Before Eclipse could go after Finitevus, the mad scientist already overcame quite a distance. He was a bit grumpy since the yell was still ringing in his ears. He started to clear one with his pinky, mumbling, "Dang girl." He stopped with the cleaning, and his eyes slightly looked up in a thinking manner.

"Now, how did they get in?" This thought caught his attention. He was sure he closed the door. The idea of leaving open window was quickly scrapped since he had no windows. A chimney was also out of the question. He put out his pinky, cleaning it in a handkerchief as he tilted his head to a side. "This is interesting. Maybe I shouldn't have let them die."

He cocked his head. "Well, that girl can die. She is too noisy." His emotionless eyes looked around. This was one of his oldest complexes he built. It was also quickly abandoned for various reasons, and one of them was no hot spring in the neighborhood. No proper madman can enjoy making evil plans without a hot bath in the evening.

He returned here only to try his newest upgrades for an older project. The people from the nearby village were perfect subjects for furthering his theories and validating his research. While the formula was far from being complete, he found out key information. With it, he would be able to complete his project sooner.

Meanwhile, Eclipse reached the cliff, leaving Amy in Silver's care. He had a bad feeling about it. And he wasn't sure if it was because of leaving Amy alone, or Silver with her alone. He could only hope nothing would go south.

His senses, in his three-quarter-demonic form, returned to their original potential, capable of picking the faintest smells and hearing the quietest sounds. However, he wasn't able to pick anything in front of himself. It made him worried, and he decided to proceed very silently. He would like to go slowly too, but Silver's harsh words were echoing in his mind. He was too afraid to let them down.

The fewer problems he would cause, the more likely they wouldn't pay him much attention. Having a successful career could also result in getting access to top secret files, or more like, his master could obtain that access.

His nose cringed. The smell of death was soaked into the walls. He never thought it could make him uneasy. Most of his life he spent killing and hunting, it was a natural part of his every day. However, now he felt a bit guilty for taking those lives. With his mind full of thoughts, he kept going forward when he bumped into something.

He crouched more, as his eyes tailed a figure in a black cape in front of him. The small demon hissed and leaped backward. He bumped into standing Finitevus who was observing him over his shoulder. Eclipse slightly growled.

The mad doctor turned around, and Eclipse attacked. Dr. Finitevus stepped aside, avoiding the claws quite easily. "How strange," he mumbled to himself, "I don't remember having here alive specimen." He nonchalantly tapped his nose.

Eclipse bared his teeth, and he again tried to hit him. However, the albino echidna was nimble, fast, and unpredictable. The demon had a hard time to read his moves. If he could just get rid of that cloak, he might have a better chance in reading his moves.

"You don't move that bad," Finitevus said, and the other bristled. Somehow Eclipse knew this couldn't be a good sign. The doctor stretched his hand toward him. The small demon instinctively backed down a bit. The first ring around doctor's wrist glowed, and small lighting ball formed in front of the opened palm. Eclipse's body moved in the last moment to avoid getting hit.

The stone floor was reduced to dust and small rumble. Eclipse latched on the wall, leaping in the next second to avoid the second hit. "Not bad," commented his escape Zachary Finitevus. "How about this?" He started to fire more balls in rapid succession.

Eclipse had to use his all abilities to not get hit, and the corridor soon looked like Swiss Cheese. "Hey, this is fun!" shouted the mad scientist and he sent a bigger ball toward Eclipse. He avoided it by ducking, but the small demon still felt the heat from it on his back. He started to feel tired which was weird. The balls may have been fast, but there wasn't that many of them to tire him down. 'Were they also draining my energy?' He slightly bit his lip. Any hit could cause more serious damage then he previously thought.

Finitevus stopped firing. "You are a funny creature to mess with," he flattered him, and it would be nice if it wasn't for an evil grin on echidna's face. Eclipse's body tensed up. "I wonder, how much dissection you can take?" The small demon growled and slightly prepared for the doctor's next attack.

Finitevus' face reflected happiness as he exclaimed, "I know, I'll keep you as my personal pet!" Eclipse jerked. This was the same thing he wanted to do with Sonic. "But don't worry, I will take good care of you." Finitevus moved from his spot for the first time as Eclipse was unable to get closer. "I use on you only the most quality drugs and procedures." He chuckled a bit. "I'll make sure you will survive my tinkering."

The wave of disgust filled Eclipse's brain. Was he like this? Was Sonic feeling like this? Small tears formed in his eyes. For the first time in his life, he felt regret and need to apologize.

"Stay still," said the doctor, "I don't want to hurt you more than necessary." He shot just a small ball. Eclipse dived under it, dashing forward. It didn't seem Finitevus wasn't expecting it since he made half-step to the left.

However, Eclipse wasn't a fool, he dug his hands into the ground, pivoted his body, and his toes scratched Finitevus' face. 'Dang!' he cursed in his mind. He hoped to catch him off guard and knock him on the ground. He finished his turn and stood on his legs. He barely made a step when his chest was hit by some projectile.

