Woo, finally back with another chapter!

guest (01.11): I suppose you will have to wait and see how they'll react to the Doom Powers.

Anyways, I'm happy to finally introduce another important character to the story - Eclipse the Darkling! I know I had said that I won't be using any Archie Sonic characters, but Eclipse is a special case, so he's an exception. I did have to tweak his Dark Arms powers a little tho to fit this story...

Enjoy!

Entry 70

Eclipse

''FACTION FACTION it's so unclear! Mysterious, abstract FACTION LIFE! FACTION LIFE strange and odd, here comes an enigma, how mysterious. When I turn back and look, I feel a material to the unknown. That's a FACTION FACTION! It's so unclear! FACTION FACTION! Real ideal! FACTION FACTION! Faintly behind me! FACTION FACTION! ''We're right here!'' Is the faraway inviting hand a truth or a lie? In the gradient space with no boundaries, ''Come''. Auditory hallucinations, images, still unsure if it's the truth. Go after, vanish, show up we won't reach it if that's all we do! Here and there, what a surprise (thump) wandering moments, the maze is a labyrinth! Bizzare, offbeat, darkness (gulp) come, lose that way of speaking, make your happening! More FACTION FACTION, even with such nonsense and incoherence! More FACTION FACTION, there should be a piece of truth buried! Real? Fiction?''

– Faction by Digimon Ghost Game

xXxXxXx

Toshiro and Mephiles gazed upon the city below them, having found a spot on a tall building that gave them a good view of the horrifying chaos that was unfolding. People ran screaming from the black and red creatures, trying to find safety in the cowds and buildings, while some resorted to using their vehicles to run over the aliens and force a way out. Unfortunately for them, the Black Arms were relentless in their pursuit, having already claimed several victims. Buildings were damaged as the aliens attempted to break into them, being only blocked by a flimsy barricade of locked doors and whatever furniture was used to keep them closed. Fires erupted in several parts of the city, mostly caused by cars that had been damaged and exploded. The dark red sky, the thunder and lightning only added to the panic, with the red cracks spreading all across the city. Nobody knew what to do, only that they needed to run, to evacuate. It was Hell on Earth.

''It appears that the Black Arms are way more organized than I gave them credit for,'' Toshiro commented. He could see that, despite the ensuing chaos, the aliens were quite thorough with their mission, eliminating anyone who stood in their way, swiftly destroying whatever vehicle posed a threat to them and breaking all the defenses their victims attempted to put up.

''I wouldn't be surprised if Black Doom starts putting up a sermon about the efficiency of his army and noble cause of his goals,'' Mephiles scoffed. He and Toshiro had made Black Doom's acquaintance about a week ago under rather peculiar circumstances after having vanished from Team Neos' radar for their own reasons. Despite the fact that their goals had aligned, Mephiles was not impressed by the Black Arms, seeing them beneath himself. ''What are a race of immortal aliens to the God of Sun and Time?''

''Nothing. However, you and I both know that just summoning Iblis won't be enough for our plans,'' Toshiro responded. ''It is one thing to use its raw power, but we're far from controlling it the way we desire.''

''Indeed. But, if we play our part, we might overcome that particular issue,'' Mephiles replied in a calculating tone. Toshiro simply grinned, observing his partner as he vanished into a dark hole on the ground. Toshiro himself then stepped towards the edge of the building, then leapt off of it. His dark brown eyes flashed in a dark periwinkle purple colour as he fell, the wind whistling in his ears, with a dark hole opening beneath him in mid-air, similar to the one Mephiles used, and once he entered it, it vanished.

xXx

''Watch out!'' Tails shouted, firing his laser gun at another Black Arms soldier, which Warren and Lucas recognized as a Black Warrior. Fortunately, the power of the laser gun was enough to knock it down, clearing the path for the three. They had been close to CyExLabs when the invasion began, finding themselves fighting against the Black Arms when the aliens invaded Kita. Lucas had managed to send a message to everyone from Team Neos, giving them one simple order.

