AN: Just quickly saying, "Hello," before you read the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoy, but this chapter is more focused on Mighty now that he is freed from Mephiles' hold. It's definitely going to get very interesting soon, though. Thank you, Aliciathewolf45, CrimsonDarkTheHedgehog, Janttun3n, ClemintineXO, risingzero1984, MissMJS, and Kimberly Rosivel Lopez for the reviews on chapter 18!

•~•

The next morning, Shadow rolled over and woke up to the sun shining through his window. Turning slightly, he stared at the back of Rosy's head as she continued to sleep soundly under the sheets. Carefully, he placed an arm over her side, moved closer behind, and snuggled her. Rosy groaned in her sleep before stirring. "What?" she whined playfully.

He kissed the back of her shoulder. "It's time to get up, gorgeous."

"Really?" she moaned in annoyance, keeping her eyes shut. "I feel like I could go for another few hours."

Shadow pulled away from her and swung his legs off the side of his bed. "Did you not get much sleep last night?"

"I dunno," she mumbled. "I thought I did, but I had some funky dreams last night. It's hard to explain…"

"We all have our bad nights," Shadow noted while he headed for the hall. "Want me to make you some coffee? We'll need to be at the bayou in an hour to help out with the wedding preparations."

Rosy sat on the edge of the bed, still feeling strange. "Yeah, sure, I'll tend to Faith while you do that and then join you downstairs."

Shadow gave her a nod before heading downstairs. Once he was out of sight, Rosy looked down at her hands before clenching them into fists. She couldn't quite put her finger on it because her memory was quite fuzzy, but something was not sitting right. Either way, she was sure she'd get down to the bottom of it.

•~•

At that same time at the abandoned high school, the real Mighty began to stir after being freed from Mephiles who had been using his body as a resort. The armadillo lifted himself off the floor groggily as he got his bearings. "What the…where am I?" he asked while squinting. "Wait a second." He patted his chest before looking down at his hands. "I'm…I'm free?" he spoke in disbelief. There was a pause before reality set in. Mighty looked to his left. "That Original is no longer inside me?"

He spotted sheets of papers scattered across the floor, flipped school desks, and a chalkboard full of spell notes as he determined his location. "A school?"

Rubbing his eyes, he began to recall what had happened the night he and his friend Aurora were attacked. He remembered finding Aurora knocked unconscious in her apartment before being knocked out himself. It felt like it had been quite some time since that memory had happened, so how much time had passed since then? And better yet, where was Aurora now? Knowing his friend could be in danger at that very moment, Mighty looked at the witchcraft materials he had available in his environment. Perhaps he could use some of it and conjure up a locator spell to locate Aurora.

•~•

At the Wolves' campsite, Mary stood outside before a group of male alphas near a lake. Caleb, Andrew, and three other males from wolf packs stood there waiting for further instructions, while Sonic and Sally stood nearby. Mary brought her hand up to her mouth and cleared her throat to begin the ceremony. "Wolves are bonded by what is most important to us, the earth of our territory, and the blood of our packs."

Mary walked over and held out a large wooden bowl. "Now, you've all brought what I asked, correct?" The group of alphas nodded before each pulled out a small sack. "What I want you to do is place the dirt you collected from your territory into the bowl before we start our next step." The bowl was passed down the row from leader to leader as they poured the contents of their sacks into the wooden bowl. Different types of terra were poured into the bowl, some dirt, some gravel, and others sand.

Once that was finished, Mary collected the bowl of contents and walked back over to the front of the line. "Mixing these elements, we irrevocably bind ourselves to one another, creating a new pack." She reached to her left side and pulled out a switchblade, opening it, and handing it over to Caleb. "Give us some of your blood so that we can complete this ceremony."

Caleb looked down at the blade before taking it and dragging it across his palm, making a large slit. He handed the blade over to Andrew before forming his injured hand into a tight fist to squeeze some of his blood into the bowl. The rest of the males copied this action as Mary collected a sample of their blood in the bowl. Once everyone's blood was collected to standing before the males with the bowl in hand. "Finally, I ask each one of you this, do you renounce your Alpha status?"

