Infinite followed his former mentor across the deserted streets of the city, towards the wall of the great cavern. His downcast eyes occasionally looked up to see where they were going, but he would soon lose interest and look back at the cobblestone path, glaring. He never should have gone after the ruby. Now he had no idea what had happened to his squad, and no control over what Juke would do to them if he tried anything on the lynx. Maybe he wouldn't have remembered as quickly without the ruby, but then again, his squad might've had a better chance with one extra team member to fight off Juke's ninjas.
Infinite was glowering in thought when something out of the corner of his eye fluttered. He glanced up, and nearly jolted in surprise at the sight of his entire squad sneaking along the road adjacent to his on the other side of a row of houses. Aaron was leading them, and they were all looking in his direction, probably wondering if he had betrayed them yet again. Infinite's widened eyes flickered to the back of Juke's head, then back to them. He then quietly gestured a death threat directed at Juke and waited to see their reactions. Mathilda shook her head quickly and pointed in the direction they were all headed. Juke was leading them all somewhere, she was implying. Infinite silently nodded back and watched Juke as they walked, frowning to himself. He wasn't in any mood to see Eggman again, let alone with the newfound resurfaced memories floating around in his head. At least he wasn't as powerless as before.
Juke seemed to sense the relief in his former pupil and glanced over at him. "You seem strangely at peace all of a sudden."
"Well, I'm just wondering if your plans are the same as mine regarding the Phantom Ruby."
"Oh, we're not heading for the ruby." Juke said dismissively. "Your chip is broken. You really think I'd be stupid enough to hand over the ruby to you with all your retained memories? Besides, you wouldn't be willing to cooperate with Eggman anyway..." He stopped as they reached the end of the city, where a larger house protruded out from the wall. Juke knocked a message in Morse Code onto the door as he turned to face Infinite. "No, dear jakkaru, we're re-syncing your chip before there's any talk regarding the ruby."
Aaron's eyes narrowed as he and the rest of Squad Jackal watched from afar. So, everything the others had been telling him was true. When the two Mobians had vanished through the metal door of the factory, he gestured for the others to follow him down the street and in underneath one of the metal storm drain covers.
Espio, hidden inside a vent overlooking the factory inside, lurched slightly when he recognized the jackal walking alongside the lynx. He quickly updated the others on what he was seeing, his signal less corrupted now that the Phantom Ruby had been removed from the room.
"So, Infinite betrayed us?" Tails mused.
Wilkes studied the scene through Espio's spyglasses. Through the slits of the vent cover, he could see lynx pass Infinite on to one of the guards, who Tails immediately identified to be Valorie.
"How did he even get back in, though?" Espio mumbled. "The entire place's on lockdown."
Before Valorie had escorted Infinite to the elevator, a couple more guards rushed in. Juke turned to greet them, then looked puzzled.
"Where's your partner?" He asked one of them.
"Aaron said he would catch up with us, but he never did. Claire went back to check and make sure everything was alright, but it turns out he freed Squad Jackal and ran away with them!"
Juke frowned, contemplating. "So, there's a traitor among us. Dr. Snow-...!"
The lynx turned to see the snow monkey measuring Infinite's torso with a piece of fabric measuring tape. The jackal stared hard at the lynx, saying nothing.
"...When you're finished, I need you, Eggman, and Infinite in the basement vault. The machine needs maintenance. Bring a couple of guards with you."
"What are we going to do about the traitor, though, sir?" Claire asked.
"He'll turn up eventually, and we'll deal with him then. The city's on lockdown, in case anyone's forgotten." Juke shot Infinite a contemplative stare before turning to Dr. Snow.
"The vest is finished, sir." The scientist said, fiddling with the measuring tape and rolling it up. "After the... machine's repaired, we can sync the ruby to Infinite."
Juke opened his mouth to respond, when there was a loud, metallic clang in the corner of the room, silencing everyone. The entire building trembled with the impact, then remained still.
"...What the hell was that?" Juke asked. When nobody knew how to respond, he directed his gaze upon a few unidentified ninja guards. "You three! Go check the city's water drainage system. We could have more intruders."
"Yessir-!"
