Chapter Text
Eclipse leapt from treetop to treetop, teleporting occasionally to put more distance between him and the G.U.N. robots chasing him. He had been on his way back to his Dark Arms but had quickly changed directions to lead the machines away from them. The Black Arm was stronger with them, but he was not risking his little ones. He felt bad enough for risking them so soon after they had hatched back on that island.
There was something odd Eclipse had noticed about the robots chasing him: that's all there were. No mechanical--"things"--with human pilots and no human troops at all. Team Dark was also oddly absent. Why would G.U.N. try to capture him without their help?
More robots came into view and Eclipse was quickly surrounded.
"Fine." Eclipse pounced on one of the robots and ripped off it's head, then ripping out more machinery. Eclipse grabbed one of the small flying robots and threw it into another, resulting in them both falling to the ground in sparks. He tricked a few robots into shooting each other with precisely timed Chaos Controls. For every robot he took down, there seemed to be several more approaching. Lasers whizzed by his head, some landing glancing blows with a sizzle.
Eclipse grew in size, gaining extra armor, and tore into more robots. Several machines were ripped in half and used as bludgeons to take out other machines. Larger flying robots showed up and fired missiles, which Eclipse struggled to dodge in his larger, slower form. He grabbed one and threw it back, taking out another robot.
After a barrage, the Black Arm lost his monster form, the extra flesh pealing off of him and sliding away. Eclipse collapsed to the ground and feebly tried to crawl away. Several of the humanoid robots grabbed his limbs and held him down. Then he felt something cold and metallic slip around his neck and clasp.
"And here I thought this was going to be difficult," a vaguely familiar voice mocked.
Eclipse looked up to see his captor: a bald, bearded human about the same height as Eclipse. The same one whose face he saw on that monitor.
"You! This isn't over!" Eclipse shouted. He squirmed in the robots' grasp. "Why- why can't I use Chaos Control?"
The human grinned. "That's thanks to this little gadget." He pointed at the gray and blue collar around the alien's neck; there was a thin green light wrapped around it indicating that it was active. "A little something I had put together to deal with Shadow, but it works just as well on you."
"Deal with Shadow?" Eclipse questioned, still squirming. "Don't you two work together?"
"Hardly! I've left G.U.N. to pursue my own goals; these robots are under my sole control." The human reached into his pocket and pulled out a small tool with a jagged metal circle on the end. "Now to further disarm you."
Eclipse did not know what the human exactly planned from the statement but he didn't like it, especially since he still couldn't move; and he still hadn't recovered his full strength from his last encounter with Team Dark. The human bent down by one of Eclipse's arms and activated the tool, the jagged circle spinning at immense speed, moving it across the spurs on his forearm. Eclipse gritted his teeth, not wanting to give the human the satisfaction of crying out. With a horrible grinding sound, one by one, the spurs fell off. Green liquid oozed out, the quick having been cut. The human repeated this on Eclipse's other arm and the spurs on his legs, then declawed him.
"There!" The human seemed proud of himself. "Now... where are those smaller wisp-like ones?"
"Like I'd tell you," Eclipse snarled. He had no idea what plans the human had in mind, but he knew he wouldn't like it.
"No, of course not. No matter. They can't be far and my robots will keep searching."
"Don't you dare touch them!" Eclipse burst, thrusting forward out of the robots' grips. "I'll-"
The human pulled out a small remote from his pocket and pushed a button. Eclipse suddenly felt fatigued and went limp, collapsing back to the ground.
"This limiter collar prevents you from using chaos energy but can also drain it, and I control how much it drains." The human still kept his distance. "But enough of that. I'm on a tight deadline."
A small flying robot with a capsule attached beneath it flew next to them. The capsule opened and a humanoid robot picked up Eclipse and tossed him inside. The Black Arm sat up as the capsule closed. He feebly rammed his body against the capsule walls but to no avail; he was much too weak.
"Where are you taking me?" a barely conscious Eclipse asked, a hint of fear in his voice.
"The Ark."
Eclipse sent out a message to his Dark Arms through the hive-mind just before slipping into the void.