Chapter 2: A New Black Comet and Umbra

A few weeks later, they had found something that definitely looked like a suitable replacement for the Black Comet. It was half-buried in a mountainside, and looked as if it had crashed into it. The giant piece of rock was made from the same as the previous two Black Comets. If Eclipse was reading things properly, it was hollow as well. A wide smile came onto his face. He hadn't really been expecting to find something so perfect without leaving the planet. Turning to look at Shadow, he noticed that she had sat down on a nearby rock. Over the past few weeks, her abdomen had been growing much faster than a normal Mobian's did. They had decided a few days ago that she would probably give birth soon. So, Eclipse couldn't help but worry about her more than he had been. She had a relieved smile on her face as she looked at the giant piece of rock sticking out from the mountain. The feeling of home had washed over her when she saw it, telling her what Eclipse had just figured out.

"Can you bring me there? I don't think I can Chaos Control like this," she said as she lay her hands on her large abdomen. 

"Of course. Give me a minute." 

He looked around for an alternate way in, soon finding one near the mountainside. A few large rocks were partially blocking it. In her current state, Shadow definitely wouldn't fit. With a sigh, Eclipse closed his eyes and focused. He grew larger in both height and muscle, and moved the boulders out of the way. Then Eclipse returned to Shadow, lifted her, and carried her inside. He soon found a good place to set her down and did so. Shadow smiled and gave him a kiss.

They'd barely been there half an hour before Shadow cried out in pain as she started to feel her abdomen contract. She was going to give birth (/)soon. Shadow had read about this in a book once; she just had to remember what it had said.

"Shadow?" Eclipse knelt beside her as she whimpered. Both eyes were wide with worry. "What's- Are you going into labor?" 

"Y-yes." She was panting, shaking in pain as she felt another contraction. She was pretty sure there was supposed to be more time between them at this stage. 

Eclipse took a deep breath to calm himself. He had no idea how to help her with this. He'd never had to help someone give birth before. Shadow moved her legs so they were bent up as well as spread. After another painful contraction, she took a deep breath and pushed. Her body was ready to get the baby out of it, and she was ready for it to be over. Eclipse looked at her face, then moved so he could hold her legs in position. It seemed like the best way to help her. Tears were sliding down Shadow's cheeks as she tried to keep her breathing steady. 

"I'm sure it's working." Eclipse smiled up at her. He could sense her distress, and wanted her to be as calm as possible.

Shadow gave him a small smile before she took a breath and pushed again. Both her eyes closed and she gasped after a few moments. Eclipse pet her leg uncertainly, not sure what he could do to help her other than trust she knew what she was doing. Sweat beaded on her body as she continued pushing along with her contractions. Sooner than they had been expecting, she had given birth.  

"So, how many?" Shadow asked, too tired to raise her head. 

"Just one." Eclipse frowned at the baby in confusion. "I think we did something wrong. It doesn't look like a normal baby."  

Shadow struggled to get up and look at it. "W-what do you mean?" 

Cutting the cord still connecting the baby to Shadow was easy. Not knowing what else to do, he tied a small knot in it. The bloody baby started crying as he cleaned some of the blood from it. Before going to hand it to Shadow, he checked the gender.

"He looks more like a Mobian than a Black Arms... More like how we do." He gently pushed her down again and handed her the baby.  

Shadow looked down at him, sighing. "Not that I don't want a baby, I do, but it's a shame we won't be able to bring the Black Arms back. That is, unless there's some other way to make Black Arms." 

"Maybe it's because neither of us are just like our fathers."

Shadow nodded. "Yeah. I don't recall either of our fathers needing to mate to make Black Arms." 

Eclipse looked down at the baby again. He looked a lot like them, especially with his lack of fur. His small hands rubbed eyes he refused to open farther than a squint. Red streaks were on his head, arms, and legs, mixing both parents together. Quills like his mother was on his head. A small tail curved around one of his own legs. Eclipse looked at Shadow again. 

"Do you think he eats like a Mobian, as well?"  

"Well, considering we eat like Mobians, he should as well. He can probably eat human." 

"Does he have any teeth yet?"  

Shadow looked to see if he had any teeth, frowning and shaking her head when she didn't see any. 

"What should his name be?" 

"Uh... " Eclipse thought about it. "Maybe..." He looked down at the baby, but nothing came to mind.

"Umbra?" 

Eclipse looked over at her. "That works." Looking down at the baby, he smiled. "How are you going to feed him when he doesn't have any teeth?"

Shadow shrugged. "Mash up some humans and feed him the paste? Also, are we going to need to get the Chaos Emeralds to get the Black Comet out of this mountain?"

"Most likely we will." Eclipse stood. "I'll go get some food. Try breastfeeding him while I'm gone, maybe that'll work."

Shadow nodded. "Okay." 

Eclipse smiled and stood before running off. 

Once he was out of their home, he looked around at the surrounding area. If he remembered properly, there was a village or town somewhere around the mountains. He nodded and hurried off. The Black Arm looked around as he walked, sniffing the air to find any scent of humans. It didn't take long for him to find a village in the mountains. 

