Chapter Text
Gadget
The sun was casting a molten orange glow across the sky, the sound of the crowd chattering echoed across the slowly reforming town center as the wreckage was being pulled away from the still standing structures. Gadget was off to the side leaning against one of the building walls, taking a breather after a long day working with the restoration. They had managed to clear a decent amount of destruction from this town so far, the effort slow but clearly progressing as the days went on. It wouldn't be long until they could start rebuilding what was lost and get this community back to its original form.
It had been roughly three months since the war had officially ended, three months since Infinite vanished off of the face of the earth, the only thing proving he was here at all being the scars that he raked through the world that they were left to heal. The wolf spent the first few weeks searching through the ruins trying to find anything that could lead to the Jackals' whereabouts but to no avail. It was as if the criminal just ceased to exist, not even a body left to be found.
It frustrated the wolf to no end that there was no clear-cut resolution to everything that had happened, Eggman retreated back into hiding who knows where, and the harbinger of devastation himself was either dead and gone or hiding away to get his revenge another day. It was an uneasy feeling that he and many others had to bear, always lurking in their subconscious that they would have to go through this all again.
At the very least, the Restoration, formerly the Resistance, was a great outlet for letting him get out that unwanted energy. Gadget was almost always the first volunteering for missions, taking pride in his contributions and getting everything back on track. There were a lot of missions that took him out traveling to assist in missing persons cases, badnik removal, or in the case of his current assignment, town rebuilding efforts.
He was currently stationed in a small seaside town surrounded by a rocky mountain that was hit by a fleet of Eggman’s bots near the end of the war, the structural damage was pretty substantial but for the most part it was a simple job. The most taxing part was the labor, but even then he had his trusty modified wispon to make short work of things. He had been working in the city for a little over a week at this point, spending his mornings and afternoons helping with cleanup while using the evenings to explore everything the quaint salt dusted location had to offer.
His new routine was stable, if a bit stagnant. In some ways he appreciated the ease of which things flowed, but in others he felt like he should be doing more. He was so used to the constant shifting that the war demanded, and slowing down felt painful.
Things used to be worse when he was stationed back at the Restoration’s headquarters, Gadget’s key involvement in winning the war had quickly pulled him from his “Rookie” status and elevated him to a position that held much more weight. There was an awkward period in the beginning of the restoration's directive shift where he was asked to join in on their meetings and offer input, but he quickly recognized that it wasn't his thing. He tried for the sake of Sonic and everyone else in those first weeks but the stress of such heavy decisions while not being able to personally see any progress became too much for him and he politely asked to take on other roles within the organization.
One thing he really enjoyed while at Headquarters was the resources and free reign that allowed him to fully indulge in tinkering. He was allowed full 24-hour access to the workshops where he would often be tasked to help in repairing wispons and other related gear, even working with tails on a few larger projects when the fox was available. But the true joy for him was in the after hours work, where he would immerse himself in his projects for hours at a time. upgrading his gear and creating new types of- for lack of a better word, ‘gadgets’.
He came from a modest family of inventors and mechanics, so tech came naturally for him. Before the war had begun he had actually been in his first year of college for an engineering degree, his brother about to graduate high school. Thankfully his family had made it out of everything alive, he hadn't been able to contact them throughout the entirety of Eggman’s crusade but located his brother Gizmo after the dust had settled and communications came back online. He didn't see them often but the knowledge that they were safe meant more than the word to the scarlet wolf.
His time in the workshops was his way of coping with the new version of the world he found himself in, and it worked for a while. But the longer he stayed within those walls, the more claustrophobic they felt. About a month into his stay he felt that he needed to get away for a bit, but wanted to do so in a way that he could still make a positive impact. So he put in his name for a mission that was a few towns over, and from that point forward he never stayed in one place again.
The day carried on like any other, with a day full of labor followed by taking a walk over to one of his favorite small restaurants for a quick and easy dinner. Some of the other Restoration members had the same idea and called him over to join their table, the wolf politely accepting their invitation and silently munched his food while listening to the antics of the others. It didn't take long before he was back on the streets wandering to new corners of the town as the sun slowly fell into the horizon of the ocean.
Gadget was heading towards his temporary lodging in the city when he first felt it, a sudden shift in the air followed by a distant rumbling. The best way he could describe it was how the ground vibrated intensely as a freight train thundered by, but instead of the sensation localizing to the floor below, it shook the atmosphere around the scarlet wolf with a growing intensity. His fur stood on end as he started frantically looking for the source of so much raw power, he could hear the shouts of alarm and fear from the people around him as he shot his grappling hook out and took to the rooftops for a better vantage point.
He quickly sent an SOS message through the communicator on his wrist as he vaulted for the bell tower that sat at the center of town, hoping that sonic and his crew could speed over as soon as possible. Gadget knew that whatever this was, it was likely more than he could handle himself and he couldn't risk the town’s safety by waiting to assess the danger before calling for back-up.
When he made it to the top of the tower his breath caught in his throat at what he saw, in the near distance, maybe a few miles away at most, was the mountain range that surrounded the town. And eclipsing part of those mountains was a gigantic black hole, or at least what Gadget could only assume was a black hole. The moon that was sitting just behind the mountain ridge appeared to be getting wrapped around the edge of it, the light bending around and seemingly vanishing into it.
Panic flooded the wolf as he tried to figure out what to do in the face of something so insurmountable, but all he could think to do was evacuate the town. Even if it was simple, at least he had some semblance of a plan structured. Time was of the essence so he jumped down to the bell sitting in the center of the tower and activated the switch before leaping down to the ground and found a group of restoration members trying to keep the peace.
“We need to evacuate away from the mountains, get as many people as you can to the southwest entrance and keep them moving. I’ll head towards the north of town and get as many people headed that way as I can.” rushed out the wolf.
A brunette cat stepped forward with a look of determination “understood, l’ll head eastside and start directing everyone I see on my way, as well as get the rest of the restoration members on the same page.”
Gadget nodded and aimed his wispon, swinging into the rapidly approaching night. He directed everyone that he could as he slowly made his way closer to the black hole, the rumbling in the sky growing stronger the further he pushed. He was terrified to know if it was growing, the chance that it could swallow up the entire town and overtake the people escaping was an overwhelming thought. He shook his head, setting his eyes on the large wall that separated the mountain range from the town. He knew he needed to keep an eye on it and assess its progress so that sonic and his crew would have as much information as possible. He had to put faith in his team and let them take care of the evacuation for now, his focus needed to be the direct threat in front of them.
With that in mind he scaled the wall and perched, gazing out at the black hole. The slowly darkening sky only served to obscure the black hole further, but it hadn't seemed to expand any more than what he saw on the tower. The wolf let out a small breath of relief, before looking at the large mass closer. Upon further inspection, the rim of the black hole almost looked like it was bleeding a very dark purple mist out.
That one thought was all that it took, that one thought slammed into the canine with a startling force and clarity, he had seen something like this before. Only a few times but now that he had a moment to process what he was seeing, it looked an awful lot like the null space that Infinite had ripped open during the war, just much, much, bigger. His heart plummeted to his stomach, did this mean that the Jackal he had fought tooth and nail was back?