The floor then abruptly exploded outwards, sending shards of tile and unsecured science equipment flying through the air. Scientists screamed and panicked while the guards rushed to pull them to safety through the raining debris. In the newly formed hole, a raging group of Zeti stormed inwards, slashing and punching anything within even a few feet of them. Infinite pressed his back against the wall, watching the chaotic scene ensue before him in bewilderment.
Wilkes blinked in shock at what he was seeing through Espio's spyglasses. He then quickly switched his intercom.
"Shadow...!" The Head of Guard's voice thickened with panicked anger.
"We're working on it!" Shadow yelled back, his voice equally thick with agitation.
"...Never mind the Zeti, Shadow! Find your way to the basement vaults! Now could be our best chance to disable the MIND chips!"
Juke crouched beside one of the scientist's undisturbed desks, analyzing the scene. He looked up as Eggman appeared beside him.
"You know, I could probably sync you to the ruby." The doctor said through all the sounds of confusion and raging battle.
Juke looked from him back to the battle. He saw Infinite, standing alone, watching the battle in grim fascination. He saw his plans go down the drain that the Zeti had sprung up from. The lynx stood up.
"Alright, if you say so, doctor. Let's go." The two disappeared through yet another hidden passageway, Dr. Snow noticing only seconds before their departure and attempting to follow.
Infinite noticed him immediately, as the monkey was only a few feet away from him, and he roughly grabbed the doctor by the elbow.
"Oh, no," he said to the disgruntled monkey, "you're not going anywhere."
As he began to drag Snow to the elevator, the monkey panicked and tried to jerk free.
"Ah, no! No, no, no!" He paused to unscramble his thoughts, then shouted, "You're too weak!"
Infinite stopped instantly as though struck across the face. He turned slowly to look more closely at Dr. Snow, his eyes positively blazing.
"What did you say...?" His voice was hushed, but it cut through all the background noise like a razor blade.
Snow realized his mistake and gulped. "Guards! Get him off me!"
Infinite violently shoved him into a wall and then faced his oncoming opponents. Only one of the guards had heard his cry, but she drew the attention of another, and the two took on the jackal. He grabbed a nearby metal cart that had been knocked over and flung it at them single-handedly, the unbelievable amount of rage building up inside of him giving him an adrenaline rush. The heavy cart hit them, hard, and only one ninja could get back up after hitting the ground. The other laid there groaning, perhaps dramatizing their injuries so they wouldn't have to fight anymore. The guard that got back up was Scarlet, and she faced Infinite somewhat uncertainly with her fists.
"If you don't want to fight me, then get out of my way." He growled at her.
"Well..." She looked over as a group of jackals suddenly appeared by Infinite's side. They stood together, frowning at her. Her gaze dropped. "...okay."
"I'm glad you're all alright," Infinite said, quickly looking over each of his squad members for injuries. "Juke had me thinking for a minute that...!"
"Don't worry, boss, it's fine." Mathilda reassured him, smiling.
"I'm sorry I ditched you guys." He continued. "Though, I did get my memories back."
"Good," Derek stated, before he stepped forward in front of Infinite, facing Scarlet, whose eyes were downcast. "We're going to destroy the MIND machine... Do you want to help?"
"No, Derek, she's only going to betray us again." Mathilda said with some hostility.
"I only 'betrayed' you because I couldn't believe what you were telling me. But, Aaron..." She looked back up at them. "Is what they're saying really true? Are our memories being suppressed?"
"Yes, Scarlet, one hundred percent. I overheard Juke talking to Infinite about resyncing his MIND chip. Juke is a fraud."
Scarlet looked over her shoulder as the Zeti somewhat calmed down, having driven out most of all the N.I.T.E. staff. Zavok looked around and spotted them.
"So, you're all back together again. Cute." He walked across the room, peering into each lab room he passed by. "Hey, did anyone see where Juke went?"
"I don't think that should be our biggest problem right now..." Jay said, walking towards the elevator. "The MIND machine's still up and running. It's our biggest threat at this point."
"No, your leader's the biggest threat at this point!" Dr. Snow stated angrily, having been momentarily forgotten by everyone. "He's totally unstable!"
"Shut up," Infinite replied with an eerie calmness, his eyes piercing as he glowered at the scientist. "None of this would've happened if it weren't for you."
