Silver's eyelids twitched, and he subconsciously jerked with his fingers. His brain was sluggish, unable to command his limbs, so he concentrated on his breathing, feeling a yawn escaping out. He slowly lifted his hand, rubbing the drowsiness out of his eyes. The pointy ears pricked, not hearing anything particular or familiar.

His brain accepted the fact he was sitting, so he leaned forward, hitting with forehead some smooth surface. "Ouch," he muttered realizing one annoying fact. "My head... it feels like my headache has a headache," he mumbled, finally squinting. Once more he rubbed his eyes, opening them and squinting in front of himself. "A glass?"

"Done with your beauty sleep?" asked annoyed Shadow.

"My what...?" The young psychic looked his way. The other hedgehog was standing, leaning inside of a glass tube with a pedestal. The younger hedgehog winked, turning his head around at least comprehending the situation, not even noticing his own coffee face.

He slowly stood up as he felt there were pins and needles in his legs, making the simple process quite unstable and painful. The room around them looked like a laboratory built inside a gigantic stomach. There were cables of different thickness, running from their pedestals along the ground ending in the meaty walls. He noticed some pipes as well, but his interest was laying on the strange gel-cocoons that were positioned across the walls. He just hoped nothing would hatch from them.

"How did we get here? Where are we?" the psychic asked. Weren't they in a bunker just a few minutes ago? And how long they were here?

Shadow snorted being clearly annoyed, but he still replied, "Welcome aboard Black Comet, genius," his voice was sarcastic. However, the biggest part of his annoyance was directed at himself. How could he overlook the possibility of Black Doom contacting Eclipse? 'I should have killed him,' he cursed in his mind. Now was too late for it. He tucked his head between shoulders trying to think of a way out.

"So what now?" Silver touched the cold surface of the tube. "Can you break this glass?" He was feeling down, knowing this was mostly his mistake. If he paid more attention, they might not end up in Black Arms' clutches.

"No, Eclipse is blocking my Chaos Control, and my raw strength can't put a dent in it. What about your psychic abilities?" There was still hope in that.

"I feel pretty wonky, but give me a couple of minutes, and I'm ready to go." He tried to sound confident but the headache wasn't going away, so he pressed his temples to speed his recovery.

Suddenly, the opposite wall spread out creating an oval opening.

"I don't think we can afford such luxury," Shadow frowned, growling towards the coming figures. "What did we do to be honored by your ugliness?" asked the black hedgehog sarcastically as Black Doom and Eclipse came closer.

"I see you are still impudent just like your version in this universe," replied the leader of the man-eating aliens.

The young time-traveling hedgehog shivered, pressing his back against the glass. If he thought the others were scary, this one was absolutely creepy.

He had big horns, three crimson eyes which were glowing, strong and clawed hands, torn-like clothes with heavy looking necklaces and hanging accessory and no legs. He was just floating above the ground.

The Darkling came closer to Silver's tube placing his clawed hand on the surface and gently saying, "I'm sorry about this, 'brother' but we will let you go soon." Dark Arms were with him and given their happy smiles, they must have been informed about this little discovery.

"Brother? What do you mean?" barked Shadow, turning towards them.

His half-sibling frowned, growling back, "I mean, I found out I have another 'brother'. 'Brother' that is much better than you!" he hissed at the end pointing at him.

The silver-furred hedgehog was trying to make himself invisible by tugging his head between shoulders, silently mumbling, "It's not nice to point at others."

"Silver can't be!" the ebony hedgehog snapped.

"He is!" The younger alien stomped his leg, huffing. "He can harvest our plants and eats their fruit too!!" He took a deep breath.

Shadow was for a few moments silent before shouting, "You have eaten what?" His anger twisted his face with big frown and baring teeth.

The psychic lifted his head, feeling indignant. "Excuse me," he started with a sarcastic tone, "but normal lifeforms like us like to have at least one decent meal per day. Not to mention, I never had a chance to be picky about my food!" he barked a bit at the end.

Such was the truth. As far as he remembered, he was alone searching trash cans and bins for anything edible, there were even times when he had to steal from others.

