The Crossing Destinies [OPEN Sonic the Hedgehog FF]

The First Contact (4/6)

Sonic's mind went blank, but his legs reacted, and that saved his life. Despite the frantic movements, he stayed in one place, splashing the demon with the water.

"Gah, bleh!" Eclipse coughed, spitting the liquid around and cleaning it from his eyes. Once he was able to see, his prey was already gone. "That brat!" he angrily shouted, climbing the building next to him. "Where did it go?"

His head turned from one side to another, his squinted eyes observing the area. He thought the tag would be more enjoyable, but, right now, it made him grumpy. His body still hurt all over, and while his wounds closed, they were itchy.

From behind the furthest building on his left emerged a running figure, heading toward a lonely metal complex, he remembered it was called a factory. The demon smirked, baring his bear-trap teeth.

"Fine, if you wanna play, I shall toy with you."

Eclipse flapped with his wings, checking on their condition, before he jumped into the air, slowly gliding to the entrance. The smell of his prey was strong, so he had no doubt tracking it down would take a few minutes at most.

When he landed, he was proved wrong. His sensitive nose was assaulted by numerous smells, forcing him to plug his snout.

"Ugh!" he snorted under his muzzle. The stinking odor was a mixture of several oils, stiff air, mold, and rotten corpses of different animals as his eyes glanced one such skeleton under a big pipe.

As Eclipse entered, he still heard an echo of Sonic's steps. He slowly uncovered his mouth, looking around. The entrance hall was big and based on various machines standing all around, it was used to load and unload heavy objects. Thick layers of dust settled on them, covering them like snow blankets. Except they weren't that pretty, made everybody's eyes water, and caused long streaks of coughing and sneezing.

Eclipse slowly stepped forward, looking around. Many metal pipes and tubes of various thickness were scattered all around, laying over each other in a mess. Some were in one pile, neatly arranged ready to be collected as there was a small crane near it. On the other side was parked a lift truck with a big box but neither reached its destination, staying forever forgotten.

On Eclipse's left were numerous barrels, a disgusting smell surrounding them. There was no doubt the oils originated from it as big stains were all round. The demon didn't go to check if the spots were still slippery, as he had a more important thing to do.

His eyes traced a few ladders heading up to metal construction while some were heading down. They also found big machines near the walls, chains hanging between wired platforms, hooks and other things he couldn't name. Nothing was edible, so he didn't try to remember what to call it. He would be just wasting his time.

He widened his nostrils, filtering the various smells until he picked the one belonging to the boy. With a few inhales he found where the kid was heading, and the tracks on the floor in the dust were helping him too. He smirked, but also felt a bit bitter as the same trail almost killed him. He headed toward iron stairs, seeing loose chains that were still slightly swaying.