AN: Long time no see, peep! Being a full-time teacher has kept me busy as usual. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Only a few more chapters now and it's done with! Thank you to those that bother to leave reviews and read this!
•~•
In the next couple of days, things around town were starting to get eerily quiet. The streets were becoming less and less crowded with people, and it was like a dark cloud was over the city, sucking up any joy, fun, or light. One person who picked up on the atmosphere change was none other than little Faith. The young pink witch rested her arms along her windowsill and stared out the open window to her bedroom, looking outside. It was quiet, and she didn't even hear the birds singing as usual.
Walking into her bedroom, Shadow stood in her doorway and stared at his daughter, looking longingly out the window. He kept his hand on the doorknob to her door as he tilted his head in curiosity. "Sweetheart, are you okay?"
Faith didn't bother to turn around to face her father and instead kept her eyes fixated outside. "Infinite is getting stronger," Faith spoke softly.
"You can sense him?" he asked with intrigue.
"Yes," she confirmed. "Ever since he got here, things have changed. It's so quiet now. It's like he's draining all the goodness out of the city." Faith finally pulled herself away from looking out the window and looked over at her father, still lingering in the doorway. Her ears fell sadly. "He already took Uncle Silver, and soon he'll come for the rest of us, too."
Sensing her fear, Shadow walked over to his daughter and crouched down to her level. "Listen, Faith, I know you're scared, but over the years, a lot of very bad people have stood against our family and tried to take us down. However, all of them have fallen," he smiled at her confidently. "Infinite is no different," he assured.
Faith stared at her father and blinked a few times, not as certain on his confidence. "You're wrong, daddy. He is different." Shadow watched in awe as his daughter walked around him and left her bedroom.
•~•
Meanwhile, downstairs in the cellar, Blaze visited Silver's corpse. She stood before his open casket, looking down at him in conflict. She was still somewhat disturbed with the things she saw in his mind, yet she always wanted to see him revived. After all, she wanted to share a fair amount of words with him. However, her conflicted thoughts were distracted when her ears picked up on a crackling sound. Her eyes shot to her left at one of the tables downstairs. Walking over cautiously, she looked and noticed that the pendant that held Silver's soul now had a rather large crack running down it.
Deeming this crucial, Blaze rushed back upstairs to look through her grimoire to determine what was going on.
•~•
After thirty minutes of research, Blaze discovered a grave outcome. The purple cat gathered the rest of the family to inform them of the news in their living room. "Despite the spell we cast, the very integrity of the pendant is growing unstable. It won't be able to hold Silver's soul much longer," she announced ruefully.
Shadow dragged a hand down his face in displeasure. "Shit," he cursed momentarily. "So, what do we need to do now?"
"We need to find a way to resurrect him tonight, or we could lose him forever," she made explicit.
Amy leaned forward while she sat on the couch. "Yeah, but to do that, won't we need more power?" she reminded.
Shadow groaned even further, irritated by this inconvenience. Infinite was trying to make things difficult for their family. "Let me guess, a grand sacrifice?"
Blaze nodded gravely. "I say we kill our enemy and sacrifice him. Then I can channel the power from his death, raise Silver's body, and place him back where he belongs."
Amy blinked in surprise by Blaze's sudden determination. "Do you have a plan, then?"
"Yes," Blaze stated. "Sally's blood is his Achilles' heel. Her blood weakened him in a moment a while ago from what I gathered from Sonic's intel. I think if we forge another blade with Sally's blood on it and stab him in the heart, we can take him down for good. Think about it, he's no longer in someone else's body, and now he's extremely vulnerable," she argued.
Shadow nodded, hearing her case. "Let's get to work then."
•~•
Forty minutes later, in her bedroom, Blaze worked on a locator spell to find Infinite. After allowing her some time to work, Shadow walked into her bedroom after getting off the phone with Sonic. He raised his brow in awe at the intricate looking locator spell set up she had going on. Blaze had a map of the city laid out on her coffee table and had a bunch of mixed herbs encircling the map along with some lit candles. Blaze walked around the table, dropping pinches of salt on top of the herb wall. "Simitre en su, Simitre en su, Simitre en su…"
"That's a rather odd locator spell," Shadow finally spoke up, revealing his presence.