The ebony hedgehog didn't stop frowning, but he had to admit Silver was right. He had heard about him how it worked in the future, and this kid didn't have an easy childhood. Still, the thought of eating that cursed fruit was making him disgusted.

Eclipse very well noticed his foul mood and added and oil into the pan by saying, "And he promised to join us!"

"What?" barked the other hedgehog, punching the glass tube making the time-traveler shudder and jumped away from him, only if there was more space for it.

"But his appearance..." Black Doom was thinking out loud.

The Darkling turned towards him not wanting to miss this chance. "It's because his blood is weak. I'm sure if he gets a fresh dose he will look normal."

The leader said nothing, only slightly holding his chin in a thinking manner.

"Isn't that overkill?" The silver psychic leaned against the back glass.

Eclipse scratched his cheek like a naughty child, calming his new bother, "Don't worry, it won't hurt." He returned back to the second capsule. "I don't wish to lose another 'brother'." With a whispering voice, he added, "Please, stay with me."

The psychic's amber eyes were twitching, moving from one person or object to another. This was bad! Superbad! What was he supposed to do? He glimpsed some metal-like boxes and other stuff. The eyes flashed down noticing the pedestal was having a panel with buttons and some touch screen area or what that was.

"So..." the young hedgehog silently started, "I'm your brother, am I?"

"Yes!" Eclipse strongly nodded, clenching his fists.

"And your blood will... do what to me?" He slightly pointed at himself.

Eclipse was more than happy to explain it to him, "You will gain the mind-link to our master Black Doom and to me. And not just that, you will acquire the ability to command any Black Arms' troop or soldier." He was talking so fast he had to take a deep breath to not turn purple. "But more importantly, you will get the proper colors. Then you will be a true part of our kin."

It seemed the hedgehog was thinking about it. "And my psionic powers? How they will be affected?"

The Darkling made a wide cheesy smile. "They will be even more awesome! You will be able to do much more with them."

"I see..." he muttered in a thinking manner.

"Don't even think about it!" shouted Shadow, kicking and punching the glass in futile attempt to break it.

"Be quiet, you traitor!" barked Eclipse, slashing a hand in his direction.

"The color change... does it include physical transformation?" The psionic hedgehog asked with his fingers forming a tilted triangle.

"Em," the young alien needed a second to think about it, "I guess. I'm sure we can arrange that."

"Yahoo!" he squealed like a small girl, jumping in the air. "That means I can get rid of this stupid quill-cut!"

The ebony's red eyes widen. He couldn't believe his own ears. Was Silver really moving to the dark side?

"I kind of like it, but if you wish so, it can be arranged," noted Eclipse happily.

The newest member of the Black Arms stopped jumping, turning towards Shadow, making a long nose. "No more 'that maple-hog'!"

"What? What the heck you mean by that!" The offended hedgehog kicked the glass with renewed strength.

"I mean, I finally found the place where I belong." He looked at his palms. "I have never understood, why I have this power. No one was like me. It was so... frustrating."

"Are you crazy? These guys are nothing more than monsters!" he yelled almost breaking own voice.

"What can you know? Some fake hedgehog can't understand me!" Silver barked back being unusually aggressive, then he turned towards Black Doom with a determination reflecting in his amber eyes. "Let's get on with it." Eclipse was jumping in the air with his Dark arms dancing around him. This was such great news. "And can you let me out. You know... small spaces... claustrophobia..." The psychic fidgeted, showing great anxiety.

"Just a sec," Eclipse pushed some buttons on the pedestal, and the glass dissolved or sank into the ground. It happened so fast it was hard to tell. The hedgehog stepped down.

"Now, let's us proceed, our new member," said Black Doom who was mostly observing. Whether this being had a Black Arms' blood in its veins was irrelevant. It was his strange power that counted. Once harvested, his kind would move to a new level, gaining new abilities. They were slowly walking and levitating towards the door.

Just a few steps behind him were Eclipse and Silver whose right hand was tightly hugged by the other. "You know," whispered the alien, "let's keep this fluffy fur. It's so nice." He rubbed his forehead against it.

