Gold was sitting on her post, gasping. Her breathing was sharp and loud. She never thought her circle could be breached so easily. It shook with her whole brain, severing the connection with all rings. Thankfully it only meant she wasn't able to monitor them otherwise they were still active.

The memories she tried to push away resurfaced, covering her body in a cold sweat. That priest was dangerous, but why he seemed so strange? When he entered, his aura was subtle, but now it was widely flickering like raging flames. She understood why her partner was so beaten up that night.

Her throat produced hoarse sounds in a clearing attempt. Her trust in magical circles she laid wavered. Fear crept inside her heart. Silver was in great danger.

Her hand touched her lap, sensing the shivering muscles. Gold hated this. Her fighting abilities were limited, but right now her partner might be in grave danger. It was obvious to her it wasn't just a threat coming from the fake priest.

Before her connection was severed, she noticed a change in Silver's aura. It wasn't the first time it happened. Whenever he had met a stronger opponent, he had tendencies to slowly corner it before delivering the last blow. Every time he had a satisfying smirk on his face for hours after it. It never stopped worrying her, but he never exhibited similar behavior toward any other person, so she let it be.

However, right now it might backfire. Any delays could result in serious injuries. She shook her head, pressing her temples. There was no time to dwell on the past. She needed to move to him. Her paper seals could give them an advantage. Controlling ground seal from a close distance was always better anyway. She should never agree to move so far away.

She was about the get up when a high pitched voice interrupted her, "I can't believe he just ditch us there! We were supposed to go together!"

Her ears perked, and her head snapped toward a small girl. Her expression was dark from the massive frown on her forehead. The clenched fists widely swung in the rhythm of her long strides.

'A child?' Gold was perplexed.

She was sure it was almost midnight by this time. Not to mention, this place was quite a distance from the city. Nobody was supposed to be here.

The angry girl was nobody but Amy, marching forward. She stared at Gold for a few seconds before she realized another person was near her.

"Ah," she gasped before forming a proper sentence. "I'm sorry." She did a curtsy. "I didn't wish to bother you."

The tenrec nodded, forgetting for a bit the barrier didn't make her invisible for normal people.

"That's alright, but why-" Her head jerked.

Gold's eyes fell on a closing figure walking behind Amy. She didn't wait for a second and darted forward. Her arms enveloped the girl, dragging her into the circle.

"What are you doing?" Amy pushed her a bit back, looking at her with knitted eyebrows.

Gold put a hand on her head in protecting manner.

"I'm sorry for startling you, but you are safe now."

The closing figure belonged to Eclipse who walked slowly due to pain in his legs. He couldn't get back into the air because there was nothing tall to jump from. Flapping with wings still shot a sharp pain through his body.

"What do you mean?" Amy asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Do you see that being outside?"

The girl turned around with Gold's hands gently resting on her shoulders.

After a nod from Amy, she continued, "That's a demon, but right now we are in a protective barrier that makes us invisible for it. Not even its nose can detect us."

"Really?"

Gold bobbed her head. Her right arm reached to one of the many hidden pockets to get a small paper charm out. They were called ofuda and were her main means of offense.

'With this, I can bind it.'

Amy slipped from her grasp the moment she wanted to toss it. Her mouth wasn't able to produce sounds, much less her brain to understand the child's action.

"Boo!" Amy shouted with stretched limbs.

"Kyagh!" Eclipse yelled, tumbling on his back.

The lass giggled. The demon hissed. Scaring him like this. He was supposed to scare others.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She offered him a hand he reluctantly accepted.

'Must be an obedient demon!' he reminded himself the need to accept anything she would throw his way.

"Where did you disappear?" He flapped his wings, happy they weren't hurt.

She looked back. "There is this strange circle that makes anything inside invisible to a demon. The lady there told me about it." She turned back, sticking her tongue a bit. "So, I couldn't resist this small prank."

Gold was watching them. Their interaction was unnatural to say at least. Her eyes carefully inspected the demon. Its form was small, and it seemed weak. Her gaze fell on Eclipse's legs.

