"So, just as expected, you desperately put your last cards on the table and-" Sonic kicked him firmly into his gut. The reality bender flew far away and crashed into the side of a distant mountain, leaving a visible crater.
"I'll take care of the masked clown. You two slay the dragon."
And with that, Sonic jumped up and flew towards the crater on the mountainside. He heard Ruby exclaim something excitedly behind him, but he was completely focused on reaching Infinite and the battle he would have with him. Sonic trusted Tails in helping Ruby during her first usage of a Super Form and their confrontation with the Wyvern. And vice versa, he trusted Ruby in keeping his little bro safe.
Once he had reached the crater, Sonic saw that it was empty. Infinite teleported behind him and fired a laser from his hand. Instead of piercing the golden hedgehog from behind, it just slightly warmed his back. Infinite lowered his hand wit an irritated grunt and Sonic turned around smirking.
"Come on, didn't the old egghead teach you about how amazing the Super Form is. That is for me and my friends anyway."
"Don't underestimate MY power. It is amazing for me and MY friends."
Infinite raised his hands and made a gesture that formed an infinity symbol. The Phantom Ruby buzzed and vibrated as it warped reality to make a bunch of the long Phantom monsters appear that had caused a lot of trouble during Operation Big Wave. The snake-like creatures lunged at Sonic. He weaved between their elongated bodies and arms or kicked their claws away when those came striking toward him. One Phantom split its metallic, mask-like head to reveal a fanged mouth and tried to bite down on the hedgehog. Sonic just curled up and spindashed right trough the maw and head of the monster, causing it to disappear with a glitch. The rest gathered energy on the tips of their heads and fired several lasers at him. At first, Sonic dodged them with ease. Then the Phantoms combined their beams together into a big one, forcing the golden hedgehog to raise his arms and push against it with his bare hands. During this he noticed how Infinite was just hovering in the air, a good distance away from his creations and his enemy. The entity´s posture was a bit slumped and the Phantom Ruby´s glow was weaker than it was before. Or during all the encounters Sonic had previously with the masked foe.
Of course, the golden hedgehog thought as he pushed the Phantoms´ beam back completely. He may have already a backup generator for his fancy gem, but it is still lacking a Chaos Emerald as a component, ergo: Infinite isn't as powerful as before. And he always gloated how `infinite´ his power was. Heh, time to show him how such thing really looks like!
Sonic dashed ahead and homing attacked all of the Phantoms, dissolving them, and came rushing toward Infinite. The entity gathered energy in his claws for an attack, but it just went trough Sonic, trough his afterimage.
The real hedgehog was already behind him and gave his opponent another firm kick, this time against the back. With a yell, Infinite crashed again into the mountain and deepened the crater there. Sonic flew down and landed on top of him, one foot on the Phantom Ruby and pushing the masked body down.
"Well, Infinite, all that big talk and yet here we are."
"Hrrgh, here YOU are…" The entity disappeared in a glitch. His voice echoed from nowhere. "...but where am I?"
Sonic didn't even have time to look around before his enemy answered his own question with: "I am everywhere."
Glitchy phantom clones surrounded Sonic.
"I am Infinite, as in never ending." The clones duplicated and came rushing at the golden hedgehog surrounded in red energy. "Even with a weaker power source, I'm-"
"You talk to much," said Sonic, who had already disposed of the incoming clones in the same manner as the bigger Phantoms. He saw Infinite again hovering a distance again and came flying at him.
"Oh, so you think you are completely undefeatable? Well, maybe you are now in body. But what about your mind?"
The masked foe created a wall of red cubes between him and Sonic. The golden hedgehog wasn't sure if those would still have an effect on him trough his Super Form or not, but he decided not to risk it.
Without getting slower, he yelled: „Chaos Control!", and teleported behind the wall, ramming right into Infinite with high speed. The reality bender grunted in frustration and pain, he had barely the time to cross his arm in front of him to block the attack somewhat. The force send him flying and spiraling backwards. It took a while before he could stop himself and regain a stable position in the air. He gave Sonic a dark look with his visible eye.
"Fine. If you think you can outmaneuver or out trick everything I throw at you then you wouldn't mind a revisit to Null Space, right? This time without any of your little friends."
