The doors of the resistance base opened, revealing Sonic, Manic and Fluttershy as they entered the room. It was almost empty, except for Amy and Sunset at the computer, who noticed them enter.
"You're back already? Judging from your faces, the mission was a success?" Amy inquired, as Sonic gave the thumbs up to confirm.
"Consider Eggman's factory trashed. This should make taking out his army less of a handful." Manic said. "And we owe it to Fluttershy."
"True. Talking to animals is pretty cool when you can command a giant sandworm." Sonic agreed.
Fluttershy slightly blushed due to the praise she received, feeling a little embarrassed. Sunset then walked over to her and placed her arm around her friend.
"Fluttershy, I'm really proud of you. You managed to get through your fears and helped make a huge change." Sunset congratulated, which made Fluttershy beam.
"Um..thank you, everyone." Fluttershy responded. "Though honestly, I hope I don't have to do anything like that again."
Manic then noticed how empty the room was and placed his hands on his hips as he turned to Sunset.
"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said these missions were going to spread us thin." Manic observed, before he winced slightly and grabbed his arm, still feeling sore due to his fight with the Heavy Magician. "I just hope everyone else has as much luck as we do."
Suddenly, there was a large beeping sound heard on the computer, getting everyone's attention as they all approached the screen in order to see what was the source.
"What is it?" Sunset asked.
"It's coming from the Mystic Jungle. There's some kind of power....a huge one, it looks like something is attacking the area." Amy said.
"Can anyone hear me?" Rarity's voice said over the comm in an alarming manner. "The situation isn't looking good. Silver went up ahead and-
Rarity's voice was cut off by Silver's, which was followed by a large distortion noise in the back, making everyone in the room worried.
"It's him! The one who beat Sonic! He's here!" Silver's voice was heard over the comm before the distorted sound was heard once more, cutting off communication entirely.
"Oh no! Silver sounds like he's in real danger." Fluttershy said in a scared tone. "Especially if that awful monster is there."
Hearing that the one who had caused his capture had reappeared made Sonic clench his fist as his body was filled with ambition. Sunset on the other hand, started to feel her fear of the mysterious figure coming back and let out an anxious sigh.
"They need backup. I'm heading out there now." Sonic quickly said as he rubbed his nose with his thumb. "I owe this guy one."
"Sonic wait. This guy already beat you once and we just got you back. I don't want to lose you again." Amy said as Sonic faced her.
In response, Sonic formed a small grin.
"Don't worry, Amy. That guy got the drop on me once but it won't happen again. I promise." Sonic reassured.
Amy didn't seem too convinced at first, but she remembered it was Sonic. He always found a way in the end. She decided to put her trust in him and nodded.
"Be careful, Sonic." Sunset cautioned.
Sonic gave the thumbs up and then sped out of the room, leaving the others behind. Fluttershy held her hands in worry and Amy was looking slightly concerned, causing Sunset put her hand on her shoulder.
"Sonic's got this. He'll be back in no time." Manic told the others in the room, having full confidence in his brother.
Sonic was running at night through a blocky mountain landscape with layered soil. The region was covered with tropical trees, grass, and ferns. Rushing rivers and calm lakes were surrounding the area. It was also covered with ancient ruins in the form of roads, pillars, walls, and temples alongside lit torches covered in vegetation. All the ruins had yellow glowing runes. As a result of Eggman taking over the region, there were many neon signs in various shapes and colors present along with palm-shaped street lights. While Sonic was making his way through, he saw the sky was filled with Eggman's ships, which began dropping a series of bombs, causing the entire forest to be covered in fire. Sonic swerved around in order to avoid incoming flames.
"Does Eggman have to wreck every place he goes?" He questioned with distaste.
"This isn't good. Our forces in the Mystic Jungle are being bombarded!" Amy stated over the coms.
Sonic realized he had to pick up the pace due to everything that was happening. He then trigged his boost, propelling him further through the region and knocking back Eggman's robot's along the way. As he got further ahead, Sonic's boost vanished and he found himself in front of a pathway that led upward, which he decided to take. It led to him to various different platforms, which Sonic got through by turning into a streak and using Eggman's flying robot's to make a path for him.
