AN: Hey everybody! I'm back and I've been working on pre-writing more chapters so I can be more consistent with my updates. We're nearing the end of this story. I only have a couple more chapters before the story is complete. Right now I'm aiming towards chapter 50 being the final one, but who knows, I may end it sooner if I see fit. Thank you to all my readers who continue to leave me feedback!

•~•

On Angel Island at the abandoned home, Caleb brought Silver to his hideout to start the next action of his plan. The silver vampire was trapped within a boundary circle with the poisonous dagger still protruding from his upper back. Having been contained there all night and now into the early hours of the morning, Silver laid on his stomach grunting and wincing from the immense pain it committed. His right hand reached behind him, barely touching the handle-part of the stake. His fingers brushed against it but he strained to grab ahold of it to rip it out and free him of his unbearable suffering. Feeling defeated, he dropped his arm from reaching and let his face fall against the wooden floor with a strained exhale.

Standing in the doorway to the room he was being contained in, Caleb watched on in pity at his struggle. "Such a will to live. Wouldn't it be easier to give in? To simply let go?" he questioned with intrigue. It was a pretty morbid question but he was interested to hear Silver's response.

Silver glanced up and watched as Caleb sauntered over towards him with his arms crossed over his chest.

From his prolonged silence, Caleb tilted his head to the side as he looked down at the weakened vampire. "Part of you must crave that peace. You know, the silence of the nothing that lasts forever?"

Silver chuckled lowly, despite being grimy with sweat. "Why don't you come a little closer…and we'll find it together," he beckoned.

"You'll have enough company soon. When you die, so, too does your entire sire line," he reminded. "The great sacrifice that will return me to flesh and blood," Caleb smiled before turning to walk in another direction.

Silver closed his eyes worrying about that thought. It was truly like he had said. The moment Silver died, his entire lineage of vampires he had created would all die just like himself. There were at least thousands upon thousands of lives that he had on his shoulders to bear if he went down for good.

Caleb stopped just in front of a small, dusty dresser with a sheet draped over it. The necklace made of his teeth, along with the leg and finger bone laid across the table on magnificent display.

His fingers traced over his coveted remains. "All I need now is the last of my remains for the ritual. Your family has done the job of finding them and they should be coming to me soon enough."

"You can't expect to torment my family and survive," Silver warned.

"I survived far worse fates than your family," he challenged, turning around to shoot the hedgehog a glare. "Let them come." Caleb walked back over to Silver and walked around the boundary circle he had placed him in, like a shark circling its prey. Silver watched him carefully. "They will try to save you from the poison coursing through your veins and in doing so, they will give me what I want."

"No, they won't," Silver gasped, feeling another sharp pain in his lower back.

Caleb knelt to his level directly behind him. "Yes," he corrected, taking ahold of the handle of the stake in his back. "And as a reward, I will let your family watch as you finally die," he grinned evilly, twisting it into his back.

Silver screamed out in insurmountable pain. Pain, he had never experienced in his entire existence. He was sure the entire world could hear his cries from how painful it was.

•~•

Ten minutes later, a black S.U.V pulled up behind the house on Angel Island. Caleb stood outside waiting for the new arrivals and smiled when he spotted a legion of witches come forward. Three male cats wearing all black approached him. "You're early," he observed.

A yellow cat shook Caleb's hand. "We are here to serve," he spoke, bowing respectfully.

"Good," he smiled darkly. "And your covens?"

"More witches join us every day," he assured. The three got down on one knee and lowered themselves down to a kneeling position. "They now know they're either with us or against us."

Caleb scoffed. "You Station Square witches have been weak," he tsked walking around their knelt forms. "Finally, you have a chance to shed that frailty, just as I will shed this frail form," he said looking down at his hands. "My rebirth will herald a new day to all who swear allegiance to me." He stopped in front of a large oak tree with a large infinite square carved into it. Caleb stroked the carving gingerly. "Only a few final details remain."

