24 - Catfight - 24

July 21st - West Side Island - Chemical Plant Ruins

Eggman's Hidden Underground Base

DAY 11: Monday

Morning, 5:55 AM

The sheer height and mass of the Chemical Plant ruins was nearly astronomical. It was practically a miniature city, it's machinery and functions as large as buildings. The entire perimeter, despite how large it was, was completely gated off with old barbed wire fencing and tall metal sheets. "Keep Out," "Danger" and "Restricted Area" signs were all over the factory. Even if someone wanted to break in, they'd have to climb several feet before being able to hop the rusty sharp razors sewn on the trims. Old stains of oil and other atypical colors had faded against the ground. Any foliage around the area was dead and shriveled up like a prune, nearly wasting away as dust particles from the gruesome effects of the chemicals that used to pump in and out of the place drifted in the air. Even local wild animals of West Side Island avoided this place like the plague, as they weren't spotted for miles from this area. It was just another product of Eggman's goal to destroy the beauty of nature, and use it for his own gain in the most malicious, anti-eco friendly way possible. Honestly if the blue blur was never born, this planet would have been a wasteland by now.

To see the place where the hero and his little brother slash sidekick first kicked off their adventures together as a team, was incredibly fascinating. The area was extremely dangerous, even now with it being abandoned and zoned off to the public. It's amazing that two small Mobian children managed to bring the whole thing down to its knees all in one single fight. The pungent smell of scientific liquids and chemical properties would cause anyone's nose to wrinkle harshly. Despite it not being operated in over an entire decade, it still had the strong scent of a mad scientist's lair. And little did anyone else know, it was. Getting inside was easy, all the ultimate life form had to do was simply perform a high jump up over the barricades. The huge, towering entrance of two thick metal doors were already broken open, one of them on the ground after being torn off the big rusted hinges. Once he entered, he decided not to waste too much time and zoom his way in with some speed. He dodged over broken scrap piles of severely dated badniks, destroyed machinery and ruined life sized tubes of old unknown contaminated liquids. They were some security doors but they were already too damaged to even see as a roadblock, so he just boosted through them. The lightning was nearly nonexistent, and the few lights that did work were buzzing creepily in certain corridors and pathways.

There were looping walkable pipes that could no longer pump still chemicals, and faded toxic paint drawn on the walls directed him to the elevator hall. When he skidded to a stop, he looked up to see the looming elevators, one of which he remembered Eggman said was still operable despite its appearance. There were six in total, so he wasn't sure which—until he saw that same toxic paint that had vandalized the fourth one down. It was freshly used, he could tell because it had only dried hours ago. There was a drip that dried into place, and the words said: "This one," making it much more obvious. This could easily be a trap, however, he had a feeling this was Infinite's doing. After all, this was new paint and he wanted him to meet up today at this specific time. If it was a trap, he'd be ready. Besides, he already had a backup that was on his way already. He walked towards it, and the doors opened automatically. A light struggled to spotlight from within, allowing him to enter. He stepped in cautiously, and without him even having to touch anything, it immediately closed its doors and descended downwards at a hyper pace. The speed of its descent was almost stomach churning, like a rocket. It was similar to those vomit-inducing rides in amusement parks. After a single minute, he was glad it was over with. It didn't make him sick of course, but it was a bit uncomfortable.

The rickety elevator doors opened, leading him to a path that looked far better than the previous area. The metals on the walls and floors were clean, brand new and much sturdier. In fact, it didn't appear to be just normal metal, but chromium. This kind of material resisted very high temperature, which made sense since he was heavily underground now and closer to the planet's core. He walked more slowly this time, eyeing his surroundings with lightly amber red glowing eyes. While the lighting was better and actually working correctly, it was still somewhat dim in here. Everything was quiet, and the only thing he could hear were his air shoes clanking against the smooth floors. While walking, he looked down at his wrist before a red holographic appeared above his limiter ring. The time was 5:58, the awaited time was just two minutes ahead of him. As he traveled further down the corridor, he stumbled upon an area of several rooms with high-tech electric sliding doors. These were most likely Eggman's labs, and one of them looked extremely large. The door to this one however, was open. It didn't close on it's own. He peaked in only to see a complete mess. Monitors and computers were destroyed against the floor, torn and corroded paper was strewn all over, there was broken glass everywhere and there was even some fire damage in here. But worst of all, in the center of the room, was a life pod that had been smashed into. The ebony red striped hedgehog narrowed his eyes.

