The psychic overcame the distance in a matter of seconds and appeared from behind Shadow. His hands pinned Eclipse to the ground. Before anyone of them could react, Silver grabbed Darkling's head and slammed their foreheads. His bluish aura engulfed both of them. Their faces twisted in spasm and a long, sharp yelp escaped from Eclipse's throat.

After long seconds, the aura was gone, and they gasped. The young psychic slid down on the floor next to the Darkling.

Shadow quickly dragged him away, asking, "What have you done?"

The time-traveler tiredly smiled. "I kicked him out of the brain," he whispered, getting on his trembling legs.

The ebony hedgehog looked into Eclipse's eyes, seeing the usual spark was back.

"What--?" the Darkling weakly said with his real voice.

His body was shivering, and the tiniest movement was causing him pangs. He started to cry and tried to crawl away.

"Don't move, you will hurt yourself," Silver soothingly said, kneeling next to him.

"I have..." his voice was hardly audible, and tears poured from his eyes in endless streams. "How could I..."

"No, no!" the psychic ensured him. "That wasn't you!" He was now sure Black Doom let Eclipse see and hear everything he had done to his family.

Shadow was watching them in silence, and his fists were shaking like crazy. Such cruelty! There was no way he would let Black Doom get away with it.

"Take care of him!" he loudly said to his friend. "I have got another business to attend!" he growled, dashing at tremendous speed into one corridor.

"O-Oka..." Silver's voice died, realizing Shadow couldn't hear him anymore.

He looked around. This room was empty, but it could soon be full of Black Arms, so he picked all of them to find a safer place.

He flew quite a distance, noticing no soldiers or warriors was after them.

'How strange,' he thought. 'Is Black Doom thinking he can beat us without any help?'

While it was hurting his pride, you wouldn't hear him complaining. However, it was causing him worries, it meant Black Doom was confident in his victory, they, after all, were tired.

He turned one corner after another, unable to orientate in this meaty labyrinth, but finally, his amber eyes glanced a small cavern under the ceiling.

'This place will do.'

He headed there, putting them down, making sure they were together. Eclipse was for the whole time whimpering and sobbing, hardly noticing what was happening around him. His weak hands reached for Rhygenta, pulling her closer. The Darkling's breathing was irregular, and hoarse sounds occasionally escaped from his throat.

Silver watched him, and his anger rose to another level. He was never looking for a fight, but this time he was willing to make an exception. He turned on his heel and flew forward.

Soon he realized he was completely lost in a big room he had no idea if he already visited or not. He scanned the place, but all paths looked the same.

'Crud!' His eyes tried to determinate the right path. 'Which way to go?' His tightened fist loosened up a bit.

 Around the same time, Shadow finally found the central room of the Black Comet, bursting heavy metal door like nothing.

"Ever heard of knocking?" asked him mockingly the leader of hive-mind.

The ebony hedgehog wasn't in a mood for sassy answers, as he wanted to tear this alien apart.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted, and a green rod of energy was shot in the alien's direction. However, it only hit the ground as Black Doom became invisible and invulnerable for a few moments.

"You coward!" the hedgehog barked, looking around.

His ears were turning like crazy, trying to pick where would Black Doom phased out. Shadow was sure he would try some dirty tricks. His eyes inspected the room, glancing columns, gel cocoons on the walls, and a big, creepy looking throne.

"Why to hurry when we can savor our meeting," sounded the eerie voice through space.

A cold sweat ran down hedgehog's spine as he heard something was using the transporting lines. He held his breath, and from the cocoons emerged the hugest Black Arms he had ever seen.

Their bulky bodies overflowed with muscles were completely black except for heads that were covered with bright red scales. Shadow was sure they weren't slowpokes despite their size. Neither of them carried any weapon, and that meant their forte was hand to hand combat, so getting caught in their claws meant certain death. One was bad news already, but five of them were worthy of the front page.

The black and red furred hedgehog bristled, and a few drops of sweat appeared on his forehead. A low growl escaped his lips as he recognized it was one of them that knocked him out in the underground shelter.

"I see you like my latest specimen," Black Doom noted sarcastically, who appeared above the new type of warriors. "I call them Black Masters. Can you guess why?"

The ebony hedgehog's ears pricked. Somehow that question was creeping him out. "Masters?" he slowly repeated.

"Yes, Masters," the levitating alien assured him. "I named them after a particular gemstone." A sinister snicker escaped him.