•~•

At that same time, Blaze woke up and was troubled when she was unable to locate Silver anywhere in the house. She looked in the spare bedrooms, in the bathrooms and any other possible room in the house. The results were all the same, Silver was nowhere in sight. Heading downstairs, Blaze hoped Shadow or Amy could explain his absence.

•~•

Downstairs in the living room, Faith sat in Shadow's lap as they watched mindless cartoons together. Faith giggled at the TV while her father gently stroked the back of her quills, relishing in seeing his daughter smile. It was always pleasant to share moments like this with her where he didn't have to worry or think much but just enjoy some quality time.

Blaze entered behind them as they sat on the couch and she looked over to Shadow. "Morning," she waved to get his attention.

Faith glanced behind her and waved to her aunt. "Morning Aunt Blaze!"

"Yes, good morning," Shadow acknowledged with a smile.

"Um, mind if I have a word with you privately?" Blaze inquired quietly.

Seeing her expression held seriousness, Shadow lifted Faith off of his lap and lowered her onto the other half of the couch. He pushed himself off the sofa and walked with her into the kitchen where they could share a private moment. "What is it?" he whispered, careful to keep it private.

Blaze clasped her hand together in front of her. "Have you see Silver this morning?"

He shook his head. "I thought he was upstairs with you," Shadow replied, growing confused.

She shook her head in return. "I haven't seen him since he left for a walk last night. If you don't know where he is either, I think something bad may have happened…"

Shadow's expression turned grave by the thought.

•~•

Meanwhile, downtown in Station Square, Mighty was dealing with his complications as he and Hendrix, tended to the destruction of the church they used as a meeting grounds for their people. Inside the church, the booths had been flipped, papers strewn, and graffiti was all over the walls and floor.

Mighty looked at the mess and sighed. "This can't be good."

Hendrix nodded sadly. "I came here to meditate but when I found it like this, I knew you'd want to see it."

"It seems like this is meant to be a warning," Mighty deduced.

"I think it's more than that," he argued. We're losing people, Mighty. More and more witches are talking about making a pact with this darkness." He sighed and took a seat on one of the benches that hadn't been flipped. "When our coven sees the place like this, they'll think it's better to join the side of the enemy before the enemy comes for them," he worried.

Mighty sat down beside him. "Witches are defecting?"

"Some say that Infinite's power is what our coven need to fight vampires to take the city back," he explained. "All the peace you fought for, to them, is nothing compared to the promise of taking control."

"Tell me you don't believe that, Hendrix…"

He blinked in surprise with his doubts. "…Mighty, you know where I stand."

The armadillo began to open his mouth until he heard footsteps approaching the church doors. The two looked down the aisle only to spot Caleb ambling towards them. "So loyal," he sighed in thought. "I wish Mighty could show me such devotion," he grinned. Hendrix and Mighty slowly rose to their feet, not daring to take their eyes off the enemy. "However, you can still rise to that occasion," he alluded.

Mighty kept his hardened glare on Caleb and waved Hendrix off as he stood closely next to him. "Hendrix, you need to go," he urged.

Hendrix shot him a look as if he was crazy to face this entity on his own, but Mighty was quick to dissuade him. "I'll be fine," he smiled.

Quickly as possible, Hendrix walked around the side of the church and made his exit. Once they were alone, Caleb cracked both sides of his neck. "Hello, Mighty. I've heard a lot about you and I've been dying to meet you in person."

"Well, here you are," he motioned. "Hiding inside the body of a werewolf because you're not as strong as you want me to think."

Not insulted by his comment, Caleb simply smiled smugly and lifted his right arm, forcing Mighty to be levitated. Lowering his arm, Mighty remained held up in the air and Caleb walked beneath him. "That's some spine you have," he noted. "You are quite an intelligent witch. You can have some of my power if you want. All you have to do is swear your loyalty to me."

