Holiday special time. Whoops. I'm very well aware that October is many months away, but in the timeline of this story, it's Halloween. So enjoy this wonderful festivity in the month of March while we pretend for just a little bit ;)


Chapter 11: Sonic's Scream Test

As planned, Sonic's first date with Shadow was at Twinkle Park, where they had spent the entire day together going on all the rides. The blue Mobian was really proud of the progress he was making with the other. Though Shadow wasn't one for contact, there were some instances where he allowed him to hold his hand. After all, it was a cute couples get in free day, and he was more than happy to pretend he and the darker teen were actually together.

Most of the family knew of his date and the younger kids all huddled around him on his return home. They asked him for details, which made him flustered as he talked sheepishly about his day and all the activities the two did together.

The only person who remained oblivious to Sonic's crush was Knuckles, and he didn't plan on telling him. If he didn't want to stay home long enough to keep up with the news, then that sounded like a personal problem. He was very annoyed that the redhead had been distancing himself from the family, spending more time with an inanimate object than them. Well, if he loved it so much, then he should just marry it.

Halloween was coming up and blue Mobian had asked Shadow and Rouge if they would join him and the gang. Though the former was hesitant, the bat hybrid enthusiastically agreed for the both of them. Sonic had given everyone a part, except Rouge, who suggested she be Ragnelle, whoever that was. After that, he busied himself with finding the perfect costume store known for their realistic designs and asked them to create his. They eagerly accepted, free of charge, which was perfect because that's what he had been hoping for.

In the meantime, he had gone on a few more small dates with Shadow, often holding the other's hand and suggesting they share drinks and go on runs together. The darker Mobian often agreed, actually surprised at himself for finding idle things so...heartwarming. The last time he ever felt this way had been...he dared not to compare the two situations. He still kept his distance, after all, he couldn't let himself be too distracted from his mission.

oOo

"So, check this out!" Sonic told his friends, excluding the Chaotix who had their own plans for Halloween. "I got party invites from the President, so I suggest we go to that and later look for someplace haunted to explore!"

"Okay, but which haunted place? There's many from what I can tell." Silver asked with an uneasy smile.

"Not Pumpkin Hill!" Amy scowled. "That place looks so boring! There's nothing there, but mountains and trains!"

"There's Hang Castle and its Mystic Manor. However, I've heard nobody's been able to even reach the inside." Blaze suggested.

"Nah, maybe some other time. I feel like we'd spend more time trying to get inside rather than actually doing something fun." Knuckles dismissed the idea.

"Well, from what I gather, there's an abandoned castle in the middle of a lake not too far." Rouge shrugged. "Rumor says the castle rests on an ancient burial ground, and that a man built the castle there. When he heard about the legend about ghosts living there, he laughed and dismissed the idea, claiming that it was nonsense. He disappeared on his first night there and was never heard from again."

"Oooh!" Sonic said with peaking interest. "An abandoned castle? That would fit with our costumes! We should totally stay the night!"

Everyone agreed on the castle Rouge suggested.

Cream tugged Blaze's sleeve. "You'll be with Cosmo, Cheese and I the whole time right? And protect us?"

The feline hybrid smiled softly. "Of course I will, Cream."

"Good! And we'll protect you too!" Blaze chuckled in response.

"So, I guess that settles that!" Sonic began. "Tomorrow in the afternoon we show off our costumes and then head for the castle to spend the night. I recommend bringing clothes in a bag, but maybe that's just me because I really don't want to wear armor when I sleep."

"Sooonic, stop." Tails playfully scolded.

The blue hybrid chuckled. "Sorry!" He rubbed the back of his neck. "But I'm so excited! The costumes look amazing!" He faced the kids, "Just like in the story!"

Shadow watched from beside Sonic as the conversation took place, ignoring the constant glares from Silver and Knuckles. He noticed that the kids greeted him with friendly smiles, though he had no clue why. Perhaps the other hedgehog hybrid had to do with it.

However, he was unsure of how he felt about Halloween.

oOo

The next day, everyone prepared for the Halloween party at the White House after school. They all crowded into Sonic's dorm and helped each other piece together their outfits.

"Amy, you look so pretty in your dress!" Cream complimented as Amy twirled in her light blue dress. The girls were all changing in the girl's room as the boy's changed in their room.