She kept her focus on the spell. "I'm trying to trace Infinite's magic, and I almost have it."
Shadow approached the coffee table and watched as one of those Infinite squares appeared in a scorched burn mark on a particular location on the map.
"He's in the district behind Twinkle Park," she revealed, staring at the map.
Shadow stared down at the map too. "And I know exactly what house he's in…"
"How so?" Blaze inquired curiously.
"At one time, it was the center for high society, but that all changed when this doctor tortured and killed his friends and family," Shadow explained. "He claimed until his dying days that an evil spirit had made him do it, and this house has been derelict since."
Blaze crossed her arms over her chest in thought. "It's the perfect lair for someone who relishes in tragedy."
Suddenly, the two heard more sizzling and looked down on the map. They watched in confusion as another Infinite symbol appeared on the map, but this time at the opposite side of Infinite's apparent hideout. "What's this?" Shadow pointed.
Blaze watched as the symbol came into full display. "If the Infinite square at the house represents Infinite himself, then this other one located in the Mystic Ruins must be some totem he's using to magnify his power and protect himself."
Shadow seemed confused about the info. "What exactly does this all mean then for our plan?"
The confidence she exuded earlier dropped. "It means this totem will render him un-killable. We will have to destroy the totem first before we can face him…"
"Lovely," Shadow sighed in annoyance. He whipped out his cellphone and started dialing again. "Well, I suppose I could do with some fresh air and fresh blood." He put his cell up to his ear and waited for the other person to pick up.
Blaze folded up the map on her table as he stood on the phone. "Then here, take the map. It's been spelled to track the totem, but please, don't go alone."
He accepted the folded map with his free hand. "One step ahead of you, Blaze." Shadow smiled as he heard the other person on the other end.
•~•
In the Mystic Park, Shadow waited outside a rather desolate looking campsite with his map in hand; it was only a matter of time before his acquaintance would arrive to help him team-up. He looked at his watch one more time before his focus was interrupted. "Aw, you waited for me! How sweet."
Shadow glanced up and spotted the obnoxious blue hedgehog standing before him. "It took you long enough. Where the bloody hell were you?"
Sonic shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry, man, I got hungry on the way. I needed to get a bite to eat."
Shadow rolled his eyes at him. "It's not like we have an impending matter to deal with to save the world," he droned factiously.
Sonic shoved his hands into his sports jacket casually. "Yeah, yeah, so can you re-explain what we're doing here again? You kinda went too fast over the phone."
Shadow exhaled grumpily. "We're here to destroy a totem Infinite is using to magnify and amplify his power. Blaze traced its origin to this location," he pointed. "Once it's successfully eliminated, we can move on to phase two of executing that monstrous entity," he elaborated.
Sonic nodded incomprehension. "Ah, right, got it. Then let's do this thing."
Shadow gestured towards the front door. "Be my guest."
Taking his cue to lead the way, Sonic walked up the steps to the front door of a cabin and jiggled the handle. He could feel the door was jammed and had to push his right shoulder up against the door and give it one give shove before it broke in. The two hedgehogs walked into the emptied building cautiously. "How has this dump not been demolished by now?" Sonic questioned as he walked around the front room.
"Shut up and just focus on what we're looking for," Shadow shushed. "Come, let's check in this next room," he said while nodding his head to the left. The two entered the next room, where they spotted a large blue crystal lying on the floor
in the next room. Shadow and Sonic stared at the out-of-place item staring them back—this had to be the totem.
"Uh, I don't know about you, but this seems way too easy," Sonic noted, rubbing his chin.
Shadow took a step closer to the object cautiously. "I must concur with you for once, way too simple. Perhaps it's booby-trapped?" he theorized.
Sonic's eyes widened. "If you think that, then what the hell are you doing getting so close to that thing?"
