Eclipse squinted his eyes, concentrating on the thinning aura. It was already over a week since the disappearance of the villagers, so the trail was barely visible. He rubbed his eyes for the one-hundredth time. He couldn't fail now.

Everybody depended on him. His vision blurred, and he tripped over a hidden root.

"Eclipse!" Amy jumped beside him.

"I'm fine," he quickly spurted, getting on his shaky legs.

Amy snapped her head toward Silver, who sighed.

"Eclipse, that's enough. Take a rest. We may need your eyes later." He nodded toward the ebony hedgehog. "Shadow, take over."

"No problem." The priest padded Eclipse as he passed them, sniffing in the air.

The small demon took a deep breath. Using his eyes for too long drained him faster. He noticed that during his training sessions with Amy. He tried to figure out how to eliminate this, but he didn't find a way. Much less how to prevent it from making him suspicious.

Continuing forward, they had to stop every five steps, as Shadow needed time to determine the direction. The smell turned so weak, Eclipse wasn't able to find it at all. Another proof Shadow was older, more skilled, and significant addition to their current team.

'Maybe I could ask Mr. Nigel to let us form a regular team,' Silver thought. His eyes went to Eclipse, who rubbed his. He internally growled. 'Guess it's going to take more than a few minutes for him to recover his sight.'

It was annoying, but he couldn't help it. Despite R&D tried to develop healing and inner energy recovering seals for Shadow, they failed. The demon's energy differed from the spiritual one. One scientist described it as a wild animal that couldn't be tamed.

Strange, yet fitting.

A gust of wind interrupted his thoughts, and soon snow rushed from the gray clouds above them. With a wave of his hands, the psychic created a shield around them. Shaking the snow, they continued at a snail's pace for too long.

Silver clutched his fists, cracking his knuckles. They couldn't fail now. They were too close to that mad echidna he wanted to turn into mashed potato; a bloody smashed potato. The blood pulsated in his ears, drumming a war cry through his body. He clenched his teeth.

"It got stronger!" Shadow shouted, pinning his nose to the ground.

Eclipse jumped on all fours, assisting him and picking the same scent again. Amy crowed, jumping into the air, not noticing Silver let out a deep sigh. The rising urge in his stomach subdued.

But why he tried too hard to push it back? Why not let it flow out and see what happens? There would be no witnesses. He would make sure of that.

Focusing in front of himself, they found a small clearing among trees. In the middle sat a small hill. One he found familiar. Amy took out her mace, and the demons formed V position with her.

Silver's hand shone with blue light, and the snow in front of them was blown away with a flick of his fingers. It revealed a small hill with a similar lock Silver once cracked open. Before they approached it, the demons sniffed around it for several minutes, searching for any booby trap. Nothing out of ordinary came out, so Silver levitated toward the lock.

He gestured to others to stay back and be on the lookout. Silver pushed his palm against the lock, feeding it his spiritual energy. In the middle, he hesitated.

'What was that?'

A spark of unknown energy pierced his fingertips. He suspected the mechanism, but it came from inside him. How it was possible? He knew his powers like nobody else. Not even R&D managed to scan him fully or grasped the nature of his powers.

The lock stopped rotating, signaling he succeeded. 'Could it be that black energy I see forming within my Psy Bomb? It had a similar feeling.'

Behind the entrance laid a pitch-black corridor. The stench of death, rotten flesh, and substances nobody wanted to step into attacked their noses. Amy coughed and needed a few seconds to calm down.

Silver looked over his shoulder, nodding. They replied silently, showing him they were ready. Above Silver's hand levitated a dim light. The rest took out torches powered by embedded rings. Depending on the light's intensity, it could work for weeks to days, giving them plenty of time to explore the underground complex.

Silver led them with Shadow right behind him. Amy followed and Eclipse watched over their backs. The walls were void of any cracks or decorations. Touching them sent a wave of coldness through their bodies. Before walking past the door, they examined if anything was on the other side.

They had no need or time for unpleasant surprises. While Shadow and Silver remained calm, Amy and Eclipse felt the pressure crushing them. Last time they didn't know what to expect, and now they feared what twisted creature could jump at them.

The demon's small heart sped up, and no matter how many deep breaths he took, Eclipse couldn't calm down. His palms sweated, he drenched his trousers. His breath vaporized regardless of warm air.

Amy in front of him shivered, but it wasn't coldness touching her, but the horrible memories resurfacing.

'This is so...' She had no words for her thoughts.

The twisted images danced in front of her, not even closed eyelids could spare her. Especially the image of the mother with her unborn child begging her to end their suffering.

Tears spurted into her eyes. She rubbed them, her head almost snapping. Glancing back, she shot her eyes open.

