Glitch was on the ground completely powerless. He lost most of the blood, and only his left hand was somehow usable. The rest of his limbs was reduced to stumps. The images from his childhood repeated in front of him.

The hopelessness he felt. The way the wind played with him like he was a rag doll. How his younger sister was smashed against a tree, her eyes empty except for last tears.

His body jerked, waking him up. He gasped for air, feeling cold and hot at the same time. His left arm reached forward, grasping the grass. With what he had left, he pulled his body for a centimeter before he lost the breath.

'I can't-'

He was too exhausted to think properly.

A shadow fell on him.

He very slowly looked up, expecting the silver hedgehog, but it was Sirius.

"So," the demon silently said.

"A chance..." Glitch muttered. "I'll do it, please!" he begged more. "I'll do anything! Please, give me stronger limbs!"

Sirius only shook his head. "Stronger limbs would suck you dry in no time. Your body wasn't meant to hold the demon's blood."

"No!" The broken hedgehog moved forward, digging his teeth in the dirt in order to help his left hand. "I'll till -guh- sim next aim!" he mumbled with a mouth full of dirt.

"I know." Sirius kept watching him.

His yellow eyes trailed the blood Glitch left behind. He was thinking when he felt weak fingers grasping him. He looked down.

Glitch's body was maybe broken, but not his determination. He was burning with the desire to fight.

"Your life-" Sirius started, but he was interrupted.

"Has no meaning to me!" The hedgehog lifted his head as best as he could. "Use me as you want!" His eyes turned hazy as the blood loss finally claimed its price.

"I see," Sirius stated.

After many long minutes, Silver finally reached the end of the bloody path he had found. His eyes searched the trees and bushes, but Glitch was nowhere to be found.

"Where is he?"

He stopped over the place where the trail ended. It was obvious his enemy stopped there, but somebody had to find him first. Silver bared his teeth and released a bark. All the hard work for nothing!

Now he had to return back without any results and making a report about his failure was the last thing he needed to do. Nevertheless, there was no way around it. He looked like he was chewed for thousand times, anybody would notice.

'Unless I sneak back.'

It sounded nice. It almost brought his famous smirk back, but he had to scratch it. This wasn't a small matter. This person could have a connection with Dr. Finitevus, and anything that could lead to him had to be reported to Mr. Nigel.

Meanwhile, in the headquarter, Eclipse headed to the roof. He tried to walk normally, but his strides were long, giving his anxiety away. He managed to avoid Amy since the morning. It was easy since she was still sleeping when he sneaked out.

He only put some pants on himself and grabbed a jar of cookies that lost half of its content before he reached the stair leading up. On his way, he met familiar faces waving at him and wishing good morning.

He waved back with zero confidence in his voice. The mouth full of cookies was a good disguise. He wondered how could those mortals feel so friendly around him. He didn't look like them at all.

He was scaly, but they had furs or feathers.

He was cold upon touch, but they were warm.

He barely curved his lips, but they had wide smiles.

He felt so alien here.

He wasn't supposed to belong here.

He was a creature of the night.

There was no place for him under the sun.

He gulped a big chunk of cookie. A small tear appeared in his eye. He wanted to be part of this world. It was so colorful and warm. The sounds around made him curious. He no longer searched for danger inside of them. He found many of them calming.

He stopped before a window, seeing the outside coffee. It was filled with many people. Waitresses were walking from one table to another. His nostrils sucked air catching a smell of sweet cakes or sandwiches they served for breakfast.

Eclipse sighed, glancing his transparent reflection. He tightened his jaws, hiding the sharp teeth the mask didn't cover. His eyes suddenly widened, and he looked behind. His free hand tightened into a fist.

He was alone. His ears searched for any steps, but nobody seemed to be running from him.

'Was it my imagination?' He looked at the window. 'Or a play of light?'

For a moment he thought he saw an ominous figure standing behind him. He let it be and continued on the roof. He needed to breathe. Despite this building had wide and tall corridors, he felt everything wanted to crush him.