He glanced over his shoulder at his comrade momentarily. "Our mission was to destroy it. I'll take the risk of dying to make sure I can get rid of this thing." Shadow lifted up his right foot hovering it over the crystal, and brought his foot down with great force. The crystal shattered into pieces, and the glow of it dimmed with his destruction. Sonic leaned his left shoulder against the doorway with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "Whoa…well we're not dead, I guess we're done here!" Sonic whipped out his phone and sent a quick text to Blaze.
Shadow began to walk forward but was suddenly halted by an unseen force, not allowing him to walk any further. "What the hell?"
Sonic turned around and looked at Shadow's immobility. He began to back up towards the front door, "Crap, are we in a-" His questions were answered when he felt his back hit an invisible force. "Yep, we're in a boundary spell," he droned in irritation.
Shadow looked up at the ceiling and the floor around them and could see a faint chalk-drawn design to keep the two bound inside. "Damn it. This was all a trap…"
•~•
Back at the house, Blaze entered her bedroom, where both Amy and Sally waited patiently. The cat placed her cellphone back in her pocket, looking somewhat discouraged. "Shadow's not answering his phone, and neither is Sonic."
Both girls looked worried by the notion. Sally looked over to Amy with worry in her eyes. "You don't think-"
"—We can't think negatively like that," Amy cut off. "The sooner we end this, the better."
"She's right," Blaze agreed. "The only form of contact I received from the boys before they went silent was that they destroyed the totem. Now that we know it's out of the picture. That leaves the three of us to finish the rest of our plan."
Amy looked over to the cat. "Yeah, but is it really safe for the three of us to pursue Infinite?"
"We're out of time," Blaze made explicit. "The cracks are getting worse." Blaze held out Silver's pendant showing that another large crack had formed in the jewel and was going diagonal.
Sally looked over at Amy. "We need to do whatever we can to stop this guy. For all we know, our husbands could be in trouble. We gotta do whatever it takes to take down Infinite once and for all."
•~•
Twenty minutes later, the three girls arrived at the Twinkle Park's district, where Infinite was residing. Standing outside the large manor, the girls hid behind the massive concrete wall surrounding the home. Blaze placed her hand into the satchel on her shoulder and pulled out three knives. "Here, I sealed these with Sally's blood."
Amy and Sally accepted the weapons from the cat. Amy felt her stomach churn from her nerves. "We're really doing this?" she asked quietly.
Sally and Blaze nodded at her. "We have no other choice. We need to take him out," Sally replied in a hushed voice.
"Alright," Blaze announced quietly. "Follow my lead; it's three of us against one of him. We each have a weapon that can take him down. If you're able to get to him, make sure you plunge this right in his heart," she explained.
The other two females nodded, understanding the directions. Seeing there were no other questions, the three quickly made their way into the compound. Creeping and hiding behind trees, and other structures, the girls eventually made their way up the steps to the manor. Blaze took the lead and reached for the handle of the door and quietly pushed it open. Peeking inside, Blaze saw that the coast was clear. She gestured for the rest of them to follow her inside. Everyone had their weapons at the ready, and the three entered the entrance of the home cautiously. Inside the main entrance, the girls were welcomed by the stench and sight of witch corpses. It looked like Infinite was using his recent followers to his benefit again. There had to be at least forty bodies laid a strewn throughout the room. Amy's expression rattled at the sight of the masses; these weren't just innocent people. These were loyal and devoted followers that Infinite had manipulated into working for him, yet he had not hesitated to use their naivety to slay them at a moment's notice.
Walking around inside, the girls noticed they had three different options to start their search for the powerful warlock. They had a room to their right, a place to their left, and a staircase leading upstairs to the second floor.
However, their stealth was interrupted when the front door they had left open shut dramatically closed behind them. Everyone looked at the slammed door, stunned momentarily. "I guess he knows we're here," Blaze whispered to the other two.
Watching their leader, Blaze made her way over to the room to their left and began to walk in when suddenly a powerful force sent her hurtling backward. Amy and Sally watched in terror as the purple feline went corralling over the railing of the staircase nearby. When her body fell to the floor, they spotted her forehead split open and fresh blood oozing down it—she appeared knocked out for the time being.
