Meanwhile, Shadow had his hands full with his possessed half-sibling. His attacks got more aggressive, and they gained on raw power. The ebony hedgehog learned it the hard way when he was slammed into a wall. However, instead of finishing him off or delivering the next blow the alien jumped back.

The hedgehog got out of the hole, seeing how Eclipse was checking his own body. Well, technically speaking, it was Black Doom doing the inspection.

"He has so much potential, but he can't tap it," he said, clenching his blue fists. "Free will is unnecessary!" A twisted grin appeared on his face. "I shall remove unnecessary parts of his consciousness."

Shadow shivered. Was Doom planning to do brain surgery? He growled, having the answer before his eyes. The leader of the hive-mind aliens was capable of doing something so cruel.

The Darkling smirked as he started to fire lasers, and the stripped hedgehog was forced into the defensive. Yet, he slipped under the shots, punching him into guts. The Darkling flinched for a moment, that was all Shadow needed for an upper-cut. The small body was cast into the air. At that moment the hedgehog realized he could use Chaos powers, as he called them out of the habit.

In his hand, he created a green, sparkling rod when Eclipse's body disappeared in the wink of an eye. The black hedgehog's body froze, realizing Black Doom warped in front of him, aiming the laser on his chest. With an evil grin, the shot was released. At the same moment, Shadow lowered his hand with the Chaos Spear, creating an explosion. The shock wave tossed both away, slamming them into walls.

The hedgehog coughed, getting on his feet. Through the smoke walked Eclipse. He was staggering, dragging his feet. The Darkling jerked his head, as his muscles screamed. They were sore from the strain Black Doom put on them with no regard to Eclipse.

The ebony hero shouted, "Why don't you fight me, you coward! You always hide behind others!"

Black Doom only laughed. "My minions are enough for you. I don't need to use his unique ability to block your Chaos Control neither his transformation," he snorted. "It's too imperfect for now, but I shall complete it." He snapped his fingers. "I know," he said in a happy sounding voice, continuing creepily as usual, "I shall capture you all, keep you alive, and extract your D.N.A.... very slowly," he added at the end, licking his lips.

The black hedgehog barked, "You dastard! You would torture the member of your kind?" It wasn't like he suddenly started to like his half-brother, but he hated senseless violence and cruelty.

"If he has free-will," he smirked, "it would be a shame not to let him enjoy it."

Shadow roared, punching him with a strength he never knew he had. It made the other fly backward, falling on the ground. Black Doom was about to shoot a new laser beam when the wisp left his body. "Weak bastards!" he yapped, kicking the eel away. "They won't last even for five minutes!"

Before the G.U.N. agent could do anything, mind-controlled Eclipse warped away to get new Dark Arm. He didn't care, there was a silver hedgehog standing in front of him. He grabbed the cube-wisp, forcefully fusing with him, and obtaining a sturdy, bio-armor.

He warped back while examining his blue body. "This is neat," he noted, "I may also start mass-producing these small fellas." He smirked at red-seeing Shadow who didn't hesitate to use his spin-dash attack to cause himself a headache, as the body-shield was hard as hell. The pain reminded him even Omega's claws shattered when he tried to eviscerate him in this form. However, the hedgehog didn't care. All he wanted was to punch Black Doom out of Eclipse's mind.

While was Shadow causing himself great pain with each blow, Silver was trying to stay alive. The black soldiers were coming from all sides, and the blocky wisp disappeared before he could do anything. He hurried toward the remaining wisps, putting them under his protection. Enemies or not, they were helpless, and he couldn't just sit idle and watch as the Black Soldiers tried to capture them.

"Take this!" shouted the young psychic, throwing boxes at them. He was making sure to take some down, although it didn't make him happy. This was the type of battle he hated the most, but there was no other way around it. Shadow explained to him those creatures were soulless puppets. They felt no pain, emotions, or remorse. They were nothing but biological weapons.

"There is no end to them," he murmured, seeing their number doubled. "We can't stay here!" He lifted his body and took the wisps with him, flying into the corridor. There he had met troops wielding laser guns but quick maneuvering, some tossed soldiers, and a lot of somersaults did the trick and got them through the passage.

