Chapter Text
Infinite
The meals did get changed, and Infinite was resentful of it. He hated when people looked down on his ability to keep up with the rest of the world. The jackal’s bitterness about the situation was palpable and the staff had reacted accordingly, working in some type of buddy system when they had to do their check ins. It was blatant that they were wary of him now, expecting him to lash out at any given moment. And after a few days of this treatment, he got fed up with their presence. He started growling when they got too close and hurling threats at them when they tried to treat him like he was weak.
It was in reality, a heat-less fire, he could feel how weak his body was and knew that he wouldn't even be able to maintain a standing position in his current state. But it worked in making sure that staff spent as little time as possible near him, which left only an annoyed yet determined wolf along with the Restoration member that took over when said wolf needed sleep or to run errands.
The third member that held one of the rotating shifts apparently couldn't deal with the jackal anymore, fearing for their safety and resulting in the rusty coated wolf taking on double the shifts.
The hero had also bizarrely taken to bringing the jackal treats when he would come in, usually from the bakery that the Danish had come from but sometimes from places that smelt distinctly different.
Infinite had refused to acknowledge their existence until the wolf left, eating them once he was left alone, even if that meant a hot drink was depressingly cold. However when they kept showing up day after day he eventually gave in and started to eat them when they were offered.
He had a suspicion that the staff snitched about that original Danish not being tossed out, leading to the near daily snacks. He wasn't even sure why the hero bothered with them given his recent actions against the other members.
The hero worked in silence during his shifts, surprisingly not bothering the jackal often. He would have assumed the wolf would try and wear him down until he gave in but he was allowed his space.
They spent a few weeks like this, with the villain's wounds slowly closing and bones well on their way to mending. He noticed his energy levels were also rising back up, allowing him to maintain consciousness for the majority of the day.
That in itself was a double edged sword though. As on one hand it meant he was able to assess his surroundings and log the routines and patterns of the staff around him, but on the other hand it left him bored out of his damn mind.
The only forms of entertainment were the tv that was hung in front of his bed with the news usually playing, and the flicky's that would occasionally make an appearance outside his window. Obviously the staff wanted nothing to do with him so they never stuck around to chat, and the two guarding him both kept to themselves. All of which left the jackal to entertain himself as the days stretched on.
While the hero seemed pretty talkative on that first week, his relative quietness quickly following seemed to align more with what seemed normal for the wolf. Even when staff was notifying him about Infinite's condition or news going on in the Restoration, the scarlet wolf mostly took to nodding or gestures with barely any words making their way in.
It was such a loud contrast to the jackal, one that made their last conversation stand out just that much more.
When he thought back on it, the hero was pretty silent even in their interactions during the war. He wondered if the wolf was some variation of nonverbal.
Though it's not like it mattered much anyways, even if the wolf was a chatterbox he wouldn't have initiated a conversation. He was able to manage just fine on his own. There was no reason to damage his pride any more than it was, even if it meant the days dragged on to mind numbing degrees.
He was thinking on the proposition yes, but if he was truthful it wasn't in regards to redeeming himself. Everything he would have wanted to change for was long gone, the world had taken from him until there was nothing left, he wasn't in the wrong for trying to steal some of that back.
Instead he planned to play nice until he was fully recovered and make his escape to find a new path in making them pay. At minimum he needed to make sure that Shadow suffered a fate worse than he and his squad did, but in order to do that he needed to find a way to gain power that surpassed the Phantom ruby. It would be in his best interest to stay under the radar and play his part while he researched a way to do just that. There was likely information of power sources of that caliber within the Restoration, he just needed to find the best path forward.
For now he just needed to take advantage of the resources available to him and get back on his feet.
With things as they were, something had to give. There was always a shoe to drop when things were going too well, and in this instance the shoe came with several pairs more.
Infinite had been sipping on a small hot chocolate while watching the reporter speaking on some large-scale forest fire a few hours away when he heard the distant shuffling of a group making their way through the hallway, he was able to catch some low murmuring as they came closer.
His ears tipped back when he realized one of the speakers was the blue vermin himself. ‘Ugh great just how I wanted to spend my day’.
The jackal turned his head towards the window, and by proximity, the hero. The red wolf looked up from his laptop at the other’s movement with curiosity before clocking the sounds in the hallway.