"Thanks, Cream! You and Cosmo look so adorable!" She gestured towards their dresses with long sleeves and intricate designs. Cosmo's dress was modeled after her everyday attire, it was a velvety, forest green that held the design of vines along the front and sleeves with small prints of pink roses. Cream's velvet, orange dress held a fancy white collar and gold linings along the waistline. They were simple medieval dresses, but looked lovely on the two girls.

Blaze observed her reflection in the closet mirror with her hand on her sword.

"You look so brave in that armor, Blaze!" Amy watched as the feline practiced waving her sword.

She smiled at the compliment. "Thank you. I enjoy it very much."

Rouge was already dressed and instead focused on her makeup, after all, if she was to be Gawain's wife, she would make that echidna flustered...

Meanwhile, in the boy's room, Sonic needed help changing, especially as there was trouble fitting his tail into a small gap. With his golden armor and red cape, he felt like he was reliving his adventure (no matter what Amy said, he knew it happened). Well, with the exception of a talking sword. Back in his world, he continued to struggle trying to fit into the hole. He was too busy concentrating on his dilemma that he completely forgot Shadow was in the room with him.

"Hey, can one of you guys help me?" He said with his back towards the mirror as he stared at his reflection. "My tail is being stupid."

"No way!" Knuckles responded as he examined his swords.

"Tails," Sonic whined. "You're ready, please help."

Tails chuckled. "Sorry, but I have to check on the girls."

He groaned. "You don't have too!"

"Yeah, but Cream really wanted me to check their dresses. I suppose I should knock and see if they're ready." He left before his older brother could reply.

That sly fox.

"Hey, guys, I'm serious. Help."

"I'll help you, Sonic. Let me just finish getting my armor on." Silver offered.

"Or I'll just help you now," Shadow stated while advancing towards Sonic. The blue hybrid turned around and waited for the darker Mobian to help him out. He felt the other grab his tail and try lining it up with the whole.

"Ow!" Sonic winced when he felt it scrape against the armor.

"Sorry," Shadow apologized sincerely, surprising all the others in the room.

He felt a lopsided smile curve his lips and blushed slightly. "It's fine." He couldn't help but enjoy the small moments when Shadow revealed his soft side. It also flattered him that the other rarely did it with anyone else but him- he wasn't sure if the other even realized that yet.

"There, fixed." The darker Mobian said as he backed away. He watched the tail twitch with caution. "How does it feel?"

"It feels fine. Thanks, Shadow!" Sonic said with a gentle smile. Shadow merely stared at him softly for a few long seconds before nodding and walking away. The blue Mobian looked at Silver, who was now finished and fuming with his arms crossed. "Wow, it covers your chest hair? So detailed. Looking great, Silv!" He said with a wink before putting on his boots. He was almost done getting ready, with the exception of his helmet. He hadn't noticed the red blush that appeared on the other Mobian's tan face as he stammered a 'thanks.'

After getting ready, the guys met the girls and Tails in the living room when they finished dressing up.

"Wait, Shadow!" Sonic exclaimed as he caught up to the other. "You forgot to put your helmet on." The darker hybrid looked at the golden armored hedgehog and then stared at the helmet being presented to him.

"Thank you." He said as he picked it up and placed it on his head.

"Get a room you two!" Knuckles rolled his eyes as he fixed his helmet. It was so weird how his dreads weren't supposed to be tucked in. But hey, it was easier to put on. Unlike Sonic's, where practically every inch of him was covered in gold. That's what he got for making himself a king. Oh well, at least he had two cool swords.

"Oh, Knuckles. Like you should even talk!" His younger brother retorted with a smirk on his face.

"What the hell are you talking ab-"

"Did you really not notice me after all this time? Seriously? After all the effort I put into looking this good?" Rouge scowled as she crossed her arms. "I'm supposed to be your wife, but I think I'd like to consider getting a divorce!"

Knuckles blushed as he watched the her walk away with her figure fitting, flowy dress trailing behind. "W-wait! Rouge!"

Sonic chuckled as he watched the echidna trail after his fuming crush. He flapped his visor up so he could get a whiff of cool air. Man, it was hot in there!

"So, wait!" He heard Amy say as she moved around frantically, shoving clothing into a duffel bag. "I have all the everyone's clothes and PJs in here, is there anything else I'm missing?"

"Snacks, shoes, hygienic supplies, flashlights?" Cosmo listed.

"Right! Come with me Cosmo and list anything else you might find necessary!"

