Fall From Power

~After the Showdown~

Darkness.

Something wasn't right.

The doctor. Where was the doctor?

No… that wasn't his concern.

Where was the ruby?

His gloved hand felt his chest.

It wasn't there.

He felt his eyes widen. Without the ruby, he was…

No. Not weak. He could never be weak.

Infinite climbed up to his feet, his knees shaking under his own weight. Now the darkness was gone and he could see. Perfectly. No red tint. No blocked eye.

His mask was gone.

What was this? Why was his mask missing? Why was the ruby gone?

He looked up, seeing that he was by the base of the fortress he had been defending in the battle.

Speaking of the battle, it was awfully silent…

…No.

No.

There was no way the battle was over. How could it be? The world was theirs. They had the Phantom Ruby. Was the doctor stupid enough to lose even with its power?

The jackal punched the ground, unable to contain a yell of rage. What an idiot. Infinite had been able to defeat Sonic without difficulty when he was the ruby's host, and even when Sonic improved, he was still able to defeat him and his annoying friend. He only lost when the two worked together to stop him after he had exhausted himself. How could the doctor waste his only chance at winning the war for good?

It didn't matter where the doctor was. He didn't care. It was his fault that they lost the war. He shouldn't have called Infinite back and taken the ruby from him. This was all his fault, and it was right for him to suffer.

The real question was: where was Infinite to go from here? He couldn't try taking over the world on his own. Not without the ruby. And he couldn't go back to his old life. Shadow had ruined his old life by wiping out his squad. His… friends.

It had been a long time since Infinite had felt what life was like without the power of the ruby. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't fly and he couldn't alter reality. He knew that he once did quite well without such powers, but right now it just felt so wrong. Walking felt unnatural to him. He should be floating and gliding through the air with ease.

In fact, walking seemed to tire him. Perhaps he was already tired from the previous fighting, or the ruby itself had drained him of energy, but even so he felt pathetic. Such a simple task should not have made him weary, but it did. He didn't even know how long he had been walking for, but he did see that he was on the outskirts of the city. And there was where he fell to his knees.

Darkness.

"This one doesn't seem to be physically wounded."

"He wasn't responding to anything when he was brought into the city. He looked dead."

"Well, he's definitely breathing."

Infinite's eyes cracked open as he listened in to everything around him. He was in a new location. Immediately his eyes went wide and he jumped out of a bed.

A bed?

He was in some kind of temporary hospital. Why?

"See?" said one cat medic. "I told you he wasn't dead."

"Huh," the dog medic reacted.

"Where am I?!" Infinite demanded, not dropping his guard as he raised his fists.

"Easy," eased the cat medic. "You're in a hospital. You were found unconscious outside the city."

"I don't need anyone looking after me," Infinite growled. "I look after myself."

Who did these people think they were? They had no right to keep him here. He pushed past the two medics and marched through the room's exit.

"Oh, come on, I only get half-pay when bringing back someone who isn't on the missing list?" came the voice of a female, prompting Infinite to stop walking as his ears twitched. He turned his head, only to see a brownish-coloured coyote with dark red hair tied behind her head, wearing dark green shorts, a dark purple vest and black boots along with dark brown gloves. She seemed to be talking with a soldier – a resistance soldier.

"We are trying to rescue survivors from this city and from the battle," the soldier explained. "For all I know, the guy you brought back is an acquaintance of yours pretending to be wounded. It's difficult to trust bounty hunters like you."

"He was unconscious right outside the city!" the coyote huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "He's probably not reported as missing because he's some civilian with no family left!"

"Rules are rules, Tawny," the soldier said to her.

"Fine!" the coyote, Tawny, snapped. "Next time I see anyone who ain't on the list, I'll leave them for your soldiers to deal with." And with that said, she started stomping away.

Infinite narrowed his eyes. She was the one who brought him here. He was outside the city and he most definitely was not on anyone's missing list, so he decided to walk after the coyote until she was out of public sight, then making a move to grab her and pin her to a wall.

"It was you!" he growled. "Why did you bring me here, you meddlesome dog?"

