Act II: REVELATION

Chapter III: Black Hole Sun

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken." – Matthew 24:29

Knuckles sat wordlessly by Tikal's bedside, blowing a cloud of smoke from his cigar.

Taking in the scent of the candles around him, he let out an exasperated sigh – stealing one longer look at Tikal.

He stood up, tossing the cigar against the wall. He dragged his feet towards the chair by her bed, sitting down with a groan. He rubbed his face for a moment, staring at the flowers that lay across her chest.

For two years she'd been asleep. He knew not what to do – every attempt they made to wake her up failed.

A vessel for a god – the universe was spitting in his face.

He reached forward, taking the limp echidna's hand in his, giving it a light squeeze. He was tired of waiting, tired of searching for answers, tired of praying to someone to wake her up.

He wasn't sure how much longer he could take of her being asleep.

"I 'dunno if you can hear me or not – I feel like I've been talkin' to a wall forever now. I need you to wake up. I don't understand why you did what you did two years ago, and I don't think I ever will. But it doesn't matter – what matters is that you come back to us. Shade and I tell each other stories about you every day – stories we've never talked about before…"

Knuckles laughed silently, giving her hand another squeeze.

"She told me this story about how you fought a mountain lion all by yourself. Gave it a real scare. I was so proud of you when she told me that, I ran in here to tell you how proud I was. But…you were still asleep. I prayed that maybe in those few moments you had woken up. I guess I was wrong, and I hate being wrong."

The tears were starting again, yet Knuckles knew better. She wouldn't want him to waste any more tears on her. She needed him to be strong.

He had to do that for her.

"Ah, point is that – I miss you. I was supposed to protect you. That was my job in this life. All I was supposed to do was keep you safe. I failed. I'm sorry I failed you, Tikal. Just – sweet dreams, alright? I hope your finger moves again. I need a sign that you're still in there."

Tikal made no motion. Her slumber continued, and Knuckles was exhausted of focusing on the rising and falling of her chest.

He sighed, hanging his head low to the floor. He squeezed her hand once more, before letting go.

"Hey."

Knuckles turned around, seeing Shade leaning against the wooden doorframe. He nodded to her, yet the hollowness of his eyes told her all he needed to know.

"Howdy. Have you eaten today?"

Shade shrugged. "No, but there ain't time for that now, apparently."

"Why not?"

Behind Shade, a white cowboy stepped from behind her, tipping his hat. Knuckles stood up, wearing a scowl.

"Silver? What is it?"

Silver sighed, grimacing. "Need you guys down at the saloon. There's some…pretty bad news."

Knuckles immediately rushed forward, concern in his gaze. "What happened? Is everything a'ight? Is someone hurt? Is the damn Undertaker back?"

"No, no, and no. It's…actually worse than all of those. Just come with me – we'll fill you in."

"Should I stay and watch her?" Shade asked timidly.

"It's honestly better that you both come. This is gonna take all of us."

Knuckles grabbed Shade's hand, giving it a light squeeze. He nodded at her, rubbing a circle on her hand.

"It's a'ight, Shade. Let's just get going."

Shade swallowed, her nervous gaze betraying the nod she gave to Knuckles. He could tell she was scared.

Hell, he was too.

But whatever it was – they'd make it out on the other side.

As Silver led the Echidnas inside, they stood face to face with most of the group.

The Rogues, Scourge, and Fiona weren't there – but they were joined by the police.

Espio nodded towards Knuckles, removing his hat. "How is everythin', Knuckles?"

Knuckles shrugged, removing the fur from his head. "Same as it ever was. What's the situation?"

He took a seat next to Sonic, nodding a greeting towards the green and pink hedgehogs next to him. He stole a look at Shadow, who seemed visibly tenser than before.

"So – why are the police here?" Knuckles asked, earning a sigh from Sally.

"Apparently, we're all needed for whatever this is. We haven't talked yet, we were waiting for you guys to get here."

"Well – we're here now. What's goin' on?"

Shadow stepped forward, staring hard at the table. Blaze and Rouge stood by his side, each also sharing looks of worry. This was the first time they'd seen Shadow so shaken since the last incident.

Knuckles said a silent prayer – but nothing could have prepared him for when Shadow's gaze finally addressed them.

"Eclipse is coming."

