AN: Yikes, I've been MIA! I'm so sorry for the absence, but like I've continued saying. I've been ridiculously busy with work. I don't plan on abandoning this story, however, it will take longer for updates. Thanks again to all those that continue to stick it through with my story and leave me reviews/feedback. You know who you are. Now, onto the next chapter.
•~•
In the living room, Blaze and Faith sat on the carpet as they played together. Blaze moved a plush rabbit toy in her hand, making Faith laugh and coo. In the meantime, Silver stood in the kitchen waiting for a bottle to heat up in the microwave. It was getting late and Faith needed to be fed and put to bed soon, otherwise, Shadow would have a fit.
Silver stood at the other end across from the microwave with his back up against one of the counters as he watched the timer tick down. Just as the microwave narrowed down to its last ten seconds, his eyes were drawn away when he heard a loud wail come from the living room. Using his speed, Silver whisked himself into the living room, only to find Blaze standing and holding a crying Faith in her arms. "What happened?"
"Oh, she accidentally grabbed at the tablecloth from the coffee table and that old knickknack fell on her forehead," she explained. Faith turned her head towards him, and Silver stared at the minor scratch presented on her forehead where a drip a blood streaked down her face. Faith continued to wail profusely and Silver stared at the cut suddenly finding himself captivated by the sight. Time seemed to slow down as an irritating ringing resonated in his ears. Flashes of the ominous red door came to mind, and he felt himself tremble at the sight.
In reality, Blaze stared at him while she continued to bounce Faith gently to calm her. Silver looked like he was no longer on planet Earth as he stared almost in vegetation like state. "Silver, Silver?" she called softly.
Finally coming back around, Silver shook his head, arriving out of his stupor. "Uh, forgive me." He turned around and headed for the nearest bathroom. "I'll fetch her a band-aid."
Blaze watched her retreating fiancé, still worried for Silver's mental state. It was apparent, that he was still struggling with his inner demons.
•~•
Meanwhile, at the institute, Shadow cupped Rosy's face in his hands as he got a good look at her. She trembled slightly as she looked back at him. What did he think of her new appearance? Was she no longer pretty to him, was he mad that her plan had backfired? "He didn't hurt you, did he?" he asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.
She shook her head. "No, you came just in time."
Shadow stood, taking her hand in his and leading her towards the door. "Then let's get the hell out of here."
Just as the two began to leave the room, two male nurses spotted them. "Hey!" Shadow moved Rosy behind him as he stood in front of her protectively. "I don't know who the hell you are, but you shouldn't be up here," one of the nurses pointed.
Shadow clenched his fists by his side. "If you have any ounce of intellect, you'll move aside and allow us to leave peacefully."
One of the nurses, a brown bulldog, bared his teeth threateningly. "Don't think so, pal."
Shadow smirked, shaking his head in pity at their decision. "Then it's settled." The two nurses watched in awe as he vanished before them before reappearing inches in front of the bulldog with his incredible speed.
The dog gasped but cried out in agony as he felt a swift punch to his gut. Gasping, he looked down only to realize that Shadow hadn't only punched him, but had actually stabbed him in the stomach with his own hand. Feeling light-headed, the dog dropped to the floor, bleeding out.
The other nurse, a purple minx, standing yards away, stared at his co-worker in complete shock. Shadow turned his attention away, before sauntering towards him without urgency. He wasn't able to get away in time, as Shadow grabbed him with his now bloody hand by the throat, and shoved him against the wall.
The minx gasped as Shadow held him in place. "Puh-please," he begged. "You have no idea—what you're doing letting her go," he gasped.
Shadow raised a brow. "What are you talking about?"
"That girl," he noted, moving his eyes in her direction. "She's incredibly dangerous, powerful—not to mention, she's a menace to society," he expressed through short breaths. "She needs to stay in here."
"Whoever she may have been is gone now. Either way, I'm taking her with me," he spoke before squeezing hard enough to break his neck.
Rosy cringed in the background as she heard the sickening crack. Shadow released his hold on the body and turned to look at her. "Let's go."