Sonic then dashed from the final platform and started traveling on a half-pipe that was covered with purple Eggman robot's shaped like ostriches. The robots saw him coming and in response, ran away from while firing missiles. Sonic sidestepped in order to avoid the incoming missiles for a bit until he rushed past a row of them and using his speed, he created a mini-vortex that changed the direction of the missiles, launching most of them towards the robots and taking them out for him. Sonic grabbed a hold of one and used it to carry him forward for a bit as he hung on to it. He then got closer to the last robot and threw the missile on top of it, creating a small explosion as Sonic resumed running on the halfpipe. He reached the end and jumped off it. Mid-air were Eggman robots with round shapes and propellors on the top of their heads. Sonic became a streak and attacked across them to reach solid ground.
Sonic dashed through a small tunnel and when he exited it, he was running on another half-pipe, using his streak to take out Eggman robots on the way as he moved from one enemy to another. Sonic then performed a power slide, creating a small blue energy field around his leg to knock enemies over him and sending them on the ground. Due to this, Sonic was able to deflect any missiles coming towards him, sending them scattering around to other enemies.
"Eggman's assault is too strong. We have to fall back!" Sonic heard a soldier say across the coms as he got up and ran again.
"No problem. I can take it from here. Just get your troops out of here." Sonic responded.
"According to the readings I have, Silver and Rarity are up in the ruins ahead. Along with that new enemy." Sunset said.
"Got it. I won't be too late." Sonic said with determination.
Sonic moved way from the half-pipe and grinded on a neon-yellow rail to reach the ground. He was now moving through a more heavily forested part of the jungle. As he ran, Sonic then heard a loud rumbling noise and felt the entire ground shake violently, which sent him up in the air.
"Sonic, watch out. It looks like there's something else there too." Sunset said.
"Yeah, I noticed." Sonic replied.
Suddenly, something erupted from the ground and in front of Sonic was a giant snake that bared its fangs as soon as it saw him.
"Wow, a snake?!" Sonic exclaimed with shock as his eyes widened.
"All of the action in the jungle must've woken it up." Amy deduced.
"I can tell. This thing looks pretty angry and I understand that, seeing as it was woken up from a nap." Sonic said as he turned into a streak once more and smacked the top of the creature's mouth, closing its jaws and letting him run along its body.
"Looks like I have to fight my way through." Sonic observed.
"Oh, don't be too rough with it, Sonic." Fluttershy requested. "It's probably more scared of you than you are of it."
Seeing how huge the snake was, Sonic doubted that was true. He then jumped off its body in an attempt to move forward, but the snake wasn't dumb. It saw this as a chance, and it moved in front of Sonic and opened it's mouth, swallowing him whole.
"Not a good idea." Sonic commented from inside the serpent.
The snake then felt a violent sensation throughout its body, causing it to move around in a random and disorientated manner. The snake howled in pain before it fell on the ground and from its mouth, Sonic was then flung forward to the end of the ruins.
Ahead, before the ruins, Rarity had a series of large shields ahead, using them to defend while many Egg Pawns unleashed a barrage of lasers. Behind her were injured soldiers and a few were standing, fighting back with their own weapons.
"We're doomed! We can't hold out any longer!" One soldier cried.
"Don't be like that!" Rarity called back. "We're going to make it out of this!"
Rarity then took her shields and threw them like boomerangs, cutting many Egg Pawns down, which allowed for other soldiers to fire and make some hits. However, from ahead, many Egg Walkers were flying down and began to drop missiles. The action fashionista formed a look of dread and as fast as she could, she made a large barrier to defend her and the soldiers. Many explosions erupted and when they cleared, Rarity's shield was cracked and began to chip away. She was huffing and puffing as well. The Egg Walkers came down and prepared to fire rockets again. Rarity braced herself as she stood and prepared to make more shields, though she was unsure how long this could last.
Just then, a blue streak tore through the robots many times, taking them out of commission. Sonic then slid to a stop in front of Rarity, much to her relief and delight.
"Sonic! Thank you, so much." She said. "Things were starting to get out of hand."
"Don't sweat it." Sonic replied. "I heard your comm and you mentioned Silver, where did he go?"
"Up ahead." Rarity answered. "Then that dreadful noise appeared and Silver announced he found that masked monster. I hope he's alright. You have to go help him. I can manage from here on."
"Got it. I'll make sure Silver's ok and leave it to you." Sonic agreed.
He then sped off forward
In the ruins of the Mystic Jungle, Silver was floating in a cyan aura. Hovering above him was the masked figure, coated in red energy. He looked down at him condescendingly.
"Well, what do we have here?" He said. An annoying pests that need to be swatted. I must admit, I was only here to scout the rest of the area, but this works for me. Taking out a major figure of this 'resistance' sets an example. Shows the trash the true nature of how pointless their struggle is."
