I'm back with a new chapter and some news!
For the next week (and maybe the week after that, I'm not sure yet), I'll be putting this story on a break to focus on With Light In My Heart (and maybe something else, I haven't decided yet, though). So, if you want to know when this story will be continued, you will have to check the notes in that story.
Enjoy the chapter!
Entry 80
Cyberspace Crash
''Electrical communication, torn up imagination! Unravel the circuits binding the future!''
– Electrical Communication by Rockman 8: Metal Heroes (MegaMan 8)/Super Adventure Rockman
xXxXxXx
Eclipse yawned, stretching his arms out of the blanket cocoon that reminded him of his pod. It was so warm and soft, with a quiet buzzing of noises coming from somewhere to his right. He turned his head, realizing that the TV was on to ensure it wasn't too quiet in the house. Eclipse narrowed his eyes, gazing across the living room and towards the kitchen, where he spotted Touka and Shadow eating breakfast. It seemed that neither of them noticed that he was awake, with Eclipse being fine with that as he wanted to collect his thoughts and figure out what his next move would be.
It was clear to him that he was all on his own in this world, the sole remaining Black Arms alien if one didn't count Shadow. To make things worse, everyone in Neos City probably hated his kind due to the invasion, meaning that if they knew that he was still alive, they would scramble to correct that oversight. Even if Black Doom were still here, he couldn't care less about Eclipse's life. In other words, using his origin and experience as a Black Arms alien as a way to survive in his new environment would doom Eclipse for good. He would lose no matter how well he fought, meaning he needed an alternative.
Much to his chagrin, he was well aware what that alternative was. The only allies he had were Shadow, who was willing to tolerate his presence despite his animosity towards his biological brother, and Touka, whom he despised for taking Shadow away for him. It was quite ironic that the person whom he hated with all of his being was the one who actually gave a damn about him, who had saved his life several times, who defended him from the people who wanted to see him dead and who had comforted him when he was vulnerable. Thanks to their previous conversations, Eclipse understood now a little better why she acted like this, but that didn't mean that he was fond of her.
Nevertheless, if he wanted to survive, he would have to swallow his pride as a Black Arms alien and rely on Touka's support. She had mentioned that if he considered Shadow his brother, and Shadow considered her his sister, she was happy to call Eclipse her brother. Eclipse initially protested this, but now that he had a good night of rest, he realized that playing along with the idea would be beneficial for him in the long run. He didn't have to like it, but instead see it as a necessary means to survive.
Eclipse felt that this was an acceptable decision, but he then found himself wondering what he should do next. The Black Comet was gone and it was obvious that he couldn't take over Neos City by himself. He also had no way of accessing the Chaos Emeralds, as Black Doom never told him how he knew that they were in Neos City. In other words, everything the Black Arms stood for and Eclipse represented couldn't be achieved anymore. So, what was he supposed to do?
Eclipse figured that he could just live his life with Shadow and Touka, but that sounded boring. He had been created to be something much more, a warrior with skills that would be useful in battles. From what he had seen, it appeared that both Shadow and Touka would get themselves involved in other confrontations, meaning that Eclipse could support them that way.
That way, I wouldn't be useless.
As the thought crossed his mind, Eclipse felt as if someone was staring at him and lifted his head up, only to feeling a sense of anxiety when Shadow observed him, his gaze cold. Despite their civil conversation last night, Shadow wasn't going to treat him with any warmth. Touka, on the other hand, approached Eclipse with a plate with pieces of what appeared to be fried meat.
''I hope you slept well. Shadow told me that you prefer meat over vegetables, so I made this for you,'' Touka told him. Eclipse was stunned by her kind gesture, only to remind himself this was something he should expect from Touka. Still, it felt weird to be treated like this, especially by a human. Eclipse just took the plate silently, the scent being quite pleasant and enticing. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, human food didn't taste that bad. As he happily ate his meal, he was also listening to Shadow and Touka's conversation, realizing that it also involved him to some extent.
''I know Lucas said that he would handle it and message us about everything so we can rest, but if everyone is going to be there, then I want to go too,'' Touka said.
''If you feel well enough, I won't stop you. But, I'm sure everyone will question you where you got those injuries,'' Shadow pointed out, his comment causing Eclipse to freeze. The little alien could imagine the reaction Touka's teammates would have if they learned that he was responsible for those rashes.