"Blaze!" the two screamed in unison.
The two girls started to make their way over to assist their fallen comrade, but they spotted the person they had been searching for, slowly making his way down the staircase. "I've been expecting you ladies for some time, and it's nice to see you finally arrive," Infinite chuckled as he descended the stairs. He lifted his right leg and walked over Blaze's crumpled body, acting as if she didn't exist.
Sally made a defensive stance with her body. "Yeah, and we're here to kill you!" she shouted angrily
Infinite only tilted his head in curiosity. "Oh, really now? Well, that's too bad, because I have plans for the two of you today." He lifted both his arms into the air. "You'll have to reschedule your attempt for another day."
Amy and Sally watched as he twisted his right hand and snapped his fingers with his left. Amy's neck instantly broke, and she fell to the floor, dead for the time being. On the other hand, Sally felt the world start to go black and dropped to her knees, feeling dizziness kick in. She stabilized herself by holding up her upper body weight with her arms. "What the hell are you doing?" she mumbled weakly. She could see Infinite's black shoes standing right in front of her and lifted her head to meet his eyes.
"Don't worry, my dear. I don't intend to kill you yet, and I need you first for something rather salient." After hearing his explanation, everything went black, and she was out like a light. Her body collapsed onto the floor next to his feet.
•~•
Waking up from her slumber, Amy rose off the floor only to come to realize she was no longer in Infinite's secret hideout. Instead, she was in a somewhat familiar-looking cabin. As she sat up from the floor, she looked around and noticed a familiar cabinet filled with weaponry of all sorts—crossbows, grenades, rifles, bows and arrows, swords, daggers, and traditional wooden stakes. She looked at another wall and saw family photos, some of herself as a young girl, and one of her mother. Trembling from the sight, she backed up just when a figure entered the living room. "It's about time you showed up," an older male voice announced.
Amy spun around only to be stunned to see the sight of her father standing before her in the flesh. "…Dad?"
He gave her his charming dad smile and opened his arms up. Amy ran over and embraced her father and felt him return the embrace. Pressing her face up against his chest, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Amy pried herself away and looked up at the middle-aged, red, hedgehog. "This can't be real, yet I-I can feel you, smell you—how are you here right now? Why am I here?"
He looked her up and down and shrugged. "My best guess is either you're dead or having some hallucination. You must be going through hell, so your brain took you to a peaceful place," her father assumed. "To be honest, I'm honored you thought of your ole dad. I figured you'd be somewhere with one of your other friends…"
Amy placed her hands on the sides of her head, growing anxious. "So, if I'm unconscious, then I need to wake up…"
"I know," John nodded. "I'm on your side, sweetheart. We'll get you back into the real world."
•~•
In the meantime, back in Infinite's secret hideout, Blaze was still laid across the staircase unconscious and injured. However, she began to stir and opened her eyes weakly feeling the pain started to sink in. She slowly sat upright and reached for her forehead and winced from the pain. She looked at her fingertips and looked at the fresh blood still seeping out from her injury. She placed her other hand to her left ribcage and hissed, feeling its tenderness. She could only assume she may have broken or fractured a rib, but at this point, she'd have to deal with it later. Right now, she had no clue what Infinite had done with both Sally and Amy—for all she knew; they could be dead right now. Carefully, she rose to her feet and held her weapon at the ready. "Amy?" she called out quietly. "Sally?"
Upstairs, Infinite sat in one of the bedrooms with Sally restrained by her ankles and wrists to a chair. She was ultimately out of it as Infinite watched one of his minions pull a syringe out of the chipmunk's arm. "No, more wolfsbane," he encouraged. "I want her alive, but barely. She has a part to play in my plans."
The minion witch nodded and got another full syringe of wolfsbane and injected Sally with another dosage of the poisonous venom. Infinite unveiled his own dagger and dragged it across Sally's other arm, drawing blood. He looked at his blade in content, thrilled to see the chipmunk's blood oozing down it.