Silver clenched his fist, irritated due to the words of the figure.
"I'm done hearing you talk." Silver declared. "I've heard nonsense more times than I can count. It didn't discourage me then and it's not going to discourage me now."
"Heh heh....looks like you need to learn your place." The masked enemy replied as he adjusted his mask.
Silver lifted a large amount of rubble from the ground and sent them towards the figure. In response, the masked figure waved his hand and released a red wave from his body, reducing his attacks to nothing.
"It's going to take more than beginners attacks like those to deal with me." He taunted.
Silver then flew closer to the enemy and using both hands, he wrapped around the figure tightly with a psychic aura, who seemed curious as to what he was up to.
With great force, Silver then prepared to smash his mask foe into the ground. However, the figures mask began to glow and from his body, a red energy pulse emerged, freeing from his Silver's hold and blowing him away. The figure dusted himself off and seemed bored.
Silver looked on at his masked enemy and his fists tightened.
"Enough warming up!" Silver said. "Here I come, you freak!"
Silver then flew towards the figure in a cyan aura, causing him to do the same in a red one as they both flew around the area, clashing while they flew through each other . While they clashed, Silver felt an enormous pushback each time. This guy was formidable and it was hard for Silver not to be blown away entirely, only sticking around thanks to his psychokinesis. As they did, a red gem of some sort dropped from the ground, but it went by unnoticed.
Silver and the figure flew through each other once more and this time, the figure generated two laser beams from his hands towards the psychic youth. Silver flew upward, evading harm as the beams hit some ruins in the back. He and the mysterious enemy then floated across from each other.
"I'm impressed. You've lasted this long and haven't run away screaming. Well, ignorance is bliss as they say" The figure said. "Allow me to correct that."
The masked figure raised his arms and a series of red cubes formed around it, much to the Silver's confusion. The figure then sent the cubes as a straight line towards his enemy.
In response, Silver conjured nearby debris to make a shield in order to defend himself. Hisdefense proved to be useless as the cubes tore through the rocks like paper and enveloped him instantly. This caused him to experience an extremely warped sensation as everything around them was red and trembling along with an impossibly loud temporal distortion sound.
"What-What is this?!" Silver yelled as he frantically looked around.
Silver was no longer in the Mystic Jungle and now floating in some sort of swirling pink portal. This caused him Silver raised an eyebrow, perplexed at his situation.
"What? Where am I? Where did that masked enemy go? He questioned.
Suddenly, Silver realized something.
"Of course. This is probably an illusion of some sort and none of this is real. I've dealt with this before. When I was in that dream world." He casually said.
"But the question is, how do I get out of here?" The young psychic wondered.
Before Silver could think it over, a shapeless swirling mass of darkness appeared before him, gaining his attention as he focused on it. The darkness then formed into a dark skull-like face that was glowing blue with many horn-like limbs extending from it. The face then released a loud ear piercing roar, whose force shook Silver.
"I'll admit, that feels real!" He shouted.
The limbs that were protruding out of the skull face extended out and reached out to grab Silver an alarming speed. He used his powers to dissolve any limbs that reached him but they seemed to endless. He didn't understand what was going on. He had been trapped in an illusion before but this seemed so real and lifelike, he was beginning to doubt if it was an illusion at all. Silver was then starting to be engulfed by the dark arms, leaving just his faces barely uncovered.
Silver then felt a powerful force ram into him, sending him flying several feet back and he collided with a wall, forming a giant crater. When it was over, Silver saw that he was back in the Mystic Jungle and the figure was floating several feet away. However, his entire body felt so weak and littered with pain. Silver's eyes drooped and he fell down on the floor.
.
"That wasn't too difficult." The masked enemy said. He then noticed Silver was starting to rise up from the ground.
"Looks like this one still has a bit of fight left in him. Let me fix that." The figure decided as he charged in a red aura towards Silver.
As the figure was about to hit Silver, his attack was intercepted by Sonic's boost, sending the two of them away from each other.
"Just made it in." Sonic said as he slid in front of Silver.
"Well, this is unexpected." The figure said with amusement as he looked down at Sonic, who gave him a fierce glare. "If it isn't the little blue pest? I'm surprised. I defeated you once easily and yet, here you are. You have guts. I like that."
"Well, you hurt my friends and I don't like that." Sonic shot back. "Just who are you anyway? Last time we met, you didn't even give me your name, which is a rude thing to do during introductions."