''It'll be fine,'' Touka replied, not really caring about her injuries. Shadow sighed, well aware that Touka couldn't care less about getting herself injured as long as he was safe, and it appeared that this also extended to Eclipse. At least she agreed to Shadow's suggestion of using Chaos Surge and channel the Chaos Energy to heal the worst of her injuries. He refused to let her use more than necessary, since she still hadn't recovered fully from past day's events.
''That leaves us with one more matter to deal with,'' Shadow said, arms folded across his chest as he turned to Eclipse. The little alien's tail flicked nervously as he wondered what Shadow was up to. Sure, he could use the hive mind to read his thoughts, but something told him that this would anger his so-called brother.
''I guess Eclipse could come along,'' Touka said, much to Shadow and Eclipse's surprise.
''I don't think that's a good idea,'' Shadow replied.
''Me neither!'' Eclipse protested, even though he didn't know where they were going.
''I know, but unfortunately, I can't just leave you alone at home,'' Touka responded, placing her hands on her hips.
''I'll behave,'' Eclipse insisted. If Shadow and Touka were going to meet up with their friends, he was certain that he didn't want to come along.
''I have already talked to Lucas and the others, and they promised they would leave you alone as long as you don't cause trouble,'' Touka responded.
''But, what about the rest of the city? If I go out, they will all recognize me and attack me,'' Eclipse continued with his protest.
''Have you attacked anyone besides Shadow?'' Touka asked, leaving Eclipse silent for a moment.
''I… I didn't attack any humans,'' Eclipse answered, figuring that the Irregulars he ran into didn't count.
''That settles it, then. Considering how you had only focused on Shadow, this would mean that the rest of Neos City doesn't even know you exist. At best, they'll think you're just a weird lizard-like ARNav instead of the only surviving member of the Black Arms,'' Touka said. ''Besides, the city is too busy with recovering from the invasion to think about whether there were any Black Arms left. As long as you don't boast about your identity, you should be safe.''
Eclipse fell silent, aware that Touka was correct, but he still didn't want to leave what was pretty much a safe haven for him. On the other hand, he also understood that he couldn't remain inside forever. ''Where are we even going?''
''To the Taylor Workshop. Warren and Tails had been at CyExLabs the previous day to talk to some scientist they knew and they have some important news for everyone that they want to share,'' Touka explained.
''It appears that the Black Arms Invasion had some impact on Neos City, but we don't know what it is,'' Shadow added.
''I see…'' Eclipse muttered, assuming he would be blamed for this. He sighed, resigning himself to his fate.
xXx
Eclipse clung to Touka upon their arrival at the Taylor Workshop. It appeared they were the last ones to arrive as the rest of Team Neos was already there. They were just idling around, talking to each other and waiting for the meeting to start. Eclipse shuddered when he saw their gazes fall upon them, making sure to stay behind Touka. In the case of an attack, she would serve as a good meat shield. He grinned at the thought, but one glare from Shadow caused him to rethink his entire existence. He realized that he was more in danger from his biological brother than any other person in this workshop.
''How are you two feeling?'' Amy approached them, a bright smile on her lips, only to look a bit closer at Touka. ''What happened to you? You didn't have those scratches yesterday, right?''
''Heh, I actually fell on accident and scraped my skin. It's nothing you have to worry about,'' Touka assured her with a sheepish smile. Amy's gaze fell on Shadow, who had his eyes closed and arms folded, not responding, and then glanced at Eclipse, who was still hiding behind Touka. The little alien was startled by Amy's glare, refusing to explain the situation at all. Amy then sighed, realizing she wasn't going to get any response from them and then smiled again.
''If you're fine, I guess that's all that matters,'' she said, walking back to the rest of the group. Touka and Shadow followed her, while Eclipse breathed a sigh of relief, only to note how Touka had covered for him. It baffled him that she was willing to go so far for him, but he couldn't say that he didn't appreciate it. He joined the two, remaining silent as Warren and Tails fiddled with a holographic projection.
''Great to see that everyone's here now,'' Warren said. ''Sonic, Lucas, Silver, Makoto, Tails and I have a lot to share.''
''I'll start, since I'm sure everyone's probably curious about what the aftermath of the invasion was,'' Lucas said.
''You mean the stuff that wasn't in the news, right?'' Lily asked. Lucas nodded.
