//------------------------------// // Shadow Fall // Story: Sonic and EQG: Total Eclipse // by SonicAKG //------------------------------// Shadow Fall Shadow was walking through the city of Canterlot. As he did, he noticed all the decorations that had been prepared for Familial Day. It was anything but subtle. The residents were clearly going all out for this special occasion. Seeing this reminded him of his earlier encounter with Sunset Shimmer and how she had made an effort in an attempt to understand what he was going through. "(After seeing what's in my mind, she can now see that this something beyond her comprehension. This something only I can deal with)." He thought to himself. But truth be told, Shadow himself didn't quite have the answers to his problem either. As Shadow continued to walk , he suddenly stopped in his tracks as a scent came across his nose. The scent was quite sweet and freshly made, indicating it was something that had been baked. Normally, Shadow didn't really have an interest in baked goods. Pinkie Pie always bombarded him with cupcakes and whatnot and maintained a neutral attitude towards it. However, to Shadow, this scent was pleasant and appealing to him. He then felt a sudden craving in his chest, much to his confusion. "(What is this feeling? I feel like I just can't ignore that scent I just smelled.)" Shadow thought in a puzzled tone as he took a whiff again, making his desire stronger. "(Hmmm, I should probably follow the smell to make sure this feeling doesn't annoy me later on.)" Shadow then began to follow the trail of the smell. It wasn't too far away and Shadow found himself standing in front of Sugar Cube Corner after taking a couple of steps. The scent was much stronger as Shadow faced the door. He then opened the door to enter the restaurant. It was looked pretty empty except for two people sitting in the window seats. At the Cashier was Mrs. Cake, who was putting down a plate of freshly baked strawberry Swiss Rolls, which were smoldering. Shadow eyes then turned to the cylinder shaped treats as he identified them as the source of the smell from earlier. "Oh, hello there, Shadow!"Mrs. Cake called out as she waved to him in a welcoming manner. Shadow's response was to walk up the cashier. "Mrs. Cake." He greeted before he turned to the Swiss Rolls. "What are those?" "Oh, these are a fresh batch of Swiss Rolls I just made. Would you like to try one?" Mrs. Cake answered as she offered the plate to Shadow. Shadow felt that strong craving again as he looked at the plate. He then stuck his hand out as he took one of the Swiss Rolls. He then brought to his mouth as he took a bite. Once he did, Shadow's eyes widened as the strawberry filling melted in his mouth and his taste buds danced after he swallowed it. This was.....good. "You like it?" Mrs. Cake asked. "This is...adequate." Shadow replied before he finished off the Swiss Roll, tasting the delicious flavor once more. After that, he then reached his hands into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "I'll take them all." He requested as he pulled out some cash, much to Mrs. Cakes surprise. "Oh. Are you certain? I mean, I was-" Mrs. Cake started before Shadow cut her off. "I'll take them all." He repeated as she now looked into his eyes. She could tell that he really wanted these Swiss Rolls. "Well, if you insist." She agreed as she took the Swiss Rolls and placed them all in a small box, which she then handed to Shadow. Shadow then paid for his treats and he then turned to leave. "Happy Familial Day!" Mrs. Cake called out but Shadow didn't respond to her at all. As Shadow was about to leave the Sugar Cube Corner, he saw on the other side of the door was a middle aged woman with brown skin. She had thick brown curly hair and blue earrings as she wore a large white necklace. A large coat draped her entire body as she had multiple bags in her hands. She looked like she was struggling to open the handle to the door due to the amount of bags she had. Shadow noticed this and opened the door, much to the woman's relief. "Oh, thank you so much, young man! It was a hassle with all that I was carrying." The woman said as she entered and stopped to thank Shadow. As she did, she then began to observe Shadow before her face broke out into a smile. "Oh, you're, Shadow, aren't you?" The woman suddenly stated, as Shadow raised an eyebrow. "You