Author's Note: To those of you barraging me with messages asking when the next chapter will be, can you please chill out? I'm a full-time ELA public school teacher. I have over 140 students and have a LOT of papers to grade. At the moment, my life pretty much consists of grading papers, which takes up most of my social life. I promise you I will not abandon this story, but I don't appreciate the hounding of complaints when I don't update fast enough for certain people...Anyway, enough of me bitching, this is aimed at one person and you know who you are. For the rest, enjoy the next chapter.

•~•

The next morning, Shadow woke up and wandered around the house within the early hours of the morning. It was quiet while the rest of the house slept, but there was something ominous that Shadow just couldn't quite shake off. He walked through the living room with his coffee cup in hand before stopping at the mirror hung up on the wall. Shadow stood before it and looked at his reflection just as his pupils glowed a bright red. Blinking in awe at the sight, Shadow leaned in closer to get a look at his eyes, just when he caught a male figure walking into the other room directly behind him.

He had been paying too much attention to his eyes that he hadn't caught the details of the figure walking behind him. Shadow spun around as he spotted the last bit of their figure entering the kitchen.

He squinted with uncertainty, wondering if he recognized the person accurately. "…Silver?" he called out.

Getting no response, Shadow walked into the kitchen and looked around inside but found no one was there. Right then and there, a shiver ran down his spine. Shadow turned around to exit the kitchen just when he spotted the shadowy figure once again, but this time, heading upstairs. Shadow's heart skipped a beat, and he set his coffee cup down on the table and rushed out of the room. Heading upstairs, Shadow scoped the area, looking for this unannounced intruder. He used his sensitive hearing and sense of smell to try to locate the male but came up short. Feeling rattled and unnerved with being unable to find him, Shadow peeked inside Faith's bedroom just to check in on her.

He smiled when he saw her sleeping soundly. Quietly, Shadow shut her bedroom door, and placed a hand to his face, while he leaned up against the hallway wall. Perhaps it was just his mind playing tricks on him. It had been a pretty hectic week and he hadn't gotten much sleep last night

•~•

In the Mystic Ruins, Sally found Sonic sat on the dock's edge on his own. Raising a brow, the chipmunk made her way down the dock and took a seat by his side. She looked at him strangely when he didn't bother to look her way and instead kept his focus on the distance ahead of him. "So, you never came to bed last night. What's going on?"

"I've spent the last six hours going to every palm reader and witch doctor I could find. All of them have told me I'm fine, but ever since Shadow and I helped bring down that cult, something has felt…off."

"What do you mean?" Sally questioned.

He exhaled a deep sigh and turned to look at her. "Did you notice the mirror in our bar this morning?"

She shook her head. "No, I didn't notice. Why?"

"Last night, I stood in front of that mirror and it cracked into an infinite square before my very eyes," he answered.

Sally looked worried by the statement. "Sonic," he tone shifted into worry. "Why didn't you wake me up last night. If I had known you had been dealing with this, you wouldn't have had to go through all this worrying by yourself," she softly scolded.

"This is exactly why I didn't wake you up last night," he pointed out. "I was afraid of scaring you."

She linked arms with him and leaned in close. "What do you think is happening to you right now?"

"Well, I think this thing has anchored itself to me," he theorized.

Sally helped lift him to his feet and held onto his one arm. "Let's find Mighty." She tried to pull him with her, but he didn't budge. "He should be able to help us!" she spoke with urgency.

"Look, Sal, he had a rough night and needed all the rest he could get, that's why I didn't wake him up the moment this happened. He's had a lot to deal with in the last 48 hours, he needs to be able to recharge. Besides, I saw he had already gone home."

"Well, we need to find him and get help. If we're going to get rid of this thing we're going to need a good witch," she said with determination.

"Leave him out of this for the time being. The guy is mourning his girlfriend right now," Sonic argued. "We can find someone else to help us."

•~•

Later that morning, still in her PJ's, which consisted of a tight tank top, some pajama shorts, and her fuzzy slippers, Amy stood and dried some dishes at the kitchen sink. As she meticulously worked on her dish duty, Shadow walked past the kitchen entrance and stood to watch her do her work. Without him realizing it, his irises flashed red and all emotions, empathy, and reason left his mind. His once normal and calm demeanor shifted into something more calculated. Shadow entered the kitchen making his way straight for Amy with a more cold and detached expression.

