Tails and Ruby didn't take their eyes off Cinder for a second as she walked towards them at a slow and deceptively casual pace. Ruby took deep breaths to control her nervousness and did her best to ignore the throbbing in her forearm and back, the phantom pain of her scars reminding her all too well of what the vicious Fall Maiden was capable of. Her heart was pumping in a fast rate. The huntress-in-training steeled herself for what was about to come.
Last time ended horrible. But now I'm better prepared. I have gained experience of what Cinder´s cyborg body is capable of. And not only was I able to continue to improve with my training, but this time...
She looked over at Tails next to her. He sensed her gaze and returned it briefly. The fox could tell what was going through his friend's mind and gave her an encouraging nod before turning his eyes back to Cinder. Ruby did so too, the pounding of her heart calming and a small, determined smile appeared on her face.
...this time... I also have more support.
"So here we are again," Cinder began. One of her arms pointed at Ruby. "The little Rose who is always escaping her destiny." The arm then pointed at Tails. "And her new mutant pup friend, one of the critters who constantly helps her in said escape."
"True, we had to escape last time," said Tails. "But this time we are here to fight…"
"… and we will stop you and Infinite and Eggman!" Ruby finished.
"Right. Your attack on Metropolis was nothing but a fluke. A distraction for us so you could gather information. I have to say that you actually managed to pull the rug out from under me and the others. But this time, not only are you better prepared and aware of what's going on." The flaming energies of Maiden magic pulsed stronger from Cinder's organic eye. "But so are we. You're here to destroy the Phantom Ruby's reactor. And until that is accomplished, you so-called heroes won't budge until you win. Sonic and the other rodents will perish at Infinite's hands. But I am sure he will keep them long enough at bay that I can appear and show the hedgehog what a nice rug his freakish friend is."
Ruby growled at hearing this and fired a laser from her sniper rifle. Tails was quick to aid her attack by spewing a wave of fire from his Double-Wispon.
Cinder deflected the laser with a saber made of glowing volcanic glass, then threw out the rest of her hands to disperse the oncoming wave of fire with a violent gust of wind. She watched as the flames faded to smoke.
These attacks are based on alien energies but I wonder...
Cinder was able to immediately test out the little theory that formed in her head. Tails let Flare charge their energy inside the barrel of his weapon and shot a big fire ball at her.
The Cyborg Maiden had half of her arms aimed at the attack coming towards her, the other half had winds swirling around her fingers to be able to blow the flames away again, just to be on the safe side. But the pyromaniac could indeed feel the reach of her magic extend toward the hyper-go-on fire ball. It reached her, only to reform and dissipate into multiple tongues of flame that snaked around Cinder's arms and gathered in her palms. Before Tails and Ruby could react, the Cyborg Maiden returned fire to the fox, reinforced by Cinder's Semblance. The mobian rotated his namesakes and flew away from the impact zone. However, the resulting explosion was powerful enough to send him flying.
"TAILS!" Ruby shouted, but she had to shift her gaze from her friend to her enemy. Cinder rushed towards them with sabers in her four front hands. She raised her weapons and struck. Ruby held Crescent Rose in front of her and blocked the blows. She felt the strength behind them but pushed against Cinder´s with her own. The Fall Maiden gave the silver-eyed girl a snarl-like smile.
"Don't think that I have forgotten you. I want something from you too. It's still an eye for an eye between us." A hand tapped the Cyborg Maiden´s mechanical eye. "Whatever Grimm you were able to destroy in the corridors of the Death Egg, you should have enjoyed it more. After this fight, your power will finally belong to someone worthy!"
Cinder's smile dropped a little as Ruby just frowned at that statement.
"What are you talking about? What do the Grimm I killed have..."
She fell silent. While she was talking, Ruby's brain was going over the words Cinder had said, as well as all the things she and Tails were going over through her eyes, and was able to put two and two together.
The realization hit her.
"Are you saying the light from my eyes is able to harm the Grimm?!"
Cinder cursed and then said loudly, "Are you telling me came all the way here without using your power? Especially after what happened at Beacon Tower!"
As overwhelmed as Ruby was to have a clear answer about the mystery about her eyes, she forced her focus to stay on the fight.
"Unlike you, I learn and use my skills to solve my problems instead of just using sheer power in a brute force method."
Cinder gritted her teeth at this.
"You fool! I am the one who has trained and honed her abilities to get my power! YOU are the one that has only gotten to Beacon because Ozpin only needed your power! You have no rigth to talk like that, you are nothing but a puppet!"
