Chapter Text
As always, Sonic did what he did best - race through the track he was given.
Eggman had been leading frequent attacks against the more urban areas dotting the planet Earth, and now he had finally decided to reveal his master plan - a plan for war.
Apparently, he had built a new Death Egg, and was launching it near one of the most densely-populated cities on the planet. Though nobody was sure about the finer details of this new model, one thing was for certain...
Things were about to get messy.
So Sonic ran, past every second-rate badnik and "deadly" lazer, closer to the Death Egg Mark...
"Hey, Tails," Sonic called through his communicator - a handy-dandy wristwatch that Tails was still thinking of a more sci-fi name for, "Which version of the Death Egg are we on, now?"
"I think we should be on--well, technically we're on Mark III..." Tails's voice crackled due to nearby interference - weird, but not unheard of.
"Technically?" Sonic hummed.
"There was that first one you destroyed with Knuckles, then the second that we raced on," he started explaining, "Then the one we all fought to blow up, the... one with Emerl... and then the one he sent at us on the anniversary of you and Amy meeting!"
"But, two of those were considered the Death Egg Mk.II, and the other three just the Death Egg, so I have no idea what Eggman thinks of this one."
"Looks like Eggman's as good at naming things as he is planning ahead," Sonic remarked, audibly grinning.
Even though it was absolutely nothing as quick quips go, Tails bursted out laughing, which prompted a smile from their brother.
"I'll talk to you later, little bro, think I'm almost there," Sonic says, "You keep up the good work over there!"
"Oh, thanks, Sonic-" Tails flushes, "I mean! Good luck to you, too, big bro!"
With an encouraging smile, Sonic ends the call, picking up the pace as he nears the Death Egg launch site.
Now at the city's edge, Sonic noticed the sheer amount of Badniks in the area, and how weirdly placid they were.
Sure, they took a swipe at him if he got too close, but otherwise none of them even bothered turning his way.
Not to mention, they're at the edge of the city. Eggman's only been attacking the most populated areas for a while...
Just as he tries to figure out a reason for these oddities, though, he notices a massive blockade in front of him.
With his depth perception, he can't tell how big they are, but he figures he can just jump over them if there's a ramp nearby.
He notices, almost too late, that there isn't.
Skidding to a halt right before he crashes into them, he prepares to run the opposite direction to look for a building to run up instead, but...
He's surrounded.
It was a trap.
He tries to spindash underneath them, but their legs are too tight together. He can't burrow, since the ground under him is concrete...
Even bashing them seems to be out of the question - they're harder than bricks, and he can't even make the slightest of dents or scratches on them.
At least they aren't trying to attack him back...?
If he had more room, he could build up some speed and make shrapnel of this new plating. But this weird arena's barely big enough for him to jog in, and every time he starts gaining speed he ends up just smacking against one of the drones.
Just as he tries formulating a plan, he hears a familiar, annoying laugh behind him.
He turns, crossing his arms and tapping his foot at the new arrival.
"Sonic, you're just in time to meet my newest pet project," Eggman grins, "Meet Infinite Mechanism - the greatest weapon I've had the pleasure of working with."
This "Infinite" is tall, towering above Eggman. Long and lanky, and Sonic thinks he can see bones through the thin fur and skin.
Or... maybe not bones. They look sharp. He notices a metallic sheen coming from a particularly papery part of skin.
Creepy...
Oh well.
"Infinite Mechanism, huh?" Sonic grins, keeping his confidence close and arrogance closer, "Guess it's better than Monkey Dude..."
Despite how weak the 'insult' was, his enemy seems to immediately deflate upon hearing it. For a moment, his stance changes, and his height makes him look less terrifying and more like a stretched-out piece of plastic about to collapse in on itself.
"Come on, Infinite! You're one of my greatest creations yet!" the doctor roars, apparently offended, "Defeat this blue brat! Put him in his place as punishment for insulting you!"
And there he goes, right back up to pompousness.
No big deal! Sonic's faced off with tons of uppity jerks before, and each time it's been their self-assured swinehood that was their biggest weakness.
There's no doubt that this Infinite guy was briefed for hours about each of Sonic's offensive moves, so he decides to make fun of 'em by keeping it simple.
A light kick there, a weak punch here... He doesn't even spindash, keeping his moves entirely to running around and occassionally taking potshots at his new rival.
When Infinite gets more aggressive, Sonic responds by zipping around the arena as well as he can - not a tactic that could help him get out, sadly, but more than good enough to tease.
He dodges a punch by speed-walking to the other side of the arena and avoids a spinning kick by just... leaning out of the way.
Absolutely enraged at this point, Infinite picks up the speed, trying to reach Sonic, and Sonic takes the opportunity to bait him, tripping him up in mid-air and sending him crashing into one of the badniks making up the arena.
"You're supposed to be Eggman's greatest weapon? Seriously?" he huffs, "This fight's so boring it's making me miss Metal."
"INFINITE!"
