AN: Holy crap, guys, I am SOOO sorry for the long delay. I've been busy reading 144 papers from my students for the past 2 weeks. I'm also in the process of moving, so I haven't been able to have enough time to upload. I hope y'all will forgive me! So without further adieu, enjoy the next chapter.

•~•

Waiting for Shadow and his family to arrive, Mighty got off the phone after having a grave conversation with another individual. Walking outside to search for his partner, Mighty found him casually leaning against the building coolly in wait. Hearing him approach, Sonic raised a cocked brow as he waited for his friend to update him on the call. Mighty sighed in frustration as he neared the hedgehog. "Sonic, we got a problem…"

Sonic pushed himself off the wall; already growing worried by his dour tone. "What kind of problem?"

Mighty tucked his phone away in the back pocket of his pants. "Those kids never made it home."

Sonic's mouth went agape, completely blindsided by the information. "What do you mean? I loaded them on the ambulance myself."

"That's just it—the ambulance never made it back. It's missing too!"

"Who told you this?" Sonic questioned.

"Actually, it was Sally and Hendrix. The two met up for the arrival of the ambulance at the hospital, but when it never showed up, they talked to the administration and found out they've lost contact with the driver completely," he explained.

"Damn it," Sonic cursed, feeling his fists tighten in frustration. "Who the hell took those kids?"

•~•

Meanwhile, far off in the depths of the Mystic Ruins, the ambulance that Aurora was driving came to a slow halt. In front of the parked van, a group of male and female witches in black robes stood, holding lit torches as they waited on her arrival. Aurora unstrapped her seatbelt before opening the door and hopping out of the car. Without urgency, she sauntered over towards the group. "The children are sedated and are prepared for the ritual," she stated calmly.

One of the witches, a male crocodile, extended his arm with something clutched inside his hand. "Here," he spoke in a monotone voice. "This is a token of our master's power. You'll need it for what's to come." He blossomed his hand revealing a chain with a red jagged stone. Aurora accepted the gift and took it in her hand. She looked down at the crystal, admiring the feel of its power. "Just one more thing," he said, drawing away from her focus on the token.

"Yes?"

"Your boyfriend, Mighty Armadillo-"

"—I won't let anything stop us," she made explicitly clear, showing no signs of emotion.

•~•

Back at the greenhouse, Mighty and Sonic heard the sound of car doors slamming outside their location. Knowing it was Shadow and his family, the two males waited as they heard the family making their way towards the building. "Where's Mighty!" Amy called out frantically.

"Right here," he called back, trying to ease her panic. Just as those words left his mouth, Amy came in the doorway carrying Faith bundled up in a blanket in her arms.

Her face showed panic. "Where do I put her?" Amy asked.

Mighty gestured towards a drawn spell circle he had drawn out on the floor. "Just here," he instructed. Soon after, Silver, Blaze, and Shadow were close behind as they entered the small greenhouse.

In the meantime, Amy said no other words and knelt down, laying her daughter out flat within the circle's circumference. "Mommy, what's going to happen to me?" Faith asked weakly.

"Mighty is going to make you feel better," Amy assured, stroking the top of her head.

Once Shadow entered the greenhouse, he looked over at Sonic curiously, wondering why he was present in this circumstance. "Why are you here?" he asked lowly.

Sonic walked over towards them, to keep their conversation hush. "Long story short, but I was helping M locate more missing kids," he answered quietly.

"More?" Shadow repeated. "Were you successful in finding them?"

"We did," Sonic nodded. "However, there was a bit of a hiccup in our rescue mission."

"Hiccup…I don't like the sound of that," Silver chimed in.

"Yeah, we had all the missing children loaded on an ambulance and headed towards the hospital, but it turns out the ambulance never arrived."

At that same time, Mighty knelt down before the circle that Faith resided in, making sure she was comfortable and situated. "Ahem," he coughed, clearing his throat and catching everyone else's attention. "Not to be rude, but I'm going to need complete silence while I work," Mighty interrupted. "If my unlinking spell is to work, then I'm going to have to be able to concentrate."

"Our apologies," Shadow pardoned, putting up his hands apologetically. "Please, do what you must."

Mighty turned his focus back on the young girl before him and shot her a smile. "Nice to see you again, Faith. I heard you weren't feeling so good."

"Mhm," Faith nodded weakly back at the armadillo. She was used to seeing him as a teacher—someone that helped her craft and hone her magic skills, but today she was seeing him as a doctor-like figure.

"Well, that won't be the case for much longer," he assured. "Just do me a favor, stay perfectly still. This won't hurt a bit, but you will feel like a ton of weight has been lifted," he explained.

