Fleetway's Torment

Vengeful Phantom

(Nobody Pov:) Zero's body was surrounded by red cubes as the phantom ruby got louder and louder. He screams out in agony and rage. Red cubes flow into him and crystals similar to the phamtom ruby itself spread across his body, he grows in size considerably and his eyes glow fully red.

Visibly, Zero, Infinite or what remained of both was still vaguely a jackal but looked nothing like he had.

Mephiles observed his transformation, mostly happy for the pain he put Zero through yet also concerned for the abilities of the beast before him.  Fleetway was concerned for both. He knows that Mephiles won't stop at anything to end Infinite but he also recognises that for the pain Infinite just felt, he will also not stop to kill Mephiles and (Fleetway) himself if needed.

Shadow gets in between them both.

'Both of you stop! Mephiles, he was beginning to calm down and you killed his ally!'
'Because of what he did to Silver-'

Infinite replies to Mephiles in a booming yet raspy voice.
'I did not do any harm to Silver but I will do harm to you for killing Rook!'

Fleetway gets an idea as he looks at the dead wolf. 'Maybe..he'd be able to bring him back.' Fleetway said to himself until he hears the phantom ruby get even louder.

Infinite dashes towards Mephiles. Fleetway using his speed was able to reach Mephiles before hand and pull  him away before Infinite reached him.

Infinite tried again to attack but Shadow dashes in the way.

'Don't make me hurt you, Shadow! Get out of my way!'
'No. I know what you'll do if I do.'
'UGH!' Infinite shouts in anger and Shadow throws a chaos spear at him. 'Fine. I'll beat you and then get both of those fuckers!'

Infinite sends a volley of cubes and lasers at Shadow, Shadow slides underneath and kicks Infinite hard though then gets slashed in the chest by his sharp fingers. 

Meanwhile, Fleetway was holding back Mephiles who was desperately trying to get free.

'Fleetway, let me go!'
'No.. I can't-'
'FLEETWAY, JUST TAKING HIS FRIEND ISN'T ENOUGH. EVEN IF IT WASN'T MY INTENTION-'
'Just listen damnit! Please!' Fleetway starts to bear hug Mephiles. 'He was starting to listen. The wolf who you killed was getting to him and it may have been our only chance to calm him down.'
'I don't care about his emotion-'
'Mephiles! I don't even think he is the one who attacked Silver!'
'Do you think Silver would tell me the wrong person attacked him!?'
'I don't mean it like that! I mean...someone pretending or acting like him...'

Mephiles stays silent for a moment. Fleetway looks at his friend's face with remorse. 'Could he be right?' Mephiles thought to himself.

'Mephiles, Silver wouldn't want this.'
'Don't-'
'You know I'm right.'
'You'd...be surprised...'
'What?'
'It isn't the right time, Fleet.'

Fleetway loosens his hug, Mephiles tries to walk towards Shadow and Infinite but Fleet takes his hand.

'Fleet, Shadow may not be able to defeat him. Not in this state.'
'It doesn't matter...you can't kill him... its my only wish.'

Mephiles looks at Fleetway in anger. He couldn't fathom why Fleet would protect Infinite. Fleetway however just wanted to redeem himself and stop unneeded suffering. He could maybe talk to Exe about this. Maybe he'd be proud. He loved validation, praise, all of it.

Shadow on the other hand, was dashing between blasts and fighting off illusions in his mind.

'You..don't want...this Zero-'
'I'M NOT ZERO ANYMORE!'

Infinite would ampify the amount of  illusions Shadow would see. Most of them being Gerald Robotnik, Maria, Rouge and Omega calling him worthless, abandoning him and some times attacking him. But there was one particular that hurt Shadow to see. While Gerald and Maria were hard to see, they were long gone and Shadow had accepted their passing. Shadow was also used to the possibility of Omega and Rouge turning on him, even if he trusted Rouge. The one who he didn't like to fight was Silver.

For a while, Shadow had acted like a teacher for Silver but eventually they had bonded to the point that Silver was almost like a younger brother to him. A younger brother he trusted.

Infinite knew of his view of Silver because this new state allowed him to read Shadow's mind and find something or someone that he'd struggle to fight.

Shadow knew he needed to find an advantage somehow. He throws a Chaos Spear at the original Phantom ruby which has a strange reaction.

Instead of shattering like Shadow had hoped, the ruby spat out a duplicate of itself (only smaller) which landed on the ground. Infinite was in too much of an angry state to realize what had happened.

'You're too weak to beat me Shadow! No one can! There's nothing to stop me from killing you! He was the only one who saw me as something more, now I've become it!'
'He wouldn't have wanted you to-'
'Don't act like you know him!'

Infinite would use telekinesis to hold up Shadow, Shadow would see a copy of Silver doing this to him instead of Infinite. Infinite would slam him on the ground, hurting Shadow's back.

'You don't have to do this...'
'If you keep standing in my way, then I will.'
'He made a mistake. With...the chaos emeralds...we might be able to bring him back-'
'and how will I know if he'll be safe? With Mephiles and Fleetway alive...he could still be in danger...'
'They'll redeem themselves...'
'Redemption is a lie...'

Shadow sighs before rolling into a ball and grabbing the ruby replica. He attempts to create a copy of Rook which eventually works. Infinite stops in his tracks as he sees Rook infront of him.

'Rook? Are you really....?' Infinite looks at Rook, hardly believing what he is seeing untill Rook hugs him. Even though he isn't there, Infinite can feel it and he slowly hugs back. Slowly, he turns back into his original state. His wounds had healed from his transformation but he still had scars.

Shadow looks at what he is doing, he feels regret knowing he is messing with Zero's head. Slowly, Shadow crept closer and did a swift move to knock him out.

Morally, Shadow felt he'd make a dark move...but it was for the greater good. He looks at Fleetway and Mephiles, who's eyes were stuck on Zero.

'Mephiles... I promise...he won't hurt Silver..' Fleetway says as he holds Mephiles' arm. Mephiles huffs, sighs, and walks away.

'I'm going back..to Silver.'
'Oka-' Before Fleetway can finish, Mephiles teleported back to the hospital.

'Fleetway.'
'Yea Shadow?'
'Well done in holding back Mephiles.'
'Nice on you for stopping Infinite too.'

Shadow picks up Infinite, sighing.

'I'll...keep him out of sight of the authorities.'
'Alright...do you think he even hurt Silver before?'
'Not particularly, he seemed like he had no idea...though if he did then I'd deal with him myself.'
'Well I...have an idea..'

Shadow stays quiet, curious for what  Fleetway's idea was.

'Maybe Exe can bring back the wolf!'

End

(Ha. Have a cliff hanger!)