"Some "thank you"," Tawny murmured, oddly calm for someone being threatened.

"You had no right to bring me here," Infinite hissed through clenched teeth. "This has been a waste of my time!"

"So, you wanted to spend that time sleeping on the ground?" Tawny asked. "Wow, no wonder nobody misses you."

Her attitude was annoying. How dare she speak to him like that. He had every right to kill her to remind everyone that he was still a threat, so he raised a fist. Unfortunately, he had already forgotten about his lack of the Phantom Ruby, so to return to his more physical ways of fighting was difficult, and his hesitation led to Tawny kicking him back with ease, watching as he fell to the ground.

"Rude," she grumbled. "What's your problem? Have you been asleep for the whole war or something?"

"War…" Infinite snarled, pushing himself back up to his feet as he stood with his head lowered. "I was a part of this war. I have fought in it from the very beginning!"

"Yet nobody seems to know who you are," Tawny shrugged.

That was a point. Nobody knew who he was.

Nobody knew he was Infinite, the masked monster.

This could be used to his advantage.

"…No," he agreed, calming himself down. "My squad was completely annihilated."

"Wait, really?" Tawny asked him, one of her ears twitching. "Which squad were you part of?"

"Jackal squad," Infinite answered. Nobody in the Resistance knew of the mercenary group, and many of the Resistance squads were named after animals, so by dropping the name of his former squad, he was thus assuring himself that he could maintain a consistent story while keeping undercover.

"Huh," Tawny blinked. "Well, that definitely explains why you weren't on the missing list. People probably thought you were dead along with your squad."

"Yes," Infinite agreed, this time in a quieter tone. Even he believed that he died along with his squad – his old self, that is.

"Well, where're you gonna go, now?" Tawny pestered. "You got a home?"

Shoot.

"…No," he answered. "I've never been part of a family." He said those words in a way which implied that he was proud to be independent. He never needed a family to support him, so those who had the luxury were clearly just weak.

"Aw," Tawny reacted, almost sounding sad but maintaining what seemed to be her signature cocky personality. "Well, family isn't my thing, either. Been by myself for a good few years now, so you're not the only one."

"Hmph," Infinite huffed, then finally starting to walk.

"Hey, where are you going?" Tawny asked, walking after him. "Didn't you just say you had no place to go?"

"I'll find a place," Infinite replied swiftly as he continued to walk.

"And do what? Nothing?" Tawny questioned. "For a former soldier, you don't seem so determined to go looking for other allies and civilians who may be trapped or wounded."

Okay, perhaps acting so unsympathetic towards the Resistance was a bad idea if he wanted to maintain an unsuspicious cover, so he stopped walking and looked towards Tawny at last.

"You search for survivors, don't you?" he recalled. Tawny nodded her head proudly.

"Yup," she grinned. "I do any job with good pay, so long as the job requires me to look for something."

"A bounty hunter," Infinite recalled hearing the soldier say to her. "So then, where do your loyalties lie?"

"Nowhere," Tawny smirked. "Probably not the best thing for you to hear, but it's true. I'll work for whoever pays handsomely, but I suppose you can be assured that I won't turn on you so long as there are survivors to be found."

"I see," Infinite muttered. She sounded so proud of herself, like she was the only one who wasn't entirely good, but she had no idea who was facing her right now.

"So then, are you gonna look for survivors with me?" Tawny asked with a grin, having known where Infinite's questioning was going.

"I suppose," Infinite answered with some clear reluctance in his voice. He didn't want to do that, but I would be better than rebuilding the city and clearing up the destruction he caused.

"Cool!" Tawny smiled, then turning to walk away, expecting Infinite to follow. The jackal followed just behind her before the coyote spoke up again. "Oh! I never told you my name. I'm Tawny, and you are?"

A name. Think of a name. Don't say the name which will turn you into bounty.

"Zero," Infinite answered.

"Alright, Zero, let's go and look for some survivors!" Tawny responded happily, then breaking into a sprint. Infinite grit his teeth with frustration, running after her.

~End of Chapter~