So after...whatever that was, the Resistance were busy working on a few things; Hotaru was training with Spike, on how to fight in close quarters combat. Hotaru actually knew a few things about fighting, and was trying to teach Spike, but it took Spike a while to get the hang of it. "Don't worry about it. You'll get it eventually." Hotaru told him, but Spike wasn't sure if he would, but he knew he had to do one thing; keep at it, because as Sonic told him, heroes never quit. Speaking of Sonic, he was relaying information he had learned about Infinite to Shadow, Knuckles and Sally, who would then relay it to the other resistance. "So, this guy's name is Infinite, huh?" Knuckles asked. "Yeah. His favorite color's orange, and he sometimes like long, romantic walks on the beach, but the only thing he didn't tell me was the source of his power; something we'll need to know if we want to beat him." Sonic said. Shadow looked a bit guilty after hearing that. "Shadow, is something wrong?" Sally said. "No, nothing's wrong." "Yes, there is, Shadow. Why else would you look so...upset?" Sonic asked. Shadow sighed. "The way Infinite is now...it's….because of me." He said in a really small voice, making it hard to hear. "What?" "IT'S BECAUSE OF ME!" Shadow yelled. "Shadow, what did you do?" Sally asked.
"It was a few months and a few minutes before the Doctor took over. I was out on an op with Rouge and Omega." Shadow was in a part of the city. "That area is enemy territory. Keep going, Shadow!" Rouge said on Shadow's transceiver. Shadow sped through several Egg Pawns. Rouge acted as communications at the time. She had the transceivers work into both Shadow and Omega's, enabling them to speak with one another. "E-123 Omega here. Extermination proceeding without incident. No problems to report." Omega said. "Extermination?! This is supposed to be a recon mission! You can't go making a big scene!" Rouge annoyedly shouted. "You should've known better than to send Omega out on an op like this." Shadow said. Shadow sped even further, thinking it would be a breeze... until he heard Omega say, "Unknown hostiles encountered! Rouge, come in! Position coordinates lost! Current location unknown!" "Omega, what's going on? Respond!" Rouge shouted. "I got a little worried, so I went to see what was up." Shadow narrated. "This is E-123 Omega. All sensors set for emergency shutdown. Damage to parietal lobe region. Casualty report: Rouge fallen. Shadow to be eliminated!" "Omega, what happened? What's going on over there?" "Unidentified system intrusion. Emergency withdrawal! I am E-123 Omega, the most powerful…(static)" "Omega, don't worry! I'm on my way!" Shadow ran to where he could confirm he was. "When I found him, I saw Infinite and the other villains looming over him. Like you, I was shocked to see the Doctor had found so many minions, even out of people who he opposed or didn't know." Shadow narrated. The main focus was Infinite chuckling to himself.
"The world's most powerful robot is no more a challenge than Crabmeat. As I suspected, our powers are without peer. They are the ultimate strength!" Infinite commended himself, the Witchcarters and the Hooligans, as they laughed. Shadow was shocked to see the new ones, not to mention Omega lying on the floor. "OMEGA!" Shadow shouted in disbelief. "Hey, sweetie." "Are you referring to me, Carrotia?" "Yeah. Look who's here." Infinite turned around and saw Shadow. You couldn't see it, but he was smiling. "Ah, and still more wonderful; a not-so-tall, dark and brooding guest has arrived. We've been waiting for you, Shadow." "Tell me what you all did to Omega. Now." "Fools like him are of no consistence. Come on now, Shadow. Our long-awaited reunion, and still you spout such nonsense." "I don't know you nor your lackeys, and the only thing of no consistence around here is that big mouth of yours." "How dare you insult him!" Carrotia said to Shadow. "I suppose you would think so. I am Infinite. These are my associates; the psychic temptress, Carrotia, the ball of fury, Bearenger, the crazy hopper, Falkewulf, the sniping marksman, Fang, the silent battler, Bark and the explosive wonder, Bean. You say you do not know me, yet I remember you very well. To you, it was simply another in a long list of Eggman bases you tore down without a second thought." "Infinite told me every transgression I made against him; me killing his squad, the beating I gave him, calling him worthless to his face; all of it! It hit me that while I was the long end of the stick, what I did to him traumatized him for quite some time, especially what did to his squad, and he told me that he obtained something he called "the power." Shadow narrated, becoming more forlorn as he went on. "I've only become what I am because of you, yet you don't remember. But I suppose that's the way it goes. It simply means that the old me was too weak, too pathetic, too arrogant to remember. And now, you've become nothing more than a nasty little insect, waiting to be crushed underfoot. Thanks to the limitless powers me and my associates have obtained, we have become unstoppable!" "We'll see about that! Chaos…" "But before I could even move a muscle, Infinite trapped me inside this pocket dimension which looked just like that dimension Hotaru came from...Cyberspace, was it? I could hear Infinite and his lackeys laughing, which faded, meaning they were leaving me trapped." "Hey, where are you going? Let me out! I want out!" "But I fought my way out of it." Imagine clearing the Hero Mission on Mad Matrix in Shadow's own game. "But, unfortunately, by the time I got out of there, I was too late. Sonic, you and Tails were defeated by Eggman's forces. I fought back against them, but they fed off my resistance; the more I fought, the stronger they became, until I too had fallen to Eggman's army. When I woke up, I heard innocent people cry out. And then I realized...I had made a monster." "Shadow the Hedgehog….what have you done?" Shadow thought to himself.
