An airship landed on a platform at the center of the Eggman Empire. The cargo hatch opened and Cinder, followed by some robots, stepped out. The Fall Maiden's expression showed both exhaustion and frustration.

That damn robot's missiles had destroyed her aura, leaving her completely vulnerable and she had to flee from the tin can. She rushed through the jungle undergrowth for several hours before finally finding a squad of Eggman robots who led her to the airship that, after several days, brought her to Metropolis.

Cinder knew her mission had failed. But what really frustrated her was the fact that she couldn't take time to fufill her revenge. Thanks to her current… `allies´, Cinder knows that Mobius technology exceeds even the likes of Atlas. So if Ruby and the little fox are found by the Resistance, the red brat would soon be up and going again. Oh how Cinder wanted to make her suffer for ruining her triumph.

All her life, Cinder had to squirm and suffer under someone else´s whims and desires. But she never let herself be broken, no, using the opportunities that showed themselves, Cinder fought with grim determination towards her goal, towards her destiny. And once it was in reaching range, she took what she deserved and showed the world that she never would be weak again. That the others now would squirm under her!

Only for it all to be taken away by some brat that unfairly was borne with great power.

Cinder clenched her metallic hand.

Not only had the silver light burned her, but it had weaken her until the point of fainting. And when Cinder had woken up… she found herself once again under the whims of someone else.

Enraged, the Fall Maiden stepped toward the entrance that would lead here inside the mains base of the doctor. In front of it, Orbot and Cubot awaited her.

"The boss is already waiting for you," said the red ball-shaped robot.

"And I don't know if he is in a great mood," added his yellow square counterpart.

Cinder considered venting her anger out on those two useless tin buckets, but knew that their fix wouldn't necessarily lift Eggman's spirits. So she just increased her speed and strode hurriedly through metal corridors until she reached a door that opened by itself. Cinder stepped through and found himself in a wide room, with a window as the back wall that allowed a view of the surrounding area of Metropolis. Statues stood around, depicting former creations of Doctor Eggman and his triumph over Sonic. A large table made of onyx rose in front of the large window, covered with several high tech computers.

On a throne like mechanical chair sat the head of the empire himself and stared intently at Cinder.

She bowed and said, "I'm back from my mission."

"But with no good news." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

Cinder gritted her teeth.

"Yes, but it wasn't my fault! The Resistance was nothing for me, they died like flies under my blades and flames! But with the emergence of Ruby Rose, Miles Prowler, and their personal tin can bodyguard, I had to make a tactical retreat."

"So you managed to cross roads with them." Eggman grinned gleefully. "And you were so cheeky when I told you how they destroyed my Egg Dragoon. So eager when I informed you that little Ruby escaped Null Space. Said you'd do the job. And now look at you. You were defeated by two children and a traitorous robot, pardon me, tin can. How does it feel?"

Cinder clenched her fists. "Don't you dare talk to me like that! I've been through more than you can ever imagine and gained more power than you haven't in several years! You arrogant caricature of a doctor who can't even hunt down a blue hedgehog!"

"If I were you, I'd hold my tongue. The new Fall Maiden shouldn't lower herself to such barbaric language. Especially not towards her superior."

Growling, Cinder raised her hand and threw a fireball at Eggman. Except that the ball was blocked by a wall of red energy blocks.

"Tsk tsk tsk."

A chill ran down Cinder's spine, her anger evaporating just like the flames on her hand, and she turned to a shadowy corner of the room. Out of the dark corner, a yellow eye glared at her coldly, a red glow beneath it.

"You really should watch yourself, Cinder. We know your loyalties lie elsewhere. But you should know that your return and well-being depends on your cooperation. No… you DO know this and yet you act like a defiant child. Its embarrassing to watch. Maybe we should explain the terms of our deal to you again. After all… a defiant child needs to be taught a lesson to understand."

The red glow increased. The wall of blocks parted and the red projectiles swarmed around Cinder. She looked around nervously, even if she tried to keep calm.

"The slightest touch from my creations and you'll find yourself transported back to the days when you were taught lessons as a real kid. I managed to get out from you that your adopted mom liked to use lightning Dust. Do you want Mommy to teach you how to be nice and polite to others again?"

Emotions swirled wildly through Cinder. She itched to retaliate, to let her tormentors know that they would be punished for humiliating her. But from her experiences with Salem she knew she had to submit for now.

The cybernetic Fall Maiden turned to Eggman and bowed again, deeper this time.

"I'm sorry for my failure. I can't guarantee success in future missions, but I'll try my best. I'll control myself better, especially with you around, Doctor Eggman."

"You don't guarantee success? I think…"

"That's enough Infinite. She seems to have learned her lesson. You didn't do well in Mystic Jungle either, otherwise you'd be able to show me Silver's and Sonic's bodies."

The blocks disappeared. Cinder managed to suppress a sigh of relief and also gave Infinite a smug smile. The masked entity just shook his head and sighed.

Cinder frowned, not quite sure how to interpret that reaction. But she didn't really pay it any attention as her thoughts wandered from one ruby to another.

Make sure to rest well little Rose. Because once we will meet again, I WILL get my revenge on you for putting me in this situation!

Somewhere else, said little Rose opened her silver eyes. Only to quickly close them again. She was in a bright room, the light hurting her eyes.

Little by little Ruby was able to get used to the light conditions and look around. She was lying in a bed wearing simple hospital gown. In fact, Ruby only now realized that the room resembled that of a clinic. The walls were white, beds were lined up next to each other, and medical devices were next to them. There was nobody in the room except Ruby, the other beds were unoccupied.