Chapter Text
Gadget
Gadget cautiously watched as the black hole continued howling into the twilight, he wasn't sure how close he should get. The trees that sat closer to the mountains were being pulled forward with the gravitational force, the mountains themselves seeming to break off in chunks and vanish into the void. He was keeping an eye on his communicator, hoping that the others would arrive soon. His side of town seemed to have been evacuated successfully in the ten or so minutes that he had been perched, but the risk of the black hole getting larger and demolishing the partially restored town was still at the forefront of his mind, there were no rules as to how fast this thing could expand, he had to stay vigilant.
Suddenly the gravitational pull intensified, yanking Gadget forward a few inches before he was able to slam his grappling hook into the wall, he tried to keep himself secured to the structure as his legs dangled horizontally. He imagined this is what it felt like to be sucked into space like those movies that he watched as a kid used to show, the force of gravity making him shut his eyes as the debris rushed past him.
Just as the pull was at its worst, the sound of the wind reaching deafening levels, a loud crack echoed across the sky and everything suddenly went still. The wolf’s eyes shot back open as he scrambled back onto the wall properly. When he looked back, the scene in front of him took a moment to comprehend. Where the black hole had formerly occupied was now a gaping hole in the mountainside, parts of the stone curving perfectly with the sphere that had just been there. The top sections of the mountains that were still intact were actively crumbling into the empty space.
Gadget sucked in a short gasp before staggering down and quickly making his way towards the crater that had been left behind, while the main threat seemed to have been dissipated, he had a gut feeling that he would find something if he ventured into the worst of the damage. Or even possibly, someone.
The terrain got worse the further in he pushed, trees pulled out by the roots, rivers emptied into the surrounding land resulting in a mud slicked ground. But he was able to navigate the area with a steel precision, bee-lining his way to the mountain’s newly formed valley.
When he got close enough, the surroundings suddenly lost most of their obstacles. The land in front of him became a rocky flattened field that had a slight curve from the black hole. There were jagged rocks stabbing out of the ground here and there, but otherwise it was disturbingly bare. As terrible as it was to see the wilderness that was once teeming with life here get ripped away, it made his job a lot easier in the fact that his eyes immediately caught sight of something in the dead center of the impact area. The body of a black and white jackal, laid out flat and covered in blood, and he looked like he wasn't breathing.
Gadget sprinted over before dropping in front of the battered body of the villain, reaching his hands out before hesitating and trying to gauge the amount of damage that Infinite had sustained. His chest looked like it had exploded, shards of the phantom ruby scattered through his fur like shrapnel. That was the source of most of the blood, but there was obvious damage to the right half of his body as well, with things looking bent in ways they never should have been. His signature mask was nowhere to be seen, the jackal’s face on full display.
The darker canine had more blood coming out of his mouth, his face scrunched up in a grimace. He was thankfully still breathing, but it was so faint that it could easily stop at a moment's notice. Gadget swore under his breath, with the state that the other was in, he would guess that the null space wasn't intentional. That, or some plan went horribly wrong and the jackal is reaping the consequences of his misstep. He didn't have any first aid supplies other than some simple alcohol pads and bandaids, not expecting something so horrendous to happen during a simple clean up mission. He didn't have any clothes to use as a makeshift wrap either, the only thing he could think to do was use his hands to try and stop the worst of the bleeding and hope that the others could get here in time.
He was not about to lose this damn jackal right after finding him again, even if the world would be better off for it. Death was an easy out, living with your mistakes and making up for them was the real challenge. Gadget ripped off his gloves and hurriedly scrubbed his hands with the alcohol pads before putting pressure on the other’s chest, Infinite wheezed out a whine from the pain.
“You’ll survive this, just keep breathing.” the wolf muttered, looking out towards the town as he waited.
It wasn't long before sonic rocketed onto the scene, skidding to a stop when he spotted Gadget and Infinite, his eyes widening a bit before throwing on a grin.
“Woah, that's quite the temper tantrum he threw. He still kicking?”
Gadget nods, “...barely, he needs immediate medical attention.”
“Gotcha, shadow should be here in a sec. We can chaos control him back to base.” he says before looking around at the damage before throwing his arms behind his head.
“You cool with giving a run down of what happened? Village was empty when I ran through.”
As Gadget relayed everything that had transpired, the footfalls of the rest of the group approaching echoed through the field.
“Oh my chaos!” Amy gasped out, staring at the two on the floor horrified. “I-Is that Infinite??”
Gadget once more nodded while looking back at the injured jackal.
“From the sounds of things it seems like our old pal here seems to have set off a portal to null space, but whether that was intentional or not is the real question.” Sonic chirped. “But for now we need to get him stabilized so we have the chance to ask him ourselves.”
Sonic turns towards Shadow, who was standing in the far back of the group.
“You up for teleporting some villainous cargo back to headquarters? I’ve heard the restoration pays well for expedited delivery.” the blue hedgehog joked with a smug wink.
Shadow sneers down at the unconscious jackal, causing Gadget to tense up.
“I’m not dragging him with us, he’s caused way too much trouble and can die here for all I care. You of all people should understand that Sonic." Shadow turned back to the other hedgehog before continuing. “He was the one that tortured you when you were missing those months in the war, if I recall correctly.”
Sonic looks away, scuffing his foot into the dirt while scoffing, “It was just illusions and the occasional badnik that Eggman threw at me, I’m fine. He doesn't need to die just because of his past actions, everyone deserves a shot at redeeming themselves.”
“And if we bring him back only for him to kill more people? Will it have been worth it then? This is just going to be another Eggman situation, we literally just saw this play out with that Mr. Tinker mess.” Shadow argues back.
“That won’t happen, we’ll have him under surveillance this time. Also he’s pretty banged up, I don't think he could hurt anyone even if he tried right now, and I'm pretty sure Eggman has no idea that he’s alive.” Sonic crossed his arms, his ears subtly angling downward.
“We can keep it that way, see if Infinite comes around and joins the Restoration, and have him work under a different name.” Sonic gazed at the ebony hedgehog, a heavy look behind his eyes.
They both stared each other down, it looked as though they were having a private conversation just with their expressions, too quick for Gadget to follow. The air was tense, neither hedgehog wanting to back down.
Sonic sighs, “Look, if he doesn't come around for the better, then we can throw him in prison. Allies are what keep us strong and I genuinely think that there's a chance that Infinite could do some good… Please Shadow? Give him a chance to prove you wrong?” the blue hedgehog implored.
Shadow closely studied the blue hedgehog for a moment longer before letting out a harsh sigh and closing his eyes while rubbing his temple. When he opened them, they were aimed at the jackal on the floor.
“I don't agree with your decision, but I’ll take him to the Restoration for now. It's better for us to have eyes on him on the off chance he does survive.” he mutters out before approaching the two on the floor. “But he needs to be watched at all times, twenty-four seven, no exceptions. This isn't some low grade Eggman pawn. He killed hundreds if not thousands during that war, and he should be treated as a war criminal.”
The Ebony hedgehog knelt down next to them, pulling out his chaos emerald while assessing the damaged chest of the fallen foe. “A wound like this would be easy for myself to recover from, but I have doubts that he’ll survive it.” He shifts his arms under the unconscious jackal’s legs and neck, forcing Gadget to remove his hands from the other’s wound as Shadow stood back up.
Sonic stepped towards them, lifting up his wrist with the communicator. “You’d be surprised what our med bay can pull off, there's only one way to know for sure! I’ll call up headquarters to let them know you’re coming.”
“Tch.” the Ebony hedgehog clicked, before turning towards the scarlet wolf. “You saw what happened to him, correct?”
Gadget nods, standing straight under the other’s gaze.