Shadow bristled even more, and his fists were so tight that the gloves were on the verge of bursting. This was the worst news he had ever heard.

"I should have come here sooner if I knew there was such a power source," the alien added, his third eye slightly narrowed in amusement.

For a short while, Black Doom glanced at his newest creations. It took him a long time to cultivate them. He made countless experiments since the power of Master Emerald was beyond his belief. It was hard to control it, and that resulted in many specimens ending with an explosion.

The evil alien chuckled. "Don't bother searching for those lesser Chaos Emerald. I have made sure to completely harvest their powers. They are now just pebbles."

He threw his head back and laughed. When he stopped, an eerie silence spread across the room. "And now... be destroyed!" Doom waved his hand, and the battle started.

Black Masters were fast, too fast for Shadow's taste and expectation. They were able to keep up with him thought he was faster.

'Dang!' he cursed in his mind, avoiding a jab.

The reason they were able to keep up with him was that of their synchronization. They were keeping him busy while throwing simple attacks. This tactic was meant to tire him down and block him from gaining proper momentum.

The ebony hedgehog clenched his fists, and with bark he spin-attacked one giant, hitting him straight between huge eyes. The black ball bounced back, landing a few meters away. Shadow winced as his back experienced pain despite his quills shielding him. That Black Master merely looked at him, showing no reaction. Silent laughter, belonging to Black Doom, could be heard, showing his amusement of Shadow's futile attempts.

'Their skin is tough!' Shadow barred his teeth, unwilling to give up.

A loud growl escaped him, and in his hand appeared a green rod formed by Chaos Energy. He grabbed it, swinging with it. The stroke aimed at the alien's throat, but the blade was caught in the last moment. Black Master slammed the hedgehog into the floor.

That impact left him groggy and dizzy. He knew he was in trouble, but his body refused to react.

"It's time for you to become part of my new conquest!" bragged Black Doom with a hint of laughter in his voice.

His three eyes were focusing on Black Master who was standing the closest to lying Shadow. The hedgehog was trying to get up, but his body was sore, moving too slowly. The Black Master lifted his clenched fist and swiftly burrowed it into the ground, shattering it.

"What?" snapped the hive-mind. His head turned towards a silver hedgehog who was panting. Shadow was next to him engulfed by a bluish aura.

"Guess I made it!" murmured the young psychic, letting his friend down.

The G.U.N. agent took a few deep breaths before speaking, "What are you doing here? You were supposed to stay with Eclipse!"

"Geez, no need to thank me for saving you from turning into a pancake," the other jested a bit, and the black hedgehog replied with an apologetic smile.

"How did you find me?" Shadow inquired, feeling grateful for the younger hedgehog's assistance.

Silver slightly shrugged his shoulders, looking a bit guiltily.

"I think, my possible connection to those guys came in handy. I was able to connect my mind to this," his eyes traveled from one corner of the room to another, "place and find you. And you don't want me to describe how I felt." He placed a hand on his stomach.

"No time for that," Shadow merely stated concerned about the Black Masters. "We have bigger problems."

"Any idea who are those?" Silver took a fighting stance.

"Black Arms powered by Master Emerald," the ebony hedgehog interposed.

Silver's eyes widened as he gasped, "You're kidding, right?"

"I wish I was," Shadow dryly replied.

"Any plan?" He looked at them as they were slowly getting closer.

Black Doom wasn't in a hurry to obtain a victory. He must have preferred slow torture and doing so to his enemy was definitely his top priority.

"Hit them fast, hit them hard, and be done with it," answered Shadow almost sarcastically.

The young psychic took a deep breath. "I can work with that."

"Done with your last words?" mocked them a hive-mind leader, sweeping his right hand in outward motion, sending his soldiers forward.

Shadow roared, darting ahead with a clenched fist, hitting the first one into a jaw. The ebony hedgehog hissed as his knuckles were in one fire. The Black Master was hardly fazed, and Black Doom merely chuckled.

Silver quickly grabbed his friend, taking him from their punch-range, only to find out another one moved behind him. He put up a shield, embracing for the immediate impact that threw them backward on the floor.

The battle was heating up and no one, not even Black Doom, had any idea where Eclipse disappeared together with Cregal, leaving his wisps without protection. On the other hand, the hive-mind leader hardly paid any attention to half-beaten trash.