"Have you collected a sample of the other female's blood, my lord?" the obedient minion inquired.
Infinite reached into his pocket and pulled out a vial of Amy's blood he had drawn a few moments ago. "Yes, all that's left is the spell."
•~•
Back with Shadow and Sonic, the two had done everything they could to escape the boundary spell but were unsuccessful with their attempts. They no longer had cell service and couldn't continue to sit by any longer idly. With the two of them sitting on their asses on the wooden floor, Shadow glanced behind him to the other male. "So, how's Caleb fairing?" he questioned.
"Slowly, he's getting better day by day. The medicine we researched is slowly helping rebuild his strength. It should only be a matter of days before he finally wakes up."
"He'll come through. He's always been one tough son of a bitch," Shadow chuckled.
"Heh, you can say that again," Sonic grinned.
After another moment of silence, Shadow reached into his leather jacket pocket and pulled out a gunmetal lighter. "Well, I say we burn the damn place down."
Sonic craned his neck to look behind him at the ebony hedgehog. "What," he gawked. "Are you insane, won't we-"
"—No, we won't," Shadow interjected. "Remember, the only way to take you out permanently is a stake through the heart. Burning to death won't feel great, but you'll revive eventually. As for me, well, nothing can take me down at the moment," he smirked arrogantly.
Sonic rolled his eyes at Shadow's last comment. "Yeah, but I don't think this is a good idea. We need to wait it out. The girls will know something is up soon enough, and they'll come lookin' for us."
"Time is running out to resurrect Silver, and the girls could be in danger right now with this setup Infinite staged. I can't lose any more family members, and I doubt you want to either," he pointed out.
Contemplating it for a moment, Shadow watched as Sonic stood up and walked over to another part of the circle. He observed as Sonic lifted his right fist in the air behind him before powerfully bringing it down with force and smashing past the wooden floorboards beneath him. "What are you doing?"
Sonic moved some of the broken shards of wood away and reached for a metal pipe. He grabbed it and used his strength to bend it upwards and then cracked it in half. The two heard a whizzing noise emit from the broken pipe. "I figure the main gas pipes must be found underneath. If we're going to burn our way out of here, I'd rather it be fast than have a slow burn."
Smirking, Shadow quickly jumped to his feet and walked over with his lighter in hand. He flipped open the hatch and flicked at the ignition wheel, ready to burn this place down.
•~•
Back in Amy's alternate dream reality, the pink hedgehog paced anxiously in the living room of her father's old home. "I need to snap out of this," she groaned. John watched his uneasy daughter march around in circles. "If I don't, we could lose Silver forever, and I might never see my family again," she rambled worriedly.
His tone shifted. "Speaking of this family…does he treat you well?" John questioned carefully.
She stopped in her tracks. "Oh, you mean Shadow?" she spoke suddenly, remembering her father was not alive when she had originally gotten with the hybrid. "Y-yes, he does treat me well," she replied uncomfortably. She could only imagine what her father must have thought, finding out about her pairing off with the dangerous supernatural creature in the afterlife.
John crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at her with disapproval. "You know how I feel about his kind, and I can't believe the one you did get with happened to be him," he leered.
Amy frowned. "Dad, you have to understand…I only got with Shadow because I was weak and vulnerable at the time. I was alone, devastated by your death, and I needed someone. I thought getting with Shadow was a huge mistake back then, but it turns out, it was one of the best decisions of my life." She clasped her hands together and smiled to herself. "Together, we now have a beautiful daughter to raise."
John shook his head, albeit slowly and chuckled under his breath. "It's funny, really," he said as he stepped closer towards her. "The monsters that treated you like crap all those months leading up ended up turning you into a girl who loves monsters. Hell—I guess it doesn't surprise me much, I've always thought of you as that type of girl."
Amy stared back into his eyes and suddenly felt the atmosphere shift. There was something slightly uncomfortable with her father's tone and use of words. It was almost like her father was breaking character and not acting himself at that moment. She felt his words were trying to hurt her with intention. The father and daughter kept their eyes locked on one another, refusing to look away. You could cut the tension with a knife it was so palpable. "…You're not trying to help me. You're trying to stall me," she deduced in a flat voice.
