands. The fact that Infinite was the only male who even showed a discernible interest in her, was sickening to no end. None of those cute schoolboys were going to come back for her now. They could have very well died in the war (In fact, Avery recently had a nightmare where Infinite killed all of her high school crushes so he could be her only suitor. That could have been their actual fate in real life: being killed by Infinite himself without the jackal knowing that his "mate" had feelings for them). What remained of Avery's childhood died on the rooftop of a building in Metropolis.

"See what I mean?" Knuckles exclaimed. "You have to live the rest of your life knowing that you lost your virginity to the worst person to ever walk the earth..."

"Who is also deluded and thinks I'm his 'mate'" Avery added.

"Right! Not only that, he also left you a memento of sorts!" Knuckles said as he looked at her belly, staring at the tiny jackal-dog that wasn't visible yet. He continued speaking.

"I'm worried about Forest, Rookie. What's everyone gonna think if they find out he's Infinite's son? What is Forest himself going to think if he finds out who his father is? Not to mention there are plenty of people out there that are bigoted towards half-breeds."

"I'm going to try my best to make his childhood happy and normal." Avery explained. "And I won't be alone. Amy said she would help raise him. Sonic too. You can also help raise Forest if you want, Knuckles."

The echidna finally began to cheer up.

"Thank you, Rookie. I-I kinda want to show you something." Knuckles said. "I think it would help with Forest." He took off his right glove and began to dig around in there. He finally pulled out some white egg shells.

"These are pieces of the egg I hatched from. I always kept them with me, as a memory of my parents." He explained. While Avery appreciated the kind gesture, she didn't think she could entirely relate because she wasn't a monotreme.

"Do you have anything like that for Forest? Like a gift for him?" Knuckles asked. "So that he can never forget you in case you two are separated for whatever reason?"

Avery didn't know what to say. She had never thought about something like this before. What gift could she give Forest?

"SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNICCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC!"

The cry of Tails at the door jolted Knuckles and Avery out of their conversation. Sonic was already dashing to the door to answer his friend. Upon opening the door, Tails pushed past Sonic and collapsed onto the floor, out of breath. Sonic knelt down to talk to him.

"What's the matter Tails? What happened?" Sonic asked.

"B-B-Badniks! In the Green Hill Zone!" The young fox gasped. Sonic, Avery and Knuckles were shocked. Eggman couldn't be far. Looks like they didn't need Infinite after all.

"What kinds are they?" Knuckles questioned.

"Just Egg Tanks. They were obviously just leftovers from the war, but there are a lot of them!" Tails explained.

"It's only Egg Tanks, Buddy!" Sonic grinned confidently. "You can handle them easily!" Avery began to get nervous. She had never bothered to practice fighting at all during her time when she was holed up in her apartment. Would she remember how to battle badniks? She reached under the couch until she found what she was looking for. Her grappling hook and her Wispon (more specifically, a Burst Wispon). Please tell me I didn't forget how to use these. Avery looked at them for a about a minute with a confused look on her face. Yeah...I forgot how to use them.

Sonic noticed how Avery was staring at her tools. He turned to Tails and Knuckles. "You two go out ahead of me. I'm gonna stay for a bit and help her." The two left the house, leaving Sonic and Avery alone.

"Can I see that for a sec?" Sonic asked gesturing towards her Wispon. Avery handed it to Sonic.

"Okay, Partner. You hold it like this." Sonic held it out, pointing it at the hole that Knuckles made in the wall. "And you just pull the trigger and fire! Simple, right?" He explained and handed the Wispon back to Avery.

"One other thing, Buddy." Sonic said. "See that gauge there on the side? Fill that up with Wisps that match your Wispon, and you'll be able to use a special power."

It was all coming back to Avery now. She had began to recall how to use the Wispon. She looked up at Sonic and gave him an affirmative nod.

"I know you can do this." Sonic said with a warm and welcoming smile. "Just follow my lead and you'll do good." The two then left the house. Looking down from the hilltop, they could see a dozen or so Egg Tanks crawling throughout the Green Hill Zone.

"Ready?" Sonic asked.