Both the combatants turn to Eggman, one absolutely less amused than the other.
"IGNORE THE RAT, FOCUS ON ME!"
"You're more powerful than he could ever dream of being!" the doctor barks, "You have him in the palm of your hand, now - CRUSH HIM!!"
"Talk about ignoring the truth, huh!" Sonic chuckles, crossing his arms.
Before he can finish the quip, though, Infinite barrels him over, grabbing his arms and forcing him to the ground.
He draws a massive, red sword from his belt, raising it above Sonic's neck -
"WHOA!"
Panicking, Sonic kicks him in the stomach and runs to the other side of the arena - wait, is it getting smaller?
No time for that - to take this bigshot down, Sonic needs an opening...
"So you've got a fancy weapon, big deal!" Sonic yells, "I don't need weapons to take anyone down, especially not a loser like you!"
It seems Eggman's 'speech' really got through to him, and Infinite is now completely ignoring Sonic. Drat.
"Keep going, Infinite!" Eggman cheers, "Put that rat in his place!"
With each word Eggman says, Infinite seems to only grow stronger. He fights quicker, harder, and smarter - still no match for Sonic, but... he's getting there.
To prove this point, he makes a sniper rifle appear out of thin air, and aims it at Sonic, pulling the trigger the second its sight meets his head.
Only having dodged because he was dashing when Infinite fired, Sonic's definitely getting a little shaken up now.
For his own sake, and to not power Infinite up even further, he keeps a cool head - and sticks his tongue out when Infinite turns to see if their shot hit.
Outraged, they throw away the now useless rifle and supplant a sword for it.
Infinite can't hear him, but he sure can see him...
Sonic looks, extremely disappointedly, at the sword. Shaking his head to truly convey how upset he feels at Infinite trying to use the same trick twice in one battle. He knows Infinite can do better!
This tomfoolery, albeit nonverbal, seems to get Infinite back to that deflated state.
In fact, he seems positively depressed as he halfheartedly swings at Sonic, rendering the sword practically useless.
Well, it would be useless, if it wasn't still incredibly sharp!
Too worried about what'd happen if he tried jumping over a sword in such a tiny arena, Sonic gets backed into a corner, and the realization of this seems to reinvigorate his enemy.
He raises the sword, not too dissimilar from earlier,
Swings it down,
And Sonic kicks it away.
High on adrenaline, he rushes behind Infinite, kicking him down.
"One..." he breathes, "Two... three..."
"Four, five...!"
But before he can call it a knock-out, Infinite shakily pushes himself off the ground.
For a moment, he simply stands facing away from Sonic, and the air stills.
He starts shaking, but with his mouth hidden in a mask, Sonic can't tell if he's laughing or crying.
Thankfully, the awkwardness of the moment is shattered when Infinite swings a new weapon his way - a ridiculously oversized flail, with huge spikes to match.
Starting to get bored of how often he has to quickly dodge out of the way instead of just pummeling the dude, Sonic sighs as he runs away again, keeping his distance. Deciding not to try his luck against something twice as big and three times as pointy as he is,
Sonic uses his new 'running away' position to see if there are any other weaknesses he could make use of. Then notices-
Every time Infinite attempts to draw a new weapon, he has to take several seconds to fish something out of a satchel on his belt.
Great! Now if Sonic could just catch him unawares when he-
Throws the flail, and grabs several daggers.
Sonic might be tired of dodging, but he's absolutely not tired of speed. Or showing off.
A dropdash into a kick off the ground into a frontflip and he sticks the landing!
He gives a joking bow to several of the eggpawns surrounding the arena, making sure to sprint to each one individually and in random order, throwing off Infinite's aim.
Or maybe not.
He realizes, a little too late, the flow of wind as another dagger is thrown at him - and it hits his waving arm.
Shocked by the pain, and the blood, Sonic staggers.
That's... bad.
He grips his arm, trying to slow the flow of blood, but it's hopeless - the blade hit at an odd angle, and the wound is too wide.
It hurts too much to do anything but grip it, however, and the sight of the blood pooling at his feet makes him feel dizzy.
While he's preoccupied with his injury, Eggman lets his egg carrier float into the arena, taking in the sight with glee.
"Each picture is worth a thousand words," he grins, "But I believe this scene only requires three..."
"Good boy, Infinite."
With the praise, Infinite practically glows.
He advances on Sonic, a dark gleam coming from his mask.
Gently, he puts his hands on the sides of Sonic's arms,
Sonic hears a sickening crunch,
And everything goes black.
"Sonic! You there?"
"I managed to drive off all the badniks! Something really strange happened, though... seems like they all turned heel and ran off."
"I guess Robotnik must have called them back..."
"Wait, that means they're headed for the Death Egg!"
"If I'm right, do you need any help over there? None of my 'drones are any worse for wear, so we're all here if you need us!"
"I bet you could handle anything Eggman threw at you, though, big bro!"
"..."
"...Sonic?"