"Is that comfortable?" Shadow asked Sonic, gesturing to the armor.

"Yeah, actually. They made it flexible." He proved his point by waving his free arm.

"It looks heavy."

"I've worn heavier." He responded, thinking back to when he was transported to that other world (He'll never let it go). "Nah, it's made out of some lightweight material. Why? Is yours heavy?"

"No," Shadow shook his head as he put on his helmet.

"Sonic!" The white-haired hybrid called as he walked towards the other. "Your gauntlets and helmet look really nice. The rubies and designs suit it well."

"Aw, thanks Silver! Your outfit looks awesome too! I like how they kept the cool symbols on your hands."

Silver smiled sheepishly and scratched his flushing cheek. "T-thanks."

"No problem!"

oOo

They arrived at the president's party in Tails' newest plane, and entered the White House as special guests. Despite the nagging in his brain telling him that his fame was only temporary, he absolutely enjoyed it. After being a nobody for so long, it was nice to be treated as a somebody. He couldn't help that he loved having attention on him.

They gang separated into its own ways with Sonic often conversing with the President and getting random compliments on his golden suit.

"Sonic, may we interview you? I come from an entertainment magazine that wants the scoop." An Overlander journalist asked.

He nodded, "Sure!"

"Well, as you know, you are a well known idol now to people of all ages. You're even getting letters from companies asking you to promote their merchandise."

"Um, yeah. I do."

"Well, several teenagers have submitted questions. First one first, what do you look for in a person?"

His emerald eyes widened in realization. "Oh, so you're those teen girl magazines? The one my little sister likes?" The lady chuckled as she nodded. He smirked, "Me? I look for really independent people who don't fuss over me every ten minutes. Like, as long as they let me run to my heart's content and don't restrict my lifestyle, I'm all game!"

"Nice! Next question, what is your relationship with Knuckles?"

"Oh, great. This question. Well, we're just brothers. That's all. I know 100 percent he's into Rouge."

"That'll definitely get the fans going crazy," She scribbled in her notebook. "I think this is the last question, but are you currently seeing anyone?"

He blushed. "Well, yeah...kind of. We're not actually going out, but we've had a few nice dates."

"Oh!" Her eyes widened in surprise. "Who is this person? Details? Have you kissed yet?"

He hesitated. "Well, it's a he." He watched as the girl wrote everything down. "And I dunno, he's just so..." He averted his gaze as a light blush spread across his cheeks. "But no, we haven't kissed yet. We aren't even an official couple."

The girl looked at Sonic's sheepish expression before smiling while shaking her head. "Well, tonight's Halloween. A day for surprises. You never know!" She looked at her notes. "But I can tell you many girls are going to be heartbroken, but I'm sure they'll be looking for this mystery boy and start shipping you with him."

"I don't know what that means."

"That's quite alright. I doubt most celebrities know what teenagers are up to these days." She shut her journal. "There are other guests I need to interview. Expect my friend to come around and talk to you about your fight with Chaos, he works for a different department than I." She waved him off, while he stood there in thought. Kissing Shadow? Wow, it sounded so...

Weird, yet exciting.

oOo

Meanwhile, Shadow had his own issues clouding his mind. One, the GUN Commander had been wearily staring him down since the moment they made eye contact. Luckily, he was able to drop his visor before the other could recognize his face even further.

"Who are you?" The Commander glowered at the hedgehog hybrid.

"I don't feel obligated to answer," He snarkily replied.

The old man grit his teeth. "I am Commander of the United Federation Military, and I will be respected."

He scoffed, "I don't have to do anything."

"Sir Lancelot!" Sonic intervened, grabbing the other's hand. He had seen the transaction from not too far, and felt the need to squeeze his friend out of a tough situation. "You should try the punch! It tastes so good!" The blue teen looked at the Commander. "Oh, you! We've met before, haven't we? I believe it was here, after I saved the world from Chaos, right?"

The Commander glared at teenager. "Don't think I'm not on to you, hedgehog." With that said, he left. He dared not to make a scene against the hero of the world. Sonic beamed before looking at Shadow.

"Hey, what's his problem? He's always so grouchy." He pouted.

Shadow rolled his eyes beneath his helmet. Grouchy was a huge understatement.

The blue hybrid paused. "Hey, let's hang out some more. Okay? You shouldn't stay in the corner by yourself."

