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.

'This will be so easy.'

Eclipse continued on all fours. He actually loved to move that way; it gave him greater pleasure during a hunt. He made sure to be quiet, and he soon found his prey just a few meters above him. He could easily catch up to it, but he got an idea.

The demon cleared his throat and gently called, "Hey, kid! Did I scare you?" He tried to sound as sorry as he could.

The child above him clearly panicked as it fell on the platform made from a solid piece of metal so Eclipse couldn't see it. However, from the sounds, he guessed the child crawled away from the edge but didn't try to run yet. The demon had to act quickly.

"I'm really sorry," he called once more, feeling proud on his acting abilities. "You see, I'm new in this town, and I was walking by when that building suddenly collapsed. It scared me and when you saw me..." He made a pause, listening.

Sonic didn't try to disappear so he added, "I thought you would think it was my fault. I was afraid I won't get any friends 'cause of it." He made sure put emphasis the word "friends" as mortals seemed to drop their guard upon hearing it.

"Friends?" Sonic asked, and the demon could hear his prey moved a bit closer to the edge.

Eclipse quickly barked, this time not faking his happiness as his midnight snack was so close. "Yes, friends! Let's be buddies! As an apology, I'll give you my candy!" Yes, another thing that had a great effect especially on children.

"Really?" The boy slowly approached the edge of the platform where the railing was missing.

"Yes!" The demon replied, a big smile on his face.

Sonic's green eyes seemed to evaluate the high difference. "But... I'm afraid to climb down the ladder. Will you catch me if I jump down?"

The demon's eyes shined, and he opened his arms. "But of course! You are my first friend after all!"

"Okay, I just need to warm up my legs," Sonic added before going back.

Eclipse couldn't believe his luck. 'Like for real? That runt is so dumb! It's jumping literally into my mouth!'

From above he detected steps, so the demon decided to stretch his body a bit in the meantime. After a short while, he heard something was rolling.

"What are you---!" He looked up and something big clouded his vision. His eyes widened as a big barrel buried him.

"Gah!" he shrieked.

Too late he realized that kid completely caught him off guard. It played innocent, but it was cooking such a hideous plan. Well, Eclipse wasn't any better, but he was a demon, it was in his nature.

Eclipse roared, lifted the barrel and tossed it away. It rolled down, crashing into everything and drowning out the stream of curses that left the demon's throat.

"You brat!" he yelled at the end. "I'll rip you apart!"

He jumped at the platform, but the boy was gone. None of his bones were broken, but his wings were hurting like hell. This wasn't just about it, his ego was hurt a lot. He considered all mortals to be pathetic and weak, but this one was a pain in the neck for too long.

His yellow eyes spotted the moving target in a second, and the demon gave chase. He made a lot of noise as he was crashing into railings, barrels, and messing with chains or any small object that wasn't firmly assigned. It wasn't because he was clumsy; he wanted to make the boy terrified, raising his panic level to the max. Eclipse was the hunter here!

In his head, he imagined how he would catch the kid, scratched its skin bit by bit, licking the hot blood, and let it escape for a while before repeating his favorite pastime activity – the slow torture.

Meanwhile, Sonic's mind was full of chaotic thoughts. Despite it, he was more or less calm. His speed and knowledge of the terrain gave him hope and confidence. The demon, after all, hadn't caught up to him in this place yet.

He remembered a chain net on the platform in front of him. The boy slightly sped up, climbing the ladder and that slowed his progress down.

Eclipse noticed this and decided to end the chase, so he sped up too. In a matter of a few strides, he was at the top of the ladder, and his face was hit by a bunch of chains. He screeched with stars dancing in front of him. His body was ripped from the ladder, landing on the edge of the lower platform.

The hit in the head strengthened the headache he already had and added a bonus for his back. The demon spouted one curse after another almost biting his own tongue until he ripped the chain net apart. Once more this kid caught him off guard in less than ten minutes, Eclipse had enough of it.

The blue hedgehog didn't watch him, as he continued running. He was afraid that once he stopped moving, he wouldn't be able to run anymore.

