The air was alive with merry jokes and playful insults as the Zetis celebrated their easy victory. Zeena braided long-stemmed roses into a flower crown for Zor while he sat at her feet looking slightly less miserable than usual. Zomom sat in a corner, chowing down on massive hoagies and Zazz cackled and scampered all over the place, full of excited energy. Only Master Zik and Zavok stood calmly, examining the glowing stone.
"Do you think it's a faulty copy?" Zavok asked his master, peering down grimly.
"Cannot be. It was powerful enough to destroy Eggman's Mech-suit." His stumpy instructor playfully tapped the red beast's calf with his cane and looked up at him, smiling. "Lighten up, will you? Eggman must have just wired it wrong. And at least that jackal wasn't stuck to it!"
"Infinite was so over-rated." Zeena called over her shoulder half-heartedly. "Sure, he like, took over the world and all but, his fall came fast and it came hard."
"So, what are we going to do with the gem?" Zomom asked, his full mouth spewing crumbs all over his half-eaten sandwich.
"Well..." Master Zik's smile suddenly dissipated and his eyes began darting around. He slowly looked back and forth tensely. The others sensed his unease and held still, listening for whatever it was he was worried about. After a long moment, he cleared his throat, relaxing, and walked down the steps of the small platform Zavok stood on.
As soon as he opened his mouth, one of the walls of their base abruptly fell inwards. A black hedgehog burst into the room, his entire body immersed in green flame. His burning red eyes quickly surveyed the room of the panicking Zetis and locked onto Zavok. The leader of the Deadly Six looked at him, then down at the ruby in the white cage, and back up with a challenging glare.
It was the Zeti's mistake. Shadow body-slammed him and ripped the box from his claws. He then grabbed Zavok by the neck and swung him into Master Zik, who had come running to fight. Both slammed into the opposite wall, falling unconscious, and Zeena, Zazz, and Zor tactfully avoided them as they ran towards Shadow.
Grimacing, Shadow gave each one and individual punch with his free arm while clutching the metal contraption containing the ruby to his chest protectively. Zor leapt at Shadow from behind, clinging onto his curved, black-and-red quills and forcing the hedgehog to slam his back into a wall to rid himself of the nuisance. The goth was knocked unconscious as well from the force of the blow. But then Shadow suddenly realized he was cornered.
"Nice hedgy," Zeena sneered, leaping at him.
The second her nails came into contact with his face, the Ultimate Lifeform grabbed her wrist with his free hand and slammed the green diva's own fist into her face. Wincing, she tried to pull away, but Shadow's grip was iron. He jerked her arm, slamming her into the wall beside him, and forced her into an arm-lock, making her shriek in pain. Zazz threw himself at Shadow from behind, but he swung his leg up to kick the pink beast in the face. The pink maniac saw it coming and leaned back, grabbing his foot mid-air and clinging onto it. Their eyes locked as they stood there, the hedgehog holding the girl Zeti in an arm-lock with one hand and hugging the ruby's box with the other, and the boy Zeti forcing him to balance on one foot. Shadow shook his leg to test how hard Zazz was holding on. The pink Zeti mistook the move for an attempt to free his foot and tightened his grasp, grinning. Shadow took in a breath, held it in, and suddenly did a forward-flip, letting go of Zeena and throwing Zazz over his head at her. The two collided with an ugly thump and both sunk to the ground, unmoving. Shadow landed on his back with an equally ugly thwack, grunting upon impact and holding the box to his chest. He laid there for a moment, squinting at the ceiling in pain.
"That was an impressive roll." Rouge's voice sounded through the earbud in his ear. He had completely forgotten she could watch what he was doing through his spy visor.
He got up at a moderate pace and examined the room, making sure he had gotten them all. A large shadow suddenly went over him. He stared down at it, trying to figure out what could be causing it, before looking up and cursing. As soon as he took one step, Zomom, ten times his size, body-slammed him from above. The yellow-orange Zeti had taken advantage of his teammate's distractions and had climbed up one of the dumpsters that served as a wall to their base, waiting for the perfect opportunity. The only noise Shadow made was the sound a balloon made when being deflated as his entire body crumpled against the ground, crushed by the massive belly of the obese orange glutton. Zomom groaned from the hedgehog's painful spines but was nonetheless pleased with himself as he laid there face-down, recovering from the fall. His grin changed to a look of confusion as his entire body jiggled and he was slowly lifted from the ground.