Faith closed her eyes, as she comprehended the information. "Okay…"

"Good girl," he praised. With her following his instructions, he began his spell.

Gently, Mighty took his hands and lightly patted them together in a clapping motion as he muttered an incantation spell, moving his clapping hands over her. "Muv-a-la, muv-a-la," he repeated over and over softly, practically in a whisper. Amy watched off to the side, partially biting her nails as she waited. Shadow, Blaze, Silver, and Sonic also stood off to the other side, observing the spell take place.

Slowly, Mighty began to build up the strength to sever the link between this spell and Faith, he moved his hands in closer towards her face and touched the sides of her cheeks with each hand before flinging them away from her face in a swatting motion. The moment he did that, just like he said, Faith felt an invisible weight lift off her shoulders.

She opened her eyes. "Mama?"

Mighty stood upright and dusted his hands off proudly. "That's it, she's purified."

Amy rushed over, dropped down on her knees, and brought Faith into her arms. "Thank goodness," she breathed. "Thank you so much, Mighty," she smiled.

Mighty smiled back. "No problem."

Shadow walked over to the warlock and shook his hand. "Thank you for helping my little girl," he said in relief.

"Again, it was nothing," he grinned. "Please, go see your daughter." Hearing the notion, Faith moved out of her mother's arms and began to walk towards Shadow.

Shadow went to approach Faith before something fell through the hole in the ceiling above them landing smack in front of him causing him to stop in his tracks. Faith halted too by the strange occurrence. Startled by the unknown object, Shadow looked down, noticing that it was a dead black crow. Just before he could get any closer of an examination, more black blurs began to drop down inside the hole in the ceiling. Once again, more dead black crows dropped down and encircled Faith, making her gasp by the strange phenomenon.

"What in the hell?" Sonic mumbled.

Silver tried to move forward to intervene, but Blaze put an arm out in front of him, preventing him from interacting. "Wait, not yet."

Amy quickly rushed over and grabbed Faith, holding her close as they tried to dodge the dead birds, but found with every chance to run, another bird would drop in their path. Before they knew it, the event had stopped, leaving a circle of dozens of dead birds around them. "What's going on?" Amy asked, looking petrified by the bizarre occurrence.

Mighty stared in awe at the sight—never seeing something like this happen before. "I-I don't know…Blaze?"

Blaze also seemed freaked out by the strange type of omen. I've never seen such a thing…"

While everyone else seemed freaked out by the dead birds, Faith looked around her surroundings, as her ears twitched, picking up a sound. "Mom?" Faith spoke.

Amy looked down at her daughter, still, a bit disturbed by the birds. "What is it?"

Faith pulled away from her mother's close embrace, trying to focus on the sound. "Can you hear that?" she questioned, blinking as she looked around them strangely.

Amy stared at her, baffled. "Hear what?"

"Whispers," she clarified. "I can hear people whispering something. Can you hear it, daddy?"

Shadow shook his head as he tried to listen briefly. "I don't hear anything,"

"Me either," Amy seconded.

Faith closed her eyes, concentrating on the voices. "They're saying something." She paused for a moment before finally gaining clarity on their message. "Infinite is coming…"

Mighty's heart sunk by the words and the color practically drained from his face. Shadow picked up on his disturbed expression. "What is that? What is she talking about?"

Mighty swallowed the lump forming in his throat. "She's talking about the being that wrote all those forbidden and dangerous spells from that book. Its name is Infinite…"

•~•

The next morning, Shadow poured two glasses of blood in some wine glasses. His night had been quite turbulent and he wondered what he should expect next. Mighty had told everyone to return home and to get some rest before they would go out again to get answers. Whatever this Infinite thing was, he knew it'd be some sort of force to be reckoned with. However, Amy entered the kitchen, cutting off his thoughts. "How is she?" he inquired handing her one of the glasses.

Amy accepted the glass. "The fever's back but she's not in any pain. However, she is asking to see you," she replied before taking a sip.

Shadow downed his glass in seconds. "Give her an excuse, I can't let my daughter know I've gone off to murder witches to get answers," he growled before exiting the kitchen and putting his cup down on one of the counters.

Overhearing his brutal comment, Silver stepped in his path. "Shadow, we cannot be reckless!" he reprimanded, standing in the living room.

"Easy for you to say," he spat.

"Think of all the progress we've made with the witches, wolves, and other vampires? Killing off witches that don't give us straight answers will set us back again," he pointed.

"And how should I respond? Should I delegate my child's safety to someone else?" he spat.