"No problem," he answered, and his left hand started to glow. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

These silent words made the alien lift his head and say, "What do you me--?" His sentence was cut short as a big box engulfed by blueish aura hit him in the temple, shaking his brain. The alien shrieked, being tossed on the ground with astonished Dark Arms following him.

"Chaos Control!" shouted Shadow and warped outside of the tube. He immediately created a number of Chaos Spears and threw them at Black Doom, but the big alien flew higher avoiding all of them. The young psychic tried to hit him with at least one box, but they all ended up on the wall.

Shaken Eclipse squinted at the duo. "H-How? W-Why?" he asked with a trembling voice. He tried to get up, but his legs refused to listen to him.

"Did you forget our last fight?" Shadow answered his first question. "With enough big shock to your brain, you will temporarily lose your blocking ability. I have made sure Silver knows about it." With these words, he skated after Black Doom, trying to hit him in a close-combat but his body kept phasing, disappearing and emerging at a different location across the huge room.

"Aren't you, our... my 'brother'?" he whispered to the other hedgehog with his vision still slightly blurry.

"I'm sorry, Eclipse, but I can't be your brother like that. I have a future I have to protect no matter what." Silver's voice was firm, but there was uncertainty in his eyes. He felt guilty for using the young Darkling's hopes like that.

A loud noise made them look up. Shadow slammed into the wall cracking it, but Black Doom still seemed unharmed. "So it was an act, huh?" he muttered, not sounding too surprised. He must have counted with that possibility.

The ebony hedgehog skated along the wall looking for an opening. "Silver would never admit his quills are stupid," he said with a smirk, attacking the big alien with a spinning homing attack. However, his opponent again phased into space. "Blast it!" cursed the G.U.N. agent upon landing, looking around to locate him.

The psionic hedgehog's surprised shriek showed him the right direction as Black Doom appeared behind standing Eclipse.

"Now I see," he said, "I was questioning myself why aren't you bound to hive-mind, Darkling." His voice sounded colder than usually giving goosebumps even to Eclipse who leaned his head back. "I was foolish to think there may be anything in it." He grabbed the small head, digging the sharp claw into the skin.

The small alien yelled with pain and tried to get free. "Wait! What are you-! Gyaaah!" he screamed even more as the leader forced his hive-mind control over him.

After a few seconds, the big hand let go. "Now, that's better," noted the leader of black Arms, feeling satisfied.

The yellow eyes of the small alien were empty, and his voice sounded somehow artificially. "I live and serve to my master Black Doom."

"Now go and destroy that black hedgehog!"

"Yes, master." His hand grabbed astonished Cyzer, giving his hands thick and blue gloves-like armor. On the palms, he got one big eye which was capable of shooting laser beams. There was no hesitation in his behavior and Shadow was forced to retreat. He had never seen him so aggressive.

"Did he just brainwash him?" shouted Silver and his urge to hit Doom into a face was rising. How could he be cruel towards the member of his race?

"Don't worry, white hedgehog," chuckled the monster.

"I'm a silver hedgehog. Do you have that third eye for decoration or what?" barked at him the young psychic in an unusual sarcastic manner. His hands were engulfed by the bluish aura, and he took a fighting stance.

"Impudent creature. Soon I'll harvest not just your powers but your life too," roared the leader of the hive-mind. With a wave of his hand, he called his minions who entered through the oval door. Silver very well recognized the ones from the outside. Most of them were smaller, and he guessed those were the most common pawns. The bigger aliens had spikes growing from the spine and carried thunder-like swords. The hedgehog really hated their empty yellow eyes. It was creeping him out.

There was a momentary stare between them before the soldiers dashed towards him like a wave.

"Uh, oh!" the young psychic gasped, flying above their heads, trying not to be hit by laser shots. "You won't bring me down!" he shouted, trying to sound convincing and confident; two things he was utterly lacking. He lifted metal boxes, tossing them down, but they were shattered in the air. Not even one hit them.

"Oh, crud," he whispered. His confidence kissed him goodbye. 'I think I have a problem here,' he muttered in his mind.

Winning might be impossible.