Defeat the Black Arms.

He hated to admit it, but he had no other plans due to how sudden this invasion was, and while he was good at thinking quick on his feet, he knew that this was something not even Team Neos could carry out on their own without proper help. They were used to fighting one or maybe two opponents at once, and even Dr. Eggman's Badniks became more of a nuisance unless he got particularly creative, so this was a really bad situation for them. Sure, he could use the knowledge he had about the Black Arms to his advantage, but there would always be a gaping hole in his plans unless he knew the whereabouts and intentions of two of his teammates, neither of which have responded to his message.

''Over here!'' Warren grabbed Tails and Lucas' hands, dragging them into an alleyway and hiding behind a garbage container. The three looked up, seeing a dozen of Black Wings flying above them, but thankfully not spotting them.

''What do we do now?'' Tails asked, both him and Warren turning to Lucas. The twin-tailed fox had been filled in the most crucial information about the Black Arms and their leader, Black Doom, and while he still had questions, the imperative was to figure out what their next move would be. Lucas took a moment to think. What was his priority?

''I need to find Sonic,'' he said. ''However, you two should go to CyExLabs.''

''Wait, what? Are you crazy? You'll be exposed to the Black Arms! What if they catch you?'' Warren protested, but Lucas held up his hoverboard.

''I'll be faster on my own thanks to the modifications on my hoverboard. As for you two, I'm 100% sure that the Black Arms are also Irregulars and using the AR Fields to their advantage,'' Lucas responded, pointing at the red cracks. ''We're not too far from CyExLabs and we need more information to form a proper plan. Simply fighting the Black Arms won't be enough.'' His eyes narrowed. ''There's also the matter of Shadow and him being a Black Arms hybrid…''

''What?!'' Tails stared at him, eyebrow quirked. That's something neither of them told him, but they didn't have much time for lengthy explanations.

''I'll tell you everything later,'' Warren assured him, then gave Lucas a grim look. ''I guess you're going to meet up with Sonic and go after Touka and Shadow, right?''

''Yeah. While I can only speculate, Black Doom's plans might already be in full swing, which means that everything will depend on Shadow's actions,'' Lucas replied, then walked to the other side of the alleyway, noting that the street was clear. He turned back to Warren and Tails. ''Send me a message once you learn more about the AR Field. I wish you luck.''

''You too,'' Warren muttered as Lucas got on his hoverboard, stepping on the accelerator and speeding down the street.

xXx

Touka felt her head pounding, as if someone took a hammer and slammed it on her skull. Her vision was blurry, and when she tried to move her arm to rub her eyes, she discovered that she couldn't. In fact, besides her head, she couldn't move her body at all. Finally, her vision cleared and she discovered that she was in an unfamiliar medium-sized room and chained to the wall. Well, ''chained'' wasn't the correct description, because when she took a look at her body, she realized that what was restraining her was a black, red and purple mass that was covering her feet, then reaching upwards diagonally, like some kind of tentacle, restraining her legs up to her tights, followed by another diagonal tentacle-like mass placed over her chest from lower left to her upper right. Her arms were also outstretched, with pieces of the mass covering them like handcuffs and tying them to the wall behind her. Fortunately, she could still feel her blood circulating properly, but she had to wonder just how long she had been knocked out, and more importantly, where the hell she was.

The room itself looked similarly to a purple-hued cave with lavender floors and grey stone walls, with a red and purple slime-like substance oozing from the wall across her. That information didn't tell her much, though. She then focused on her memories, trying to recall what had happened before she woke up here, but even those were useless. All she could remember was a sudden sense of paralysis, followed by darkness. It was as if someone had knocked her out and transported here… but, why? What would they gain from her being here?

Touka soon found out that she would get her answer, albeit from a rather unexpected source. To her shock and rage, Toshiro and Mephiles walked into the room, with Toshiro giving her a mocking grin.

''You?!'' Touka growled.