"I'll handle it," Silver reasoned. "We both know I'm more diplomatic than you."

"You know, it is not wise for you to be so smug at a time like this," he foreshadowed gravely.

"Stop, both of you," Amy intervened, getting between the two brothers. She pushed them back gently, looking in-between them. "Silver will try to find out what kind of information we can get on whatever this, thing, is. I'll go out too and tag along with Sonic to try to locate the missing kids, but in the meantime, Shadow, you and Blaze stay here-"

"—And do what?" he practically barked, insulted by the notion.

Amy looked taken aback by his reaction and crossed her arms over her chest, shooting him a piqued expression. "Protecting our daughter." Shadow softened by her demands and Amy picked up on his remorse. She sighed, lowering her tense stance. "Look, Shadow, I know you're scared and worried about what this new enemy wants with Faith, but the best role you can play in this is keeping her safe. I know you'll do anything to make sure she is not harmed, which is why I gave you this job," she reasoned.

Realizing he had jumped to conclusions too soon, Shadow's posterior sank. "You're right, you know," he agreed. "My apologies for my brash behavior. As you said, I reluctantly agree with you, that I am indeed afraid."

"And that's perfectly normal," she replied. "It's okay to be afraid sometimes, it does not make you weak."

"Exactly," Silver agreed. "Which is why we're going to get answers and figure things out, just you watch," Silver pledged.

Shadow nodded. "Fair enough. Now, the two of you better watch your backs and be on high alert. I don't need any of you to go missing. Stay safe," he advised.

Amy walked over and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'll stay in contact with you via texts. Just keep me updated on Faith's health," she stated.

"Of course." With that, Silver and Amy left the house, leaving Shadow alone with Faith.

•~•

Once Amy and Silver had left, Shadow walked upstairs and wandered into Faith's bedroom to check on her status. The little pink hedgehog was snuggled under her duvet and laid awake on her side. When she spotted her father come in, she sat up slightly to look at him. Shadow smiled at her softly. "How are you feeling?" he asked softly.

"I'm still really cold," she replied sinking back into her bed sheets. She watched as her father walked around the side of her bed and glanced out the window briefly. "Um…dad, are there anymore birds?"

He turned away from the window to look at her. "No, they're all gone, sweetheart," he assured. Shadow tucked her in and smiled. "And when you're better, which will be soon, you and I are going to share a great big plate of chocolate chip cookies."

Faith giggled at the idea. "That sounds great," she smiled weakly. "But when do you think I'll get better?"

He patted the top of her head. "Soon, love, soon."

•~•

At the abandoned church in the city, Mighty held a conference with some of the neighborhood witches. Standing by his side, Hendrix looked out towards the crowd as he gave his briefing. "I happen to know what we're up against," Mighty explained. "There's a faction of our own people, that have started to make human sacrifices to a spirit called Infinite. Now, this thing is dark, it's angry, and is very powerful-"

"—It's a force my family and I are here to erase," Silver chimed in.

The guests in the church, turned around in their seats to get a view at who had spoken. Most looked surprised when they spotted Silver standing in the entryway to the church. "Now, I don't mean to be rude, but you'll need to kindly excuse us. I need to have a word with Mighty."

Hendrix glanced over to the armadillo. "You are okay with this?"

Mighty nodded. "Yes, I'll be fine. Fill in the others in my absence."

"Very well," Hendrix nodded before walking off. The rest of the witches stood up and followed the cat's lead, leaving the church quickly and quietly.

Silver watched the group leave before putting his focus back on Mighty. He walked down the aisle with a quick stride. "Now that you've dispensed the needless hysteria-"

"—They have the right to know, Silver. I've got a lot on my plate too."

Silver crossed his arms over his chest, looking a little peeved. "I was hoping we could keep this matter contained just between my family and yourself…"

"I figured someone might know something and speak up. That or they should just know so they can keep their ears and eyes open for any new leads," he argued. "Anyway, why does it sound like you're here to lend a hand?"

"You know I have a history of removing anything undesirable from this city," he hinted.

Mighty glanced away for a second. "Yeah…but your family's methods aren't always ones I agree with. Especially when the threat is coming after your family and loved ones," he pointed out. "I was planning on doing this on my own…"

"Children's lives are at risk," Silver reminded. "You might not realize it, but you need someone to help you, and I will do whatever it takes to rescue and protect my niece," he spoke seriously.

"Fine, Silver. I give up," he said raising his hands in surrender. "But if I'm going to let you stick around, we're going to do this my way. Understand?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Your way, it is."

