Edit 2.1.2017: Some minor edits.

OK, two down, two to go :-) How's the story so far? Do you like it? Is something confusing? Did I make some grammatical mistakes or I used some word with the same/similarly intended meaning on the wrong place? I'm used up to official English, so common English used among teenagers is pretty foreign to me ^_^; But I'm learning.

So if you enjoyed this chapter please drop a review :-)


Silver was looking around frightened. There were dozens of these strange creatures and it seemed that more of them were coming every second. The ground was literally covered with human-sized creatures with big yellow eyes and caring different types of weapons from laser guns of various shapes to thunder-like purple swords. Among them was a fewer number of similar giants with spikes on their backs.

The air was on the other hand occupied by bat-like aliens and much bigger winged-lizards. Silver in his traveling saw many strange beings from self-aware robots, aggressive plants to the fastest thing alive. But nothing could have prepared him for this.

"Silver… Silver. … Silver!" shouted Shadow at him.

"G-gulp… What?"

"Stop daydreaming and concentrate!"

Shadow clenched his fist and tried to call chaos, but he felt nothing. Eclipse was still blocking it.

"Ok, time for plan B. Silver," he looked at him, "at my signal, you drop me at enemies, while you take Eclipse and his small army as far and fast as you can."

"I can't let you fight on your own!"

"Stop whining, this is our only chance. I'm the ultimate lifeform. I have tackled with these guys before and I'm a lot faster than any of them."

"OK, if you say so."

Shadow frowned at Doom's Eye shaped a starfish. It was hovering before them. Waiting, thinking, analyzing… or whatever else was Black Doom doing at the other end.

"Now!" Shadow shouted and landed among Black Arms.

"No! That's my family! Put me down!" shouted Eclipse as he was getting further.

The air aliens flew after them to stop them according to Black Doom's order. Silver went down to old subway and few thud sounds told him that not all of the pursuers made it inside. He flew to the most bottom level and at the end of the hall he caused a small cave in.

Unfortunately, it didn't stop all of them, but he didn't need to worry about half of them. And in his already bad situation, it was a good new. Eclipse wasn't helping him much, as he had to concentrate to not let him fall.


[Shadow'S fight]


Meanwhile, Shadow engaged in a battle with Black Arms.

"Shadow, how did you survive?" Doom's Eye got closer.

The hedgehog killed Black Oak giant and took his sword. That he used to cut some others in half before it shattered.

"You and your little team… you failed."

Shadow used spin dash to get himself a little of space, but not for long.

"And again… you fight. Do you hope, this will end differently?"

He borrowed laser gun and fought his way to the nearest building.

"Hiding? Don't you know it's futile?"

Shadow smirked. He wasn't hiding and his laser gun's shots made sure, the building had fallen on the right side burying dozens of black soldiers.

"Hmm, how clever. You used to fight more… directly."

Shadow jumped on one of the flying lizards and took a momentary control of it. That few seconds were enough to get him higher to gain a momentum for his spin dash.

"I'm impressed. You got better. But… it's just the matter of time before you fall in front of me… again."

Shadow hated it, but Black Doom was right. There was no chance to win this fight. He had to come up with a plan and fast. If he could just use a Chaos Control. That would turn the tide of the battle in his favor.


[Silver's escape]


'How many of them are after us?' asked Silver himself for hedgehog knows how many times. The flying creatures were like endlessly multiplying.

"Stop moving, will you?" he shouted at Eclipse. He still tried to break free.

'Think. Think! Think! For the love of…!' He turned the corner. The creatures flew after them full speed, but they had to stop. Their targets disappeared. The flock separated into smaller groups and each of them flew in a different direction. After a while, the manhole cover lifted a bit and a silver hedgehog peeked out. The coast was clear. He went up, as the air in the sewer was absolutely stifling.

'I need to koff find a way, how to get them cough to one space.'

"Let me go already!" shouted Eclipse.

"I can't! First, you lied to me, second, I need to sort my thoughts and third these guys… monsters… whatever they are, are annoying."

"How can you destroy your own family?!"

"My what?!" Silver was honestly surprised.

"I was surprised too, realizing that you are my 'brother'… maybe more like distant 'brother', but that doesn't matter."

"Where did you cook up something like that?"