"Let's beat him up," Zazz jeered, to which Infinite shook his head.
"Like it or not, this guy knows how to work the MIND machine. He could be useful."
"Infinite has a point," Zavok assured his team, joining Jay by the elevator, who looked over at the hole, a little puzzled.
"Hey, what happened to Shadow and the others?" The young jackal asked.
"We slowed them down," Zeena smiled. "The two guys were less keen on chasing us after we trapped their bat friend in a mess of metal railing." Her smug look soured as she examined her long pink talons. "Ugh, I broke a nail, though."
The Zeti chuckled to themselves before everyone's attention was drawn to Snow as his phone rang. The monkey fumbled with it before Infinite snatched it from his gloved hands and answered the call, putting it on speaker.
"Snow, where are you?" It was Juke's calm, collected voice.
"I, uh, I'm heading for the lift, going to head down..." Snow said, trying to keep his voice steady as the members of the Jackal Squad collectively pointed their weapons at him and began herding him towards the elevator. "...on my way to do maintenance to the machine."
"Anata wa hitoridesu ka?" Everyone realized the lynx was speaking Japanese.
"No, sir. I have company."
"Dare ga anata to issho ni imasu ka?"
Jay prodded Snow with his dagger, making the monkey's face whiten from fear. "Can you please speak English, sir?"
At his humble question, Juke suddenly launched into an enraged speech in his native tongue, half of which the monkey himself couldn't even comprehend. Zavok glared at the elevator, which hadn't opened, despite Jay and Zazz repeatedly taking turns to punch the button. The red Zeti dug his fingers into the slit between the two doors and ripped them open, revealing the empty elevator shaft beyond. He clutched the sides of the elevator door, peering down and judging the distance of the fall.
"Damedamedame-! The shaft's been put on lock down, and it sounds like something ripped the doors open..." Juke abruptly changed back to speaking English. "So, I'll just check back in with you after Dokutā egguman is finished. I've already sent other scientists to fix the machine."
The call then ended. Infinite slipped the phone into one of the pockets of his scuffed-up ninja suit and peered down the shaft under Zavok's elbow. He looked down into the pitch-black hole and eyed the metal support beams bolted to the concrete walls, judging if they could take his weight or not. Then he pushed himself off the ledge he was standing on and landed on the first beam. Its metallic clang rang up and down the shaft. It seemed sturdy enough.
"Let's move, team," Infinite called up to his squad, who copied his actions, jumping after him. Zavok and the rest of the Deadly Six slid down the wall where the doors were to open, using each landing as a giant step ladder as the two teams descended into darkness. Zazz wrapped a lanky arm around Dr. Snow and carried him as he made each jump, snickering every time the doctor gasped or yelped.
They made it to the very bottom of the elevator shaft, and Zavok ripped the doors open with ease. Immediately they were met by guards, which the Deadly Six barreled through like they were nothing. After the fire and smoke had died down some, Master Zik noticed the window and the barred security door. He jumped up on the desk and tapped on the window with his small wooden cane, frowning as he scrutinized the thick glass.
"Bullet proof." Mathilda stated, eyeing its thickness.
Zavok strained to pull open the security door, then stopped, catching his breath. He glared over at them. "This is where the monkey doctor comes in."
"I don't have to-!" Snow began even as Zazz shoved him towards the security panels. The monkey crossed his arms firmly.
"I won't betray N.I.T.E."
Infinite slowly approached the doctor, deliberately taking his time as he stepped around the doctor to look him in the eyes.
"Really?" He asked him, his voice thickening with poison.
The doctor met his sneer with a look of silent determination. "Never."
Infinite's expression remained sinister as he reached for Snow's pocket. The monkey tried to step back, but his back met Zavok's muscular chest.
"Mm. Just kill him. It's not worth the struggle." Infinite stated blatantly, drawing back and planting a hand on his hip.
Snow began panicking as the Zeti closed in on him, each grinning in excitement from what they were about to do. Squad Jackal looked on in slight disconcertment and disturbance by their leader's seemingly resurfaced sadistic nature. There was a cry of pain as one of the Zeti made their first move.
"Stop! I'll do it!"
