A Spark of Hope

I See You With My Eyes Wide Shut

Shadow was the first to respond, using his air shoes to hover towards the location of the recent attack. Rouge and Omega followed behind albeit from far away, they weren't nearly as fast as him. On his way, he got a call from Espio. He answered, "What's going on?"

"Shadow, I saw something, someone, next to the victim. I think he may have something to do with the murder."

"What did he look like?"

"I'm not sure, he ran away before I got a good look."

"Which direction did he go?"

"North."

Shadow hung up, speeding faster to catch up to Eclipse. He zoomed past Espio but was pulled back when he heard his voice. "What's wrong?"

"I don't think he's alone, he's got four small ones with him. I only got a few good hits for him to leave a trail of blood to follow. Be careful, he could be dangerous."

"I already know who I'm dealing with." Shadow sped away following the thin trail of crimson blood leaving the chameleon confused.

It was just as Rouge speculated, Eclipse was behind the attacks and it appeared that he brought the other four aliens to harvest. Shadow continued to follow the trail to a river where a few rocks were stained with fresh blood. If Eclipse was at the river, he was trying to wash off the evidence. He looks around the area trying to find anymore blood to follow or signs of any direction Eclipse could've gone.

When he looked at the river again, it was stained with blood, he analyzed the water as it became more red. He walked along the stream and didn't have to go far to find Eclipse and the four smaller aliens washing the blood off. Without hesitation, Shadow threw a few chaos spears at Eclipse, but his reaction was well-timed, avoiding the attacks in time.

Eclipse grinned seeing his 'brother' again. He fused his arms with the small alien with a music note on its head. His hand turning his fingers into a lump with an eye at the end, shooting sound canons at him. He easily jumped out of the way, shooting more chaos spears at him, one of them aimed at his hand. Upon impact, his hands turned back to normal, with the small alien flying away in panic.

But another alien took its place, merging with him turning him all blue. The alien confidently launched himself at Shadow, but he was ready grabbing the alien's arm and throwing him at a nearby tree. Eclipse twisted his body like a cat to grab onto the tree, climbing up into its branches and hiding there.

Shadow threw a few more spears at the tree, eradicating its leaves, exposing the smaller aliens hiding but no Eclipse in sight. They seemed to be a trick for Eclipse to escape or hide. He frantically looked around, shooting more spears at the trees, shaking down the leaves. He thought to himself, "Damn, where is he?"

As though Eclipse read his mind, he jumped from behind scratching his back until he turned and threw another spear. Eclipse ducked and swiped at his feet but Shadow jumped, avoiding his attack in time. He felt something trickle down his back, it was the blood from the attack. He didn't have time to tend to his wound yet, he was being tackled by the alien who once called him brother.

Their hands colliding with each other, Eclipse aiming to punch his face in while Shadow held back his fists. The two struggled but it seemed Eclipse was having more joy than he, a devilishly smile grew on his face. The pain in his back grew as a tree branch under him poked him. He grunted, trying to ignore

He was kicked off by Rouge who arrived before Omega. She helped her friend to his feet quickly shifting their attention back at the alien. But there was no sign of any of the aliens, Omega observed the area before reporting to his friends. "There is no alien life form in sight. It appears he vanished."