know me?" He asked in a slightly confused manner. Aside from the Sonic and the others, Shadow didn't talk to anyone in Canterlot. "I should introduce myself. My name is Matilda. I'm the wife of Cranky Doodle. He's a teacher at CHS." The woman introduced. "I also happen to be friends with Pinkie Pie and we chat every now and then. I recognized you from one of the pictures she showed me. She talks a lot about you, you know? "Does she now?" Shadow responded in a neutral tone. "You bet. She always goes on and on about how such a great friend you all. She tells me how she'd love to see you smile one day! Isn't that just lovely? You're lucky to be such good friends with someone like here." Matilda elaborated. "I...suppose." Shadow replied. He started to remember all of the antics Pinkie did for him. Surprise cupcakes, hugs or hello's out of nowhere. Organizing attempted parties just for him, not to mention the dozens of gifts he received on different occasions. Before Shadow could dwell on the matter any further, he suddenly heard a beeping sound coming from his wrist as he looked down towards it. He then gripped it and faced Matilda. "Ma'am, I have an important call I need to answer. If you'll excuse me." Shadow said as he quickly walked past Matilda into the city, causing her to watch him as he left. "Oh, all right. We'll chat some other time!" Matilda called out as a smile rested on her face. "What a nice young man." Shadow walked in Canterlot for a while before he pulled himself into an empty bus stop. He then teleported in a green flash. Shadow then reappeared into his usual spot behind the forest near a small body of water located near the outskirts of the city. He put down his box of Swiss Rolls and thenplaced his wrist near his mouth after he clicked it. "This is Agent Shadow." He answered. "Shadow, am I glad to hear from you." Rouge's voice said with relief from the other side. She was also an agent of G.U.N like Shadow and also happened to be one of his closest friends. "Rouge? What's going on?" Shadow inquired. "Am I needed for some assignment?" "Shadow...you're really not going to like this. Eclipse has escaped." Rouge informed, making Shadow's eyes widen with panic at what she had just said. "What?!" He nearly yelled. "Yeah, he escaped from G.U.N custody earlier today while his ship was being investigated." Rouge explained. "Are you serious?! I told them that he should have been finished off! The Black Arms are not something you mess around with?! Why didn't they listen?!" Shadow expressed with frustration as he clenched his fist tightly. Rouge sighed. "You know how G.U.N can be sometimes." She dryly said. "Do they have any idea of his whereabouts?"Shadow demanded. "Unfortunately, no. G.U.N wasn't able to track him down. However, we have reason to believe he will likely come after you, seeing as you are responsible for his imprisonment. Not to mention killing off his race." Rouge said as Shadow's face darkened. "Then let him come! I can end him on my own!" Shadow confidently boasted. "Wow, hold on Shadow. First, if Eclipse is anything like you told me and adding to the fact that he's Black Arms, he's extremely dangerous. Second, when he escaped, I was informed he wasn't alone. There were 4 unidentified creatures with him or something that came from his ship and are responsible for his escape. It's too risky for you to handle Eclipse on your own. If you find him, do not engage." Rouge ordered, much to Shadow's disbelief. "Rouge, you can't be serious. I can handle Eclipse!" Shadow insisted. "Shadow, please. Eclipse poses a huge danger to you. We plan on sending a team on the lookout for him. I repeat, don't go after him alone, got it?" Rouge elaborated, making Shadow grumble silently. "....Fine." He begrudgingly agreed. "That's good. If you hear anything, contact G.U.N as soon as you can, ok? And please don't do anything stupid or try to get yourself killed? I'm going to do some more investigating on the escape, try to find more leads. Rouge, out." Rouge said as the transmission ended, leaving Shadow alone. Shadow then crossed his arms with an irritated look. Honestly, he hated the orders he had been given. Eclipse was his problem, so he should be the one to handle it. "I can't stand around here and just wait for Eclipse to find me. I should hunt him down and put an end to him once for all." He said to himself. "Yes, that