Watchdogs of the ARK

Message from a Wisp

Another day, another race.

Shadow's decided to train Infinite to retreat to the space colony's power core if an emergency ever calls for it. Chaos Energy has allowed Infinite to retain his flying abilities. His arial speed is superior to his running, so Shadow encourages Infinite to rely on this attribute, even if the jackal is impressively swift on foot. He's no match for Shadow. Only Sonic the Hedgehog compares to the Ultimate Life Form when it comes to darting like a rocket. Though, Infinite does look a bit like a comet when he flies.

As the two launch up an down the ARK, finding various ways to beat one another to the core, Shadow takes a split turn when something pink flings past the corner of his eye. He catches up to it in a flash.

"Phew, it's only a wisp. Nothing to worry about."

"Hello Shadow," the magenta alien greets.

Shadow stops in his tracks.

"You can talk? Oh great, I'm hallucinating!"

Infinite joins him, landing beside the hedgehog and pointing at the wisp.

"It spoke!"

"You heard it too?"

"Yup. What is it? What's it doing here?"

"Hello Infinite," the wisp speaks again.

Shadow and Infinite jump back.

"A spy. What do ya want, scrapper?" Infinite asks.

"Infinite, you must train harder. Your illusions won't help you ward off Black Doom when his army arrives," the wisp warns.

"Black Doom is traveling here?" Shadow asks. "How do you know this?"

"I saw him," the wisp tells Shadow. "Infinite is not very powerful. She only fought with virtual reality. None of the destruction she inflicted was real."

"How dare you!" growls Infinite. "I inflicted great terror onto my enemies! I'm the Ultimate Mercenary! Let this Black Doom person come! I'll destroy him, mark my words..."

Sigh, "You only became the leader of your pack because your father-commander died in a sand storm. The job was passed down to you. You changed your name to Infinite but it's really, Zero. Infinite was your father's name. You wanted to intimidate others using his reputation. He was the Ultimate Mercenary, not you."

"Be quiet!" Infinite yells. "That's not true, Shadow. She's lying!"

Wisps are known in the galaxy for being highly trustworthy beings. Shadow guesses the only way the wisp would be lying is if she's not really a wisp. Wisps are also known for reading minds. Or at least, the wisps Shadow has met are able to do this. He's never met one that could talk before but suspects the likelihood of her being a liar is quite slim. Shadow turns to Infinite and assures him.

"It doesn't matter, your past. It doesn't concern me. Alpha or omega, virtual or real, none of that is important. The part about Black Doom, that is what bothers me."

Infinite becomes insistent.

"I can fight, Shadow! I'm not weak! I'll prove it to you! And you too, you bean-spilling squidling!"

He reaches for the wisp but she torpedoes away, off to spin around the ARK, as wisps typically do when they visit. Infinite covers his face with shame, wishing desperately to wear his mask. Shadow folds his arms and pouts.

"Hmph, so you're not so scary, huh? I never thought you were. Why do you think I'm always showing you the ropes around here?"

"Because I live here," Infinite replies, keeping his back to Shadow. "Not because you think I'm worthless."

"I never said that."

"Another you did. Great, throw me into space then. Catapult me out the air shaft in my sleep. You think I'm a liability, don't you?! What the hell was she even doing here? I hate that damn squid!"

Shadow holds Infinite's shoulder and firmly turns his friend to face him. He sternly eyeballs the jackal's blue and yellow irises.

"Black Doom is a dangerous tyrant. Wisps are not known for speaking. It's an anomaly. I do trust what she said but I certainly don't believe you're a liability. I heard legends on the ARK, long ago, about wisps speaking to humans who found themselves lost in space. I've seen them join forces with many of my friends from the past. They mean no harm to us."

"What's your point?" Infinite asks, troubled by this story.

"My point is, if Black Doom is coming, that wisp was only trying to help. You're not as tough as you like to let on, Infinite. I already knew that the moment I saw you."

"That doesn't exactly make me feel better," Infinite frowns.

Shadow doesn't have anything to say to that. He wasn't trying to comfort Infinite but...

Without stopping to think whether or not it's the right thing to do, he puts his arm around Infinite's back and pulls him closer. He places his other hand against Infinite's face, caressing him tenderly. Infinite tenses up. He wants to smack the living bejesus out of the hedgehog but also likes the attention. To punch or not to punch?

"What are you doing?" he asks Shadow.

Shadow seems to have lost his sense of self control and finds himself pressing his forehead against Infinite's, then running his fingers through the jackal's seductive hair.

"You're not gonna kiss me are you?" Infinite asks, kind of wanting it out of morbid curiosity.

Shadow realizes he's closed his eyes and opens them. He can practically see into Infinite's soul now that their faces are inches away from one another. He stumbles back.

"What the hell am I doing?!"

Infinite explodes laughing.

"I don't know, man! I like the attention though. Is that what happens when you live in Space Town, population two? Ya just wanna screw anything that moves?"

Shadow turns away, saddened.

"No. I'm sorry."

He Chaos Controls away, leaving Infinite alone and frankly, disappointed.

"A kiss from Shadow would have been nice. I need to work on not being such a cry baby's turd."