What happened in here?

6:00 AM

The sound of a pair of footsteps that were not his own echoed behind him. Shadow slowly turned around to see the very person he was looking for. A jackal Mobian of slightly taller than average height stood before him. His monochromatic fur was gleaming and healthy, his dreadlocks were perfectly upkempt, his limbs and body was still fit and not at all malnourished, and his heterochromic eyes were still very vivid with color. Yet...Something felt wrong. His eyes...They seemed...Clouded. Conflicted with an emotion that was unreadable. And let's not forget, he was just recently experimented on with very painful procedures. His body was still hearty and active, and his fur was so clean that it almost...Seemed fake. It's odd, because Shadow knew this wasn't a robot in front of him, yet his entire body seemed synthetic. Even his posture felt too straight, and his expression was empty. Then he saw that cursed ruby sitting upon his chest, and Shadow could see that it was painstakingly implanted within his flesh. There was no tearing that thing off without damaging some major nerves. The air around him was so weird, and Shadow had a sneaking suspicion that Infinite was up to something-

"...?"

...Oh.

He...Hugged him.

Infinite was hugging him.

Why, though?

Sure they weren't enemies necessarily, at least not as of right now, but they weren't friends. They weren't close enough for him to be doing this. Well, Shadow did hug him that one time last week, but that was only because the jackal was having a mental breakdown. He had to do something. Oof, he hoped he didn't start an unrequited friendship by doing that. After all, this was still a highly dangerous criminal that needed to be detained. He couldn't be making friends with someone like this so easily. Blinking, Shadow just awkwardly patted his shoulder. "Err," This was an odd start. "I see you're doing a lot better than I thought."

Realizing that what he was doing was indeed a little uncalled for, Infinite instantly pulled himself away and took a step back with an apologetic expression. "S...Sorry about that. And, yes. I'm okay." He looked down at the gem on his pectoral area with a frown. "As you can see, I have the ruby. Of course, I won't be getting rid of it any time soon without a painful consequence."

Shadow nodded with sympathy. "No kidding, it's like the doctor infused it into your skin under your fur. Does it hurt?"

The jackal shook his head. "Not anymore, but it hurt like hell on earth when he first installed it." He tapped it with a black-glove clawed finger. When he did, Shadow noticed his yellow and blue eyes flashed with a magenta color. Was that the icosahedron's power? And what was that power exactly?

"Infinite," Shadow addressed respectfully. "What power does that thing have? Is it similar to a chaos emerald?"

Infinite briefly adverted his eyes before landing his attention back to Shadow. "Honestly, it's amazing." He smiled a little. "This gem can do a lot of extraordinary things, things that can be done in the blink of an eye, things that shouldn't even be possible." He lightly dragged his nails against the gem, the smile growing. "I hate that I'll probably have this on my body forever, but using it is a feeling like no other."

The biohog shook his head. "No, I'm positive GUN's surgeons can find a way to-"

"No!"

"..." Shadow rose a brow. That was quite the outburst.

With shaking eyes, Infinite cleared his throat and tried to brush off the odd reaction. "...Sorry again. It's just, well," He looked a little nervous about something. "Shadow, I found my family here. They were roboticized, but this ruby saved them." He exclaimed with hope. "I reversed the effect, and I put them back together. They're Mobian again!"

He saved them? "What do you mean? And," He realized the bigger question was surrounding him. "What happened in this room?"

Suddenly, the jackal grasped his wrists excitedly. "I can show you everything. Come with me-"

"Wooooahhh...That's a cool lookin' stone ya got there."

