Infinite stretched his legs and arms as he stared at the defunct aircrafts. The air inside the hangar was thick but not unbearable, and with luck, the metal surfaces wouldn't be burning. He gave himself a bounce before jumping up the side of the bulky vehicle- only thumps as he climbed to the top. Had he lost a hold, the awful scrreeech of claws on metal would grind his teeth as it scraped his skull. He pulled himself to the top and caught his breath.
His muscles twitched, remembering, reawakening- scaling strongholds, leaping over minefields and fighting- such a long time, and for so long...
Infinite slid down the side towards the wing as he eyed the gap between this wing and the next. Not a large gap- less than five meters, if he had to guess. An easy jump, given the running distance- you can do it, just don't overthink it-
His fur bristled before he broke into a run- clank clank clank clank clank- the end of the wing-
He kicked off of the tip-
He was flying through the air- Jackals weren't born to fly, but he was flying-
I can fly... with this, I can do anything. I can feel the power... I'm unstoppable.
Infinite rolled onto the wing and scanned the hangar- his panting rattled his chest. For an instant, there was no hangar, and there were no aircrafts... He had been flying through the air above the ground...
Such power...
He winced as his muscles shook- they remembered... and ached from its loss. Where did that power go?
The jackal clamped his other hand around his shaking arm- hoping to hold the particles and the memory back- even as the trembling faded, the wind rushed through his fur.
He sliced through the dry air, cut loose of gravity at long last. So long ago he'd been leaping through the air- the closest a jackal could ever hope to fly. But this... this was flying.
The masked jackal smirked, eyeing the prototype on his chest. This power... there was no equal. And it was his.
The doctor had been overwhelmed when the prototype had assimilated with his body- even his robots designed to harness the strange power had struggled or even failed to withstand fusion. But he'd done it- almost without intervention by the doctor.
It belongs to me. It's mine.
The flying jackal caught a dark shape along the rocky landscape- he halted, considering alerting Eggman that someone was scoping the perimeter.
Why bother? He chuckled as he teleported closer to the intruder, hiding on the other side of their shelter. His nose twitched- only the arid, alkaline air met his nose. His ears caught a quiet respirator- a masked soldier? At least they would give him a chance to hone his skills against an opponent. He floated above the eroded boulder, peering at the dark armored stranger.
"It's rude to loiter," he purred- a filtered gasp- the helmet faced him with glowing pink eyes- the armored woman backed away without averting her gaze. "And you must be sweltering in that armor." He grinned as he offered a hand. "Perhaps I can help you remove it."
She clenched her fists, her stance becoming combative. His grin widened. "So you're going to fight," he hummed as he floated down onto the ground in front of her. "Interesting." He flexed his hands, his tail twitching with anticipation behind him. The armored woman's fists tightened. "Do you think you can do it?"
He lunged at her, his nails scraped the dark gray armor as she turned to the side- faster reflexes than he thought- he shifted his footing and countered with a jab to her side. She grabbed his fist and twisted his arm- he growled and pulled her close enough to see her eyes behind the pink visors. The woman dropped and rolled- throwing him away from her.
He rose from the dirt... Interesting indeed. His blood pumped through his throbbing muscles- yes..!
He charged at her, the Ruby fueling his speed- the impact knocked the wind out of her, but she sprang to her feet and something gleamed-
His side burned as she blazed past him- he snapped to check- no. Blood? He growled-
Her armor's pink lights grew brighter, and a glowing blade shone in her hand. She stood up, and a second one appeared in her other hand.
"Very well," he hissed, clenching his fist as the Ruby healed his cut.
He stood up as the aura surrounded him- prickling and jagged like lightning coursing through his veins. The jackal pounced, the power whipping around him as he charged towards her-
Her blades cut through the Ruby's energy whips- his hand slipped under her arms and took hold of her throat- The armor betrayed no heat or pulse, and it would not buckle at his grip... not yet, anyway.
She pushed him off, and kicked his side, unbalancing him. He caught her foot just as it came around for another kick. He wrenched her to the ground and stood back up.
She jumped back up, her chest heaving- and he hadn't even broken a sweat yet.
"I wonder why you're still fighting," he growled, narrowing his eyes at the sigil on her forehead. Back for more punishment, he hummed. They never learn, do they? Always coming back... they can't survive here, and they keep coming back...