Amy heard footsteps approach her from behind, but didn't feel any sense of urgency or distress. Eventually, she felt the person, stop directly behind her and then felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Before she could get a look at whom it was, two arms wrapped around her, forcing her to stop her drying. One of those arms coiled itself around her chest while the other stayed around her waist. Amy giggled in response, knowing exactly who it was. "Morning," she smiled.

Oddly though, Shadow did not respond back but instead began to vigorously kiss at the side of her neck, while the arm around her chest began to grope forcefully at her left breast. Amy scrunched her shoulders, finding his attempts to get her turned on weren't working for her this morning. "Um, Shadow, I'm not really in the mood this morning," she hinted kindly. Once again, Shadow did not utter a word, and continued to kiss and grope at her chest, while his other hand found its way into her pajama pants.

Amy gasped as she felt two of his fingers fervently propel themselves into her vagina, causing her legs to contract inward from discomfort. Usually, Shadow was very gently and forthcoming with his foreplay, but something felt very out of character about this morning. His kisses were a lot more forceful and hard, his groping was too aggressive, not to mention he wasn't talking. Realizing something was extremely erroneous about Shadow's behavior, Amy began to try to wriggle her way out of his hold. "Shadow, stop," she demanded, but got no response. Shadow licked at the side of her neck and even bit down, causing her to yelp from surprise. "Ouch!"

Growling by his lack of communication, Amy lowered her head and threw it back colliding it into Shadow's face. "I said STOP!" she barked. The moment the back of her head collided with his face, he released his hold and stumbled backward.

Rubbing the back of her own head, Amy turned around and placed her other hand on the edge of the counter, as she looked him up and down. She quickly fixed her shifted clothing and glared at him. "What the hell is wrong with you?" She panted trying to catch her breath and watched him merely wipe away the blood oozing from his broken nose as if it were a scratch. Just by looking at him, she could tell that this was not the same Shadow she had come to know and love. If anything, she had seen something like this once before in her past.

Shadow tried to grab her but Amy used the Tai Chi she had learned over the years for self-defense. She swatted the hand that reached for her away and continued this a few more times as he tried to grab and punch her. Amy dodged his last attempt, blocking his attacks with the back of her arm. Eventually, she ducked under his outstretched arms, running past him and out of the kitchen until she felt him catch up and grab her by the back of the neck. Shadow threw her violently up against the kitchen wall with great force. Amy cried out as she made an impact with the wall, sending a surge vibration through the house and even making it crack slightly.

Coming out of her stupor from the impact, she opened her eyes just as Shadow

began to reach for her again, but someone else quickly intervened. "Shadow, what the hell is going on?!" Silver shouted from the kitchen entrance, showing extreme disapproval by his actions. Silver walked over and reached his hand out to place on his shoulder, but Shadow was quicker than him and grabbed his wrist turning it violently so that it broke in an instance.

Amy cringed from the sound of the bone cracking and hearing Silver's cry. "Gah!"

With that, Shadow did a spin kick and kicked him through the kitchen opening and out into the living room. Coffee tables and other knick-knacks were heard falling and breaking in the other room from his collision. Once Silver was no longer a distraction, he turned his attention back on his main target: Amy. Amy rose to her feet and threw a punch his way, but he purely caught it in the palm of his hand with ease. Amy tried a few more attempts to attack him, but he evaded every kick or punch she gave.

After hearing all the noise, Blaze rushed into the room from all the commotion. "Shadow, why are you doing this? Why did you just attack your brother?"

His red eyes locked on Blaze and he used his agility to zip over and confront her. Blaze stared up at him and trembled. Even she realized she was not dealing with the real, Shadow. Shadow grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off the floor. Blaze held onto the hand that gripped her airway, gasping and struggling to breathe. Seeing his wife was in trouble, Silver rushed towards him but Shadow shot his free hand into his brother's chest and ripped his heart out.

Amy screamed when she saw Silver stumble forward and begin to decay. "Silver!" Blaze, in the meantime, was starting to lose consciousness, everything was starting to go black as Shadow focused on ending her life. Amy grabbed one of the kitchen chairs, lifted it up, and slammed it against his back. "Let her go!"

The chair shattered into pieces and caused Shadow to become distracted momentarily. He released his hold on Blaze and she collapsed on the floor, passed out for the time being. Now alone again, Shadow walked towards Amy ready to strike.