It didn't take long for the group to push through the door, prompting the hero to put his computer away and give his full attention.
“Heyy, how are things going in here?” the main hedgehog in question prompts.
The blue hedgehog was the only one to visit so far in his stay at the Restoration, he checked in a few days after the jackal had first awoken, as well as every week or so to gauge his willingness to cooperate and apparently saw what he wanted to in the villain's actions thus far. Which was surprising given their history from the war and Infinite's part in tormenting the blue hedgehog under Eggman's orders.
He had been given the task to break the blue hero’s will down before Eggman had completed his takeover on the world, the doctor's plan being to show the prized hero of mobius how horribly he failed.
His role consisted of creating illusions of his friends in various scenarios or a beatdown by either himself or the new experimental bots that the doctor had crafted.
Sometimes it would be friends who were "captured" and held alongside him that would be dragged out and later replaced by a dramatically beaten variant, their falsified cries for help ringing across the hedgehog's cell. Sometimes it was those friends turning on the resistance and joining Eggman, or giving the hero news that someone close died. He found that most people crafted horrors much worse in their head when they couldn't see what was happening themselves.
The jackal favored psychological torture, forcing his foes to feel weak and powerless was what gave him the most satisfaction. Twisting the knife back into the heroes that had been stabbed into himself by the same ilk.
He did take note of how affected the blue hero was when those illusions came in the form of that detested ebony hedgehog. And he ensured that Sonic would carry those memories with him, dealing the worst of the damage behind the image of that poorly disguised monster.
Unfortunately the cobalt hedgehog had started to catch on a few months into his imprisonment, and the illusions lost most of their effectiveness, leading to the doctor mostly throwing his robots at him towards the end.
This was the first time that Sonic had brought others with him on his visits to see the jackal during his hospitalization though, he had heard a feminine voice so he could assume the pink hedgehog joined, but wasn't sure who else might have come to observe the laid out canine. He didn't plan to interact more than he needed to in order to keep the charade up though.
Infinite shrugged while keeping his gaze out towards the window, “about the same as last time.”
“Gotcha, well I heard you've finally started to allow the medics to assist you more in healing, Glad things are slowly coming around!” The cobalt hedgehog agrees with a practiced calm saunter into the jackal’s vision.
“There's only so long that I can hold a room here until they throw me out, it would be wise for me to make the most of it.” the coal toned villain responds in kind.
Another voice cuts into the conversation.
“Hmph, if I had it my way you wouldn’t even be stealing our resources here.” the gruff annoyed voice shoots off behind him.
“Knuckles! We already had a conversation about this! I’m so sorry, just ignore him.” the same feminine voice from earlier huffs, confirming that Knuckles and Amy were both present.
Infinite masked his annoyance behind a soft sigh, “it’s fine, I expected it given the circumstances. So why the group visit?”
Another unexpected voice speaks up, freezing the blood running through his veins.
"There will be an assessment on whether or not you should be allowed to integrate back into society or be locked behind bars like you deserve."
The jackal’s glacier blue and gold eyes shrink in size, his entire body tensing in preparation for a fight. He knew that revoltingly indifferent voice all too well.
His frozen body started to rapidly heat up until it gave way to a raging acidic inferno, his hatred for the other consuming him completely.
The red wolf noticed the change in his demeanor instantly, stiffening in alarm.
Sonic was saying something to try and diffuse the malice from his team, but Infinite couldn't hear any of it. His self control was held by a thread, all he could think of was the video that Eggman had shown him of his squad being mercilessly eliminated by the very rodent that dared to stand behind him.
The jackal knew that he didn't have the power to kill the dark agent in his current state, and that only served to fester and boil under his skin even more.
The room went silent, eerily so.
Infinite shifted his gaze to Sonic, who was looking at him with a wary confusion.
He forced out a strained "what?"
The blue hero took a moment before repeating himself. "Uh, I asked if you would be willing to chat with us a bit about why you started to work with Eggman. It would probably be easier for everyone to get along if we got to know who you are under that mask a little better."
The group behind him seemed to shuffle uncomfortably at the lapse in conversation, but Infinite couldn't bring himself to answer calmly. He was spiralling, trying and failing to keep his breathing steady, and it was only being made worse by the eyes looking down on him.
