What's up, people of the web?! Lucious Starheart here to present my first fan fiction of the new year! You're welcome to call me Luke or Lucas if you like, just so you know, and here is a story I decided to make after playing the newest Sonic game: Sonic Forces! :D

I got inspired after playing the game recently and thought what might happen afterwards. As we all know, Infinite was the real reason the game was so great. Don't get me wrong that SEGA did a good job, but they could've done better in my opinion. There were some areas of the game that could've been worked on a bit more, but I believe it's because of Infinite the game sold. The mysterious masked jackal is quite popular it seemed, and that Phantom Ruby peeked my interest with its power to create virtual reality illusions. Though, I think we haven't seen its full capabilities yet. ;)

Now I won't go boring you all too much from here. Just note that this is the first time I'm creating a Sonic the Hedgehog based story and I'd really appreciate it if you guys gave me some feedback on it. Remember that if you don't like it, please don't go giving me harsh criticism about it or grammar and spelling errors here and there. Nobodies perfect. Not even Infinite, and speaking of... Time for him to make his return! Enjoy... ;D

WARNING: If you haven't played the Sonic Forces game, I suggest not reading this until you do. It may contain spoilers to the game.

DISCLAIMER: I do not legally own the rights to Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights to the characters and other Sonic related events and items belong to SEGA, but I do own this story and OCs. Please support the original creators and franchise. Thank you and enjoy the story.

Sonic Forces: The Return of Infinite

Prologue: The Phantom's Return

~Eggman Empire Fortress, Evening Time~

"Your plan will end like all your plans do: with you sitting in a pile of busted robot parts wondering how you failed so badly."

Those were the words spoken by Sonic the Hedgehog to none other than Doctor Eggman, who was seen near his wrecked fortress after the final battle between his army and the resistance. Like Sonic said, the defeated doctor was seen sitting in anger on a pile of all his busted robot parts with Orbot and Cubot beside him, and the Death Egg Robot he used in the final fight with Sonic was at the top of the pile with him.

"I hate it when that hedgehog is right." growled Dr. Eggman as he gazed angrily out at the sunset.

"Well look on the bright side, doctor..." said Orbot as he and Cubot turned their bodies toward their creator. "At least you'll know what not to do next time."

"Yeah, like having all your robots pilled up near your front door." stated Cubot as he pointed to the busted front entrance to the fortress, while Eggman jumped down and kicked a busted robot head away from him before screaming into the orange colored sky.

"It's just not fair!" he shouted before he got on his knees and pounded his fist into the ground repeatedly, while Orbot and Cubot floated down behind him. "I was doing so well too! How can it all end the same again?! WHY?!"

At that moment, the defeated doctor started to whine like a child, while Orbot and Cubot only watched, feeling bad for their creator yet again. Although, as Eggman was crying his heart out, back on top of the busted robots pile, inside the destroyed Death Egg Robot, a strange red glow was seen in its busted up core. The glow appeared to be coming from a chipped off shard of the Phantom Ruby Eggman used to power his machine. It was all that was left of the strange gem, but as it glowed, it slowly floated up into the air and made its way out of the machine's wreckage.

At the same time, Eggman finally regained his composure as he stood back up, but sighed in sadness though. "Well at least I still got my health." he stated as Orbot and Cubot floated up and patted him on the shoulders, which annoyed him, making them stop and back away in fright when they saw his face. Then the doctor turned around and grinned, "And as long as I still do, I may as well get to work on my next evil scheme. I may have failed this time, but there's always a next time!"

Eggman then laughed as he made his way pass his two robot minions and to his wrecked fortress. "Looks like the boss is back to his old self again." said Orbot to Cubot, who nodded in reply before the two followed their creator.

"First thing's first..." said Eggman as he stopped to examine the wreckage of his fortress, then he turned his gaze at Orbot and Cubot. "We got a lot of cleaning up to do. And by we I mean you two."

Though when they heard that, the two robots were shocked at first, but then they sighed sadly in defeat. Inside, they knew that was to be expected of Eggman as he looked back ahead and was surprised when he saw the Phantom Ruby shard come out of the Death Egg Robot nearby. "Huh... What...?" he asked, causing Orbot and Cubot to look as well and also be surprised as the glowing red shard slowly came down and hovered before the doctor and his robot minions. Unsure of what to make of this, the doctor took a step toward it, but was cautious about it. "Can it be...?"

