Spirit of the Phantom Ruby

Part 25 - Pieces

Aaron grunted as he shoved the pile of metal off his body. The sky was a sight to see, completely red with wisps of ebony clouds trailing away, and its color was all he could perceive as he struggled to stand. Heaps of dirt and ruined machines scattered the landscape, and as he brushed himself off, the bandaged jackal could see some of his other friends pick themselves up from the mess.

"Guys! Is everyone alright?"

Mathilda stood up across from him, pulling up Jay beside her. She staggered over and clasped his shoulder, slightly shaken. "We're here... Where's Derek-?"

"Help...! Help!" His voice sounded a little ways away, and they quickly ran over. The daggered jackal sat beneath a portion of the cursed machine they had finally managed to destroy. The sheer weight of half of the doomsday device was enough to pin him to the ground, and the group could see his tail and leg had been crushed. Aaron and Mathilda flew to his side, each working together to lift the machine, and Jay grasped his friend under his arms and tugged. They successfully pulled him out from underneath it and gathered around Derek to assess his injuries. His leg was severely bruised and his tail lay twisted nearly in a knot, but otherwise he seemed fine.

"Are you ok, Dirk?" Mathilda asked softly, brushing grime and dust from his shoulders and face.

He smiled ruefully and batted her away, using Aaron's support to get up and stand on his good leg. "Nothing that can't heal... Where's Sonic? And our boss?"

At his question, the group looked around, and Jay pointed at the damaged facility which they had been ejected from during the explosion. "They'll most likely be wherever the center of the blast was-!"

Something red drew their eyes across the soiled and trashed terrain, but to their disappointment, it was only Knuckles, accompanied by Gadget, Rouge, Amy, and a few other members of the Resistance. They came over and checked the jackals out, ensuring nobody was badly injured. Gadget offered to bandage Derek's tail, who politely declined despite the eye rolls of his teammates, and insisted that they find Sonic first, in case the blue hedgehog needed it more.

"Over here!" Rouge gestured, and the collection of Mobians followed her through the piles of debris scattered across the landscape. They discovered Sonic much closer to the defaced factory, on his hands and knees, his head down and eyes closed. Amy called out his name and ran up to the blue blur joyfully, arms outstretched, until everyone saw what sat before him on the charred earth. The pink hedgehog slowed down, her relief replaced by shock, and she stopped beside him, staring down.

The Phantom Ruby was shattered into pieces. Each brilliantly red shard glittered, reflecting the equally scarlet sky, and small particles flickered around it, each particle becoming fainter than the last as they faded away. The Jackal Squad all stepped around the members of the Resistance, approaching the hedgehog with blank, incoherent expressions. Sonic opened his eyes and stared at the gem miserably, sitting back on his heels.

"I thought the Phantom Ruby was indestructible!" Amy exclaimed in disbelief.

"Not the prototypes," Gadget returned softly, his tail lowering to the ground.

A long moment passed before Mathilda sat beside Sonic, slowly scooping the shards up in her gloved hands. Each shard was perfectly smooth, as if the ruby had merely been cut, and the pieces continued to glow with the same, pulsing energy as when the gem was whole.

"What did this...?" She quietly asked, pulling her golden eyes away from the pile of precious stones in her hand and looking down at the hero of Mobius.

Sonic shook his head. "The force of the-? I don't know... One explosion too many...?" He looked down at his own hands. "It just- he appeared and blew up the doomsday device, along with half the facility-..." The blue hedgehog looked up at the building beside him, his voice sounding dry and far away. "...but then, as I was recovering, it just fell to pieces..."

"Well maybe this can still be fixed," Rouge peered down at the gem. "Look, it's still retaining most of its magical properties! Remember the Master Emerald, Knuxy? Maybe it can be put back together like that!"

Knuckles moved around them and kneeled before the she-jackal, holding out his hands. "May I...?" Mathilda allowed the shards to slip from her fingers and fall into the echidna's gloved palms. The guardian of the Master Emerald scrutinized the pieces, examining how they fitted together, as the others looked on in tense silence. Relief seemed to break out at his nod of affirmation, which seemed to bring the spirit back to the Jackal Squad. They gathered around him, all peering down and talking to one another in a frantic excitement. Jay smiled and put his hand on Sonic's shoulder amiably.

"It's OK, Sonic, it's not your fault."

The hedgehog smiled back, the feeling of iniquity abating somewhat. "Let's go get Tails and Eggman and work on rebuilding that diffuser."

When all the jackals' eyes widened in unison with looks of intense anger, he suddenly regretted saying that.