She raised her free arms and shot columns of fire at Ruby. But the only thing they burned were some rose petals. A red cloud dashed away and Ruby manifested herself several steps away from Cinder, her sniper rifle at the ready. Despite the implications the Fall Maiden made, she remained focused. Ruby put her questions into a back corner of her mind and concentratet on her next attack. She aimed at her opponent, hesitated briefly, and then shot a laser at her. Cinder crossed her sabers in front of her to block the shot, but Tails hit her from behind with a Spindash, sending the Cyborg Maiden stumbling forward, causing Ruby's shot to hit her in the head. The force of the attack knocked her backwards, where Tails this time knocked her aside with his double tails. Cinder flew away and chrashed on the ground with a flickering Aura. Ruby narrowed her eyes as Tails quickly closed the distance between themselves.
"What is wrong?" hes asked when he noticed the expression on the human girl´s face.
"Its her Aura… last time it flickered strongly because it was unstable because of her additional limbs or something like that. But now it looks stable again."
Despite her enemies getting the drop on her, Cinder couldn't help but to chuckle a little as she got back on her feet.
"You are right little Rose. But did you really think I would let myself have such a glaring weakness without fixing it?"
The human and mobian duo looked at the Cyborg Maiden anxiously. Only then did they notice the crystal-like modification embedded in their opponent's chest area.
"Is that… some from of Chaos Cartridge for additional energy?" Tails wondered out loud.
"Indeed. I guess you are smarter than I credited you. Not that it will help you or Ruby here in the long run." Cinder dissolved her sabers. She knelt down and put half her hands onto the ground. "Not when the attacks of your weapons are entirely useless against me, their elements under my control!"
Several parts of the floor started glowing. The Fall Maiden raised the other half of her hands and created dark storm clouds. Thunder was echoing trough the hall. Huge pillars of fire erupted from the glowing areas and lightning struck.
Ruby and Tails had no choice but to dodge the massive amount of attacks. The lightning attacks in particular seemed to become more violent every second. It tested the speed and reaction time of the two to the hardest, forcing Tails to stay on the ground so as not to provide a better target for the lightning bolts. Even with Strom's help, who came flying out of the Double-Wispon and absorbed some attacks, it was a close call for Ruby and Tails.
Cinder watched them with an intense look.
Here on Mobius I am constantly reminded of the pain of my past. But I'm no longer that helpless girl I was back then. YOU ALL will now find out what it means to be shocked like a rabid dog!
Strom, full of crackling energy, went back to Tails´ weapon. The fox felt the fur on the back of his neck stand up and did a side roll when the spot where he was just standing was hit by a bolt of lightning. Blue eyes alternately looked from the storm clouds on the ceiling to Cinder, and then to the Double-Wispon. An idea started to form in his head. He rotated his tails and flew close to the ground toward Ruby, weaving between pillars of flame erupting here and there. The mobian reached his human companion and told her something. Ruby gave Tails a brief look and nodded. Cinder raised an eyebrow. She couldn't hear what the fox had said over the explosive noises of her attacks. But then she saw how Tails got closer to her with a raised weapon, energy charging inside the barrel, while Ruby used her Semblance to run quickly at Cinder´s left side.
I see. Trying to attack me from different angles. But you should know that wont work against me. Especially with your weapon, fox boy. And just when he had given praise to your intelligence, the Cyborg Maiden thought. One pair of her arms formed a bow and fired burning arrows at Ruby. The silver-eyed girl either dodged or destroyed the projectiles with shots of her own. Meanwhile, Tails had finished charging up his attack and had gotten close enough to Cinder. He took a firm stance and held his weapon with both hands. The Fall Maiden raised her remaining arms towards the mobian, ready to throw back the undoubtedly electric attack charged by her own.
I am the one that controls the lightning and it is time I showed it. No longer will I bow down to that childhood fear!
Except that the energy that came from the double Wispon was a flaming and pulsating orange. A huge plasma ball shot towards her.
What the- Cinder tried to influence it with her magic. She could feel the familiar traces of fire and lightning in the attack, but at the same time the energy was too different for her power to take control!
She tried to dodge, but Ruby, after ducking under three more arrows, managed to zero in on Cinder's left knee and hit it with a laser. The Cyborg Maiden staggered and was hit hard by the plasma. A massive explosion threw her backwards and made her crash into the other side of the hall. She fell down the wall and landed hard on the ground. Staggering, and with a flickering Aura, Cinder got back up.