But just as Eggman took another step closer, the shard's glow intensified, surprising the doctor as he and his two robot minions shielded their vision from the bright red light. At the same time, the shard expanded and took on the form of the completed Phantom Ruby, and not only that, but a familiar shadowy figure started to take form around it slowly. It didn't take long until the figure's form was revealed, which shocked Eggman and his robot minions when they got a look as the red light dimmed, causing them to gasp when they saw it was none other than... Infinite!

"It... It can't be!" exclaimed Eggman as he stepped back from the shock as the light faded, leaving only Infinite and the Phantom Ruby implanted on his chest.

The masked jackal opened his left eye, seeing the doctor, Orbot, and Cubot in front of him. The two robots quickly floated behind some of the robot wreckage in fright, but Eggman stood where he was, trying not to look surprised. "I-Infinite?" he asked as he slowly stepped forward, confused. "Is that...really you?"

"Who were you expecting, doctor?" Infinite replied as he walked towards the doctor, who was even more confused now.

"But... But how?!" he asked, trying to figure out how Infinite was back. "The Phantom Ruby was destroyed along with my Death Egg Robot! How's it even possible for you to just come back?!"

It was true that the mysterious ruby was destroyed when Sonic, the Sonic from the past, and another hedgehog going by the name of Flare, destroyed the Death Egg Robot with a triple boost attack in the last fight, yet somehow a shard survived and it took form of a new Phantom Ruby and Infinite as well. Yet, this made no sense to the doctor as Infinite stopped half a yard away from the confused Eggman. "It's true. I shouldn't be here at all, but I guess I got lucky. After all, only I can wield the power of the Phantom Ruby to its fullest, not that silly robot you used."

Though as much as Eggman wanted to be angry about what Infinite said about his robot, he brushed it off and turned that anger into a grin. "Oh it doesn't matter now." he stated as he rubbed his hands together, getting an evil thought. "With you being back, we can do this all over again. Once I've rebuilt my Eggman army, we'll continue the conquest of Mobius. Those fools thought they've won, but wait till they get a load of you, back from the dead!"

"Yes. However, I'm afraid not everything will go as you just said, doctor." Infinite stated as he crossed his arms, but his words confused Eggman for a moment before he put on his angry face again.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, the tension building up around him and Infinite, causing Orbot and Cubot to shake in fear. "Explain!"

"Simple really." said Infinite as he turned his head and looked up at the evening sky. "I tried doing things your way, doctor, but look at the result. Now that I'm back and now no longer need a power source apparently to use the Phantom Ruby's power, I'll do things MY way now."

"Now look here, you ungrateful little jackal!" exclaimed Eggman as he pointed at the masked jackal in anger. "How dare you? Going against my plan to do things on your own. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have that Phantom Ruby in the first place!"

"And if it weren't for me your plans wouldn't have gotten as far as it did before." Infinite replied back as he turned his sight back on Eggman, who only growled in frustration at the masked jackal. "Besides, I'm more than grateful to you. More ways than one. If it weren't for your use of your machine, the Phantom Ruby would've never been freed from your little power sources. Now that it's free, it chose me to wield it once again. This time without the need of your machinery to power it. Now it needs only me. Infinite."

Again, Eggman growled in anger as he tried to contain himself from doing something stupid against his so-called powerful creation. "You little... Let's not forget that it was I that gave you the power of the Phantom Ruby, and it will be I that'll take it away from you." he stated, but then he looked around his wrecked fortress and then rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "Well, once I get everything cleaned up around here." Then he got serious and pointed his finger towards the masked jackal again. "But when I do, I'll be taking it back!"

In response to Eggman's threats, Infinite laughed as his body was surrounded by the Phantom Ruby's red and black energy, causing him to float up into the air and caused Eggman to worry as he stepped back. "I'd like to see you try that, doctor." said Infinite as his left eye glowed bright red, frightening Orbot and Cubot as they ducked behind the wreckage. "But answer me this... Can you ever truly wield the Phantom Ruby's power the way that I can?!"

With a shout, Infinite burst the Phantom Ruby's energy around, blowing Eggman back by surprise, causing him to roll along the ground until he hit his back on some robot wreckage. "Boss!" shouted Orbot as he and Cubot quickly went over to their creator's aid, while Infinite turned towards the wrecked fortress and began firing a barrage of red energy orbs at it, causing huge explosion around the main building, destroying what was left of the place, shocking Eggman and his two robot minions as they watched him do so.

Infinite laughed like a maniac as he prepared one more red energy orb over his head, but bigger than the rest and launched it at the fortress, causing a massive explosion at the top upon impact, wiping out the top half of the main building. When the explosion subsided, Eggman placed both hands over his head and screamed in horror. "M-My fortress! My glorious Eggman Empire Fortress!" he screamed as Infinite chuckled at his handiwork before looking at his hands, pondering about his powers.