'They are bandaged?'

Pieces of information put together a picture in her head. Now she was sure this small demon was the one Silver wanted to capture. Finding another night creature with similarly hurt legs was unlikely.

"Nice lady," Amy called, interrupting her thoughts. "He won't hurt you. Eclipse is a friend."

Eclipse shivered, unused to be called by a name by her and from the fact, the emerged figure in front of him smelled like the silver exorcist. He surpassed the growl, recognizing an agent of The Order. He cowered behind Amy. She was the only one who could provide him with a cover.

"Who are you?" Gold asked, concealing the ofuda in her dress.

The pink girl did a curtsy. "My name is Amy Rose, and this is my friend Eclipse. Who is asking?"

The medium nodded. "I'm Gold the Tenrec. You know its name?"

She found it unlikely, it could be a nickname. However, how in that case the demon was forced to be so docile? He acted so scaredly, but she noticed how his body was tense. The bits about a story regarding demon's names resurfaced in her mind, but that was supposed to be just a legend.

Amy knitted her eyebrow a bit more. "Yes, and it's he. I believe it's rude to call a person it." She clenched her dress a bit.

Gold was puzzled why she insisted on calling such a dangerous creature he. Her eyes once more explored his body, glancing a metallic object around his neck.

"If it's its... I mean, his name," she quickly corrected herself since Amy pouted. "Then is that collar..." Gold didn't finish this sentence not sure how to do it.

All she could tell there was no malicious aura around it, so it couldn't be cursed.

The pink hedgehog girl slightly smiled with a weak blush creeping outside. "I think you can say it's the bond between us." Amy touched her right wrist.

Gold's eyes widen for a second and her heart skipped a beat. Through her feet, she sent out a small pulse to check on the girl's spiritual capacity. The response surprised her. She had never felt such aura. It was warm and bright but not blinding. The connection between her and demon was thick like a chain, yet it wasn't trapping them.

'Is she in such a tender age,' she thought for a bit, 'a demon tamer?' She only read about it in one book, and it provided only vague information.

She wanted to ask more when the silence of the night was disrupted by a loud scream.

"Mister Shadow!" shouted Amy, recognizing the voice.

She quickly ran in that direction. Eclipse followed her on all fours, as he could rest his legs a bit.

The tenrec was behind them, realizing she had forgotten about her partner. Her sensitive senses picked wild ripples coming from the central part.

The fight heated up with Shadow tapping more into his demonic powers that slowly clouded his mind. Silver answered with a dozen of spears, but each and everyone was shattered to pieces. The priest got so close his claws ripped through the white clothes.

A sharp pain ran through Shadow's side it cleared his brain from the worst haze. He stumbled back, blood escaping from his system. Two more points of pain erupted in his left leg, and he couldn't stop the bellow from escaping his lungs.

He fell on the ground, curling up. His other hand pressed the buttock. The heat ensured him he was still alive, but it also meant he was seriously injured. The fresh smell of blood filled his nostrils. The voice in his head wriggled despite having no visuals of that.

Shadow could tell it was trying to gain control over him, but this time he refused to listen. The green flames and red stripes on his limbs were gone, but he retained his claws he painfully noted as they pierced his buttock, adding new streams of blood.

Silver was loudly breathing with a silver gun pointing at the lying figure. He was shaken. Until this moment he was in complete control over his actions. The last attack triggered his self-defense system, bypassing his brain. He grabbed the weapon and shot without a second thought.

It took him a few seconds and a loud scream from the priest to wake him up. He winked to repel memories of their first encounter. He never thought something like that would terrify him.

After a few more breaths, Silver smiled to recover his composure.

"How it feels to be shot by the gun you have stolen and kept for so long?" he asked in mocking tone.

"S-Stolen?" Shadow lifted his head. His eyes winced as that meant moving with his torso where he had a fresh hole. His face was twisted by twinge.

