Brothers in Arms

Sonic: The Gang's All Here

"There they are!" Tails exclaimed, and Sonic grinned as the nondescript SUV rolled up Castle Acorn's long driveway. He'd been waiting for this meeting ever since Commander Tower had agreed, thrilled for a chance to see Team Dark in a situation where the world wasn't at stake.

There were so many things he was anticipating. He would get to see Faker again--he and Shadow hadn't bantered in months. And, now that Shadow seemed to have a newfound sense of friendliness, Sonic had a feeling that the black hedgehog would loosen up a lot to the barbs and competitive jabs that Sonic loved to throw so much, retorting to them instead of just scowling. Bantering during an all-out race with his counterpart would be the best thing Sonic had done this month.

He had to admit, though, even with the idea of racing Shadow, he was most looking forward to seeing Eclipse in person. Powerful Chaos Creatures were few and far between on Mobius, especially ones on the good side. The blue hedgehog was hoping for a new rival, someone who could match his skill in combat and who Sonic could turn to when Shadow and Knuckles were busy.

Speaking of which--

"Is Shadow driving?" Amy asked suddenly, interested as she peered forward to get a better view of the car. Sonic had noticed the same thing only a moment before, and he put his hands on his hips as his grin widened, amused that Shadow was Commander Tower's chauffeur.

"Gee, haven't they promoted him from driver, yet?" The blue hedgehog joked to the group at large, and Sally gave him a stern look. Sonic grumbled somewhat as he dropped the joke, switching to an innocent whistle as the vehicle drew near.

The black hedgehog pulled the car to a halt on the gravel in front of the assembled Freedom Fighters, and Sonic watched boredly as Sally composed herself, standing next to her father as they prepared to greet the arrivals. If he couldn't talk and participate, then why was he here?

The back door opened, interrupting his thought, and Commander Tower stepped out--Sonic blinked in surprise at the man's height, never having seen him in person at a close distance. He towered over the Mobians, appropriately enough, standing at nearly twice their size.

But, while the Commander's height was impressive, Sonic's attention flicked to the smaller form now exiting the car as King Acorn welcomed his fellow world leader. Eclipse stepped nimbly down to the ground from the passenger seat, his glowing golden eyes scanning the small crowd as a self-conscious smile spread across his face. Sonic grinned at him, seeing the alien's power in his easy balance and thinking that Eclipse would be a great opponent.

"We're glad to be here," Tower said in reply to Nigel's introduction, and Sonic's attention darted back to the two men. "King Nigel, this is Eclipse the Darkling, Team Dark's newest member." Eclipse stepped politely forward as the Commander gestured to him--not that there was a chance of the King forgetting which one he was, Sonic thought with a quiet, amused snort. He felt odd, standing off to the side without talking, but Sally had sternly confronted him about steering the conversation last time they had interacted with Eclipse, so he was trying to stay quiet.

Talking now was not worth the lecture later.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," the King acknowledged, and Eclipse returned a quick, nervous smile.

"An honor, Your Majesty," he answered in his coarse, semi-distorted voice, the acceptable reply sounding odd coming from his unusual voice box. Sonic looked, interested, over the pale skin of the alien's face, wondering why it was so different from Shadow's constant tan.

"I trust you had a good trip?" Nigel asked, addressing both the Commander and Eclipse.

"Unproblematic," the human nodded, and Eclipse followed suit--an odd pair, that. The only apparent similarity between the two was their equally unusual eyes, which Sonic was trying to resist staring at.