She coughed. Her body ached slightly and her throat was dry. Rubbing over it to lessen the pain her coughing had left there, Ruby wondered: "What is this place? How did I get here?"

Lucky for her she would get her answers.

The door opened. Tails and a rabbit Mobian entered.

"Tails... what happened? And who is that?" Ruby asked.

"This is Vanilla. She works as one of the nurses here and helped to put you back together."

"Nice to meet you," Vanilla said with a friendly nod.

"Same here, even if my throat is currently as dry as Vacuo."

The two Mobians exchanged a confused look at the mention of the last word. But then Vanilla said, "Don't worry you will get something to drink. I just have to do a quick check-up on you, then I'll get you some water."

Vanilla ran some checks on Ruby, then disappeared. Tails looked at Ruby.

"What is Vaccuo?"

"A kingdom from my world that lies in the desert. Wait, do the others know I'm not from here?"

"Yes, I told them everything. Thought it was important, especially since there's also a dangerous person from your world here as well."

Ruby looked down in shame. "I'm sorry."

Tails tilted his head.

"What for?" But one closer look at his human companion and he realized what she meant. "Oh… no no, that wasn't meant as an accusation. How could you have known that Cinder was here as well? And during the fight we were bombarded with blades, fire and explosions, not good conditions for exchanging information."

"What exactly happened? All I remember is Cinder doing… something to my back and then everything went black."

Even now there was a slight throbbing in Ruby´s back whenever she tough about the black haired pyromaniac, but she wasn't sure if it was some lingering pain from the wound or something psychological.

"Cinder had formed a throwing knife and hit you with it. I was expecting the worst when Cinder went to attack me, but Omega then appeared and was able to push her back while the Resistance helped with us and tried to put out the Mystic Jungle fires."

"Were they successful?"

"They actually were. Without Cinder's interference, the flames were finally extinguished and Mystic Jungle now under the Resistances control."

"What happened to her? Cinder I mean."

"Omega was hunting her down but lost her trace. She seemed to have escaped from Mystic Jungle. After that, we were all taken to the main Resistance base, where they tried to patch you up. I couldn't left your side, I was so worried. It was a really close affair. The knife just missed your spine and pierced through your ribs and right lung."

"Isn't such an injury fatal?", Ruby asked while clenching her bed sheets.

"Usually yes. But we have advanced medical technology here on Mobius. And the energies from the Chaos Emerald you brought were helpful as well. Even if Omega was stubborn about handing it out. He wasn't really thrilled about a temporal shutdown shortly after being woken up from a long one."

Before either of the two could discuss further, Vanilla returned. She placed a water bottle and a mug on a table by Ruby's bed. She filled the cup and held it out to the human girl. "Here."

"Thank you." Ruby drained the cup in large gulps. On her own, she poured herself more water.

"I have to say," Vanilla began. "Your body had demonstrated a high level of regeneration to the damage dealt. Has it something to do with that Aura Tails was talking about?"

"Mm," Ruby said while sipping on her mug. "Well then, I'll leave you two alone, I'm sure you have a lot to talk about."

Vanilla disappeared. Ruby put her mug down and sank down on her pillow, exhausted.

"How are you doing?"

"Considering that I almost died, I'm doing quite well. My body still hurts a little."

Tails tried to give her a reassuring smile, even if it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"I'm sure you'll be fit again soon. Hey, I actually wanted to tell you that in Mystic Jungle. I'm sorry."

Ruby stared at him in surprise.

"Why?"

"For not really thinking about how this is affecting you. I was so focused on my problems, I stopped thinking about yours."

"Tails," Ruby said softly. "You don't have to be sorry. You thought you'd never see your best friend again and didn't know how to move on without him."

"Just like you. But I'm in my own world and can check on my other friends at any time. You cant."

"I..." The young girl's eyes became misty. "I myself am not really sure how to think and feel about this. I mean you said you will help me and I do believe you. But... I just don't know how things are at the moment in my home. Even if I return, I don't know how much things have changed. The thought of coming back to Remnant only to find my sister and friends... dead... Finding out that I let them all down like Pyrrha…" Ruby started to cry. "I-I'm afraid I'll never see them again."

Tails flew onto Ruby´s bed and put his arms around her. She returned the hug.

"Ruby… everything will be fine. If your friends are anywhere near as skilled in combat as you are, then you have nothing to worry about. I am sure they are okay. And you've helped me and Omega even though it's not really your fight and you've been there for me when I was overcome with my grief. You couldn't save Pyrrha, but that doesn't mean you´re at fault. Cinder… she's a monster. Completely merciless and bloodthirsty. But together we can make sure she doesn't do any more damage. Neither in my world nor in yours."

"Thanks Tails. But it gives me an uneasy feeling that Cinder is here as well."

The fox Mobian moved away from Ruby.

"I don't like it either, but we'll find a solution to all of this."

Another chapter done. Here we got first glimpses of the two sides that are in conflict with each other and also from Infinite. While it isn´t much now, I have some interesting ideas regarding him and the rest of the villains.

If you´re wondering about Sonic and Tails reunion happening offscreen, don´t worry it still has to happen. Like Tails mentioned, he felt so concerned about Ruby´s physical state (and guilty for kind of neglecting her mental state) that he didn't leave her side during her recovery. He is also ashamed for running away from the Resistance and doesn't feel ready to meet Sonic again under the circumstances of being confronted about that. At least for now.

The part about Vanilla and her mention about Aura; I´ve always imagined that Aura, when broken but slightly recovered, could still help the body by strengthening its natural regeneration. Its not gonna be some grand or mayor change, just some tidbit I thought would be neat to be included.

To Monster King: My answer remains the same.