"Well, I suppose it is sad to die without even knowing who finished you off. My name is Infinite." The figure revealed while he adjusted his mask once more.
"Infinite, huh? Then you must be tons of fun then. Ever heard the saying fun is infinite?" Sonic mocked as he paced back an forth. "Since we're getting to know each other, how about some icebreakers? I'll start. The source of my power is my speed. What's yours?"
"That is none of your concern." Infinite coldly answered, making Sonic shake his head with disappointment.
"No fair, I shared with you mine." Sonic complained. "Oh well, guess I'll have to beat it out of you."
"Beat it out of me? I changed my mind. You don't have guts. You're just simply a fool." Infinite berated.
In response to Infinite's taunt, Sonic ran towards his masked foe. However, red energy began to form around the gem on Infinite's chest before it expanded to create a large red energy field that engulfed the entire area. Sonic then found himself slowly being lifted up into the air as if gravity was nonexistent.
"Wow, wow, wow..." Sonic said uncomfortably as he moved his arms and legs around. He couldn't see well either as the whole region was covered in red flashes.
Infinite then released a strong kick that launched Sonic away from the area he had confronted him. As Sonic flew in the air, Infinite flew after him.
Sonic flailed in the air for a while until he noticed he was falling towards the body of a large snake. He then found his footing and managed to make a landing. He then noticed Infinite come behind.
"I'm going to finish what I started back in the city." Infinite vowed as his body glowed red, making Sonic grin in response.
"Heh. It's payback time!" He stated.
Infinite flew closer to Sonic and fired a barrage of red darts towards him. Sonic dashed away to avoid the blast as Infinite pursued him alongside the snake. After a while of this, Sonic turned around and headed towards Infinite. Infinite continued his assault as Sonic sidestepped to avoid his beams.
"(Hmmm, his speed is slightly more impressive than before.)" Infinite noticed, but he just shrugged it off. What could one person do against him?
Infinite then generated two red spheres in his palms and sent them to Sonic, who jumped to avoid the first one and he kicked the second back at Infinite, who blocked it with no problem. Sonic then followed up by striking with a powerful streak, leaving a blue impact that forced Infinite back a bit as Sonic bounced off him. Infinite then charged up with both hands a larger sphere of power, which Sonic noticed. Thinking quickly, Sonic used a stomp surrounded by a blue field before Infinite could fire. The result was a small explosion that sent Sonic away and forced Infinite further back, making him off balance. Infinite regained focus as Sonic landed.
Sonic then rushed at Infinite and released a punch, which Infinite evaded by tilting his head slightly back. However, Sonic wasn't done yet. Sonic then unleashed a combination of kicks and punches at high speed, which Infinite was able to dodge. Infinite then vanished after Sonic released a side kick and appeared on Sonic's right with a roundhouse kick. Using his reflexes, Sonic blocked the hit, but due to Infinite's strength, he moved a few inches back. Sonic then raced around Infinite, making a small current, which he then released as he raised his fist, making a cutting wind surround Infinite. Infinite defended against the gust as red sparks emerged from his body due to the sharpness of the wind. Infinite then raised his hand and dispersed the wind using a small red field.
"Headshot!" Infinite heard Sonic yell as Sonic crashed into him headfirst as a streak, making Infinite slightly grunt and recoil due to Sonic's blow and float away backward.
"You say that as if it is anything significant." Infinite said as he rose higher in the air.
Infinite spread his arms and suddenly, many clones appeared around as Sonic looked up. Infinite and his replicas all aimed their hand to Sonic and unleashed a straight red beam. Sonic leaped into the air as the resulting blast made a red flare on the ground. Sonic was facing the many Infinites and turned into a streak as he hit through each of them quickly, making them vanish upon contact. Sonic then reached the real Infinite with a streaking strike that Infinite stopped with his hand. Sonic then followed up with an ax kick, which Infinite deflected and returned him to the ground.
"It's about time you realized how outclassed you are." Infinite said as he stuck his hand out.
Sonic heard the same distorted sound from before and coming at him from both sides were a series of red energy cubes attempting to crush him. Sonic sprinted forward as he narrowly avoided the cubes and continued towards Infinite. However, Infinite generated a rectangularly shaped series of cubes and sent them to Sonic. When Sonic saw them incoming, he tilted himself sideways in order to move past through them unharmed. Sonic thought he was safe as he resumed running but when he took another step, a field of red cubes appeared in front of him. It was too late as Sonic's feet fell into the cubes.