"You showed it to me! That plant can be harvested only by my kin."

"But that…"

"You said this is a different world, right?" Eclipse reached out toward him like he wanted to hug him. "Our race is so strong here while at our world I and my Dark Arms are the only ones left. We are almost extinct. I would be so happy to have 'brother' like you."

Silver stepped back and slightly shook his head.

"With your awesome powers, we can eradicate all the inferior races. We would be unbeatable. Please, don't betray me like my other 'brother' Shadow. He already executed our race twice. Let's stop him from doing it for the third time." Eclipse was practically begging him with his eyes.

Silver felt disguised and yet, he felt a little sympathy… maybe. He was just… so sincere. And… he couldn't image the little ones doing something so cruel like devouring others.

"Oh, I understand, it's all too sudden for you. But please, think about it."

Suddenly they heard a noise from above. Silver had barely time to catch falling concrete block. The air black forces found them. Silver had to retreat.

"No! Black Doom, please, stop! We are your kin! We are family! I know you can hear me!"

Silver headed to the building with a dome with flying creatures right on his tail. He used his powers to lift the (surprisingly mostly undamaged) dome a bit, so they could escape. He let it then fall to the ground trapping all of the Black wings and Black Hawks at once. Then he quickly disappeared among buildings.


[Shadow's fight]


Shadow found himself in a pinch. He leaned against a wall while black soldiers surrounded him.

"What's wrong, Shadow? Where is your Chaos Control ability you were so proud of?"

"In a matter of speaking…" Shadow smirked, "Chaos Control!" He disappeared.

"Wha-! Where?" Black Doom felt confused. Why didn't he use Chaos Control sooner? Did he need to meet some condition in order to use it? Hmm, he also seemed a little bit different.

"The air troop was completely defeated," he muttered to himself. That light hedgehog had some unusual powers. But what about that third creature? It seemed familiar, yet distant. And it yelled it's from Black Arms? This needed much further investigation.

If the third one… If he was truly part of his kin, why he wasn't bound to his hive-mind control? He showed too much free will.

"My Black troops, scout the city, find them and bring all three to me alive." The creatures immediately started to move.

Shadow didn't waste a second. Once he warped, he went looking for Silver. It was quite easy, all he had to do was to find Eclipse he shared loose mind connection. That also allowed him to use Chaos Control once he was far enough and vice versa.

"Silve-! Augh!" shouted the black hedgehog as he got hit by a rock.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I though you are one of them," Silver quickly apologized.

Shadow only growled. He looked at Eclipse. He knew he had to destroy him, but he could tell that Silver wouldn't be just watching, neither he would help him in doing so. He and his stupid naivety would only get in his way. And Eclipse was already messing with his Chaos Control, not to mention he needed a rest. In this situation, it was better to keep an eye on him.

"Let's go before they find us," he led them through the city. Soon they arrived in a subterranean bunker. Silver noticed many G letters on the walls and G.U.N. on the boxes. Everything was a mess and covered by dirt. The emergency lights were still on. After a while, they walked past a larger room filled with computers, but Shadow led them further.

Finally, they could rest in another room. Silver was so glad, he could sit for a while. The last hour or so was so hectic. Shadow came closer to him and whispered: "Silver, a word, now!" and pointed his thumb to the corner further from sitting Eclipse.

It's here! Now is Shadow gonna turn his face into a pancake. Silver stood up, ready to face any consequences his irresponsible decision made.

"I'm going to scout the area," Shadow started to talk, "and I want you to keep an eye on Eclipse and his alien army. And no matter what he says, it's a lie. Don't let him confuse you, he tried that on me too, with a little bit of brainwashing as a bonus."

"O-Ok," Silver nodded.

"And one more thing…" Black hedgehog whispered him something. After that, when Shadow was leaving, Silver muttered: "Shadow…"

"Eh?" Black hedgehog looked over his shoulder.

"Ah… no, just be careful," he awkwardly waved him.

"Come on, I'm an ultimate lifeform. I know how to handle few aliens," with that words he went down the hallway.


[Black Doom]


Black Doom was sitting on a throne, that was connected to the ship by many cables. He was thinking. He was finding the trio fascinating. Shadow was miraculously alive or it may be his clone or an android (as he had a chance to encounter them) created by someone, the second hedgehog had interesting powers and the third one was very similar to his kin.

