Spirit of the Phantom Ruby

Part 4 - Oops

His body was limp and eerily cold as Shadow and Gadget pushed Infinite into the metal chair and locked down the cuffs over his wrists and ankles. Tails overlooked the process, a clipboard in his hands, and tilted his head in wonder at how defenseless the jackal looked without his mask. Everyone else in the room stood around, watching in fascination as Tails hooked up the chair into his machine, which was a rectangular chamber with metal walls. The unconscious jackal sat, slumped inside, as the large metal door shut, and steel blocked him off from the rest of the world. If all went well, Tails would be able to separate the gem from the jackal and destroy it, and then make the jackal serve jail time. That was the least severe punishment, assuming the diffusion of the gem would cause no pain to the jackal, and in all honest opinion, he really ought to be thanking them for being so merciful. This was what everyone agreed upon to be the most reasonable course of action. Shadow and Omega might've thought elsewise, but they made no comments or objections when everyone else shook on it.

"Everybody but Sonic, Shadow, and Silver, please leave the room. This could be dangerous." Tails said professionally, putting on safety goggles as he stood next to the machine. It was time to begin the procedure. Everyone followed his request.

"Firing up in three... two..." Tails finished messing with the buttons on the control panel attached to the outside of the diffuser. He reached for a lever, his eyes on all the screens surrounding the box, showing heartrate, Phantom energy levels, and the machine's power. He pulled the lever down confidently. "One!"

The machine slowly began to emit a high-pitched squeaking noise. The three hedgehogs winced a little bit as it rose in pitch and volume, and then suddenly went dead silent. Tails looked rather puzzled as all three of the screens went black.

"Did it run out of power...?" He went around to open the door, but suddenly Shadow yelled at him to stop.

"I sense a great energy emitting behind that door! It might blow up if you open it!"

Tails looked concerned as Silver said he felt it too. The white hedgehog then told everyone to back away from the machine and get behind his forcefield. Something strange was happening inside.

The machine suddenly lurched forward. It fell back, and then rocked the other direction. An indention appeared on the door with a loud thump that caused the machine to nearly fall forward. A few more dents appeared as the machine rocked back and forth violently. Then, alas, the machine stopped moving and went silent once more, and Shadow whispered that the energy levels were dropping.

When the psychic and the ultimate life form confirmed that it should be safe, Tails approached the door nervously, Sonic by his side in case the machine didn't work, and there was an angry jackal inside. He slowly lifted the latch and opened it, and then the door swung out of his grasp and slammed open as a red gem shot out and bounced a few feet away. Everyone gasped as they peered in. Inside the dark machine, sitting on the chair with the cuffs still on, was nothing. The jackal was nowhere to be seen.

Sonic went to tentatively pick up the Phantom Ruby. The second his hand grasped the stone and lifted it to shoulder-height, the ruby shone a bright red light and Sonic nearly dropped the stone as a red hologram of the jackal emerged from the ruby. He rubbed his eyes with both hands and blinked wearily down at the hedgehog, who stood, staring at him, in a trance. The lower half of his body and his tail ceased to exist, his torso merely melted down into a stream of red mist that seemed connected to the stone. As he slowly came to, the jackal stared down at everyone as he realized he was oddly a few feet above them.

"What the-?" He looked down at his body, or what should've been his body. "Wait- WHAT?!"

He clawed out at Sonic, who flinched in surprise, and he growled in frustration as his glowing red hands merely phased through the hedgehog's face. "Wha-?! What did you DO?!"