Shadow, holding the Zeti up from underneath with both hands and the top of his head, quickly took in a loud and frantic breath that sounded more like a wheeze, his entire body trembling from not only being crushed but also from the effort it took to hold up the heavy glutton. The dark hedgehog began taking in short and pained breaths, slowly turning around, both their bodies shaking with each step, and let out an agitated yell as he threw the massive Zeti across the room.
Zavok and Master Zik slowly opened their eyes and sat up, groaning. Zavok looked down at his master to make sure he was alright before looking up and inhaling, preparing to scream. Zomom landed on top of both of them, knocking them out one more before either could make a peep.
Panting, covered in sweat, Shadow stood there, leaning over with his hands on his knees, trying to recover from the fight. His entire body was still shaking from the adrenaline rush he had just experienced, and he was quickly beginning to feel a strange and daunting sensation- fatigue.
"Dang, Shadow!" Rouge said after a moment, obviously impressed.
"What happened?" Sonic and the others couldn't see what was happening.
"Shadow just gave every single Zeti a beat-down. And in under five minutes, too!"
"Then what was that huge thump? And that scream? Was that Shadow?"
Shadow grabbed his cracked spy-visor, already damaged from the body-slam, and smashed it against the ground, growling. He then put his hand to his ear and disabled his microphone.
"Shadow, why did you-?" He turned it off altogether.
The dark hedgehog turned back to the box he had been forced to let go of. The force of Zomom's blow had split it in two, but the gem remained intact. Apart from the small scratch in the side, it was as if it had never been touched. Shadow sat down beside it and picked it up, ignoring the unconscious Zeti cluttering the room. The gem reacted immediately and pulsed a soft crimson.
"You still there?" He asked, turning it over in his hands.
The intensity of the light suddenly increased for a moment, then continued pulsing softly.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'."
He lowered his hands and faced upwards, closing his eyes as his energy returned to him and the shaking stopped. When he opened them again, he blinked in surprise. The Zeti's base was gone. In its place was complete and utter darkness. All around him was absolute nothingness. Then he blinked again and realized there were millions of tiny red cubes scattered across the void. They pulsed individually the same way the gem had, but when he looked down, Shadow realized he was no longer holding the cube. He unfolded his legs and tensed as he saw he was floating in dead space, no ground beneath him, only millions of tiny red cubes and complete darkness. It was like he had been teleported into the void of space.
"Infinite..." He said quietly, before chuckling as he realized the place he was at was, indeed, infinite.
"The name was totally coincidental." The hedgehog spun around and saw the red hologram of the jackal behind him. Only, his form looked far more solid, even if it was still red and glowing. The jackal stood as if there was solid ground beneath him, despite there being nothing but empty space. Strangely, look on his face matched his surroundings. Empty. "This is what the inside of Phantom looks like."
"Phantom?" Shadow scrutinized him. He was clearly having some sort of hallucination that only the ruby could give people.
"Believe it or not, the ruby has a conscience. It chose to go to Eggman at the start of the war, and it chose to leave him when he failed to win."
Shadow studied the jackal's face with puzzlement. "What the hell happened back there? With the Mech suit?"
"I was wrong about the doctor." Infinite looked idly at one of the tiny pulsing cubes like he didn't want to talk about it.
"He didn't want to separate you from the gem?"
Infinite's expression suddenly grew intense as he glanced back at Shadow.
The hedgehog studied his look with one of grim determination. "Don't worry, that's why I'm not letting him take you."
Infinite rolled his eyes. "No, you're not letting him take me because he'll use me to power his machine and destroy you all."
"I thought you destroyed his machine." Shadow frowned.
The jackal gave him a bit of a sly look. "I'm not talking about the Mech suit. I'm talking about his doomsday device."
Shadow's eyes widened at the jackal's guileful smile.
"I swore to secrecy never to share information about it." Infinite planted his hands on his hips. "Unfortunately for him, he takes me for granted."
"He betrayed you, mind as well betray him back." Shadow shrugged, crossing his arms.
Infinite tilted his head, and the hedgehog could swear there was almost a look of admiration on his face. The moment passed in less than a second, and Infinite covered it with a frown, nodding.
"What was that?" Shadow poked, amused.
"The doomsday device." The jackal replied, refusing to acknowledge what had just happened. "It's not fully completed, but the doctor's smart, and is more than capable of finishing it within a day if need be. It's in the very bottom level of his lair and cannot be reached easily. But if a fat man can access it, then more than a few Mobians probably can as well."
"How do I know that this isn't a trap?" Shadow grew serious.