•~•

Later on, in the city center, Hendrix stood on a wooden picnic table as he looked out a crowd of witches, werewolves, and vampires mixed together. In the background of the crowd, Amy and Sonic lingered back, watching the group gathered around the male witch. "Listen carefully," Hendrix called out. "Someone is taking children," he spoke sternly to the hushed crowd. "We all had one none negotiable rule. We do not mess with kids!" Hendrix pointed to a brick wall behind the crowd. "Now you've seen that graffiti." The crowd turned to look at the infamous red infinite square plastered in spray paint along the wall. "So clearly, someone has got to know who is responsible for this?"

"We don't owe you anything," a female pig witch shouted from the crowd. "You used to be a strong and fearless leader, but now you've become a coward as you bow before those, originals," she leered.

"You still don't trust them?" another female voice piped in from behind her. The female pig turned and looked over to Amy leaned up against the wall. "Fine," she shrugged. "But one of those kids happens to be my daughter. She's seven," she continued as she approached her. "She loves to paint, makeup stories, and goof around, but right now, all I know is that she's sick. At this moment I don't care about the distrust you have in Hendrix and the ones you seem to hate. I'm just a Mom asking you to help me get answers."

The female pig looked at Amy for a moment, as they eye contact lingered. Just from their gaze, she knew that Amy was determined to do whatever it took to get answers. In defeat, she sighed. "There's this girl named Nicole, I saw her draw the same symbol on my shop's window in blood," the female pig caved.

Sonic's ears perked at the name. Nicole, he repeated the name in his mind. He knew a girl named Nicole in his pack, but surely this had to be some sort of witch with that name?

Gaining new information, Amy knew she needed to start her investigation. "Okay, where do I find this witch?"

"She's a brown lynx with black markings and green eyes," the female sow explained. Sonic's mouth dropped from the description and his heart sank. This was no witch they would be dealing with.

Amy held the mental description down in her brain. "Right, so is she from your coven?" she pressed.

"—She's not a witch," Sonic corrected, causing both the swine and Amy to turn to look at him.

Amy raised a brow. "How do you know?"

His head dropped. "I know because she's a werewolf, one from my pack to be exact…"

•~•

Back at Mighty's house, Mighty and Silver stopped by to gather some supplies to hunt down the witches responsible for taking the missing children and learning more about Infinite. Silver casually walked around Mighty's house, glancing at the photos on the wall and other personal items around his living room. "Where's Aurora at? I haven't seen her for some time."

"She's out teaching a class," Mighty replied as he rummaged through a chest full of items. "She's been very busy with her work schedule. I rarely see her nowadays," he noted.

Silver stared at a selfie of them framed on the wall. The two looked happy in the pictured posed on the docks. "I see…"

"Ah-ha found it!" Mighty spoke happily.

"Found what?" Silver questioned, craning his neck to take a glance at the coveted item he searched for.

"Cremated ashes," he answered.

"And who might this be?" Silver probed.

"The ashes of a witch that lost his way," he replied simply. Mighty took a scoop of it and sprinkled it into a small bowl. "It might just be the key to helping us find ours."

"How exactly?"

"This thing—Infinite…its magic has a very unique signature. I felt it on this witch the other day when Sonic and I took him out," he elaborated. "I figured if I can trace that energy back to its source-"

"—You can find the rest of these fanatics," Silver spoke, finishing his train of thought.

Mighty nodded. "That's right." He reached for an herb grinder and began to mash the ashes together in the bowl along with some other herbs.

Silver watched as Mighty went to work. "So, this thing, which haunts my niece…has it spoken to you?" he inquired cautiously.

"It's more like a broadcast, but I was able to shut it out. A lot of people have a harder time doing that," he clarified.

"It won't break me," Silver said with confidence.

"Yeah, but here's the thing, Silver. Let's say we do run paths with this thing today, it's going to take everything that you want to keep buried and use that against you. It'll make you do exactly what it wants you to do," he pointed. "Which is why I didn't want you joining me today. You are a liability to the very thing that we're both trying to protect…"

"Why do you think I am such a liability?" he questioned, slightly insulted.

"If I recall, Blaze confided in me about the mental torture your mother put you through," he reminded. "She told me that she used mental manipulation to harvest memories of your past self to inflict pain and regret on your psyche."

Silver turned his back on Mighty as he hit a soft note for him. He was right; he had been weak at that time. His mother had successfully unlocked memories he had wanted hidden and erased from him so he could live a simpler life. Continuing to grind the concoction, Mighty sensed he had gotten his point across. "You…okay?"