tenacity of yours is admirable. It was useful when you carried out our missions." Shadow heard a familiar deep and menacing voice say from behind, startling him as he turned around. When he saw the source, Shadow formed a look of horror as he froze. Standing in front of him was Black Doom. He was floating as the entire area around Shadow was colored red. Shadow backed up a bit. "Black Doom?!" He cried before he shook his head. "No, that's not possible! Black Doom is gone!" "Yes, he is and so is our entire race! Because of you!" Shadow then heard a series of small voices yell in an accusing tone. He looked down to see many small purple leeches with one eye heading towards him, making him more unhinged at their sight as he fell to the floor. "No! That can't be! I exterminated the Black Arms!" Shadow said to himself as he gripped his head and started to sweat profoundly. "They are no more! So why am I?- Shadow's face suddenly perked up as he realized something. He then clenched his fist as he formed a look of rage. "Enough of your mind games! I'm here alone, so come out and face me!" Shadow yelled. "Well, if you insist." Eclipse's voice said as Shadow turned to his right. In front of him was the malicious alien as he approached Shadow with a smirk on his face. "Eclipse." Shadow said, his voice full of venom. "Greetings brother. What's wrong? You seem tense." Eclipse mocked as he stopped in his tracks, causing Shadow to give him an intense glare. "Shut up! I'm going to finish you right here and now!" Shadow declared as he got in a fighting stance while Eclipse just sighed in disappointment. "Shadow, do you realize what you're saying? Our race is endangered and you still want to kill me? You don't belong here brother, you belong with me." Eclipse pleaded as he stuck his hand out towards Shadow. "I should want you dead for what you've done, but you are still my family, so I'm just giving you one more chance. Join me." Shadow looked down at Eclipse's hand as he appeared to be in thought over what Eclipse said. After a while, he turned to him with a determined expression. "No. I will never join you. You and the Black Arms are a threat to this planet. The planet I swore to protect." Shadow responded as Eclipse frowned and took his hand back. "Looks like we're doing this the hard way." Eclipse muttered. Shadow charged towards Eclipse as he became a yellow streak. As he did, Eclipse snapped his fingers just as Shadow was about to collide with him. When he did, Shadow felt himself crash into something hard as he was suddenly blown back with enormous force and sprawled on the floor. When Shadow looked up, he saw Eclipse's body had changed. His body was now a dark blue color. "What is this?" Shadow questioned as he picked himself off the floor. "Oh, just a trick up my sleeve." Eclipse told him as he grinned. "Believe me, you don't stand a chance." "We'll see about that!" Shadow stated as he generated a Chaos Spear in his hand and tossed it towards Eclipse. Shadow's attack bounced harmlessly off Eclipse, much to his surprise. "Ok, my turn!" Eclipse yelled as he lunged at Shadow. Eclipse grabbed Shadow's face and smashed him down on the ground, making a large crash. He then lifted Shadow off of it and palm struck him in the chest. Shadow felt a burst of pain explode in his chest as he was blown back and crashed into a tree, cracking it slightly. He then fell to the ground in a dazed manner. "Oops. Guess I don't know my own strength." Eclipse said with a shrug. "Now, let's try something new." As he was coming to, Shadow vaguely saw a black shadow leap off from Eclipse's body before another one attached itself to him. Shadow saw that Eclipse's arms were now cyan colored as he aimed one at Shadow. There was an eye on the palm which started to glow cyan. Eclipse then fired a beam at Shadow, who dodged it using his speed. Using both hands, Eclipse kept firing lasers at Shadow, who managed to evade each of them as he left a yellow trail. During the last one, Shadow jumped and had a clear shot at Eclipse. He then fired another Chaos Spear at Eclipse. However, Eclipse countered by firing a laser from both hands, which hit through Shadow's spear and zapped him in the chest. "Arrgh!" He yelled as he started to come down on the floor. As Shadow was falling, Eclipse aimed his two hands at Shadow and fired two beams which hit him, blowing Shadow on the ground