Purple mist gathered in Infinite´s hand. Sonic narrowed his eyes and came flying at the reality bender. The entity threw the mist outward, the Phantom Ruby, despite its exhausted glow, still pulsating as the Null Space portal expanded and opened. Just like on the Death Egg Sonic felt a strong pull. But instead of fighting against it, he used it to become faster. He wanted to try something. Just when he was about to be sucked in, the speedster activated a golden colored Boost and dashed right trough the Null Space portal! The purple mist was left dissipated in Sonic´s wake and he crashed right into Infinite. He was thrown away and could barely dodge another attack when Sonic sped at his side. The golden hedgehog started covering the entity with a barrage of quick punches, the fists leaving afterimages and blurring into one another. Infinite tried to catch or block them, but it all happened so fast! After taking in several punches, he managed to teleport away a good distance and started flying toward Mortar Canyon, more precisely one of the metal buildings close to the tower in the center.
The reality bender´s flight was wobbly and unsteady. His entire body ached and hurt, especially his head. His mask had several dents and cracks and the Phantom Ruby flickered erratically.
Infinite hated this. Hated admitting that he underestimated an enemy by being show to be significantly weaker in the wort way possible. But he refused to just give in, he still had one ace up his sleeve. A last attempt so to speak. Eggman had been very serious when he told Infinite about this move, instructed him to use it only in emergencies. Well, if this didn't count as an emergency then Infinite didn't know what did!
He was getting closer to his goal when Sonic suddenly appeared on his side in a blink. Be it from his immense speed, amplified by the seven Chaos Emeralds, or a Chaos Control.
"Hey, going somewhere?"
"Yes, but you´re invited for later!" snarled Infinite and managed to cause Sonic to fly away for a moment by trowing red cubes at him. The entity fastened his pace and could see that he was getting closer to the building he was aiming for. He tried to focus his remaining energy for a teleport, but a white flash and Sonic was behind him, kicking him hard in the back of his head.
Infinite arrived at his destination by being thrown at it, crashing trough the wall and into the interior. Sonic followed soon after, flying into the building and taking a good look around. The interior was dark, with only a slight reddish glow illuminating the various mechanisms scattered throughout the building. They hummed and vibrated, mechanical loops running out of them and out the floor into a construct similar to the generator in the Death Egg. It seemed to beat quickly, like a heart in an adrenaline rush. And almost everywhere there had been Chaos Catdriges been inserted, all of them working in overdrive. It took up all of Sonic's attention, so he didn't really notice how Infinite´ battered body was lying between some chargers with an intensely focused look on his visible eye, the Phantom Ruby pulsating in time with the generator.
"So here is the second source of your 'infinite power'," said the hedgehog. "Guess I should thank you for making it easy for me to end the war."
Sonic rolled up for a Spindash, ready to reduce the generator to rubble. But as he rolled and shot towards his target, he couldn't help but ask himself worriedly: But why did Infinite fly here if he knew I was chasing him?
He got his answer. The Chaos Cartridges and the connected machinery somehow get even more active and a bright red light erupted from the generator. Just before Sonic reached his destination, a mechanical voice sounded: "Phantom Ruby emergency reactor exceeded maximum overload limit. Initiate Overclock protocol."
Wha- BOOM!
His confusion was cut short as a massive explosion threw the mobian back. He was sent sailing through the air and landed hard on his back. The golden hedgehog managed to shrug the damage of and hover upwards to get a good look at the location.
Where the building had just stood there was now a smoking crater. The surrounding buildings´ metal and machinery had melted down from the immense heat and energy that had emanated from the generator just before it…
Yeah, what exactly did it actually do? Self-destruct? I doubt that. So what was Infinite´s goal…
Once again, Sonic got his answer. Out from the smoke stepped a figure. It was Infinite, but his shape was barely recognizable due to the strong Glitches pulsating from him, emitting from the center of the Phantom Ruby. The entity´s body was glowing a sinister red and part of the energy seemed to focus on a mark on the right side of the mask. Infinite raised a hand in front of his eyes, the only part that seemed somewhat stable, and laughed. Reality seemed to groan in strain under the noise.
"Yes… such power… power that goes even beyond infinity. Everything had seemed so pointless and easy to move around like toys and now…" Another laugh. "Now it look even more distant and silly. Even you… Sonic the hedgehog."
Infinite looked up to the person whose name he just mentioned. He slowly levitated into the air until he was hovering in front of the golden hedgehog.
"And here I thought you couldn't get any freakier," Sonic said. Despite the casual tone he said the sentence, his voice and posture still showed that he was on edge.
