A few moments earlier, in a distant secret lab, a certain albino echidna was furious.

"Damn it!" He kicked the test tube, successfully flushing the content. "I was so close to having him!" He bit his nails.

He sent his best soldiers at him, yet he managed to dispose of them. His anger slowly turned into giggling. His temper was unstable, and it could go any way at any moment.

"Interesting! Very interesting!" He cupped his hands, rubbing them against each other. "Hey, Scorch!" Dr. Finitevus snapped.

"I'm here," replied the flame cat with ajar eyes, standing next to the line of test tubes.

"What? How come?" the doctor asked confused. "Are you stalking me?"

"You called me an hour ago." She tried not to be bothered by his weird behavior.

"I did?" He tilted his head.

"Yes," she answered, not letting her irritation be reflected in her voice.

"Okay," the albino stated, somehow unable to process this simple information. "Forget why I called you here and find out Silver's next mission! Now!"

"As you wish." She placed her right hand on her left shoulder and slightly bowed before she headed out.

"And get me his three sizes!" he yelled at her at the top of his lungs.

Her eye twitched, and the gray hedgehog with a big mustache, she was passing by, send her an encouraging smile. Their employer was a crazy man, and both had to deal with the constant changes in his mood.

Scorch sighed, running her finger through her fiery-mane. Her lion tail swayed in the rhythm oh her steps. This was another suicide mission he gave her, but she always succeeded. In the corridors, she had met some demons.

Nobody was paying her much attention. She already kicked enough of their butts for them to try anything funny. They finally acknowledge she wasn't one to trifle with and that she was part of their mission.

She walked past a cluster of big crystals where she checked on her clothes. She was thinking it might be a good time to change her gray pants for something new. It had just one problem, she had no time to check any store.

'Maybe I could get something for my bracelets.' She breathed on them, burnishing them a bit. 'Some nice engraving would do.' With this thought, she continued until she reached the library where Sirius resided.

"Greetings, Lady Scorch" the librarian bowed. "How can I help you?"

"Hi, you know, the usual," she greeted him with a wave of her hand. Her blue eyes glanced at a small group. "Hi you too, still on dusting duty?" A big smile sent in their way.

Four small pets Eclipse entrusted to his older brother welcomed her with happy sounds. Scorch had no idea how they got here, but they became friends soon. They were really cute, and she liked how the trio protected their little sister Rhygenta.

"So one rift to the world of mortals." A smile smirk appeared on Sirius' face. He turned around, guiding her to a special circle.

"I'm really amazed you are stuck with all the books when you have such amazing ability," Scorch noted, waving goodbye to the group.

"I may be able to create paths between our worlds, but my physical strength is greatly lacking."

"You could always ask your wacky doctor to fix our body."

Sirius stopped and stepped aside for her to enter the circle. "I'm not worthy of his time. He is busy working on more important matters."

"Sure." She rolled her eyes. The memory of her collecting numerous pictures of Silver was still fresh in her brain. "But you know," she stepped inside, "I could always smuggle some regeneration potion for you." She gestured her head toward his bandaged right arm.

"That's kind of you, but don't worry about me." He again nodded.

"I swear you are the most humble demon here." She put her hands on her hips, letting the light from the circle dance on her body.

"Good luck with your mission," Sirius said before she was gone.

The fiery cat felt a slight pull on her whole body before she reached her destination. She stretched a bit and looked around. She was in a deep forest and based on the familiar big stone she was close to the Albion City.

'Man, how is he doing it?' she pondered. 'How can he sent us so close to our targets and be so weak at the same time?' Scorch couldn't figure him out since the first time they met.

Zachary Finitevus introduced them when he entrusted her first mission. At first, she was a bit scared of Sirius. It was like his eyes pierced right through her soul. That was about two years ago, now she was seeing him quite often. After all, he was the only one capable of such transports.

He also calculated where and when the barrier around the world of demons was at the weakest, allowing weaker demons to trespass here without creating a waiting line in his library. She sighed. That man was full of mysteries.

'I wonder if he ever had any ambition. And,' she rolled her eyes a bit, 'did I smell fresh blood from him?' She shrugged her shoulders. His affairs weren't on her mission list, so she let him go and dashed forward the city.

At the same time, when the night was behind its peak, a demoness was laying on her side. She was aware her body was sore and numb. She slowly moved her head and gradually tried all limbs before she opened her eyes.

They slowly trailed the ground in front of her, moving up a box where she noticed somebody's legs. It took her a few moments to understand what it meant.

The demoness screeched, leaping back in spite of objecting muscles. She hit some wall and big pain spread through her chest.

