Act II: REVELATION

Chapter IV: Number of the Beast

"This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666." – Revelation 13:18

Shadow and Eclipse were gridlocked in a stare against the backdrop of an eclipsed night.

Neither made an effort to move – Shadow's gaze was hard, Eclipse's was mischievous.

When Sonic looked closer, he could see a patch sewn onto the jacket of the darkling.

"666".

Fitting.

Espio watched from behind and felt Vector tugging on his sleeve. The chameleon bent down on top of his steed, as Vector approached his left ear.

"I'm callin' a curfew. No one comes outside until this damn eclipse is over."

Espio nodded, cupping his hands. "All citizens please return to your homes! We are implanting a mandatory curfew – no one comes out until the eclipse has ended!"

Eclipse whistled, watching as the townsfolk walked back to their homes, all talking in confusion and fear – stealing glances back to the crowd behind the darkling.

Shadow's eyes never left Eclipse's, yet the darkling kicked his foot back and forth in anticipation.

As the town square had cleared out, all that was left was Sonic, Shadow, and the crew. Eclipse turned around, giving a snide wave to the crowd behind him.

They barely reacted, only nodding towards the darkling. As he turned around, he threw his head back – admiring the eclipse once more.

"Leave."

Eclipse quickly returned his gaze, seeing Shadow had stepped even closer to him. The darkling hissed, grinning a sharp, abominable smile.

"I just got here. I'd like a tour, as would my friends behind me. Is that such an impossible task?"

"You are to leave, now."

Eclipse tilted his head, raising a snide eyebrow at the hedgehog. Sonic began approaching, wearing his trademark smirk.

"Guess there ain't no gettin' outta this – Name's Sonic. 'Tis a pleasure, Eclipse."

Eclipse lazily slid his eyes over to Sonic, wildly inspecting the blue hedgehog. Sonic immediately felt unsafe in the mere gaze of the darkling, taking a few, shaky steps back.

"Sonic. I've heard that name. I cannot wait to get to know you even better!"

Sonic chuckled, rubbing his nose. Shadow grumbled, immediately speeding past Sonic.

"I said you are to leave, now."

Eclipse chuckled, flicking his tail back and forth. "Why, you got my message, yeah? You knew I'd be rollin' into town sooner than later. Did you pour me a glass? Travellin' over here was no easy task."

"Pity. Be on your way now," Shadow spat.

Eclipse began taking careful steps towards Shadow, eyes inspecting him like a predator. Eclipse tilted his head, hunching over slightly as he inhaled deeply.

"Shadow…is that truly the way you wish to say hello to your brother?"

That's when Sonic swore his heart stopped.

Shadow and Eclipse were…brothers?

He immediately noticed how Shadow quickly adverted his gaze. Sonic turned to face the crew, seeing that they too shared this somber sentiment. It was obvious they knew about this – and it made sense why Shadow wasn't keen on revealing too much.

If they were siblings, and Eclipse had derived from Solaris…what exactly was Shadow's origin?

How did he fit into this?

Was there truly more to Shadow then he thought?

"You are no brother of mine. You are nothing to me. This is your final warning to leave."

"What? You' gonna drive all these people away? They need a home too, 'yanno. From what I've heard, Westopolis is best of the best."

"I'm not going to ask again."

Immediately, Eclipse's tail whipped around Shadow's neck, pulling him closer. Shadow struggled, yet Eclipse's menacing gaze bore right into his eyes, a few drops of saliva making it onto Shadow's muzzle.

"And I won't give you the chance to ask me again. This is my home now, capice?"

Sonic immediately reached for his revolver, yet Silver's hand stopped him. Sonic gave Silver a wildly perplexed look – yet the coldness in his eyes made his message clear enough.

Eclipse moved his head towards Silver, immediately wheezing a laugh.

"Moonchild, Moonchild, Moonchild. Thank you for quenching such meaningless violence. I only wish to be a part of you all – that truly cannot be too much to ask."

Silver nodded, yet no smile made its way onto his muzzle. Eclipse let Shadow go, before pulling him into a hug – shaking him wildly about.

"Ohhh – it's just such a joy to see my brother again!"

Shadow immediately wrangled free from his grip, his face bearing an expression as if he had just been pushed into mud.

Eclipse cackled, bowing sarcastically. "I see my brother has changed none!"

"Call off this eclipse. Let the light come back in," Knuckles spat coldly.

Eclipse sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "No can do. Natural phenom's and all. You overestimate me, Knuckles!"

The darkling turned around, whistling at the crowd. They all began making their way into town, talking with one another. Shadow stared harsh daggers at Eclipse, who only returned the glare.

An octopus came up beside Eclipse, with black sclera's and a scarecrow-like mouth. He bowed to Eclipse, who nodded towards him – before sending him on his way.

The crowd of individuals looked like him – yet of different shapes and sizes. Sonic had no idea who they were – or what they were.

"I can't wait for you all to be acquainted with your new neighbors! They're all a delight – you'll see!"