"An emergency protocol the Doctor came up with. Overclocking the second Generator caused an immense mass of power to be made and directly be absorbed by me. Even if it is at the cost of the Generator overheating and exploding due to overworking itself. Which is why we never could use this tactic on the previous one. But maybe I should have." The masked foe spread his arms and the surroundings seemed to get covered in a distorted, red veil. "Because then the wrath of Overclock Infinite would be even more terrifying to you!"
Despite knowing that the situation had gotten more serious, Sonic couldn't help himself letting a snort escape.
"Overclock? Seriously, that is what you´re gonna call yourse-"
Infinite dashed directly at him and punched Sonic upwards against his chin. The golden hedgehog was flown into the sky, where Infinite teleported several times around him and threw pulsating energy orbs at him, before appearing at the pinnacle of the hedgehog´s ascend and stopped it by grabbing him by the neck. The entity´s dug deep into his throat.
"Look who is the one talking to much now?"
Sonic groaned in pain. The attacks Infinite had just thrown at him in his Overclock form had actually, while not wounding him, hurt.
"Fine," the speedster admitted in a serious tone. "You´ve caught me off guard. I even admit that I let you do so. But I wont let it happen again!"
With a Chaos Control, Sonic escaped from Infinite´s iron grip and appeared behind him. He tried to deliver another kick to the back of his opponent's head, but this time Infinite was quick enough to turn around and not only did he caught Sonic's foot, but held it in place. The entity spun around and threw the golden hedgehog away, energy gathering in his hand until he fired a massive laser beam trice his size at the Super mobian. Sonic managed to turn around and fly back at Infinite, heading directly toward the beam. Just when it was about to consume him, the speedster activated the Super version of his Boost and charged, or rather drilled, his way right trough the destructive energy. Sonic crashed into Infinite, but the masked foe then punched him away. This time, knowing better what his enemy was capable of, Sonic was less caught off guard and simply flew a few feet away in the air before stopping.
Infinite created cannons made of white metal that rapidly fired spiked bullets. Sonic faced the storm of projectiles. He curled up and slammed from ball to ball as Spindash, getting closer and closer to Infinite. When he was close enough, Sonic destroyed the cannons with homing attacks and rapidly spun over Infinite to gather energy before shooting down. The masked entity raised his hand and manged to catch the crackling Spindash. He grunted and trembled as he fought against the almost overwhelming grind. However, it gave him an idea.
"Time to make things a bit more diverse and interesting."
Infinite closed his eyes as he concentrated. Energy surged and wallowed around him. Sonic felt the rising heat underneath him. He was about to cancel his Spindash and retreat, but Infinite was already done. With a yell he unleashed an explosion of red, corrupted energy from himself and sent Sonic ascending upwards.
Crap, that hurt and was disorienting… and familiar? Infinite did cause explosion and shock waves with the Phantom Ruby´s energies, but this felt different. More intense and chaotic. Kinda like Shadow´s Chaos Blasts…
The golden hedgehog didn't have time to further continue that train of thought as Infinite shot straight at him with a raised fist. Sonic dodged the punch and started retaliating.
Both super-powered beings soon found themselves in an intense fist fight that took them across the skies of Mobius. Any person who would´ve looked up would have seen them as red and golden streaks dashing across the sky, crashing into one another. Each punch sent waves of pressure through the air, but neither fighter seemed to back down and continued to push against the strength of the other. For a while it seemed like they were evenly matched. At least until Sonic as able to break the combo lock by charging his fist with an extremely high amount of Chaos Energy and gave Infinite an uppercut that sent him flying out of Mobius' atmosphere and into space. Sonic followed him into the cold, empty vacuum.
Good, this way I have to worry less about any bystanders or collateral damage. Now, about that one attack Infinite had used…
To confirm his suspicion, Sonic taunted the entity.
"Come on, is that all you got? You´re usually more tricky than this. But even if you are tougher now, I can still punch you around. What, is your upgraded form weaker than your base form?"
Infinite adjusted his mask, which had been dented and knocked ajar by Sonic's punch, and growled at the speedster, "Oh be careful with what you say."
"Big words, nothing behind them."
"Then let me prove your otherwise!"
Infinite raised his arms, the Phantom Ruby flared behind all the glitches. Red energy created the shapes of crackling, spear-like projectiles. The masked foe lowered his arms in an instant and fired all of them. Sonic gave the incoming attack a serious look.