•~•
Back at the house, Blaze watched as Silver placed the band-aid on Faith's forehead. He smiled seeing she was no longer upset. Faith smiled up at her uncle and in return he took her out of Blaze's arms and cradled her. Blaze watched as Silver paced around the room slowly, making Faith giggle by his gentle bouncing. After a few minutes ago, Blaze had come up with a theory for Silver's strange behavior. "It was a trigger," she interrupted. "But you managed to pull yourself back, you're improving," she spoke optimistically.
Silver turned and looked at her strangely by her odd comment. "What are you talking about?"
Blaze took a seat on the sofa. "We can't ignore the fact that your mind goes elsewhere when you see blood. It's very common in PTSD patients. You've done the work to face your atrocities, but it'll take time for you to get back to normal."
Silver joined her on the sofa and reached for the now lukewarm baby bottle on the coffee table. "You believe you have the power to resolve this?"
She watched as Silver began to bottle feed Faith. "It's not going to be easy, in cases like yours, sometimes not dwelling on the problem is more productive than examining it through therapy."
"So, what do I do to alleviate it?" Silver asked.
"Keep your mind busy on other menial tasks, you know, like fixing something, working on a project, or starting a new hobby."
He shrugged, not as certain on her theory and instead focused on feeding Faith. "If you say so."
•~•
During the drive home, Shadow caught Amy up to date on why it had taken so long to find her. After the explanation, there was only one thing on her mind. "Is Faith okay? Nothing happened while I was gone, right?"
Shadow kept his eyes on the road as he continued to drive. "No, Faith is perfectly fine. She's been a little cranky, but I'm sure she'll be happy to see her mother again."
There was a pause as she dwelled on something. Rosy fiddled with her fingers placed in her lap. "…Do you think she'll recognize me?"
Shadow glanced at her briefly. "Of course, you're her mother after all."
Her ears drooped sadly. "Yeah, but I don't look like her anymore…"
Trying to shift her dampened mood, Shadow cleared his throat as he steered the conversation elsewhere. "There is something I forgot to mention, something quite important in fact."
Her head tilted with curiosity. "What is it?"
"Sonic and Sally are getting married," he answered.
Her ears perked at the exciting news, "Sonic's getting married?" she repeated. "I mean, I know they've only been dating for a couple of months, but isn't this a little fast?" she questioned.
Shadow chuckled softly at her concern. "Yes, it's a long story, but it's for the good of the pack," he began.
She stared at him, eager to hear more details. "Well, we have another twenty minute drive, start explaining."
•~•
At the Wolves' camp, Sonic sat on one of the docks, staring out over the lake. The stars glistened in the night sky as he sat there in silence, enjoying the sound of crickets and frogs chirping around the lake. Unfortunately, his moment of clarity stopped when he heard footsteps approach. The blue hedgehog turned slightly, only to see Sally making her way towards him down the dock. He smiled up at her before she took a seat by his side. "I had wondered where you wandered off to."
He rubbed the back of his neck. "The rituals took a lot out of me, I just came here to take a breather, ya know?
Sally smiled at him. "Yeah, they took a lot out of me too, but I just got some good news from Caleb."
His ears twitched. "And what's that?"
"More packs from up North have heard of our marriage ceremony. They want in and are willing to bow down to you in order for their packs to gain your powers. They're arriving early tomorrow morning to meet us."
Sonic blinked in surprise. "Really, there are other alphas out there willing to give up their status for me?"
Sally nodded. "Mhm, we're going to have one hell of an army once this is all complete."
Sonic stood and Sally mimicked his actions. "Hey, how about we hit the hay, huh? We still got a lot of important stuff to attend to for the big day?"
The two began to walk down the docks together hand and hand. "You're right. Let's get some sleep."