''Sonic and I have been contacted by Loki last night, who wanted to primarily thank everyone for helping in saving Neos City,'' Lucas said, with his teammates smiling in satisfaction. ''He also told us that he'd make sure no one would bother us about our part in the whole battle and that if it weren't for us, Neos City would've fallen.''
''He also wanted to personally thank Shadow, but we told him that you'd rather be left alone after such a hard battle,'' Sonic added, looking at Shadow, who just nodded in response. He protected Neos City because he the Black Arms needed to be defeated and because he wanted to save Touka, not because he was some hero awaiting gratitude from those he had saved.
''Loki had also informed us about the reports he got in regards to the damages to the city. Shockingly, there were no casualties, but there were many injured in their attempts at evacuation,'' Lucas added.
''From what I know, the Black Arms wanted to make us their snack, so killing too many people would not be good for them in the long run,'' Minami said in a matter-of-fact tone, causing Eclipse to wince. The fact that everyone seemed to be ignoring him was a miracle he was grateful for.
''I suppose the fact that Neos City also had built designed safe spots for civilians after Perfect Chaos' rampage had something to do with that,'' Knuckles said.
''That too,'' Lucas said, continuing, ''There was collateral damage, but Loki told us that it could've been much worse. He also informed us about the state of the Irregular Hunters, noting how the ARMS Agents are under investigation due to insubordination, specifically attacking Team Dark while they were searching for Chaos Emeralds.''
''Loki sounded really pissed off about that, even telling us that he'd prefer if we joined the Hunters, but we declined. He knows that we will help whenever something like this happens again,'' Sonic said. ''In fact, he told us that he'd prefer if we just went back to the good old days of fighting Eggman, since at least he focuses all of his efforts on us, not on the city.''
''Also, before you guys ask, no, Eggman can't summon Space Colony ARK nor the Eclipse Cannon again to threaten Neos City. We check, and that seemed to be a one and done thing,'' Lucas added.
''I'm still amazed that Eggman went out of his way to save the city,'' Knuckles said.
''He told us that he was doing it so he could conquer it by himself, so it's not that surprising,'' Tails replied.
''Speaking of which, Makoto and Silver also have some important information to share with us,'' Lucas said, with everyone's attention turning to the two.
''To start off, Metal Sonic can use his Metal Overlord form, and he actually wanted to reveal that during your next fight,'' Makoto said, turning to Sonic. Sonic just shrugged, not bothered by the news, to the surprise of of no one. Silver then stepped out.
''Aside from that, we had also fought Mephiles and Iblis, and while I had managed to destroy Iblis, it seems that Mephiles and Toshiro didn't see that as a loss,'' he said. ''I have a bad feeling that they're planning something, especially since Mephiles was supposed to fuse with Iblis to create Solaris, but he didn't do that during our battle.''
''Maybe it's because of his nature as an Irregular?'' Touka suggested. ''Iblis should exist as a separate entity from Mephiles, but he still managed to summon it back during our battle.''
''Whatever it is, I'm ready to face him again. No matter how much time it takes, I won't let Mephiles destroy the future,'' Silver said in a determined tone.
''We'll have to leave that for later, because Tails and I got some crazy news from Meijin,'' Warren said, only to get several puzzled looks. ''He's someone my grandfather mentored and he moved back to Neos City from overseas to study Irregulars.
''Meijin had told us that when CyExLabs was scanning Neos City for any damage on the AR Fields, they had found out something unexpected,'' Tails took over, showing a graphic of Neos City on the holographic screen behind him. ''You all know how an AR Field functions, so I won't explain that stuff. Point is, the AR Fields were all more or less functional, but another AR Field-like structure had formed in certain areas of Neos City.'' The image on the holographic screen shifted, showing a red layer covering all of Neos City. ''This is what it looked like just after the destruction of the Black Comet, when all of the changes the Black Arms caused to the environment, and this-'' Tails changed the image. ''-is what it looks like now.''
The group was surprised to see many red dots spread across not only Neos City, but also Infinity Forest.
''Meijin had told us that the red layer in the image was the remnants of data left behind by the Black Arms and that data then formed into those dots you see here,'' Warren explained. ''When they went to investigate what those amalgamations of data are, they only saw data particles in the form of a flame, and any attempts at interacting with them had no results.''
''They did analyze the amalgamation of data, and they found out that it had a similar structure to that of an Irregular ARNav,'' Tails added with a smirk. This revelation caused a few jaws to drop.