Taking into account to the Blast-like attack, it seems he has direct access to the abilities of Shadow, probably because of the Phantom he created from him. Means he can use the abilities of the others as well. But one thing after the other.
The first of these Phantom Spears reached them and Sonic deflected them by backhanding them aside. But it quickly became more and more. The Super mobian flew away to gain some distance and started to spin around in a circle. It created a golden tornado that sucked all the Spears in… and even created a suction that Infinite felt himself getting dragged into. He tilted his head in confusion.
"Wait what? A suction inside a vacuum? Do you have any idea how ridiculous impossible this is when even I am asking on how that works?"
"What can I say?" Sonic allowed himself a brief smile. "I am just that awesome."
"You are noth-" Mid-speech, Sonic teleported behind the entity, and this time, the hedgehog´s kick connected. Infinite was sucked into the tornado. Sonic dashed into it and flooded his opponent with a rain of Spindashes. Infinite felt the force of each one, it was as if mountains were being thrown at him every second, while at the same time the winds of the golden tornado tugged and tore at him. He growled and clenched his fists. Energy swirled around him as they focused and heated around him again.
Sensing this, Sonic quickly flew away as Infinite let out an enraged scream and produced another Phantom Blast, destroying the tornado. Even from a safe distance, with the cold emptiness of space between them, the golden hedgehog could feel the heat and destructive potential of the attack. As the bubbling red glow faded from it, it revealed a growling Infinite who was piercing Sonic with his visible yellowish-golden eye.
"Jeeze, you´ve always being a nutcase since the day you and your Phantom bully squad had appeared, but I thought you like to have your `fun´ with these battles. Yet you don't seem like to have fun at all during this one, being all agitated and all that. And here I thought you would have loved to face me in my Super Form, having a legendary battle and all that."
Infinite´s growls became louder.
"Oh yes, whose fault could that be? Time and time again you and your friends ran away, always when our fights were going to great heights. That feeling of dominance and control coursing trough me, it made me feel alive." Infinite waved his hand at the surroundings. "Look around you and tell me what you really see. Nothing! Just here and there a few stars that will inevitably burn out and leave even more nothing behind. And all these countless lives on the planets will follow. Existence is a joke, only there to face its end. Nothing but utter pointlessness."
The entity had started to rant and almost spat every word out like some bitter venom.
"The power to distort reality to my whim and fighting its strongest warriors, it gave allowed me to fill that void. But your constant victories and the Doctor´s resulting anger and punishment have ruined it for me! I will feel nothing until the progenitor of my anguish will be destroyed!"
During all of this, Sonic had just been floating there with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. He opened them and asked: So that´s it? You´ve decided to help Eggman and cause all this suffering because you had an existential crisis?"
"I´ve had less of a choice than you probably realize. But not that it matters. I would have wished for your end so you eventually come to see that all of your so `heroic actions´ will be absolutely meaningless!"
Infinite fired a massive laser beam from his hand. It missed Sonic, the hedgehog having suddenly speed at the reality manipulator´s side and punched him away. He wore a little smirk on his face.
"You really don't get me at all, do you? I know that every thing runs out of its time, even me. That´s exactly why I want to have everyone to have hope and freedom, to make the most of it. And if things would just go on forever, well, let me phrase it in a way I told to someone else: What good is a world that goes on forever?"
Infinite ignited the palm of his hands and threw fireballs at Sonic, similar in a manner in which Phantom Zavok had spit the flaming element at the hedgehog during his liberation from the Death Egg´s prison.
The golden speedster just batted them away, telling during this: "If all things just continue to go on for all eternity then it would become boring and stagnant eventually."
Infinite summoned his elongated Phantoms and set them on Sonic. Some charged at him instantly while others stood back and charged their lasers. But that wasn't all. Red cubes have also appeared and flew around in different patterns. Sonic had to dodge the claw swipes and cubes, and at the same time, fly around lasers fired at him. Several attacks came at once and it was hard to keep an eye on everything. The golden hedgehog still wasn't sure if the cubes would have an effect in his current state or not.
"You are right, I don't get you at all. Every word you spout, it is all nonsense. But at least it glues me in into some more fears I could use to take you down once and for all."
Infinite smirked as a laser managed to graze Sonic, catching him off guard enough to stagger the Super mobian in his flight. And allowed a red cube to hit him in the chest…
…there was nothing happening.