Tangle immediately gasped – but most of the room fell completely silent. Everyone shared nervous, anxious glances – clearly processing what this meant.

Except for Sonic, who cocked an eyebrow towards Tails and Amy. His expression fell when he realized that they too wore gazes of anguish.

"Erm – who?"

Everyone's gazes went to Sonic – which only heightened his confusion. Everyone seemed to know about this Eclipse person, so why didn't he?

"Sorry if I'm speakin' 'outta line – but I've seriously never seen or heard of this guy in my life."

"That's 'cause it ain't exactly somethin' we enjoy talkin' about," Honey whispered, immediately scooting closer to Mighty.

"I can gather that – but could anyone explain-"

"How much time do we have?" Knuckles interrupted, gripping the sides of the table.

"And how do you know he's coming back?" Whisper added.

"We saw one of his victims. Young badger, pitchfork through the chest – announced his return in words painted with blood above him. Pentagram on the floor and everything. I've seen enough of Eclipse's games to know that it's him," Shadow said, fiddling with his coat.

Sonic was about to ask the question again before Antoine stepped forward.

"We should put the town on high alert. If he comes here, he can and will destroy this place."

"Is that necessary, Shadow?" Mighty asked after Antoine spoke, "Do you think he'll come here?"

Shadow sighed. "I don't know. He hasn't before – but I don't think this is the time to be takin' chances."

Espio nodded, hoisting his coat around his back. "I'll speak to Vector. We'll get in touch with Khan and start finding safehouses for the citizens."

"Okay!" Sonic exclaimed, standing to his feet. "Look, I know y'all are panickin' – and from the looks of it this guy sounds like no joke. But if I wanna help, and I do, I 'gotta know what we're dealin' with here."

Blaze turned to Shadow, raising an eyebrow. "Would you like to explain, or shall I?"

"You can – but you know there are certain aspects of Eclipse I don't want to discuss. Just tell him what he needs to know."

Blaze nodded, removing a scroll from her dress belt. Opening it, she rolled it across the table, earning an inquisitive glance from Sonic.

He saw drawings of pentagrams, as well as three distinct entities. An orange, angel-like figure, a large demon-like man wearing necklaces, and a smaller entity – one with black sclera's, golden eyes, and a devilish grin.

"Eclipse is the mortal incarnate of the devil Black Doom – a descendant of Solaris. When Eclipse enters the mortal realm, it is usually a sign of an impending doom. Eclipse comes to deceive the nations, as well as terrorize them. Because Westopolis was the arena of a primordial battle – it is quite telling that he may be here to finish what was started."

Sonic wheezed out a shaky sigh, wiping sweat from his brow. He turned to Manic and Sonia, giving them a weak grin.

"Welcome to Westopolis, ey?"

"I'll say, damn…" Manic muttered, leaning against the wall.

"So, he's a god himself? That don't exactly sound fair…" Sonic muttered.

"He's not," Shadow said, "He is a mortal like all of us. But in the way that Blaze and Silver are children of the Moon and Sun, Eclipse is divinely connected as well."

Sonic plopped back down in his seat, feeling his legs fidget. He shook his head, attempting to process what he had been told.

There was no feasible way to make sense of it. He tuned out the police giving their goodbyes as they went off to speak to Vector, continuing to try and piece together how in the hell any of what he just heard made any sense at all.

"Shadow, you know him well – what's our best course of action?" Julie-su asked, leaning her chin on her fist.

"How do you know him well?" Sonic asked.

"Not important," Shadow quickly snapped, before turning to Julie-su, "As of now we have to band together and combat him. Make sure to the town does not fall for any of his tactics. He will try and sow division – and his violence will happen when we least expect it. He is unpredictable, but we must let him make his way, get used to his pattern, and strike when he is best presented."

Sonic nodded as if he understood, but there was not a semblance of understanding of what was happening. No matter how he tried to process what he heard, he couldn't.

Of course, he wanted to help. This seemed like dire circumstances – but he imagined he wouldn't know how he was supposed to help until the time came.

Then the screams that sounded outside snapped him from his thoughts, causing him, Shadow, and Silver to share a look – before leaping from their seats.

Vector scratched his head roughly, reclining at his desk. He attempted to process what he was being told, yet he searched for the proper answer.

"Do you…need us to repeat anything?" Rotor asked.