A startling flinch shocked Infinite's nerves. His body froze as he dropped Shadow's wrists from his hands, before slowly looking upwards.

"Oh good," Shadow greeted the newcomer. "You're finally here. Fashionably late, as always." He then noticed Infinite's reaction, sensing fear in his eyes.

Was he scared? "...Who...Why..." The ex-mercenary mumbled with a shaky voice. Suddenly sitting on a broken, linear ceiling light that was literally hanging by an exposed wire, was Sonic the Hedgehog, smirking down at them both. His eyes suddenly stared at Infinite, causing him to back away a few steps. Amused by this, Sonic simply tilted his head with that smile that just wouldn't go away. Those eyes...Those lime green eyes...They were peering right through him, judging him, analyzing him. It was doing something to him, it was scaring him. The biohog was puzzled by this expression as the jackal pointed with clenched teeth. "W-Why...Why is he here!?" He yelled.

Judging by that reaction, Eggman wasn't kidding about those visions. Infinite indeed saw them as well about Sonic. Shadow stood in front of the jackal to get his attention. "Infinite, he's with me. I asked him to come along. Look," He frowned at his assumption from a few flimsy visions. "I don't care what that ruby or the doctor told you, faker is no villain. Understand?" Behind him, the blue hedgehog jumped down from the light fixture and casually reached his arms behind his head in a laidback position. Shadow crossed his arms. "Besides, this is my mission. He knows this is crucial, and knows not to act out unless I give him expressed permission."

The hero gave him a small pout. "'Don't gotta talk about me like I'm not even in the room..."

"'Point is," Shadow said. "If for some ridiculous reason faker were to pull something on you, he'd stop if I told him to. In other words, as long as you don't do anything rash, my word is golden and you're safe. Got it?"

With a nervous swallow, the jackal kept his eyes on the blue blur, who was currently picking his ear with his pinky. He didn't understand how a bumbling idiot like this managed to ally himself with Shadow. But it didn't matter, because to him, this bumbling idiot was beyond dangerous. Even though Shadow promised to keep the fool on a leash, he couldn't completely trust that for sure. He'd have to be careful. "...Fine." He grunted reluctantly. But he wouldn't be giving that hedgehog any attention, and he'd pretend as if he wasn't here. He turned his back towards them and began exiting the room. "Follow me." He said, mostly talking to Shadow.

Both hedgehogs glanced at each other with unsure expressions before doing as they were told. However, Sonic made sure to be behind Shadow, that way he wouldn't tick Infinite off any further. He'd also keep mostly quiet, because he knew he'd probably be ignored anyway. As of right now, he was enemy number one to this guy so it'd be disadvantageous to piss him off any more than he already had. Sonic knew how to read the room without uttering a word to his lover. When they exited the room, they continued to travel down the long hallway in silence. As they did, Shadow could hear the hero sniffing from behind him. When he glanced at him, he saw that Sonic was in deep thought about something else. Did he smell something? He'd ask, but he didn't want to disrupt the quiet, as he could tell Infinite wouldn't have liked that. He hated operating on someone else's pace, but he had to in order to complete this mission. He'd ask what Sonic was doing later.

"By the way," Infinite suddenly said before plucking a dying blue spine onto the floor. It had weak sparks of amber red electricity around it, until it quickly faded into gray with the embers floating into the ether. "Here's your disgusting spine back."

To this, Sonic furrowed his brows as he looked down at the tiny dead appendage. "...Yeah that's mine, but I ain't throw a spike in ya. After all, we've never met."

Infinite then gave Shadow a look, who held up a hand to relieve his concerns. He wouldn't let the mercenary believe it was Sonic who did this. "I'm the one who stuck it in you, Infinite. I used that to keep surveillance on you. I apologize that it was done without your knowledge, but I needed to keep tabs on you. You know that."