At Snow's desperate call, Infinite's lip curled into a smirk.
"You heard him, Zeti. Maybe he's not entirely useless." He said, beckoning for the doctor to come back to the desk.
Moments later, they were in the room with the machine. Zazz kept a clawed hand on the back of Snow's neck as he directed him to the computer hooked up to the MIND machine. Infinite looked around idly at the surgery equipment as the doctor worked under the threatening gazes of the Deadly Six. His jackal squad stood around, wondering if it was really going to be that easy. Their leader wandered over to the door at the back of the room and opened it.
Shadow stood there, hand poised as though he were already about to open the door. Behind him was Sonic and Rouge. They all stared at one another in a stunned silence before Snow called out from the front of the room.
"I'm sorry, but there's not much here I can do!"
"Don't be idiotic, doctor..." Zeena sneered, none of the Deadly Six noticing the newcomers yet. "You know full well how to disable the chips. Why else would Juke send you down to do maintenance on the machine?"
"Well I was taught how to fix any disrupted connections between the chips and machines, not how to cancel it!"
Shadow looked back at Infinite. "You have this covered?"
"Not sure. This doctor guy's been kind of useless..." The jackal responded.
Zavok looked over. "Is that Shadow? Tell him to get lost, we've got this handled."
"Zavok said he appreciates your help, but the situation's under control." Infinite said sarcastically, giving Shadow a satirical look.
The Ultimate Lifeform regarded him with an amused sidelong look before turning to his comrades. "Chaos Control!"
As soon as the three Resistance vanished with a flash of green light, the room's hidden intercom system's alarm suddenly began blaring. A male's cool and collected voice said something rapidly in Japanese, then repeated the translation into English as, "Alert, alert, intruders detected in Vault A..."
"Well that took longer than expected." Aaron scoffed, looking around with his hand on the hilt of his sword. "Juke's always bragging about N.I.T.E.'s top-notch security systems."
"Really?" Zavok snorted. "I don't think we've encountered anything even mediocre-notch regarding their security."
Everyone looked up as the ceiling panels opened to reveal drop-down artillery weapons, which pinpointed every person in the room with thin red laser beams of light. Each member of Squad Jackal tensed, eyeing each gun in anticipation as the male speaker said something else in Japanese, which he then repeated in English, "Please exit immediately or face the consequences..."
"Tch. Better hurry up, doctor..." Master Zik smirked, leering over the keyboard at the anxious monkey.
"Chill out, jackals, we won't let the guns shoot you." Zeena giggled, gesturing to the weapons with her hands. "We can control magnetic fields, remember?"
"Bet you can't control this," Snow muttered, before a N.I.T.E. ninja leapt inside the room brandishing a purple alien-looking conch.
All the Zeti reacted immediately.
"GET THAT CONCH!" Master Zik shrieked, leaping to snatch it, but the ninja quickly blew it.
The jackals looked on in bewilderment as the blaring sound of the conch drew out explosive reactions from the Zeti. They all cried out in pain and clutched their heads, momentarily disabled, or fell to their knees and pounded the floor with their fists in agony.
The guns from the ceiling suddenly beeped, their machinery no longer being restrained by the Zeti. Infinite grabbed the jackal closest to him and ripped open the door that had shut only seconds ago, diving into the darkness. The jackal he had grabbed was Aaron. Infinite got up off the floor and turned to run back out to grab more of his teammates, but Aaron suddenly grabbed him by the arm and pinned him against the wall. The room outside the closet blew up with gunfire and panicked cries. The blow of the conch continued to blare on.
"What are you doing-?!" Infinite yelled, striking him across the chest with his free arm.
Aaron only met his agitation with a blank look. Something about his eyes had dulled, making him seem less awake, less alive. Infinite wondered for a brief moment if he had gone braindead, before remembering the MIND chip.
"Frenchy, snap out of it!" He demanded. "That's an order!"
His words seemed to take effect. The other jackal stepped back, releasing his grip, as the vividness returned to his yellow eyes.
"Boss...?"
Infinite shoved him out of his way, out of spite, and cracked the door open to see what had happened. The firing had ceased. The cries of pain had stopped. The conch's horn no longer rang in the air. It was too late. Infinite silently closed the door and stared at it, saying nothing.
