the descent

Chapter 17

only three beds rose the next day

Having only been days since the last meeting

it already put the fear-induced mobians into higher alert

"w, what's going on now?" Tails cried as he huddled himself into the corner

"It can't be...where's shadow and espio?" Knuckles asked as he struggled to move his head, whispering as it looked like the life was drained out of him, no part without injury

Sonic who had been sobbing even before entering the room simply cried harder, curling into himself with the most guilt they had ever seen

"Sonic?" Tails asked with fearful concern

"I, I can't-" Sonic tried, only for an electrical force to encase his body, knocking the wind out of him from such force

"sonic, what's going on?" Knuckles asked as he tried pushing himself up, but it was fruitless

"I can answer that" a familiar voice answered the trio

"the majority of you have found out this little ruse of this game and so I believe it's time I spare the hedgehog sanity for a brief moment, I'm not a monster" the voice continued

only for the ominous figure of the infinite to appear in the middle of the room

"infinite....it's been you this whole time?" Tails shook in disbelief

"the looks on your faces, priceless" the Jakal laughed

"but where's, where's-" Tails tried only to be shocked in the process

"Have you not learnt to shut up yet?" the jackal cooed in disappointment

"perhaps phase 2 will truly drill this lesson in your mind" Infinite hissed

flicking 3 red diamonds that were stamped onto their minds

and in a quick blink

they all found themselves in a singular red rooms

....

Infinite continued to watch with pride as agonizing screams as phase 2 was brought into fruition

perhaps he rushed it

but the impending doom of the others was always one step away

they surely had to be close to cracking

surely his efforts could not be for not

he would have his revenge and create a new "jackal squad"

sonic was shivering and bobbing in the water as he struggled to hold up a passed-out echidna his little brother was being hung over the edge by his tails, one of which was being pulled out of its socket

ready to get settled in his seat

only for the cubot to crash into the room

"sir! it's the resistance!" the yellow robot screamed to the jackal

"excuse me, you said they were days away" Infinite questioned angrily

"T, that's what I thought" cubot cried as he handed the jackal a telescope

the wrong way round

causing the jackal to merely gawk at the pure idiocy he had witnessed before taking a deep breath in

"no matter, I will not let this destroy my plans" Infinite declared as he readjusted his mask

walking to his balcony where he saw the resistance breaching his hidden territory

"let them come" Infinite declared as he readied his phantom ruby

hoping that whatever power it had left since using it for his prisoners