Infinite opened his eyes to see light gray everywhere. His vision was blurry, unfocused. It irritated him. A low growl raised from his chest, and he glanced around, blinking in an attempt to see better. He still had his mask on, he realized.

The last thing I remember is that fool Eggman forcing me away from those "rebels," as they called themselves... He groaned and looked down, gasping quietly. The Phantom Ruby! It's gone! He tried to reach a hand up to feel the space in front of him...but couldn't. His hands were restrained, which he only now noticed. I must be back at his base... That's where he sent me...

"Oh, Infinite!" came a loud call. The voice was light. Almost too light. A teasing tone laced the jackal's name when spoken by this voice, and it made Infinite freeze.

Looking up, Infinite saw Dr. Eggman, in all of his furious "glory," standing by the entrance of the strange room he was in. Though the jackal's vision was blurry, he could sense the anger vibrating from the man as he grew nearer. In his newly weakened state, and without the Phantom Ruby to help, Infinite found himself struggling not to shy away from his former partner in crime. His ears flattened as Eggman spoke again, now not even bothering to hide his fury behind a silky (yet transparent) curtain of amusement.

"I thought we actually had him this time!" the man yelled, glaring over at Infinite. The jackal was restrained in a tube, much like any other that Metal Sonic would be held in, or any other of Eggman's creations when not being used. The glass of the tube cracked slightly when Eggman angrily pounded a fist on it, making Infinite flinch slightly (but not without sending a glare at the round man). "You held back, didn't you?! You had the Phantom Ruby with you! You should have been unstoppable! If you didn't hold back on those rodents, we would have the world on our side! You ignorant fool!"

Infinite didn't waste a second retaliating. "I didn't hold back. I did everything in my power to stop them. It was your poor planning that sent us to our own defeat!"

Eggman laughed at this, shaking his head as he turned away. "That isn't it at all. I had everything together. You're the one who messed up. And now, because of that, you're useless to me."

"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have had the chance to take over the world. Without me, you would have just been beaten again. I kept that blue pest out of your way for months!" Infinite spat, now pulling forward and against his restraints.

Eggman turned to face him with a frown. "But that wasn't enough, was it?" he asked quietly.

"Perhaps not. You were too weak to do what you needed to do in enough time," Infinite replied, his tone mirroring Eggman's.

"ME?! You're the weak one, Infinite! Or should I say, Zero?"

Infinite froze, then began glaring at Eggman, silently wishing horrible things upon the man. "It's 'Infinite' to you," he retorted, quietly yet spitefully all the same.

Eggman rolled his eyes. "That's a name for someone whose power is just that. Infinite. You couldn't even hold Sonic."

"Actually, unlike for you, it was a simple task for me. I held him for months. You are never even able to capture him. Without me, you're nothing," Infinite spat.

"Au contraire, my friend," Eggman chuckled. "I'm not nothing. I have my strengths and weaknesses."

So disgustingly full of yourself, Infinite thought with contempt. How pathetic. Deciding to challenge the man on his words, he huffed. "Then fight me," he offered.

Eggman turned to face him with surprise. "What? Fight you? You don't even have the Phantom Ruby anymore...in case you didn't notice," Eggman told him with a sly grin. But Infinite only nodded slowly, continuing to stare at him darkly. Eggman raised his eyebrows slightly. "And you don't care?"

"I don't need the Phantom Ruby to beat you," the jackal mused. "You alone are weak."

"Right..." Eggman walked to a nearby control panel and pressed a few buttons. Within seconds, the restraints on Infinite's wrists loosened, then released him altogether.

Seeing this, Infinite sighed with relief and brought his hands to his chest, rubbing his wrists before continuing to glare up at his captor. He looked down slightly, eyeing the glass that now acted as the only thing holding him back from attacking Eggman. However, the man didn't seem at all inclined to free him from that. Still waiting, Infinite looked up expectantly at the man, but his gaze was only met with a smug glare.

"You don't honestly expect me to free you right now, do you?" Eggman taunted. He placed his hands on his hips and chuckled. "You aren't going anywhere while I'm around."

Infinite growled and pounded against the glass with his fist, making Eggman jump back a bit with fright. He began to grow nervous, but decided not to let it show as he walked slowly over to the captured jackal and teasingly rapped on the glass with his knuckles. "Try as you might, you can't get out. Don't exhaust yourself trying. I still need your energy." He stepped to the side slightly and gestured behind himself.

Just past Eggman was a small collection of robots, all empty metal shells at the moment but all appearing to have a similar countenance to a variety of Mobian species. One in particular looked like a jackal...

Infinite lowered his head and sighed quietly. "I will not be held captive by the likes of you," he mumbled.