Amy turned to walk away but felt her father grip her by the forearm tightly. "And where the hell do you think you're going, you little whore?" Using brought on strength, he lifted her into the air and threw her in the opposite direction. Amy went hurtling in that direction and collided into one of the living room walls.
Feeling the substantial impact, Amy collapsed onto the floor, feeling winded. She lifted herself slightly as she stared at her cackling father approaching her. "No," she rasped. "You're not my father…"
He watched as she shakily got to her feet and looked at her wickedly. "Then who do you think I am?"
Her brows furrowed downwards as her chest heaved up and down. "You're Infinite." Her hand shot outwards and shot straight through her father's chest. She ripped out his heart and allowed it to plop onto the floor. John's mouth filled with blood and poured out of his gaping mouth, and he fell to the floor.
In another part of Infinite's manor, Amy's eyes fluttered open, and she weakly looked around her surroundings, realizing she was back in reality instead of some dream fantasy. Looking down at her wrists, she realized she had been tied to a chair at the wrists and ankles. Gathering up whatever strength she had left, she broke both her arms free from her binds and quickly untied her ankles. Getting up from her seat, Amy wandered around the large suite room before heading for a door. "Blaze?" she called out. "Sally?"
She went to reach for the doorknob but was met with an invisible barrier preventing her from touching the door. Infinite did not want to make it easy for her to escape today. She could only assume that the other two girls were in similar predicaments to herself. "Damn it," she cursed.
"You're wasting your time, you know," a very recently familiar voice spoke from behind.
Amy spun around and spotted her father, John, making his way out of a doorway leading to a bathroom. Amy stared in disbelief and shut her eyes tight and slapped herself in the face with her right hand. She hissed, feeling her cheek burn from her assault. "This isn't real; you're just a vision. You can't hurt me," she tried to reassure herself.
John chuckled sinisterly and walked towards her, pulling out a knife from behind his back. "You still don't get it, do you?" Amy stared at the blade he wielded before her. "He is more powerful than you can imagine."
With quick precision, John stabbed Amy right in the stomach and twisted it deep within her abdomen. Amy gasped sharply, feeling the blade cut away at her organs. Blood dripped down her open mouth as she stood there, stunned from the pain. Although she had trained hard with Shadow for circumstances such as this. She had yet to experience this type of combat or attack many times. She had only recently had her first experience with Finitevus only a month ago.
John ripped the blade out of her stomach and watched as she collapsed on the floor. Amy landed on her butt and wheezed and reeled from the pain. She clasped her hands at her stab wound, waiting for her body to heal itself.
In the meantime, John lifted the blade to his mouth and licked her blood straight off the sharp edge. "You saw the violence from Shadow, and yet you fell for it, just like the weak, pathetic little girl you've always been," he admonished. He knelt just a foot away from her and lifted the blade and pressed it up against her cheek, drawing another slit. "You will bow to me, wench."
"You're not my father, and you don't deserve to wear his face," she growled through clench teeth. Using all her strength, she brought her left foot back and kicked him in the face. John flew backward and tumbled over the wooden chair she had been restrained in, breaking it into pieces from his weight.
Recovering quickly from her attack, he appeared in front of her again and gripped her by the throat. Amy clasped her hands around his restraining her neck and tried to pry it free, but his strength was unmatchable. "You're right, you know. Your father was a good man," he stated, slamming her back up against one of the room's walls with great force, making it shake and crack. Amy shut her eyes tight, slowly losing oxygen; however, when she opened her eyes again, instead of seeing her father hurting her, she came face to face with Shadow. "And me, well, I was never good," he grinned darkly.
The doors to the bedroom flung open, and Blaze appeared with her hands outstretched in their direction. "Impicable, deuz, la!" she shouted.
Suddenly, Infinite disguised as Shadow disappeared in an instant, and Amy was released and fell to the floor. Blaze rushed towards Amy and knelt down on the floor. "Are you okay," she asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Amy placed a hand to her throat. "I'm fine. Where's Sally?"
