No this is not another story I plan to put on hold, this story is a one-shot. Just a little something to show one of the possibilities that could've happened to Infinite after Sonic Forces. I think Sonic Forces could have used more touching up, but for now it might as well be a bad fanfiction brought to life. Regardless instead of saying he just disappeared, here's a one-shot of what I think could've happened.

Infinite stayed to the ground, he couldn't believe that the two beings he's spared had just beaten him just now. He was supposed to have ultimate power, power beyond even the Chaos Emeralds, but just now he was proven to be powerless to the so-called 'friendship'.

"Impossible, I cannot be defeated." He said aloud.

"Wrong, loser! The things that can't be defeated are heart, soul, and the bonds of friendship. Three things you and your counterfeit cronies lack." Sonic lectured him.

Those words made him angry, he punched the ground angered, he couldn't lose like this. "No, wait! I-I can still… fight!" He said as his body continued to glitch out.

He flew off and back to base using his glitching body to phase through the wall, at this point, his only option he could think of was ripping the Phantom Ruby off of him. He stopped glitching but couldn't stand, falling to his knees dropping the Ruby which landed far from him, and his mask falling off.

"H-how… w-why… t… this can't be possible." He said huffing and puffing.

"… You disappoint me Infinite." A voice caught his attention, looking up he saw Eggman right there holding the Ruby in his hand. "I never expected you to lose so easily." He said in an angered tone.

"You... What're you doing?" The Jackal asked weakly. "Where are you going with that?"

"Simple, I figured you'd fall at some point, so I had a backup plan. I'm gonna load it into my Death EggRobot, as such I should have more power than anyone could gain, and I'll finally have the world to myself." The man stated as he began to walk away.

"What about our deal? You promised you'd bring them back, you promised my Phantom…" Infinite began to say.

"My Phantom Ruby, Infinite. And I said if you end Sonic. However, you've proven to be a fool." Eggman stated.

"What?" The Jackal questioned.

"Is it not obvious? You had Sonic right where you wanted him, and you just let him live, and the reason you lost this time is because he had that rodent you spared as well. Ever since you failed, the has been off." The man said darkly.

"Don't worry, we'll make it through. If we die, we go out together!"

"Then... what was it for?"

"Me shaking?"

"You promised…"

"What was that?" Eggman asked irritated.

"What was I fighting for…?"

"I am not weak!"

"What was I fighting for…?"

"I AM NOT! WEAK!"

"WHAT WAS I FIGHTING FOR!?" He yelled unsheathing his blade and charging at the mad scientist.

Only then a cold hard shoe kicked him, he got up, only for the feeling of a blade rush through his abdomen. It was Shadow but not just him, his own clone stabbing him with his own sword. The sword was ripped out by force, blood flying everywhere as he collapsed.

"Do you really think that was a smart move?" Eggman said darkly as a portal opened up. The jackal was picked up by his clone and was forced to look at the mastermind one last time before he was thrown through. "Goodbye, Infinite…" He said as he closed the portal.

Location: ?

Infinite remained awake, he was in a desert, but where exactly was the desert. It didn't matter to him, he only had so much time left. He lost everything he's worked for and accomplished… his squad, his pride, his power… all of it. But how, how did he come so far only to lose it all. He starts feeling light headed and begins to lose consciences, spitting up blood while collapsing.

"I… don't understand… How?... how could I lose?..." He managed to get out. His vision begins to get blurry, as he struggles to keep his eyes open. He believed these were his last moments, he begins to think, he begins to wonder… 'Where… just, where exactly… did I go wrong…'

…

"Hey…" He suddenly begins to awaken by the faint voice he's hearing. "Hey, you okay?" He finally managed to open his eyes and his vision started blurry but then he made out what looked like a female human with a black bow on her head. "Are you okay? How do you feel?" She asked him.