"Why haven't we wasted this son of a bitch?" Sonic whispered through gritted teeth to Silver, who sighed in return.

"It's not that easy," Silver replied, "If we could, it would have been done years ago."

As Sonic inspected each member of the crowd, he couldn't help that they all had one similar birthmark on their forehead. All of them had it – every single one.

A red, angel-like mark – placed right in the middle of their foreheads.

Eclipse was the only one who didn't have it.

The darkling stretched his arms, sighing as he began walking through town. He turned to Shadow, winking at him.

"I'll be off to get a drink. Feel free to join me!"

Shadow growled, watching as Eclipse began his walk to the saloon. The crew parted down the middle, earning a bow from Eclipse has he walked through them.

Sonic immediately turned to Shadow. "You guys are brot-"

"Save it."

The harshness in his tone was expected, as was the way he immediately stormed off. Rouge tried to stop him, yet he merely shook her off – storming off into town.

As Eclipse had vanished into town, the eclipse ended – allowing the light of day to return. Sonic felt like he had a fever dream – yet he knew everything that occurred was frighteningly real.

The townsfolk all came outside, talking in confusion, yet with a breath of relief as the eclipse had ended. To most of them, it was no big deal. These things are parts of cosmic life – yet it was true that many were weary of the newcomers.

Sonic ran to Amy, grabbing her hands. "Are you a'ight?"

"Yeah – yeah, I'm a'ight. Not sure what else I expected to happen…"

Sonia and Manic approached Sonic from behind, both wearing incredibly confused expressions.

"Manic over here says he feels like a curse. Westopolis is doin' well, we roll in, and everythin' starts headin' back to shit," Sonia remarked.

Sonic sighed, shaking his head. "No – it ain't nothin' to do with you. I understand if y'all wanna leave, though. This is gonna get messy quick."

Manic shook his head, slapping Sonic's shoulder. "No way Brose, we ain't leavin' you to the dust. We wanna help if you'll have us."

Sonic smiled, tipping his hat. "Of course, I will."

Tails and Cosmo stood close by with Sonic and Amy, finding comfort in their friends. Amy grabbed Cosmo's hands, offering her a gentle smile.

"Are you a'ight, Cos?"

Cosmo nodded, drowning out her shaken breaths. "I'm okay – just scared."

Amy wrapped the seedrian into a hug, caressing her back. "I know you are. I am too."

"Not how I envisioned you findin' out Shadow had a demon for a brother…" Tails muttered to Sonic, who sighed in response.

"Definitely wasn't somethin' I thought would be the case – yet I should know better not to expect things to go one way 'round these parts."

Tails nodded, inspecting a wrench. "I'm not sure what's gonna happen. Eclipse really just brought all his friends to town."

Sonic sighed, grabbing the fox's shoulders. "Regardless of what Eclipse did or didn't do – we got rid of the Undertaker, a corrupt pastor, and every other evil son of a bitch here. I know he's scary, but who's sayin' we ain't gonna do the same thing to him? We'll protect these people, and we'll protect each other. We have before, so we do it again."

"You're right, but Eclipse is…he's just different."

Sonic pursed his lips, averting his gaze to the ground. "I know he is – and I know y'all are scared. Trust me, so am I. But right now, we gotta be hopeful. I'll do everythin' I can to protect you all – and I know you'll do the same too."

Sonic's thoughts betrayed his words slightly. Sure, it was true he was scared – but he wasn't certain that he could truly do anything about Eclipse. What if this threat was too much to handle? Now his own family is involved?

Sonic had too much to lose now. His siblings, his girlfriend, all these people he's become so close with. Before, it was just him trying to do what was right, regardless of if it was for selfish reasons or not.

Now he has stake – stake that was too important to lose.

Gaia, he really was fucking terrified.

"Three of a kind!"

Nazo slammed the cards down, earning a loud groan from Scourge, who flicked his cards across the table.

"Oh, you blue son of a bitch!" Scourge exclaimed, watching as Nazo scooped the chips over to him.

Zero chuckled, shaking his head, while Fiona opted to continue inspecting her claws. Scourge blew a cloud of smoke, growling at how his stack diminished and diminished.

"All's fair in Texas Hold-Em, boys!" Nazo said, sitting back as Zero began shuffling the next deck.

Scourge whistled, tipping his hat lower. "If y'all fuckin' say so – I'm startin' to regret comin' over here. Should've known playin' poker with the west's best bounty setters was a bad fuckin' idea."

Fiona opened her eyes, moving her gaze to the Rogues, who sat mostly silently at the table across the room.

"Why are y'all bein' so damn quiet? Shouldn't you be in this hand?"

Jet shrugged, taking a drag from his cigarette. "Not much desire to talk."

Scourge chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "Jesus, what the hell happened to y'all? You've been actin' outta wits for days. You ain't even want to gamble – where are the Babylon Rogues, damnit?"

Storm glanced around nervously, knowing he couldn't keep his big beak shut.

"We saw someone stabbed to death with a pitchfork!"