"Uh huh." Avery replied and they were off. Sonic used his homing attack directly on a trio of Egg Tanks, catching them off-guard. They didn't have much time to fire their mortar cannons at the blue blur, not just because of his speed, but also because Egg Tanks weren't exactly the brightest of Badniks. Those Egg Tanks were quickly destroyed. Sonic then proceeded to do the same to other ones nearby.

At first she thought that Sonic was just getting way into battle, but then she realized that Sonic was actually trying to make it easy for her. Destroying the remaining Egg Tanks that Sonic didn't get was his way of "retraining" her. This was Avery's first stepping stone back to being a competent fighter. She saw two remaining Egg Tanks not too far away from her. She closed her eyes, quickly pointed the Wispon at one of the Tanks and fired. To her relief, she heard the Egg Tank blow up into a pile of scrap metal. Avery opened her eyes with newfound confidence and destroyed the other Egg Tank. I can do this. This is easy.

Now Avery had to find Sonic. He had already ran far ahead of her. The best way to do it would be to follow the trail of broken Egg Tanks. Any operational Egg Tank she found, she very easily destroyed. Then she came upon a rocky underpass. Sonic very likely went through here. Avery proceeded to enter the underpass.

She looked around as she made her way through the underpass. The Green Hill Zone did have some crazy geography, but this was new to Avery. It was an underpass alright, but not a manmade one. The ceiling was little more than a bumpy collection of large rocks, as were the walls. The end of the underpass looked to be about 500 feet away.

Avery let out a gasp as she felt a pair of arms appear behind her and pull her towards whoever grabbed her. She felt a pair of lips kissing her neck, with some nibbles thrown in for good measure. She knew who it was before he even said a single word.

"You did well against the Egg Tanks." Infinite breathed into her ear. "Now it's time for your reward." He taunted. Oh how Avery wished her reward was another shirt.

She began to struggle and broke free from his grip. No! Not here. Not now. Not ever again! Avery was going to kill Infinite right this instant. She reached for her Wispon...not there.

"Looking for this?" The jackal sneered while holding up her Wispon. He then threw it to the ground and stomped on it, breaking it. Avery began to feel totally helpless. Her newfound confidence died before it could fully mature. She was now completely unarmed...again. It was like the Metropolis incident all over again. She could do nothing but yell.

"Why do you do this? I don't want you!"

"Like I said. I will never abandon my mate." Infinite replied with a smirk. "And besides, don't you want your reward for completing your mission? I know that this specific prize is your favorite...and mine too." Avery could do nothing but stand there and tremble. She was losing her courage yet again. She didn't even have the courage to yell at him again...or did she? Avery didn't know exactly how she did it, but she gathered up what little strength in her to give one last yell that probably wouldn't help much, but at least would make her feel good before she was brutalized for a third time.

"You are a sick, disgusting mutt! I will never be yours! I've seen what you did in the war, what you've done to me, what you've done to Amy. What could you possibly do to convince me to give in? I've even seen what you did to that poor girl's Chao!"

"Chao? ...Ah. That Chao. He was a delicious little creature. Why do you ask? You wanted a bite too?" Infinite cackled cruelly. "I left him in your closet for a reason." ...Infinite actually expected me to EAT the rest of Cheese!? Thanks for reminding me yet again why I can't be with you. Calling you "psycho" is an understatement.

Infinite then lunged forward and pulled Avery into a firm embrace. The jackal proceeded to lick her neck, making Avery gasp loudly. Infinite slowly dragged his tongue up her neck, along the vein, savoring her taste. When he got to her head, he stopped licking and moved upwards. Infinite put his muzzle close to her ear, his fangs dragging along the edge of her earlobe.

"Speaking of which, you're also delicious." Infinite whispered harshly. "That's one reason I love you. Want me to demonstrate yet again, a different reason why I love you?" Just as Infinite began to feel up the shuddering dog, an unexpected guest arrived in the underpass.

"PARTNER!" Sonic had arrived! Infinite released his grip on Avery. Just as she began to run away, the jackal grabbed her by her wrist so she stayed within his reach.

"YOU!" Infinite snarled. The two archenemies had finally met again after a month and that same tension between them returned with a roaring vengeance.

"Oh jeez, Infinite! You're even uglier without the mask! Do us all a favor and put it back on!" Sonic joked. Even in dark moments like this, he always finds ways to lighten the mood. If I could smile right now, I would.