"Why on earth would I help him after he's made it clear I'm just a tool for him to use?!" Infinite suddenly grew enraged, his hands clenching into fists.
The hedgehog smiled, satisfied with his response. "Then let's get out of here."
Shadow suddenly heard a loud, warping sound, and when he blinked, everything was the same way as before. He was sitting on the ground, holding the glowing ruby, in a room full of unconscious Zeti. The only difference was, the sky was completely dark. Shadow quickly stood up, gripping the gem and looking around.
"Eggman's back." Infinite's voice seemingly came from the Phantom Ruby.
"No kidding," Shadow replied, and he clutched the gem. "Chaos-!"
The hedgehog disappeared, leaving the Zeti to their doom. He reappeared atop one of the grassy wheel-shaped chunks of earth in Green Hill Zone, and Infinite appeared beside him, watching.
"-Control!" Shadow turned on his earpiece and unmuted the microphone. "I've got Infinite."
"Are you OK?! What happened?" Rouge sounded panicked.
"We're fine, it was just a minor problem with one of the Zeti. They're done for now, Eggman is over their base, but it's only a matter of time before he realizes the gem's not just teleporting around on its own." Shadow paced back and forth atop the wheel as they conversed.
"You were gone a long time. Why did you turn off your microphone?" Rouge sounded a bit calmer, although still very concerned.
"How long?" Shadow asked, eyeing the hovering jackal wearily.
"Ten hours." Rouge replied. "It's been long enough for Tails' machine to cool down and diffuse Infinite from the ruby."
"I didn't know you could bend time, dude." Shadow said, both impressed and puzzled.
Infinite shrugged. "Would have done it sooner if I had known I could."
"But then why didn't Eggman-?" Shadow's question was cut off by Rouge's sudden anger.
"Because you two completely disappeared off the face of the planet! He's been looking all over for you! You need to get here before he realizes you have the ruby!"
"Heard!" Shadow replied, clutching the gem. "Chaos Control!"
With a bright green flash, the hedgehog appeared in the main control room, the jackal floating beside him.
"Eggman can have you back when the ruby has been disposed of!" Rouge said demandingly, taking the ruby from Shadow and marching into the next room over, where Tails stood ready with his machine.
"Don't even think about escaping when you have your body back." Sonic said threateningly as Rouge set the gem inside the chamber. It was clear they all thought the jackal was still on the doctor's side.
"Not a problem," Shadow began, but the others took his affirmation as just another threat that they were giving the jackal.
Wide-eyed, Infinite evaporated back into the gem as Tails slammed the door shut and darted to the control panel. He took a few seconds to make sure he had it on the right setting before quickly pressing several buttons and putting his hand on the lever. "Firing up in 3... 2..."
Inside the machine, Infinite sat within the gem, listening to the angry and panicked voices outside. He prepared for something to happen, anything, but all was suddenly very still as the voices went silent. What was going on...?
A sudden explosion outside caused the chamber to jerk sideways and fall over. The ruby fell out of the chair and landed on the wall that was against the ground. The door was ripped off its hinges, and Infinite internally screamed as he saw Eggman peer inside and pick up Phantom. The doctor stepped away from the machine, holding the ruby up to the light and watching it gleam with a sickening satisfaction. From high up, Infinite could see what had happened. Shadow had been knocked out, and the others were being held away by a variety of complex-looking badniks. The wall had been blasted inward, and in the explosion, the diffuser had been totaled. Infinite's heart dropped as he saw how ruined the machine was, and how horrified Tails looked, knowing it would take him forever to repair it.
Lowering the gem, Eggman turned to place it into the suitcase-like transporter box, when Infinite suddenly shot out of the ruby and up in his face.
"What did you do?!" The glowing red jackal screamed, his hair starting to rise towards the ceiling as the ruby slowly began humming and pulsing. "You traitorous bastard!"
Eggman almost dropped it in surprise. He blinked and tried to compose himself, but the jackal wasn't finished.
"After everything I've done for you, this is what you do! You piece of-!"
The humming and pulsing grew louder and brighter as Infinite grew more and more enraged. Eggman yelped and let go of the ruby as if it had burned his hand, but it floated in the air by itself. Sonic and Tails looked at each other in absolute bewilderment. The robots holding back the members of the Resistance suddenly released them and went to protect Eggman instead.
"You've ruined EVERYTHING!" With the beyond-enraged jackal's last scream, the ruby emitted a loud warping sound, and everything glowed a bright red. At the very last second, Silver created a force-field bubble around him and his friends as Phantom energy explosively radiated across the entire base.