Sonic looked at his glowing form. He smiled in relief. "Huh, I guess I am also invincible against certain effects as well."
"WHAT? THAT´S NOT FAIR!" Infinite almost whined.
Sonic´s smile disappeared as he looked at the reality manipulator. With his enemy´s means of psychological torture having been discovered to be useless as of now, the golden hedgehog decided it would be fitting to give a little bit of retribution for certain people.
"Not fair?" With as stern and serious expression Sonic sped at Infinite. He gathered all of his Phantoms in front if him, intertwined them as a clawing wall in front of him. It didn't offer a bit of protection when Sonic activated a golden Boost and plowed right trough the bizarre creatures, evaporating them and crashing into their creator. Stunned by the sudden force, Infinite was then subjugated to a series of homing attacks.
"This is for all the people, mobian and human, that you put trough a mental hell!"
Infinite raised a hand and gathered energy in it. However, it dissipated when Sonic grabbed his wrist and twisted it before pulling the entity towards him and kneeing him in the stomach.
"That was for the things Ruby told me you showed her in Metropolis!"
Sonic spun around his own axis and then threw Infinite away. While he was sailing trough the vacuum, Sonic focused on the incredible amount of Chaos Energy surging around and inside of him. He channeled and molded it into the form of a certain other hedgehog´s attack.
"This is especially for using Shadow´s memories of Maria against him! CHAOS SPEARS!"
Bigger and of a more blazing glow than the ones made by the Ultimate Lifeform, Super Sonic´s Chaos Spears came flying at Infinite in a massive swarm. The first few hit him, before he was able to counter and destroy the projectiles with a stronger version of his Phantom Spears.
One of Sonic´s still managed to move past them and nail Infinite in the face, causing a small explosion that stunned him. Sonic curled into a rotating orb, spun briefly in place to gather energy, and shoot towards Infinite.
"And this one is for me!"
The powerful Spindash hit Infinite right in the chest, right on the…!
Crack!
Infinite yelled in pain as the attack actually managed to damage the Phantom Ruby. A tiny amount of cracks appeared on the pulsating gem´s surface. Tiny but still there.
"No…" Infinite couldn't believe what just happened. "No no no NO NO NO NO NO!"
Sonic was also shocked and hovered a bit away.
Crap, I let my emotions overwhelm me. We still need the Phantom Ruby to get our Ruby back home. I better be more careful from now on.
He wanted to use a Spindash against the head of his opponent, but Infinite had other plans. He unleashed a Phantom Blast, combined with some red electricity, courtesy of Neo Metal Sonic, and knocked Sonic back. The golden hedgehog was able to shrug the damage off, even if its hurt a lot, and tried another Spindash.
In return, Infinite created a pair of long, watery arms, similar to Phantom Chaos´ one. The limbs grew from the surface of the Phantom Ruby and were able to catch Sonic. He rotated faster, but the arms were actually able to hold him and started draining him of his Chaos Energy. The golden power flowing from him, trough the glitchy water, into the red gem. Its cracks started to glow in the same color.
Infinite smirked. Yes, this way he could-
The entity jolted in pain as an energy shock wave pulsed from the Phantom Ruby and caused Sonic to be flung out of the Chaos Arm´s grasp. Infinite locked down. The body was flickering and the cracks had grown on the gem. He couldn't believe it. Once again his power was rendered unstable by the hedgehog´s actions. If he couldn't heal himself… what else would he lose control of? Infinite´s eye darted to the golden hedgehog and his panic turned into wrath and anger.
He took control over the Chaos arms and send them toward him. Offensive capabilities seemed to still work, good.
Sonic saw the incoming arms and tried to dodge them. He didn't want to lose more energy. However, it became more trickier than he thought. The watery limbs elongated and stretched without limit. They even split apart and duplicated like a nest of Hydra heads. Sonic ducked and flew upwards, weaved in between claws trying to grab him, but he soon found himself surrounded, the arms having intertwined in a net around him. It started to close around him. Sonic used Chaos Control and disappeared in a white flash of light.
Infinite untangled the arms and let them wander and search around, ready to catch Sonic if there was just a tiny mote of golden light to be seen. Seconds went by and nothing happened. Infinite became even more agitated.
What, did he run away again as a coward?! No not this time. If he loses the Chaos Emeralds, then he and the Resistance are as good as finished. And that should be clear to him. So where is the hedgehog? Is he planning something?