as he rolled onto it. Shadow was quite injured but he hadn't lost conscious yet. As he rose from the floor, he heard some noises which sounded similar to croaking before he turned to face Eclipse once more. This time, Eclipse's arms were now two large red wings as he displayed them to Shadow. "(Just what is this power of his?)" Shadow thought to himself as Eclipse started to rise in the air. "Ha! I do enjoy toying with my prey!" Eclipse taunted as he airborne. He then came down towards Shadow and tried to charge into him but Shadow rolled out of the way. Eclipse then came back once more but Shadow evaded it again. As Eclipses back was turned, Shadow charged towards him in the air as a yellow streak and released a flaming kick from his rocket skates, knocking Eclipse towards the ground. Shadow then dashed towards him as Eclipse was falling with a clenched fist but Eclipse turned around and smacked him away using both wings. Shadow crashed on the ground while Eclipse landed, though he wobbled a bit. "That was close, hehe." Eclipse said as he turned to see Shadow's state. "Now then, let's finish off the demonstration, shall we?" Shadow could only see Eclipse's feet, albeit blurry, as he heard the same familiar noise from before. By the time Shadow raised his head, he saw Eclipse aiming a purple arm cannon with an eye out towards him. Before Shadow could react, Eclipse fired a large purple soundwave which blew Shadow across the ground, leaving behind a destructive force. Shadow then felt pain over his entire body and he couldn't think straight either. He tried to move, but he just couldn't. "What's the matter, brother? You don't look so good." Eclipse sneered as he walked up to Shadow. "Did you forget? I was specifically created to counter you. I limit your abilities and movement and cloud your mind." Shadow groaned in pain. He still tried to move as Eclipse looked on. "You're probably wondering about all those mutations I had. Well, let me introduce you to my Darks Arms." Eclipse then said. From behind Eclipse, Shadow saw four small aliens emerge from him which were all dark blue. One shaped like a block with three glowing blue eyes and small legs with jagged teeth. Another was shaped like a musical note with two small legs and a glowing purple eye. Flying above was an alien that resembled a shrunken eagle with three glowing orange eyes. The last one was shaped similar to an eel and a lighting bolt with two cyan glowing eyes and jagged teeth. The mouths of the aliens gave off their respective colors as they all made sounds towards Eclipse. "Meet Rhygenta, Cyzer, Blurk and Cregal." Eclipse introduced as the Dark Arms crowded around him. "These are the Dark Arms, a Black Arms sub species I cultivated from an alien race known as the Wisp for a project of mine. I had more but unfortunately, when I crashed on this pathetic planet, most of them didn't make it except for these four. They can fuse with me in order to grant me a variety of powers as you saw from before." Eclipse then smiled towards the Darks Arms as they cuddled up towards him in an affectionate manner. "Together, we are going to restore the glory of the Black Arms." Eclipse declared as he raised his hands towards Shadow. "But first things first." Eclipse walked over to Shadow and stood over him as he stared him down. "I should have done this from the start."Eclipse said as he placed his hand over Shadow's head, causing Shadow's eyes to widen and his mouth to open in shock as green energy emerged from Eclipses's hand. Shadow found himself floating in a black void when his eyes opened. He looked around but saw nothing. Suddenly, a giant red flash shone on him, causing him to cover his eyes. "Shadow, don't try and resist! You cannot deny the Black Arms blood that flows through your veins! You don't belong with these earthlings and you know it as well as I do! I can give you a purpose and sense of belonging!" A large image of Eclipse said in a dark and echoey voice, making Shadow wince. "No. I'm not listening to your nonsense." Shadow declared as he surrounded himself in a blue aura. He then flew away from the image of Eclipse. "Don't try and fight it, brother!" Eclipse yelled after him as Shadow tried his best to ignore him. As Shadow flew to the top, an image of large black and red starfish shaped eye blocked his path, sending him below. This was a manifestation of Black Doom's