Amy tried to make a run for it, but he nabbed her by the waist and then forced her stomach down onto the kitchen table. "Ahhh!" Shadow swiftly grabbed her by both of her arms, keeping them held behind her back. He pinned her down, pushing all of his body weight down on top of her. Amy felt tears prick her eyes, as she knew exactly what he had in store for her. "Shadow, I know what's wrong with you now," she spoke hoping to stall time. "Your humanity's shut off, isn't it?" Still, Shadow refused to speak as he squeezed her arms, causing her left forearm to break. Amy screamed in agony feeling it crack.

"Please," she begged. "Don't do this…This isn't you."

"Leave mama alone!" a little voice cried out.

Shadow ceased his actions and looked over to the kitchen entrance, looking at Faith standing there valiantly. Amy's eyes widened hearing her daughter's voice. Faith was in the same room where her father no longer had logic, reasoning, empathy, or emotion. "Faith, get out of here!" Amy shouted desperately.

"No," she replied, placing her hands on her hips. "I'm not gonna let daddy hurt you."

"Please, baby," she cried. "Don't worry about me, it's you I should be worrying about." Shadow placed his hands on the back of Amy's neck and turned it brutally, causing it to break. Amy was temporarily dead for the time being, but he'd deal with her later. Shadow made no sense of a dire need to rush at Faith, but she glared up at him as he neared her.

Seeing her opportunity arise, Faith stuck one hand out towards him. "Stop!" she screamed. Just then, Shadow halted in his tracks, completely immobile by her freeze spell. Silver started to awaken just as he spotted Faith dealing with her father on her own. He sat up and placed his hand on his now healed chest and watched in awe at the levitating piece of wood float in mid-air.

Keeping her right hand out, Faith eyed some of the splinters of wood lying on the floor. She focused on one piece in particular and it levitated into the air and then struck Shadow straight in the heart. Shadow staggered forward, feeling the wood pierce his heart. Faith released her freeze spell and frowned sadly as she stared up at her father slowly starting to turn grey and decay. She knew his death would only be temporary and watched as he fell to his knees before falling face first onto the floor.

•~•

Back with Sonic and Sally, the two wandered through one of the witch cemeteries after trying to meet with another witch to help aid them in their questions.

Sally tapped her foot as she looked around impatiently. It had been twenty minutes and their witch had yet to appear on time. "This is absurd, I was told this girl was a great shaman. What's her deal with being so late?"

"And who is this again?" Sonic asked having forgotten the name.

"Someone Mary told me about," she replied simply. "There's a werewolf shaman that's a bit of a recluse. She's been known to help many werewolves with other unknown ailments," she explained.

"At this rate, who knows how long Mighty will be outta commission. Call her again and she's what's up," Sonic suggested.

"Alright," she responded. She pulled out her cell phone and looked at the one bar she had for a signal. Sally groaned. "Give me a few minutes," she said before wandering off to find a better spot for cellphone service.

Sonic watched Sally turn a corner around one of the large mausoleums, before turning on his heel. While he waited for her to make his call, a figure passed by him in his peripheral vision. Alarmed by the unannounced guest, Sonic followed the direction where he spotted the stranger. "Uh…hello?" With no response, Sonic knew something was fishy.

He used his speed to zip over to the last known spot where he saw them but found nothing in return. Frowning by this, Sonic turned around, trying to look for any hiding spots. "Alright, whoever you are, this is the wrong day to be playing games."

"Nice to see you again, Sonic," a male voice spoke from behind.

Sonic spun around and stared in confusion at the male standing before him. It was none other than Jax—the blue wolverine he had killed several years ago. "…Jax?"

Jax didn't appear to look as friendly as he saw him before. This time he looked a lot more sinister, unfriendly, and darker. He smirked by Sonic's bewildered expression, "Heh, it looks like you've just seen a ghost, bud."

"Well, yeah," Sonic huffed uncomfortably. "I-I did kill you a long time ago."

"You must be dreaming then," he chuckled.

Sonic stared at him long and hard, analyzing him carefully. There was no way this could be the real Jax. It had been years since he had murdered him when his humanity had been shut off. This had to be his mind playing tricks on him. "…You're not Jax, are you?"

Jax said no words and only gave a coy smile in return, just as his irises flashed red, similar to when he saw he do the same last night. "Are you Infinite?" Sonic questioned sternly.