"Wha… what was THAT?!"
Tails smiled. "Your improvement in elemental control actually caught me off guard. But unfortunately for you, I've included a special feature that can combine fire and lightning into something else. Plasma. My now proven theory was that the Fall Maiden magic and your enhanced Semblance could not control it, as it is not just a different element, but a completely different state of matter."
"Heh, will you look at that: Science triumphs over magic." Ruby couldn't help but grin excitedly. Despite all the heavy attacks Cinder was throwing at them, this battle was already going so much better than the last one. Yet the silver-eyed girl forced herself to regain a serious expression as Cinder was far from being defeated and the battle could go either way. She, Tails and the Wisps were ready to face whatever else the Cyborg Maiden would be using in her battle against them.
Sonic, Silver, and Shadow spread out to avoid Infinite's dash attack. The entity crashed into the ground and levitated quickly into the air. He waved his arms and created three Phantom copies of himself. Unlike other Phantoms, these were glitchy and their overall appearance blurry. The hedgehogs didn't have more time to ponder this as the Phantoms split and went to each of them. Sonic ducked under a punch and kicked his Phantom Infinite hard in the chest. The copy staggered but righted itself in the air and crossed its arms to block a Spindash. Sonic rotated against the flickering image of the Phantom. It summoned several red cubes around it and let them fly at the curled up hedgehog. Sonic jumped back to avoid the projectiles and then ducked under another red dash attack. When the Phantom Infinite landed behind him, the blue speedster turned around and used several homing attacks until it dissolved.
So he can create several Phantom copies of himself but they aren´t as tough as the previous Phantom warriors were, good to know, the blue hedgehog thought. He couldn't really celebrate the discovery for too long however. The real Infinite culminated red energy in the palms of his hands and began firing lasers at Sonic.
Meanwhile, Silver and his Phantom Infinite were clashing in the air. The flew around, Silver surrounded by the turquoise glow of his psychokinesis and the copy surging with a deep red one, and crashed into each other. Their respective energies clashing with one another.
If I keep this up this battle will lead to nowhere! I need to chance tactics.
Silver backed of. The Phantom Infinite dashed after him but instead of returning the attack with one of his own, Silver instead used his telekinetic energy to create a shield. His opponent slammed into it and flew away, dazed. The time traveler then split his shield apart into blades and sliced his Infinite clone into pieces with psychic knives.
Shadow threw Chaos Spears at the Phantom Infinite attacking him, but it dodged the projectiles and fired a laser at the black hedgehog. He dodged it with a side roll and then ran towards the masked foe's copy. He jumped up with his fist raised, but the phantom caught it, spun on its own axis in the air and threw Shadow away. It then stretched out a hand and the ground Shadow was flying towards glided open before a pit with spikes formed there. The Ultimate Lifeform was able to avoid the fate of ending up as shashlik by teleporting behind the Phantom using Chaos Control.
"Chaos Lance!"
Before the false Infinite could turn around, it was pierced by burning Chaos energies and flickered out of existence.
When Shadow quickly looked around, the black hedgehog spotted the real one keeping Sonic at bay with lasers.
He curled up and spindashed against him, but the reality bender turned around, grabbed the spinning ball and held it tight. Sonic came charging in as a second Spindash, but Infinite was able to grab him with his other hand. He grunted under his mask as he tried to hold the rotating hedgehogs in place. Silver came to the aid of his allies by ripping a metal panel out of the wall and sent it flying with its edge towards the Phantom Ruby wielder. Infinite teleported away and caused Sonic and Shadow to bounce back from one another. There metal sheet burrowed itself in the ground where Infinite had been standing just a few second ago. The entity instead appeared behind Silver and tried to attack him from behind with a laser but the silvery hedgehog flew sideways to dodge. He then grabbed the metal panel once again and tried another attack at Infinite with it.
The Phantom Ruby buzzing, the masked entity caught the panel, changed its atomic structure and transformed it into the circular blade of a buzz saw. The buzz saw was then duplicated and they flew towards Silver and the other hedgehogs.
Sonic and Shadow used their high speed to dodge the rotating projectiles. Silver held out one hand and held the buzz saws in place. Then he clenched his fist and crushed them into metal lumps. Reality glitched red and Infinite restored the structures of the saws. He then created more and send them at Silver. The psychokinetic hedgehog had to hold out both of his hands to hold the buzz saws in place, their teeth just inches away from him.