The moment Sonic made contact with the cubes, he heard an echo of the warping sound everywhere and his sight was now totally red and vibrating. His hearing was muffled by the noise and he couldn't even hear the sound of his feet running against the snake's body.
"This is insane!" Sonic uttered with disbelief. "This is what he's capable of?"
Sonic continued to whiz through this strange dimension and while he did, a series of large rolling spike balls came his way. Despite how thrown off he was due to Infinite's cubes, Sonic turned to avoid getting crushed. But that wasn't the only problem. Out of the ground, rows of spike appeared randomly. Sonic had trouble dodging these due to how unpredictable it was as he had to leap over them purely on instinct.
"Just where did he go?" Sonic wondered out loud about Infinite, but he could hardly hear himself speak.
When Sonic took his next step, he found himself heading right onto a line of spikes as he nearly lost his balance. Reacting quickly he launched himself into the air with his boost at the last second and charged straight into Infinite, ramming into him at supersonic speed and knocking him away, returning everything back to normal.
"Grrrrgh!" Infinite grunted while Sonic moved away from him as well.
"Hey, I'm back to where I was from before." He observed. "All right, Infinite, no more tricks!"
Sonic then charged up another boost towards Infinite again. To counter this, Infinite surrounded himself with a red aura and went to Sonic at a similar speed. The resulting collision knocked both of the fighters away from each other. But Sonic wasn't done yet. He charged up a boost once more and Infinite did his previous maneuver as the two of them crashed into each other and were pushed back with great force. They repeated this for a while until when Sonic was blown away for the last time, he used his figure 8 move while remaining stationary in order to charge up speed. Sonic did this for some time before he released himself while performing his boost at the same time, giving Sonic a burst of speed that broke the sound barrier as a sonic boom and enveloped him in a more destructive aura that released streams of air as he was propelled to Infinite. To counteract Sonic's incoming attack, Infinite flew towards Sonic with a more focused aura and when the two of them made contact, they were at a stalemate as they each tried to force the other back.
"(Absurd! He's fighting me to a standstill!)" Infinite said to himself as he actually felt himself having to struggle not to be pushed back by Sonic. "(This is impossible! I have the ultimate power!)"
For Sonic, this wasn't easy either. It took almost every ounce of his strength to keep up his Sonic Boom.
Sonic and Infinite were both in a deadlock until both of them gave out , blowing both of them away. Sonic fell to the floor and Infinite was tossed back mid-air. Sonic picked himself up from the ground and huffed and puffed. He was feeling himself become exhausted.
Infinite shook his head and let out a slight sigh as he gripped his mask.
"Well, I'm impressed. You aren't as weak as before. But this doesn't change your ultimate fate." Infinite boasted. "Take this!"
Infinite formed a giant red field around his body, catching Sonic in a warped dimensional space, making all of his senses disorientated. Sonic had difficulty standing or even looking ahead of him. Infinite created two spheres in his arm and tossed them at Sonic, who barely managed to dodge one as the other hit him right in the chest, blasting him off the snake and down on the ground with a loud thud. Infinite looked down at Sonic while around his own body, his aura fading and he gained a few glitches around him in the process. Infinite looked down at his hand and clenched it.
"(Tsk. It seems as if though it's running out of power now. No matter, he's not worth finishing off anyway.)" Infinite thought.
Infinite floated higher in the air and flew away, leaving Sonic behind as he groaned in pain and slightly rose from the ground.
"Urgh....Ok...He's tough." Sonic weakly said. " I have to know why he's so strong, but first, I have to make sure Silver is ok
Sonic then zoomed back to Silver's location and found Rarity there. She seemed fine but Silver didn't look so good as he held his arm while Rarity helped him rise from the ground. Sonic then felt parts of his body ache as he approached the two of them.
"Sonic! Thank goodness you're all right." Rarity expressed.
"What happened to that guy? Did you beat him?" Silver said in a quizzical tone.
"No. He got away." Sonic said with dismay. "How're you two holding up?"
"I think I'll manage." Silver answered as he stood on his own and limped. He, Sonic and Rarity were now in a circle.
"That enemy is strong. Just look at what he did to you two." Rarity pointed out.
"Well, his name's Infinite. And if we don't find out the source of his power, the whole Resistance could be in real trouble." Sonic added. "We should head back to the base to tell the others and also, we need to rest up."
Sonic then bolted towards the exit of the Mystic Jungle, with Silver and Rarity following him.