Chapter Text
“Hm… You’re one of those foolish detectives, aren’t you?” Infinite first cocks his head around before the rest of his body turns with it. A purple lizard of some sorts stands on the edge of a cliff, weapons at the ready. “Espio, isn’t it?”
“What does it matter to you?” His glare sharpens.
“There’s supposed to be three of you, I know that much. Be it a flank attempt or they’re simply not here yet, I’ll take joy in crippling both their plan and morale by killing you!” A chuckle turns into laughter, readying a storm of cubes that all sharpen into daggers.
“NINJA ARTS: LEAF SWIRL!” A gust of wind whips up with a bundle of leaves. Once the leaves pass by, Espio is gone.
“You wish to play the deadliest game of hide and seek? I hope you realise there’s no way to win when I’m your opponent!” He watches for coughs of dust or light footprints imprinted in real time.
But a ninja trains to be light on their feet and leave no trace...A physical one, at least.
He stops to listen, then sends a blade at the direction of the bush. A gasp for air follows. He pelts the area with his storm of formed daggers, and the Ninja is forced to reveal himself.
None of the blades are striking him, the fool is somehow deflecting them with a pair of Kunai.
He lacks the speed of Sonic, lacks the strength of Knuckles, and lacks any extra power like Silver or Shadow.
He’s surviving entirely on his wits alone, even if barely. His stamina is being rapidly drained if that wide-mouthed huffing is any indicator.
“Impressive, Detective. But I’m not letting you escape alive.” He slingshots himself over to meet Espio face to face. With one hand he grabs Epsio’s chin, and in the other he manifests a blade reminiscent of the one he used to wield. “But first, I want to drain you of whatever hope you have left, so you feel nothing but despair in your final moments.”
“...You’re too much talk, not enough ACTION-!” A cheap suckerpunch is what Espio delivers point-blank to Infinite’s face. Dazed for only a moment, he closes the gap Espio was able to form by performing a leaping slash with his crimson blade.
Parried- but barely. Applying the pressure against the crossed Kunais only results in allowing Espio to finish his counter that sends the blade back, and he gets into a battle stance once more.
A tango most entertaining. Infinite struts ahead without faltering, as if he controls the ground beneath their feet. With every swing of the blade that Espio blocks, the ninja risks wobbling and falling to a position that would lead to a swift end.
“Before this little dance, I thought you were rather weak and worth a swift end. What I had on you; all of it was so incredibly unremarkable when compared to everyone else.” Infinite begins the start of a long, back-handed compliment. “The power of flight – however it may be granted – is one you don’t have, your speed is no notable feat, nor is your strength. In fact, I believe you’re weaker than that Rose girl…” He continues to apply pressure with a single swing instead of slashing about aimlessly. “Yet somehow...I get the feeling that anyone else you could name would be dead by now if they faced me like this.”
He delivers a kick to Espio’s abdomen to send him falling back and dropping his weapons. Yet Infinite chooses to gracefully catch Espio with the curve of his blade, and loom over him.
Even with a blade against his back, even when he’s in a position where moving at all could mean injury or death, the fire within those golden eyes are lit as bright as they where when the deadly dance started.
“...You. I’ve finally pushed you into a corner, and yet you’re not-”
“Afraid? Oh, I’m terrified.” His words don’t match his tone, as if sarcastic or too smug to feel anything than superior. “But if I gave into that, then I’d have died the moment I stepped into this fight!”
Infinite feels his leg suddenly buckle as it’s struck by something, both his stance and grip on his blade tumbling down.
The culprit: Espio’s tail now holds a kunai. He picks his other one up before flinching and pressing fingers to wherever his ‘ear’ is.
“Yes? We- YES! Yes- I’ll begin heading back.” He glances at Infinite one last time.
Infinite grabs the blade again and makes one desperate slash at Espio, but the Ninja has vanished by the time the swing comes out.
“He was only-?! WHERE? WHERE HAVE THEY HIT?”
How could he get so deeply distracted? How could he fall for this in the first place???
He grips at his head trying to forcibly conjure up which location they were targeting, but instead his mind retains its focus on that glare Espio gave as a departing ‘gift’.
“FUCK!”