"But you are a nice change of pace. There's something... better about fighting something that can tire out... something that can bleed."
A muffled hiss, her grip tightening on her weapons. His hands flexed as the aura flowed into his palms. Let's just see how much damage you're capable of...
He threw the cluster of cubes towards her before racing behind it- she sidestepped into his path, her head snapping to his other hand-
The pink blade gleamed red before it collided with the ball of energy- and the explosion sent both of them flying back.
The masked jackal got to his feet- "What an interesting toy," he grumbled... Had it absorbed the energy it had cut through earlier, and redirected it?
The dark armor huffed as she held her head- perhaps the illusion had hit its mark. He strolled over to the shaking shape.
"Have you finally realized it, then?" he asked. "How outmatched you are. How pointless your efforts are."
Her legs quaked as she stood up, the heaves turning to growls as she eased into her stance.
The jackal chuckled, "As stubborn as ever. It's regrettable that you're the last one- it might have even been a real fight if you had the rest of your clan."
The hisses paused. He grinned- even without tasting it in the air, he knew what was filling that armor. He stepped closer, relishing in every twitch, every wheeze.
"The very last echidna of Neiath's legionnaires."
She disappeared in a flash- he cackled. Even those proud echidnas feared his power- this raw, unmatched power-
Infinite snapped his eyes open- he was lying on the wing, staring up at the ceiling. For a moment, the ceiling had been darker, as if the desert sun wasn't filtering through the ventilation slots.
An echidna? He furrowed his brow at the armored figure- the helmet's horns suggested a goat- but the tail was long and kinked. How did he know she was an echidna? He'd never even seen one until the war- that echidna was male.
He sat up and slid off the wing, heading back towards the interior of the hideout. The Resistance never utilized that strange weapon- the countless Wispons that had been aimed at him, none with that glowing pink blade or its channeling ability.
The jackal stopped in front of the entrance to a computer room- did the doctor have a shared database that any base could access? Or maybe Metal had complied information over the six months it took for Infinite to recover?
He slid into the seat and squinted at the desk-sized keyboard- thousands of hotkeys with unknown abbreviations lined the familiar QWERTY... Infinite tapped the space bar and the monitor awakened.
Lucky me, there's a search box, he thought when the screen displayed a white box. P-H-A-N-T-O-M, R-U-B-Y.
The monitor filled with windows of the results- photographs, energy readings, graphs and blueprints. But one caught his eye as it popped up- a photo of an ancient carving. He slid the mouse over to the obscured window and clicked it.
He stared at a big-eared canine holding a red-pink shape- too round to be a box... too jagged to be a ball. The jackal's head was brown gold and his eye socket was black, as if his eye was missing. Symbols lined the bigger painting- a separate, smaller window appeared at the side to translate them.
When the great calamities had finished punishing the warriors from beyond the Syowtix, Anubis was gifted with the Eye of Set, and became king. Though the Eye gave him immense power, the king did not follow in the steps of the warriors. He used the Eye to protect and sustain his own people.
"You see, no one really knows what the Eye of Set was," someone explained in his ear. "Some say it was a Chaos Emerald- but the Emeralds don't have the power that Anubis had." A scratch and a hum, "If only we knew for sure..."
Infinite shook the ghost out of his head and refocused on the magenta object in Anubis' palm. His sternum throbbed and his mane bristled. The carving was just seventy years short of four thousand years old... and the style indicated origins in the Asyowtu Desert region- which encompassed Marnebu and Kũrage.
Then how did it end up in the Palis Dune region of the United Federation? The doctor said it had landed outside his base there- his notes said as much. Had someone else used it, and it landed there?
"Hello?" Metal beeped as he poked his head inside. "Ah. Doing some research?" He clanked closer.
"Where did it go?" Infinite wondered aloud. "If it came from this region, how did it end up in the UF?"
"Probably the same way it ended up in the other dimension," Metal buzzed as he leaned over and tapped his pointed fingers across the keyboard. Five new windows appeared- "The Chaos Emeralds scatter after their power is used together- perhaps the Ruby employs a similar mechanic and jumps dimensions after it's been used."
The jackal squinted at one of the windows- affects robots differently than living organisms. PR completely transformed Egg Robos and granted new abilities, without the need of the Ruby's presence. Ruby corruption evident in living organism "Infinite"- flaw in prototype? Will need to ask HK and HM for advice.