''What?!''
''Really?!''
''No way!''
''That's the conclusion they came to, but unless they can further interact with that data, which Meijin is referring to as Cyberspace Field, they can't learn more about it,'' Tails continued.
''Let me guess. You want to rope us in to investigate what this Cyberspace thing is, right?'' Sonic gave Tails a knowing look, smirking when he saw Tails' excited look.
''Just think of the possibilities of what we might discover! This has never happened before,'' Tails said, beaming.
''CyExLabs has actually issued a warning to the public to not approach the Cyberspace Fields, but that doesn't apply to us,'' Warren added.
''Knowing our team, we would've investigated them regardless,'' Lily said, drawing a few chuckles.
''Do you think Eggman knows about them?'' Knuckles asked, turning to Tails. The twin-tailed fox frowned.
''I wouldn't be surprised if he does,'' he answered. ''That's why it's even more important for us to investigate those Cyberspace Fields. We already know that Eggman has some control over AR Fields, so who knows what might happen if he figures out what those are.''
''Man, it's just the second day of our summer break and already so much has happened,'' Lily sighed, rubbing her temple.
''At least it's not going to be a boring summer,'' Amy said in an attempt to cheer her up.
''I guess that settles things. We're going to investigate the Cyberspace Fields,'' Sonic said, glancing at Shadow with a smirk on his lips. ''Bet I'll be the first to arrive there.''
''You really love to turn everything into a challenge,'' Shadow commented, shaking his head.
''That's because I know that you will go along with it,'' Sonic stated, only for Shadow to raise an eyebrow, leaving the cobalt hedgehog a little uncertain. ''Right?''
''Why should I accept when you'll be left behind in the dust?'' Shadow asked, a tiny smirk forming on his lips. Sonic snorted, giving him a half-lidded gaze.
''Because I know that you'll let me run circles around you,'' he said playfully, only for his ears to twitch when he heard Amy sigh in exasperation.
''Honestly, these two…'' she muttered.
''There is one more thing to consider,'' Shadow spoke up, lifting his hand. The group could see dark orange-reddish energy crackling in his palm.
''Wait, you still have your Doom Powers?'' Lucas asked, with Shadow nodding. ''I thought they would disappear upon Black Doom's demise.''
''So did I, but it appears that isn't the case,'' Shadow said, lowering his hand. ''Nevertheless, he can't influence me anymore.''
''Black Doom's influence aside, I think it's really cool that you got to keep those powers,'' Minami said.
''I prefer using my Chaos Powers over my Doom Powers, but I suppose they will be useful, especially since I now know that there is a possibility I won't have access to my Chaos Powers,'' Shadow said, glancing back at Eclipse. The little alien shot him a smug smirk, only to turn his attention to the rest of the group, feeling his anxiety growing when he realized that now everyone was staring at him. He was fortunate that they had been ignoring him for the most part, but he also knew that the confrontation was inevitable. He braced himself, only for the group to shrug it off, continuing to ignore him.
''I guess that we could split up to investigate those Cyberspace Fields separately. I don't think it would be necessary for all of us to go to one Cyberspace Field,'' Lucas suggested, something everyone agreed on, discussing who will go where.
Meanwhile, Eclipse was stunned that everyone pretended as if he didn't exist. Only a day ago, they had been fighting an invasion he was part of, and now they were acting as if nothing had happened. Frankly, he kind of felt offended by their carefree attitude, and he wanted to question them about it, but part of him feared that this would draw the wrong kind of attention. His paranoia was gnawing at his nerves, until he finally blurted out, ''Aren't you going to ask me anything?!'' Now that had the desired reaction, and while Eclipse still felt anxious about this whole thing, but he stood firm. ''Well, what's wrong? I'm sure you have something to say about me!''
''We actually do, but since Touka told us that you'd be uncomfortable with all that attention, we agreed we'd leave you alone,'' Minami explained in a blunt tone. Eclipse just stared at her in disbelief, with Minami giving him a cheerful smile. ''But, since you're already asking- How are Touka and Shadow treating you? I guess it's going to be a bit hard to adapt to living with them since they're not exactly the most approachable.''
Eclipse didn't answer because that wasn't the response he had expected. He expected hate, judgement, anger… not a question about his own wellbeing. He could hear Touka sigh, glancing back at her.