At first, he felt nothing, but then it started to burrow inside of his body. He gasped, toppling on his back, scratching his clothes, ripping them apart in an attempt to take that shinning object out. However, before he could grasp it, it was inside of him. He shrieked, deafening himself. The sudden burst of pain was the same as the one he felt when Shadow ripped his wing. His body turned hot and was tossing around.

"Danged creature!" barked Finitevus. "How dared you scratch my perfect skin!" He growled, wiping the thin stream of blood off his cheek. With two strides he was by Eclipse's side and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying.

The additional pain wasn't making it any better for Eclipse. He curled up to spread his body in the next moment as it was heating like crazy. It was like a volcano erupted in his chest, turning his blood into lava and spreading the heat to the farthest tips of his limbs.

Dr. Zachary Finitevus turned away. He completely lost interest. "Enjoy your last moments," he said with disdain in his voice. "Savor the pain to the fullest." With those words he left Eclipse to his own devices, listening to demon's screams.

The small demon's breathing was sharp. His lungs were unable to inhale the needed amount of air. He was unsure if he would suffocate first or burn from the inside, and neither was his preferable choice. His body was soon soaked with sweat, and it tossed from one side to another as every movement hurt like hell. It was maddening!

"Eclipse!" called him his master after what felt like an eternity, but it might be just a few minutes of endless torture. He wasn't able to hear her as his mind was dulled because of the soreness.

Amy knelt next to him, and once she touched him, he shrieked, and his hand uncontrollably shot forward, almost grazing her face. "What's happening to you?" she asked him fully knowing Eclipse couldn't answer, but the words were spoken sooner than she could think about it. She felt a panic filling her heart as she had no idea what to do.

She turned at Silver, wanting to ask for his help, but he just barked, "You fool!" He dashed around them. "I told you not to lose him!" He didn't look back, ignoring his teammate's fate. He was rushing forward, hoping to catch up with the culprit and to arrest him.

He never failed his mission no matter what, and he wasn't intending to start with it now. 'Danged demon!' he cursed Eclipse in his mind. Silver was so angry at the small demon, he made long strides before he noticed he had entered a big inscription put on the whole corridor. He abruptly stopped, realizing his mistake. "Oh, crud!" he shouted as the complicated text, spells, and characters, that were making many circles, lightened up.

Amy's voice didn't reach Silver since he was gone. She was angry at him, and she wanted nothing more than to smack him. However, she had a more important problem, and that was to help Eclipse the best way she could.

Master Tikal taught her about herbs and medicine, and she memorized all of it. Yet, this knowledge was useless to her now. There wasn't any poison that could cause such big pain to demons, so Eclipse's pain had to have a different source.

With quick examination, she found out about his scratched chest, and he even drew his own blood. Eclipse called down a bit for a moment she could see it. She wasn't doubting something hit him there. However, there wasn't any physical hole, meaning it could be only spiritual energy. That helped her to choose the proper healing method, but there was just a little she could do.

With her hands on his chest, she was pouring her spiritual energy into his body. Her eyes powers told her his demonic powers were draining fast. If it would continue, he would die in a matter of hours at most. She could slow down this process by inserting her own energy, but that was a temporary solution. 'I need to find what is sucking his energy,' Amy thought, biting her lip.

Her eyes constantly darted from one end of the corridor to another, hoping there wouldn't be another attack of those monsters. 'How can his energy by swirling so widely?' It was like it was trying to burst. She never heard of anything like this, but it was obvious it would cause a lot of damage if left alone. Her energy at least helped Eclipse to finally calm down, so he was laying, heavily breathing, and his body was sweating like crazy.

'Silver, please, retu--' Suddenly the whole place shook. "What?" she shrieked, losing a concentration. Once that happened the energy in the demon's body started to go out of hand, threatening to rip his body apart. Amy wanted to continue the process, but more tremors shook the place, so she only hugged him.

Her eyes focused inside of the tunnel Silver gone into, and she soon saw him flying towards them with a cave in and bursting flames behind him. Her eyes widen, and before she could say a thing, they were lifted into the air.

The serious expression on Sliver's face convinced her to leave all questions to a later time. The walls were bursting with flames, blocking their path with ruble, and Amy couldn't stop herself from screaming when it happened right before her eyes. With each explosion, her hug over Eclipse strengthened.

No seconds were ever so long, and when they reached the big arena, it was already in flames, and the only entrance was swallowed by stones. Amy covered her and Eclipse's mouth as the remaining space was filled with smoke. Her eyes burned and tears were flowing down to cool them. She could hardly see anything, and the heat was making the breathing unbearable.

She felt Silver hugged both of them, bringing them closer to himself. She had found it strange, and it surprised her he wasn't shivering like her. His amber eyes were full of determinations, despite the hopelessness of the situation.