Spirit of the Phantom Ruby

Part 19 - Everything's Not Actually Under Control

Infinite sprinted through the forest, breathing hard. The gem burned into his chest, but he would have to hold the illusion a little while longer. He knew how fast his black-and-red 'bodyguard' could navigate the terrain and didn't plan on being caught anytime soon.

"Infinite!" He heard voices behind him and slowed down, looking over his shoulder.

The Jackal Squad was running up behind him.

"Boss, we heard everything, and we're sorry!" Mathilda caught up to him and ran beside him. "We didn't know Eggman betrayed you!"

"Yeah, well, I wasn't standing behind that hedgehog because I wanted to," Infinite said, sounding drained. "I have enemies on both sides."

"Were they keeping you prisoner?" The youngest jackal flanked him.

Infinite took a gasp of air and clutched the burning gem against his chest, tugging slightly. "Yes, they-!"

"Boss, slow down, what's wrong?" Mathilda grabbed his free hand, forcing him to stop.

She blinked in surprise as the gem on his chest glitched, little red particles flickering around the ruby.

"We need to get out of here." Infinite winced in pain, his fingers clawing deeper into the ruby. "Before Eggman or Shadow find us."

"Why are both of them after you?" The daggered jackal asked, grabbing the jackal by his shoulders and turning him around.

"Because Eggman wants me fused inside the ruby to power his doomsday device, and the Resistance want to diffuse me from the ruby altogether in order to destroy the stone and stop him." The jackal stopped grimacing and stared at them as if he were seeing them for the first time. "Where have you guys all this time?"

The Jackal Squad exchanged looks. Looks that shared stories they would rather not discuss. Stories that would haunt them until their final breaths. Stories... that would...

"We've been in comas at the hospital." The youngest one replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "After Shadow beat us up."

"Shadow!" Infinite suddenly let go of his gem, and the others could see it had dimmed and stopped glitching. "He knows I'm gone...!"

"And Doctor Eggman know where you are." The group spun around towards the direction they had previously been running toward and saw an uninviting Eggman capsule floating in the air. Holding it was a wicked looking robot, designed to look like the familiar blue blur. Its shining red eyes surveyed them, collecting visual information, storing bits of data on their identities.

"Metal, you don't have to do this..." Infinite said cautiously, benignly

pushing his team members aside.

The robot dropped the capsule on the ground with a loud clang and landed in front of it, posed in a fighting stance. "Doctor Eggman requests that you return to the facility immediately."

"Well tell Doctor Eggman if he has something to say to come and face us himself!" The daggered jackal stepped between his leader and the robot, unsheathing a fistful of blades from his sash.

The youngest jackal pulled out a gnarly green knife and stood beside him. "You won't get to him until you get past us!"

The robot's eyes zipped back and forth as each jackal stepped forward, creating a biotic shield between him and his target. He calculated his success rate and shook his head at the results.

"65% rate of success." He gave out a metallic laugh. "I have a 30% higher chance than yours of completing my mission."

"I think we can beat those odds!" The jackal with a beret exclaimed, a butcher knife in his hand.

"If you insist..." The robot suddenly leapt off the ground and rocketed away from them.

"Hey, where's he-?!" Mathilda's cry was turned into a shriek of pain as a bright green beam of light hit her in the back, knocking her forward.

Shadow was onto them like the lovechild of a hurricane and a volcano. Nobody reacted in time, and anyone who could tell what was happening was either frozen in fear or having their butt kicked. Infinite grabbed onto the arm of the raging hedgehog, trying to hold him back, but the Ultimate Lifeform simply slammed him into the ground.

"You stay right where I can see you," he snarled, his voice contorted with rage and fury.

"But Shadow-!" Infinite's exasperated remark was drowned out by the panicked cries of his teammates. "Stop!"

Shadow leapt at the youngest jackal, his swinging fist glowing a bright green, when suddenly a loud thump was heard behind. He turned back to Infinite to see what he had done and was suddenly tackled by the rest of the Jackal Squad. They piled up on top of him, struggling to keep him down for a full minute, until Shadow flung them off with an angry yell.

"Where's Infinite?!" He growled hoarsely, looking around.

Mathilda stood up, rubbing her rump. "That's none of your-!" She looked around as her look of defiance dropped into one of confusion. "...business..."

"Metal got him!" The jackal with the beret shrieked, panicked. "Metal Sonic knew Shadow would distract us!"

"Metal Sonic...?" Shadow's hand swung up to his ear, and the sudden movement caused the others to recoil in fear, standing in various fighting stances facing him. "Shadow to the Resistance, you need to figure out where the diffuser is, and fast. Metal Sonic has captured Infinite."

"Well maybe that wouldn't have happened if-!"

Shadow's ears were still extremely pained and sensitive from the illusion, and the youngest jackal's voice was like nails on a chalkboard.

"-Now is NOT the time for your snarky little comments!" The hedgehog swung around and snarled at the headbanded jackal, making him flinch and hide behind Mathilda.

"Who else is there?" Rouge's concerned voice brought him back to reality.

"Infinite's Jackal Squad. They were helping him get away, at least until I-!"

"Bring them here with you!" Sonic's statement was firm. "They can help out."

Shadow scoffed. "Are you out of your-?"

"Hurry up, Shadow!" As Rouge urged him on through his earbud, he took no time in counting how many there were and raising his hand in preparation to teleport.

"Chaos Control!"

He appeared beside the surprised bat in a flash of green light, accompanied by the four jackals, who looked very disoriented and confused. Sonic took one look at their beaten-up exteriors and sighed.

"Shadow, let's just go, come on." The entire group fled the base.

"Where are we going to find-?" Shadow's unfinished question was answered excitedly by Tails.

"I've picked up the location of the tracker Eggman's placed into the Phantom Ruby!" The fox held up his scanning device gleefully as his tails pedaled him in the air. "Metal Sonic's taking him to one of Eggman's abandoned bases!"

"Are we going to get our boss back?" The jackal with a beret called, running along with them.

"Humph. We'll see." Shadow sneered, and they spoke no more as the mass of Resistance members raced through the forest.