Phantasms and Falsehoods

Part 39 - Control... or Lack Thereof

Infinite followed his former mentor across the deserted streets of the city, towards the wall of the great cavern. His downcast eyes occasionally looked up to see where they were going, but he would soon lose interest and look back at the cobblestone path, glaring. He never should have gone after the ruby. Now he had no idea what had happened to his squad, and no control over what Juke would do to them if he tried anything on the lynx. Maybe he wouldn't have remembered as quickly without the ruby, but then again, his squad might've had a better chance with one extra team member to fight off Juke's ninjas.

Infinite was glowering in thought when something out of the corner of his eye fluttered. He glanced up, and nearly jolted in surprise at the sight of his entire squad sneaking along the road adjacent to his on the other side of a row of houses. Aaron was leading them, and they were all looking in his direction, probably wondering if he had betrayed them yet again. Infinite's widened eyes flickered to the back of Juke's head, then back to them. He then quietly gestured a death threat directed at Juke and waited to see their reactions. Mathilda shook her head quickly and pointed in the direction they were all headed. Juke was leading them all somewhere, she was implying. Infinite silently nodded back and watched Juke as they walked, frowning to himself. He wasn't in any mood to see Eggman again, let alone with the newfound resurfaced memories floating around in his head. At least he wasn't as powerless as before.

Juke seemed to sense the relief in his former pupil and glanced over at him. "You seem strangely at peace all of a sudden."

"Well, I'm just wondering if your plans are the same as mine regarding the Phantom Ruby."

"Oh, we're not heading for the ruby." Juke said dismissively. "Your chip is broken. You really think I'd be stupid enough to hand over the ruby to you with all your retained memories? Besides, you wouldn't be willing to cooperate with Eggman anyway..." He stopped as they reached the end of the city, where a larger house protruded out from the wall. Juke knocked a message in Morse Code onto the door as he turned to face Infinite. "No, dear jakkaru, we're re-syncing your chip before there's any talk regarding the ruby."

Aaron's eyes narrowed as he and the rest of Squad Jackal watched from afar. So, everything the others had been telling him was true. When the two Mobians had vanished through the metal door of the factory, he gestured for the others to follow him down the street and in underneath one of the metal storm drain covers.

Espio, hidden inside a vent overlooking the factory inside, lurched slightly when he recognized the jackal walking alongside the lynx. He quickly updated the others on what he was seeing, his signal less corrupted now that the Phantom Ruby had been removed from the room.

"So, Infinite betrayed us?" Tails mused.

Wilkes studied the scene through Espio's spyglasses. Through the slits of the vent cover, he could see lynx pass Infinite on to one of the guards, who Tails immediately identified to be Valorie.

"How did he even get back in, though?" Espio mumbled. "The entire place's on lockdown."

Before Valorie had escorted Infinite to the elevator, a couple more guards rushed in. Juke turned to greet them, then looked puzzled.

"Where's your partner?" He asked one of them.

"Aaron said he would catch up with us, but he never did. Claire went back to check and make sure everything was alright, but it turns out he freed Squad Jackal and ran away with them!"

Juke frowned, contemplating. "So, there's a traitor among us. Dr. Snow-...!"

The lynx turned to see the snow monkey measuring Infinite's torso with a piece of fabric measuring tape. The jackal stared hard at the lynx, saying nothing.