Mighty grunted as he tried to move his immobilized body to no avail. "All I want is for you to slither back into the rot you came from," he hissed.

Not happy by his answer, Caleb extended his right arm out and made a flicking motion with his middle finger and thumb. Mighty was launched backward down the aisle, tumbling and rolling across the marble floor. Groaning, Mighty lifted himself off the floor and shot him a scowl. "Do you want to fight me?" he spat. "Well, come on!" he shouted, feeling his adrenaline pumping.

Caleb chuckled lowly at his false bravado. "I should send you back to join your dead girlfriend." Mighty knitted his brows together by the jab. Caleb walked down the aisle towards him coming up with another idea. "But I have a better idea—an offer, for you and Shadow's family." Mighty watched as he stopped just a few inches in front of him, trying to keep an intimidating stance over him. "Hear me out or die. The choice is yours."

•~•

Meanwhile, in the Mystic Ruins, Sonic and Sally were still desperately trying to track down Caleb and figure out how to unleash him from Infinite's hold, but they hadn't managed to locate him. The two rulers sent out search parties made up of their strongest pack mates, but none of them could find any clues. Growing hopeless, Sonic got off another disappointing phone call from one of his search parties. "Still nothing…" he sighed.

"We'll find him," Sally said with optimism. "I don't care if we have to search the entire globe, but we'll get him back." The two heard a knock on their front door and Sonic walked over to open it.

However, he was surprised to see the elderly, female, red dingo standing outside his door. "Mary, what a surprise. What brings you here?"

Holding an item wrapped in cloth in her arms, she dropped her shoulders. "There's something I've been hiding from you two and I need to come clean," she admitted.

Sonic stepped to the side, allowing her room to pass him to enter their home. "Please, come in," he gestured.

Mary shuffled into the home and Sonic closed the door behind her. Sally was already sitting on their sofa and patted the side available for Mary to sit. "Sit down," she smiled.

Mary eased down onto the sofa, clutching the wrapped item in her arms. Sonic plopped down onto one of the chairs, facing the sofa. "So, what you'd come here to tell us?"

"I know you and Sally, along with Shadow's family have been diligently trying to put end to this Infinite being coming into our world. At the time, I didn't think you all knew exactly what you were getting yourself into. Do you know what it needs to gain access into our world?"

"It needs four of its bones and a sacrifice of two individuals harvesting great power," Sally replied, showing her knowledge on the subject matter.

Mary nodded. "That's right. I heard that it already got ahold of three of its bones and now it's searching for the last one."

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, we still don't know where the last bone remains."

"Luck you, I happen to have the fourth bone," Mary mentioned casually.

Both Sally and Sonic's eyes widened by the reveal. Sally reached out and touched the side of her arm. "Mary, why didn't you tell us earlier?"

Mary looked between the couple. "I figured the fewer people who knew about it, the better," she explained. "If Infinite couldn't even find it, I was willing to keep it that way."

"So what's changed then?" Sonic probed curiously.

"You all are desperately looking for them, so I decided I'd assist your stress by handing over the one my family was given to guard." She unraveled the wrapping around the item she held, revealing the top half of a skull, missing its lower jaw. "This has been passed down from generations to generation to protect. "Caleb will be the next guardian of this bone, but even I have kept that a secret from him. I was planning on telling him of his duty once I was on my deathbed…"

Sonic accepted the bone into his hand and held it up to study it. After a few seconds, he looked over to Mary and shot her a genuine smile. "We promise we won't let this fall into the wrong hands," he pledged.

She nodded. "Just promise to return my grandson to me safe and sound."

"Don't you worry, Miss Mary," Sally smiled. "We promise to bring him back!"

•~•

With this exciting news, Sonic and Sally went straight to Shadow's estate to share this news. When the couple arrived, Shadow was quick to inform the two on their predicament. In their backyard, Shadow, Amy, Sonic, Sally, and Blaze stood around a picnic table with the newly discovered bone in the center of a drawn spell circle.