''It's been ages since we've seen each other, sister,'' Toshiro said in an amused tone. ''I suppose you didn't miss me too much.''

Touka struggled against her restraints, wishing to punch her so-called younger brother in the face. ''I told you already, we're not family! Only because we're biologically related doesn't mean anything!''

''Unfortunately for you, blood relations play an important role in your, and especially Shadow's life,'' Mephiles added idly.

Upon hearing her brother's name, Touka shot both of them a glare. ''If you're trying hurt Shadow, I'll-''

''You'll what? Attack us? You don't even have Chaos Surge activated for that, and I'm fairly certain that you have no clue where you are either,'' Toshiro pointed out. Touka hated to admit, but he was correct.

''Fine,'' she hissed in a sharp tone. ''Where am I and why am I imprisoned?''

''Does the name 'Black Comet' sound familiar?'' Toshiro asked, placing a hand on his hip as he gave Touka a curious look. His older sister was confused at first, trying to recall whether she ever heard that name before. It did sound familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Her attention was drawn back to Toshiro, who huffed, acting as if he were disappointed by her lack of knowledge.

''You're really clueless about the lore, aren't you?'' he asked mockingly.

''Oh, shut up! What do you even know?'' Touka snapped back.

''We know more than you ever will,'' Mephiles told her coldly. Their conversation suddenly died down, when another figure entered the room – one Touka, despite her limited knowledge of the lore, had recognized.

''You're… You're Black Doom,'' she said, staring at the alien as he hovered in front of her. She couldn't help but feel a chill flowing down her spine as she heard his deep, raspy tone. It was as if he was in her head.

''I am astounded that you are aware of who I am, given what your sibling had told me,'' Black Doom said, with Toshiro sneering at Touka, who glared back at him.

''You two can't be serious about working with the Black Arms,'' Touka hissed angrily. For all the holes in her knowledge about the Sonic lore, there were certain aspects of it she did recall, and the Black Arms were one of them, given how Minami had highlighted them as important information for her and Shadow.

''We share a mutual interest in seeing chaos spread across this planet, as well as taking down anyone who stands in our way,'' Mephiles answered. Touka gave him a hard stare, sensing that there was more behind his words, as Mephiles and Toshiro desired the total destruction of everything in their path, while Black Doom preferred to conquer the planet. Their plans were in clear conflict with each other, but she decided not to speak up. She was well aware that her biological sibling and his partner had a habit of betraying their allies, and she believed that it was a matter of time when they decided to backstab Black Doom.

However, for now Toshiro and Mephiles were content to leave Black Doom do all of the work, stepping back as the leader of the Black Arms looked down on Touka. ''It is quite absurd to see that you are what holds Shadow back from completely submitting to his fate. You would serve better as a meal for the larvae.''

''Tch, so this is why I'm here? I'm acting as an leverage for you to make sure Shadow fulfills whatever mission you gave him,'' Touka concluded, glaring daggers into Black Doom. ''That's never going to work.''

''For all of his stubborness, your life holds some weight to Shadow, and I will ensure that he doesn't forget it. You should see yourself as fortunate to be of use to me, because the moment I have Shadow under my full control, I will see to it that you will be the first one to be served as nourishment for our soldiers,'' Black Doom threatened, his tone carrying a sense of dark pleasure as he told Touka about her grim fate. However, the teenager remained defiant. She couldn't care less about what might happen to her when her beloved younger brother was in danger of becoming brainwashed by Black Doom.

''Shadow will never join you,'' Touka responded, gritting her teeth. Yet, Black Doom remained unconcerned.

''I have my ways of convincing him to abandon this tainted world. Of course, I will have to first stamp out his rebelliousness,'' Black Doom said, with Touka hearing steps behind him. She stared past Black Doom as she saw another figure standing at the entrance. Her heart almost burst out of her chest when she at first mistook the figure for Shadow, only to realize that she was wrong as it stepped into the room.