Sonic's heart skipped a beat when a sharp sound of tearing metal reached his ears. The demon was free sooner than the blue boy hoped, and based on the roar, he was ten times angrier than before.

"I'll so enjoy ripping you apart!" Eclipse shrieked, jumping on the platform in front of him. He winced at the soreness in his wings.

The demon's eyes quickly found his prey about ten meters above him. He ignored the path mortals made and jumped and climbed up, shortening his hunt by seconds. When he got to the same level, he would be able to catch the child with just a few strides.

However, Eclipse instead slowed down. He noticed the kid was running towards the torn down bridge. The demon glanced below to realize they had more than forty meters fall below them. A shiver ran through his back as he realized he almost fell down when he was tangled in the net.

Eclipse growled towards the kid, evaluating its two choices; to stop, or fall down. Either way, the demon would get his midnight snack, and it was about time. He still needed to pick up his last trophy that included putting muscle work into digging it up.

'I hope that priest wasn't smashed too much.'

Licking up leftovers from the ground wasn't his hobby. And speaking of licking, he watered his lips, awaiting the kid's next action. Three, two, one step, and the boy...

"What?" the demon barked as his eyes almost fell off their sockets.

The kid didn't stop nor start to fall to his death, but it jumped.

For the first time, the fiend noticed, the smell of fear was weakening around his prey.

'How's that possible?'

Eclipse rushed forward, not losing his quarry from his sight.

The seconds Sonic spent in the air were like an eternity, but his tiny hands were reaching slowly for the next step – the hanging chain.

His fingers did not even touch it.

A wave of panic flooded the boy's small body.

He was falling.

His mind went blank.

Time stopped.

No sound reached his ears.

He could only feel a strange sensation, growing inside. It was filling him from the tips of fingers to the very core of bones.

It vibrated with his whole body.

Eclipse's claws were just a few inches from the kid, ready to grab it. He hated minced meat and finding his snack all over the floor was the last thing he needed.

Sonic's body curled up and started to spin, escaping the demon's preying claws at the last moment.

"What?" shouted the demon, flapping with his wings, halting his descend and watching the blue ball falling down.

The kid's spinning body crashed into the platform meters below, making a big hole, continuing down. It bounced off sturdy things, smashed anything less robust, or pushed away anything that wasn't bolted to a place.

The demon's mouth loosened up in a dumbfounded way. His wide eyes kept following the spinning ball as it slowly descended. When he touched the ground, Sonic already crash landed and wasn't moving.

Eclipse stretched his neck, expecting to see dead body once the dust settled down.

Who would survive such harsh landing anyway?

The answer?

That kid!

Sonic coughed, as he was slowly getting on all fours. The landing was anything but soft. His body was sore from the sudden spinning he couldn't understand, yet his head wasn't dizzy or in a mess, he only felt it was bleeding.

The demon was astonished. His body was trembling with excitement. Eclipse quickly came over, grabbed the dirty T-shirt, lifting the flabby body face front.

The demon laughed, "Amazing! Amazing! You never cease to surprise me, blue hedgehog! You have made me change my mind!"

The boy's weak hands grabbed the demon's arm, struggling vainly to become free.

"I won't kill you yet! Isn't it great?"

Eclipse's smile was wide, showing razor teeth.

"I'll keep you as my pet! I'll feed you and take care of you," with the last word his smile turned into an evil grin, "then I'll hunt you down! And," he emphasized on the conjunction, "if you want to live, I suggest you impress me. Make me surprised! Make me excited! I'll make you run for my sake!" Eclipse burst out laughing, his body widely shaking.

Sonic was scared, so scared he couldn't think straight. However, he hated giving up. He didn't give up running. He didn't give up pulling pranks, no matter how much trouble it brought him.

At the same time, his brain was yelling at him to stop the pointless fight. His limbs were sore, tired, there was no strength behind their movements. For the first time, Sonic realized what it meant to be terrified.

The demon could finally smell the familiar and beloved mix of panic, terror, fear, and hopelessness. He couldn't contain his excitement and licked the fresh blood on the boy's face.

Sonic screamed in terror.

Special thanks to LigerCat for editing this chapter :-)

  Dedicated to iloojin  for taking her time to BadAss Critique my book <3