Shadow complied and let the younger Mobian lead him around. Eventually, it was time to leave and the family left to head towards the abandoned castle.

oOo

"Oh, I didn't know that the lake was this big..." Sonic said softly before looking at the large cliff at the center of the lake. "Nor did I think it'd be that high...or big."

"What part of it being in the middle of a lake did you not understand?" Rouge huffed while sitting comfortably on the wing of the X Tornado as it flew over the castle.

"I'll land in the courtyard, Tails said from the pilot seat, changing the direction of the plane. The younger girls all let out small groans from their crowded seats as the sudden tilt made them feel sick.

As the plane came to a landing, Sonic and the others who sat on the wings jumped off and landed on the ground. "I say we explore for a bit, and then find a place to sleep."

"The grounds are so big and pretty!" Amy exclaimed as she hopped off the plane and landed in his arms. "The fountain itself looks so impressive!"

He let out a whistle as he turned his head to see the courtyard, and then noticed the size of the castle itself.

He smirked, wondering if it really was haunted like Rouge claimed it was.

oOo

It was nighttime, and the gang had long retired into large bedrooms within the manor. Many of them had fallen asleep.

Sonic laid sprawled on the four poster bed with Tails beside him. The younger boy, who had been paranoid ever since they entered the manor, jolted upwards.

"Sonic!" He whispered harshly as he felt his heart speed up. "Sonic, I heard something!" He shook his older brother awake.

The blue Mobian stretched on the bed and let out a small squeak, smacking his lips as he slowly pushed himself up. "You heard something?" He said softly, while rubbing his eyes. "Like what?"

Tails was shaking at this point. "T-they stopped for now, but I swear, I heard giggling!"

"Giggling? Are you sure it wasn't the girls?" The kit hybrid nodded uncontrollably, despite Sonic being barely able to make out the dark figure.

He let out a sigh. "All right, we'll check it out." His fair arms stretched across the bed to turn on the gas light, wincing as his eyes slowly adjusted. "Knuckles!" He called to the echidna sleeping in the bed beside his. All the boys slept in one large, circular room they found with six beds aligned along the walls while the girls slept in a similar one right across the hall. The echidna growled as he covered his head with the covers to block out the light.

"Knuckles, please get up!" The blond hybrid whimpered. He was holding onto Sonic's waist with a firm grip.

"Yeah, Knux. Get up!" He yelled, chucking his pillow at the knucklehead.

"Ow!" The redhead hissed "What do you want, it's like one in the morning!"

"Tails heard giggling and we're all gonna check it out." Sonic stated.

"It's probably the girls."

"No, it's not. Get up. You too, Silver."

Silver groaned as he turned in his bed. "Do we have to? I was having such a nice dream..."

"Yes," He said as he got off the bed with difficulty. "Tails, I'll let you hold me all you want, just at least let me go for a few seconds so I can fully wake up." The fox hesitantly let go and watched as Sonic did warm ups in place, before latching himself onto his arm. The blue teen noticed the unused bed that belonged to a certain hedgehog...

"Yo, where'd Shadow go?"

The door opened revealing the darker Mobian, who approached him. "The boy is right. There's something in these walls."

"Sweet, an adventure!" He cheered. "I guess we should wake up the girls, huh?"

"Already taken care of. They heard the laughter too."

"We did!" Amy exclaimed as she entered the room and advanced towards Sonic. Rouge followed shortly after.

"Woah, woah, you can't just come into our room like that!" Knuckles frowned. "What if we were changing."

"There's nothing we care to see, Knuckie," Rouge teased.

The redhead Mobian huffed. "Whatever. Anyways, why aren't you wearing pjs?" He gestured towards her everyday attire.

"Oh, did you want to see me in them?" She asked innocently before smiling triumphantly at the echidna's flustered expression. "No, actually I was exploring the castle with Shadow for a bit."

"You know, you could've asked me to explo-"

"Enough with the flirting, okay? We get it." Amy crossed her arms and scowled. "Let's just hurry up and figure out what's going on! Blaze is trying to comfort Cosmo and Cream as we speak, and we all need our beauty sleep!"

The bat hybrid smirked, "I won't argue with that last part!"

Blaze walked into the room while holding both Cosmo and Cream's hand, the latter holding Cheese with her free hand. Both of the young girls looked bewildered and scared out of their minds. The moment they saw their older brother, they let go of the feline and ran towards him, joining Tails in clutching onto the other.