The scarlet wolf stood up, slowly inching closer with his hands up. “I don’t think-”
“Leave.” the jackal hissed out.
Knuckles scoffed behind him, “As if, we need answers if you want us to even consider this idiotic-”
“Why the hell even ask me when you already know! Just to harass me further?!” he snapped, swinging his head over to the echidna with his teeth bared.
“Excuse me? And what makes you think-” the echidna starts before being cut off by sonic.
“Woah woah woah lets take a step back for a minute. What do you mean we already know?”
Sonic strides back over to the group, placing his hand on Knuckle’s shoulder to calm him.
“All we know is that you were working with Eggman and that you took up some kind of offer with him for the ruby’s power.”
The jackal looked at them stunned, “You can't be serious.”
“One hundred percent not joking with you buddy.” the blue hero states, seemingly genuine in his word.
Infinite was unsettled by the news, unsure. He eventually recollected himself and turned his gaze towards the one that ruined his life in disgust. A wave of loathing building at the pieces connecting in his mind.
“So you mean to tell me, that you killed my entire squad in cold blood, and had the gall to cover it up? For what, to keep your undeserved title of hero squeaky clean?” he growled.
Shadow’s eyes widened imperceptively before he schooled his face back to a pissed resting state, his ears flicked back in annoyance. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, I’ve done no such thing.”
The group looked over to Shadow in shock, not entirely sure what was happening but trusting their friend.
The ebony hedgehog’s blatant denial and the team’s blind devotion sent Infinite over the edge.
“BULL FUCKING SHIT!!” the villain snarls, hurling his half empty hot chocolate straight at the other’s face. Shadow side steps the attack, quills flaring out in defense. Infinite forces himself up into a sitting position, taking a moment to force air back into his gasping lungs.
“Woah! Okay let’s come back to this when everyone-” sonic tries again.
“Some fucking heroes you lot are, Maybe I really would be a good fit if you so casually keep killers in your ranks like that savage!” the jackal shouts.
“I- okay, Shadow. Do you have any idea what he's talking about?” Sonic questions, coming up next to the dark agent’s side.
The villain scoffs, starting to visibly tremble from the exertion of lashing out. The Rusty hero to his side reaches out towards the jackals shoulder, causing the latter to flinch and swing out towards him. The hero catches his hand mid swing forcing them to make eye contact, the two canine’s stare each other down until the hero squeezes the villains hand as an act of reassurance. Infinite breaks eye contact, and tries to regain control over his breathing.
Shadow watches silently, seemingly unsure what to say as Sonic patiently waits for his response.
Eventually he steps forward, words aimed towards the villain.
“The last time we met one on one, you said something about a mystic jungle base. Is that what you’re referring to?”
Infinite huffs in disbelief that he still wouldn't remember the encounter, was he really so miniscule of a threat on the hedgehogs radar that it was just another Tuesday to him? Was it so common a theme for him to aimlessly kill anyone in his way and act as though it never happened?
Shadow took his lack of rebuttal as a go ahead.
“I didn't remember the encounter when we had initially met, so I asked my co-worker Rouge to look into operations we took on in that timeframe and she did find a file on it that jogged my memory. I did not kill anyone on that mission, yes I do vaguely remember a mercenary group that I incapacitated in order to complete my objective but I didn’t kill anyone.”
The team seemed to relax at the agent’s words, taking them for what they were. Infinite on the other hand started to darkly chuckle, leveling the Hero with a deadly stare.
“To lie so blatantly to my face is bold , hedgehog. You think I wouldn't have the face of the murderer that took everything I worked for memorized. You think I wouldn't have that DAMNED surveillance cam video of you snuffing out my crew seared into my head!” he snarled out, throwing his arm out to emphasize his words.
Amy softly gasped, bringing her hands up to her mouth “W-wait video? There's no way that- no, no, there must be some kind of misunderstanding! Maybe it was a shadow android! Eggman has several of those still.” he stuttered out, dead set on protecting her friend.
Infinite was well past his energy limits, he was exhausted. He knew he wasn't winning this argument, there was no reason for them to throw their own under the bus when a villain was the other opponent.