He nodded. "Good guess."

He glared at him. "So what exactly is it that you want from me?"

"To give you a mission," Jax stated. "And you'll make sure it's good and done."

Sonic crossed his arms over his chest, looking peeved by the demand. "Giving orders now, huh? If this is all in my head, then I should be able to wish your ass away."

He walked circles around the blue hedgehog. "Your wishes won't work today, Sonic."

Sonic rushed towards him and swung a punch, but stumbled into one of the mausoleum walls when he made no impact and went straight through him. Sonic turned around and realized Jax was no longer there. He looked around the side and growled in frustration at his disappearance. "What the hell do you want?" he barked.

Jax reappeared behind him. "Today you're gonna kill Shadow."

Sonic raised a brow and slowly turned around. "And what exactly do you get out of me killing Shadow? I'll tell you right now, I'm not gonna to do it."

"You will because you're here to deliver a sacrifice, either Shadow or yourself. Two powerful badass souls fighting to the death," he grinned maliciously. "Doesn't it sound fun?"

Baring his teeth, Sonic charged Jax and managed to grab ahold of him for the first time. "What if I don't do it," Sonic challenged. He gripped him by the throat and held him up against one of the graveyard walls.

Jax only started to laugh in amusement. "If you refuse then someone very near and dear will take your place…"

Confused by his comment, Sonic blinked a few times, trying to process everything. However, the moment he did so, he quickly realized he wasn't pinning down exactly who he thought he had in his clutches, but instead held Sally.

"Sonic!" Sally cried out, terrified, as she stared back into his eyes. He had grabbed her by the throat for no reason and had been talking back to her as if she was someone else. It was quite frightening to watch from her point of view. She held onto his hand around her throat, trying to pry it off. "Hey, it's me!" she gasped in exasperation.

Coming back into reality, Sonic shook his head and released his hold on his wife's throat. "Shit, Sal…" Just how exactly had he mistaken his own wife for Jax? If this was the type of trickery Infinite could pull on him, it made it all the more terrifying to think he could make a similar mistake again.

Sally looked shaken after seeing what Sonic had just done. "Babe, it's okay, it's just me," she tried to reason, seeing he looked deep in thought.

Sonic staggered backward, feeling terror over the thought that he could have seriously hurt Sally if he hadn't come back into reality. "S-sal, I'm so sorry," he apologized profusely. "I-I thought you were someone else…"

Sally placed a hand to her throat and stroked it gingerly. "This is worse than I thought," she noted. "But thankfully I've got the shaman on the way. I promise that we're going to fix you."

•~•

In another part of town, Shadow finally began to stir from unconsciousness. Coming out of his stupor with his head hung low, he lifted his head and cracked his neck. It was a bit stiff almost like he had been out of it for a while. He grumbled and tried to move his hands, but felt the singeing pain throbbing around his wrists. Looking down, Shadow stared at the drenched ropes, binding him to a seat.

He made fists with his hands but hissed as he felt the ropes dig deeper into his flesh. It was evident that the ropes had been drenched with vervain, leaving an almost raw mark as the liquid ate away at his skin, but who had tied him up here in the first place? The last thing he had remembered was wandering into the kitchen to see what Amy was up to, but after that, everything was a blur.

Looking around his surroundings, Shadow quickly pieced together that he was tied up in his home basement. The vervain ropes that also bound his ankles were leaving a bloody indent as they sizzled away at his skin. "Hello!" he screamed, hoping to get answers and get untied.

Footsteps came rushing down the stairs and he looked towards them seeing Silver and Blaze approach. Shooting them an irked expression, he raised a questionable eyebrow by his current situation. "Any particular reason I'm tied up and bound in the basement?'

"You…you don't remember?" Blaze asked, as she cautiously approached him.

Again, Shadow gave her a perplexed look. Should he remember exactly what happened? "Not a thing, now can you please untie me? These bloody ropes are starting to hurt." He wriggled his arms, trying to loosen them, but they only grew tighter.

"Sorry brother, but we can't do that right now," Silver apologized solemnly, standing before him.

Shadow stopped his struggle and stared back at Silver strangely. Just from his tone, he realized whatever he must have done, must have warranted these ropes. "…What exactly did I do to deserve this restraint?" he inquired curiously.

"You were trying to hurt Amy," Blaze answered.