“Alright, then you’re heading back with Sonic. The doctors will probably have questions regarding his condition and I’m not sticking around to deal with it.” Shadow grumbled before focusing on his emerald and shouting out the command “Chaos Control!”
Shadow and Infinite vanished in a flash of bright green light, leaving Gadget staring at the empty space. His heart rate began to slow, before kicking back up when the events of the day hit him at full force. He had just saved Infinite , the villain responsible for so much devastation, the monster responsible for so much of the damage and pain that he had seen during his travels. Was this really a good idea? Should he have let sonic vouch for him? What if Shadow was right and because he kept the jackal alive, more people would get killed? What if-
Gadget was startled out of his thoughts by a hand landing on his shoulder.
“You heard the guy, you ready to speed after them buddy? We can hit a river or something on the way to wash some of that off.” the blue hedgehog reassured, gesturing to Gadget’s blood soaked paws. He winced at the sight, clocking the feeling of the sticky rapidly cooling substance.
Turning to Sonic he nodded, steeling himself for the future he had just set in motion. Gadget turned his now determined gaze to the blue hedgehog, “Lets go.”
Notes:
So I decided to add a little IDW timeline into this fic, this would happen loosely around issue 13-15 just to kinda establish a placement in the mainline story since this references Mr. Tinker. It wont go into too much detail with the comic, but might reference it here and there like the Usage of the restoration or IDW central characters and such. just to ground it a little more :]
to those that dont read the IDW comics, Mr. Tinker was what happened to Eggman post-forces game. Bro had amnesia and Sonic wanted to let him live out his new life in a little village he had established himself in as a helpful version of himself called Mr. Tinker. but of course someone had to mess that up and Eggman got his memory back, swinging down on the village that took him in. In the comic, Sonic had to convince shadow to let Eggman stay there, which is what was being referenced when they were talking in this chapter.
thank you as always for reading! let me know what you think!
Chapter 3
Notes:
alrighty buckos, its time for some darker themes
semi-graphic depictions of death, lots of injuries and pain, a little bit of un-aliving ideation, implications of past panic attacks, that kinda stuff.
so proceed at your own caution if that kind of content is too much for ya
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Infinite
An endless chromatic space with no real substance, that's what Infinite would call this barren prison he had been trapped in for so long.
It didn't matter how long he walked, how long he ran, how long he suffocated under the spiraling of his own thoughts and constricted throat… It was still the same, never changing, constantly cycling into itself.
He didn't know how long he had been here for, it could have been weeks, years, decades. All he knew is that no matter what he did, how far he pushed, he couldn't escape. The jackal wished he had learned more about null space before having come face to face with it himself; he had only been vaguely briefed on its properties when it had been discovered during his trials taking control of the stone.
The Doctor had only divulged what was necessary to the jackal before sending him off to fight the heroes of Mobius. This meant that the ruby’s ability to warp space had never been fully realized when it came to Infinite’s usage, there was a chance that more information was available somewhere in the Doctors networks but it was useless to him in his current state.
Ultimately the final battle ended in himself being ejected into null space by the damaged ruby in his chest, the only way out slamming shut behind him and leaving him in limbo. He wasn't sure if the ruby acted on its own or if his frazzled state had sent the ruby on the fritz alongside him, either way the result was the same.
At first he hadn't been worried, he had thought that Eggman would retrieve him, not for his own sake but for at least the ruby. But as time wore on, his confidence in the Doctor’s greed waned.
It didn't take long for him to start searching for his own way out with more purpose, but it was to no avail. He had tried everything, ripping open a new portal, trying to overload the space with power, falling through the grid to try and break into the abyss below, but he was limited in his power with how fractured the phantom ruby already was.
The gem had cracked down the middle with branches flaring off into the bottom half, creating an almost root-like system of fractured lines. When he pushed too much power through it, the cracks would spark out a flickering glitched light through the fractures, creating a searing hot sensation in the jackals chest.
At first the feeling had made Infinite reluctant to use his powers, but as time passed and the jackal's mental health started plummeting, the pain was worth pushing through when he could taste the slightest chance of escape that was just on the other side of it.
He didn't need to eat in null space, but he still grew exhausted and slept. Initially it was a reprieve from his circumstances, assisting in passing the time while he had waited for rescue; but gradually it had become something he grew to dread. His dreams turned to nightmares, his nightmares to night terrors.
To make matters worse, most of them had to do with his former team, the jackal squad.
When he was still dreaming, it was of his found family curled around a campfire out in the desert, laughing and bickering as they waited for dinner to cook over the flame. Deux picking on Quatre, Trois intervening when it started to go too far. Or memories of a victory where the group chose to celebrate in the city taverns, high end meals paid easily by their most recent mission. The best of times before everything had gone to ruin.
Slowly over time those kinder dreams and memories contorted into something more malicious, something more haunting.
Infinite stumbling across their discarded corpses in a ditch, unmoving and covered in red, or hearing them scream for help while he was trapped on the floor unable to do anything but scream out and try to claw his way to them in time.
One of his worst nightmares had been of Shadow the hedgehog holding Quatre by the throat, the youngest jackal looking to Infinite with pleading terrified eyes before a snap rung out and he was falling lifeless to the floor. The hedgehog gazing back at Infinite with cold uncaring eyes.
The list went on, Infinite’s guilt and fears manifesting in the cruelest of ways over the passage of time.
He still remembered watching the feed that Eggman had captured of his family being extinguished one by one, the dark furred hedgehog taking everything he lived for in one fell swoop.
All because he was too weak to defeat him, too weak to protect the people who called him their leader. Even with the power of the phantom ruby he couldn't protect or even avenge his squad, a stupidly determined rookie of all people being the one to defeat him, he was pathetic.
He shouldn't have ever taken on that job with the Doctor, he had foolishly believed that having the power of the ruby would mean that his squad was set for life, that nobody could touch them. He had been blinded by the hope that they could be more than impoverished orphans turned mercenaries in the barely habitable deserts of Kammit.
His squad didn't even want to take on the job, Uno trying with everything he had to convince Infinite not to take Eggman’s offer after they had failed to raid the base.
It was only meant to be a simple looting run, take as much tech as they could carry and sell it off to the highest bidder in the markets of Golden Palm Junction. But of course luck wasn't on their side and the Doctor himself ended up being at that damn base. The Doctor’s proposition had seemed like a great opportunity at the time, unparalleled power and a place in a world that the larger man intended to build.
A perfect way to get his squad off of the streets permanently and bask in the luxuries of life that he had never been able to afford, but there was wisdom in the saying ‘All that glitters is not gold’.
He had paid the ultimate price for his hubris, losing sight of the things that mattered most to him, and destroying it all in the end. He was the reason they were at that rainforest base, the reason that they were dead.
The jackal sighed out, these thoughts weren’t new to him, in fact they felt more like a daily occurrence. Looping over and over, contemplating how he should have done things differently, deliberating how he could cause the most pain and anguish to that hedgehog if he ever got out. Wondering if he could find out what had happened to their bodies, and give them a proper send off in their home country.
He had been drifting through the open space of the dimension, having lept off of the grid flooring and hoping to fall through the bottom. Unfortunately he was disappointed to find out that gravity just zeroed itself out, leaving him stranded in nothingness with no way to land himself back on stable ground. Yet another way that he lost more control over himself and his environment. He had tried to manipulate his body and fly back to solid ground like he used to during the war, but the ruby didn't seem to be reacting the same way. Any attempt to directly move himself only resulted in the ruby backfiring energy and causing the jackal pain.