"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you," a soft voice spoke to her.

The demoness lifted her head. The voice belonged to a pink hedgehog mortal. She sniffed, noticing no ill intent around the mortal. With her other hand, she touched some invisible barrier around her.

"My name is Amy. Can you tell me how you feel?"

The demoness instead growled. She was evaluating her chances. She might be slim with less visible muscles than the average demon, but she was fast, and her long rat-like tail was her trusted weapon. Her horns were too short for her taste, so she could hardly gut or pierce anybody with them.

She gripped her short quill bordering her face. She played with it between her fingers every time she was nervous. Now she just needed to figure out how to get out if this invisible cage. There was just a tiny problem; the one sitting in front of her was a member of the hated group of people hunting them.

The demoness' body winced. She wasn't in good shape, but she wasn't intending to go down without a fight.

"Please, don't move, you were badly hurt," Amy spoke once more in a soothing voice.

The demoness crouched a bit more, still refusing to respond with anything but growling.

The lass got down of the box, came a bit closer, and sat down in front of her. She reached into her small handbag and started to search for something.

The yellow eyes of the demoness' didn't stop watching her. All the deep breaths brought negative results regarding any ill intention. The trapped demoness couldn't figure out what the mortal wanted from her.

"I'm sure you are hungry," Amy said, pushing forward a very small plate with two cookies through the barrier, "you can take these."

A quick slash of tail sent that plate flying. The lass jerked her body out of the way, but the plate still managed to graze her cheek before crashing into the box. A think streak of blood poured from it. Amy wiped the blood into her handkerchief.

"Ah, that's right. Girls like to look slim. I had no idea you are on a diet."

The demoness bristled. How could she be so calm? She was sure the female agent was faking her friendly attitude, but she wasn't going to let her guard down. That food looked innocent, but it was definitely poisoned.

"I know you are scared, but you don't have to be. I don't want to hurt you, I just have a few questions for you."

The other one still refused to respond. She was sure there was a trick in her request. The agents of The Order weren't to be trusted. Her clawed hand brushed against a bandage around her chest. The yellow eyes darted to it.

'What?' She wasn't sure what to think. Her wounds were taken care off. 'Did she?' In her eyes reflected uncertainty. Her breathing slowed down a bit.

Amy continued, "We found you on street. Can you tell me how did you get there?"

The demoness still refused to talk with her. Even if she healed her, she reeked of the black creatures she hated. There was no way she would talk to her.

The girl proved to be as stubborn as the demoness, she refused to show her true face and continued to talk her into cooperation. The girl ensured her nothing was going to happen to her, she just needed some answers.

'My butt!' she angrily thought. There was no way she was intending to keep her promise. She could smell other agents from her. They would kill her once they would get what they wanted.

With each passing minute, the demoness clenched her fists more. No claw mark was left on the ground despite her tries. She gradually verified the barrier was quite tough. Breaking it wouldn't be easy.

Three silent tonk-like sounds reached to her ears. On the agent's face appeared a sad smile, and she said, "It seems you wish to be left alone. But please," she got up, "think about my words. I don't mean you any harm."

The yellow eyes watched her leave. Only once she was out of the sight, the demoness tried to break that barrier, by all means, she could muster.

The demoness had no idea she was still watched by Amy from behind another barrier built around the room. It wasn't easy to establish since this one was blocking smells, sounds, and visuals of living beings. Its creator was none other than Silver the Hedgehog.

He was now leaning against the wall in front of the door, having a perfect view on the defiant demoness. He sighed.

"Your method isn't working. It's already been an hour," he noted.

"I know, but she is agitated and scared."

"We waste our time here," he straightened up and made a step toward the door, "I should handle the questioning from now."

Amy frowned at him. She knew very well what type of investigation he had on his mind.

"It doesn't matter if you like it," Silver replied to her unspoken question.

"She is also a victim," Amy argued. "The smell of those Black Arms is on her body and ours too. She needs time to trust us."

Silver fought with the urge to check his body odor. If he hated something more than being dirty, it was to stink. His amber eye twitched. "We don't have a luxury of--- Where is he going?" he barked when his eyes fell on Eclipse who was getting close to the demoness.

Amy quickly blocked Silver's path. "Let him try," she urged.

"What?"

"She may want to talk with a fellow demon."

Silver silently growled before he exhaled. "Fine, he has one try." He crossed his arms. "Then is my turn."

"Thank you," Amy whispered, moving her attention to her demonic partner.

She prayed for Eclipse to succeed if not, Silver would get it his cruel way.