There was no doubt in his mind it was because of Ashyss. He was there, getting restless.

'I shouldn't have transformed!' A whole cookie ended up in his mouth. 'I have to call my brother and ask him for help.'

"What-!" he gasped as he reached inside the jar, and his finger dug into something soft.

He pulled his hand, finding he hid a small croissant filled with strawberry jam inside. The demon smiled and took a big bite. Half of the snack ended eaten. His yellow eyes stared at the filling.

It was red just like blood.

He opened the door leading to the roof when pang in his stomach rendered him immobile. The jar fell on the ground, breaking into pieces. Eclipse fell on his knee. One hand hugged his stomach while the other crushed the croissant against the floor.

The world around him turned fuzzy, and his eyes couldn't focus on anything. Everything was covered by fog of flashing circles. However, that wasn't the worst. His head spun. The floor was all around him.

The stomach roared for emptying itself which Eclipse promptly stopped by tightening his jaws and tilting his head backward. Those cookies were too delicious to be thrown away.

Not even closing his eyes eased the spinning. It was maybe worse, so he opened them. Slowly, he sat and tried to control his breathing.

Deep inhale.

Counting till ten.

Deep exhale.

Deep inhale.

Counting till ten.

Deep exhale.

Repeating this simple exercise Master Tikal taught him helped after a few minutes to calm down his stomach. The world also assumed a less shaky position.

'What was that?'

Never in his life, he fell ill.

'Am I too tired?'

He found that possible as his body was a bit sluggish. The last hours were stressful.

'I hope I won't meet Silver today... or ever.' It was wishful thinking. There was no way to avoid him.

He continued with the breathing exercise for a bit longer until he felt completely in control of his body.

"Dang," he silently cursed as he saw his hand dirty from the strawberry filling. He proceeded to lick it. No way he was going to waste it.

As his tongue touched it, a taste of blood spread in his mouth. He abruptly retracted his tongue and covered his muzzle with both hands. Cold sweat covered his body.

'What?' he barked in his mind.

It was just strawberry jam! His eyes darted toward smashed croissant but there was a gutted baby instead. He shook his head, and the croissant was back.

He shivered. It scared him. His other hand reached for the cookies spread on the ground. He was sure he never had such squishy cookie before. Ones that were shaped like guts.

He shrieked and jumped away from the snacks. His breathing turned sharp. The heart inside of his chest threatened to break free. His fingers dag into his skin.

What was happening to him?

"I have to call my brother!" he snapped.

His eyes darted toward his right fist where his brother sealed the inner pocket. He tried to open it but it refused to spread the fingers. He waved with his arm a bit. It was weird! How it could be so clenched?

The fist tightened.

Strange electricity ran through his body. It wasn't Eclipse controlling his arm! Panic flooded his mind, and he tried to smash it against the roof. Before it reached the stone, his body twisted and landed on the right side.

He got up as the right hand dug into the roof. He caught it with his other hand and pulled. However, whatever held it in the place was stronger.

He used his legs too, and this time he unglued his arm. He made a somersault, and once he stopped, he waved with his hand.

"Huh?"

He moved with it more. He opened his fist and clenched it without any problem. The right hand again seemed to belong to him.

"What was that?" He gulped. "Was it... Ashyss?"

His eyes looked toward the open door. The floor was dirty from the crumbs and smashed pastry. There was no blood or guts.

"I have to call my-"

His body froze. An intense stare pierced him from behind. His body stopped working with the exception of his heart. For a second he could hear only his blood roaring in his ears. The stare was gone in the next heartbeat.

He turned around, but nobody was there. His mind once more drifted towards his brother, and the stare appeared. He wasn't able to respond. This time it felt more real.

'It's him...'

A shiver ran down his spine. He no longer doubted all the stares were from Ashyss that was waking up. The Eternal Eater must have been aware of the seal Sirius created and made sure Eclipse was unable to contact him.

The small demon fell on all fours.

'What... I'll do now?'

A wind blew around him, and it seemed a silent snicker was hidden within it.