Eclipse hid around one of the nearby boulders, peeking around it at the humans of the village. They were going about their business, oblivious to his presence. A smirk came to his face. Hiding was one of the things he did best. The humans wouldn't know he was there until it was too late. Stalking them through the village was easy; he didn't lose them the entire time they were going back to their house. Once they had gone inside, he snuck up to the backdoor and carefully opened it. There was an empty room in front of him and he moved through it, keeping his guard up in case someone came in. From the doorway, he saw into the dining room.

The child he had seen was sitting at the table, bouncing excitedly in his seat. The female he had been following was farther in the house. Eclipse kept catching glimpses of her skirt in the doorway to the kitchen. While she was busily preparing food for her family, Eclipse cautiously moved farther into the house. The child turned and saw him, a smile coming to his face. Eclipse's hand was over his face the next instant, making sure to cover his mouth. The child raised his hands to the alien's arm as his blue eyes went wide, trying to move his hand from his face. Eclipse moved behind the child, bringing his other hand up and snapping the thin throat. Eclipse set the child on the floor and looked up as he heard footsteps. The mother was coming into the room. Eclipse prepared himself and leapt at her. His claws dug into her arms and his jaws closed around the front of her throat. She was unable to scream as he pulled back, sending a cascade of blood down the front of her body. Once he had lowered her body to the floor, he stepped back. Now he just needed to figure out how to get the flesh mashed up for Umbra.

Back in the kitchen, he found a sharp cutting knife and returned to the mother's body. Kneeling beside her, he lay a hand on her body. Eclipse raised the knife and started cutting her apart. Peeling her flesh off the bones was hard, even with the knife and his own claws. Once he had finished with her, Eclipse sat back and stared at the mess he'd made. Eclipse got to his feet and did the same to the child's body. 

He stretched before moving all of it into the kitchen. Studying the scene didn't give him any clues what to do next. Obviously, he needed to get it mashed together. Eclipse looked around the kitchen in search of something that might help him. Yellow gaze stopping on the blender, Eclipse felt a smile come onto his face. That would do nicely. 

An hour later, he returned to the Black Comet with a bowl in his hands. Eclipse set it down next to Shadow. 

"It was a pain in the ass, but I figured out how to do it." 

"Oh, good. Breastfeeding him wasn't doing much."  

Shadow took some of it and started slowly feeding it to Umbra. The baby happily ate it off his mother's fingers. 

"How'd you do it?" 

"I found some people and killed them. After that, I cut the flesh off them and blended it together until it looked suitable.

Shadow nodded. "How about you look for the Chaos Emeralds? I'd come, but I need to take care of Umbra." 

"I'll do that. Are there any helpful tips you can give me?"  

"The only tip I have is to look for areas with large amounts of Chaos Energy other than Angel Island." 

Eclipse nodded. "Stay safe." He kissed the both of them. After pulling back from them, Eclipse left. 

Three months later, Eclipse ran back into the Black Comet. It had been hard work, but he had managed to find all seven emeralds. He was smiling as he called out for Shadow and Umbra. Shadow practically ran to meet him, Umbra just behind her. 

"Welcome back Eclipse!" Shadow jumped on him as she wrapped her arms around him. Umbra hugged his leg and rubbed his face on it. "I guess we're getting the Black Comet out of here now?" 

"Yeah." Eclipse nodded. "Just... how do we do it?"  

"Can you tap into them?" 

Eclipse shrugged. "I've never tried."  

"Well..." Shadow gestured to Eclipse and the Chaos Emeralds. 

Eclipse picked up the emeralds and tried focusing on them. Nothing happened, though he thought he had felt a slight warmth in his hands for a moment. After a few minutes of failure, he set them down again. 

"I don't think it was working." 

Shadow sighed, closing her eyes. Her energy flared up and a sphere of Chaos Energy expanded to envelop the three of them. A frown of concentration was on her face as she pushed her energy out farther and farther. With a muttered Chaos Control and a flash, the Black Comet was soon orbiting the planet they were just on. Eclipse noticed the Chaos Emeralds dim in color and flash before vanishing. Shadow sighed and leaned forward a little. 

"Sorry." 

Shadow smiled. "It's okay." 

"What should we do now?" Eclipse looked around the room. "Other than get this more like the original."  

Shadow shrugged. "I think that's all we can do, other than get food from the planet below." 

"Alright." Eclipse looked at Umbra. "How's he been growing?" 

"Well..." Shadow said, looking at Umbra as well. "...He's growing quickly."

Umbra was now physically half a year old, already learning how to walk and talk. A wide smile was on his face, showing the small teeth that had grown in sharp and pointed. Shadow pat the top of his head as he rubbed his face on Eclipse again.

"He is." Eclipse smiled down at their son. "At least he'll be able to care for himself sooner."  

"Right." Shadow smiled.

"So... What do you want to do now?"  

Shadow shrugged. "I don't know."

Eclipse looked around the area of the comet. "How much of the comet have you looked at?" 

"Not much."

"Then let's explore and see how the rest of our new home looks." 

"Okay." Shadow nodded.

Eclipse smiled at the both of them and took Shadow's hand as they started walking. Shadow smiled and took one of Umbra's hands as they followed Eclipse's lead. Eclipse looked around at the walls and ceiling of the comet, pointing out anything he found even mildly interesting. Shadow listened as Eclipse talked about it, adding her own thoughts as well.