Exam day. The weapon and meister students were gathering outside of the classroom before the official start time. Starline scheduled the exam to start at 10:00 am and it would conclude at noon. After that, the students would have the rest of the day off. There was an eeriness that lingered in the halls as the students waited. They muttered to each other; speculating on how well prepared they were.

The partial Sonic Squad of Sonic, Tails, Amy and Shadow had grouped up as well. They didn't need to speculate on how prepared they felt. After spending most of yesterday finishing their studying, they didn't have much more to say. One thing did seem off, though.

"Where's Knuckles?" Sonic asked.

Tails shrugged "I don't know. Maybe showing up late was part of his master plan?"

The doors opened, and the students filed into their usual seats. Exam papers were placed at each of the students' spots. After all the students were seated, Professor Starline began speaking. There was still no sign of Knuckles.

"I'd like to welcome you all and thank you for showing up in a timely manner. You will have two hours to complete your exam. Bring your papers here once you're done. As a reminder, there will be no class for the rest of the day. As for my cheating policy…."

Professor Gamma strolled into the room holding a wooden cross, placing it at the front of the classroom. There was a red echidna tied to it. He looked unwell.

"I caught this one trying to break into my office to look at the answer key. Anyone caught cheating here today will be given the same treatment,"

"Knuckles…" Tails rubbed his brow and sighed. He could tell his partner had received a full dose of Starline's soul force.

Sonic looked at Shadow and Amy. They looked as uncomfortable as he did.

"With that out of the way, you may now begin. Good luck,"

Sonic would have to pour one out for Knuckles later. Right now, there was a test to be taken. He looked down at the papers in front of him, as if they were an enemy on the battlefield.

"Here goes,"


Amy gave her test one last look before handing it in. She had finished among the latter half of the students, but felt good about her time usage. Sonic was the only member from their group still taking the test. After exiting the building, Amy saw that Shadow was leaving campus too.

"Hey, Shadow!" Amy caught up and walked alongside him. Much to her annoyance, he didn't really react aside from a disinterested glance. "How did the exam go for you?"

Shadow shrugged. "Fine, I guess,"

"Just fine?" Amy's annoyance bled into her tone.

"As long as my performance doesn't drag Sonic down, I don't care,"

Awkward silence hovered around the two as they continued walking. It was glaringly obvious that small talk wouldn't be effective.

"Shadow, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"What kind of girls does Sonic like?'

"No idea," Shadow had expected a tedious question, but he was surprised at how much it annoyed him.

"I don't believe that. You're both men. Isn't that all men talk about?"

"I hope not,"

The conversation ground to a halt yet again. Shadow looked like he was done, but Amy wasn't.

"What's it like living with him?"

"Why?" Shadow first looked surprised, then glanced back at Amy with suspicion.

"Because I plan on marrying him, duh!" Amy grinned. Shadow didn't respond and seemed to be trying to brush her off. "Come on, Shadow! You're his weapon and his roommate. You've got to give me something!" It was Amy's turn to look unimpressed. "I imagine you'll be honest at the very least,"

Shadow sighed, thinking for a few seconds. "I didn't know what having a roommate was like before him but…" Shadow's expression softened. "It's nice,"

"Wow, 'nice?' That's gotta be a glowing endorsement coming from you,"

"Could be," Shadow's voice trailed off as he thought some more. Maybe she had a point? Looking back, he'd expect himself to have given a neutral take. His first answer still felt right, though.

"Do you have any juicy details? Something embarrassing or annoying that he does? Oh, I know! Tell me something that a girl like me would notice more if we swapped places," Amy looked to Shadow with intrigue and mischief.

Shadow thought about how Sonic would lay on the couch shirtless for hours after a day of training.

"Nothing comes to mind,"

"You're no fun," Amy playfully poked Shadow on the arm before leaving. "At least you gave me something to go on,"

"Hey, Amy," Shadow stopped walking away.

"Hm?" Was all she could manage. Amy turned back expecting him to look mad despite his restrained tone. Much to her relief, he was the one who looked to be struggling.

"When I met Sonic, I had woken up with amnesia only a few weeks before. I kept it from him for a while, but he didn't get mad once I told him," Shadow's expression turned to become more confident. "I owe him a lot. He's a good person,"

"You have Amnesia?"

Shadow nodded.

Amy did her best to gather herself. She didn't want to keep the conversation locked on something that was difficult for Shadow. "I-I know he's a great guy. That's why I like him so much, you know?" She forced a smile. "I'm glad you guys are getting along so well," Amy waved awkwardly before leaving.

"Nice going Amy!" Amy smacked her palm against her forehead, then groaned.

Shadow was long gone by now, but she still felt intense anxiety. She had been hoping to keep things lighthearted, learn about Sonic, and maybe figure out a bit of what Shadow's whole deal was. This was well beyond what she'd bargained for. Plus, she hadn't been able to play it cool one bit. She let out a prolonged sigh. So that was Sonic's weapon.

Was he always so intense?


Another day of class at the DWMA. The Sonic Squad waited in the classroom with the rest of the students. Starline entered the classroom. From the front of the room, he began calling the names of the students in alphabetical order. Each named student approached the front of the class and retrieved their exam. Sonic felt himself growing more nervous as he waited for his name to be called. Despite knowing that Starline wasn't the be all end all for his soul perception, he still felt nervous. He'd already worked so hard and Starline would be a great help.