The jackal only kept walking. "Hmph." Was all that he replied with. They then approached the end of the hallway, which had a more open area. It was circular, the floor had an arrow pointing upwards and a railing lining the shape of the area. On the back of the wall was a digital pad that had a locked symbol on the screen. When they all stepped on it, Infinite placed his palm on the pad, allowing it to scan his hand. After a few seconds, it beeped and the locked symbol turned green. The arrow below them lit up with an LED light, and the railing surrounding them closed completely to seal the opening. Curved glass suddenly surrounded them, and the floor began to shake. It was an elevator.

Sonic leaned against the railing and looked up at the ceiling, while Shadow glanced at the jackal with thousands of questions flooding his brain. "Infinite, this base was tailored to and made by Eggman. How are you unlocking security clearances to use this elevator?"

"I told you," Infinite replied. "This ruby can do a lot of things that should seem impossible. I used it to fully override his authority over the power of the base. Anything that belonged to him," The magenta stone glimmered ominously, a spark of matching color surging through it. "Now belongs to me."

Meanwhile, the hero had his eyes closed, still deep in thought as he sniffed a few times again. When he did, he made a repulsed expression. He opened his eyes and then looked away from the jackal's direction. He looked really uncomfortable all of a sudden, as if he didn't want to be anywhere near the mercenary. Actually, his quills were a little raised and he was tapping his foot, almost as if he was irritated. Shadow noticed this, the energy between both him and Infinite was odd. Did Sonic know something that he didn't? The biohog glared at him, and Sonic could feel it. He gazed in his direction and their eyes locked. Silently, Shadow gave him a look as to say, "What's wrong?"

Sonic just shook his head with a concerned look in his eyes. In other words, "Can't talk now. He's watching us." With a small exasperated sigh, Shadow left it be. He hated this meaningless tension, and he hated even more that he didn't understand what Sonic was getting at. They'd have to wait until they were safely away from Infinite's presence. As they continued to ascend, a pit began to form in Shadow's stomach. First, he developed romantic feelings for the hero of Mobius. Sonic may or may not be some harbinger of destruction from a dangerous ancient race of unknown beings. Eggman gets arrested by some Sonic lookalike, taking him out of the playing field indefinitely and forever imprisoned without ever being able to think properly again. That same lookalike not only kicked their asses, but was inches from kidnapping them. Infinite gets handed unknown power that he was obviously not willing to give up, and now both Sonic and the prisoner he's been working with for two weeks were acting awfully dubious. These incidents seemed as if they were falling dominoes, going down the lines of events waiting to happen. He had a really bad feeling all of a sudden.

Just what was going on?

The elevator suddenly came to a stop, and the curved glass walls opened and the railing shutting them off from exiting descended back into the floor. Infinite was the first to move to exit, and the other two hedgehogs followed cautiously. It was yet another corridor, however, they could tell they were several feet away from the main base. Not only that but, there was natural light at the end of the hallway, as if there was a window letting in sunlight. As they walked in deeper, they saw other Mobians around. They weren't just normal Mobians either, they were all jackals. Most of them were guarding the hall or the locked doors lining the corridor, saluting or nodding to Infinite with a smile. But the moment Sonic walked past, they scowled at him. The hero just rolled his eyes at them and continued to move without causing further strife. Meanwhile, Shadow was shocked. Weren't these the jackals that Eggman supposedly roboticized? Some of them even greeted Infinite, saying, "Hey boss," or, "Glad to have you back, boss."

What the hell did the biohog miss? "Are these...Members of the Jackal Squad?" He asked curiously.

Infinite nodded as they continued. "Yes." He replied with a small smile. "With the ruby's power, I was able to reverse what Eggman had done to them."

"That's amazing," Sonic commented as he looked around. "There's a lot of small animals and even a few people who are victims of Eggman's roboticization. That ruby could do a lot of good and heal them."

The jackal suddenly scoffed. "I have no reason to do such a thing."

The hero paused with a frown. "...Really?" He glowered at the jackal and continued with a slightly raised voice. "Roboticization is basically having your soul and flesh ripped from your own body, still living consciously as some empty robotic husk. It's a living hell for anyone or anything to fall victim to. I've seen first hand what it can do to people and animals, even as a kid. Do you have any idea how much of a miracle it would be if you used that ruby to do to them what you did for your squad? You'd save a lot of people's lives."