The exorcist growled, "Don't play dumb! This pistol isn't yours. It belonged to an agent of The Order."

Why was this guy ticking him so much? It was like he wanted to rip him to pieces and be done with it. No more questions! No more games! Just senseless slaughter!

He snorted, putting his inner thoughts in check. Like he was going to let some silly emotions to cloud his brain again!

"But don't worry, you can tell me the story later. I'll get all the pieces out of you." The last sentence was pronounced in an especially cold tone.

'Dang it!' Shadow cursed, unable to hold his frustration any longer.

He merely wanted to talk, to negotiate. Why did it turn into a fight for his life? But he would be a real fool not admitting he knew this could happen. Nevertheless, he still wanted to avoid it!

The voice in his head sweetly whispered. All it would take was to get rid of the cross and sit back to enjoy the show. The priest knew what it meant; the endless massacre of innocent people. He couldn't allow it, but he couldn't stop a fear entering his heart.

"Don't you even think about turning into a monster!" Silver yelled, interrupting Shadow's thoughts.

The ebony hedgehog clenched his teeth with a silent growl pushing through. The black eyes trailed toward Crestia who still tried to escape based on her jerky movements.

Silver noticed it, but he kept his eyes on the priest, merely checking the demoness with his ears.

"What? Worried about others?" he asked with disdain in his voice.

A shiver ran down Shadow's spine, but he dared to speak, "You want just me, right? Please, let her go."

The amber eyes shot open, and Silver's face gained red color.

"What?" he barked, "It's not enough you regard it as a living being you even demand to release it?"

Without hesitation, he shot Shadow into a shoulder. A new scream escaped from the ebony's throat. His body curled up, shaking. This was bad, really bad. Shadow needed to come up with a plan and fast.

Silver snorted and moved the gun a bit down. He deemed the fake priest to be enough weak now to carry into their house for interrogation. There was a nice seal he planned to use for him, sucking his demonic energy dry.

Despite the hatred he had towards the demons, he found the signs of sympathy a topic worth to investigate. He played with the idea to move the demoness to The Order for their R&D departure to experiment on. They had nothing to try their seals and weapons on, so almost every gadget needed to be tested during the missions. That was naturally inconvenience as many prototypes showed faulty behavior and resulted in unnecessary injuries.

The same fate would await Shadow after his integration would be over. He pondered what type of seal was embodied in the cross it could mask such strong demonic energy like nothing.

In his other hand, psionic whip appeared. Time to collect his hard-won prize. He lifted his hand when, out of the blue, blue blur hit him in the stomach, catching him completely off guard. The psychic's body rolled several meters away, dropping everything.

"Father Shadow!" shouted the blue blur that was none other than Sonic.

The priest growled, turning his way to face the running boy.

"Why are you here? Where's Amy? Why you never listen to me?" He wasn't sure if he was angry or glad he disobeyed, creating a distraction he needed.

Sonic shivered, seeing the blood, ripped pants, but more importantly the claws. The boy gulped, saying, "But Amy said, you have no intention of returning to us!"

'She and her reading ability,' he hissed, slowly getting up.

To his surprise, his wounds no longer bled, but the pain was still with him. The ebony priest deeply inhaled, checking on the exorcist.

His figure was curled up, holding his stomach. It would take a few more seconds before he would be able to get up and fight.

The blue child clenched his fist, stomping the budding panic in his heart. This was Father Shadow he knew and loved, not some random monster! So what if he could grow horns and claws! Inside was still the person he looked up to.

He grabbed Shadow's wrist, helping him to stand. He kicked the fear out of his heart, no longer letting it rule him.

"Amy is with Eclipse since he can't hurt anybody now. I'll get you there."

"Forget about me." He quickly stepped toward Crestia, and Sonic followed him. "We need to get her out first!"

He knelt down, feeling how tense the demoness was. "Please," he said, "I'm begging you! Don't hurt the children!"

Crestia had no idea what to think about this situation, but she nodded. She could always ask her brother for an explanation why the black priest he feared so much was now helping him.