He as well noticed four small creatures around him and he was getting a similar vibe from them too. If he was somehow from his kind, he should be able to reach him through his mind. He closed his eyes and started to search.

'It's good I have decided to fly around this already conquered planet. When our sensors detected a life down there, I couldn't believe my own eyes. Who dared to escape his fate? Or was it someone from a different planet? Whoever it was, it needed to be taken cared for. No one can escape from me.'


[G.U.N. bunker]


As the black hedgehog was walking, his suspicion was confirmed. This city… this place… this planet… it was Mobius. Mobius which future and its people were devoured by Black Doom and his Black Arms.

'How many others planet he destroyed in this zone?' Shadow shook his head. 'It doesn't matter, I'll end his life… again.'

He felt a certain uneasiness. This time there wasn't his all the time favorite mecha, neither his female teammate with a knack for computers, better than his that is. Black Doom is also possibly a lot stronger here and he had more of his mindless slaves.

He sighed and turned a corner to enter the computer room, they walked past a few minutes ago. And as the matter of fact, he was glad, he didn't need to run through floating debris with too talkative crocodile behind him.

This was definitely a central room of this military facility. The front wall was covered by four badly damaged screens. The chairs were knocked down and it was obvious there was a fight or they had to leave this place in a hurry.

It wasn't the headquarters probably just a branch. In any case, if this zone's G.U.N. is as good as in his zone, the backup energy source may still allow him to access some data. Right now he needed an information. He played a little with the control panel, but he got no response. He tried again and again, but nothing worked. Frustrated he hit the panel and… it started to work.

"What? That hit hacked me into the computer?!" He facepalmed himself. "For the love of…"

"… brzt … Log number… krsh… The Black Arms…"

Once Shadow heard commander Tower's voice, he stopped worrying about his computer abilities.


[Eclipse]


Eclipse was sitting in a corner. He knew, he had to wait for his chance. But it seemed, he got through his newly discovered 'brother', even if he was a bit different. Suddenly he felt a pressure inside of his head. Like someone was trying to get in.

'How strange… Who are you?' said a voice.

'That's my question!'

'I'm Black Doom of Black Arms. And you… why you are so similar to me?'

'Black Doom…' Eclipse couldn't believe his luck. He… His master's master… alive and talking with him. 'I'm Eclipse the Darkling and I was created by my master Black Death as the ultimate answer to the ultimate problem.' Then he said everything, he knew. About Black Doom's demise, his creation, master's death, Dark Arms and their powers, his fights with Shadow, his abilities and about Genesis portals and different zones.

'Fascinating… To think there are such endless possibilities within my reach.'

'And this strangely colored hedgehog is possibly also our 'brother'. He can harvest our plants.'

'Yes, his powers are indeed interesting.' Black Doom went deeper inside of his mind.

'What you are doing?' It felt… painfully.

'Do not resist. I'm merely looking for your location. Show it to me so I can teleport there my minions.'

Eclipse gave a groan.


[Silver]


Silver was deeply in thoughts. Was he really part of this creature's kind? How's that possible? It's true he doesn't remember his parents and he has no other relatives. No one had psychic abilities like him. So does it mean… is he… He shook his head. No, Shadow said, Eclipse is lying to confuse him. He lied to him earlier too, so… He started to have a headache.


[Shadow]


Shadow silently watched the video log commander Tower left behind. It explained what happened here. The Black Arms came as they promised. Rouge and Omega went on a mission to plant a nuke bomb in their Black Comet, but Omega self-destructed in order to assure she successfully escaped.

The bomb did destroy the entire comet, but that was only a decoy. The real Comet was hiding behind the moon and Black Arms attacked many cities across the globe. Rouge, later on, went to the front line, where she died. And this zone's Shadow… he was captured during the first wave of attacks. He escaped, collected the seven Chaos Emeralds and tried to kill Black Doom on his own, but failed.

At the end of the video, he saluted to the commander. In the end, he didn't get anything useful, but he felt he had now even better reason to wipe these disgusting creatures from the universe. Suddenly he had chills. He was hit from behind before he had a chance to turn around. Before he had lost a consciousness, he glimpsed a huge figure with a red head.