The masked entity got his answer with a second flash of white light. In an instant he fired all of his Chaos arms in its direction and grabbed… a rocky surface?
Sonic had indeed hatched a plan. The first step had been returning to Infinite with a meteorite he had found in space. He kicked the giant rock toward the entity, causing it to crash into him and start a descend into Mobius´ atmosphere. Sonic rammed as a Spindash into the meteorite and continued to push it and Infinite downwards in high speed. Its force caused the masked one to be pressed against the meteorite´s surface. Soon flames erupted around them as they descended faster and faster toward the planets surface, causing the watery arms Infinite created to be evaporated.
The entity managed to look over his shoulder and saw that he, Sonic and the rock between them were falling toward the ocean. Infinite smiled, knowing he could use the terrain to his advantage. Then he saw that they were actually getting closer to a tiny dot on the blue surface. He further they fell, the more details he could see.
It was a stony, barren island. Freshly formed by the volcano in its middle. A volcano of which´s crater they were rapidly falling toward. In the few seconds left, Infinite realized that Sonic must have scouted and planned this all out with his speed and Chaos Control.
"Son of a-"
Infinite, still stuck on the flaming meteorite, and Sonic, crashed into the volcano.
BOOOM!
The incredible explosion tore the entire island apart and send globs of magma and huge rock shards flying. The ocean´s water churned and boiled, waves, darkened by the ash, crashed around. Smoke and embers flew trough the air.
Midst all that chaos, Sonic appeared in a flash of light. The golden glow of his Super Form has dimmed but was still there. He looked around. Did he get Infinite?
Reality glitched and distorted. Waved twisted upwards in the form of watery columns ending with rotating ice blades. Sonic dodged them yet he soon found himself between two big ones. The vibrating of the Phantom Ruby was heard again, even if it was quieter and more… irregular than usual. Nevertheless, the two water columns suddenly moved like tentacles and wrapped themselves around Sonic, constricting him. He struggled but was only furled around by the ash filled water. Despite there being ice blades slicing against Sonic, the water was boiling hot and not only because of the exploded volcano. The Phantom Ruby raised the temperatures and also the water pressure, like Sonic was at the bottom of a trench.
Infinite appeared a distance away from his watery creation and the struggling hedgehog. His body was flickering in an unstable matter, the red glow having gotten weaker and the Phantom Ruby´s pulse had gone irregular. Th entity was in great pain yet he still forced himself to focus his energy. His hand shot forward and fired a bolt of red lightning into the boiling water column.
BOOM!
A second explosion erupted trough this place and Sonic was flung trough the air, his golden glow even weaker. Infinite even saw bits of blue flashing briefly here and there.
I wonder if…
He teleported into Sonic´s flight path and grabbed him by the neck. Before the hedgehog could react, Infinite summoned a red cube in his free hand and pressed it against the side of Sonic´s head. The Super Form´s invincibility had weakened enough for an effect to take place…
Tails had his namesakes ripped out and was then thrown in a pot full of molten metal. Amy was electrified by Neo Metal Sonic. Knuckles lay bleeding out on the floor, stabbed by a Master Emerald shard. Rouge was pierced by two shards, one for each wing that had been torn out of her. Omega was slowly being eaten away by rust. Shadow held Maria's body, crying, before demonic soldiers literally tore him to pieces with their shots. Grimm ripped out Ruby's eyes before eating her alive. These processes repeated themselves while the environment withered away, the stars burning up in the sky. The suffering continued for all eternity.
Sonic gasped like he had woken up from a nightmare. And in a way, he did. But Infinite would make sure that he would never be waking up from what he had planned for the hedgehog. He teleported them back to the sky over Mortar Canyon.
"Did you like it? This was just a sample of what you will go through. Of what I'm going through- argh!" Infinite shook his head wildly, the Phantom Ruby´s power getting flickering even more unstable. Sonic stared at his opponent, startled and confused on what was happening.
"What the…"
"You didn't see or hear ANYTHING just now!"
Infinite showed Sonic around, made him watch the Resistance´s struggle against the Eggman Empire´s forces. Then he took out his red saber.
"I´ve really had it with you! I just wanted to escape the emptiness, but you and your friends have to ruin in it all! I will make an example of all of you!"