He was sick of this, sick of living.
Being awake was hell, being asleep was even worse.
There was no escape, no hope, no future.
He might have been alive but he sure as hell wasn't living.
It wasn't for the first time that he wondered if he could find a way to shatter the ruby and just cease to exist, but the more rational side of him pushed back that he could survive it and make things even worse for himself.
He felt numb, his body sluggish and heavy, even with the weightlessness of space holding him aloft in the void. He wished he could just shut off his mind for a few hours, not have to feel the crushing weight of his life crumbling around him with the pulsating waves of energy washing over him like an icy wave lapping at the shore….
-Wait…
Infinite’s eyes snapped open as he registered the foreign feeling, it was faint but it almost felt like the ruby was humming. Perhaps it was resonating with something he had drifted close enough to? No that wouldn't make sense- the dimension folded in on itself in a constantly looping feedback.’
It had nothing to react to that was already here, so there was something possibly bleeding into the dimension?
The Jackal maneuvered himself into a more upright position, his piercing gaze sweeping across the landscape looking for even the smallest of changes. Adrenaline and fear surged into his body, this might be his only chance to get out of here, he can’t fuck this up.
He started searching the landscape more aggressively, there had to be something different, he wouldn’t be able to take it if there wasn't. The fear of this being some fucked up nightmare or hallucination was overwhelming but he kept himself in the moment, he knew exactly how this place looked from the last however long he had been here. This had to be different, he couldn't dismiss it as something his own mind was tormenting him with just yet.
Just when he was starting to grow panicked, doubting his own senses, he caught sight of it.
His eyes widened and his breath hitched, he almost couldn't believe what he was seeing. In the space between him and the grid tiled floor was a centralized rippling of space the size of a baseball, very reminiscent of the way portals would form when he had learned to open a doorway to this dimension, it was in the first stages, and he needed to find a way to open it now if he wanted any chance of escaping.
He was decently far away from it, a few meters at least. The jackal knew that his ability to move through the air wasn't viable here, but he had to do something.
The only form of propulsion that he had experienced here was when he was on the gridded pathway. He might not be able to use the ruby to even half of its former ability but if he put enough energy into it he could probably manifest a solid platform to launch off of and use the lack of gravity to his advantage, putting his everything into forcing that portal open when he came in contact with it. It would hurt like hell and possibly even kill him from the energy required but it was all he had right now.
His eyes hardened, calculating the distance and how hard he would need to launch in order to hit his target without overshooting it. If he moved too fast he could risk passing by the portal before it had time to fully open, if he was too slow, it might collapse before he could reach it.
The jackal aimed his right hand at his feet as he positioned himself in a crouch to jump, putting all of his concentration into forming a solid platform. Infinite’s chest started to rapidly flare up, a bone deep pain carving through his nerves that nearly caused him to lose his focus. It took everything he had to keep himself on task and ignore the way his body screamed at him to stop. He didn't want the platform to get launched away instead of himself, so he put focus into weaving it through the space around it, essentially freezing it in time as quickly as he could.
Once everything was set up his muscles coiled tight with energy and he looked up towards the rippling space. He was panting hard with exertion, but steeled himself and pushed against his makeshift floor. Thankfully it held strong and he was flying towards his target.
He threw both arms out in front of him, the Phantom Ruby trembling harder as the jackal tore past every limitation, pulling out as much energy as he possibly could. The agony that he felt was unlike anything else he had ever experienced, it felt as though he was being ripped in half. He couldn't feel his arms or legs, everything around him fading in and out of focus, he could hear the faint wail of his own voice through the rushing of his own ears.
Infinite grit his teeth, sucking in as much air as he could and funneling the powers of the ruby into his palms. He had to resist the urge to hack and cough with the sudden and unexpected fluid that forced its way into his lungs with his heaving in, likely blood from the damage he was doing to himself in attempting this.
The rift was coming towards him quick, so he steadied his hands and put his everything into catching onto that fold in space, roaring with all his might as he snagged into it and gained traction.
The rippling in space was scraped wide open, a pitch black hole of roughly the same size suddenly expanding as the space around him was gradually getting siphoned towards it. At first the jackal was dazed and in shock from his plan actually working, his body barely keeping up with him as he forced himself to stay awake through the pain. A feeling of joy momentarily replacing the shock before promptly fading again as he realized that the torn hole wasn't acting like a normal null space portal.
Under normal circumstances, a portal to null space would act exactly like a doorway. No vacuum, no howling winds swirling towards it. This portal was much more aggressive, he couldn't stop himself from getting dragged into its gravitational pull. He had no way to know if this thing would even throw him out into his own dimension, and that's If he survived its crushing weight.
Infinite grit his teeth as he tried to think through the overwhelming pain as his leg was pulled through the portal, he could feel himself starting to lose consciousness. There wasn't any way to escape the pull, leaving him with only one option, finding a way to protect himself through the journey.
He quickly pawed his hand over the ruby, checking that it was still there. As he gripped it, he could faintly feel the heat rolling off of it, even through the rest of the sensations his body was being battered with. The ruby wouldn't last much longer in this state, the heat was likely going to expand the cracks and shatter it .
He shut his eyes tight, coming to terms with the fact that if he wanted to have even the chance of surviving this he would have to toe the line with death by funneling even more energy through it. At this point his hips were being pulled through the portal, leaving only his torso within null space, the pull was getting stronger, stealing the time for planning and forcing him to act.
The jackal let out a blood curdling yell as he pushed everything he had into the ruby, aiming to create a barrier around himself for as long as possible.
He was fully pulled through the portal right as the barrier activated around him. A pitch black space completely devoid of light was what he was met with, winds that were howling in their intensity, taking hold of his body and viciously throwing him around at breakneck speeds. The barrier he put up was shockingly maintained through the hurricane-like conditions that he had thrown himself into, but as time went on, the forces against him grew fiercer. The winds tore against him like blades, with large projectiles slamming against him in the pitch black, putting so much strain on himself and the ruby that it was only a matter of time before it gave out.
He felt more than heard the gem crack, a sickening pop echoing through his body as half of the barrier dispersed and left him open to the unnatural elements. Immediately his body lit up in an immeasurable onslaught of pain as his right side was ripped at. He knew he was screaming but he couldn't hear it over the freight train of noise that was swallowing up everything near it. Fear and the desperate desire to survive surged through what was left of his mind, he called on the ruby once again on instinct. The ruby flared brighter at his request, starting to form the shield around his body once more before it flashed a searingly bright red and exploded outwards. Infinite was immediately knocked unconscious from the sheer force of the blast.
Notes:
Ok so I have a few words on this one. The Name Kammit, I saw in other fics when I was reading through them and dont personally know the origin of the name or who specifically came up with it so if anyone knows definitely let me know because I really like the name as a country of origin for Infinite lol. same with Jackal squad's names, i've seen them around in fics and the internet tells me that Adam Bryce Thomas might have given his blessing on this set of names? unsure lmao.
