Chapter Text
All things considered, Robotnik hadn't caused as much damage as one would think. Most smaller towns had been left untouched besides minor structural damage and a littering of robotic scrap. The main cities had mostly just been repurposed into factories and storage, and the damage that had been done was easily fixed by the mad doctor's own creations- with some tweaks by Tails and his tech crew. The main scars of the war were found in the countryside, where rubble and scrap had been dumped to be dealt with at a later date. Restoring the homes and businesses of the inhabitants of the earth was going faster than you'd think- but that didn't mean it was fast. There were still missing people, there were still people in need of help- so what was the Rookie doing out in the middle of nowhere?
There was no denying that the rookie was tired. Just using the Phantom Ruby prototype to stop Infinite's attack had left her feeling drained and hollow. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping her up during the fight against the jackal and Dr. Robotnik. But that was four days ago- and the white rabbit couldn't find the peace of sleep.
She should have been home, or at least out at the base offering help. And yet, she was here. This area in particular was where Tails had had the rubble from the final battle with Robotnik dumped. It was the third night in a row that the rabbit's feet wandered here aimlessly. Over, under, around. Some unseen force pulled her to this place, but she didn't know what, or why. Couldn't this have waited? Couldn't she have been given the chance to rest first? As it stood, her mind was still reeling from the last shift in reality she suffered, the deliriousness from lack of sleep only made everything worse.
Maybe it was that deliriousness that told her it was a good idea to keep going when she noticed a very familiar glint of metal in the moonlight.
For Infinite, the only reassurance that he was, in fact, still alive, was the sharp pain in his chest, and the crushing weight of the rubble he'd become pinned under while scavenging. Four days ago he'd thought his physical form had ceased to exist, the Phantom Ruby absorbing his mind and body- leaving him trapped inside as Robotnik attempted to best that damned rabbit. It'd been like he was right there, yet unable to touch the real version of the world. At some point during the fight, she'd landed right in front of him. It felt as if their eyes had met for a fleeting moment before the white rabbit sprung out of the way of a giant robotic fist, shattering the ground under Infinite's incorporeal body. It was a strange feeling, one he didn't bother to try and explain as he watched the Dr. fail to destroy her- just as he had. He was angry, furious, that she had bested him. But at the same time it felt... reassuring when Robotnik himself failed. Perhaps it was because that meant the issue hadn't necessarily been with Infinite himself. If Robotnik had been able to beat her- well it would have proved that Infinite was truly a failure. He had ignored the fact his phantom heart might have quickened when her lilac eyes seemingly locked with his own blue and yellow ones.
After Robotnik was defeated, all five of them had been enveloped in a blinding wave of red, and the Phantom Ruby truly was no more. Infinite had, once again, assumed this to be the end- but fate was much more cruel. A warmth spread through his chest as a dart of purple raced past the back of his mind. And then that warmth shot to a very real searing hot pain. Somehow, he was alive. Once again he was gifted a physical form, if only to make him suffer. There was a gaping hole in his chest where the Ruby once sat, freshly bleeding as he lay beaten and bruised in a pile of trash. It took the majority of his energy to hold a hand to the wound in a fruitless effort to stop the bleeding as he crawled out from the collection of metal and stone. Then, by some miracle, he spotted a rag in the debris not too far away from him. He'd chosen not to acknowledge its color, or the trail of crimson he'd left behind as he tightened it around his injury.
It wasn't until the second day, when hunger set in, that Infinite even realized his helmet wasn't on his head anymore. Obviously, it had been lost to the junkyard the rebels had unknowingly dumped him in, and the odds of him finding it were slim to none. Almost as slim as his chances of survival if he didn't find food and water in the next few days. Being absorbed and released from the Phantom gem had left his body even weaker than before he had fused with it, and he couldn't recall the last time he had stopped to care for his mortal body. Infinite was left with little choice, dig through the garbage around him like a junkyard dog, or die. He decided chasing rats was a better option. And, to his credit, he'd been so close.
The rookie looked horribly out of place as she shambled through the dumping ground. The gear that she'd worn for her missions with the resistance had been tattered, leaving her with nothing on hand but her civilian clothes- An outfit she'd picked for a date gone bad, three times over. But the bunny could care less about how silly she looked wearing a black and white frilly dress out in the middle of nowhere. Her fancy bow's, her heels, her striped stockings and sleeves were the least of her concern as she kept wandering. Something was out here, something was telling her to keep moving forward. Before, Tails had taken this force calling her as courage, determination, but it was something else. It was the same pull that led her to the phantom prototype. Perhaps fate was a better explanation... Whatever it was- it kept the rookie pulling forward in a daze.