"Good, Sonic will lead you to Eclipse," Shadow replied and grabbed the first chain.

He roared with pain as it burned him. As he closed his eyes for a moment, he overlooked the demoness' wide eyes.

'He knows...!' Her heart skipped a beat, and a wide swirl of emotions and thoughts danced in her mind.

Sonic grabbed another chain, but it refused to move. He dug his heels into Crestia's shoulder, much to her discomfort, but even so, the chain refused to break. A whistle flew above him, and when he opened his eyes, Shadow was tossed away by a long whip.

Silver was on his legs, ready to fight. "You danged bastard!" he cursed. 'What was that?' His other hand was clutching his stomach. He only noticed something blue hit him at an unimaginable speed.

His eyes darted toward Shadow who got up. Silver moved forward, but something hit him from behind, and he toppled with mouth wide into the dirt. The whip dispersed as he lost any hold onto it.

Sonic didn't wait for anything and attacked the exorcist. He couldn't let Father Shadow fight on his own.

"Sonic!"

"What?"

"Just get her out!" the priest yelled at him. "I'll keep him busy!"

Sonic wanted to object, but the next words convinced him he can do it.

"Show me your speed."

The boy clenched his fists and nodded.

"Alright!" he shouted back.

"You brat!" Silver barked the dirt as he got up.

He waved his hand to capture the small pest, but it turned into a blur.

"What?" he gasped.

If he was moving that fast, he couldn't catch him. In order to grab his target with his power, he needed to focus on it for a few seconds.

He followed the blue trail, unable to keep up. He knew the boy was on his left. As he was turning that way, he heard a voice from above.

"You are too..."

His amber eyes widen, reflecting his brain was unable to comprehend how such a small body could move so fast. He looked up.

"... slow!"

"Oh, crud!"

Sonic landed on Silver's face, only wobbly steps saved the exorcist from toppling over. The boy used this moment to jump away. In the air, he showed to Shadow thumbs up. The priest answered with the same gesture, feeling proud like a father would.

The psychic hissed as his face burned. Nobody before made fun of him like that. Whoever dared was mercilessly crushed by him. His body pivoted, ready to show Sonic how he dealt with little pests like him.

At that moment he forgot about Shadow, and that caused him another pain in his stomach.

"I'm sorry!" the priest said when he kneed exorcist's abdomen, contradicting with the action.

Silver's body flew into the air with burning lungs. This situation was turning like the last time. His body hit the ground. Shadow dashed forward to immobilize him. However, what he should do next?

Hesitation in his action caused him a kick in the head and punch in his jaw followed soon enough. Silver was furious. He decided to ignore the brat for now. The fake priest had top priority.

Sonic looked over his shoulder and winced when Shadow was punched. Suddenly, he almost tripped over something. He looked down, and his eyes widen.

Cold sweat covered his body.

His mind refused to work, bringing only one image forward.

"Sonic!" Shadow called him, noticing a strange smell coming from him.

Silver slashed the priest, not knowing what was happening behind his back.

"It's no use!" he barked. "Nobody except for us can break that barrier."

The priest paid only half attention to his attacks, unable to comprehend why Sonic stopped or why his smell turned so desperate. The exorcist finally acknowledged something might be happening, so he turned around.

He saw the boy held the silver gun.

"Why..." The blue hedgehog's voice shook. "Why's my dad's gun here?"

Silver's eyes widen. This was something he definitely didn't expect.

"Your..." Shadow whispered. "... father's gun..."

He wobbly stepped back. That weapon was with him as far as he could remember which was for eight years. Waves of cold and heat washed over his body, making him shiver. His mind went blank, replying old memories in front of him in a chaotic manner.

Silver sensed the change in his defense and quick hit from behind rendered Shadow unconscious. The psychic let out a sigh of relief.

"F-Father?" Sonic yelled, rushing to the lying body.

Silver watched to boy shaking with the fake priest.

'What is the meaning of this?'