But what would Metal Sonic and Infinite want with a historical town like Kũrage, Shade wondered, sitting in a dusty cafe. If they were here to salvage Eggman tech from one of the nearby defunct pyramid bases, what reason did they have to come into the city?
"Your pomegranate smoothie," a server delivered a magenta drink. Shade nodded, unwrapping a straw and feeding it through the niqāb. Less conspicuous than walking around full armor, but not as exposed as wearing plain clothes in the UF- she could be any species under the garb, and no one could ask her without seeming impolite.
The familiar tart taste glided across her throat- when had she last had a pomegranate? Was it five years ago... before the last fight with the Knuckles Clan? Well, four thousand years ago for this place... being a walking anachronism was still a little hard to take in.
As she sipped at the smoothie, the marketplace outside still bustled- a crocodile smiling as he sold his wares, an ibis returning a dropped item to a grateful jackal, a pack of tourists wandering to their next destination, a jackal herding her eager children through the crowds- every two minutes or so another jackal would pass by.
Shade glanced at a tourist pamphlet she'd picked up while she was tailing Infinite- one of the popular sites was a large statue of the ancient jackal king Anubis- perhaps this was their origin point.
Did Infinite even care about where his species came from? She shook her head, thinking of the cackling, sadistic masked jackal from half a year ago. Though, would the same jackal wag his tail as he ate some street food among those he thought as vermin?
It feeds false information to the brain... creating a new reality for them. Did it create a reality where he was cruel? Where he saw civilians, people as insects? Or perhaps the other way around?
She sipped more of the smoothie, headaches beginning to form as she struggled to piece it together- and she noticed the statue again. She squinted at the small image, struggling to find details in between the pixels-
"Have you seen Anubis?" a waiter asked- Shade flinched, glancing up from the image. She shook her head. "Oh, it's really popular with the tourists. I can give you directions, if you'd like."
She blinked- "Ah.. yes. Thank you." Once she took in the directions and paid for her drink, Shade set off for the statue- hopefully, if she could get a good view of-
Blocked- right, popular with the tourists. She ducked out of the foot traffic and considered her options: if the tiny image on the pamphlet was accurate, would that point to the reason Metal Sonic was here?
She readjusted her niqāb before slipping into the shadows, gathering the hem of the skirt and knotting it around her waist. She put her hand on the wall- sturdy and rugged enough to climb. With a running start, she scaled the three-story building in under a minute.
Pyramids littered the horizon- each holding generations of desert royalty. How had they been constructed? Their sheer size reminded her of Nocturne's citadel... before...
She crouched, testing her weight with each step, peering over the edge- from here, the statue should just be a few roofs away.
Shade sprang from one to the next, until she came upon the packed plaza where the stone jackal stood. His hands outstretched as if beckoning, or challenging, the people below. His face void of emotion as he looked out towards the horizon- in fact, the ears seemed much more pointed than that of regular jackals, as if something covered them- and no details in his eyes.
But she craned over the edge of the roof, peering at the king's chest. He wore a pendant in the shape of an ankh, a sacred symbol of life in this region- but the shape that was resting inside of it grabbed her attention, and made her question everything about this desert town and its history.
An icosahedron, with chiseled ripples along its faces.
The Phantom Ruby.
Beep...beep...
Fluorescent light blinded Infinite as the EKG chimed. His ears picked up the humming of a computer- metal on hard surfaces. He sat up, eye focusing on the cobalt shape in front of screens- the text was too small to make out, but red dots danced inside one of the rectangles.
"Metal?" he wondered, rubbing his jaw.
"What's the last thing you remember?" the Badnik asked, fingers gliding across the keyboard.
The jackal snuffed, furrowing his brow. "Uh... Kũrage- we... we were being followed by someone."
"They haven't followed us- it's been a few hours since you teleported us here."
Infinite blinked, staring at the back of Metal's head. "Teleported?" His hand touched his chest- no, it wasn't there. "I...I couldn't have."
Metal's red eye rested on him. "I know I said I removed the prototype," he buzzed, "but..."
Infinite caught a dark, sharp shape on the far side of the console. It had lost its red hue...
"There are trace amounts of it, in your cells. Altogether smaller than a golf ball- so small that I'd concluded it couldn't warp space-time."
"But... I didn't- I didn't mean to..." Infinite explained, holding his eye. "I just wanted to... get away."
"Your heart rate accelerated, and you started losing your breath. I think that triggered the particles to react to your need to escape. A defense mechanism of sorts."
Infinite gripped the edge of the bed as Metal continued. "The particles teleported you and I back to the base, and you fainted. More than likely, the energy they expended caused you to faint. If we can pinpoint the exact cause of the reaction, we can prevent it from happening again."
The jackal glared at his knuckles before releasing his hold on the bed. "Why would anyone would be following us?" he thought as he removed the EKG pads. "While I was being put back together, what were you doing?"
Metal returned to the screen. "Researching. Monitoring. Lying low. The person following you, what did they look like?"
"She was wearing a niqāb," he managed, rubbing his head. "What I saw, she has an orange face, with... with white or peach markings around her eyes- couldn't catch their color."