“Just leave.” he mutters out with a frayed voice from his yelling.
Sonic had taken to Shadow’s side as the jackal had spoken, subtly leaning against the other's shoulder. Shadow had gone completely still, seemingly working through something in his head.
At the villain’s dismissal though, they both looked up towards the jackal.
“There’s no point, people like you will always choose to shield your own from the blame. I'm done with this conversation.”
He laid back down, turning back on his side like before.
There was a moment of awkward shifting before he could hear the group making their way out the door. Sonic paused before he left the room, turning back towards the other two.
“We’ll try and figure out what's going on alright? I don't think you’re lying, but I also don't think that we have the full picture. Sorry for the trouble man.”
After what felt like years, Infinite and his guard were alone again. The hero was still standing by his bedside, visibly hesitating.
Infinite huffed and turned to bury his muzzle into the scratchy thin sheets, he felt a headache coming on. Once the adrenaline started to wear off he felt fuzzy, he had definitely pushed himself too much today. Hopefully whatever the hero wanted to say would be quick, he didn't want to deal with today anymore.
The wolf took a seat on the floor, leaning his back against the bed. They stayed that way for a good half an hour, sitting in each other's presence and winding down from recent events.
“... What were their names?”
Infinite tensed, staying silent and hoping that the other would drop the conversation and go back to his work soon.
Though at this point he should have known that things were never that easy with the hero.
He let out a long sigh, mentally preparing himself and peering over the side of the bed from where he lay.
“...Uno Deux Trois Quatre.” he muttered.
The wolf’s ears tipped back in confusion, glancing back towards the villain.
“And yes I know Uno’s name isn't in the same language, so stop looking at me like that.”
The hero’s eyebrow cocked up before he spoke again. “Numbers and not names?”
Infinite didn't answer right away, trying to figure out what the wolf’s angle was with this line of questioning. All he found was eyes filled with genuine curiosity, so he looked back out the window.
“We wanted to leave our old lives behind when we ran away from the place we came from, so we decided on new identities that weren't tied to our past.”
“Crime reasons?” the wolf uneasily asked. Infinite snorted, man this hero really didn't have a good view of him did he?
“Orphanage.” he stated plainly.
The hero jolted, likely feeling some type of misplaced guilt. It was the typical response people like him tended to garner, so he made quick work of combatting the change in tone.
“Also crime reasons.” he said with slight snark.
A glance down let him know that the scarlet hero found humor in his remark. The other's ears tipping slightly to the side as he softly huffed a laugh.
They lapsed back into a quiet stillness, uncomfortably comfortable for the jackal. It had been a while since he was able to stand someone’s constant presence, the last time being with the aforementioned jackals that had left him on his own. He didn't like the thought.
The hero thankfully chose that moment to break the silence again, pulling him from those thoughts.
“You really think Shadow did it?” he sadly questioned.
The Coal coated villain felt the ice climb back through his veins, expecting this to go the exact same way as earlier. “Yes, I saw it all through the security feed. I also saw G.U.N. come in after to take their bodies, I didn't even get a chance to give them a proper send off…”
He tightened his grip on the sheets, crushing them into a mess of wrinkles.
“I don't care how much you trust that monster, I know exactly what I saw and I’m not compromising that just to fit into your little organization.” the jackal muttered under a layer of fizzling exhaustion.
The smaller wolf nodded, accepting his answer without a fuss. He seemed to pause before coming to a decision, looking back towards the other with clear amber eyes.
“I’ll talk with someone to see if they can track what happened to their bodies… I can’t promise anything but I know someone with connections in G.U.N..”
The jackals' eyes widened a bit at the offer before darting away, he wasn't expecting to be believed. He turned his body to lay flat on his back, shifting his casts to avoid tugging at his fur. This wolf was nothing but surprises, constantly shifting what the villain anticipated at the most unexpected of times.
“...okay.”
“So ...Would … that offer be retracted if I hypothetically asked you what your name was?” the Jackal hesitantly muttered, knowing he was about to disintegrate this truce at the admittance of not knowing.
The wolf whipped around towards him with what the villain assumed was the most incredulously offended look on his face, though the jackal refused to check.
The hero huffs out an exasperated “Gadget.” before scoffing and making his way back to the couch.