"Sonic, it was really scary!" Cream started tearing up while Cosmo nodded her head in agreement as she trembled.

"Girls, Tails, it'll be fine. We'll get to the bottom of this, I promise." He gave the girls a reassuring smile. "You girls should stick with Blaze though." He looked up at the lavender-haired Mobian. "You can keep a watch over them, right?"

She nodded. "Of course I can."

"Alright, while Blaze takes care of the girls, we should split-"

"Wait, I'm coming too!" Amy huffed. "I'm old enough to go on adventures if Tails can, remember the Chaos Crisis? I held off on my own!"

Sonic blinked at her in surprise before grinning. "Alright, but you and Tails are staying with me." He glanced at the other older Mobians in the room. "I guess Shadow can go with Rouge while Knuckles goes with Silver."

The echidna scowled, feeling jealous over the idea of Rouge being with Shadow, but let it go. Shadow and Rouge merely exchanged a nod before leaving the room swiftly.

Silver turned to Knuckles. "So you and me, right?" The redhead merely frowned at him before letting out a sigh of agreement, slightly peeving him off. He didn't have to make his annoyance so obvious!

"Alright, since I guess the other's left, we should too." Sonic held Tails' hand as Amy led them out of the room, not really complaining about the pink Mobian taking the initiative as it amused him.

He chuckled to himself as he realized how much he influenced her since they first met.

oOo

A loud, feminine shriek echoed through the halls, gaining the attention of all those on patrol. They all immediately ran to the spot they heard the sound from, only to see Amy hitting the wall with her mallet.

"Bring him back! You can't-" She hit the wall with all her force. "-Take-" Another slam. "-Away-" She panted and her voice began to crack. "-My-" She hit the wall weakly. "-Sonic." She fell to her knees and began to sob.

"Amy, what happened? Where's Sonic and Tails?" Knuckles ran up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"They took Tails first, and Sonic tried to save him, but then they took him too!" She choked as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"What?" Shadow narrowed his eyes. "Who took Sonic?"

"These ugly ghost things." She replied with disgust dripping in her tone.

"Ghosts?" Rouge raised a brow.

"That's ridiculous. Ghosts don't exist." The darker hedgehog shot the bat a look.

"I'm telling you, I saw them. They disappeared through this wall." She placed her hand on the spot she had previously been hitting with her hammer.

"Hey, what's this thing?" Silver asked as he bent down and picked up an hourglass statue.

Amy wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "We found that pedestal in this hallway. Sonic picked it up and that's when the ghosts attacked us."

Silver inspected it. "Maybe it's the piece to a puzzle?" He noticed that one end had a sun engraved into it while the other had a moon.

"Maybe…" The preteen furrowed her brows as she thought.

"You should go back to the rooms where Blaze is." Knuckles advised her.

The pink hybrid glared at him. "No way! I'm not going anywhere until we find Sonic and Tails!"

"Amy-"

"C'mon, let her come along, Knuckles." Silver vouched for his friend. "She's the only one who saw what happened, her guess is better than any of ours."

The redhead merely glared at the albino hedgehog, before rolling his eyes. "Fine, whatever."

"Can I see that?" Rouge asked Silver as she gestured towards the statue. He handed it to her and everyone watched as she observed it.

"It might just belong on this pedestal Shadow and I saw outside." She mused aloud. "It had the words 'appears under the moon; disappears under the sun' inscribed into it. The circumference of the circular end is identical to that on the pedestal."

"Then it seems as though that pedestal is our best bet," the darker Mobian glanced at the statue in her hands.

"Alright, then," Amy stood up with a look of determination on her face. She clenched her fist tightly. "Let's go find Sonic!"

oOo

"This is it," Rouge waited for the others to gather around the pedestal.

Knuckles looked at her. "So, what? Do we just place the thing back on it or-"

"Wait," Shadow frowned as he got on one knee and hovered his hand over the ground beside the pedestal. "There's a draft coming from beneath the surface. There must be a secret passageway."

"Alright," The echidna began. "I suppose I can just-"

Amy let out a yell as she made her piko piko hammer appear and slammed it into the stone's side so it would move. Like Shadow said, a long staircase descended into darkness where the base of the pedestal once was. She looked at the other's with fierce jade eyes. "Let's get going."