"I think that got all of them..." Snow's voice could be heard, muffled on the other side. "But just to be sure, check the engineer's closet. You, other guard, tell Juke I'm starting the repairs immediately."
The door cracked open from the outside. Infinite ripped Aaron's sword from his belt and pointed it at the throat of the guard, whose face revealed her to be Claire. She merely glanced at the blade, stuck an arm inside and gestured to the far back wall of the room, whispering, "There's a vent back there..." Then the door shut, and she told the others the closet was clear.
"Boss, I'm so-!" Aaron began, but Infinite pulled the jackal's hood over the back of his head and across his face, shutting him up, and turned him to face the back wall. Aaron struggled to fix his hood as Infinite kneeled before the vent cover and realized it had already been opened and laid aside.
"Come on, let's go." He said in a hushed voice, leading the way.
The two crawled inside only to discover the inside was a long, rectangular shaft shooting all the way upwards. Infinite turned to stare up the metal ladder when a figure seemingly appeared out of nothingness, previously having blended in with the metal walls, then turning a radiant shade of violet. Both jackals pointed their weapons at him, startled out of their wits.
"Relax! I'm with the Resistance!" It was a chameleon, raising his hands in surrender. "My name is Espio, I've been tasked with spying on N.I.T.E."
Infinite gritted his teeth, taking a step back. "What's your proof?"
Espio gestured to his spyglasses. "These are directly connected to a monitor back at the Resistance's base. And my earpiece is currently in a channel with them. Want to say hi to the Head of Guard?"
He took it out and handed it to Infinite, who held it up to his ear.
"-let me talk to him, he doesn't know you- Hey, Infinite!" Tails' chipper voice sounded in the earpiece. "We saw from Rouge that you and the Zeti had the MIND machine under control. Is everything okay?"
"No. A guard came in with a giant purple conch and, well, it sounds ridiculous now..."
"Wait, a conch? Did he blow it? Did it seem to hurt the Zeti?"
"Yes, actually. Then the security firearms went off and...!"
"And what?!"
Infinite regarded his comrade with some irritation. Aaron looked down, shamefaced. "...well, Aaron and I made it out at least."
"...I sense some hostility between you two." A man's gruff voice suddenly sounded. "I'm Head of Guard, Robert Wilkes, by the way. Could you elaborate further on what happened?"
"The machine hasn't been deactivated yet, if that's what you're asking." Infinite said with some sarcasm. "And the chip's kind of an on and off thing with Aaron. It seems to be an on and off thing with all the others, too; earlier today, Claire forgot about ever knowing us, but not two minutes ago, she told us we could escape through this vent."
"The girls are smart, they've long since figured out something is up. They probably just aren't sure what to do about it." Tails said. "And it seems the machine is malfunctioning somehow. Now would be a good time to destroy it, once and for all."
"I'm not going back into a room of possibly dead Zeti and jackals." Infinite answered stiffly. "Besides, I'm pretty sure just destroying it would glitch out the chips or something."
"I think that we can all wait on the MIND chips..." A third voice came through the earpiece. It was Gadget, sounding alarmed. "I can see Juke and Eggman... Juke's got the vest on, and it looks like Eggman's connecting him to the Phantom Ruby!"
"Well jeez, I guess anyone can manipulate Phantom Energy nowadays..." Infinite scoffed.
"Is that a bit of bitterness I hear...?" Tails momentarily joked before immediately growing serious. "Gadget, does Juke seem to be able to actually use the ruby?"
"I can't tell yet... Eggman's saying something to him..." a small explosion suddenly sounded on his end. "Woah!"
"That was quite the energy blast." Wilkes stated. "His grip on it seems... shaky."
"That'll be his downfall." Infinite stated grimly. He handed the earpiece back to Espio. "Where's Gadget positioned?"
"Near the Doomsday Device, in Vault C, just a couple of floors above us." The chameleon answered. "I see we have trouble..."
He leapt up on the ladder, beckoning for the others to follow him up. "I'm not sure what we can do... but follow me."
"What happened?" Aaron asked, significantly confused.
"Juke has the Phantom Ruby." Infinite answered shortly. "Come on, let's go."