Golden Palm Junction is a trading city that I came up with for the sake of this fic, it would be next to the capitol city in Kammit and is known for its giant markets (with a thriving black market that the jackal squad used for making money on looting.)as always let me know what you think! your comments are hella motivation :]
Chapter 4
Summary:
Yoooo its been a bit longer than I intended but what can ya do when you have 2 jobs lmao. here is your next dose of infiget content, we're still in set up phase but we are getting closer to a proper interaction between the two when they're both conscious so I'll call it progress :]
Some depictions of Injury but nothing too graphic
Chapter Text
Gadget
It was a bizarre feeling… being princess carried at breakneck speeds by the all time famous hero of Mobius, but if they wanted to get to the Restoration at a reasonably fast pace then it was what had to be done.
When he was scooped up the first time, he was in a daze. Focusing on keeping his blood soaked hands away from the blue hedgehog so as to not accidentally dirty him as well. But after they stopped at a stream and cleaned up, he was a lot more flustered at the situation as they resumed their journey. He tried his best to stay perfectly still, not wanting to draw attention to himself while allowing for the other to focus on his run.
It didn't take long for them to skid up to the Restoration’s doors, Sonic placing the red wolf down on his feet and asking after the condition of the Jackal. He seemed to be avoiding calling the other ‘Infinite’, so it seemed as though they didn't want it getting out who exactly the other was yet, even within the organization.
Gadget thought that it was a losing battle with how ‘Infinite’ specific his chest wound was, but maybe the medical staff were instructed to stay quiet about it?
As they passed through the doors to the medical wing’s lobby, the first thing Gadget locked onto was the huddle of medical staff standing by the doors to the operating rooms, they were speaking in a hushed murmur with grim expressions on their faces. The scarlet wolf paused for a moment and fell behind the hero, were they too late? Did Infinite not make it?
Sonic strolled up to the group with a practiced grin and wave, “Hey guys! You wouldn't happen to have the scoop on our new patient would ya?”
The group turned to the newcomers and lit up in obvious joy and relief.
“Mr. Sonic! Thank goodness you're here! Yes, the guy that Mr. Shadow brought here is still in surgery.” one of the staff, a golden furred tigress chirped. Her mood shifted as she started speaking again.
“He’s in critical condition, we aren't sure he’ll be able to pull through with how bad his injuries are. The crystal that was in his chest seemed to have been tied directly to his life force and its absence is causing a reaction much like removing vital organs, without the power from it we don't believe his body can sustain itself without outside assistance.”
The blue hedgehog hums while tapping his foot, eyes flickering about the ceiling as he collects his thoughts. Gadget looked through the windows on the double doors that led into the hallway, the OR sign was lit up in a haunting red. His confidence in the jackal surviving was dimming as the minutes ticked by. Even if he did somehow survive this, he would probably be on machines for the rest of his life.
Permanently bedridden and miserable, a prison in its own right.
Gadget’s spiral of thoughts were interrupted by a snap of Sonic’s fingers as he finished his pondering session.
“Alright, I think I have an idea. So, my little bro has been researching a gem that he found in one of Egghead’s bases, and it has kiiiinda similar properties to the Ruby. Dramatically weaker but it might have enough power to keep our friend here stabilized, do you think that if we tried to replace his old battery with a new one it might work?” the hedgehog inquired.
The staff looked taken aback by the concept, but started discussing amongst each other. The wolf was shocked by Sonic's solution. Why would they give Infinite, a very well known dangerous individual, who is still very much a villain, another powerful gem? Just to save his life? Just to give him the option of redeeming his past actions? That could put so many people at risk.
Sonic seemed to catch Gadget's expression, striding up to the other and throwing his arm around the wolf’s shoulders.
“It’ll be alright, this gem is way less destructive. Tails said the only ability it has is simple illusions that have no physicality. Otherwise it's just a minor power source, nothing like the Phantom Ruby or an Emerald.”
Gadget calmed a bit at that, but still looked questioningly at the other.
“Why were you conducting research on it? Was it with the other fake Rubies?”
“Yeah it was in the same base, we took all of the gems that they had on location to try and get a good idea of what kind of power Eggman could throw at us the next time, and more importantly, have countermeasures. Didn't want a similar situation happening.” the bluenette chuckled with a wince.
A different staff member made his way over to the two, a dark purple raven, bowing his head before announcing their verdict.
“While it is not guaranteed to work, we want to give it a shot ,transplanting a new power source for the patient that is. This would be an experimental surgery with no success rate, are you alright with this?”
Sonic gives a confident nod before grinning, “If there's a chance of things working out then I'm game, what about you Gadget? You okay with this?”
The wolf takes a deep breath in and nods. He was the one who started this, so he needed to see this through.
“Understood, we would need that gem as soon as you could get it to us. We’ll prepare for the new surgery until then, would one of you be willing to tell us more about how exactly these injuries were acquired? It may assist in our reconstruction.”
“Yep, my friend here can catch you up to speed on that, I'll grab the gem right now. Be back in a flash!”
Sonic zoomed out of the med bay, throwing up some papers on the reception desk in his haste.
It didn't take too long for the doctors to be caught up on the incident, Sonic making his way back relatively quickly with Tails in tow, he handed off the gem while the yellow fox followed the doctors in, explaining the properties of the gem as they left.
The two heroes ended up being placed in a smaller waiting room within the medical wing, it was a waiting game now.
The exhaustion from the day was finally crashing in on the scarlet wolf, it had to have been around 4 a.m. by this point. Amy had momentarily stopped in to chat with Sonic but otherwise it was a silent stretch of time as they waited on the surgery’s outcome.
After what was likely several more hours, the doors to the operating room clicked open, startling the wolf back to full attention. Sonic had fallen asleep in his chair across from him but Gadget himself hadn't been able to get any sleep, instead staring off into space as he processed the last set of hours.
Tails walked out with two other doctors, beelining straight over to the waiting area.
He looked just as tired as Gadget felt himself, but the blonde’s expression also carried a focused calmness to it.
Sonic awoke with a nudge from the brother, blinking the sleep away and stretching his arms out.
“Morning everyone… looks like things have finished up?” he mutters with a grunt.
Tails nods, “Yes, The surgery was a success. We were able to get the Revenant Alexandrite to resonate with his body thankfully.” the smaller Mobian reports.
The Raven from earlier stepped up behind him adding “If nothing else goes wrong then he should be able to start the healing process with no issues, I doubt we would have been able to get this far without Mr. Prower’s guidance, so we thank you again for assisting us in this procedure.”
Tails was momentarily caught off guard before bashfully chuckling, a light blush dusting his cheeks at the praise. “No no I didn't do much, if it weren't for you guys I don't think he would have stayed alive long enough to be saved. You guys are the real miracle workers here.”
Sonic lets out a soft snort, “You were both key players in this going off without a hitch, you both deserve congratulations for what you pulled off. I know this wasn't easy but you all took it head on.” he swings forward and shifts off the chair. “Now then, the real question is what happens next!” he turns to Gadget with a tired smile, raising a hand to brush out his misplaced quills from his nap.
“We’ll probably hold a proper meeting around noon today, but until then would you be ok with staying by him until I find someone to replace you? I know you’re probably ready to hit the hay but I don't want him waking up alone or to risk pissing off Shadow more.”
Gadget drowsily nods, pushing out of the chair. “I can keep watch over him, but could I have a temporary room reserved for when someone comes to replace me? I think I’ll stick around while everything is fully sorted.”
“Yeah, of course! I'll send the next guy over with a key for ya. I'm gonna make some rounds and get everyone on the same page then, see you soon buddy.” the hedgehog says as he turns and walks out, Tails following after with a wave towards Gadget as he left.