In unison, the five of them bowed on one knee before Mary, Sonic, and Sally. "Yes," they replied together.

Mary smiled, pleased by their answer. "Excellent, now we can do the final stages." She walked over to Sonic and handed him the knife, allowing for him to offer his own blood. Sally watched as Sonic slit his palm before squeezing a large amount into the bowl.

Mary collected his blood and the knife back and walked off. As Sonic looked down at his palm, Sally watched in amazement as his wound healed within seconds. "Whoa…"

Mary walked over to her makeshift workstation and used a stamp to dip into the blood before stamping it onto a handwritten scroll with this written oath. "With this, you sign away your rule to your pack and give authority to your new leader, Sonic." She stamped the stamp at the bottom of the page before rolling it up. The group watched as she took that scroll and held it over a candle on the table, allowing it to burn away. Once it was completely burnt, the ashes left over took to the wind that carried it to the heavens.

Mary turned to the group and smiled. "It is done."

•~•

After doing a location spell, Mighty found himself downtown to a location he had not been very familiar with. He walked down the sidewalk until coming to his destination, Station Square Asylum. "No way…" he muttered under his breath with a hint of fear.

As it turns out, Mighty had heard of the facility he stood before. Station Square Asylum was a place where witches were brought if they acted out of conduct with their coven. Insane ones, which were mentally unstable, were brought here, along with others that were shunned by their community for using forbidden magic. The institute was known for being cruel with the treatment of their patients that misbehaved, and Mighty could only imagine what Aurora might have been going through.

Feeling determined to save her; he walked up the steps to the institute and stepped past the sliding automated doors. Inside the lobby he spotted a female, brown, bunny, sitting behind the desk. "Um, excuse me, is there any chance I could see Aurora Echidna today?" he asked politely.

"What is your relation to her, sir?" she asked.

Mighty leaned his arms across the counter. "She's a friend of mine."

The secretary turned to face her computer, hovering her hands over the keyboard. "Full name?" she asked before she went to type.

"Mighty Armadillo," he answered. She began typing his name into the computer's database and Mighty watched her fingers dart and move furiously over the keyboard until another thought crossed his mind. "So, if you don't mind me asking, why was Aurora submitted here in the first place?"

The female paused her typing and turned to look back at him. Her face remained neutral in expression as she stared back at him. "I can't reveal that classified information, sir. Also, your name appears not to be in our database, so sadly, I cannot allow you to see your friend at this time."

Mighty's expression turned sour. "What do you mean? She's my friend and I have a right to see her!"

"I'm sorry, sir. We've had a recent issue with people not in our database breeching our institute, so we're beginning to crack down on our visitation limits. If you were a family member, you would be allowed in."

His fists clenched in anger. "This is ridiculous, Aurora has no living family. I'm basically all she has left, therefore, I demand to speak with a manager," he spoke, tone rising with frustration.

"…Mighty?" a male voice spoke from behind him.

Mighty turned and spotted a large green crocodile in a business suit standing next to an office room. "Vector?" he spoke back, instantly recognizing him.

Vector looked over to his secretary. "Don't worry, Chantelle, I've got this handled. In the meantime, Mighty, step into my office," he gestured kindly.

Obliging, Mighty walked inside Vector's office and watched as his old friend closed the door behind them. Once alone, Vector turned only to see Mighty looking disappointed as he stood with his arms crossed. "Since when did you start running this place?"

Vector sighed and walked over to his desk, taking a seat behind it. "A year ago," he replied. "Enough about me, where have you been, old friend? I haven't seen you in awhile."

"My body was freed of being used as host today," he explained. "An Original was inhabiting my body as their own for the past few months. I don't know much of what I was getting up to, but I know it couldn't have been any good."

Vector frowned by the notion and felt sympathy for his friend. "Sounds like something they'd do. I'm sorry they chose you, but at least you have control again."