Infinite stopped moving. "And I have no intention of doing so. That's simply not my responsibility." He then slowly turned to the side. "Unless of course, you find that to be an issue? If that's the case, that's too bad."

Suddenly, the hero shut his mouth and diverted his gaze. "..." Shadow didn't like that, it was bad whenever Sonic didn't continue running his mouth. He was trying his best not to irritate the jackal for Shadow's sake, but it was getting harder for him. The blue blur suddenly shrugged. "Meh, I guess that's fine. Do whatever you want, you're not necessarily my responsibility either." He simply replied with much less emotion.

Feeling the tension growing even more tense, Shadow cleared his throat. "Infinite, what are your plans? What are you trying to do with the ruby?"

"I'm glad you asked." Infinite replied with a softer tone.

As they neared the end of the hallway, there was a large chromium door that was slightly ajar. The light was coming from inside. When the hedgehog duo walked inside, they noticed that this was a circular area as well, except this was a full blown rotunda. It was very clean and spacious, with a single long, curved, chrome metallic desk in the middle with a dash board that was just as lengthy and intricate. Monitors were set up around it, hanging from the ceiling and showing various levels of data. Some detailing the electrical functions of the Chemical Plant ruins, and some describing the status of the many machines and robotic commands that were installed within the base. There were holographic pillars of text beside it, constantly changing and rewriting itself to properly update the user of the base's status. Two large wide pipes paralleled both sides of the room against the wall, pumping bright pink Mega Mack, the chemically infused pink water Sonic once had to avoid as a child. And just ahead of it all was a large window of thick glass, allowing natural sunlight to pour in. This was definitely Eggman's main base of operations, this very room. Sonic immediately went to the window to look out of it, as he was a little confused. If the base was underground, how was there a window here? When he looked out, he saw the many tall structures of the ruins attempting to tower beside this room, but they couldn't match up.

This meant that this was the highest point of the ruins. Eggman didn't just operate underground, he secretly remodeled the inside of the ruins to be able to install a working elevator that would allow him to travel up to the highest point of the plant. After all, there didn't seem to be any other section of the plant of a higher floor that they could access. Smart...Eggman truly thought of everything. If someone did find out he operated underground, they wouldn't think to try and find a way to a higher story of the building if the rest of the plant seemed completely destroyed from the outside. That way, if he was ever discovered, anything that was hidden in this room would never be found. No one would ever think he had a place to hide and work up here as well. The two hedgehogs did notice however, that the usual color of LED and neon lights powering the machines didn't match the others from the underground area. The color here was the same as the ruby: Magenta. Infinite must have used the gem to corrupt everything that was functioning inside of this room, working only under his power. The jackal stepped behind the desk and lowered his clawed hand to press a few keys. Once he did, both of the holographics beside the desk revealed a digital map of Empire City. A bunch of red circles appeared in certain areas of the maps, a couple of which looked like major populated areas.

"Dr. Eggman had hidden missiles aimed at these locations of the city, and a bigger one aimed at the rest of the country. He had these ready to detonate in the event that he would be killed." He pressed another key, and the red circles marking the map faded away. A text appeared saying: "Missiles deactivated." With just a push of a button, Infinite prevented a potential large scale crisis. "With the ruby's power, I control this base and all of its functions now. Which means, I can do practically anything I want." He turned to Shadow and walked very closely to him, his tone quiet so the other hedgehog in the room couldn't hear. "I'm going to use this base to install myself back in the underworld, assert my dominance over anyone who ever stood against me and my group." A sinister smile grew across his white muzzle. "I'll be feared more than ever before, and no one'll be able to resist. Shadow," He offered his hand. "This is the start of something hopelessly extraordinary! Come," Magenta flared through his irises, and the ruby began to sparkle. "Join me, I need someone like you. You'll be the first outsider to join the Jackal Squad, and the second strongest of the group. I'll give you as much authority as you want. We could travel from coast to coast, country to country and finally get what we truly deserve. Together, you and I could bring the world to its knees, and no one will ever take from us again." The ultimate life form slowly looked at his empty hand. "Please," His voice became eerie, suddenly ringing and echoing in his head. It was the only thing he could hear. "Just say 'yes'."

