Spirit of the Phantom Ruby

Part 16 - Can't Catch a Break

Tails blinked sleepily as he looked up at the ceiling. There was a blue hedgehog peering down at him, a wide grin on his face.

"Sonic?" Tails shifted a little bit. "How- oh no..."

He pulled his hand away from his face and saw shaving cream plastered all over his hand. "Aw come on! Why?"

His big brother burst out laughing. "I got you!"

The two-tailed fox got up off the couch and ran to the bathroom. "You big meanie!" He called back, the sound of running water echoing from the hallway.

Chuckling, Sonic wiped a tear of amusement away and smiled, diverted, at the morose jackal who laid in silence on the opposite couch.

"What's wrong with you, Mr. Grumpy Face?" He called jeeringly.

Shadow, standing right beside the jackal, looked at Sonic and gave him the gesture to stop talking or else. Shaking his head, Sonic watched Tails leave the bathroom, giving the blue hedgehog irritated looks all the while, and then leave the house, slamming the door behind him. Barely a minute passed before he burst back into the room, panic-stricken.

"The diffuser's gone!"

Infinite sighed, rolling so his back was facing them. "The jackals probably took it for a bounty."

Tails stomped his foot, enraged. "Infinite, I spent weeks working on that machine only for-! Wait, jackals?"

"We had a few visitors earlier today whom Infinite knew." Shadow gave Infinite a questioning stare. "If you knew they would do something like that, then why wouldn't you-?"

"Because it probably wasn't the jackals. It must have been Eggman." Knuckles stepped into the room, looking peeved. "He's going to do everything in his power to get the Phantom Ruby back, meaning he'll get in our way as much as possible."

"We'll need to do a Recovery Mission." Sonic stated grimly, crossing his arms.

"What does Eggman want with the diffuser?" Rouge asked, joining the conversation. Gadget and Amy stood behind her.

"He wants to keep it away from the Resistance." Sonic answered. "He also wants to use it to combine Infinite with the ruby again."

At the mentioning of his name, the jackal sat up on the sofa and faced them, his expression dark and his eyes narrowed.

"Which means we'll need to keep his highness away from Eggman." Shadow looked down at Infinite, studying the jackal's agitated expression.

"Kind of going to be hard, considering the gem has a tracker inside it." Infinite finally spoke, tapping the red gem attached to his chest.

"That's why Shadow will be with you at all times." Sonic returned amiably, seemingly unaware of the history the brooding jackal and the dark hedgehog shared. "He can use Chaos Control to escape any and all situations."

"Now for the recovery of the diffuser..."

At this point, the rest of the group had joined them. Knuckles cleared his throat, scratching his chin absent-mindedly. "We'll need a smaller team, people who can be more discrete." He looked up at his friends. "Rouge, Gadget, you two will be the ones to actually go inside and locate the diffuser. Omega, you will be waiting within the inner walls to help transport it. The rest of us will create a distraction outside Eggman's base so you two can sneak inside. Shadow and his highness," Knuckles gave the dark hedgehog a sarcastic look. "You two will be in a remote location, someplace where Eggman won't be able to bring about so much destruction if he comes looking for you."

As Knuckles gave the members of the Resistance the rest of the plan, everyone nodded, understanding their role. Infinite watched them collect supplies and rings, as everyone joined into their assigned groups, leaving the house at different times as according to plan. Once the place had been cleared, Shadow grasped the jackal's shoulder, pulling him up.

"Chaos Control!"