"Yes, but let's stop discussing that," he segued. "My business in coming here is about my friend."

"And who is that?"

"Aurora Echidna," he replied. "I want her released, immediately."

Vector leaned back in his chair. "Ah, yes. She's fairly new to our facility, she's only been here for a few weeks now."

"I'll ask again, why is she here? Who put her here in the first place?"

"Her coven submitted her to the institute after they found out she was harboring an ancient witch inside her. They believed she conspired with this ancient spirit and lost trust in her. From that, Aurora has suffered PTSD from the event and has lost the ability to use her magic. The coven decided that leaving her here was a suitable punishment," Vector explained.

"They believed she conspired to make this happen?" he repeated in astonishment. "Listen, I know Aurora and she would never voluntarily allow anyone to use her body as a vessel. Please, you must let me take her away from this place."

"Look, I don't agree with how her coven handled the situation, but I'm running this place the best I can. I might be able to help you out under the table with this ordeal if you help me with something…"

Mighty's expression grew optimistic. "I'll do anything, just name it."

Vector interlaced his fingers together over his desk. "Last night, an Original broke into our facility and kidnapped one of our patients," he began.

Mighty shook his head, already peeved by the story. "Damn Originals…" he scoffed under his breath. "Any idea why?" he probed curiously.

"No clue and I have no idea if they know what they're getting into. But I know you, Mighty. You're strong and gifted in your skills with magic. After all, you were the top of our class." He reached into one of the drawers of his desk and pulled out a file and tossed it on the desktop. "If you can find this witch and bring her back, I'll sign a release and let your friend go," he promised. "I'm trusting you to do this because only a few people know of her escape. I'm trying to keep her coven from discovering it, especially since they paid me well to keep her locked up."

Might reached over and picked up the manila folder and flipped it open. His eyes scanned the information along with the picture provided by a pink hedgehog. He looked at the identification to see the patient's name. "Rosy Rascal?" he repeated with uncertainty. "Never heard of her. Why do you need her back so badly?"

"Although I know this facility is abused with patients who don't necessarily need to be here, Rosy happens to one of my patients that do need to remain inside these walls. She's an A rank level criminal witch and should not be around the mortal public. She was originally brought in because she was siphoning children's life forms to make herself more powerful."

"Children sacrifice," he mumbled in disgust. Mighty closed the file and laid it on his lap, and looked at Vector with determination. "I promise I'll bring her back. Just make sure Aurora is taken care of properly in my absence."

"Will do."

•~•

A little later that morning, Shadow, Rosy, and Faith arrived at the werewolf campsite. Rosy pushed Faith in her stroller while Shadow walked by her side. The two came up to the large group of werewolves clustered around two individuals. Shadow, Rosy, and Faith waited in the back of the crowd, just as it began to disperse, allowing for them to get through. Once a gap had formed, the two spotted Sally and Sonic talking to their newcomers joining their pack. Sonic turned away from one conversation when he spotted Shadow in the crowd. "Oh, Shadow," he waved walking over in his direction.

When he got over, Sonic's expression turned into awe as he stared at the unknown female standing by Shadow's side. He cocked his head to the side and raised a brow. "Wait a minute…Ames, is that you?"

Rosy smiled sheepishly confirming his suspicion. "Yeah, it's me."

Sonic reached out and brought her into a bear hug, making her gasp as the life was squeezed out of her. "Geez, I was worried sick when I heard what happened. You're okay, right?"

"I will be if you let me breathe again," she gasped.

Sonic quickly released his hold. "Sorry about that, I forget my own strength sometimes," he chuckled.

"Shadow caught me up on everything that's been happening and I wanted to congratulate you and Sally on the exciting news!"

Sonic smiled appreciatively. "That's sweet of you, Ames."

"We also felt that we should help anywhere we can in setting up your wedding. It's only fair that we do a bit of the graft so you two can worry about more important things," Shadow offered.

Sally and Sonic exchanged looks before their expression turned to mutual smiles. "What do you think, Sal?"