•~•
In the living room, Silver and Blaze lounged on the couch together now asleep, but Silver stirred when he heard the front door click open. Shadow and Rosy waltzed inside, approaching the couple on the couch. Silver cracked his eyes open, figuring it must have been Shadow returning. When they were fully open, he stared in astonishment at Amy's new form standing before him. "Amy," he asked, leaning forward in awe. "Is that really you?"
Blaze began to rouse from her sleep as she felt Silver move and speak. "Huh, what's going on?" she asked tiredly before seeing the two. She gasped at Rosy's appearance, not recognizing her at first. "Amy?"
Rosy smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, it's me." The two stood and embraced her unexpectedly, making her wobble slightly backward. "Whoa, glad you're happy to see me," she chuckled.
They pulled apart in unison with pleasant smiles. "We didn't mean to sound rude, it's just so odd seeing you in another body is all," Blaze explained.
"I know what you mean," she laughed. "It was really bizarre seeing myself in the mirror for the first time. I'm still getting used to it."
The cat rested a hand on her shoulder. "Well, don't get too accustomed to it, I swear I will find out how to get you back into your original body," Blaze pledged with determination.
Rosy smiled appreciatively. "I appreciate that Blaze, but don't get yourself frazzled about the spell. Take your time, I don't mind waiting." In the background, Shadow frowned by her comment. Whether she knew it or not, the body swapping spell was a difficult one to master, and for all he knew, Amy might never return to her old body again, leaving him with a bleak outcome.
"Now," Amy spoke, taking Shadow out of his dark thoughts. "I hope you guys don't mind, but I'd really like to look in on Faith before heading to bed. I've been worried about her for the past two days."
"Of course, but just a little side note," Silver advised. "Faith had a small accident an hour ago. She got a little scratch on her forehead, but it's nothing to worry about," he clarified quickly. "I bandaged it."
The pink hedgehog nodded. "Thanks for letting me know." With that, she wandered upstairs with Shadow tagging along behind.
•~•
Upstairs, Rosy and Shadow entered Faith's bedroom and approached her sleeping form in the crib. The little pink infant slept soundly on her back, completely oblivious to her parents watching over her.
Rosy leaned over the railing of the crib and gently stroked the top of her head. "I couldn't imagine not being a part of her life," she pondered quietly. "To imagine not being able to see her grow up made me incredibly sad."
Shadow wrapped an arm around her and kissed her on the cheek. "You don't have to worry about that, you're here now," he replied quietly, trying not to wake her.
Rosy blushed by his gesture before staring at the blue band-aid along Faith's forehead. Curiously, she reached down and peeled it off her with ease to get a look at the supposed minor cut. But when the band-aid was completely removed her eyes widened in surprise. There wasn't a cut in sight. Shadow also seemed baffled by this as he observed the non-injury. "I don't think Faith's doctor would approve of her uncle using his blood to heal his niece," she scolded quietly.
Shadow opened his mouth to concur until another thought crossed his mind. "I don't think Silver was responsible for this."
She raised a brow at him. "What do you mean?"
"Remember, Faith is a quarter vampire, perhaps she healed herself. After all, her blood healed you when you were pregnant," he reminded.
Listening to his theory, she looked back down at her child. "There's a new surprise every day with this one, isn't there?"
Shadow took her hand in his and turned on his heel. "Come now, we should get some rest ourselves."
•~•
Later that night, in Shadow and Amy's bedroom, Rosy slept facing away from Shadow as her face contorted into different pained expressions. She looked like she was working up a sweat as if she was battling some sort of inner turmoil. In the meantime, Shadow was completely oblivious as he slept soundly on the other side of the bed.
Suddenly, Rosy's eyes shot open. Slowly, she moved the covers off her body as she sat on the edge of the bed looking stoic in her expression. Glancing over her shoulder, she looked at Shadow still soundly asleep before quietly getting up and making her way out of the room.
•~•
At the abandoned school, Mighty diligently worked on grinding up some herbs for a spell, until his attention was pulled away when he heard footsteps making their way down the hall. Narrowing his brows, he stopped his work and looked towards his opened classroom doorway in anticipation of an unannounced arrival. "Who's out there? Reveal yourself!"
