#ommm | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

an-obligatory-blog · 2 months

Text

theoretical post-forces infinite that caters to my specific tastes

i'm too lazy to render this, so just deal with my messy sketch and om level foreshortening

I've been mulling lately how I would want Infinite to return and although I can't see it actually happening (it assumes settings regarding Infinite's past that I basically made up, see: my jackal squad hcs), I do want to jot some these ideas down somewhere so here it is.

Me after several edits: ok uh a lot of yapping happened bc I have a lot of thoughts, but I'm going try to keep this as tl;dr as possible

Me after even MORE edits: holy shit it's still long

The premise is as follows (I wrote this messily, but I wanted to finish this thing asap):

After his defeat, Infinite was trapped inside the real Phantom Ruby in a space is akin to Null Space. Contemplating Sonic's words, who told him that his illusions cannot match the real deal (the power of friendship om), he attempts to create illusions with "souls" on a whim (he had nothing better to do), and only succeeded when he created imitations of the Jackal Squad, who he knew inside and out. Believing that breaking out was impossible and that his captivity was somewhat deserved anyways (for failing the Doctor), he grew complacent in this new fantasy, creating not only his squad, but their ideal world. He re-adopts the name "Zero", interpreting this space as the "afterlife" and thus had no issue of taking the name of a "dead man".

The Phantom Ruby was sent back in time with Classic Sonic (Mania Plus), but Zero still remained and continued to remain even as enough time had passed for it to be the Modern Timeline again. During those years, Zero doesn't age, living out in his ideal world with his squad, who evolved to become stronger than real counterparts. Unlike Chaos/Metal Sonic/Zavok/Shadow, who were created with the data Eggman provided, Zero put a lot of thought into the imitations of his squad, using his memory as the basis to nail down their strengths and weaknesses, their habits and personalities, and more. However, this doesn't last forever, as a piece of his subconscious manifested as "Infinite", who was unsatisfied with the current circumstances and wishes to break out.

Zero and Infinite eventually confront each other. Although Infinite is representative of his cruelty, he also represented his will to live. When Zero had his breakdown about weakness back when he lost to Shadow, he tried to reach out to his squad, who he thought were just out of commission, only to find them dead in a crater. They died because Shadow used Chaos Blast as at the time, it was the most efficient way to get rid of them and overcome their teamwork. He had no hatred nor malice for the Squad and was thus indifferent to whether they had lived or died. If they had lived from the initial blast, he had no reason to run back to check on them when there is a mission to complete. To put simply, they were scrapped as if they were Egg pawns and the only reason Zero lived was because such measures weren't necessary to take out one person. This power gap instilled despair within Zero, who desired to be on top of the world.

When Eggman offered him the Phantom Ruby, a gem that can turn his dreams into reality, it was like the light of hope to him. It wasn't just physical weakness he wanted to throw away-- he wanted to start fresh, abandoning his past attachment to his squad, which was causing him much pain (this also leads him to abandoning his hatred for Shadow, since someone who wasn't attached wouldn't hate). "Zero", in his mind, should've died with his squad as they were only separated by coincidence. Even though he knew the dangers of being attached in a profession seeped in death, the squad was everything to him. "Infinite", his new identity, will be the Empire's new weapon and it's through that newfound purpose will he repair his ego. Shadow was so self-assured with his power that he had the luxury of being indifferent to whether his enemies lived or died, and Infinite wanted power where he could do the same and avoid being on the other end. It's not an exaggeration to say that "Infinite" could not exist without the Ruby.

Back to the present, Infinite threatens to tear this space apart and to take back his place as the "real" one. Zero criticizes Infinite, saying that he couldn't back up his bravado even with the Ruby, failing to end the war despite everything being in his favor. It is proof that his (their) incompetence is insurmountable and that they are better off stay here (staying dead) instead of chasing dreams that can't come true.

Infinite retorts that at least he tried. Even among "trash", those who fight to the end are worth more than those who do nothing but cower, accepting death when their cushy lives are destroyed. As a mercenary, Zero heavily relied on teamwork to establish his squad's reputation to make up for his personal weakness, even going as far as "deluding himself" for finding pride in being "a good leader", which didn't mean anything at the face of Shadow's ultimate power. Even if it all ended in failure, he was only defeated by a hair's margin-- a single oversight that allowed one of the Ruby prototypes to land in the hands of the Rookie. They could try again.

The mention of "the Rookie" gave Zero a pause. Now that he thought about it, he too was in a similar position as his past self, and yet he came out on the winning end. Wasn't it just because he had friends like Sonic to hide behind? No, he remembered fighting him alone in Metropolis, and although the Rookie was nowhere close to defeating him at the time, he drastically changed from the anxious pup he first met. It doesn't matter if he credits Sonic's encouragement because at the end of the day, you can only fight with power that you own. The Rookie didn't die because he found strength, and it would be an insult to himself to assume otherwise.

As those thoughts sit in the back of his mind, Zero argues that the Resistance wouldn't fall for the same strategy twice. Infinite still had that attitude where he thinks he's insurmountably strong and that it would always stay that way even as his enemies grew stronger. That attitude led to complacency, his illusionary imitations being the stagnant set of data it always was. Even if he escaped, would he even keep the power that he enjoyed before? The link between their Ruby prototype and the power source was most certainly broken by now.

"But we don't need that. After merging with the real Ruby, you were still able to make all of this just fine, right?"

And yet, how can he be so certain that it'll stay that way when they get out? Between Zero's pessimism and Infinite's optimism, it seemed as though the fight would never end.

Then, they both heard a familiar voice from the distance. A small pack of jackals were calling them over.