"Jesus, Storm! Mood-killer!" Wave exclaimed, thudding him on the arm.

"What do you mean you saw someone stabbed to death with a pitchfork?" Zero asked, beginning to deal the next hand.

Jet sighed, flicking his cigarette. "Oh, he means exactly what he said. Y'all remember how we joined Shadow on that train heist? Got you the money? Yeah, well we stumbled across this little ghost town strip nearby. Started pokin' around, and we walk into this old rundown mechanic shop, and low and behold – there's a dude with his face slashed and a pitchfork through his chest."

"Jesus – what else did y'all see?" Nazo asked, lighting another cigarette.

"Some mumbo-jumbo about the period of desolation comin', as well as some message from a dude named Eclipse. Shadow seemed pretty shaken up. Who the hell knows, point is after seein' what we saw in there – it's been hard to shake it," Wave said, rubbing her temple absentmindedly.

"Sounds it," Scourge said, checking his cards subtly, "Would hate to be on the end of that pitchfork-wieldin' motherfucker – whoever he is…"

Suddenly, the door swung open – as an angered Shadow stormed inside, ripping the hat from his head and slamming a paper down on the poker table.

"Jesus! Knock, maybe?!" Zero exclaimed, sliding back in his chair.

"I want you both to place a bounty on everyone with this birthmark."

Shadow pointed at the paper, showing a diagram that Blaze had drawn up of a person with the red angel-like mark on their forehead – the same one that Eclipse's crowd of people all had on their foreheads.

Nazo leaned over, squinting at the paper before shooting Shadow a perplexed look. "What is this – Shadow's desire to mark people like cattle? What the hell are you goin' on about?"

"Is this whole pitchfork thing really that big a' deal?" Scourge asked.

Shadow turned to the Rogues, raising an eyebrow. "Y'all told them about that?"

"Don't look at us! Look at Storm! He croaked!" Bean shouted, nudging Storm roughly, earning a loud scoff from Storm.

"Agh! It just slipped out!"

Shadow growled, whipping his gaze back to Nazo and Zero. "Doesn't matter – I need a bounty set on anyone with this mark on their head. They don't even need to be killed. Turn them into police custody, kick their ass out of town – I don't care. They need to go now."

Zero gave Nazo an utterly flabbergasted look, to which Nazo just chuckled dryly.

"Shadow – what in Gaia's name has gotten into you? We ain't understand anythin' of what you're saying."

"I don't need to explain, I just need you to do it. I've done a lot of dirty work for you both over the years – consider this your favor to me."

Zero sighed, rubbing his temples. "Look – we need to know the reason for this bounty. People ain't just gonna strike on someone if they don't know why they're doin' it – prize or not."

Shadow grumbled, shaking his head. "These people are bad people and they threaten Westopolis as we know it. If they aren't taken out of town we're starin' death's doorstep in the face."

"Does this have to do with whoever the hell Eclipse is?" Jet asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Eclipse? Who's Eclipse?" Scourge asked, taking a drag from his cigarette.

"An incredibly dangerous man – more dangerous then Robotnik ever was. If he's not corrected – we're all doomed."

Nazo sighed, looking at Zero. The jackal shrugged, doubtful eyes glancing over the paper.

"Look – we can't make any promises. I'm not even sure what the bounty would be on somethin' like this. We'll keep you posted, but that's the best we can offer to you right now, a'ight?" Nazo said, raising his eyebrows.

Shadow glared at Nazo for a moment, before scoffing. "Fine. You owe this to me."

"We'll let you know, Shadow," Zero added, nodding to the hedgehog.

Shadow shook his head angrily, storming out the door and down the stairs. Scourge watched him leave, squinting at the door.

"Just when I thought this town couldn't get any fuckin' weirder."

Sonic stumbled into the saloon, wiping a few straying beads of sweat from his temple.

He gazed around the bar, seeing it relatively empty – yet he couldn't help but notice the number of people with the damn mark on their foreheads.

Some were normal Mobians, others looked more like Eclipse. It was quite a diverse group. Many of them had already begun chatting with normal townsfolk.

It was sinister – he could see the web of deception beginning.

Sonic nodded towards Honey and Tangle behind the bar, both giving him nervous glances. Sonic followed the lemur's eye, seeing Eclipse sitting by himself in the back of the saloon. He blew a cloud of smoke from his mouth, enjoying his private time.

His gaze snapped over to Sonic, and the hedgehog felt like his mere gaze had suspended him in time.

The darkling waved to him, before gesturing to the seat at the table.

"Care to join me, Sonic?"

Sonic froze up for a moment, attempting to shake the feeling he got when he thought about Eclipse's arrival.

He could feel the silent protests from Honey and Tangle, as well as the shake in his legs.

Yet Sonic knew that one way to get rid of the enemy…

Was to get closer.

Sonic nodded, heading over to the table, taking his seat.

Eclipse chuckled, showing off his terrifying smile as he slid his drink over to Sonic.

"My, my, my, have I heard such wonderful things about you, Sonic."