Knuckles grabbed her arm as she began going down the stairs. "Hold on. It's too dangerous."

Amy frowned and glared at the spot Knuckles was holding her. "I know that." She ripped her arm out of his hold and humphed, continuing her descent. The older Mobian felt a vein pop in his head and had to pinch the bridge of his nose to contain himself from snapping at the preteen's attitude. He remembered why he let Sonic deal with her and then regretted letting him rub off on her. He scowled when he heard Rouge giggle at his reaction, but followed the bat and Shadow into the hole with Silver right behind him.

oOo

"Aren't you scared, Amy?" Silver asked Amy as he passed the other's to catch up to her.

She turned to face him and shrugged carelessly, a cocky grin on her face. "No." She walked with her head held high until she felt something wet fall on the back of her neck. Her body tensed up and she screeched, alarming the others, until Silver assured her that it was just a drop of water that fell on her. "Haha, yeah, I knew that!" She attempted to grin and let out a nervous laugh. "Let's keep going down."

They made it to the end of the stairs and tensed when they heard laughter. "It's them, It's the ghosts!" The pink Mobian yelled, and suddenly at the end of the hallway, ghosts appeared and were charging towards them.

"Holy shit!" Knuckles jumped when he saw them. Rouge handed Amy the statue before she and Shadow adopted a fighting stance, along with Knuckles and Silver after they recovered from their shock. The ghosts encircled them and the preteen used the statue as a shield, only to her shock and the others that the rest of the ghosts stopped and seemed afraid of the object before fleeing.

"They're afraid of that thing?" Silver raised a brow as he walked towards her.

The pink hybrid smirked. "Oh, really? Then let's show them who's boss!" She ran after them, startling Silver as he ran to catch up to her. Knuckles called after her and cursed at her recklessness and reminded himself to reprimand an influential blue hybrid later. Rouge and Shadow exchanged a glance before following after the others.

oOo

"Wait, Amy, let's be reasonable about this-" Silver began before being silenced by Amy's curt glare.

"Sonic said it was fine, so it's fine." She huffed.

"It just doesn't make sense though," The albino looked at the ceiling where Sonic was trapped on the other side. The blue hybrid had been speaking to them and giving Amy compliments and directions on what to do with the statue. He looked very frustrated and anxious though as she got closer to the pedestal that he had told her to place the statue on. "Why would he tell you to place it with the moon side up when the inscription said they rise under the moon?"

"I dunno. Maybe it's wrong." She shrugged.

Shadow frowned. "Highly unlikely." He said from over his shoulder after he finished trying to get Sonic out of the ceiling, along with Rouge and Knuckles. It was must've been protected by magical barriers.

"She should just put it on the damn thing," Rouge sighed. "With us here, we should be able to deal with whatever it throws at us."

"Yeah, we're getting no luck trying to bring this wall down." Knuckles faced Amy. "Go ahead and do it."

She nodded and placed the statue on the pedestal with the moon facing upwards. Suddenly, a bright white light enveloped the room. A giant, hideous looking ghost appeared- King Boom Boo, as well as his minions.

Everyone stared at the large ghost, though Knuckles was the first to say anything.

"The fu-"

"Where'd he come from?" Amy yelped as she took in the size of the thing.

"Thank you, fools," the King said in Sonic's voice, before laughing sadistically, along with the high pitched laughter of his minions.

"You were just pretending to be Sonic!" The pink Mobian felt her hands shake with rage. "I'll show you not to make a fool out of me!" Her hammer appeared in her hand, and she ran towards the King.

"Wait, Amy, stop!" Sonic yelled from the other side of the ceiling. It was too late though, she had already leaped and swung her arm, but it went right through the ghost. She landed on the ground uneasily, as she lost her footing. The King took advantage of this and grabbed her.

"H-Hey, let me go!" She panicked as she struggled in the ghost's grip.

Rouge screw kicked the King's arm as it was temporarily solid, and the pink hybrid let out a yelp as she fell, only to be caught by Shadow.

"Silver, flip the hourglass!" The dark Mobian ordered, and Silver quickly complied after a moment of shock.

"On it!"

"Rouge!" Knuckles called after the bat as the smaller minions began to swarm after her as she flew in the air.

"Shit!" She hissed as she tried to fly away from them, only to have one apparate in front of her and stun her when she made impact. She fell to the ground, but was caught by Knuckles quickly.