Shadow threw his head sideways to avoid one coming his way but it still cut into his temple. Pieces of fur and droplets of blood flew from the wound. The ebony hedgehog cursed under his breath. Taking his Emerald out he teleported wildly around the room with Chaos Control, attacking from multiple angles and destroying all buzz saws with Chaos Spears.
Infinite aimed a glowing hand at Shadow, the Ultimate Lifeform however clenched his Chaos Emerald tighter. The red gem glowed. Just as the masked entity fired a laser, Shadow yelled, "Chaos Control!"
The laser froze midway toward him as everything was suddenly in negative colors. Instead of teleporting, Shadow had used Chaos Control to stop time instead. He ran at the frozen Infinite, eyes focused on the Phantom Ruby. If he manages to hit it now, it could be so damaged that even with a functioning reactor it was unusable.
Wait… why was it still pulsating with energy?
The reality bending gem glowed in its usual red color and the jackal´s body soon followed. Infinite swung his arm around and re-aimed his laser at Shadow, just when it too returned to its normal coloring. Being caught of guard, Shadow was hit and thrown backwards. The hedgehog groaned as he held his burned chest. Infinite hovered over the laying hedgehog and raised his hand. It focused his red energy into a rotating orb that got bigger with every second. Before the entity could fire it, Sonic, who had been running toward the masked foe, jumped and rammed Infinite away with a Boost. Silver then caught the Phantom Ruby wielder in his mental grasp and slammed him into the ground as hard as he could. The symbols on his gloves glowed bright as he held Infinite there, focusing his power in holding the reality bender still.
Sonic rushed to Shadow´s side and held him up. "Shadow, you alright?"
"He caught me completely of guard," he growled. "Managed to somehow nullify Chaos Control on him. Or maybe was immune from the beginning? Doesn't matter. I´ll just…"
With Sonic holding him stable, Shadow took his Chaos Emerald in both hands and closed his eyes. He focused on its power and felt the warm energies from the gemstone move into his body, further accelerating his already rapid regeneration. Sonic watched burned tissue repair on Shadow's chest, then looked at Silver and Infinite.
"Everything alright there, Silver?"
"He fights back hard, but I can manage."
Infinite was indeed trying his best to break free. But Silver´s grasp on him was firm. And the hedgehog was somehow able to extend the reach of his mental abilities on Infinite´s psyche. Nothing mayor, but causing him enough disorientation that the entity couldn't focus and teleport away. But Infinite didn't stop struggling. His body trembled and his eye twitched wildly back and forth, as if he were suffering from a psychotic attack. Underneath its rotting barrier of cubes, the reactor started to glow and the Phantom Ruby pulsated wildly with power.
"ENOUGH!"
A shockwave of red energy pushed the hedgehogs back, caused the entire room to shake, and dissolved the psychokinetic grip on Infinite. He levitated back into the air and raised his hand to summon red cubes. They formed together snake-like projectiles that slithered toward the hedgehog trio.
Sonic used his speed to dodge them. Silver blocked a few with a psychic shield, but he had to constantly move it around to protect himself from the cubes and the vision they could show him. Shadow threw Chaos Spears at them, but the snaking projectiles split, sending the Spears flying through them ineffectively before they reformed themselves.
Damn it, he thought and also began to use his speed to dodge. I have no desire to take on Infinite's Psycho games, and I doubt the others have either. But how should we best proceed now? Freezing time is useless against our opponent. But the other aspect of Chaos Control doesn't. Perhaps...
Shadow teleported behind Infinite and then destroyed him with a Chaos Lance, just as he had done to the Phantom at the beginning. Unlike the copy, the original Infinite did see through the trick. He dashed to the side and let the attack fly past him before turning and punching Shadow right in the face. The hedgehog flew through the air but managed to land on its feet. He then had to dodge some energy balls that Infinite threw at him, along with the cube projectiles. The good thing was that there was less focus on Sonic and Silver and the duo had a little more freedom. Sonic silently drew Silver's attention with a wave and then gestured at Infinite, or rather at the air above him, in a motion that looked like he was about to throw something. It took a while, but then the time traveler understood what his ally was getting at and nodded.
A turquoise aura enveloped Sonic and he flew straight towards Infinite. He noticed the additional attacker after he knocked aside a Chaos Spear. He turned to Sonic and swiped at him with his claw, but the hedgehog flew over him until he hit the ceiling.
