*Present Time

Gadget/Sonic POV 3rd person 

“We’ve got this! Keep it up partner!” Sonic yelled as a bright light was seen at the end of Null Space near them, “Nothing can contain the two of us at max power! Not even Null Space!”

Light blinded their eyes before quickly being able to see the blue sky that settled over Metropolis. Realizing it’s really felt like forever since he’d been outside, Gadget couldn’t help his wide grin at finally having freedom. Not noticing, Sonic held a gentle smile at the other’s joy.

Both of their thoughts quickly faded as they landed on a rail and grinded ahead. Sonic pressed a button on his wrist communicator.

“Sup everyone? I missed this place.”

Surprise was heard on the other end of his communicator as Knuckles responded, “What happened Sonic? You just up and disappeared!”

“Well, I’d say nothing happened, but I found the Rookie while trapped in what Eggman called Null Space.”

“What? The Rookie’s alive?”

“Yep. He was trapped in that Null Space place that Eggman tried to trap me in,” Sonic answered, “Now, let’s track down Eggman.”


*Eggman POV 3rd person 

“Now that Sonic’s gone, the rest should be a breeze,” the doctor said after Tails ran off, probably in hopes of trying to find a solution, only to notice a second later that the jackal was still distracted, “For Pete’s sake, just go check on him already. Move him if you want. You’re driving me crazy with that mood of yours.”

“...Very well.”

A moment later, he vanished into thin air. A sigh of relief left the man. “Thank goodness. I hate it when he gets like that.”

Just then, Eggman felt a tap on his shoulder along with an, “Um, boss?” From one of his robots. Turning around, he saw an unpleasant site; Sonic the Hedgehog.

“What?! It can’t be! It’s impossible to get out of the Phantom Ruby’s Null Space!” The man’s eyes then zero’d in on Gadget, immediately knowing who he was. “Oh shit. He’s going to be pissed.”

Gadget wasn’t sure if Sonic knew what he meant, but the wolf had a hunch that might’ve been more about him than the blue hero.

“Maybe by myself, but I had a little help from my friend. Something you wouldn’t understand since you don’t have any friends!” Sonic remarked with a smirk.

“This changes nothing! Dr. Eggman will still have the last laugh!” Was shouted as the Doctor flew away in his vehicle.

“Maybe he’d have more friends if he didn’t talk about himself in the third person.” Gadget giggled at Sonic’s comment, quite agreeing with his logic.

When Eggman floated off, he buzzed his communicator, “...Infinite?”


*Infinite POV 3rd person 

Debris was everywhere; flower petals, books, ruined sandwiches, all laid scattered along the floor along with chipped paint and wood chips from the two holes in the walls.

Fists were clenched and the jackal was silent as he stared in disbelief and fury. A voice rang through his communicator.

“...Infinite?”

Another couple seconds without a word went by, before… 

“I’m going to fucking maim that hedgehog if it’s the last thing I do!” 

“You would be correct in that assumption,” Infinite finally heard the other more clearly from those words.

“What?”

“Shortly after sending Sonic to Null Space, he escaped, and had the red wolf with him.”

A growl was heard from the jackal, anger not even beginning to describe the amount of rage he felt. “I’m going to get him back, and kill Sonic along the way. How dare he... How DARE he!”


*That night

Gadget POV 3rd person 

The trek back to the Resistance base would have been long, but with Sonic, nothing’s ever long. At the start, the two males ran side by side, but Gadget could only keep up for some time. Much to his embarrassment, the hedgehog scooped him up in his arms bridal style and ran them the rest of the way there.

Ignoring what happened to the best of his ability, it was now night time. Gadget had been bombarded when entering, everyone grateful to see the quiet wolf alive. Though they wondered why, Gadget hadn’t said much, as he wasn’t sure what to say. Sonic seemed to catch on to Gadget’s uncomfortableness, as he changed the subject and told him to go rest up. So now, here he laid on his old bed in the Resistance, and wondering what to do now.

He needed to tell them. That thought brought a dread upon the red furred male. If he didn’t speak, he’d be betraying the Resistance, but if he did talk, he’d be backstabbing Zero. Gadget was at a crossroads that he wished he wasn’t in.

There was also the fear of when Zero, Infinite, found out he was missing. Knowing him, he’s going to be super pissed, and that might be bad news for his friends.

But…

Rolling over, he decided he’d figured it out in the morning.

……

………

“I can’t sleep,” he muttered before standing.

Glancing up at the clock, he saw it was close to midnight. Most members should be in bed by now. A few stayed up during the nights to keep track of activity going on outside or make sure no trespassers tried to sneak in.

Leaving the comfort of his room, the hall was dark. The only light was seen down the hall coming from the main room of operations. A second or two in thought and the wolf decided to head there and see who was up. 

Light filled his site as he saw the members of the so called Chaotix Detective Agency busying themselves around one of the computers. On the other side of the room was Sonic, seemingly bored as he stared at the large monitor in the room. Apparently the blue blur got stuck with monitor duty that night.

Steps lightly sounded before Gadget took a seat in a creaky chair next to the hero. Emerald orbs looked surprised for only a brief second, not noticing the canine until then, but quickly throwing on his signature grin.