Gadget accompanies the doctors to a private patient room secluded at the back of the healing branch. Surprisingly, the room had a window. He assumed that they would have had the former villain on complete lockdown, but guessed that the other’s injuries would likely prevent him from being able to make any real attempts, or at least for the first few weeks anyways.
The window overlooked an enclosed courtyard, a small garden bathed in the early morning sun bordering the pathways. The staff hadn't brought in his new charge yet, so he took to settling on a small sofa that sat just under the window.
Sounds from the rest of the restoration were slowly starting to swell as the Mobians started to rise and go about their morning. Maybe he could convince one of the wandering nurses to grab him a coffee, he was truly dead on his feet at this point.
His tired mental ramblings were interrupted by the sounds of several people making their way down the hall, he could hear them calling out to each other as they maneuvered what was likely Infinite’s Gurney bed over.
He had assumed correctly, his breath hitching at the sight that met him when they pushed the rolling bed through the door.
Infinite was covered in a thick layer of bandages, only some of his left side and torso visible. The white in his fur was tinted a faint pinkish brown from blood that couldn't be cleaned out, right arm and leg surrounded in a cast. They had him in an oxygen mask, an IV bag and several other tubes of substances running from his free arm. His neck was collared in a neck brace, the base of it gently resting on his chest.
That was where the most damage was visible, where his old ruby used to sit was a smaller deeper red - nearly purple gem that took on an almost heart shaped crescent appearance. Humorous, given its aid in keeping him alive.
The surrounding area around the gem was heavily stitched together, the blast having shredded his chest apart. He couldn't imagine the pain felt with just breathing, the villain would need to be under heavy pain killers for a long time.
The doctors set the head of the bed against the wall and hooked him into the already established vital monitoring equipment, the jackals heart rate filling the room not long after.
After some quick words from the staff, they were gone, leaving Gadget with the injured foe. A calm silence overtook the room as the wolf examined the other. This would be an undeniably long healing journey, he could only hope that Infinite would be cooperative.
He wasn't sure what all was in store for the villain outside of the loose idea of “redemption”. While it was likely that people wouldn't recognise him immediately since he had never shown his face. His chest injury and protruding gem would be dead giveaways. They could try to keep him out of sight as he worked with the Restoration but it would severely limit his impact, not to mention that being forced to hide would probably hinder any progress in redeeming himself.
Being treated as a dirty secret wouldn't do well for believing that you were allowed to change, it would cause way more problems than it would solve. Gadget sighed, these would be things that needed to be addressed later. For now he just needed to focus on keeping watch over the other as he healed, and hope that he did the right thing in saving the other.
Chapter Text
Gadget
The meeting was tense, with the majority of the members staunchly against keeping Infinite within the Restoration and wanting him under the highest security level possible.
Sonic, Tails, and Amy spearheaded the group in favor of giving the jackal a chance. Gadget himself was honestly still on the fence, but he trusted Sonic’s judgement and backed him.
He was initially surprised that Amy was on board, but after further explanation during the meeting, he found out that Shadow was once a powerful force that had opposed them. She and sonic had made an effort in befriending him and he eventually came around, helping to save the planet. She believed that if there was a chance for infinite to come around and do some good then it was worth a shot.
The opposing side was much larger, with Knuckles being the loudest voice in the group. He was actively arguing at Sonic, with the blue hedgehog trying to placate the other with reassurances. The other key members opposing were the Chaotix, Silver, Blaze, and a few newer members he personally didn't know. He couldn't help but think of the busted up jackal that was a few buildings over, still unconscious even after all of these hours. The doctors had mentioned something about a medically induced coma that would last a few days, leaving Gadget free to participate in this meeting without too large a fear of him waking up when the other wasn't around.
Obviously they had set up a rotating shift for monitoring the incapacitated villain, this consisted of Gadget and two other members of the Restoration. The bulk of the day would be helmed by the scarlet wolf, while the other two would take the shifts when he needed to sleep or take care of any pressing tasks. This was a decision made by Gadget himself, he was hoping to be the first contact for Infinite when he woke up.
Eventually the meeting ended with a tense agreement to wait and see how the Jackal reacted to the opportunity and go from there, the wolf was just grateful that a concrete resolution was attained.
He honestly didn't know what to expect when the other finally gained consciousness, it could be anything from an explosive and violent outburst to silent resignation. The doctors said that he would be out for a week or two while the worst of his injuries healed. He had decided to stay in the Headquarters while everything was slowly set in motion, opting to work remotely through a laptop while watching over the other. Thankfully there was only minor damage to the structures from the wind in the seaside town with no casualties.
The first few days were pretty uneventful, with the only real action being the changing of shifts and occasional news segments on what happened or what sonic and his crew were up to. The Jackal had remained completely still and dead to the world as the nurses shuffled around him with medicines and bandage changes.
Eventually though he started moving a little bit here and there, never anything substantial though. Always a slight shift before seemingly passing back out either from drugs or the pain. Gadget was starting to feel a little sorry for the other canine, he couldn't imagine the levels of pain that such deep wounds could inflict. Made even worse by the fact that it compromised his airways, shifting stitches with every breath. His control over his own breathing was growing stronger with the passage of time, allowing for the doctors to remove the machine that kept his lungs functioning and replacing it with a simple oxygen mask. All in all things seemed to be going very well on healing for what should have been a death sentence.
After about a week and a half of waiting it finally happened. It was a little after nine in the morning, Gadget was typing away at an email regarding sending supplies out to a site he was once personally working. The heart rate monitor that had kept a constant steady wave of beeps slowly started to pick up speed, Gadget paused what he was doing and looked up.
Infinite was blearily staring at the ceiling, his breathing starting to come in labored huffs as he started gaining lucidity. His gaze seemed far away, the wolf wondered if the drugs were affecting his perception of where he was, he assumed the Jackal would have noticed him shifting to look up if he was fully there.
The wolf gently closed his laptop and walked over to the bedside, trying to gauge how present the other was. There was no reaction from the other until he started to lean over the bed, placing his hands on the side railings. Infinite jolted backwards as soon as he noticed the rusty toned wolf above him, ears pinning to his skull as he tried his best to lean away from the intruding presence. He looked lost, unsure of what was happening but trying to ground himself in the real world by anchoring his gaze on Gadget.
The silence was incredibly loud. He was unsure how to start this conversation, how do you talk to a dangerous villain that you somehow need to convince to turn over a new leaf? Now that the moment was actually here he didn't know why he thought he could pull anything close to this off.
So much was hinging on this, Infinite's freedom and future was to be decided solely on how this conversation went. It was probably best to wait on the whole redemption speech until after a doctor has looked him over and deemed him well enough to hold such a complex conversation, but he needed to start this off on a good foot to try and get the best outcome possible.
And like the socially awkward nerd of a guy he was, he starts it off with the tried and true simple
“Hey.”
It wasn't the worst starter but it definitely did not help at all, that's for sure. As soon as the obsidian coat canine registered the word he sent the nastiest glare at the wolf, his body language giving a clear message of seething hatred and disdain.
Gadget mentally cringed as he stuttered through his next words.
“H-how are you feeling?”
More silence.
“Okay, that's fair… um… do you know how you got here?”
Again, more silence.
The wolf sighs, knowing this is gonna be like pulling teeth.
“Im gonna call in a nurse to let them know you woke up and let them assess you, try to relax as best as you can okay?”