"Silver, let go!" the blue speedster shouted and the person addressed did as he was told. The aura disappeared and Sonic pushed himself off the ceiling and curled up towards Infinite. He raised his hands to either grab the hedgehog or roast him with a double laser, but Shadow rushed to his allies' aid and knocked their enemy off balance with some Chaos Spears. Sonic then slammed into Infinite's mask with full force, bounced off and then used homing attacks to continue hitting him. Finally, Sonic rolled up and stomped hard against Infinite, making him fly toward Shadow, who kicked him in the back of his head. The reality bender crashed into the ground while Sonic was gently lowered toward it thanks to Silver.
All the hedgehogs then rushed towards their opponent, ready to launch a joint attack against him. But Infinite disappeared in a flash of red light and the three fighters barely managed to stop before they hurt each other. They looked around and saw Infinite teleporting wildly and aimlessly back and forth across the room. He finally came to a stop far away from the hedgehogs and leaned against the wall, groaning and clutching his mask with both hands.
It lay askew on the entity's head, showing several cracks. Phantom Ruby energies glided around them. Infinite felt like his head was going to explode.
"Right. Tails was able to find out from Egghead's files that you need your mask to properly control your power. I guess that's another weak point besides the reactor that we can exploit," said Sonic.
Infinite´s groans turned into growls. He pushed trough his pain and discomfort and focus. His hand glowed red and the Phantom Ruby repaired the mask´s cracks.
"I...will… not…" the entity squeezed out between heavy breaths. He lowered his hands and looked up at the heroes with a baleful look. "… be defeated here. I will not be reduced back again to something barely above nothing! I WILL NOT LET YOU BE THE END OF ME!"
The Phantom Ruby roared and glowed with malice. In the walls holes opened up and the elongated arms of the Phantom creatures Infinite had used in Metropolis appeared. Claws wide open, they darted towards the hedgehogs. But Silver stopped her with both hands outstretched. Sonic covered them with homing attacks and weakened them. Shadow finished them off with Chaos Spears.
"You might refuse to back off..." Sonic stepped forward. Joining him on either side were Shadow and Silver, both enveloped in their respective energies.
"...but so are we."
And so the boss fights begin that could decide the fate of the Death Egg and the course of this war. Both groups of heroes were able to inflict severe damage on their respective villains. But as we know: An animal can be most dangerous when it gets cornered. Infinite and Cinder will retaliate.
As for those that wonder where Rouge and Omega are: They´re busy with stuff similar to what Ruby and Tails and Team Triple-S experienced on their way to their boss arenas. They should appear next chapter.
To reggielacey2: Maybe in the sequel.
To Guest: Ah crap, you´re right. I have somehow forgotten about that. Went back and changed it up so now Sonic says Silver keeps getting more effective with his abilitiy and he wouldnt like to find out how a battle with him would play out now.
To Guest: What you just described was a perfect example of being mature. Putting the bigger picture over your own needs is a showcase of being mature, even if you say it is something else. The Adventure games are also a perfect example of showing Amy´s character outside of being in love with Sonic: She is kind and understanding and determined to help others. Like the blue Flicky in her story during Adventure 1 or ind 2 where she reminds Shadow of his true promise to Maria. And then in more recent iterations, like the IDW Comics. She put more focus in helping the Resistance then running after Sonic. Even in scenes were she was depicted as jealous, she never threatened to outright KILL anyone. Seriously, where is this coming from and why are you so obsessed with it?
To Guest: Thank you. To be honest I am not sure. I recall vaguely in seeing some animation regarding SonicXFreedom Planet. But I´m not sure if it is the exact same thing you´re mentioning.
To quirky2023: Thank you and I don't think it is really weird. Theme songs can perfectly embody what a character represents, therefore it springs into one´s mind if said character is mentioned. And Infinite does have a banger theme.
To SuperSaiyanFever: Indeed. Unfortunately they will have to face Infinite alone unless the others get sooner done with their respective stuff (I´m still planning some details for the battles and how they will go so maybe they will got backup or not).
To Grand Chaos Master: I am not sure if I would be able to build in something like the limit scene.
As for Infinite: To be honest I don't think I did. Yes, counting this battle, it amounts to three. But that is the same amount Forces had. But the Mystic Jungle Fight also happened off screen in this story so technically this is only the second fight with Infinite happening. It is also…
*Be warned here are some spoilers*
… the penultimate fight against Infinite and actually the final fight for his… base form so to speak.