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We ended up in a completely different area than where I was expecting him to take me. The place Infinite had led me to actually looked a lot like an actual arena. I wonder if he set it up like this on purpose because this looks too well made to be just a random location, it’s almost like he planned this in advance . I was lost enough in thought that I didn't notice him glancing at me from the corner of his eye. I definitely noticed when he started glowing brighter, floated higher, and charged a pair of energy balls in both of his hands. I went to snag some rings just in case I got hit, but I wasn't fully sure it could work against someone like him.
He floated back and forth like he was pacing around the room a bit. “You must be a straggler who got left behind.” Infinite said, though it strangely sounded like he was reading off a predetermined script with how he said it with conviction but it almost didn't seem like he was convinced of what he was saying. “The strong will always Vanquish the weak. As such, you have only your own frailty to blame.” He continued and these red cube masses started to appear and almost seemed to track my movements faintly.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked him as I dodged the attacks. He didn't seem to want to respond but I did see him hesitate for a brief moment while I dodged his attack. I saw him face me and barely dodged when he suddenly rushed me. Man, I think I'm getting better at dodging those quick, sudden attacks… I tried to talk to him again. “What about Sonic? Doesn't your time with him make any difference?”
…He didn't seem to react… Weird, I thought that would get some kind of reaction out of him but nothing? That's just strange. I got him with the flame from the Burst weapon and he didn't seem to be really fazed. Ok, that’s either cheating or something’s wrong here. He then seemed to get angry at me for some reason and things started to get worse, like there were more things to dodge now. OK, I jinxed it didn't I!!!
“Well, well. It seems that there is a spark of defiance that was hidden behind that fear.” Infinite said as walls of the blocky (I'll just call them cube structures from now on…) anyways, their were patches of cubes on the ground which turned into walls on either side of the area, and simultaneously there were robots that came out of the far wall were there had been doors and started approaching us in their jerky, stop and start movements. Soon the Cube walls disappeared but now the patch in the middle was covered in the indicators and I dove out of the way just in time. I only caught the 2nd half of what Infinite said as I was focused on making sure I wasn't about to be hit but he noticed that I was familiar? That debunks that previous theory.. Why is he acting so weird anyways?
The constant attacks that he did next really got to me, several things were happening at once and I couldn't keep up with all of that, it led me to finding out what happens when I got hit as reality became whacky, multiple cannons and other constructs made it very hard to react in time and I got hit plenty of times… Luckily I had some rings on me right?? My word this was really stressful. I had to keep moving, to dodge the floating cube masses, take care of robots, and watch out for where Infinite was moving so I could be prepared in case he suddenly attacked again. I took the easy route and luckily I kept my finger on the trigger so I didn't have to worry about aiming, just keep on running back and forth while dodging and paying attention to where everything was… THIS IS SO MUCH WORSE THAN CHESS!!
Having to pay attention to everything just made me feel overwhelmed at times. I probably missed some things that Infinite did while watching me run around, but I was already preoccupied with a whole slew of other things that drew my attention elsewhere so sue me. I did get used to dodging it since it was sort of like a pattern. I got another hit on him and again that same eerie thing happened. The back and forth happened for a bit and eventually…
“You put up Quite a fight.” He said, but I was just trying to catch my breath at that point after finishing off the last of the robots as he continued. “I underestimated just how desperately the feeble cling to life.” I looked up to see that he seemed tired too but he straightened up and turned to look at me with an expression I couldn't define. “Maybe that's what makes someone like you so… persistent, so… hard to control .” I got chills down my spine at his words as he gathered the red light in his hand again, he attacked me again but I managed to dodge it and I'm proud of how I used a wire to dodge a midair attack by anchoring it to the ground just in time. I registered how something dropped out of my stuff.
“Ah, now I remember you…” Infinite said as he focused on me again and moved his body into what I was now considering his thinking pose as he placed that one hand on his mask again. “You ran from me before, yet you still came back to challenge me again. You survived then, but now you throw it away. How curious.” He said and I noticed that the weird behavior from before seemed to be gone. Was that just a fluke?? Now i'm confused… I made sure to grab the thing that had fallen out of my pocket (Hey, it's that weird gem I found earlier. Guess I forgot to put it down before we started this…) and stood up to meet Infinite’s gaze.
He then started gathering energy and did that Reality Warping thing, How does he do it so casually? with several cannons pointed towards me. “This will be your Goodbye.” He said as he slowly lifted a hand and pointed it towards me like he was enjoying the suspense. The cannons all fired at once and I flinched and then braced for impact by bringing my arms up to shield my face at least. (Not that i'd do anything to stop them right?) I waited for the impact but it never came. I risked it and peeked from my closed eyes and everything looked normal. Weird… I looked back as the warping happened again and the projectiles exploded behind me.
“What?” The questions seemed to be a breathy and unconscious exclamation, like he hadn’t expected that either. We stayed in silence for a few moments as we both tried to process what had just happened. Infinite questioned how it had happened and tried it again, but since I was ready this time I managed to jump out of the way. He pushed me and I wasn't expecting it (Completely in line with what he would do now that I think about it…) and I bounced to a stop after a short tumble. I was on my stomach and struggled to get up as I heard him talking to himself as the Reality warping stuff stopped. “No matter, they only have a few days left anyways. Let them contemplate the inevitable until this ends once and for all.” He turned and moved away from the field casually, but I got the feeling he was frustrated about something.
I took my time to recover, wanting to think about what I had just seen and heard. First off, something seemed different about Infinite and he almost seemed bothered by something. Secondly, I think that there's definitely something about him that doesn't match what I've been told that he’s like, he almost seemed hesitant in that battle like he was holding back or something. That would be impossible right? Right?? Oh great, now I'm questioning everything I know… And last but not least, that almost seemed like an act the entire time, almost like he was forcing himself to fight.
I listened to the radio chatter as I waited at a out of the city rendezvous point for pick up. I flagged down a ship and made my way back to base to relax and recharge. Also am I not remembering my Geography right because I don't remember where a zone named Chemical Plant is… Maybe it’s just a place that those in the know are aware of?? I’m probably just sleep deprived, but I could've sworn I've heard that name from somewhere…