The weapon´s blade glowed and vibrated as it was filled with energy. Infinite raised it wide over his head, determined to first destroy Sonic´s Super State and then cut of his legs. The speedster himself was struggling to think his next steps, his mind in a haze from panic by the sheer intensity and hatred in Infinite´s visible eye, as well as the visions he had shown him. And the weird thing that he had said…
Just when the reality manipulator was ready to swing the saber, he stilled. Both he and Sonic looked around as they felt an unknown energy rising. And looked directly into the epicenter of Ruby´s empowered silver light when it was unleashed. Now, since neither Infinite nor Sonic were darkness given form and corrupted by hatred and a desire to destroy all live, they weren't vaporized. But they still stared directly into an incredible bright light.
They closed their burning eyes and clenched their teeth in pain. However, trough it all, Sonic could feel the grasp of Infinite´s grasp around his neck loosen and he reacted. He pulled his legs close and kicked the entity away. Pain exploded in Infinite´s abdominal region as he was sent flying, the saber knocked out of his hand, and barely managed to stop over the mountains of Mortar Canyon.
Infinite shook his head and looked around. His eyes had managed to recover somewhat. So had Sonic´s. The speedster came flying toward him, activating a golden Boost. Infinite focused his power and came in a similar move, surrounded by glitchy red energy, dashing toward the hedgehog. The fighters crashed into each other, pushing and pressing against the strength of the other. Infinite was able to heighten the gravity underneath them, causing them to descend downwards. During their fall, the duo exchanged punches and kicks with each other until they crashed into the earth.
Dust rose up in a cloud. The seven Chaos Emeralds flew out from it and scattered into all directions. When the dust settled, it showed Sonic, in his regular form, standing in a crater. He was breathing heavily with both of his hands on his legs, when he heard a laugh. He looked up at Infinite hovering over the edge of the crater. Despite the cracks of the Phantom Ruby, his body retained some glow of his Overclock form.
"Well well well, will you look at that. Your precious Emeralds have reached their limit and abandoned you. Meanwhile, I am still retaining some of my power." Infinite landed on the ground, still looking down on Sonic, and raised his hands. Red energy orbs were created above their palms. "You said you cant run forever that even you will have to face your end. Heh heh… it appears that end is me. Tell me Sonic…"
The masked foe readied his arms to throw his projectiles.
"Who is gonna save you now."
It was a rhetorical question, yet one that got an answer when Tails and Ruby appeared behind Infinite. He and Sonic had crashed close to them after just defeating the Wyvern. Quickly catching on what was going on, the two did quietly as possible sneak up on the entity as he was talking down to Sonic. And now they jumped onto him.
Tails´ namesakes curled around his right arm and pulled it down. Ruby arched Crescent Rose over the entity´s left wrist and pulled it down as well.
Infinite was caught off guard by them, so they managed to put his arms down, canceling his attack and making stand there open and exposed.
"SONIC NOW!" Ruby and Tails yelled while at the same time nodding at the red gem. Both Sonic and Infinite caught on and reacted. But to the misfortune of the latter, Sonic was still, no matter how many tricks Infinite pulled out, the Fastest Thing Alive.
Infinite was quick to gather energy for a teleport, but Sonic was quicker in dashing right in front of the masked foe, grabbing the Phantom Ruby and pulling his arm back.
The red gem as torn out of the jackals chest, wires and bio mechanical veins dangling from it.
"UUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaarrghhh!"
The masked mobian was shacking like he was having a seizure as the leftover energy of the Overclock Form was erupting out of a bleeding wound in his chest, getting sucked into the cracked Phantom Ruby. The red gem vibrated and pulsated nervously before it disappeared in an explosion if glitches.
The jackal in Ruby´s and Tails´ grasp made made a gurgle like sound and went limp. The duo let him fall to the ground. Then they jumped to an exhausted Sonic, looking confused at his hand that was just holding the Phantom Ruby before, and buried him underneath their relieved hugs.
All the terror and confusion that had build up during his fight with Overclock Infinite washed away when he felt his friends close to him, relived to feel their warmth. A sign that they were alive and well.
"Sonic, you did it!"
"Hey, we did it. If you didn't help me there… things would have gotten ugly. I guess that mysterious light helped to, even if my eyes are still a bit sore."
"Oh that´s… uh I guess that was me," Ruby said. She and the mobians got up from the ground.
"Judging from the lack of a giant Grimm dragon prowling around I guess you unlocked something regarding your eyes?" asked Sonic the human girl. Ruby shuffled around a bit as she tried to recall what happened.