This person was another Black Arms soldier, albeit a rather unique one. He slightly resembled Shadow, both in appearance and height, being mostly dark gray/pale purple in coloration, with a white ''muzzle'', yellow teeth, having red accents along his head, arms and legs, black-colored sclerae that featured glowing amber-like gold irises and thin, serrated black pupils, a classic "devil tail" (long and slender, with a red accented arrowhead-like tip), a pair of spikes on his arms (with the bottom spike being significantly smaller than the upper spike), a single small spike on the back of his legs, three fingered hands, two-toed feet, a pair of small "quills" on the back of his shoulders and a spiked red "mantle" on top of his shoulders.

The Black Arms soldier knelt before Black Doom, smiling slightly. ''You called me?''

''Eclipse, I believe it is time that you taught Shadow about true loyalty to his own flesh and blood. Don't fail me,'' Black Doom responded.

''Don't worry, I will ensure that my brother knows who his true family is, Father.''

Eclipse the Darkling, the Ultimate Alien, rose to his feet, giving Touka a dark smile.

xXx

Shadow spin-dashed into another Black Arms alien, not stopping to check on the human and ARNav duo he had just saved. He was lost in his own thoughts, his own anger overwhelming his senses to the point that he couldn't think of anything but destroying any dark alien who crossed his path. He fired another Chaos Spear at one of those flying aliens, then dashing down a street as if running away from something. He certainly wasn't a coward, but the recent revelations had thrown his mind into further turmoil.

To start off, Touka was in danger because of him, and there was absolutely nothing he could do to find her and save her. All he had was Black Doom's word that she wouldn't be harmed as long as Shadow fulfilled his mission of finding the Chaos Emeralds.

The other revelation, the fact that he was a member of the Black Arms, still weighted heavily on his mind, but the initial shock had worn off. Admittedly, he had some awareness of the Black Arms, thanks to the video game lore he and Touka had read, but he hadn't expected that his half-alien origins would also become part of his identity as an Irregular. It appeared that, whoever provided Prof. Sakamoto with the data, ensured that he would be a perfect copy of his video game counterpart.

Lastly, there were also his Doom Powers. As he fought back against the Black Arms, Shadow completely refused to use them. He was more than capable of holding his own by using his Chaos Powers and his hand-to-hand combat skills, and he didn't need any gift given to him by Black Doom.

This is why all he could do was to take his anger out on the Black Arms. He would carve a bloody path through them until Black Doom appeared, and once he did, Shadow would ensure that he and his kin would become extinct. All of them.

''Aghh!'' Shadow gripped his head, feeling a splitting headache when he heard a voice speaking to him. To his astonishment, it wasn't Black Doom who invaded his mind.

''I have waited for so long to meet you, brother.''

Shadow blinked, his mind suddenly clearing, and he looked up as he sensed the presence of another Black Arms soldier in the patch of green he was standing on. To his surprise, the alien who walked out from his hiding spot behind a tree was much smaller than the ones he had been fighting, and his gaze more… intelligent, for a lack of better words. He didn't look like one of those mindless drones who only followed Black Doom's commands, his gaze sharp and focused on Shadow.

''Who are you?'' Shadow got into a battle stance, glaring at the intruder.

''Me? I am you in a way. A living weapon, built for a singular purpose. The Black Arm biology perfected. I am the shadow that blocks out the last light of hope. I am Eclipse the Darkling,'' Eclipse introduced himself.

''You're different than the other Black Arms,'' Shadow stated, carefully observing Eclipse.

''The Black Arms operate on a hive mind, commanded by Black Doom, and are the extension of his will,'' Eclipse explained. ''Except for me. I'm free to act on my own accord. Free to think and answer on my own terms. The ultimate answer to the ultimate problem.''

''If you're going to stand in my way, then I have no choice but to remove you,'' Shadow replied, his eyes narrowing as he attempted to summon a Chaos Spear… only to stare at his hand with a baffled look, feeling no Chaos Energy emanating from it. ''What- Why can't I summon a Chaos Spear?!''