Shadow felt his heart sink by her words. He had tried to hurt Amy and he couldn't recollect any of it? This had to be some sort of mistake, there was no way he would willingly harm the love of his life. "No, you must be wrong…I-I would never-"

"—But you did," Silver cut off sternly. "Worse yet, you were trying to assault her."

Once again, Shadow felt his fists tighten by the cruel accusation. "You're sick, I've never done such a thing in my entire existence." He squirmed and rocked in his seat, trying to break free. "I'm not some sort of sick, deviant, Ravager!" he bellowed.

"But it's true," Blaze concurred. "We both witnessed what you attempted and we both tried to stop you, and when we did, we too met your wrath."

"If I truly did these horrid deeds then why can I not recall any of it?" he challenged.

"Because I think your humanity may have been shut off temporarily," Silver conjectured. "I've never seen you act so callous and inhuman before. It was like you were no longer there," he explained. "You were willing to kill or hurt anything that got in your way, even your own child…"

Shadow's ears fell at the mention of his child. This was starting to really alarm him. He had gone on this destructive journey, couldn't remember any of it, and now was being told of all the terrible things he had attempted to do. It was if he didn't even recognize himself. "Please…" he croaked, fearing the worst. "Please tell me I didn't hurt her."

Silver shook his head. "Thankfully, no. She's actually the one that was able to stop you in the end. If it wasn't for Faith, who knows how far you would have gone…"

He sighed in relief by the news. "Christ," he breathed. "I'm sorry. I don't know how this even happened."

"—I think I know," another voice chimed in. All eyes flew to the staircase, where they spotted Amy wandering down it heedfully.

"Rose," Shadow gasped, feeling his chest tighten at her sight. He stared at the sling around her right arm. He imagined the fear she must have felt by what was described. He could only imagine what she thought of him now. "…Are you okay?"

"You broke my arm back there, but it's okay. It's still healing so I should be all good in the next hour." She walked towards him but stayed a few feet back. "Anyway, I'm fine now, Shadow."

His head fell in shame. "Can you forgive me for my actions?" he questioned. "I understand if it'll take some time for you to forgive me, but I want you to know that wasn't me back there trying to do those things to you…"

"I know it wasn't," she replied calmly. "It was Infinite's influence."

Shadow lifted his head and looked at her in surprise. "How would you know such a thing?"

"What happened back there was something extremely out of character for you. When I looked into your eyes, I knew I was not staring back at my husband. All that was left was some sort of cold, programmed robot, which only had one mission in mind. That's how I was able to figure it all out," she explained.

"I don't understand the Infinite aspect of your theory. We defeated it," he argued.

Amy crossed her arms over her chest. "I thought so too, but I think it's closer than we realize."

"…How so?" he asked suspiciously.

"You said you didn't see anything inside the spell circle when you and Sonic were trapped, right? Well, I think it did just what it wanted to. I believe it's somehow attached a part of itself to you," she gestured towards him.

"She has a good point, you know," Blaze seconded. "Infinite wanted a strong power to harvest and link itself to in order to gain entrance into our world. Both you and Sonic were ideal candidates for the job. It wouldn't surprise me if it erased your memory in order to make us believe it was no longer a threat to our world."

"The question is, where do we go from here?" Silver pondered aloud. "We saw how it was able to control Shadow like its own puppet. It literally turned off your humanity and forced you to do something unthinkable against your will. Who knows what else it can do."

"All I know is that I feel fine at the moment," he adjured. "Please, untie me for the time being, I'm okay. I promise."

"No can do, Shadow. I cannot in good conscience do so until we figure out how to control this thing from controlling you again," Blaze denied.

Shadow turned his head in annoyance. It was irritating, but she probably had a good point. He didn't want to hurt Amy or anyone else for that matter. "Fair enough..."

"Speaking of which, you're sure you haven't felt anything strange since we finished off that cult?" Silver interrogated softly.

"Well…" he began. "I have been seeing things, or so I thought."

"Seeing things," Amy repeated with concern. "Like what?"

"Just figures moving around the house," he shrugged. "I've never gotten a good look at them, but I've felt their presence looming through the house. It all started this morning, but I just thought it was because I was tired," he reasoned.

"I wonder if Sonic's experiencing similar effects?" Blaze speculated.

"We should probably call and find out," Silver counseled.

The three started walking for the staircase. "Let's head upstairs and ring him to find out."