"I… I´m not sure. I mean, I guess I did, but everything happened so fast. And when Tails got eaten I just-"
"Wait, Tails got WHAT?!"
"Don't worry, I´m fine." Tails raised his hands in a placating manner.
Before their exchange could continue, it was interrupted by grunting. The jackal stirred. Immediately Ruby went to Crescent Rose, which she had dropped when she gave Sonic her stormy hug, and aimed it as a sniper rifle at the masked mobian. Tails did the same thing with his Double-Wispon. Sonic took a battle ready stance. All three of them were ready for whatever kind of attack their enemy would try at them. Except none came.
The jackal got slowly up on shaky legs and fumbled with the mask as wheezing sound came from beneath it, like its wearer had trouble breathing. He managed to tear it from his head and throw it away. The mask clanked against the ground while the jackal was having a coughing fit and put a hand on the wound on his chest. When it was done, he looked a this other hand.
"I am… alive…?" he said in a rough voice.
"Well, we aren't the kind of people to finish off our opponent outside of a battle when they are powerless and weak. But I guess that would be another thing you wouldn't understand about us, Infinite."
At Sonic´s words the jackal looked up. A familiar golden-yellowish eye looked at him and his friends, although it wasn't trough a red visor anymore. And it was joined by a clear, blue one. Aside from that and the white scar the face looked pretty normal for a mobian. And to the trio´s great confusion a bitter, sad and tired smile appeared on said face.
"You want to have squabble with Infinite? Well, sorry to disappoint you but you are at the wrong address with me. You would have better said those words to the rock you tore out of my chest."
It took a while for the meaning of these words to sink in.
"Wait," Tails begun. "Are you telling us Infinite was actually the Phantom Ruby itself the whole time?"
The jackal raised a shaky finger at him and said: "100 point for you, fox boy. Yeah, that masked foe that has terrorized you was nothing but a piece of mineral playing god or something like that. Me? I´m just the sorry devil that was just as a host."
"Wait, then who are you?" Ruby asked with a mixture of confusion and slight concern, for her eyes wandered to the chest wound of the stranger.
"And how do we know that isn't a trick? Like, you are Infinite but without the power you are trying to be spared by appealing to our mercy."
"My name… is Zero. Zero the leader of the Jackal Squad. And on how to show that I´m saying the truth…" The newly christened Zero shrugged. "I have no idea. I have no proof to show you nor can I fault you not for believing me. I… it was…"
The jackal was having another coughing fit. He pressed his hand tighter to the wound on his chest.
Ruby, Tails and Sonic exchanged look. Then the two former of the trio decided to lower their weapons. If this Zero was lying and actually being Infinite then he wasn't a threat to any of them in his current state. But if he was telling the truth then, and they were all sure about that, they had a lot to talk about.
And here is a twist regarding my version of Infinite. I went with the theories some people had before the release of Sonic Forces that the Phantom Ruby was the actual Infinite possessing some mobian and having taken over their mind and personality. There was a reason why I had Infinite to be addressed as `entity´, `reality manipulator´ and such but never as jackal or mobian. Only in times were it was actually Zero taking somewhat control and showing his true self. Now what has happened to him will be explored next chapter. And don't forget, even with Infinite out of the way there is still one big threat left.
To ranjira1988: Well you´ve left quite the amount of chapters behind. I do agree with most of what you´ve written, especially the silver eye part. That was my thought process and one of the reasons why I decided to add it to Ruby´s character.
To Haxorus knight: They will recover actually much earlier. By now the two of them have gotten used to tight situations and Ruby was able to destroy the Wyvern before terrible things could happen to Tails.
To Grand Chaos Master: I have never played 06 but I am familiar with the story and lore and I´m honestly not sure what you are talking about? Do you mean the Duke of Soleanna when he sealed Iblis inside Elise? I am pretty sure he died due to internal injuries he received when he was blown away by the explosion of the Solaris Project. He was already all weak and shaky when he was handing Shadow the Scepter of Darkness, ergo: before he used the two Chaos Emeralds.
To quirky2023: Oh, thank you. I´m happy you like it so much.
As for the sequel, I actually had a Super Blake vs. Knight bossfight planned but scrapped it due to how the story will play out. Sorry. Tough I can promise that each member will have their time to shine in the sequel one way or another.
To Monster King: Thank you. We are getting close to the end.