''That is because of my presence,'' Eclipse responded proudly. ''It doesn't only weaken you significantly, but also disables your Chaos Powers.''

Shadow gritted his teeth as he confronted Eclipse. He certainly did feel somewhat weaker, the familiar surge of energy having completely disappeared. However, that didn't mean that he still wasn't capable of fighting back. He charged at Eclipse, attempting to punch him, but the alien caught his fist, twisting it and sending a jolt of pain through his arm. Shadow resorted to a kick, forcing Eclipse to let go, with Shadow spin-dashing right towards him. However, to his surprise, Eclipse vanished in a flash of light, appearing further away, with Shadow immediately recognizing this ability.

''So, you can also use Chaos Control,'' he said, his eyes narrowing.

''Of course I can. After all, our kind is known for being able to tap into those powers,'' Eclipse replied. ''Although, the proper term for this ability is Chaos Snap. Chaos Control refers to the manipulation of space and time, allowing the user to teleport, slow down time, and even time travel, while Chaos Snap is just a smaller aspect of it, allowing the user to teleport at shorter distances.'' Shadow charged at him, using the boost of his air shoes in an attempt to land a hit on him, forcing Eclipse to block the attack. Nevertheless, he remained confident. ''I could teach you much more about your abilities if you decide to join us, brother. You haven't even started to explore your full potential.''

Shadow growled, going for another punch and managing to hit Eclipse in the chest. He then followed this up with a kick, forcing him to back away as he clutched his stomach. ''I will never join the Black Arms!''

He went for another spin-dash, but Eclipse was prepared. He crossed his arms, with a dark grey and red armor appearing all over his body, blocking Shadow's attack. Shadow leapt back, a bit stunned that his spin-dash couldn't break through Eclipse's defenses. Eclipse gave him a wide grin. ''You aren't the only one who had been bestowed with special powers. While Father gave you the Doom Powers, I was given the Dark Arms. It doesn't matter what you throw at me, because I can counter it with ease.'' Shadow narrowed his eyes in tranquil fury and Eclipse, as if reading his mind, added, ''Maybe you would be able to defeat me if you used your Doom Powers, but Father claims that you are too stubborn and too rebellious to accept your gift.''

Shadow could sense the strange energy coursing through his body, gazing down at his hand and seeing the black mass swirling around it. He knew that Eclipse was right and that he could try using his Doom Powers to defeat the Black Arms soldier, but he refused to associate himself with those aliens, and using the Doom Powers would bring them a step closer to them. However, the rational part of his mind did point out that, if he came across more Black Arms like Eclipse, his Chaos Powers would be ultimately useless and just relying on raw strength and speed wouldn't bring him far.

''Dark Laser!''

Eclipse took advantage of Shadow's reluctance, his forearms being covered in a dark grey and red mass with a yellow and red eye-like shape in the middle of his palms resembling Doom's Eye, and firing a laser blast at Shadow from his palms. Shadow managed to dodge it just in time, leaping in the air and suddenly firing multiple light orange and black spears at Eclipse. The alien forced himself to use his Dark Armor to block it, but the attack did leave some marks on his armor.

''So, you finally decided to resort to using the Doom Powers,'' Eclipse stated, giving Shadow a curious look. The dark hedgehog was staring at his hand, stunned at what he felt upon using the Doom Spear. His mind and body were telling him that this was the correct choice, that it was a natural extension of his Chaos Powers, and that he shouldn't fear using them. He closed his palm, turning to Eclipse, his crimson eyes glowing.

''I'll overcome every obstacle with this power!'' Shadow threatened. ''Neither you, nor Black Doom will stop me from saving Touka!''

Eclipse blinked, furrowing a brow as he gave Shadow a disappointed look. ''I guess they were right. You really care a lot about that human.'' He let his Dark Armor fade, taking a step towards Shadow as he stared at him in disbelief. ''That is what I don't understand! Why would you ever consider one of those pathetic humans your family? You are a member of the Black Arms. You are Black Doom's son. You are my brother! Why would you ever want to side with a human instead of being with your own kind?!''