"Sonic,"

Sonic marched toward the front of the room. He reached out for his exam, then flinched at the sound of his professors voice.

"We can start planning your training after class today," Starline smiled.

Sonic looked down at his exam as if it were some strange object he'd never seen before. His score was 98/100.

"You're the man, Starline!"

"Don't thank me. It was your own hard work after all,"

After the Sonic Squad had received their exams, they gathered to compare.

"Check it out, I got 98%. I've never dreamed of getting a test score this good," Sonic gloated.

"98? No way!" Amy looked at Sonic's exam. "Ugh, I got 97%"

"Why are you mad? That's a really good score, Amy,"

"If I could get a better score than you, I could make a death scythe before you, too!" Amy replied with confidence but faltered soon after.

"That was your plan?" Sonic laughed and looked slightly disturbed. Amy retreated into her seat.

"I got 100%," Tails announced.

"No way," Amy, Sonic, and Knuckles said with unified sarcasm.

Cream held up a crayon drawing of Knuckles being crucified.

"You weren't even there!" Knuckles protested.

"Nice work, Cream," Sonic added, glancing at Shadow.

"I did well enough to keep us out of remedial classes," Shadow folded up his exam and dropped it onto the table.

"You'll be the ultimate death scythe in no time,"

Amy watched Shadow nod, and the weapon/meister pair looked satisfied. She thought back on her conversation from yesterday. It made sense that Shadow would like Sonic. Almost everyone she knew did. But what did Sonic like about Shadow? He really didn't seem like the kind of person her future husband would get along with. Despite this, Sonic often seemed so happy to have him around.

"Men," Amy sighed.

Starline reviewed the material covered in the exam and went over the more commonly missed exam questions. Sonic leaned back and didn't pay attention to a single word.

"Robots like this will help train your soul detection," Starline held up a round, unassuming machine that was about the size of a softball.

Sonic and Starline were alone in a private training room. It was dimly lit, empty, and free of distraction aside from one small box. The door opened and let in light from the hallway.

"Professor, I finished tuning up the rest of these,"

"Tails? What are you doing here?" Sonic watched his brother wheel in a cart full of robots identical to the one Starline had shown him.

"He's volunteered to help me develop the training routine," Starline noted.

"You didn't have to do that, Tails,"

"It's no big deal. I've already been helping Starline work on different bot designs,"

The two brothers high-fived.

"You're the best,"

Starline opened the box on the floor and held up a small glowing orb, the type of which Sonic recognized.

"This is a pure soul that was confiscated by a DWMA meister while on duty," Starline opened a hatch on the round robot and popped the soul in. The metal orb hovered in the air. "Sonic, are you familiar with soul-protect?"

"Never heard of it."

"It's shameless negligence that you were given witch hunting clearance without this knowledge, but I've given Lord Death enough grief," Starline sighed. "Soul-protect is a technique that witches use to disguise their soul. It hides any magical characteristics present in their wavelength, making them appear normal,"

"That sounds handy. Do witches use soul-protect all the time?" Sonic asked.

"Most, but not all of the time. Soul-protect is very useful, but it's not perfect. A witch using soul-protect will be unable to use most forms of magic. If they do, they'll risk being detected by a meister,"

"What about the last witch I met, Rouge? I was fighting a fake the whole time, but I never noticed anything about where her real self was hiding,"

"From what you told me about that encounter, the most likely scenario is that she created a copy of herself using a significant amount of her power. Witches can use lasting spells beforehand, then use soul-protect to hide. They can also influence those preset spells while maintaining soul-protect."

Starline held up a remote and pressed a button. The robots that Tails brought in began floating as well.

"When you go hunting for a witch in the future, being able to investigate oddities in otherwise unassuming souls will be invaluable. Before that, we need to help get you accustomed to sensing a normal soul," Starline handed the remote to Tails. "These robots will emulate the soul waves of the target robot. Your job is to locate the one with the real soul inside. Miles will demonstrate,"

The robots began swirling around in a circle quickly, mixing themselves up. After they stopped, Tails pointed the remote at one of the robots and pressed another button. A ding was emitted and the metal orb opened and revealed the soul inside.

"Here, you try," Tails handed the remote to Sonic and showed him the proper button use.

The robots swirled around the room once more, and Sonic tried finding the hidden soul. All he could sense was the same wavelength coming from each of the bots. He decided to guess.

A low-pitched buzzing came, and the selected bot revealed that it had no soul.

"Take your time, Sonic. Remember what I said before the exam," Starline opened the door. "This exercise was designed so you could work independently. You're free to use this room whenever you like, so don't feel like you have to rush. Tails has the key to lock up when you're done. I'll be around to modify the exercises and provide assistance as needed,"

Sonic thought about everything he'd just heard. Even though he was about to start the training he'd wanted so badly, he couldn't stop thinking about hunting witches. When he'd fought Rouge the Witch, she'd been able to trick him so easily. Her true power was hidden, and he'd been clueless the whole time.

"Hey, Starline. How will I know when a witch isn't using soul-protect?"

Starline leaned back in the room with a grim expression.

"You'll know,"