"You see...it's my fault Infinite's this way." "Shadow..what were you thinking?!" Sonic yelled. "I didn't know it was gonna make him do this!" "Well, you should have!" "Well, it just came with the job!" "No, it didn't! Shadow, everybody has feelings; even villains. And you shouldn't have killed his jackals either!" "Wha-how did you know they were jackals?" "I've fought them before...in a tournament!" Knuckles and Sally didn't know what to think. "Look, Shadow, it's great that you destroyed an Eggman base, but you didn't have to kill those jackals!" "That's not important right now! What is is...I did this, and now I have to fix it." "But we still don't even know how Infinite gets his powers!" Sonic said. "Not to mention all those Shadow clones." Sally said. "Those are all fakes." "Fakes? But how?" Knuckles asked. "With the new power he has, not only can he control the dimensional fabric and the space-time continuum, Infinite can also create virtual reality projections. They have mass and form, but no heart and soul." "Virtual reality… so all those familiar faces that were part of Eggman's army…" "The Shadows? Oh, you mean, as in all those, like the Naugus brothers, Erazor, the Witchcarters, the Hooligans, Mammoth Mogul, Chaos. Oh, no, those are the real deal. The Shadows, on the other hand, are Replicas. Problem is, they may not be real, but their powers are as formidable as the ones belonging to the original; mine. According to Breezie and Rouge, Infinite can create unlimited numbers of them." Shadow explained. "So fight after fight, he can just keep throwing them out?" Sally asked. "Right. Unless we can find out where Infinite's powers come from, there's no way we can win this war." Sonic slapped Shadow in the mouth. "Of course we can! We always do! We just haven't figured that part out yet." Sonic said. A beeping noise went off. A notification came from Omega. "Well, this could be promising." Sally said. "All resistance warriors, head to Angel Island for new bission mriefing- I mean mission briefing!" Shadow said.
That's what everyone did. They all went to the base in Angel Island for the next mission. "Listen up. Breezie's just informed us that, thanks to the success of Operation Pyramid Smash (with Extra Hot Sauce), Eggman's forces are undermanned at his headquarters in Metropolis. They're probably staging somewhere else as part of one of Eggman's schemes. This could be our only chance to take the city. That's why we're focusing on a full frontal assault on Metropolis. I'm calling it, "Operation Big Wave." Shadow said. "Who cares what it's called? What's important is to have a well thought out strategy." Sticks said. "I thought up this strategy in about a minute and a half. We're going in hard and fast and we're not gonna stop until Eggman's army is destroyed." Knuckles said. "Wait a minute. If we go through with this almost immediately, Eggman could know what we're up to something and get his minions involved." Cosmo said. "Yeah? So?" Amy asked. "Have any of you seen how powerful they are? If they get involved, Operation Big Wave could be a disaster; especially if Infinite gets involved." "Cosmo's right. Anyone else have a plan?" Shadow asked. "I do. We take them out." Hotaru said. "What do you mean, Mr. Shinpei?" "I mean, we defeat Eggman's minions. If Eggman has his minions get beat in battle, it'll be a pretty big victory for the Resistance. It's like Tails said, if we want the people to rally, we have to show them that strength doesn't just come from numbers." Hotaru said. "Good point. New plan; before we go through with Operation Big Wave, we need to weaken Eggman's defenses, as in; locate Eggman's minions' location and take them down. That way, when they're spending time healing, Operation Big Wave will take effect and victory will be close. Got it?" Knuckles asked. "Yeah!" "Alright! Let's get started! Nicole, locate Eggman's minions outside of Metropolis." Sally asked Nicole. "Searching, Sally." After a few seconds, Nicole said, "Located 5 minions; Infinite at the Blue Gate Bridge, Chaos at the Green Lake, the Witchcarters and Hooligans at the Yellow Gate Bridge, Metal Sonic at the Red Gate Bridge, and Mephiles and Iblis in the City. New targets of opportunity are now available." "All of them are in the City Region. Makes it a lot more easier. But first, Nicole, find the location of Miles "Tails" Prower and the Sonic from another dimension. "Searching, Knuckles." After a few seconds… "Members have been located in the Mystic Jungle. New target of opportunity now available." "Okay, who's first?" Knuckles asked. "I'll take Infinite." Shadow said. "Me, NiGHTS and Beat'll take Chaos." Hotaru said. "Me and Spike will go find Tails." Sonic said. "I'll go with them." Cosmo said. "Once we got Tails, me, Spike, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Cosmo and Silver will take on the Witchcarters and Hooligans." "Then Razor and me will take on Metal Sonic." Coral said. "Then Sonic, me and Silver will take Mephiles and Iblis." Shadow said. "Alright, now let's get out there, because the war to take back the planet begins….now." Knuckles said.