Eggman stepped closer, only able to hear a trace of the other's voice. "What was that?" Without warning, Infinite leapt out, shattering the glass with a tight fist, and sent the doctor stumbling backwards. Bumping against the control panel, Eggman looked up with wide eyes at Infinite, who now stood before him, hands balled into fists at his sides. "What- how did you- How?!" he demanded, stepping forward. Despite his angry demeanor, he was more frightened than anything. He knew that, even without the help of the Phantom Ruby, Infinite was capable of dealing great damage, both to Eggman and to said man's property. Quickly turning, he looked to a near door, and shouted for help as quickly as he could. "Metal Sonic!"

Within seconds, the robot duplicate of Sonic flew out, hardly even waiting for the door to slide fully open before dashing into the room. He quickly took a position in a defensive stance between Eggman and the offending jackal that stood before him.

Eggman took this opportunity to step away slowly. "Make sure he doesn't get out of here alive," he commanded the robot. Metal's response was a curt nod, but his LED eyes never averted their intense gaze from Infinite, who returned the favor of full attention.

Before anything else happened, Eggman darted out of the room, the door closing and locking behind his fleeing silhouette and sealing Infinite inside the room with Metal Sonic.

Bracing himself, Infinite lunged toward Metal Sonic and grabbed onto the robot's shoulders, firmly hanging on even as he was spun around. He drove his knee into his opponent's midsection in the hopes of destroying the laser cannon which rested there.

Metal Sonic quickly retaliated by grabbing Infinite's waist and throwing him off, now realizing that he was already taking damage. Infinite may have been weakened, but his anger was driving him through this fight...perhaps even toward the winning side of it. Deciding not to have any of this, Metal flew down and slashed at the jackal's face. As Infinite ducked down, Metal missed his original target, but did catch an arm and succeeded in drawing blood.

...Much to Infinite's dismay. The disgruntled jackal quickly turned and backed up against the wall, his chest rising and falling quickly as he tried to catch his breath. Having gone months with being able to rely on the power of the Phantom Ruby, he wasn't used to the feeling of having to stand on his own two feet anymore...let alone fight his own battles. It had only been around two hours since he was sent back here after losing to Sonic and the Resistance, so he didn't even have time to regain his own strength, admittedly. Frustrated and beginning to feel discouraged, Infinite turned and ran for the door. He would have to formulate a plan of revenge later on. Right now, he needed to escape this base before he was roboticized.

Right as he reached the door, Infinite was grabbed from behind and thrown backwards. Sharp pain jolted through his body as he hit the floor and slid on his side a few feet before rolling to a stop on his back. Glancing over, he saw Metal Sonic flying over to him, hands outstretched. He quickly pushed himself to his feet and sidestepped the robot, ears flattening as he found himself cornered. He looked around the room for something to use, and found nothing loose on the floor. He took a deep breath and ran over to the control panel, keeping an eye on Metal as he moved. "Come and get me!" he taunted. His opponent silently flew toward him, but this time Infinite was ready. He leapt up onto the control panel and grabbed Metal's arm, spinning around twice before releasing the robot — straight down into the control panel, face first. Stepping to the edge, Infinite leapt off of the panel, flipping in the air before landing on his feet. Turning back, he saw Metal Sonic twitching, electricity flowing freely in the air surrounding him. Slowly, the robot stood up once more, some cracks now visible along his face and on his eyes, and began to charge up some sort of weapon.

Looking at the door, Infinite saw that he now had a narrow chance of escape; quite literally. The door was about one-quarter of the way open. It may have been just enough to squeeze through. He made a dash for it.

A sudden impact on his side sent Infinite flying. Another impact on his other side stopped him immediately, this one from the wall. A deafening cracking sound filled the weak jackal's ears, but he did his best to ignore it, fearing only the worst. He fell to the ground with a groan and squeezed his eyes shut, curling up slightly. Hearing something fall to the ground beside him made his ears perk up. He slowly opened his eyes and looked over to see what it was. Slight surprise hit him quickly as he saw his mask on the ground before him, laying in pieces scattered lightly on the ground. An overwhelming amount of light greeted his right eye, which he instinctively covered with a groan. He then pushed himself up to a sitting position, hand still over his eye, and looked over at Metal Sonic. The robot was occupied currently, attempting to fix the control panel while Infinite was supposedly knocked unconscious. He sat up lightly, then stood. Slowly. Cautiously.

Looking up, Infinite saw blood on the wall where he'd hit it, as well as some on the glass of the tube he was in just minutes ago. He suppressed a shudder and quickly got on his hands and knees, crawling out of the room, hoping to escape Metal Sonic's detection.

Infinite was now in a dark hallway, dimly lit with lights lining the walls but placed every thirty feet or so. After examining his body for any major injuries and finding none, he steadily walked another few feet from the door before breaking into a full sprint. Giving his weakened state, it was probably at the speed of a light jog for most, but it was all he could do for now, so it was exactly what he did. He may have been prideful, and perhaps a little egotistic, but he recognized his limits; especially now that he was without the Phantom Ruby.

He didn't care how long it took, or how many detours he had to take. Infinite was going to get himself out of this base, no matter what. He planned on taking some serious revenge on Eggman...but for now, he had to get out and ensure he would live to be able to do so.