Fury built up inside Infinite, but it wasn't Sonic's cocky joke that set him off. It was what he incorrectly believed about the relationship between Sonic and Avery.

"You blue rat..." Infinite growled furiously. "She is MINE! What gives you the right to take what's already been claimed by someone else!?"

Avery's heart dropped. Does he think that Sonic and I...My God. He didn't attack Amy because I moved in with Sonic. It was because he thinks Sonic "stole" me from him! His attack on Amy was to hurt Sonic, not me...

"Scummy animal. You have clearly learned NOTHING after being defeated by both of us!" Sonic shouted. "You don't just understand friendship, you don't understand relationships in general! She is a living, breathing person! Not a toy for you to mess around with!"

"I do NOT need to be lectured by you about 'relationships'!" The enraged jackal screamed. "Let me tell you something, hedgehog. This dog is actually far from my first. Before I met the Doctor, I've been getting along just fine for YEARS in my preferred style of 'relationships' with females like her. So don't you DARE try to make me rethink myself so you can steal her from me!"

Sonic's eyes widened in shock, with some anger mixed in as well. My buddy is far from his first...how many more were there? Did they go through the same ordeal as her? How many got pregnant? Worse...were any of them possibly underage? Infinite has to be bought to justice. There's no changing his mind.

"One other thing, hedgehog..." Infinite snapped. "She does not and will NEVER love you. You did not put that child in there. I DID! You weren't her first. I WAS!" A sadistic smirk began to grow on Infinite's face. "And unlike you, I know how to make her moan and beg like a whore."

That was enough to set Sonic off. Avery was little more than prey for Infinite, far from a loved one. Sonic desired to end this sick parody of a romantic relationship right now. He quickly curled up into a ball and used his homing attack on Infinite.

The jackal was not at all prepared for Sonic to do that to him. After all, the hedgehog didn't seem like someone who could be goaded into a blind fury. Infinite was flung into the wall of the underpass. Avery, who was too stunned to really do anything during their argument, finally snapped out of her shock. She was now free from Infinite's grasp and ran towards Sonic's side. Okay. I don't have the Wispon anymore. Can I improvise my grappling hook to be used as a weapon? What she saw out of the corner of her eye, took her out of her thoughts. Infinite had staggered back up on his feet and Sonic was heading towards him for a second attack. However, she noticed Infinite pulling out a familiar object that she recognized from the apartment incident.

"Sonic! Be careful!" Avery shouted. Sonic heeded her warning and slowed to stop only inches away from the handgun Infinite pulled out.

"Smart hedgehog." Infinite said with his finger on the trigger, ready to blow Sonic's brains out if he made a wrong move. With a sudden sidewards lunge, Infinite pistol-whipped Sonic, knocking him to the ground and leaving him in a daze. The jackal proceeded to march over to Avery.

The dog shrieked in terror as Infinite began tearing at her shirt, thinking that he was going to sexually assault her again. But that's not what he did. Instead, he tore three long strips off of her shirt and hurried back to Sonic before he could stand back up. Infinite then pistol-whipped Sonic again for good measure. He took the strips of Avery's shirt and began to use them as makeshift bindings. First he restrained the hedgehog's legs, then his arms and finally his mouth. Why is he restraining Sonic? What is he planning to do this time? Avery thought. Not knowing what Infinite planned to do was often more frightening than knowing his plans.

The hedgehog finally began to snap out of his daze and looked up at Infinite weakly, the jackal's handgun pointed at him.

"If you think I'm going to kill you hedgehog, well, you're wrong." Infinite said rather casually. He tossed his handgun aside. "Obviously you have to be alive to see what I want you to see." Avery began to panic even more. See what?

The jackal then stormed back over to his "mate". He grabbed her roughly and turned his head back towards Sonic.

"I want you to know EXACTLY why she belongs to me and not you." Infinite sneered. "And the best way to explain it, is by demonstration." He then turned his head towards his unwilling partner and gazed at her hungrily. A massive pit formed in Avery's stomach. Is Infinite actually going to...Oh God...He is...

Yep. They're gonna fuck again...and Sonic gets to watch this time. I did say that the Avatar was gonna go through hell in this fic. Sonic might as well take a brief trip too.