"What about this!" he shouted at the latest group, taking away their thunder-like swords, stabbing and impaling them to the ground. He retreated further, finding an empty spot where he decided to take a breather. He leaned against the wall, looking at scared wisps. He was about to tell them something encouraging when a green flash blinded him for a second.

"Useless trash!" roared Black Doom's voice as he teleported for another Dark Arms. The exhausted Blurk was tossed on the ground.

The wisps screeched, seeing their beloved brother looking ruthless and cruel. He was always caring towards them, and even though he occasionally shouted at them, he loved them. Eclipse's cold and empty eyes fell on them, and cold shiver took control of their small bodies.

"Show me what you've got!" Possessed Darkling reached for Rhygenta. Silver snapped out of his shock, but he still was too late to stop him. However, Rhygenta was faster, avoiding his claws, sinking her tiny teeth into Eclipse's forearm while crying.

"You stupid tool!" he roared, and her small body was smashed against the wall. "How could he believe you could be useful?" Black Doom shouted before warping back, leaving them behind without a care.

"Are you okay?" Silver called her, kneeling in front of the black wisp, picking her up. There were tears coming from her big eye, but she wasn't crying because of her pain but for her friend. The young hedgehog gritted his teeth, looking at Blurk who wasn't able to lift his own body. 'That dastard!' he cursed him in his mind.

He got up, picking the hurt wisps with his telekinesis. "Let's go." He looked around, noticing a certain detail. "Wait!" His eyes widen as his brain proceeded that information. "Where is the fourth one?" He quickly checked them. "Where is... Cyzer, right?" he asked the flying Cregal who sadly nodded.

"What now?" the silver hedgehog mumbled. "How can I find him?"

The flying Dark Arm started to make a lot of noise, and it seemed he was trying to convey something urgent. Silver was watching him for a second, before asking, "Do you know where he is?"

The other nodded with happiness sparkling in his eyes.

"Then let's not waste any time! He may be in danger!" He followed Cregal who lead him further into the comet.

While was the time-traveling hedgehog looking for the lost wisp, Shadow was losing a breath. This fight was dragging for too long, but he wasn't able to deal a decisive blow. Thankfully, Eclipse was also affected.

"Well, well," said Black Doom, "this one doesn't have a bad endurance." He checked his body a bit. "I'll take my time breaking his body and perfecting his D.N.A."

"You sick monster!" barked the ebony hedgehog and leaped at him, kicking him from above, but his leg was caught, and Eclipse threw him away, smashing him into the wall. Shadow got dizzy for a moment. However, he still stood up. He looked straight into his eyes, noticing Black Doom was focusing on something different. He followed his line of sight, finding the eel wisp Cyzer was crawling away.

A cruel smirk appeared on Darkling's face, twisting it into a grimace. "A little worm is trying to live, huh?" His voice was cold.

The shiver ran down the black hedgehog's spine. Compared to Black Doom his half-brother looked like Samaritan. Eclipse dashed toward the helpless wisp, and Shadow did the same, trying to stop him. Nevertheless, that was something the leader of hive-mind expected and strong, swift round kick sent the G.U.N. agent flying.

The sinister laughter filled the room. "How predictable!" he noted. "Always rushing to save every pathetic creature you see."

The hedgehog was on all fours, coughing and holding his stomach. That hit was stronger then he expected. He jerkily lifted his head, seeing how the wisp was now in his grasp. "What do you want to do to him?"

Possessed Eclipse's face got twisted for a brief moment. "What?" His voice was full of disdain. "Even if I tell you, you won't understand!"

"Isn't he part of your kin?" he quickly added, stalling for time.

"A part of my superior race?" he barked full of anger. "This useless appendix," he strengthened his grip, making the poor Dark Arm squirm and yelp with pain, "needs to be taken care of before it infects the others!"

Shadow growled, getting on his feet. He knew he had only one shot if he wanted to save that wisp. Despite he was technically his enemy, there was no doubt who the real villain was.

Eclipse grinned. "What? You want to save this worm?" He squeezed it more and waved his hand. "Come and get it!" he mocked the ebony hedgehog.