While they had their discussion, Faith played on her swing set completely oblivious to the discussion happening behind her. She kicked her feet going higher and higher with every push of momentum.

"So, still no sign of Caleb and Silver," Shadow announced.

"Both can't be located with locator spells, but I know for a fact Silver is being cloaked with magic," Blaze replied.

"Is there any chance Caleb or Infinite has Silver?" Sonic conjectured.

"I'd say more than likely," Shadow concurred.

Suddenly, the skull began to shift around in a circle within the boundary. The group watched it in awe and confusion, wondering what it meant.

Amy blinked in surprise, slightly creeped out that it was moving on its own. "What the…"

Just then, another figure entered their backyard, not at all spooked by the strange phenomena as he walked up towards them. "That's him," Mighty spoke, startling the group. Everyone looked at the male witch as he sauntered towards them.

"Mighty, what are you doing here?" Blaze inquired.

He stopped next to Blaze, staring at the skull. "He has Silver and now he wants that bone," Mighty pointed.

"You mean Infinite? In exchange for Silver?" Blaze questioned.

"There won't be an exchange. He needs Silver to die to channel the energy from his sacrifice. He's already poisoned him with the thorns, and he wants this bone by sundown," he explained.

Shadow looked terrified by the notice. "He's been poisoned?"

Mighty nodded. "If he doesn't get this by your hand then he's gonna come here and he's gonna take it," he pointed. Shadow exchanged a look with his wife, who looked wary about the idea of giving up the bone so easily. Mighty caught their silent exchange. "If he does come here, he's going to burn this entire city to the ground," he warned.

Shadow looked over to his daughter thinking about her life in jeopardy due to this psychotic spirit. Faith got off her swing and spotted her father looking in her direction. She smiled and waved in his direction.

•~•

A few minutes later, the group of adults met inside the living room to continue working on their plan of rescuing Silver and trying to defeat Infinite. After a lot of back in forth ideas, Mighty calculated their best option for success. With the rest sitting on the available couches, Mighty stood from his seat. "It comes down to this," he started. "We need to use the element of surprise."

"What do you have in mind," Shadow pushed, intrigued to hear more.

"Okay, hear me out." He looked at the blue hedgehog sitting to his right. "Sonic will hand over the bone, stab Infinite with Sally's blood, and I will cast a spell that buries him," Mighty elaborated.

"The ancestor's spell requires a sacrifice," Sally reminded. "A vampire or werewolf will have to die…"

"Yeah," Mighty sighed. "And right now, Infinite is going to use Silver's death to come back, but that opens up a window where I can use the sacrifice to shove him back into his grave."

Shadow rose from his seat, angered by this supposed excellent plan to defeat their enemy. "Forgive me for stating the obvious," he started passively. "But your plan does nothing to save my brother! It relies entirely upon his death," he snapped.

"Calm down, Shadow," Sonic pleaded. "He's trying to help us."

Looking at the enraged hybrid, Mighty sighed. "…Shadow," he began carefully. "Silver is already dead. Now the only thing that we can do right now is figuring out whether or not that death is going to count for something," he justified.

However, little to his surprise, Blaze also happened to be on Shadow's team in this argument. "That's not a call any of us get to make, especially not you," Blaze pointed angrily. "There has to be a way to save him," she stressed.

Mighty crossed his arms over his chest, looking at the two coming at him. "You guys don't seem to understand. Even if we found a cure to save Silver, we still have a big problem; that's called Infinite," he reminded. "It's just going to keep coming at us until it resurrects! When that happens, we're talking about an ancient, primal power that's made flesh and blood. It will wipe out this entire city in the afternoon, and there isn't a damn thing that you or anybody else can do about it!" he exclaimed, desperate for them to see his point.