''Don't mind Minami. She's always like that… Also, what was that about being 'approachable'?'' she said, furrowing a brow. Minami just grinned back mischievously, sticking out her tongue.
''Well, someone has to break the ice,'' Minami told her. Meanwhile, Eclipse narrowed his eyes, staring back at them.
''What a bunch of weirdos…'' he muttered under his breath.
xXx
''This is an unexpected turn of events… But, at the same time I expected this to happen,'' Dr. Eggman muttered, observing the data he had gathered in regards to the Cyberspace Fields.
After the events of the previous day, he was back to scheming, when he saw a warning issued by CyExLabs to not approach the Cyperspace Spots that appeared all over Neos City. He immediately started investigating them, but aside from the fact that they were similar in structure to an Irregular ARNav but acted more like AR Fields, there wasn't anything notable about them. He was quite intrigued, wondering if he could take advantage of them, but he hadn't made any plans yet. Nevertheless, he knew that Team Neos would probably be drawn to those Cyberspace Fields and would attempt to learn more about them.
''If Team Neos is going to examine the Cyberspace Fields, shouldn't Metal and I also go?'' Ferra asked, who was standing behind him alongside Metal Sonic and observing the data on the large monitor before them.
''That would be the obvious response, but I'm curious about what Team Neos knows. I doubt they have more information than we do, but I'd like to see how they will interact with those Cyberspace Fields,'' Eggman replied.
'Our mission is to observe them, then,' Metal Sonic stated, not too happy about this order. After the Black Arms were gone, he wanted to go back to fighting Sonic, so this wasn't acceptable.
''Don't worry, you'll get your chance to curbstomp Sonic later on,'' Ferra assured him.
''You can go after them once you're done with gathering information,'' Eggman told the two, with Ferra and Metal Sonic nodding and leaving. The Doctor turned back to the monitor, furrowing a brow as he leaned back in his chair.
The Black Arms Invasion had caught him off guard, but he managed the situation quite well. Sure, he had to sacrifice some of his Badniks to fend off the aliens, but it wasn't anything he needed to worry about. Instead, what bothered him more was the fact that he lost any access to Space Colony ARK and the Eclipse Cannon, which could only manifest due to the presence of the Black Comet in what was it's own pocket dimension. However, the more he thought about it, the more he realized just how impractical the Eclipse Cannon would be. He wanted to conquer Neos City, not completely annihilate it, and even if he wanted to do the latter, he had no access to the Chaos Emeralds. In other words, the Eclipse Cannon would be completely useless.
Nevertheless, the situation left him contemplating about something else – the very AR Field-like pocket dimension the Black Comet was stuck inside and the environmental changes the Black Arms had caused thanks to their mere presence. He had already assumed that there might be some connection between that and the digital layer that remained after the Black Comet's destruction, which formed into the Cyberspace Fields.
He had his assumptions, and if they were correct, Neos City may have been in more trouble than they thought.
xXx
Lily, Knuckles, Makoto and Silver had arrived at a Cyberspace Field in Eas, finding it quite easily, as it was an amalgamation of red data particles in the shape of cubes floating above the ground in a flame-like shape.
''So, what should we do now?'' Silver asked. ''Tails and Warren are the ones who brought along the scanning equipment and they went to Kita.''
''I guess we should just try to interact with it.'' Makoto shrugged.
''Leave this to me,'' Knuckles said, striding towards the data particles and then promptly punched them, his arm going right through the data, much to everyone's bewilderment.
''Why are you punching that?'' Silver asked.
''It's simple. If I can punch it, then I can interact with it,'' Knuckles explained.
''That makes sense,'' Lily muttered in a deadpan tone. Knuckles waved through the data particles, but nothing happened.
''Seems like they can't be interacted with,'' he said, with Silver stepping next to him.
''Let me try something,'' he said, his hands glowing as he used his psychokinesis on the data particles in order to move them. A cyan outline formed around the red data particles, only to dissipate seconds later, much to Silver's disappointment. ''I had been hoping that this would work.''
Lily placed her hands behind her head, leaning on one leg as she gave the data particles a quizzical look. ''If CyExLabs nor Tails and Warren can figure out what this things is, then I doubt that we will.''