The other roared, creating a chaos spear above his hand and throwing it. The Darkling's eyes widen as the spear was aimed at wall meters away from him. He couldn't help but look how it destroyed the wall, doing absolutely nothing to him.

"What were you-Uagh!!" he yelled as something sharp dug into his butt. He tossed Cyzer away, leaping from his spot to get away from the attacker while holding his backside. Once he landed, he looked over his shoulder.

"You?" he bellowed, looking at Cregal who struck him from behind. That trash dared to attack him! He turned to jump at him, but his jaw was punched by Shadow's tightly clenched fist.

"Already forgetting about me?" Shadow mocked him this time, but he knew those were empty words. He had hardly any chance of winning. Even if he defeats Eclipse, there were still troops of Black Arms, not to mention he had no idea where Black Doom was hiding now.

The ebony hedgehog quickly retreated to Silver who was checking on Cyzer. The flying wisp was standing guard in front of them, growling in Eclipse's direction.

"Any plan?" asked the younger hedgehog.

"Beat him to a pulp!" suggested his friend, and despite sounding confident, there was only a small chance they could survive this.

"I think, I've got an idea," whispered the young psychic, and based on his fierce eyes he was done with playing nice guy.

Shadow smirked. 'Who would have thought he can look dangerous, this cinnamon roll.' He shifted his attention to the possessed Darkling. "I'll keep him busy." He dashed at him without waiting for a reply.

"Still trying to avoid your fate?" Black Doom asked angrily, slowly losing patience.

"My words!" barked back the ebony agent, spin dashing and flinging him on the ground.

"Enough!" roared Eclipse, and his body got bigger. He gained more muscles, sturdy looking body plates, his claws become sharper, and on his head formed yellow crown-like structure.

"Ha!" shrieked the ebony hedgehog, "I thought you said you don't need his monster form to beat me!" he mocked him, making him angrier.

"It would be a shame not to test it!" He ran after Shadow, trying to hit him, but this time the hedgehog was keeping his distance.

This transformation was draining Eclipse fast, so he only needed to stall for the time. At the same time, he was making sure to keep him focused on himself, so Silver could have time to prepare his plan, whatever it was.

'Just be quick!' He leaped back, colliding with something. Before he could see what it was, two strong arms strongly hugged him. "Dang it!" cursed the agent realizing too late he bumped into the chest of Black Oak, getting trapped in its bear hug.

Black Doom laughed, lifting his tightened fist to deal a decisive blow.

"Hey, ugly!" shouted Silver, and a crate landed on Eclipse's top of the head. The box was shattered, having hardly any impact.

Eclipse felt annoyed, so he slowly turned back, saying, "Was that supposed to-UAGH!" he yelled as a much sharper projectile burrowed into his forehead, shattering the crown, shaking with his brain.

"No, this was!" answered the psychic, seeing the huge body fell on Black Oak holding Shadow. Thankfully, the agent was able to escape at the last moment, landing on all fours. "You okay?" Silver, who was rushing to him, called him.

Shadow got up. "Warm me next time when your plan includes crushing me," he answered with a small smile.

"I thought ultimate lifeform can handle such trivial matter," replied amused psychic, earning a wavy smile from his companion. It wasn't every day he could say that.

"What did you hit him with?" The agent checked his body, finding no serious injury.

Cregal shakily flew to them. "I have had help. I engulfed this wisp with my power, shielding him, and giving him an extra edge."

"Hmm, clever." He had to admit that was a good idea. Hitting Eclipse in the head was the best shot they had. And speaking of him, he heard him got up on his feet cursing.

"You wretched creatures!" roared Black Doom, officially ticked off to the max. He could tell the temporary body was reaching its limit. The biological armor was torn down, and he was covered with some yucky substance.

"Just let him go already!" shouted Shadow, dashing there.

The silver hedgehog bit his lip, he was hoping that hit would free Eclipse from the control. 'What can I do?' There was no way he would risk smashing his skull, and he was sure Cregal hadn't recovered for another shot, and the same tactic couldn't work. He could only watch how those two were fighting.

His stomach voice a query for some food. "Oh, come on, this is no time for eatin-- Eating?" His eyes widen as a sudden thought hit him. "I can try that!" He flew towards them, leaving the confused wisp behind.