Gadget's New Mission

Illusion

About 20 minutes have passed and I try to remember all about my parents to keep me going. They have made me go to the lengths that I have gone, joining Sonic and helping to defeat Eggman and Infinite. My mother always told me that I will do the right thing when the time comes. My father was always willing to protect us both, maybe a bit too willing to protect us... When I was younger, I never thought about it that much. Thinking about it now, I'm still unsure. I'm the only one they have for family. We never really had any bright souls who acquainted themselves with our lives, so we just looked out for each other. That was our way of life.

As for Mighty, he was a good friend. One of the few friends I truly loved before I met Sonic and his friends. Mighty was always there for me in any situation. He was so modest and kind to everyone he came across. He says that he felt lost until he met me. I can say the same about myself... We were like a match made in heaven. We always had a good time playing tag and strolling around town when we were still young. Those were better days... We wouldn't leave each other for anything... not until the world was dominated and destroyed...

I make my way into Luminous Forest. The luscious trees surround me along with the dark orange hue of the setting sun in the sky. I'm not sure where to start... I notice the impressive looking buildings as well as their bright lights. It honestly looks like this place could have been a tourist attraction before everything fell apart... I decided to start my investigation there.

As I come closer to the metropolis within the forest, I notice that this place isn't really so nice on the inside... Most buildings have been ransacked, left completely empty. And so far, it doesn't seem like anyone else is here... My guess is that any lone survivors took what they could from here and brought it with them in hiding. That or Eggman and Infinite were doing their usual dirty business, but the buildings are left intact... Why would they not destroy them?

I go inside a place that might have been like a pub of some sort. I find a broken shelf and many broken tables along with a broken dart board and what seems to be the remains of a pool table. My mind wanders off into thought again. This used to be a place for people to escape, to have fun with their lives... and now it's gone... My heart is telling me to cry, but I don't want to... I already know what it feels like to lose something close to you... to lose the greatness in life. To lose everything you loved... But now I have a new love: fighting for the ones I love. Fighting for the world! Giving them a chance to be happy. That's all I want to see in people.

I turn to head out and I see a dark figure wizz pass the door! I don't think he saw me, but I chase after him anyway. I see the silhouette cut into an alleyway, I follow him, mimicking his every move. I can see him clear enough now to see that he's wearing a long, black robe with a hood on. Whoever he is, he doesn't want to get noticed, or he could be a native for all I know. He's about to turn around and see me to which I respond by hiding behind a lone dumpster. I hear him leave, but I had too much slack, I had lost him...

I go for a higher angle and I grapple up to the rooftops to find him. I look around the buildings where I lost him, but he was nowhere to be seen... He might be waiting for me to leave if he saw me. Or he could still be unaware of me... I decide to stake him out, see if he really is inside one of these buildings.

It wasn't long before I found him going into another building. He wasn't in much of a hurry this time. I think he found what he was looking for. I quietly got down to his level and checked to see if he was still inside. I don't see anything resembling the person I just saw... I slowly walk inside. I don't know whether to speak or not. For all I know, that could be my undoing. I see nothing but stone: stone walls, floors, even tables... This isn't anything like that pub I was just in... I then see a slight indentation on the wall. It seems like I can pull that slab out of the way. I do just that and I see some sort of remote control with only one button right in the center of it. I reach out to grab it...

"Back away from that..."

I hear his voice. It sounds very distorted in tone. It doesn't sound normal. I can see out of the corner of my eye a blaster pointed directly at my head.

"Drop your weapon..."

I drop my grapple hook. I put my hands behind my head.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. But I won't since there's a blaster behind my head."

"You're a smart one, I'll give you that. You shouldn't have come here. People who do don't leave unscathed."

"What will it take for you to let me go?"

"You were about to touch something very valuable to me... You're not going anywhere... People who do that don't get off scot-free. People who do that will no longer exist."

... ... ...

"Turn yourself around."

I do as he says yet again. As I spin his way, I see his mask with two jagged looking eyes on the mask, but I don't his real eyes beneath them. I know I've seen something like it before. How could I forget: Infinite. It's not his same mask from before, although it's almost point-for-point the same. I see that his phantom ruby is nowhere to be seen, not even a prototype one. He probably has other ways of dealing out carnage now without his trademark illusions. That remote control could be his secret weapon for all I know... Something devastating.

I think he started to feel helpless after his defeat. I notice his hand holding the blaster is shaking. This is the Infinite that kidnapped Sonic? This is the Infinite that I fought back at Capital City? He drops the blaster with a noticeable thud.

"Gadget?!"

He gasped as his words came out. Is he surprised to see me again? He pulls off his mask.

I stand there, flabbergasted. Infinite was merely a ploy that my mind had thought up. He wasn't Infinite...

... ... ...

I swiftly hug him. I couldn't believe what was happening. My head has gone completely blank. I feel nothing but happiness and relief.

"It's been a while, old friend"

"I know... It's been forever, Mighty..."