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Gadget trudged up the hill, adjusting their glasses as a woven basket filled with various typical “picnic” foods- Except for the large amounts of shrimp- rested on their arm, the chattering of reunited friends getting ever-louder as they approached a large tree that rested atop the hill, covering the area with enough shade to rest comfortably-
One of the voices in particular then calling out to Gadget, as they reached the hill’s top,
“BUDDY!!” Tails said as she waved over, Gadget then waving back silently.
“I’m so glad you could make it! Me ‘n the rest of the Resistance were super excited to see you again!” She happily exclaimed.
Gadget chuckled slightly and smiled, before a small pile of baskets on the side of the tree caught their eye- Likely where they were supposed to bring the food.
“Oh- You can, uh, deliver the food to the rest! We’re still kinda setting up the whole celebration thing…” Tails said somewhat awkwardly, hand on the back of her neck as she spoke, noticing Gadget’s focus on the pile.
Gadget nodded in reply, before giving Tails a thumbs up as they made their way to the pile-
Placing the basket, just before they heard a…jarring, to say the least, sound-
A crackling sound that they felt resided in the back of their head- Bursts of electricity mixed with a muffled scream, as if someone was crying for help whilst being shocked to death-
A sound that the wolf felt resided in the back of their head but couldn’t shake the feeling that it was calling out to them from somewhere - And somewhere nearby, at that.
A sound that sent Gadget’s memory back to when Infinite was finally captured.
When he was imprisoned inside of the Phantom Ruby.
The noise he made. The wretched, furious screaming. The overwhelmingly loud crackling noise of the Ruby.
The screams of suffering coming from the man who brought so much pain to their life. The cries of a cold-blooded murderer, war criminal, the monster who had slaughtered those closest to Gadget.
It made them freeze up almost completely as their hand curled into a fist, as if they were attempting to tighten their grip on a non-existent wispon-
Most of the Resistance had already placed the baskets underneath the tree and began to set up tables. Nobody was paying much attention to Gadget, frozen by the side of the tree.
And whether it was pure ignorance, or some kind of anomaly caused by the Ruby,
Certainly nobody paid much attention to the ethereal, almost transparent jackal that manifested behind Gadget, who looked as if he was a technical glitch, his appearance ever-so-slightly shifting rapidly and aggressively as he moved-
Placing his hand on the wolf’s shoulder-
Causing Gadget to violently jerk their arm backwards, attempting to elbow Infinite in the stomach before punching him straight on the snout-
…Sweat dripping down their forehead as they realized Infinite hadn’t moved an inch, finding their arm to simply phase through the phantom-like creature.
“Really? You dare direct such pathetic acts of violence towards me?” Infinite spoke in a strange, off-putting voice that sounded just so slightly different from his usual tone- Bearing some similarities to the speech of a glitching robot- as he moved closer towards Gadget, the wolf’s arm simply moving further through him as his mask grew closer to Gadget’s face.
“Your pathetic, barbaric flailing won’t hurt me. You will never hurt me. Not a damned soul in your horde of ants you call a ‘Resistance’ will lay a single hand on me.” He whispered.
“Terrified. You’re terrified of me, aren’t you?- I can tell. I don’t need a physical form to smell your fear, mutt. I can sense it. Because I know you, more deeply than any of those you call allies. And you know this. You understand how I know your fears, my awareness of every thought in your brain, the deepest recesses of your mind having shown themselves to me like an open book.”
“I made your life. I carved this path and you took it. I opened my maw and you came for my bite. I know what you are, Gadget. Nothing more than the cowering weakling you’ve been for the entirety of your miserable existence, just like our first meeting. A meeting that you always fail to forget, isn’t that right.”
Gadget tried to stop themselves from hyperventilating as they backed into the tree, fists clenched so hard they had almost began to dig into their own hands.
Infinite didn’t move an inch, refusing to break eye contact with them.
“You’re wondering why, aren’t you? Grasping for a reasonable answer? For some kind of logic to come and save you from this reality?” Infinite spoke, before pausing for a moment-
Staring at the mortified wolf, before loudly chuckling- Laughing at their weakness.
“You tried to use a prototype Ruby to defeat me. A mockery of my weapon. My power- A sad imitation that you believed to be a saviour. But it affected you, didn’t it? It warped you, did it not? That imitation of yours, despite it’s weakness, left an imprint on your mind, hm? You tried to disregard it, to brush away that voice in the back of your mind.”
Gadget fell to the floor, their back against the tree, teeth grinding against one another as they tried- and failed- to gather their composure.
“And that voice only grew louder when you pathetically tried to destroy me. When you tried to capture me-”
“And left me free to enter your mind, to deepen the pain of the Ruby’s lasting effects. To haunt you. You may have locked away my body, but my mind is within yours. And we both know nothing can change that.”
“And so, weakling, I make myself known to demand something of you…”
“Stop eating shrimp with the wimps… and come eat some lobster with a monster. With me.” Infinite spoke, Gadget snapping out of it as he finished his sentence due to the pure absurdity of the jackal’s words-
Gadget simply stared at Infinite in a mixture of horror, surprise, and confusion, as they began to steady their breathing and clamber to their feet-
Thinking of what Infinite had said- The threats, his claims about residing in their mind…-
Gadget then proceeding to hit themselves in the back of the head as hard as they could muster, gritting their teeth as they did so-
Infinite then crying out in agony moments after, grasping his head in pain.
Oh. It worked….nice. Gadget thought to themselves as they tried to ignore the pain, shortly before raising their fist to strike themselves once more-
Infinite attempting to intervene- himself still reeling from the pain of Gadget’s previous punch- however failing miserably, his arms simply passing through Gadget’s own due to his incorporeal form as he tried to move away their fists.
“HWAIT NO NO NO GADGYIM SORRY PLEASE IM SORRY FOR BRAGGING ABOUT BEING AN ALPHA BEFOREJUST PLEASE COME ON A LOBSTER DATE WITH ME PLEA-” Infinite said while pathetically flailing about.
Gadget simply kept pummeling their- Or, Infinite’s- head.
…
…Tails staring over at the wolf in confusion and concern, incapable of seeing the jackal that lurked within Gadget’s mind.
“H-Hey, Knuckles…shouldn’t we…uh…help them?” Tails asked Knuckles, who stood beside her, although looking away from Gadget.
“??girl who” replied the Echidna, who had already forgotten about them.