Shadow was...stuck.

"..." He couldn't look away, something was locking him in place. He couldn't get Infinite's words from his mind, yet he knew he didn't want to listen to this nonsense. If he was resisting, why couldn't he stop repeating his words in his head?

Why couldn't he escape his gaze?

"Mind if I interrupt?" And like that, Shadow regained control of his mind. He blinked and shook his head, a headache growing in his brain. He noticed that Sonic had walked over and he didn't look very impressed. He poked Shadow, who flinched in response. He was fully alert, now. "'Kay," Sonic raised a brow at the two. "Don't know what that was about, but..." He glowered at Infinite. "I know damn well you ain't usin' this place for good. Like I said, you ain't really an issue...For now." His green eyes flashed a sense of a hazardous challenge. "However, if you pull anything the moment Shadow and I leave this place, all bets are off. You do anything with this base that damages or destroys anything, even a flower pot, and then you'll officially become my problem."

With a growl, Infinite seized Shadow's arm. "Shadow, listen to me." He suddenly spoke with great urgency. "This...Rat," He hissed with hatred, to which the hero only scoffed. "He's going to eventually destroy the planet. With this base and the ruby, I can prevent that from happening. I need you to join me so I can protect you!"

Sonic started to snort. "'Protect' him? Oh that is precious."

Meanwhile, Shadow didn't know how to react or respond to any of this. "...Infinite, Sonic isn't-"

"He is! Eggman wasn't lying, I'm not being biased. He ruined my family, why would I take his word as gospel if I hated him?!" Infinite shouted desperately. "I saw exactly what he saw with this ruby: That fucking abomination-" He pointed a finger to the blue blur. "-Is a monster in sheep's clothing! You can't trust him. In just a few weeks time, this entire planet is going to hell! But," His hand began to caress the underside of Shadow's palm, his fingers lightly grazing the inside of his glove. This caused the biohog to stare in confusion. The jackal leaned closely with a sneer that didn't look as friendly, as it was something else entirely. "...If you join me, we could take him down together. You don't have to betray your friends. Just tell GUN I'm dead. I promise, no one will ever know that I got away. I'll do my thing, and you do yours, but we can both protect this world together. I'll make sure he doesn't hurt you, and I'll give you anything and everything you could possibly want or need. I promise you, Shadow."

...

...Gradually, Shadow took his hand away while taking a step back.

"...The hell are you on about?" He suddenly replied with the same amount of bafflement as he felt just seconds ago. "While I respect and pity you, I am in no way your ally. I don't ally myself with criminals who do nothing but harm the earth. Like I said, my mission is to secure the objective of taking down Dr. Robotnik and having you arrested by the end of it. The initial objective has been completed by outside means, therefore, you and I no longer need to work together. It's over." He readjusted his glove that was needlessly toyed with as he sternly retorted to Infinite's ridiculous promises. "I keep telling you, Sonic is not a monster. I will not repeat myself again. Now, it's time for you to be escorted to Prison Island like we initially agreed." He made a pitying frown. "Don't make me do this the hard way, Infinite. Just come along peacefully."

Then, the jackal tilted his head. He made a scowl of abhorrence. "...You're fucking him, aren't you?"

Oh.

He just...Came out and said it.

Well then.

Clearing his throat, Shadow tried to remedy such a lewd statement. "That's none of your-"

"Yeah he is." Sonic suddenly replied casually. He then smirked. "What of it?"

"...!?" Shadow whipped his head at the hero. "Sonic-!"

"No, no, no..." Sonic playfully wagged his finger. "If the man wants to put himself in my personal business," The blue hedgehog suddenly stepped right in front of the jackal, his face close to his own with a threatening aura. "Let 'em keep talkin'. After all, it's not a lie, right?" He asked rhetorically. "Yeah, Shadow fucks me. Fucks me real good, too. Got a problem with that, doggy?" His smirk grew as Infinite snarled at him.