"In any case, I imagine it's literally worlds away now," the android hummed. "I doubt the prototype would be giving you so much trouble if the original was here."
Infinite rubbed his temple, "Do the Chaos Emeralds...carry memories?"
Round red eyes slid across the dark visor. "What do you mean?"
"When I had the prototype," he pinched his eyes shut, "I knew something that I don't think I should have known. Names and an entire people I'd never heard of... but I knew them."
Metal stayed silent while Infinite continued, "There was someone I fought in the Palis Dunes- she was wearing armor that obscured her species. But the moment I noticed the symbol on her helmet, I knew exactly what she was and where she'd come from. I've never even heard of echidnas before-"
"You fought a female echidna outside the Palis Dune base?" Metal buzzed. The jackal nodded. Clck clck clck... "She's... still alive?"
"You know her?"
The robot's fingers danced across the keys again- the screen reset and pulled up seven windows- two of which made his mane stand on end: An armored woman with a pink blade... and an orange face with peach markings.
"Her name is Shade."
Shade jumped down into the side street and untied her niqāb- letting the dark skirt cover her boots and armor. She adjusted the fabric around her face and stepped into the crowd again.
So the Phantom Ruby existed in this world- everyone had assumed since it disappeared from this dimension and the prototypes stopped functioning it didn't originate from this one. But here was a statue dated thousands of years ago with a masked jackal wielding the jewel on his chest- and given the distant shape of dark aircrafts hovering on the horizon, she wasn't the only one finding this out.
She watched a dusty pickup truck crawl past- its cargo bed packed with a variety of Mobians. The truck came to a halt and the young adults climbed out of the bed, stretching their legs and glancing around.
The driver stepped around towards them- "All right, let's meet back in forty minutes," the black jackal announced. "There's an ahwa down this street with a bathroom, and in the other direction there's Lawhat min Heset- the best restaurant in Kũrage. Tell them Rowan sent you, and they'll give you some pickled tomatoes for free. Just don't drink too much- we've got a long drive ahead of us." The group dispersed with watering mouths- the passenger door opened and a russet jerboa stepped out.
"Are you going to Lawhat min Heset, then?" she asked the jackal- a badge attached to her keys swayed on her hip- Professor Bonny Tine, University of Marnebu. The dirt caking her shoes and knees- perhaps an archaeologist. But the truck wore no insignia- and Rowan didn't wear a badge. A local guide?
The jackal flashed a smile- his right cheek displayed a strange pattern- Shade was too far away to make it out. "No, not today."
"It's the best restaurant in Kũrage, but you're not going to eat there?" Professor Tine crossed her arms. "You know of an even better restaurant, then?"
"No," he laughed, "it's definitely the best restaurant here." He leaned against the truck, "And not too pricey. Go on ahead." The jerboa turned and headed off- the jackal sighed and stared at the sky. Shade wandered next to the truck, turning to glance at him through the reflection in the store window. The missing muzzle fur branched out in different directions- a Lichtenberg figure? When was the last thunderstorm in Kũrage?
Noting the jackal's facial features, Shade hurried after the professor. Perhaps she knew something about the statue's gemstone- but how would she go about asking her?
The jerboa settled into the restaurant and waited for her food to arrive. She reached into a pocket and answered her cellphone. Shade strained to cancel out the bustling ambiance.
"Yes... no, that would be... I understand there's a hurry... organizing an... oh, I see... but we still need to find the correct... We have been for years... will you let us use your tech? Oh, GUN specialists..."
GUN? Shade turned away and fixed her niqāb. Reaching out to the archaeology department to find out more about the Phantom Ruby? Were their drones scouring the desert for clues? Crawling around the Eggman pyramids to see if he had stumbled across the Ruby during their construction?
Shade walked back down the street- Rowan sat back with another jackal at his side- she wore a bright, patterned sarong and gold earrings that turned into halos when the sunlight hit them. Shade had never seen a green-eyed jackal before... "So you aren't going with them?" she asked.
Rowan bit into a piece of chicken, by the looks of it- "Mm-mm. I'm just a civilian- a tourist guide. And no more dangerous jobs, remember?"
"What's dangerous about going on a search for Anubis' tomb?" She snuffed, "Don't tell me you think it's booby trapped."
"Well, if what they're really looking for is down there," he mumbled, "I'd rather not know."