"Thanks," She nodded while getting back on her feet.

"Don't mention it." He looked at the ghost. "Let's keep them away from Silver."

"I can do that."

The albino ran towards the pedestal and flipped the statue after wavering between Knuckles, Shadow, and Rouge when they would get close to him to attack any ghosts coming after him, only to have another bright light fill the room as the ghosts screamed in agony.

Sonic emerged from the bright light with an unconscious Tails over his shoulder. He ran towards the King and leapt, giving the ghost a powerful quick to the head.

"Sonic!" Amy, Silver, and Knuckles all exclaimed simultaneously.

He planted his feet on the ground and patted Tails on the back after feeling the other stir. His emerald eyes glanced at the others, all of whom were fighting enemies.

"You creeps don't scare me anymore!" Amy yelled as she whacked several with her mallet.

Shadow appeared beside him. "You get the others out of here, I'll distract the big one and then follow you out."

He nodded, knowing that the other was fast enough to escape. "Alright." He ran and grabbed Amy's hand, who stared at him with surprise. "Tell Silver, Knuckles, and Rouge to get out of here!" She nodded and ran towards Silver, who was closest to her as well as protecting the statue.

Tails became conscious and squirmed in his older brother's hold. "W-where are we?" Sonic placed the boy on the ground when he saw Shadow taking on the King all by himself.

"Making and escape. Stay right here, I'll be right back." The blond nodded before watching his big brother run towards Shadow and the King.

"I thought I told you to leave!" Shadow scowled at the blue hybrid.

"We just need to take it down long enough to escape. I figured it'd be quicker with the two of us."

The other Mobian nodded in agreement. "Alright, we'll attack simultaneously."

"Got it."

The two hedgehog hybrids spin dashed into King Boom Boo, sending him flying into the wall that crumbled under the force.

"We did it!" Sonic fist pumped. He blinked in surprise when he saw movement from under the debris.

"Save the celebrating for later." Shadow scolded.

"Alright, let's blow this joint." The blue teen said before running off, with Shadow close behind him. He picked up an adjusting Tails and ran up the staircase.

"Shit!" Shadow hissed, and Sonic peeked a glance over his shoulder to see the King following them, destroying the stairs as he did so. He focused on running faster, seeing light in the distance. He felt the dark Mobian run beside him and they continued outracing the ghost.

They emerged into the sunlit courtyards and Amy huffed before using all her strength to smash her hammer into the moveable platform so that it would conceal the secret passageway. Knuckles grabbed the hourglass statue from Silver's hands and placed it on the pedestal with all of his force, everyone winced as there was another blinding light.

"That should take care of it." The echidna let out a breath as he rubbed his hands together.

"Or not," Rouge smirked. "The wrong side is facing up."

He frowned. "Well, shit...That's not my problem anymore. I'm done."

Amy wrapped her arms around Sonic and Tails, who the former had just let go. "You guys are okay! Thank goodness!"

"Thanks, Amy! You did a pretty good job handling things!" Her older brother beamed at her.

"Oh, well," she blushed from the flattery. "It was no big deal!"

Tails smiled. "That was quite an adventure."

"Yeah, it was pretty exciting, right?" The blue Mobian looked up at the crowd.

Rouge chuckled. "I've got to admit, I actually found that pretty fun! It's been too long since I've had some hand-to-hand combat."

"Yeah, it was nice," Silver agreed before noticing his best friend running towards them with Cream and Cosmo beside her. "Blaze?"

"Hello, how was your night?" She greeted the others.

"It was fine, and yours?" Amy answered.

"It was fine for the most part. There were a few confrontations, but...the girls and I held the off pretty well."

"Oh?" Sonic asked, intrigued as he looked at the young girls.

"I was surprised by them," She began. "Cream and Cheese have good teamwork and are stronger than you'd think; Cosmo has interesting powers that are developing. The three of us managed to leave the castle without any harm. We camped out in the plane while we waited for you guys to return. I'll let them give you the details."

"Really?" Sonic smiled at his girls and knelt to their level. "What'd you do?"

They exchanged a glance a giggled. "Well, Blaze was protecting us when the ghosts tried getting us, and we we're backed into a wall, but Cheese and I almost got captured but then I suddenly started flying!" The rabbit hybrid began, while straightening her dress. "My ears are really strong!"

"Very cool, Cream!" He tickled her neck and she laughed. "And you Cosmo?"