The Jackal continued to glare as Gadget tapped the call button and notified them of Infinite's lucid state, not long after that a large group of doctors and nurses flooded in. It was an overwhelming amount of people all crammed into one room, but they did their due diligence and gave the all clear on his current state, even going as far as to replenish pain killers and change out bedsheets. Every movement was an obvious strain on the jackal as they maneuvered him around for tests, it seemed like he couldn't really move his left side while his right was riddled with tremors. He refused to look any of the staff in the eye.
Eventually they all trickled out, the supervisors talking about notifying Sonic and crew as soon as they were back in.
Gadget let out a sigh of relief when the room returned to its former peace -well, as peaceful as it could get with a murderous criminal watching your every move. During all the chaos, Gadget decided to tuck himself away on the couch again to stay out of the foot traffic and continued to stay there even after the two were left alone again.
Infinite seemed to be trying his best to ignore the other’s presence, he was on his back again staring at a reflection that was being bounced from the light of the window. Intentionally avoiding eye contact with the wolf as the silence stretched on.
And with such an oppressive air to deal with, he tried again.
“Youve been out for eleven days, twelve if you count the day we found you where you weren't fully there.”
Nothing.
“... you left quite the mess behind where you showed up, thankfully it wasn't in a town.”
Again, more nothing.
…He sighed, this was getting old real fast.
“Do you remember any of-”
“Why are we here.” The jackal interrupted.
Hearing the other’s voice was a shock to the system, it was raspy and fried, as though it was stressed to the point of breaking. Nothing like the cocky supervillain that he had once fought, his tone of speaking now bitter and defeated.
Gadget realized that he let the silence bleed on for too long, jolting back to form and replying.
“When we found you, you were in bad shape and-”
“No- why am I alive.” he snapped, Gadget went quiet.
“Why didn't you let me die, why are you sitting here acting like you give a damn about my wellbeing, we’re enemies.”
The wolf pauses, trying to think of what he could say to calm the other down and segue into why they were actually there. Before he could say anything though, Infinite continued.
“So what then, I'm so miniscule of a threat now that I’m just tossed aside into some poorly guarded room? Knowing that I can't do shit about it while I sit and wait to be ‘well enough’ to be locked up for life?”
The rust toned wolf was taken aback. “What? No- that’s not-”
“Don't lie to me, that’s exactly what this is.” Infinite snarled while trying to force himself into a sitting position, Gadget shot up, trying to stop the other from hurting himself.
“It's not! I promise it's not. You aren’t gonna be jailed- well hopefully at least.” he placates while holding his hands up in a non threatening manner.
The jackal scoffed, baring his teeth as he spoke.
“Bullshit, You and I both know that there's only two ways for this to end. Either I die or-”
He’s interrupted by a sudden wave of wet reverberating coughs, curling into himself as he hacks up a lung. Gadget panics and tries to put a hand on the others back only for it to be harshly slapped away with a growl from the injured jackal, his face contorted in poorly concealed pain.
“Stop trying to play hero and fuck off. I'm not interested in your false niceties.”
“Please just listen to me, I'm not lying.” the wolf pleaded.
This conversation wasn't going exactly how he wanted, but he could work with this… probably…
“There is an option three, it's- god, ok so…” Gadget took a breath in.
“Yes, you did a lot of damage. So many innocent people are dead because of what you directly had a hand in, and that should not be pushed aside when talking about this. But locking you up to rot in a cell really isn't doing much about that.” the wolf places his hands on the bed’s railings.
“I feel that you can make the most change by helping fix what you destroyed. You can’t change what's been done, but you can at least lessen the hurt that it's caused by making an effort to rebuild what's been broken and help the restorations cause.”
As Gadget spoke, Infinite listened with a type of stunned silence. Though that didn't last long, the jackals' expression taking on a look of snarky disbelief. He starts to mockingly laugh mid speech, cutting off the scarlet wolf.
“You can't be serious with this, you’re making an awful lot of assumptions about my character. What makes you think I want to undo anything I've done?” the jackal darkly laughed.
“If I have even the slightest chance to regain my powers, I'm going to take it. And I’m not gonna use them for the ‘power of friendship and happiness’ or whatever the hell you've deluded yourself into thinking. You’re better off just killing me right here, right now.”
Gadget took a moment to really take in the jackal. He was still hunched from his coughing fit, haggard in appearance but trying to mask it with some kind of false bravado. Even with his act he looked tired, and with his despondent attitude before, Gadget could wager a guess that this was an empty threat meant to keep things clean cut. Black and White, no room for nuance, no room for change.
No room for Infinite to get his hopes up and get hurt again.
He really couldn't imagine what the other went through to get to where he was today, what could have possibly happened to push him to the point of becoming who he was now.
“What, didn't expect your sad little lecture to fail you?” the jackal snarked.
Gadget didn't say anything, watching Infinite as the jackal watched back, a weird stalemate manifesting in the space between them.
The silence dragged on for what felt like minutes, the tension thick enough to cut. Eventually Gadget came to a decision and stepped closer.
“I don't know anything about your past, but you must know the feeling of wanting the people you care about to be safe. Wanting the world to be kind to them and for them to meet others that want the same.”
Infinite rolls his eyes, breaking contact and glaring off to the side. “I don’t know what you're hoping to achieve with this-”
“I’m sorry if the world wasn't kind to you in that way… but wouldn't you want to help break that cycle? What I've seen while working with Sonic and his friends is that even just one person can completely change the way the world can affect someone. That going against the worst parts of the world can keep the people you love safe, and the people they love safe as well.”
Infinite scoffs, his voice growing more irritated.
“It’s disgusting how naive you can be about this world you want to fix so badly, It's reallllly not that easy. It's so easy to think you’re making a difference when you’re sitting in your little echo chambers of praise and good standing. Well news flash, the worst of the world isn't sitting on the surface for you to stumble across and magically make better.”
“I know that, but that doesn't mean that what we do doesn't make a difference. Yes, it's a small step in the grand scheme of things. But when you have a crowd making small steps together it makes noise.”
“God you’re giving me a headache with your pathetic mass produced motivational quotes, Don't you have anything better to do than harass me while I'm supposed to be recovering?” the jackal called dismissingly as he awkwardly shifted positions so that he could lay down with his back to the wolf.
Gadget stands there for a moment, calmly watching the rise and fall of the jackal’s back.
“I know you don't believe me, but I do genuinely think that you could make a change for the better in this world. Make it a little less horrible to live in, but ultimately the decision is yours. If you want to spend your time in jail instead then I won’t stop you. But please, give this some real thought before you choose.” he turns back to the couch, landing with a soft ‘plop’ before pulling his laptop back in front of him.
“You have until the end of your recovery here to decide, so take your time on it. For now I'm gonna finish up my work, if you need me just call.”
With that, Gadget gets back to work typing while Infinite lays exactly where he fell, watching the door with an absent stare.
Notes:
sup i'm back :]
Chapter Text
Infinite
All that the jackal could remember in the days before regaining consciousness was flickering flashes of color and noise, even the pain surging through his body was faded as he drifted in and out of existence. Fully waking up had felt much the same until the blurry shapes focused into a tiled ceiling and the vague sounds flowing through the space solidified into a sharp rhythmic beeping. It felt as though he was being pushed back to the surface of the water, with each second bringing more panic fueled clarity.
He was in a room, a medical room if he had to guess. The smell of disinfectant pungent and cutting as he took in a breath. There was some kind of respirator on his muzzle, providing a steady flow of oxygen.