The moment he spotted her he began to freak out. "H-hey, don't move!" She said trying to hold him down. "Listen, you lost a lot of blood. I did the best I could, but your injuries seem severe. We need to take you to a doctor as quick as possible."

He then all of the sudden shoves her. "I don't want your pity!" He yelled at her as he began to get up.

"What are you doing!? Stop! Your wounds are gonna open up!" She grabbed his arm trying to keep him from going further.

"What do you care!? Why're you trying to help at all?" He asked as he pulled his arm away.

"Because, I didn't come all this way to watch someone die." She began to explain to him. "I was wondering around here trying to find the closest Kingdom and this just seems to be the fastest way around. When I saw you lying there, I couldn't just leave you there to suffer a slow and painful death like that." She finished.

"After everything I've been through, dying is the least of my worries." He told her while holding his side.

'That injury doesn't look natural, he must have been attacked.' She thought after seeing the stab wound. "Tell me… when you were attacked, was it by humans." She asked him.

"It's none of your business." He told her getting ticked off. "What I've been through is of no concern to you." He kept protesting.

"Please, I need to know." She said grabbing his arm again. "If it wasn't humans then what was it? Fauns? Grimm? Tell me, I need to know." She started asking again. But this time he was confused, what was she referring to.

"Listen, I don't know anything about those creatures, but I already said that it's none of your business!" He yelled yanking his arm away from her, but now she was confused because why wouldn't he know what a Faunus was?

It was then he took noticed of his changes. He was both surprised and shocked, he seemed to have become human… or at least, what looked like human. His body was thinner and taller, it was human, though he still had his hair, tail, and ears, even the same eyes and scar. But with a human face, a long black coat, his fur scarf was no longer a part of his body, but it was detached. He had some sort of long pants, along with his gloves and shoes being part of the remanding of his original body.

This no doubt had to be the side effect of the Phantom Ruby, changing his appearance in order to better fit the world he was sent to. He can only guess that whatever a Faunus was, he was probably one now.

"Hey." The girl said catching his attention again. "Come on, tell me what happened. Please." She started to show sad eyes.

"You gotta tell us at some point, we need to know what happened to you out there."

He couldn't bring himself to yell anymore, now he was starting to feel bad. The way she looked reminded him of someone he lost. 'Stela.' He looked away after remembering a loved member of his squad. "It doesn't matter, I've lost everything. My team, my strength, my identity, everything, I have nothing left in any world." He told her in a sad tone. He was giving up, losing twice to two different hedgehogs, he still didn't know if it was even worth it.

She didn't know what to think about him, after what he just said and whatever he's been through, he must've been tortured by… whatever he was attacked by. He reminded her of her own friend, one that seemed to deal with the same problems. She couldn't allow him to blame himself like this though, couldn't leave him like this, she had to help.

"Geh!" He said as she grabbed him and threw his arm around her shoulder. "I told you, I don't…" He was gonna say.

"I can't just let you give up on life like this. I, well in some ways have had something that kind of put me in your place, but now I can't give up because there're people out in this world that need all the help they could get. I used to be a part of a criminal organization myself and overtime, I began to see that what they were doing was wrong… that I was just losing more than gaining. I had to leave." She explained to him.

He was starting to understand a little bit as he worked with a criminal himself and felt a bit… different, as if he was given a second chance… a second chance to make things right. To turn his wrongs to rights, to change from evil to good, to fix the mistake he made all those months ago.

"And… my name is Blake Belladonna." She introduced himself to him.

He took another look at her. "Zero… My name is Zero Infinite."

The End

Yep, that's it. I don't really plan for this story to go any further but, if you have an interest for the pairing then go knock yourself out. If some of you are wondering how Infinite was still standing after getting stabbed, he's a tough guy and he could take longer before dying. The reason for doing this is because, we all want to know what happened to Infinite after the last battle with him, this is one of the many possibilities that could have happened. If you think it could've happened differently, that's your opinion thanks for reading.