''It doesn't seem to be dangerous,'' Makoto said, approaching it and sticking his hand into the data, with his arm going right through them. He pulled it back, examining his arm. ''I didn't feel anything. It's as if there was just air. Not to mention, our AR Visors have no reaction to them even though we were told that they are similar to an AR Field.''
''So, what should we do now? Wait until something happens?'' Lily asked.
None of them had any answer to her question.
xXx
Amy swung her hammer, but none of her physical attacks caused any change in the data particles. She sighed, lowering her hammer and leaning against it. ''It's as if they're incorporeal, or something like that.''
''Warren and Tails said they're similar to an AR Field, but AR Fields don't behave like that,'' Minami said, furrowing a brow as she stared at the red data particles. She then turned to Touka, Shadow (who postponed his race with Sonic after it was agreed they'd be going with Minami and Amy) and Eclipse (who was more worried about the fact that there were people walking past them since they went to Sentoraru, even though they didn't pay attention to any of them and Touka assured him that they would believe that he was just another ARNav), clearly wondering if they had any ideas.
Shadow was the one to respond, his idea being to throw a Chaos Spear at the data particles, only for the the spear to pass right through them, leaving the dark hedgehog slightly disappointed. ''I assumed that it would respond to Chaos Energy, since it did emerge as a remnant of the Black Arms Invasion.''
''That thing has nothing to do with the Black Arms,'' Eclipse commented, giving Shadow a look that read 'You could've asked me that, dumbass'. ''I could've told you that.''
''Well, at least we know now that it has no reaction to Chaos Energy,'' Touka quickly interrupted, preventing a fight from breaking out considering the glare Shadow shot at Eclipse. ''But, it is a little weird considering how in an AR Field, whenever Shadow unleashed a burst of Chaos Energy, the Chaos Emeralds would form as a result.''
''Now that you mention it, the Chaos Emeralds did appear out of nowhere when the Black Arms invaded, right?'' Minami asked, with Touka and Shadow nodding, and then turned to Eclipse for an answer. After all, he was on the Black Comet at the start of the invasion and having been Black Doom's second-in-command, he would've known more.
''I don't have an answer to how the Chaos Emeralds appeared,'' Eclipse said, figuring that if he was already going to be here, he might as well co-operate. ''Black Doom just told me that they were already in this city and I had no reason to question him.''
''That would mean that something else triggered the appearance of the Chaos Emeralds,'' Shadow concluded.
''But, what could that be?'' Amy asked, getting no answer.
xXx
''Hmm…'' Tails hummed as he stared at the Miles Electric. The data he had gathered wasn't anything new, but he hoped that he would find something that would allow a breakthrough in their investigation. Meanwhile, Lucas, Warren and Sonic decided to take a more physical approach, with Sonic having some fun using the data particles as a target practice by curling into a ball and bouncing through it.
''It's not reacting to anything,'' Warren said, huffing in annoyance. Admittedly, if CyExLabs couldn't figure anything out, then their chances were just as low.
''At least we know it's not dangerous,'' Lucas said, only to tilt his head quizzically. ''Right?''
''No, it's not,'' Tails replied, not lifting his head from the device in his hands. ''But, I can't get any proper reads on it.''
''Maybe it's because we got here too early?'' Sonic suddenly suggested, having stopped messing with the data particles.
''What do you mean?'' Tails gave him a questioning look.
''This thing kinda reminds me of those cracks that appeared when the Black Arms invaded. You had told me that this was because they were changing the environment to fit their preferences, so I was wondering whether something similar is going on here,'' Sonic explained. Tails paused for a moment.
''I'm not sure about the bit about changing the environment, but I think you're onto something with us starting the investigation too early to get any results. The layer of data took some time to form into those Cyberspace Fields, so maybe they haven't just finished processing,'' Tails said.
''This would mean that we would have to wait and observe until something happens,'' Warren said. Sonic groaned audibly, much to the amusement of everyone else. He certainly wasn't the most patient person, so waiting like this was torture.
''How about I go for a run and you call me when something happens?'' he suggested.
Suddenly, the data particles he was standing next to started to glow, causing a startled Sonic to take a step away from them. To everyone's shock, the data particles expanded, consuming all of the area surrounding them followed by a bright red light.
''What's going on?!'' Tails shouted, shielding his eyes.
Then, as suddenly as it started, it ended. Warren and Tails looked around, realizing a moment later that Lucas and Sonic were gone.
The data particles remained unchanged.