third eye. "Shadow, whatever you think you have in this world is meaningless. These 'bonds' are just temporary. They'll all be gone one day, so why try to hang on to them? Join your immortal brethren and the Black Arms will live on forever!" Eclipse's urged on as Shadow fell into his palm. "No...I...promised...." Shadow resisted as Eclipses palm attempted to engulf him entirely. He grabbed his head in pain. "Your promise is void! Your mission and purpose are to serve the Black Arms!" Eclipse declared as his palm enclosed Shadow. Shadow then saw a series of visions. He first saw Maria in her last moments before she sent him down to earth with a smile. He then remembered his duel with Sonic aboard the Space Colony Ark. He then saw the G.U.N commander, a middle aged man with white hair wearing a dark blue uniform decorated with red and yellow stripes, inviting him into the organization as he saluted Shadow. Shadow then remembered his first day at CHS where Sonic introduced him to the Rainbooms and Pinkie Pie greeted him as she came up close to his face. Another memory of Sunset showing him around the school with a smile while he appeared disinterested was shown. An image of Rouge and E-123 Omega, a red and black robot with a stocky upper body with spiked golden bands above his claws wearing the omega symbol on his right shoulder while having a rectangular head and two red dot eyes. He was also a member of Team Dark alongside Shadow and Rouge. A vision of the team first forming in one of Eggman's secret bases was shown as well. Shadow saw Sonic giving the thumbs up with a smile. Two memories of Pinkie Pie waving quickly while wearing a huge grin and Sunset offering her hand with a smile were the last things that appeared in front of Shadow before all his memories went black. In the real world, Eclipse fell back as he let go of Shadow's head. He was then caught as Cyzer and Cregal wrapped themselves around his arms as the Dark Arms looked on with concern. "*huff* *gasp*, I'm alright little ones." Eclipse reassured them in a tired tone as he turned to Shadow. "Let's hope this works." Shadow then clutched his head as he started to rise from the ground with his eyes closed. He let out a few small moans. "My name is Shadow and I...." He started to say before he opened his eyes, whose pupils vanished, making them entirely red. "I am a servant of the Black Arms." He finished in a monotone voice, much to Eclipse's pleasure as his face broke out into a wide smile. "It worked!" Eclipse shrieked with delight as he and the Dark Arms now surrounded Shadow. "Little ones, welcome back your brother!" Eclipse proudly said as the Dark Arms looked up to Shadow. They then expressed noises, which suggested happiness. Shadow didn't respond. "Now, that we have Shadow, phase 2 of my plan can commence." Eclipse said in a cryptic tone as he looked at his comrades. As he looked back, he noticed the box of Swiss Rolls that Shadow had ordered before. He formed a curious look as he came towards it. "What could this be?" He wondered as he took the box. Eclipse then opened it up to reveal the Swiss Rolls. "What is this? Earthling food?" Eclipse said with distaste before he took a whiff of them. His expression then changed as he formed a slightly surprised look. Eclipse then took one Swiss Roll and took a bite. "Mmmmm..Mmmmm!" Eclipse gushed as he formed a small smile and finished the roll. "I hate to admit, but this is at least one good thing about this planet. I'll save the rest of these for later. Time to head out." Back at the G.U.N base, a few soldiers were on the run as they prepared to head out. The base seemed to be on high alert as other members in uniforms were rushing around it frantically. A few sentry bots floated mid-air as well. Suddenly, a mechanical gate opened, catching the eye of one trooper. When it was done, it revealed itself to be Shadow as the soldier looked on. "Agent Shadow?" He asked, not expecting to see him. "What brings you here? Did you manage to find the escaped alien?" "In a manner of speaking, yes." Shadow said in an ominous tone. The soldier was puzzled by Shadow's answer before his face broke out into one of dread. Standing with Shadow were Eclipse and the Dark Arms. Eclipse wore a menacing grin. "It's time for our revival!" Eclipse announced as the soldier backed away with fright as Shadow and Eclipses's shadows's overcame him.