The two beings lunged at each other, neither willing to let the other get in the first blow. Blaze just managed to land the strike, punching the jackal right on his mask with a flaming fist, and repeating the gesture two more times before he could block, and then counter it with a kick to her side. The princess was quick to recover, shooting a concentrated burst of flame through the ground beneath his feet that sent him flying, perfectly in range for her to rocket herself through the air and slam him back down to Earth.

Undeterred, Infinite rolled away from a secondary strike and summoned two energy whips in the direction of the cat. Gracefully, she was able to move out of the way, but he was able to manipulate them like tentacles to try and hit her like he had done with the others. However, Blaze was not one to slack in her athletics, easily dodging them like a ballerina dancing on a stage, summoning the flames to her hands yet again to finally blast him with a fireball that knocked the jackal onto his back. He tried to get up, but she dug her heel into his chest, pinning him to the ground.

"Clearly, you have never fought someone of MY caliber before!" Blade boasted.

"HA! Please! I've seen your type all my life! Almighty and righteous, standing above the other sheep while they sing your praises! But I see through it all! When the chips are all down, you always fall, exposed for the hypocrites you TRULY are!" Infinite replied as he caught his breath. "No...It is YOU, princess, who does not understand what you are attempting to fight against!"

Finally regaining an ounce of strength, Infinite launched yet another energy whip out of his hand at a nearby building, striking through its foundation until the place began to collapse, the screams of the people trapped inside echoing through Blaze's ears.

"Coward!" Blaze yelled as she released her hold on Infinite and ran inside of the building to help in evacuation efforts.

"No. Merely focused on my REAL target." Infinite muttered back, pulling the Phantom Ruby out of his robes. He concentrated, pulling its energies into the Valtron to empower him for this next feat. He'd instilled so much fear in this area that the Ruby could gorge itself on raw emotional energy. Infinite could barely even contain his delight as it all surged into him, allowing the jackal to pick up two other buildings near the one Blaze was in, and send them both toppling into it together, burying her and the civilians beneath massive piles of rubble.

Infinite cackled again as he began to rise into the air, sparing only a glance at the cyborg left in the wake of it all, still frozen. Yes, he'd done enough to send a message, but there was something missing...A signature! Yes, he had to SIGN this message to truly deliver it!

And so he did, shooting a beam of energy to burn a simple sentence and symbol into the ground before he left.

Later, Sonic and Tails finally managed to roll into town. The damage was extensive, those left in the town devastated at their losses. One little girl merely sat on the ground, staring at a squished flower while her weary mother placed a warm blanket over her shoulders. Tails was instantly drawn to the frozen Cyber, unsure of what was causing her current state, while Sonic ran towards smoke in the distance, coming across the sight of three buildings seemingly mashed together into a pile of rubble. A burst of heat from the center cleared away a chunk of that rubble, revealing a small pocket of survivors led by Blaze. Sonic rushed over to catch her before she fell, exhausted from the ordeal.

"I...Infinite." She muttered, before passing out completely. Sonic stared at her, confused, until he noticed the sigil burnt into the ground nearby, almost perfectly in his eyeline. A symbol of infinity, along with two short words:

"Miss me?"

And so, Infinite leaves his first mark against our heroes!

Tune in every week on Monday to see how Sonic and his friends deal with this menace!