"And you don't know anyone of that description," he buzzed. Infinite shook his head. "So, she might be a GUN agent- or perhaps a freelancer." Metal whirred for twenty seconds, "No... they don't have anyone in Kũrage- it's far removed from where most of the fighting was, and they've been monitoring the bases- the most recently used being higher priority. This base has been defunct for three years, and it's never been discovered, so I doubt they know where we are. Perimeter's been clear so far, but I'll keep an eye on it."
Whoever she is... she's working alone. "Is it possible..." Infinite wondered, "she's been following us since the last battle?"
Metal hummed. "Possible." He glanced at the defunct prototype. "She could have tracked us, through the energy signatures of the Ruby. Since the prototypes stopped working when the original Phantom Ruby disappeared, everyone assumed there'd be no reason to monitor it, and it's such a trace amount that it could be contributed to residue from the war."
Infinite slipped off the bed and walked over to the blackened Ruby. He picked it up- softball-sized, smoothed edges, the rippling pattern fading against the near-black.
"In any case, we'll have to lay low until we find something on her..." A humming, clicking. "Might have to ask around."
Infinite turned the prototype over in his hands, watching the light streak across its sides. The lynchpin of the war, reduced to an obsidian paperweight.
And what are you reduced to? A quivering child? A pitiful husk?
He set the Ruby down, stepping away from the depleted gem. He half-expected to see the voice's owner floating behind him- he could certainly feel it.
Infinite rubbed his temples, trying to jog his memory. If she was truly on her own, she must have some tech of her own- but wouldn't someone like that have other ways of following him? Why follow physically?
"This doesn't hinder your little coffee plan, does it?" He tried to steer away from the current situation.
"Not immediately. Though if I lose my partner, I'm gonna be short handed later."
Infinite snuffed. So that's why you're keeping me. As if the bot could hear his thoughts his head swiveled towards him, a sly glitter in his eyes. The jackal's growl turned into a strangled chuckle. Devious little- did he say partner?
"I thought I was going to be an employee," he raised a brow.
"When the physical shop opens. Right now, you're helping me. So you're a partner."
He coughed, trying to stifle a budding memory. "A partner gets a share of the profit."
"If he kicks up enough investing capital," he retorted.
The memory didn't falter- occupying his right ear as Metal buzzed, "Try to remember your exact mindset before you fainted- I'll watch the perimeter."
"So, what's the plan, boss?" The adolescent jackal hummed, idly spinning a curved knife in his hand.
"Boss?" a scarred mirror echoed, pulling the drawstrings on the bag tighter.
"Well, you said you didn't have a name, and I'm following you," he smirked. "It sounds cool."
The mismatched eyes stared at the gleaming yellow ones. "You'd probably be better off on your own, Rowan."
A playful grin, "No way- jackals like us need to stick together."
"Then you lead-" the twelve-year-old huffed, slinging the canvas sack over his shoulder- the scavenged metal parts clanking together. "You're smarter than me." Searching the wastelands for abandoned military gear had been Rowan's idea- so far, a couple of weapons pried from stiff cadavers- some mechanical components from overturned trucks- a tank cemented in the sand that Rowan declared their hideout. "You found our hideout."
"How about this- when we're a pack, you'll be the leader, but for now-" the jackal held out a hand, "we'll be partners. Deal?"
The unnamed jackal's ear flicked, nose twitching. "Are you sure you don't want to be the leader?" He wondered, thinking about the minefield. Rowan should be the leader... He was just... lucky. Or unlucky.
"Let's figure that out once we have an actual pack, Boss," Rowan smiled, then shrugged, "I mean, 'Boss' sounds cooler than 'Partner,' right?"
"Boss" took the jackal's hand, smirking. "If you become the boss, can I have your name?" He laughed...for the first time in six years.
"Hey... are you sure about this?" A more recent Rowan, white tape covering his limbs, red hat slouching on his head. "I mean... we were in a tight spot, but-" he glanced around, "We seem to be going further in the hole rather than getting out of it."
"It's just another job, Rowan," he shrugged.
"Middy would have stayed if it were just another job," he countered. He took a deep breath- "look, I'm with you- I just want to know what the big picture is. This guy seems to lose more than he wins."
The boss hesitated- why did he agree? If it was just to get Jackal Squad out of harm's way- he could have easily turned on Eggman once the opportunity arose. There'd been several chances.
The sawdust. And the ash. The fire had been so real. He could still hear the coughing.
"Just... go..."
The jewel had taken him back there... after fifteen years of running from it, it had pulled him back in an instant. But why?
He needed to know more about that gem... then they'd leave as soon as they had the chance. With Eggman being obsessed with the thing, and that red-eyed sentry lurking around the base, that was proving difficult...
"Then when he starts losing, we'll bail," Boss answered. Rowan nodded, managing a smile.
Infinite growled as his fist struck the wall, as if Rowan's ghost were beside him. The growling reverberated through his skeleton- then his knees buckled. Same as last time, and the time before. I wasn't strong enough to save either of them.
And you'll never be strong enough, a specter whispered.