Spike closed her eyes, ready for Infinite to bring down her final end...Until a beam of blue energy shot out in front of her, accompanied by a simple cry of, "-NO!-"
Spike looked up to see Cyber standing over her with Jack's energy sword activated in her hand, the unstable rainbow appearance it usually had replaced by a steady, consistent blue thanks to the power of the Chaos Emerald. The emerald crackled a bit in the presence of the ruby on Infinite's chest, but its power remained true enough to keep the blade stable. "Cyber, how did you-?"
"-I'm not sure.-" Cyber replied, pushing Infinite away. "-But I know what I have to do.-"
Infinite laughed. "I know you...The one that got away! HA! Typical of you hero types to throw your life away after you just BARELY managed to escape with it!" Infinite took a ready stance with his sword. "Guess I'll just have to finish the job, then!"
Cyber lunged forward, and a brief exchange of swings and parries was had between herself and the jackal before she finally managed to break through his defenses, cutting his arm.
"First blood. Not bad." He said, before resuming the fight. The two became a blur as strikes began to slip through their routine, some from Infinite, but most of them from Cyber. Finally, she managed to overcome him to the point where he was laid out on his back, his blade dissipated, and Cyber ready to slash his throat then and there...
"CYBER, NO!" Spike cried out.
"END IT, CYBER! NOW'S YOUR CHANCE!" Edge yelled.
Infinite laughed yet again. "It's funny...I thought, all that time ago, that your BOYFRIEND was the one with the capacity to ascend to my level...But you? Hatred and anger radiates off of you like an ever-flowing fountain!"
Cyber didn't waiver her hand, but Infinite's words began to affect her. "It would seem that, like me, the senseless slaughter of your team has FREED you. I could make use of one like yourself!"
"-I'M NOTHING LIKE YOU!-" Cyber said, raising her blade, before hesitating, staring down at Infinite. Was he right? She had felt so much anger after what he had done to her. A hatred unlike anything she had ever experienced before. She had broken rules, betrayed the trust of friends, and let herself act in a way she had never seen herself act before...
But did she want to live like that forever? Had Infinite been at a similar crossroads in his life before, which ultimately led him here?
She looked at the emerald in her blade. The emerald had only let her use it when Spike was endangered, and thoughts of vengeance had momentarily left her mind. One of the many theories around the Chaos Emeralds was that the emeralds only worked when one had pure intentions, a sureness that what one was doing was the right thing...
And perhaps THAT is why it didn't work before. Because, although she had briefly faltered, she hadn't done so completely. Her intentions weren't "pure" in that sense. Because, in the end, she just wasn't the type of person Infinite was.
And thus, she held her grief tight to her chest, and made her decision.
"Cyber?" Spike said, before the canary raised her blade again, then cut the Valtron from Infinite's chest, ridding him of his power, and freeing Spike and Edge from their restraints. Cyber helped the hedgehog to her feet.
"You okay?" Spike asked. Cyber gave her a solemn look. "-I bent, but I won't break.-"
The two women embraced in a hug, grateful that this ordeal was over...Before Edge noticed something happening to Infinite. "Uh, guys?"