''Even if I told you why, you wouldn't understand it,'' Shadow responded in an icy tone, with Eclipse narrowing his eyes, pointing one hand at Shadow as it was covered in the same dark grey and red mass with a swirling symbol appearing in the palm of it, the symbol of the Black Arms.

''Dark Sonic Cannon!''

Eclipse fired a devastating soundwaves at Shadow, who clutched his head in agony. Eclipse smirked, only for his expression change to that of a surprise when Shadow's eyes flared up in a bright red glow and he leapt out of the soundwave blast, charging at Eclipse and launching a barrage of punches and kicks, sending him up flying and warping to his position mid-air, then landing a devastating kick that send Eclipse flying straight into the ground, with dirt flying all around him.

Eclipse felt his whole body aching, hissing in pain and gazing at Shadow as he started to gain more and more confidence in using the Doom Powers, even smirking at the result of his attack, whose name was etched in his mind. ''Doom Blast let's me send enemies flying. Not bad.''

Eclipse slowly got up, taking a battle stance. While Black Doom gave him the mission to convince Shadow to start using his Doom Powers, that didn't mean that it didn't hurt Eclipse when Shadow decided to use them on him. Nevertheless, the more he used his Doom Powers, the more susceptible would Shadow become to Black Doom's control, which meant that it would only be a matter of time when he'd finally join the Black Arms. Eclipse was willing to do anything to achieve that goal, even if it meant sacrificing his own life. He wanted nothing more but to have Shadow be by his side.

''Do you see now?'' Eclipse started, drawing Shadow's attention and extending his hand. ''This is the true extent of your powers, and if you allowed me to teach you more about them, we could conquer this planet together in the name of our Father.''

''Shut up!'' Shadow growled, firing more Doom Spears at Eclipse. The alien resorted to his final Dark Arms power, the Dark Wing, to dodge them. A pair of dark grey and red fleshy wings, not unlike the ones Shadow had, sprouted from his back, allowing him to nimbly evade Shadow's Doom Spears. However, what he didn't expect was for the dark hedgehog to utilize his super speed, curling into a ball and bouncing off the nearby trees and flying upwards, then attacking Eclipse with another Doom Blast. The devastating attack send this time Eclipse flying into a building, breaking through the wall and leaving him motionless on the floor.

Shadow landed on the ground, taking sharp breaths as he tried to steady himself, the glow in his eyes and the rage he felt fading. He could feel his Chaos Powers returning to him, but the crackling orange energy got replaced with the swirling black mass of the Doom Powers. Shadow furrowed a brow, understanding his situation. ''Whether I like it or not, I will have to use both powers if I want to save Touka and defeat Black Doom. However, I can't utilize the full extent of Chaos Control without Chaos Surge, meaning that I would need to find at least one Chaos Emerald.''

He steeled his resolve, dashing down the street via his air shoes. He may have defeated Eclipse, but the war has just begun.

xXx

Lucas gasped as he saw the flying Black Arms aliens following him, weaving between the narrower streets as he attempted to lose them. He had just arrived from Kita in Sentoraru, and the reason why he was currently being chased was because he saw the swarming aliens attacking several people in the process of evacuation, forcing him to basically draw their attention and lure them away. However, he slowly started to regret this move, as him being their primary target meant that they started to swoop in on him. He was somewhat faster on his hoverboard, and skilled enough to dodge their attack, but that didn't mean that every attack made his heart almost leap as they missed him by mere inches. It also appeared that they didn't grow tired at all, relentlessly pursuing him through the streets. The most Lucas could hope for was that he would eventually run into Sonic, and having Chaos Surge on him gave him a chance to fight back.

''Speak of the Blue Devil…'' Lucas muttered in relief when he saw a blue streak charging towards him, with Sonic spin-dashing into the flying aliens and tearing through them. He landed on the ground, turning to Lucas.

''You okay?'' Sonic asked, glancing at him with slight concern.