"When we were backed into the wall, I opened the window and saw vines against the wall. I don't know how, but I got them to grow and become sturdy. We were able to escape by climbing down them."

"Seems like you have a pretty cool power, Cosmo. We should work on developing it. I'll help ya!" He smiled proudly at her and she shyly returned the smile, feeling warmth when Sonic offered to let her hold his hand, which she eagerly accepted.

"They're growing up," Blaze told Amy. "You're a good influence on them. You make them confident. They see you when you're strong, and they want to be like you."

The pink hybrid laughed. "Well, I get it from Sonic, so there's a system going on." She paused. "And you know it's you too, right? They really admire you, and so do I."

The feline Mobian smiled and shyly averted her gaze as a small blush appeared.

Rouge sighed. "I suppose we should pack up our stuff and go now? We should get back to the school soon. Class is tomorrow."

Everyone looked at her and nodded, groaning as they remembered the pile of incomplete homework they had to do.

oOo

Sonic knocked on Shadow's dorm room door, smiling when he saw the knob turn and the door open, revealing the darker hedgehog.

"Yes?" Shadow raised a brow as he crossed his arms and leaned on his doorway.

"I just wanted to say thank you. I didn't get the chance to earlier." Sonic replied with a grin on his face.

The other Mobian paused and blinked. "For what?"

"Well, you saved Amy from falling, and then you risked yourself for all of us." He answered, carefully watching Shadow's reaction. "What? You didn't think I'd forget that, did you?"

The darker hybrid stared at him. "It was nothing."

"Yeah, well, nothing or not, it meant something to me." His emerald eyes softened. "Listen, I really appreciate what you did."

"I see...but don't expect me to do it again."

Sonic sent him a sly smirk. "Oh, I won't." He noticed Shadow's distant gaze and grew concerned. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Me?" His red eyes directed onto green. "Yes."

"You know, after Halloween, it's Christmas." The blue teen waited for some kind of reaction, and continued when there was none. "I really hope we can do something fun like this again."

Shadow frowned. "Why are you spending so much time with me?"

"Huh?"

He pushed himself off the wall and stood up straight. "You always try to include me, and I don't get why."

"Oooh," the younger teen smiled sheepishly. "Isn't it kind of… I dunno, obvious?" He let out a nervous laugh.

"No, I don't understand at all." Shadow put a hand on his hip and waited for an explanation.

"Well," He scratched the back of his head and averted his gaze as he thought of an easy way to put this. He thought of what Amy would say in his situation, she was good at expressing her feelings. He relaxed himself and stared at the other softly. "I like you. I like you a lot."

Crimson eyes widened before narrowing. "You shouldn't."

Sonic huffed. "And why not?" The other didn't reply, so he continued. "Look, I like you, and that won't change. You may not know it, but there's something in you. Something good."

The tan Mobian scoffed. "You don't know anything about me." He couldn't look Sonic in the eyes as a painful memory came up. He tried to suppress it.

"Hey, I may not know anything about you, and you me, but there's something about yourself I'm guessing you haven't understood yet, but I have. There's good in you, whether you believe it or not."

He scowled. "You've been mistaken."

The blue hybrid rolled his eyes and sighed. "Okay, whatever." He turned. "Oh, and before I leave, I was wondering if we could have another date?"

Shadow crossed his arms again. "When?"

"I dunno, I'll think of something and tell you then. Bye!"

The dark-haired Mobian watched the teen go down the stairs and walk into his dorm next door, before closing the door and locking it. He felt anger swell up in him and he punched the wood, though not hard enough to cause damage to it. He was angered by how much he was softening up to the blue hedgehog, angered by how much he cared for the damned kid. He wasn't allowed to care about anyone. There was no one else but her, and she was gone now. He had a promise to fulfill and he would go through any lengths to accomplish it.

He needed to talked to the Doctor, and he needed to do it now.


A/N: What a softie. Also, just because it was a special, that doesn't mean it wasn't important! Look at all those interactions between the characters! Especially Sonic and Shadow. Look at him trying to save the other and then being in denial. Awe. Such a weenie.

Next up: Christmas prep and the SA2 Arc. Idk when exactly because I may decide to rewrite the entire thing for the umpteenth time...ugh. Guess that's why I have spring break to work? Depends on whether or not I get the motivation to actually write haha. Lazy people problems.

Reviews are always appreciated!