"Eclipse!" She stopped, looking around.

Shadow did the same, startled by her cry. "What's happening?" No smell or sound alerted him.

"He's gone!"

"Impossible!" Shadow inhaled, but Eclipse's smell ended a few steps behind them. "Silver!" he called back, but the psychic was also gone.

"Don't tell me both!" Amy grasped her mace.

Shadow hugged her, pressing her against his chest. "No worries! Silver must have rushed forward! I can smell him."

"But what happened to Eclipse?" She touched her bracelet.

"I don't know! Maybe there was a teleportation seal. In any case, we should follow Silver before we lose him too!"

"I understand."

Together they headed forward, reaching a huge cavern with over twenty tunnels leading every direction.

Meanwhile, Eclipse whispered, "Where am I?"

A few seconds ago he walked through a corridor, but now he was inside a cave.

>In safety,< Ashyss answered, startling the demon who glued his body to a wall. >How rude. And here I saved you.<

"Saved me how?" Eclipse dug his claws into the stone, ensuring he was still in charge.

>By getting you away from that mortal girl and the other pests.<

"But how? I don't remember."

Even though he couldn't see The Eternal Eater, he felt he rolled his eyes. >Figures, I had to take over. You wouldn't be able to walk on tracks!<

"Tracks?"

>Come on, you must have noticed. You should be able to see them a bit already.<

"You mean... the spiritual energy in living beings?"

>Bingo.<

Eclipse leaped away as Ashyss manifested his form. He still wasn't more than a bubbling shadow, but his features gradually got sharped form.

>Let me show you.< His claws dug into Eclipse's cheeks from behind, immobilizing him as the other took control over the body.

Eclipse's eyes recolored, but this time he didn't see smudged strings of colors, but sharp shapes. Turning his head, he noticed one dark blue trail that was thicker than others. He stretched his arm to touch it but stopped in the mid-air.

>You are very observant. You may not know much, but you have good instincts.< There was a bit of mockery but also honest praise disguised inside. >This color represents the tracks I told you about.<

"Is that for traveling? Or something?"

>Precisely. Let me show you.<

Eclipse's body moved, jumping into the dark blue stream. Turning as light as a feather, Eclipse flew, and in a blink of an eye, he stood in an opening, watching a huge cavern.

"What? How did we?" He leaned forward, scanning the area.

>Impressive, right? Jump onto it, and you can get anywhere within a few seconds.< He shrugged his shoulders. >Unless you want to go across the continent, that can take a few minutes. With training, you can mark any place and return to it from anywhere.<

"Wow."

>It has its perks, just like limitations. I'm the only one who can use it to such an extent. You would end up in random places or even in pieces.<

Eclipse shivered, no doubting it could be true.

>Do you see the golden thread?<

The small demon concentrated on it. It pulsated with life while the others floated or moved around like normal strings.

>That's the quickest way how to find a tasty meal.< Ashyss licked his lips, sending shivers down Eclipse's back. >Let me show you.<

"No! Wait!" However, Eclipse was too late, as Ashyss took over.

Chains imprisoned him, forcing him to take a back seat and be a prisoner in his mind. Ashyss didn't hurry, following the golden path. He let it twirl and swirl around his fingers, and as he licked it, Eclipse's mouth overflew with drools.

Whatever was on the other side would fill him for months. He didn't have a full meal in years. His stomach called to him to fill him with the proper nutrition.

It screamed for the flesh and soul of mortals.

Meanwhile, it wasn't just Eclipse who got a strange sensation shot through his body. A foreign feeling guided Silver's steps through the corridors, never stopping or questioning which way to go. Junctions with tens of paths didn't puzzle him. He knew where to go.

Clenching his teeth, Silver dug his feet into the ground, stopping. His light wavered, casting shadows. Dark corners with bars over them announced to him this was a place that held all the villagers. Some metal bars were rusty, melted, or even bend by a tremendous force.

'Whatever was here, it got free.' He continued walking.

He inhaled, the stench of rotting flesh, body fluids, blood, and undefinable substances assaulted his brain. It filled him, yet it didn't throw his brain into disarray. He analyzed all the information as if he was reading a cooking manual, preparing to bake.

His stomach didn't try to puke, neither it squirmed. Silver's heart also didn't go through a change of pace, remaining calm as if he was walking through a flower park.

One reason others considered him a heartless monster. No scenery of carnage, blood, or despair managed to upset him unless it involved Gold. Anybody else could drop dead in front of him, and he would step over without sparing a glance.

His steps wavered, and he caught his head.

'What is this drumming in my brain? I didn't overuse my powers.' He pressed his temple to push the annoying feeling away, but he only dulled it.

