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Eclipse groaned. He lay curled up on the hard stone floor, his arms wrapped around his midsection. His stomach ached and gurgled. He felt nauseous, like he never wanted to eat anything ever again. The very thought of food made him feel even more sick. It was the worst he had felt in his very short life.
"I told you those Red Fruits were overripe," Black Death scolded as he floated into view—Eclipse had found a darker corner of the comet as the brighter lights of other chambers only made him feel more nauseous. "Just a few may not have been a problem, but you ate enough for a Black Oak and chewed them as well as a Black Annelid."
Which meant hardly at all.
"Waste not, want not," Eclipse managed to say without turning to look at his master, though the simple act of his muscles moving his esophagus made him feel even more nauseous.
Black Death sighed and folded his arms. "I know I programmed you with the major Earth languages, but you use human sayings far too often. They are not to be learned from."
Eclipse forced himself to roll over, a monumental feat that sent waves of agony throughout his body. "They have many useful sayings, Master; they just don't abide by them. Blood is thicker than water, for example."
Black Death frowned, knowing Eclipse was thinking about Shadow again. It hadn't taken the darkling long to question his purpose to destroy the rogue champion, something which concerned the lesser Mind greatly. The last thing he needed was another traitorous champion to deal with and one more powerful than Shadow no less. It was why he had decided to program in a strong desire to protect the hive, which seemed to have backfired as Eclipse had decided that it applied to Shadow as well.
They were of the same blood, after all.
"It's not Shadow's fault that he was raised by humans," Eclipse continued, never keeping up pretenses about what he referred to. The new conversation was almost enough to make him forget about his stomachache. Almost. "He was just taught wrong."
"We're not having this conversation again. Your purpose is to destroy him and that's final," Black Death stated with almost a snarl to his voice. "Shadow not only destroyed the original Black Comet and every soldier on board, but also Black Doom—our leader, our progenitor, our father."
Eclipse sighed, letting it go for now. While he didn't want to question his master, he couldn't help but wonder why Black Doom would've left Shadow to be raised by the humans when he already knew they couldn't be trusted. Surely their father could've gone down for Shadow after he was captured by G.U.N., before he was sealed away, and taken him home instead.
A Black Warrior stepped into the room. It carried a silver cup in one hand and a heating pod in the other.
"Ah, there you are," Black Death acknowledged the Warrior, who walked over to Eclipse. "Sit up, Eclipse, and drink. Slowly."
Eclipse struggled to sit up. He took the cup offered him and held it up to his nose and inhaled the earthy scent and warmth. "You sent workers out to the surface to harvest ice just to make red root tea?" He took a cautious sip and was filled with its soothing warmth. "Thank you, Master."
"Just don't make a habit of this," Black Death dismissed. "We're low enough on food as it is. And we lost a Black Warrior to a stray asteroid during the ice harvest."
Eclipse hung his head. "I'm sorry. The fruit was going to go to waste so I thought I may as well eat it up. Besides, I need to be strong to face Shadow, don't I?"
Black Death shook his head, not to disagree but to express exasperation. He honestly had no idea what he was getting himself into by making a free mind. A part of him understood why Black Doom had left Shadow to sit in stasis until his services were needed. He could put Eclipse in stasis like some of the others but sending him to fight Shadow without any experience would be disastrous. "Yes, but this won't make you stronger, only weaker. You must be ready to fight at all times."
Eclipse wordlessly continued sipping his tea. Being scolded by Black Death was one of his least favorite things, not that he had many experiences to choose from. This certainly made the list of least favorite as well.
When he was finished, he handed the empty cup back to the Black Warrior, who then placed the heating pod on Eclipse's abdomen. It was as if one of their guns had been grown into a pillow instead, which was essentially the case although it was far from soft. It was gray with pink lights and stuck to Eclipse's abdomen with a natural adhesive. The warmth caressed his stomach from the outside as the tea had warmed it from the inside.
Then, a small red and gold Black Wing flew in and sought out Eclipse. It landed on the darkling's arm and wrapped its tail around it. Once secure, it flapped to pull Eclipse's arm near the heating pod so that it could place it's abdomen—really it's entire body—on it. Eclipse lifted his other arm and gently stroked the little one's head.
"You should be satisfied that I allowed that runt to be spared. Don't press your luck with Shadow," Black Death warned before leaving.
Eclipse smiled at the runt, preferring to focus on the comfort of the heating pod rather than the harshness of his master's tone. That had been a whole other argument, which had upset Eclipse as the second smallest of the Black Arms. He also hadn't cared for the implication that he would've been left to starve to death if he hadn't come out of his growing pod right. Crim, as he had come to call the runt, had been a step in his creation—they both shared a prehensile tail, after all, and Crim was far more detached from the hive-mind than the others.
"You—pick me up," Eclipse ordered the Black Warrior, who complied immediately, placing an arm around his back and one under his legs. "Now sit down." The Black Warrior sat on the ground, crossing it's legs in the process. Eclipse curled up into his brother's arms as he was placed into his lap.
Eclipse let out a warm sigh, feeling much better now. He casually wondered if he could ever get Shadow to hug him. Two champions, two brothers, who would always have each other's backs. Despite his master's warnings, he dared to dream.