“Hey buddy. How’re you feeling?” Smiling back, he gave a thumbs up in response. “Great!”
 
Turning back to the monitor, both sat and viewed all the cameras stationed around the base. The duo was quiet, but it was comfortable as they just observed all the different angles and rooms.

Amber orbs lost focus as his thoughts began to swarm. Thinking back to the last several days, a lot happened during that time. He was taken away and put in a room before finding out that not only was Zero alive, but he was the infamous Infinite. Being back with the Resistance, he had hoped, would bring him some form of peace, especially with his hopes to help the Resistance, the innocents, and Zero, but, he felt anything but peace.

What should he do? He can’t keep quiet about this. But Zero… Was there any way to talk to him? Maybe convince him to leave Eggman and stop the war? He wasn’t sure. Nothing could be changed if he couldn’t even figure out why Infinite did this. But then, would learning why even make a difference?

Huffing out a sigh, his eyes continued straight as he stared at nothing in particular, hoping to come to some conclusion, but finding none.

“You know,” Sonic’s usually cheerful, but this time serious, voice sounded. Yellow orbs turned to meet emerald, seeing his expression matching the way he spoke. “You can talk about it if you want.”

“Huh?”

“Whatever’s on your mind. It’s plain as day something’s bothering you.”

“Hmm…” Gadget hummed in thought.

A hand gently landed on his shoulder, “No pressure buddy. We’re all here for you… I’m here for you, if you ever wanna talk. I’m a surprisingly good listener when I want to be.”

“Haha,” the wolf laughed lightly. He didn’t doubt those words, but he supposed he had a lot to think about, and needed to get his priorities straight.

“Thank you,” Gadget said sincerely, “I’m not quite ready yet, but I do need to talk, and I will.”

“Well,” Sonic grinned, “Don’t worry about it tonight. Take the night for yourself. I can sit with you tomorrow morning if you want.”

Talking to just Sonic? Would he judge him? Would he understand? That made him a bit nervous, but at the same, he felt more trusting to tell Sonic, a mentor in a sense, than anyone else in the team.

“O-okay.”

“Alright. Now go get some rest,” Sonic urged, wanting him to sleep.

“Haha, alright.”

Footsteps sounded as the wolf left the room, not seeing the concerned expression on the blue hero’s face the moment he turned his back. 

Once gone, Charmy asked, “Why’re you so worried Sonic? I’m sure he’s fine.”

“Didn’t you see it?”

“See what?”

“The huge bruise on the his shoulder.”

“Hm?”

Espio cut in, “In Metropolis before Gadget disappeared, there were reports of him battling Infinite in the city. It was only a few days ago. There’s a good chance for bruises and cuts to remain.”

“True, but I’m still worried about something.”

“Oh, and what’s that?” Vector inquired, now joining the conversation as well.

“Why did Infinite let him live?”

The chameleon retorted, “Didn’t he let you live in the jungle?”

“Yeah, after beating the shit out of me and finding it a waste of time to deal with me. And before that in the City when Infinite first appeared, he kept me alive and a captive under Eggman’s orders.” Sonic explained, “While Infinite could have let Gadget live for the same reason as to not want to waste the time in killing him, he didn’t stop there.”

“You mean him being in Null Space?” The croc asked.

“Yes. They kept Gadget locked away in a room in Null Space. Why? What did they want with him?”

“That’s a good question,” Espio pointed out, “ But keep in mind, you broke him out. They never actually willingly released him. They may still want Gadget,” Sonic’s expression turned horrified from the comment, “Did you honestly not even think of that?”

“No!”

“Hehe,” the floating bee giggled, “You’re so dumb Sonic.”

While the group continued to chat, Gadget had been unaware of it all as he had earlier walked to his room, but not in. The thought of being cooped up in a bedroom somehow didn’t settle well, so he went the only place he could think of without disturbing anyone in the base. Outside.

The air was crisp and fridged. Colored leaves sprinkled the trees, some slowly falling to the ground, creating an atmosphere with an array of reds, oranges, and yellows. Of course HQ was hidden out in the middle of the woods. That was the best location that seemed to fit this particular base of operations. After all, being out in the open was a foolish idea, almost as if begging to be attacked.

Crunches were heard from his shoes as they stepped along the leaf coated ground. His mind was in a whirlwind and he couldn’t seem to get out of it. With his thoughts muddled, he wasn’t paying any attention and tripped on a visible tree root.

“Gah!” He face planted, “Ow… dammit.”

Sitting up beside the tree, dirt and mud coated his clothes and fur. A sigh of frustration escaped him as he let his head fall back, resting on the tree trunk.

“Could this day get any freaking worse?” Muttering to himself as a few tears formed in the corners of his eyes. “I miss you Zero… I wish I knew the right thing to do, where no one got hurt.”

...Pain.

That was all he suddenly felt in his head. Undeniable, cannot be ignored, severe, pain. “A-ahhh!”

Knees bent, his forehead landed on his knees while fiercely gripping his head and clenching his eyes shut. 

Commencing Option 1

Then, the pain disappeared.