Understanding his outburst and concerns, Amy cleared her throat awkwardly. "Guys, I know we don't like the outcome, but we need to consider Mighty's option," Amy defended.

Mighty looked over to the pink hedgehog and nodded appreciatively. "Thank you, Amy. Now, we take him out while he's still a spirit. Silver dies, but at least his death counts for something."

Shadow looked down at the floor, still determined to find some sort of loophole. He waved his hands dismissively. "No, no, no, I'm not willing to discuss this any further."

"What about your little girl?" Mighty challenged. Shadow stared at the armadillo; silence befalling him. Tilting his head by his lack of response, Mighty continued his counter-argument, "This thing wiped out Sally's entire bloodline," he pointed. "It almost got to Faith once, right?"

"…Yes," Amy mumbled.

"Then this is probably the one chance that you got," he encouraged. "Do you want to blow that opportunity to maybe save your brother, or do you want to do your job and save your daughter?"

Shadow's brows narrowed at him. "Don't use my daughter to justify your absurd plan…"

"His absurd plan is the only plan that we got," Sonic defended. "Maybe we should do a little less fighting and a little more thinking."

"There's always a loophole," Blaze said with determination. "I have some notes from Ivy's grimoire. I welcome you to study them with me," Blaze offered to her friend.

Seeing he may not have much of a choice, Mighty gave up in defeat just to appease them for his own sake. "Okay, fine…" With that, the two got up and headed upstairs to do their research.

•~•

Back on Angel Island in the abandoned home, Silver's conditions were getting worse. He lied on his side finding it difficult to breathe and was covered in a cold sweat. Hearing him gasp for long breaths, Caleb sat on the dusty sofa nearby watching him closely. "It won't be long now."

"Even if you finish this, my family will bury you," he uttered weakly.

"They will no doubt try, although I believe the odds are in my favor," he boasted confidently. "Once the ritual is completed, my spirit will return to this world's soil. From it, I will be reborn far stronger than I have ever been."

Silver scoffed with a cough followed. "You are just another body for my brother to slay."

"You expect your brother to avenge you?" Caleb asked in surprise. "Inspired, perhaps, by duty to the familial bond. However, I've been inside Shadow's mind. You care for one another so deeply…It's quite ludicrous, this dedication to one's blood. After all, look where it got you," he observed.

"Then you should know we never give up on one another. He will succeed, just watch…"

Growing irked by his optimism, Caleb got off the sofa and stepped inside the spell circle containing the dying vampire. "Once I return I think I shall come for that bright, young, prodigy niece of yours."

"No," Silver grunted. "You'll never-"

"—Hurt her?" he finished, crouching down close to his level. "Why, because your family will protect her?" Caleb tsked him in pity. "You poor soul, you can't even save each other."

"Why are you going after her? What has she done to you?" Silver gasped, trying to find answers.

"Easy, she has the power to destroy me and that…" His fists tightened at the thought. "I cannot allow."

•~•

In the bedroom, Amy took a moment to herself after it seemed like Mighty's plan was their only option. It was going to be hard to lose a member of the family she had grown so fond of. Placing a hand to her mouth, Amy felt tears start to well up in her eyes but stopped when she felt a presence in the background.

Standing in the doorway to her bedroom, Faith looked at her mother's back facing her. She could tell just by the atmosphere around her that something was very wrong. "…Mama?"

Quickly wiping away the tears welling up in her eyes, Amy turned around once she was presentable. She couldn't let Faith know the severity of this situation. "Oh, hey there, sweetie," she replied with a feigned smile. "I didn't see you standing there."

Slowly creeping inside her mother's bedroom, Faith kept her arms tucked behind her back. "Uncle Silver is sick, isn't he?"

Amy walked over to meet her daughter in the middle of her room. "Um, yes, Uncle Silver is very sick," she confirmed.

"Well, can we help him?" Faith pondered.

Amy knelt to Faith's level and placed her hands on her little shoulders. "We're doing everything that we can," she assured. "I promise."