''Now that you're here? Yeah!'' Lucas smiled back, then motioned Sonic to follow him. ''I guess I should explain those aliens who are attacking Neos City, huh?''

''Well, I know that they're ugly and they're causing trouble for everyone. Do I need to know more?'' Sonic replied in a casual tone. Lucas sighed.

''They're known as the Black Arms, an alien race led by Black Doom to conquer Earth in the lore of the video games and use humanity as their food source,'' Lucas explained, with Sonic furrowing a brow at those news. ''I believe that the situation is the same as in the video game, but that's not all of it. Something none of us have ever mentioned was the fact that Shadow himself is also a member of the Black Arms.''

''What?!'' Sonic's eyes widened, as he was taken aback by this revelation.

''Technically, he is a hybrid, but that doesn't matter now. What matters is that, if this event follows those of the video game story, even in the looses terms possible, it would mean that Black Doom wants to use Shadow to destroy Neos City, if not possibly the entire Earth. For that, he would have to find the Chaos Emeralds to warp the Black Comet, the Black Arms spaceship, closer to Neos City, but I see several issues with that theory, and I don't even know where to start explaining things…'' Lucas trailed off, feeling a sense of dread creeping up his spine. He realized that Perfect Chaos was his first warning, and the possibility of powerful entities like Black Doom, Solaris, Dark Gaia, Time Eater or even The End appearing and attacking Neos City was now very possible, and it left him frightened. Somehow, things kept escalating, and even if he didn't have a full understanding of what was going on, he had some ideas.

''What should we do about Shadow?'' Sonic asked, snapping Lucas out of his thoughts. ''I don't believe that he'd ever join the Black Arms.''

''Neither do I, but that's the issue. If Black Doom manages to somehow convince him to join them, it would be the worst ending for us,'' Lucas responded.

''Well, I trust Shadow,'' Sonic stated, giving Lucas an encouraging smile.

''So do I, but…'' Before Lucas could finish the sentence, he and Sonic came across more Black Arms soldiers, some of which were wielding swords and charging at them. Sonic was about to attack them, when suddenly laser blasts came from nearby, piercing through the Black Arms and destroying them.

''Unit Alpha! Secure the area!'' Commander Loki barked the order, with his Irregular Hunter troops making sure to finish off any alien who managed to evade their fire. As for Loki, he approached Sonic and Lucas. ''You two! I guess I should've seen it coming…''

''If this is about us being in danger…'' Lucas started, but Loki held up his hand, shaking his head.

''I believe we're past that. We have already issued Code Red for the entire city, and the police and military has been called to evacuate the citizens to shelters because of this invasion. We're currently in an 'all hands on deck' situation, and I believe we will need the help of Team Neos if we want to avoid a catastrophe,'' Loki told him. Both Lucas and Sonic broke into identical grins.

''I have already sent the message out to everyone to fight back,'' Lucas reported. ''As for those aliens, they're known as the Black Arms, and if we find their leader, Black Doom, and eliminate him, they too should be easy to take down then.''

''I see… But, I doubt it will be easy to find their leader in the first place,'' Loki replied.

''That's… That's something we're working on. We need to find another member of our team if we want to deal with Black Doom,'' Lucas replied. Loki nodded, turning to another Hunter, a red fox.

''Lieutenant Scarlett, you'll be taking over for Unit Alpha. We'll keep in contact,'' he said.

''Yes, sir, but may I ask, where are you going?'' Scarlett asked, giving him a confused look. Loki pointed with his thumb at Lucas and Sonic.

''I'll go and get more information on how to resolve the current situation. The order still remains as it is – take down as many of those aliens as you can and help in evacuating the civilians,'' Loki told her. The vixen nodded, joining her fellow Hunters. Lucas and Sonic exchanged glances, feeling a sense of relief, but also tension. While it was good that the Commander of the Irregular Hunters was on their side, they also had to wonder how he would react to Shadow.

They both hoped that he would remain reasonable.