And then she saw it- a glimmer of silver and red glass in the light of the moon.
The bunny had never been so awake in her life, yet so suddenly out of touch with reality. That was Infinite's helmet. That was Infinite's helmet. The insinuation that Infinite could be nearby wasn't what made her blood run cold, as it would have many others. No, it was the realization that Infinite was real. As in, he was a real person. AKA, she had killed a real person. It took everything in her to not spiral into a panic attack at that very moment. She had come to assume Infinite himself was just a manifestation from the Phantom Ruby, but clearly that wasn't the truth. The rookie ran to the discarded armor, falling to her knees as she picked it up in her hands- not caring as dirt stained her stockings and the pristine white fur underneath. She trembled, looking at the helmet, remembering the gaze she once feared. Only hours ago she had hoped she'd never see that eye again, and now the little rabbit was wishing with all her might that she could take it back.
And oh, what a lucky little rabbit she was. Her large ears twitched as she heard the soft whine of metal bending, followed by a very organic sounding groan of pain. A gust of wind swept her black tuft of bangs to the side, and an overwhelming scent of sickeningly sweet iron caught her nose. She knew that smell far too well at this point. It was blood, it was fresh, and there was probably a lot of it.
The rookie held onto the mask as she quickly moved across the junkyard to the pile of metal she thought she heard the noise from, the stench of blood helping her confirm she was right. Rather than speak out to whoever was stuck there, she poked her long ear into an opening. She could hear a shallow panting, but based on how far it was- this pile of junk was actually in some kind of crater, probably caused by the impact of its disposal. Carefully, the rabbit placed the helmet down and began pushing and pulling at the metal until she had a hole large enough for her to crawl into the space underneath. It was much darker down here, and her eyes struggled to adapt. However, she could feel someone else's eyes on her. All she knew was that she could fully stand in this space, and someone was trapped down here. Perhaps if she had been better rested, she could have predicted who that might be.
His fierce growl had startled her, causing the rabbit to jump back ever so slightly in the cramped space. If Infinite wasn't in so much pain, he probably would have enjoyed that. Right now though all he could focus on was the pain, and the anger at seeing his nemisis's face again. Of course fate would have it this way- bring him back to life only for him to suffer, and die humiliated as that stupid little bunny watched. He was being slowly crushed under some debris that had fallen on him in his failed attempt to grab a rat, all he'd been able to do was scratch at the metal around him, but nothing would budge. He'd been far too weak to move any of it in his current state. And now she was here, wearing some stupid little dress like this was a leisurely stroll through the park! Infinite finally snapped when she took a step closer to him, daring to reach out her gloved hand. The jackal snarled and swiped at her with his claws, barely choking back a scream of pain as the sharp movement irritated his wounds.
"If I weren't caught in this rubble, I'd kill you!" Infinite growled his words at the rabbit in front of him. His body felt like it was burning from the fury he felt. How dare she! How dare she try to act so shy, so innocent after everything that's happened! How dare she try to reach out to him- as if- as if-!
"If you stay under that rubble, you will die."
The two of them stared at each other, the rookie's eyes having finally adjusted to the darkness of the hole. The sobering moment felt like it lasted an eternity, and Infinite was frozen in place. Why had such a simple truth stunned him? Why were there soft gloves gently feeling over his fur, looking to understand how the metal above him pinned him to the ground? And why was he no longer trying to fight those hands, when the back of his mind told him that death was better than the humiliation of being saved by his enemy? He didn't know. All the jackal could do was stare at the bunny he'd spent far too long toying with, so alien and out of place to him now. Her intricate dress didn't belong surrounded by dirt and rust, her shaking form didn't belong lifting hundreds of pounds of metal from his body, and her kind eyes didn't belong looking so worriedly into his own. Infinite at least had enough of his wits about him to move from his would-be grave before collapsing to the ground again. A heavy thud and groan of metal shifting followed not even a second after his long tail had been pulled out of harm's way. And instead of being relieved, or angry, or running away- he realized this was the first time he'd actually heard the rabbit speak. And it was the last thought he'd have before the pull of sleep beckoned him.