"Maybe I can help Aunt Blaze to do a spell to make him better," Faith offered sweetly.

Amy reached out and tucked one of her loose quills behind her shoulder and smiled weakly. "That's very brave of you."

Smiling, Faith reached out and embraced her mother, seeing she was down. Amy hugged her daughter back, appreciating her concern towards her.

•~•

Coming back into Shadow's study, Mighty carried a box filled with journal entries from Ivy. He lowered the box onto a desk in the room. "I just went through all of Ivy's notes. Even if we channeled every dark object on hand, it still wouldn't be enough to trap Infinite."

Blaze huffed in frustration. "Great, well, Ivy has a million spells and absolutely nothing on trapping ancient spirits…"

"It's funny to me, because, um, I thought you weren't too happy with Silver's decisions as of late. Now you're acting like he's some sort of saint we gotta save…"

"Silver is my husband," she replied simply. "I know he's made a lot of bad decisions recently, but I can't give up on him."

"Is it giving up though?" he questioned. "Come on, Silver is a thousand years old. How many lifetimes is going to be enough?"

She huffed. "I get it, you hate him and that's fine," Blaze started. "But it's not our fault some monster crawled out from the depths of the city."

"THERE. IS. NO. OTHER. CHOICE!" Mighty bellowed, finally losing his patience. "Shadow and Silver are the oldest families in the entire world. They're the oldest family of all time. They've seen empires rise and fall and yet, somehow, despite every single thing they've seen with their own eyes, you fail to see the obvious! Everything dies!" he clapped.

"Not Silver," Blaze corrected. "Not today, okay?" She turned around to keep looking through the box of supplies until she had an epiphany. "Wait a second…of course!" she exclaimed happily.

Mighty just glared at her, realizing he'd never get his point across. She was too much in love to see logical evidence to support his argument. Blaze, on the other hand, rummaged through a box before pulling out a necklace with a bright blue stone dangling on a silver chain. She held up the necklace in Mighty's face. "I can save him with this," she stated confidently.

•~•

After her conversation with Mighty, Blaze met with Shadow and Amy in her bedroom to inform them of her plan to rescue Silver.

"Mighty said the Ancestors can imprison Infinite," Blaze informed. "But to power their spell, Silver must die." Shadow placed a hand to his face and closed his eyes. So basically they were still stuck with the same outcome?

Seeing she was losing Shadow, she quickly reiterated. "If Silver is going to die one way or another, we should harness his death and then I can try placing his soul inside the pendant," she finished explaining while holding out the necklace.

"Try," Amy parroted. "What do you mean try?"

"Well, it won't be easy. We have to find him and I'll need all of my magic. Silver's been poisoned for some time now, and there's a chance he won't survive the process…"

"But I would survive," Shadow piped in. The two females looked at him in surprise by the selfless act he was insisting upon.

However, Amy's ears lowered, knowing where he was going with this. "Shadow…"

"—If I'm the sacrifice, you can channel my death to imprison Infinite before he kills Silver," Shadow volunteered. "Yes, I'll be in the pendant but the rest of you can find him, cure him, and bring him home."

"That is insane," Amy scolded, not approving of the idea. "You can't be serious!"

"That evil witch cannot be killed. Left unchecked, he will come for Faith." Shadow looked at Blaze with all seriousness. "Sacrifice me. We can save Silver and defeat this thing," he urged. "It's the only way!"

Amy grabbed onto his arm, looking at him pleadingly. "Shadow, don't do this!"