"No, no – just…one second."

Rotor nodded, taking a few steps back by Mighty and Ray. Espio stared long and hard at Vector, practically edging off of his seat, waiting for Vector to say something.

"Shadow isn't sure how long we have. He could arrive any minute," Nicole said.

"Yeah – yeah, you said that…"

Espio pursed his lips, twiddling his thumbs together. "Point is – we should probably set up some safehouses around the city. Perhaps an exodus is even in order."

"Let's not be too hasty – it'll be a mess to get people to try and migrate out of here. They're not going to understand what's happening anyways," Vector said, fiddling with his necklace.

"So, what do we do with them? Eclipse has the capabilities to do serious damage here…" Bunnie muttered.

"Besides, we don't want any citizens in his crossfire," Antoine said.

Vector rubbed his temples, searching for the best possible course of action. He let out an exasperated sigh, leaning back in his chair.

"Put out an alert for him. If the town realizes who he is, quite possibly they'll turn him in if he arrives. If Shadow knows the most about how he operates, it's probably best that he deals with him for now. We have to protect the citizens first. Keep on high alert."

Espio nodded, tucking his pocket watch under his sleeve. He was about to speak, before Ray pointed towards the window.

"Hey – why is it dark outside?"

Vector turned around, inspecting through the window. Ray was right – it was dark outside, and there was no way it was supposed to be. It was the middle of the day – yet the sky was black as night.

Espio stood up, as the force followed him. They watched the townsfolk rushing through the streets, speaking loudly to one another in utter confusion. Children clutched their parents, some people screamed – if they didn't contain this, they were looking at full chaos.

"Espio…" Vector started, yet Espio had already turned around, heading towards the door.

"We're on it."

Shadow burst the doors open, hearing the galloping steps of the police horses. Shadow stormed through the town square, followed closely behind their crew. The crowd of townsfolk had already gathered in the square, all pointing towards the sky in utter shock, confusion, and dread.

Sonic rushed to Shadow's side, chewing on his lip. "What the hell is that?"

In the sky, the moon was black, and inching closer and closer towards the sun. As it got closer to the sun, the natural light in the sky began to fade, giving way to darkness.

Once Knuckles realized what was happening, he turned around – holding his arms out.

"Everyone! Do not look at the Moon! Look away from the sky!"

The townsfolk did what he told hastily, covering their faces, looking down at the ground – anything to protect their gaze from the sky. Once the moon fully eclipsed the sun, the sky went black – a fake night dawning.

Shadow stared ahead, his gaze hard and unreadable. Sonic shook his arm, fear evident in his voice.

"Shadow – Shadow, what the hell is that?"

"A total eclipse," Shadow muttered, keeping his gaze locked ahead.

"Is that supposed to mean…"

Shadow only nodded, gesturing into the distance. Sonic turned, seeing what he could have never imagined.

A large crowd of individuals, all approaching into town. He made his eyes adjust, pointing out a multitude of different types of people. As they got closer, they stopped halfway – yet one individual kept walking.

The individual dawned a maroon and black cloak, blowing back in the wind. Fog rolled across his feet, the lantern posts casting him in an ominous glow.

He fiddled with the weapons crossed across his torso, stopping in front of the fountain where the Undertaker used to sit. The individual removed the hood from his head, exhaling a fog of breath into the air.

He was like the drawing depicted – a dark grey and red darkling, pitch-black sclera's, glowing golden eyes, a row of sharp teeth, and a devilish tail flickering back and forth behind him.

Eclipse the Darkling.

The darkling turned to the sun, squinting as he looked into the sky. He watched the eclipse occurring, snickering as the moon blotted out the sun. His grin revealed rows of sharp, dagger-like teeth, stained in a vile yellow.

Stretching his arms, Eclipse whistled lowly – cracking his neck out.

"Ohhh – the famous Westopolis! So happy to be here."

The crowd of people behind him all stood silently, allowing for Eclipse to take center stage.

Shadow stared long and hard, a slight growl sounding in his voice. Sonic stepped forward, taking him all in.

What a sight this guy was – and how he could tell immediately he was dangerous.

Eclipse twiddled a curved dagger, before sliding it into his belt. Licking his lips, Eclipse chuckled softly.

"Now – who wants to show me around?"