"Your attachment to them is weakness. They would just hold you back."

The phantom pain of the past was something Zero didn't need to be reminded of, but once again, the face of that Rookie came to mind. Even if he credited the support of others, didn't he have to overcome loss with his own strength? On the other hand, Infinite continues to deny that the squad had nothing to do with him, as if their deaths wasn't one of the causes of his existence.

Yes, at the end of the day, he and Infinite were the same person. Infinite was created to keep him going after being broken down and the fact that he's back means it's the same thing all over again. It occurred to him that Zero wasn't satisfied with paradise anymore. It became stagnant like the world he hated and promised to shake from the ground up. The real Jackal Squad would've wanted to break out.

Infinite is right... but not completely. Zero tried a different approach.

"So what? Even if I made them disappear, I won't ever forget them. They are coming with us, like it or not. Maybe, they can even be our strength."

"You're making the same mistake as before. The power of others isn't you own."

"No. The real Jackal Squad is dead. These people belong to me-- they are mine."

They were clumsy imitations at first, based on nothing but vague recollections, but that's not the case anymore. "He wouldn't say that; she wouldn't do that." "He would do this; she would fight like this." "He would improve like so; I would teach her like this." Sentiments like that built up after years and years and it shaped them into. No matter how hard he tried to reject his connection to his Squad, vowing to evolve beyond them, he remembered all of their quirks by heart and even the kind of people they strived to be. This new Jackal Squad is his creation, through and through.

"You can call it fake all you want, but how is it any more real than what you were doing before? Relying on power given by someone else? Using data given by someone else? Even those huge snake things we made bore a mask that was made by someone else. But our memory of them, no matter how much we hate it, will always be real."

Infinite and Zero are the same person. No matter how much Infinite pretends that Zero is dead, he was always there, just dormant. If Infinite is going to surpass his limits, then he needed to break out of that close-minded illusion of strength.

"If you're going to leave this place, don't be so sure it's going to be easy. The world isn't kind to villains like us."

Evolution isn't effortless, but there is hope. Infinite's and Zero's shared pride cannot accept that they can't do what an ordinary wolf can.

"If you don't want to fail all over again, take all of us with you."

"If that's what you want, then don't let them go. I'll keep living with or without you."

Infinite/Zero's internal reconciliation led to him breaking paradise from the inside, tearing a hole into the false sky. It was the whole-hearted will of its master, after all. Infinite/Zero chases after the light and right behind him were the illusions.

In the middle of nowhere, Infinite woke up alone.

Infinite conjured his mask and puts it on. Even after accepting Zero, he felt more comfortable like this. He looks down and notices that the Ruby in his chest changed from red to magenta, the color of the real Phantom Ruby.

Knowing what he wants, he found his way back to Eggman. He doesn't hold a grudge against him for what he did because he knew about his "Plan B" ahead of time. At the time, he wanted to rectify the mistake he made (missing one prototype he didn't destroy) with his own hands, but it was him who agreed to be Eggman's weapon and gave him the right to do that should he fail. Plus, it's Eggman who knew the Ruby best and despite everything, their goals still aligned.

The doctor was of course surprised to see Infinite walking around and Infinite was surprised to see a little girl next to him when he returned. After relaying what happened to him, Eggman analyzed his body as he requested.

The real Phantom Ruby merged with him, so he doesn't need a power source to use a fuel, however his innate powers are limited. Instead of the overwhelming army he was able to make before, conjuring his 4 former squad mates and a sword was the best he can muster. He's certainly more powerful than average and he can now truly call his powers as his own, but it's very far from the heights he once reached. Knowing that he had less promise than before, Infinite had little confidence that the doctor would take it well, but before he sacrificed his pride....

"...But even this is fine. By losing abundance, you were pushed to become more efficient-- the data I'm getting from your illusions are far more complex than what you made before. They're extremely lifelike, and yet incomparable to their real counterparts... yes, I'd be a fool to not invest in this. I'd lose next to nothing." Infinite didn't know it, but the new illusions reminded Eggman of Sage.

"Is it really fine with my track record?" Infinite said that half-heartedly, but unexpectedly, Eggman took it seriously.

"If you're going to put yourself down for that, then what does it say about me, who has yet to succeed in world domination? There's a reason why I keep Metal Sonic around and scrapped the other models. There's a difference between the two."

"Honestly, who do you think I am? The type of person who lies to comfort someone who had failed me before? Bah! I have an empire to run and a world to conquer, so if I say that you have potential, then I mean it! With my intellect, there's no way I'm mistaken."

"So enough with that self-pity party because it doesn't suit you, Infinite. You have the confidence of the world's future ruler. Shouldn't you act like it as his general?"

Eggman's acceptance made him feel something he didn't think he was capable of feeling. Once more, for a third time, they came to an agreement. The enemy that Sonic and friends thought was long gone returned.

Uno's efficiency, Deux's patience, Trois's bravery, Quatre's ambition... Zero's sense of responsibility and Infinite's stubbornness... although they all referred to each other as numbers, their lives and potential were worth much more, and they will always last as long as Infinite lived to remember them.

If names determined one's destiny, that Sonic will always be the wind you can't catch and that Shadow will always be the darkness that points toward the light, then Infinite will always be the sum everything that came before him, their undying dreams pushing him forward, marching towards a future that never ends.

#infinite the jackal #sonic the hedgehog #sth headcanons #sonic forces #sth #infinite the jackal hcs #it kinda turned into a fic but i don't write fic like this so om #should i put a name on this? it's not like an au but like #i'll come up with one later #there might be a hint of infidget bias in here eheh #i really want infinite to stay as a villain you have no idea ommm

16 notes · View notes