He pulled his arm away from her, knowing if he looked into her eyes for too long, he'd be sucked in by her pleas. "We don't have time to debate this," he said looking away from his wife. Amy stood in the background, looking aghast. He closed his eyes and returned the necklace to Blaze. "Now, work your magic, dear sister-in-law…"

•~•

Now that Mighty's plan had been determined to be their only option, Mighty started to prep for their attack. After getting a nice supply of Sally's blood in a basin, Mighty stirred a stainless steel dagger into the bowl. Once he got the blade fully coated, he lifted it to examine it in its entirety. "Stainless steel laced with Sally's blood," Mighty announced. "Now, you're gonna get one chance so make sure you stab Caleb directly in the heart. You can heal Caleb afterward, but you need to drive Infinite's spirit out of him," he explained.

"Understood," Sonic nodded. "Then what happens next?"

"Then I'll sacrifice Shadow and put Infinite away for good," he replied.

"Got it."

Mighty handed over the dagger to Sonic who in turn accepted the weapon.

•~•

Later that evening, Shadow discreetly watched his daughter and Sally play together in her bedroom. The two were playing a board game together and Faith looked very engrossed in the competitive board game. The two shared a couple of laughs as they took turns rolling the dice and moving their pieces. Shadow couldn't help but smile at the sight of his beautiful daughter enjoying the game.

However, that time was cut short when Blaze arrived behind him. "Shadow…it's time," she whispered.

"Just give me a couple more seconds," he responded slowly, unable to take his eyes off his offspring.

Blaze caught his longing glance and frowned. She could only imagine what he was thinking at that moment. If this sacrifice was successful, he would never see his daughter in the flesh ever again. "You don't want to say goodbye?" she questioned.

He shook his head. "I can't bear to see her upset. It's better she lives in an oblivious state," he replied in a hushed voice. With that, Shadow turned on his heel and walked off down the hall. Blaze quickly followed behind him to keep up.

"Let's get going then," Blaze continued.

"—No, don't go!" another voice pleaded. The two turned only to see Amy standing behind them in the hall, eyes red and puffy from crying. Tears were streaking down her face as she stood there defiantly.

Shadow waved Blaze off. "Just give me two more minutes." Getting the hint, she nodded and walked downstairs. Shadow turned around fully and approached his distraught wife.

Amy glared up at him in anger. "I refuse to see you walk out that door with this crazy idea of yours. You're going to leave us like this!?"

He reached out and cupped her face with his hands. Holding her face, he leaned forward and brought her lips to his, giving her a soft kiss. Amy placed her hands against his chest, refusing to fall for this ploy but was unable to push him away. Instead, she melted in the kiss, reciprocating the action. Their lips moved in sync together and he kept the kiss lingering for a few more moments. Amy's body turned entirely hot to the touch as she felt the passion he placed in such a chaste kiss. He eventually pulled back, keeping his hands on her face. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, still teary-eyed. "You are the greatest thing to ever happen to me and you gave us the greatest gift of our lives by bringing in Faith," he proclaimed. "Let me do a favor for the two of you for once."

Amy shut her eyes and shook her head. "No, please. No, she begged.

He politely hushed her. "Calm down, love. I have to do this to keep the two of you safe. If we don't get rid of this thing, it's going to come after our daughter."

Tears began to uncontrollably pour from her eyes again. "But I-I love you. I need you and Faith needs you," she stammered, growing emotional again.

He used his right thumb to wipe away her tears. "Faith will have you, Silver, and Blaze."

She frowned at the thought. "There's no convincing you of backing out of this, is there?"

Shadow brought her into an embrace. Amy wrapped her arms around her husband and pressed the side of her face against his chest. Rubbing her back with one hand soothingly, Shadow rested his chin on top of her head. "I've had the greatest honor of being your friend, your husband, and your lover." Amy shut her eyes tight from his emotional goodbye. Just know that I will always love you."

CRACK.

With quick precision, Shadow managed to snap her neck, temporarily killing her on the spot. As her body began to crumble, Shadow scooped up her limp body and quickly carried her into their bedroom. He placed Amy's unconscious body across their bed, arranging it comfortably. He bent over and kissed the top of her forehead. His hand rested on top of her left resting on the bed. "Forgive me, Rose, but I have to do this."