Spirit of the Phantom Ruby

Part 13 - Back On His Feet

It was in the dead of night when the two-tailed fox crept down into the cellar. Shadow, who was guarding the ruby, eyed him suspiciously.

"It's done." The fox said, his voice barely above a whisper.

The dark hedgehog immediately stood up and grabbed the box. Without a word, he followed Tails up the stairs and across the living room floor covered in sleeping bodies draped in blankets and pillows. Together, they made their way through the house and into the workshop. Shadow set the containment box onto the table beside the finished diffuser. The gem was completely dull and unresponsive until the black and red hedgehog reached his hand inside and pulled the gem out. It glowed and intense red, then dimmed.

"Sorry for waking you up." Tails smiled apologetically as Infinite wearily drew himself out of the stone, rubbing his eyes.

"It's fine. What's going on?" The sleepy jackal gazed tiredly at the diffuser for a solid second before his eyes widened. "Is it...?"

Tails nodded and took the gem from Shadow. "Yeah... Want to go ahead and-?"

"Yes! Let's get this over with! Preferably before Eggman shows up!"

He quickly receded back into the ruby, and Tails placed the gem onto the seat inside the machine. He walked around it to the familiar power panel covered and buttons and pressed a few. Then he checked the settings and finally put his hand on the lever.

"And firing up in three... two..." Yawning, Tails pushed the lever down without finishing countdown.

The machine hummed loudly. It slightly shook, but otherwise did nothing to the extremity of when Infinite had gone through the first fusion.

Tails blinked wearily at his screens as they showed him the Phantom energy levels and the machine's power. His sleepy face broke out into a pleased smile as one of the blank screens suddenly turned on, showing a heartrate. The humming and shaking stopped gradually, until the energy levels had dropped down to below halfway. Shadow approached the door and unbolted it, slowly swinging it open. Inside the darkness of the chamber, a jackal lay slumped against the chair, unmoving.

"Infinite." Shadow said softly, knocking on the wall. After a moment of silence, he roughly grabbed the jackal and jerked him out of the machine. Infinite blinked out of his daze and grabbed onto the hedgehog for support, slowly standing upright, his legs shaking. He glared down at his feet, then realized he had feet and let out a short, relieved laugh. Then he realized he was clinging onto Shadow and quickly pulled his hands away, taking a step back.

Tails snickered at the jackal's discomfort. "Should we wake the others?"

"No, let's wait till morning." Shadow beckoned for Infinite to follow him and together the three went into the main living area, Tails finding a spot near Sonic on the floor to sleep, and Infinite, too tired to make rational decisions, draped himself onto the couch, immediately passing out. Shadow stood apart from the group and instead sat in the front entry hall, guarding the door. He looked over the sleeping Mobians, then looked out the window, out into the darkness of night, smiling to himself.