"Disgusting pig!" He spat. "You're taking advantage of him!"

A mocking chortle left the hero's lips. "'Taking advantage of him'? Homie, you don't know what I do to this guy late at night, but I sure as hell ain't doin' that. I don't need to," He placed his hands on his hips sensually and winked. "He pins me down all on his own~"

Infinite gritted his teeth angrily. "Fucking repulsive pincushion...! I should kill you! You're nothing but a leech on the very world you claim to love so much! You're just a slimy liar who sleeps his way around Mobius to gain more popularity! You really think your fans genuinely love you that much? Guess again, you shameless whore!"

With a yawn, Sonic turned away and began picking at his nails, even though they were covered by his gloves. So he wasn't even picking at anything, he just didn't give Infinite his attention. "Yeah, yeah, sure...All that good stuff. You got a social media account or somethin'? Go spam your complaints about me on there, incel. You'll be like, the five thousandth person to do so." The blue hedgehog then chuckled while shaking his head. "Heheh, what a waste of time. Babe," He turned to Shadow. "The hell is this? He an ex of yours or something? I mean," He eyed Infinite up and down. "I kinda see where you were coming from...? He's got a nice body maybe, but he's totes not cute in the face. At the end of the day, he's just some edgy loser goin' on a power trip. He's super mid at best."

Holy shit, was this actually happening right now?

"...I..." Shadow had no words.

"Babe...?!" Infinite's fur became more than rustled with anger. The jackal shoved his finger against Sonic's chest, who glanced at him with a bored expression. "Just admit that you're a Chaos Born, born to wreak havoc and enslave everyone on the globe. Admit that you're a fraud in front of Shadow, right here and now! Tell him the truth!"

"Buddy, I got no idea what the fuck you're even spewin' right now, but I do suggest you take your greasy paws off me before you and your cute little crystal gem gets hurt."

The ultimate life form could only watch in silence.

This is really happening right now.

Infinite slammed his forehead against Sonic's, his teeth gnashing and waiting to chew on his bones. "You're nothing but a pathetic worm suckling at the soles of his shoes. You're a disgrace to even call yourself a Mobian, you're just a lying monster! A revolting blight that destroys everything he touches!"

A nearly demonic glint sparked in Sonic's eyes, that were suddenly glowing that neon color again. "And what the fuck are you gonna do about it, puppy? You mad that I fuck your man better than you? No, wait..." That's when his eyes widened at the realization, and he started to laugh loudly. "Hahahaha! You never fucked Shadow, you just wish you did! Ohohoho my God, you are so pathetic!" He fanned himself from how hard he cackled, and his fangs sharpened as he mocked the jackal. "You want him soooo bad, but he'd never give you the time of day. That's miserable, and you are miserable. But, according to my nose..." He grinned. "You're a virgin, aren't you?" This caused the jackal to blush significantly, a flash of humiliation settling on his face. "I'm right, aren't I? I can smell how uptight you are, all in your desperate, nasty ass body. And you wanted Shadow to fix that for you, didn't you? After all, your hormones have been itchin' to make a grab at him this whole time. You reek of sexual tension almost more than you stink of wet dog." He then shoved himself against Infinite threateningly. "So you wanted Shadow to come here all by himself so you could try and pull something? Sounds like you're the one who wanted to take advantage of him, and I don't much appreciate that." His smirk turned from a leer, to a dangerous scowl. "Not only did you try to steal what's mine, you tried to manipulate him too. You had no idea Shadow had a friend—Oops, sorry— a boyfriend comin' along with him, and now you don't know how to act. Well allow me to take this time to knock you down a few pegs, you lowdown, thirsty, dirty, bitch."

The jackal lifted up his hand high with sharpened claws. "Piece of shit, I'll destroy you!"

Sonic's quills began to raise and sharpen, his fists tightening as he grinned heinously. "Bring it, fido!"

24 - END - 24