He had no idea how he was alive, he could remember the pain in excruciating detail. There really shouldn't have been a way for him to have survived with his phantom ruby destroyed, he knew his body was completely fused to its power.
His rapid thoughts were cut off by the sudden appearance of a red wolf in his vision, the very Hero that ruined everything for him. The jackal couldn't piece together how he was in this situation, why would this hero be here of all places?
He couldn't stop the vitriol in his eyes when the other started to speak, immediately understanding that this wolf was trying to play nice in order to get something from him. The wolf’s intent was barely concealed, there was something specific he wanted out of this conversation and Infinite was not willing to play along with it.
Eventually the wolf gave up trying to communicate and called in medical staff, the jackal tried his hardest to hide the pain that was rocketing his entire body as he was moved around. He must not have hidden it well enough though as one of the staff made it their mission to restock on medicines and adjusted the iv drip to feed him more of the painkiller. He was a little surprised to see them treat him as a genuine patient given who he was, half wondering if they were even told about the monster they were treating with how gentle they were trying to be.
Once they completed their tasks they made their exit, leaving the jackal back alone with the rusty coated hero. It didn't take long for him to try and reinitiate conversation, and the reason for his persistence was quickly brought to light.
Infinite was baffled at the sheer absurdity of the Hero’s proposition, he really couldn't be so blinded by his Do-gooder complex that he thought he actually made sense, right?
He would have expected the hero’s naivete to have lessened after the events of the war but apparently not. It irritated the jackal how little the hero seemed to have thought through this ridiculous little plan of his, even if the jackal wanted to make up for his past crimes, why did he think that the world would respond in kind to that? It's obvious that everyone would take one look at Infinite and only feel some combination of fear or hatred. Nobody would trust the jackal to actually change for the better, and they would be well within reason to hold that belief.
The conversation was left off on the note of asking Infinite to consider a redemption path, the jackal internally scoffed at the idea. The world doesn't operate on ‘make nice’. It would be a pointless endeavor to try, he would rather spend his time in a prison full of criminals that feared him. Though with his current injuries he may not be able to recover enough to hide his weaknesses, which might mean it would be in his best interest to feign turning over a new leaf until he could build his power back up.
He sighed, gently bringing up his good hand to his chest as he lay on his side. There was a new gem fastened where the phantom ruby once was, he didn't ask but it was common sense that this gem didn't have anywhere near the power of his original, if it had power at all. He spent a few hours in the same position, ignoring the nurses that would check in throughout the day. The hero was still in the room with him, typing away at the laptop he had earlier. He thankfully didn't try to start anymore conversations, leaving the jackal to ruminate or nap until the day came to an end.
Once the light had dipped from the sky outside, another member of the restoration came in to replace the Hero on the couch. They explained pleasantries until the red wolf walked in front of Infinite's line of sight.
“I’m gonna head out for the night, please think on what I said okay?” the scarlet canine murmured out.
Infinite ignored him until he sighed and walked out the door.
The days following after were pretty lackluster, with Infinite sleeping away most of the days with the help of the painkillers. The doctors would consistently come in to check his vitals and redress his wounds throughout their shifts. It was a frustrating process, he couldn't move most of his right side, the doctors saying that his leg,hip and arm were shattered in several places. He had heavy damage to his ribs and upper chest from the explosion of the ruby, which meant breathing was a strain as well. When he made it to the operating room, one of his lungs had collapsed and filled with blood.
Again, he was shocked he was alive with how bad the damage was when he was found. His left arm and leg made it out relatively unscathed but were still riddled in lacerations from the wind slamming things into him, and he felt a few scabs along his scalp but otherwise his head had avoided the worst of it.
After a few days of being awake, the doctors pulled him off of his IV diet and allowed him to take in food again.
That was a struggle in its own right,he had to use his non-dominant left hand which was still relatively shaky. This resulted in more spills than his ego could take and he ended up snapping at a nurse that tried to help feed him. The Restoration member on shift at the time shot up with a wispon in hand, acting like he was expecting the jackal to attack the staff. The blatant distrust only set him off further, with him reacting by throwing the tray of food at the wall yelling at them to leave.
The nurse scurried away but the Restoration member stood his ground, keeping the wispon aimed. Infinite's breathing was strained even with that little amount of exertion, it was excruciating to feel so powerless, so trapped in his own body that refused to keep on his level. He ended up collapsing back in bed, staring at the food slowly making its way down the wall.
He was still hungry.
Eventually a doctor came in and administered something in his IV that left him feeling drowsy, he woke up later to the room being cleaned up from its past mess and the scarlet hero sitting where the last ‘guard’ was.
The wolf noticed the other moving as he woke, pulling himself from the couch to stand by the bed. Infinite ignored the other, looking back towards the wall with a scowl. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with this idiot's pointless optimism.
There was a sudden crunching noise coming from the wolf’s direction, causing the jackals ears to twitch at the sound. He still refused to look over at the other canine, hoping that the other got the message and would leave him alone for the rest of his shift.
Unfortunately he seemed to have met his match in stubbornness, as the wolf didn't back down either. Patiently waiting at his bedside before the crunching started up again and something was nudging his shoulder. Infinite huffed exasperatedly turning towards the other with a glare, only to be met with a fruit coated danish.
“Get that out of my face before it ends up smashed in yours.” he growled.
The hero slowly exhaled before setting the danish on the standing tray directly next to the bed.
“I heard what happened, the nurse was trying to help. Not look down on you pityingly or anything like that.”
Infinite rolled his eyes and turned back to the wall.
“I can ask them to make you food that doesn't require utensils if that's what you're struggling with-”
“Or you can just leave me the hell alone and mind your own business.” the jackal snipped out.
“ they said you haven't had a lot to eat today, that's gonna affect your recovery. You need to eat more to keep your body healing-”
“Im not some little fix-it project for you to work on, what I do doesn't concern you.” he snarled, hackles rising as he spoke. “Im sick and tired of you people acting so high and mighty about saving the poor little broken villain-”
“That's not what's happening here, it’s- ugh. I know it's hard for you to believe but there are people out there that want to help just to show kindness to others. Not expecting anything out of it at all, and-”
“There's always a motive, people don't do shit unless they get something out of it. You aren't doing this because you think I can change, you either got stuck with watching over me or you’re getting some sick satisfaction in seeing me struggle.” he hissed out.
The hero pinched the bridge of his nose as he took a moment to breathe. He pulled back to watch the jackal for a moment, seemingly coming to a decision as he moved closer to the bed. Infinite scooted further from the scarlet wolf as he took a seat at the edge of the bed, keeping eyes on the other.
“Im here by choice, and I want to be here. If you really need to have a motivation behind someone's actions then fine, my motivation for this is that I want to help you back to full health so that you can hopefully help us in making this world a little safer for the people who don't have others to lean on. And help fix what you broke when you were working with eggman. If you don't want to do that, then you’ll be healthy enough to serve your full sentence in a prison locked away where you can't hurt more people.” the rust coated wolf calmly stated as he turned his gaze to the window.
Infinite decided to stay silent, and eventually the wolf shuffled back to his spot on the couch and went back to work.
The hero’s shift ends not too long after, they don't say anything to each other when he leaves.
Infinite eats the Danish.
Notes:
And so we finally get to the recovery arc >:3c
Infinite is still gonna be a little shit tho hes to stubborn for his own good lmao.
Let me know what you guys think :]