"It truly is as I predicted." he said as he raised a hand up high. "This power is the ultimate power. Nothing can rival it. Yet..." As he pondered about the power the Phantom Ruby gave him, he couldn't help but make a fist when he remembered the last fight he had with Sonic and Flare, causing the anger to build up inside of him. "Yet even with this limitless power, I still couldn't beat them. I'm still not strong enough."

As he growled in anger, the Phantom Ruby's power intensified around his body a bit more. No matter how much he contemplated about it, he knew that there was no way he could defeat Sonic the way he was now, but then an idea popped into his head, which calmed him. "Hmm... I wonder..." he started to think as he brought his hand down. "Perhaps now that the Phantom Ruby no longer needs a generator to supply it with power, I wonder if I can develop it's powers further on my own. If it can bring me back, then it should be possible. Oh yes..."

Thinking on the idea, he chuckled at the thought. He knew what he could do with the Phantom Ruby already, but with some self practice with it, who knows what he could do. "That's what I'll do." he said as he turned to face the sunset. "Just you wait, Sonic. In time I will come for you and your little friends, and when I do you'll wish you were never born."

But before Infinite could take off, out of nowhere, the Death Egg Robot used to battle Sonic in the last fight suddenly came up behind him. Though it was wrecked, it was somehow still able to function with only two working arms and its hovering system. Noticing this, Infinite quickly floated back to get some distance, while in the Death Egg Robot's exposed cockpit was none other than Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot, and they weren't happy. Especially Eggman.

"You little pest!" he exclaimed in rage. "It's one thing to go against your creator, but it's another to wreck my fortress! Even if there's only a small bit of it left. That's where I draw the line!"

Despite its damaged state, Eggman was able to make the Death Egg Robot swing a punch at Infinite, but the masked jackal easily dodged it and simply fired a red energy orb precisely at its exposed cockpit. When he did, Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot's eyes widen in shock as they were hit, causing the damaged machine to explode into pieces, and the threesome to fall to the surface screaming until they landed in a pile of broken robot parts, making Infinite chuckle.

"Well... That was fun while it lasted." he said as he was about to fly away, but he stopped when an idea popped into his head, causing him to look back down towards the doctor and his two robot minions. "Wait a minute. Hmm... I wonder..."

At the same time, Orbot and Cubot were the first to pop out of the robot wreckage, surprised that they were okay. "Huh... We're still in one piece." said Orbot as he checked himself to make sure nothing was damaged from the fall.

"We must've landed in something pretty soft." said Cubot, but the moment he said that, Eggman came out right from under them, surprising them as they were sent back up into the air and landed face first on the ground.

"You bolts-for-brains...!" Eggman shouted in anger at them. "I swear I ought a...!"

But before he could finish his sentence, the doctor looked up to see Infinite floating near. The masked jackal's shadow loomed over him and his two robot minions as they gazed up at him in shock. "You know, as much as I'd like to be rid of you, doctor, I must admit that I may have some use for you." he said while extending a hand out at the threesome, causing Eggman to panic, while Orbot and Cubot quickly got up and hugged each other in fright, shaking in fear. "After all, it's the least I can do...for giving me this power."

Upon saying that, Infinite charged up a red energy orb in his hand, causing Eggman and his two robot minions to scream in horror as Infinite laughed and fired it down at them, causing everything to go red. All that could be heard was the strange sound the Phantom Ruby's power gives off and the maniacally laughter of the masked jackal.

"BY THE TIME I'M DONE, THE WORLD WILL KNOW HOW WEAK IT IS COMPARED TO ME."

And so ends the prologue to what appears to be a new adventure coming up for Sonic and friends. What did you guys think of the prologue? I was going to make it a bit longer, but I thought I keep it short and to the point as much as possible. The real chapters will most likely be a bit longer, so you'll get more in the future. I can guarantee that. XD

That aside, if you've read the part about a red hedgehog being in the final battle with the Death Egg Robot, that's the OC I created for my playthrough of the Sonic Forces game. That's right... It's a hedgehog. A red one. Poor Eggman. He just can't stop dealing with hedgehogs. Know what I mean? X)

I did my best to get a good portray of Eggman, Infinite, Orbot, and Cubot in this one. Hopefully it was good. Please do R&R and be sure to fave and follow if you're interested to find out what happens next. What's going to happen to the doctor? What plans does Infinite have for him? And what new powers will he unlock with the Phantom Ruby under his full control? Be sure to find out next time! Until then, I'll be seeing you all around the web! :D