A shadowy figure came creeping into the doorway, outlining a hedgehog. Mighty dropped his guard for a moment as he stared at the familiar arrival. He scoffed at the sight of his guest. "What are you doing here?"
Rosy placed her hands on her hips and smirked. "Is that any way to address an old acquaintance?" she asked fluttering her eyelashes flirtatiously.
"Hold on now…" Mighty stared at her skeptically and with caution. "I thought I was talking to Amy, but now I'm not as certain." Mighty started to walk around the desk, refusing to take his eyes off her. "Who exactly do I have the pleasure of talking to at this moment?"
She ran a hand over her quills. "Who else but the owner of this gorgeous body?"
Mighty froze in his tracks as those words left her mouth. "That's not possible," he mumbled. "I placed the body binding agents to your body myself. If Amy's not in there, then where-"
"—Oh, don't think too hard about it, buddy, she's still in here, but I'm in control at the moment," she addressed proudly. "You underestimated how powerful I truly am. You should have known that I don't give up that easily."
His fists clenched by his side. "Then why the hell are you here, what the hell do you want?"
"Do I really have to explain? I'm here to get some revenge, starting with whoever the hell you are," she pointed threateningly.
"You don't know who I am?" Mighty chuckled in amusement.
"I know you're not whoever this guy is you're impersonating," she replied. "Based on my intuition, you're someone very powerful, yet, much more sinister."
He smiled, dignified by her description. "You're correct in your assessment, now if you have any common sense, you'd know not to mess with me," he warned.
"Too bad you don't know who I am," she smiled darkly. Rosy stuck her hand out towards him. "Buy-u-cho!"
Right then, Mighty's body was rendered frozen, unable to react in time to her assault. "Damn it," he muttered.
She walked closer in his direction, stopping just inches in front of him. Mighty watched as she reached out and stroked a hand down his right cheek. "Whoever you're currently possessing, I'm sure isn't too pleased about it, and I think he would feel gratitude for being freed from your hold," she finished, cupping his face with both her hands.
"No, don't you dare," he growled.
Rosy only grinned maliciously before allowing her magic to flow to her hands. Mighty cried out as he felt an agonizing electricity run through his body as Rosy held him by the face, working her magic. With her magic surging through his body, Mighty eyelids lowered and fell unconscious. His body dropped to the floor from exhaustion and Rosy looked to the corner of the room where a dark entity stood.
"So, there's the real you," she grinned sinisterly. After being forced to leave his host, Mephiles' spirit stood there, staring back at the pink witch in anger. "Who are you?"
"My name is Mephiles and I'm one of the many Original vampires."
"An Original, huh?" she repeated with intrigue. "I guess it's only fair that I send your spirit back to where it belongs," she spoke as she began to step towards him.
"Don't come any closer, whore!" he spat. Suddenly, the classroom windows burst open and a large gust of wind came in, making stray papers fly all over the room. Rosy shielded her face from the whipping debris while Mephiles did the same. "What the hell are you doing?" he yelled over the roaring wind.
"It's not me!" she shouted over the roaring winds.
Out of nowhere, Mephiles felt a strong pull on his body, dragging him out of his corner. "What the hell?" He tried to step back, but his body was dragged forward, forcing him onto his stomach. "What's happening to me?"
Rosy watched as his body was dragged further and further towards one of the open windows. "Looks like someone else beat me to my idea," she smirked wickedly.
Mephiles looked over his shoulder at the window that he was being sucked towards. "No, this can't be happening!"
Rosy continued to shield her face with one arm as she watched. "You must have been one naughty boy, Mephy! I think we all know where you're heading right now…"
The winds got even stronger and before he realized it, his spirit was airborne and was sucked out into oblivion taking the violent winds with him. "Nooo!" he cried as the classroom windows shut tight, leaving the classroom he once resided in, silent.
The papers and debris that had been whipping around violently suddenly began to cascade down. Rosy dusted her hands off, quite pleased with the outcome. "One Original down, three more to go."