The Crossing Destinies [OPEN Sonic the Hedgehog FF]

The First Contact (6/6)

Shadow wasn't dead.

His heart was still beating.

The feeling of pain was devoured by a heat spreading through his whole body. It was engulfing him, burning him from inside. There was no thought in his mind. It was completely blank, except for a numb feeling; a distant memory.

His fingers twitched as the strongest wave of inner flame rushed through his veins. The sensation forced a deep animalistic roar from him. The bellow shook the whole factory, making the chains jangle.

"What's that now?" Eclipse shouted, scared of what could come next. He had enough of these unpleasant surprises. His yellow teeth started to chatter, and a chill entered his very bones.

From the above pipes, metal pieces, parts of columns or platforms started to fall down. The clouds of dust were lifted, dressing everything in an ominous veil. The metallic screeching made Eclipse's skin crawl, but only one specific pipe made him scared.

It landed meter in front of him, slowly rolling until it touched his toes. The yellow eyes drifted towards it, spotting blood on it. Eclipse got scared, really scared. The blood could belong only to one person.

Before Eclipse's brain could remind him, something heavy fell down, creating a strong wave. The small demon was pushed away, and Sonic got free, ending in rolls.

The blue hedgehog didn't wait for anything and crawled to a safer distance, hiding behind a thick column.

Eclipse didn't notice it as his whole concentration was on the shadowy figure inside of the dust. He also had no idea he was actually sitting on the ground with his hands supporting him. His small heart was beating like crazy.

"Who are you...?" whispered the dumbstruck night creature.

He could recognize that the figure was huge, taller than him by a huge margin, or it might be his fear, making everything scarier. A low growled came from the cloud, and three glowing orbs focused on the small demon.

Eclipse shrieked, scratching the floor beneath him in panic, trying to get away. The instinct to survive completely overtook his body. His limbs were unsynchronized, getting in the way of the escape.

A big, dark blur appeared on his right. His head slowly turned that way, seeing a death stare of three eyes with yellow sclera. The fear grew as Eclipse realized this was nobody else but the priest.

Shadow's form had drastically changed, starting with his outer quills that turned into curved horns. His facial features were lined by a red line and thick crimson stripes appeared on top of his quills. Eclipse hardly noted the sharp claws Shadow now had before he was sent flying with one hit.

The demon's small body crashed into barrels with oil, toppling them. The noise couldn't completely overdrive the roar Shadow made as he jumped into the air.