"I think that'd be wonderful," Sally smiled. "Speaking of help. I could really use some help picking out a wedding dress. I, uh, don't exactly have many girlfriends in my inner circle…"

"Blaze and I would love to help," Rosy grinned.

Sally smiled. "Wonderful."

•~•

The three girls headed into town together eventually finding a small wedding boutique to look at some dresses. Rosy, Sally, and Blaze helped Sally find the perfect wedding dress and sat in to help observe her in her fittings. Rosy stood at one end of a rack, while Blaze searched another. Sally, in the meantime, searched in another area to cut down the search. "Ah-ha!" Sally smiled. "I think I found one."

The other two girls, turned away from their search to get a look at now the ninth option. Sally held it out and the two girls beamed at the sight. "Oh my, it's absolutely gorgeous," Blaze complimented.

"I have to agree, it's super pretty, yet subtle," Rosy concurred.

"You should go try it on," Blaze encouraged.

"I will." Sally walked off to the changing room with her dress in hand. About five minutes later, after getting zipped up by one of the sales assistants, Sally came waltzing out in her dress pick.

Rosy and Blaze sat on one of the sofas waiting for her arrival but gasped in joy at her final reveal. The dress was form fitting, showing off her curvy figure, giving a small amount of cleavage, and had a small train. The lacy detailing was gorgeous and really brought the whole dress together. "This has to be the one," Rosy pointed.

Sally took a gander at herself in the full-length mirror and nodded in agreement. "I think you're right, Amy. This is definitely the one."

•~•

After purchasing the dress, Sally returned to the campsite that was now busy preparing for the big event. Sally walked around camp, watching pack members setting up decorations, chairs, and preparing food. "Wow..."

"—It's a bit overwhelming, huh?" a familiar voice piped in. Sally turned only to see Sonic sauntering towards her with his charming smile.

"You could say that," she laughed lightly.

"Sorry about that," he said rubbing the back of his neck. "Shadow seems to like hosting parties and can go a little over the top. But anyway, how was the dress hunt? Find anything that caught your eye?" he probed with genuine curiosity.

She brushed some of her bangs away from her face as a gush of wind blew between them. "Yes, actually, I found the perfect dress and I think you'll like how it looks."

"Hey, I think you'll look beautiful even if you were to get married to me in a plaid shirt, skinny jeans, and combat boots," he cracked.

Sally blushed by his compliment knowing that even though he was joking, he was serious. Sonic always made her feel beautiful despite her tomboy nature and dress code. "You know, I'm not the kind of girl who sat around fantasizing about her wedding day, and if I had, it probably would have looked…" She watched as two werewolves pushed a trolley full of fresh extravagant flowers away. "—A little less like this..."

Sonic smirked playfully. "You're not getting cold feet, are yah, Sal?"

She shook her head quickly in denial. "No, no, not at all!" she said waving her hands out in front of her. "This is what's right. I want this and our pack needs it, too."

Sonic reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder, catching her off guard slightly. "Sal, it's okay to feel a little nervous. It's normal, but I promise you that you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives together very happily," he smiled as he closed his eyes and tilted his head.

"I believe you," she smiled.

"Well, tomorrow's the big day, huh?" he segued. Sonic glanced at one of the clocks on the wall. "It looks like it's that time where you and I can't see each other anymore until you walk down the aisle."

"Oh sheesh, is it that time already?" she asked, startled by how time had flown.

Sonic nodded. "Yep, so I guess this is where I say goodbye for now."

"No, you don't say goodbye," she corrected. "You say, see yah later!" she giggled.

He grinned at her cuteness. "You're right." Sonic leaned in and pecked her on the lips. Sally blushed at his quick peck and touched her lips. "In that case, I'll see you later, Sal," he said turning on his heel and waving his farewell.

Sally smiled as she watched her fiancé walk off, almost in a daze as she felt butterflies form in her stomach. These were the moments when she realized it was right. "See you later," she waved slowly.

•~•