"Hey, Amy, can you—?" He bit his tongue, realizing nobody was behind him. "When?"

Sweat covered him. How could he abandon his team?

He clenched his other hand, balling it into a fist.

"No point crying over spilled milk. They can manage without me."

His ears perked up, picking up a sound of quiet steps. And it was everything he could hear besides his breathing. Yet the smells were too fresh for this place to be abandoned.

'Damn you, Finitevus!' he cursed in his mind, continuing forward.

The dulled pain spread through his body, numbing it blissfully. Screams echoed with every step he took. The dry walls were covered in blood and guts to be clean in the blink of an eye. The taste of blood danced on his tongue, sliding down his throat with the saliva, making his heartbeat faster.

What was happening to his body and mind?

Why did he wish nothing but to spread carnage?

Following the tunnel, he entered yet another hive-like cavern with tunnels running in all directions. How could he build his labs without being detected eluded him, but right now it didn't matter.

The mastermind could answer it later. Finitevus stood at the other side, slowly clapping. A satisfied smirk decorated his muzzle, and his demonic eyes watched him like a hawk before diving to dig claws into unsuspecting prey.

Even Silver grinned. The man he wanted to rip into pieces stood in front of him. He took a deep breath, but his heart refused to slow down. The war drums started a countdown to the clash.

"Impressive," Finitevus said. "I didn't expect you to find me so fast. How did you do it?"

"Wanna know? Come closer so I can whisper it into your ears," Silver mocked him.

The mad scientist giggled like a schoolgirl. "So cute. How about we have tea and converse about your unique biology?" His fingers twitched, cracking. "I have so many questions."

Silver strolled closer. "Glad you are open for a discussion, but I have no time for tea." With a wave of his hand, that Finitevus gazed at, he created ten psionic lances. "You see, I ran on a tight schedule." Snapping his fingers, he sent the weapons the white echidna's way.

They zipped, taking sharp turns to confuse and attack from all angles. Finitevus danced among them as if he could see them even from his blind spots. Silver canceled his light, using both of his hands to control his lances, making new ones.

"Amazing! Wonderful!" Finitevus yelled despite it seemed he avoided injuries by hair width. "You will make a fine addition to my collection!"

"Dream on, sicko!" Silver barked, throwing his hand forward to capture the moving target that got into his power field. Regardless of the versatility of his powers, Silver had a limited action radius of about twenty to thirty meters depending on what he needed to do.

He could throw and control his lances much further, but capturing a moving target beyond his limit gave him mixed results, making it middle-range at best. Yet, that was enough now.

Finitevus' body floated, hugged by a blue glow. He crowded like a small child despite Silver gripped his body, tightening his chest.

"Super! Awesome! Bravo! I had never seen anybody with similar powers!" A sickening smirk spread across his face. "And I'm happy to accept your body."

This time, Silver's stomach did a somersault. "What you think you can—?"

The psychic didn't finish his line as the cavern exploded with disco lights, flashing images, sending his mind into migraine express. Silver yelled as piercing pain stabbed every cell in his brain, collapsing onto the ground.

He squirmed, kicking and shivering. All senses went into hypersensitivity, giving him extra stabs of free of charge suffering.

Finitevus watched him with delight. His bottom jiggled left and right as if he needed to pee for the last hour. Hearts and sparkles flew from his eyes as he couldn't contain his happiness.

"What a lovely voice!" Finitevus dived next to Silver, who was completely powerless. His fingers caressed the silver fur, experiencing the softness first hand.

"The documents were right! You enter a migraine state when exposed to flashing lights. Perhaps I overdid it a bit." Finitevus chuckled, no apology indicated in his voice. "How curious weakness."

Silver's ears twitched, turning back and forth as if avoiding all sounds.

"One I wouldn't think about." He bit his lip in frustration, but he soon smiled. "Oh well, that hard work paid off."

The mad scientist lifted Silver in his arms, rubbing his cheek against his chest fur. The agent yelled as if that pierced his heart.

"So soft! So pure! So majestic!" Finitevus' voice almost choked on itself, as it couldn't keep up with the rising excitement. "I can't wait to break you and remodel you to my image!"

He grasped Silver's fluff and ripped five hairs. The agent screamed, widening his shaking eyes.

"Silver!" Yelled Amy, who dashed into the cavern.

Finitevus jumped onto his feet, tossing Silver at the ground, letting him wriggle and shake in pain.

"How annoying!" Finitevus spat. "Can't you see we have a private moment?"

 The young agent ignored him, her mace-whip zipping through the air. It missed the scientist by an inch but separated him from her teammate.

But how to beat him to a pulp?