Tossing his thoughts aside, Silver turned back around trying to show confidence. "Yes, I'm fine. Let's get to work."

•~•

Back at the house, things weren't getting better with Faith's health. Sitting by her bedside, Shadow remained there to comfort her. Faith turned over on her side and felt groggy. "Hey dad, I know Mighty came to make me feel better, but I feel worse…"

Shadow reached out and stroked the top of her head. "I know, I know, sweetheart. But don't you worry because as we speak, your mother and Uncle Silver are working with Mighty to fix you up. So you just stay calm and they'll make everything all right," he assured.

She rubbed at one of her eyes. "Do you know what this Infinite thingy is?" she questioned.

Shadow shook his head, wishing he could know more about what he would be up against. "No love, I don't."

"Well, I know. It wants those other kids." Her ears fell sadly. "I can feel them." She said, swallowing a lump in her throat. "And I think it wants me, too…"

Seeing her frightened appearance, Shadow leaned in closer, growing serious. "Look at me," he commanded softly. Faith's red eyes met his own. "I am not going to let anything take you, I can promise you that." He reached out and laid his hand on top of hers. "I'm going to keep you safe, always and forever."

Faith smiled back at her father, believing his vow to keep her safe.

•~•

At Mighty's house, Mighty finally finished completing all the steps to his tracing spell. He lit a bit of sage using some of the ashes he had ground and allowed the smoke to linger up from the tip. He wafted the smoke, inhaling its scents. As he closed his eyes, he caught visions of the witches he was looking for. He saw a flash of a male crocodile handing someone a necklace with a red stone. Quickly after that, he saw a flash of images of some of these cloaked black figures carrying out the children from the ambulance, and finally, he saw an image of his girlfriend Aurora accepting the necklace from the male crocodile.

Mighty opened his eyes and gasped a sharp breath. Silver, stunned by his reaction, placed a hand on his shoulder to ease his panic. "Mighty, are you alright?"

Mighty shook his head, feeling appalled from the last image. "N-no."

Silver put both of his hands on his shoulders to steady him as he wobbled. "What did you see?"

"I-I saw Aurora," he replied stunned. "She's responsible for some of this…"

•~•

Back at the house, Shadow answered a phone call he received from Amy. "How is she doing?" she asked over the phone.

Shadow stood just out in the hallway from Faith's bedroom to keep his conversation quiet. He leaned up against the wall next to her bedroom door as he held the phone to his ear. "She's sleeping right now but Blaze is currently whipping up one of her medicinal concoctions to perk her up," he answered. He took a quick glance back at her sleeping form in the bedroom. "Please tell me you have answers."

"Not yet, but Sonic and I are heading back to his camp for answers. We have a lead there because apparently there's a wolf that got caught up with this Infinite."

Shadow seemed startled by the revelation. "A werewolf involved in witch business?"

"Crazy, I know, but we're going to ask her a few questions. Sally already found the girl for us and has her waiting for our arrival."

"Tell Sonic to show this wretched traitor the error of her ways," Shadow spoke venomously on his end.

Amy sighed at her end. "Shadow, we'll handle it our way." With that, she hung up on him.

•~•

At the werewolf camp, Amy tucked her cell phone in her back jeans pocket and turned to look at Sonic who had been eavesdropping in on their phone call. Sally approached them from the cabin located near the lake. "Sal, how'd it go?" Sonic questioned.

"She didn't put up much of a fight. I said that she needed to talk to you two and she came willingly. All she wanted was to be able to stand here on the docks," she explained.

"…Interesting," Amy mumbled.

The three stopped near the end of the dock, spotting the brown lynx standing at the edge and looking out towards the lake. "Look, she's probably not going to want to talk to a vampire, and she is a part of your pack after all. How about you do the talking?" Amy advised.

Sonic nodded. "Of course, I got this. You two just stay back here and I'll deal with her," he replied softly. With that, Amy and Sally watched as Sonic walked down the dock to approach their lead.

The brown lynx made no bones about the interrogation that was about to take place. She remained calm as she stared off with a blank expression at the glistening lake water before her. Sonic, on the other hand, cautiously made his way towards her, and stopped just a few feet behind her. "Hey, Nicole…Mind if I have a few words with you?"

Nicole didn't bother to turn around to face him at first. "I know why you're here… It's because of the children, right?" she asked, finally turning around to face him.

"Yeah, that's right," he nodded. "How'd you know, though?"

Nicole closed her eyes and tears began to well up before they finally dripped down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, I really am…" Her eyes opened, and the remorse she had just displayed quickly vanished. "But they're as good as dead."