"She must be in the other room," Blaze answered. She reached for her handbag and pulled out her own anointed knife. "Here take this," she said, handing off the weapon. "We need to find Infinite now and kill him."
Amy gripped the weapon tightly, feeling a surge of determination course through her veins. "Let's do this then."
•~•
In the other bedroom where Sally was held, Infinite was working on whipping up his own sort of concoction and rather quickly. He knew it would only be a short amount of time before the other two came barreling in to save the day. Thankfully, he believed he had stalled them long enough to complete his plan. The jackal stood at a small workstation with candles lit around him as he worked.
In the background, Sally was dealing with her own nightmares as she winced and shook her head side to side. Infinite chuckled lowly to himself, seeing her struggle with her internal demons. She was going through the same thing he had put Amy under—a nasty sensory illusionary nightmare. He always found it pleasurable to watch his victims suffer internal conflict. He enjoyed toying mentally with his victims and getting into their heads and seeing their weakness.
He stirred in the blade he had used to cut Sally in some milky, cloudy, white fluid. Quietly, he chanted his own incantation as he watched the crimson blood mix in organically with the other mixture. "Cencahua ezhuia, Cencahua ezhuia, Cencahua ezhuia." He stopped his stirring when he noticed the milky mixture began to turn a faint pink and bubble up. He then poured in another vial of blood—Amy's to be specific into the mix.
Grasping both sides of the bowl, Infinite brought it up to his lips and drank the entire substance. He lowered the jar back down and allowed the mixture to settle in his system. It happened to be perfect timing for him as well since the doors to his bedroom flew open, and both Blaze and Amy appeared, ready to fight.
Infinite turned around, slightly irked by their arrival. He placed his palms together, and both Amy and Blaze collapsed to their knees, writhing in pain. Infinite walked towards them, showing no urgency. "First, I will break your body."
Amy looked behind her when she heard a blood-curdling scream. Blaze used her left hand to grab at her right shoulder. Blaze's arm had broken just from his wicked magic. She shut her eyes tight, reeling from the terrible pain. "Blaze," Amy gasped. The pink hedgehog began to reach for the knife that had fallen away from her. However, her enemy was quick to spot her actions.
Infinite's eyes focused on Amy. "Next, I will break your spirit!" The weapon flung off behind him, entirely out of her reach and near the restrained and passed out chipmunk.
Amy looked up at him helplessly, figuring this would be the end for her. Infinite entwined his fingers together as he kept his palms touching. "I've been holding off on killing you two for long enough, but I must admit, your fear to me is absolutely delicious."
Suddenly, Infinite cried out in agony as he was attacked from behind. Sally was riding on top of his back, wielding the knife. She had somehow managed to wake up, break from her binds, grab the weapon, and plunge it into him. Infinite had been so focused on the other two females that he had underestimated Sally's determination to break through his mental torture. She must have defeated her inner demon within his sensory illusion.
"Die you son of a bitch!" she cried savagely before drawing the knife out of the side of his neck. Blood oozing from his artery, Infinite fell flat on his face, but Sally did not stop there. Still sitting on top of him, she repeatedly stabbed him over and over in the back of the head and down his spine. She grunted, and warrior cried, as she made sure he was good and dead.
Both Amy and Blaze watched with disturbed expressions as Sally ruthlessly hacked away at his now unmoving body. Blood flung out in all directions making the scene even more gruesome. Regaining her bearings, Amy rushed over and grabbed the chipmunk's wrist, stopping her from having another stab. She could see she was losing it. "That's enough, that's enough!" she shouted. "He's gone…"
Sally panted and turned to look at the other two girls. Her face, chest, and hands were covered in droplets of blood. Her chest heaved up and down as she collected and calmed herself down. Amy embraced Sally lovingly, knowing she must have gone through the same ordeal Infinite had placed her under. "Who did he make you see?" she inquired softly.
Sally now had tears running down her face as she remained in her friend's embrace. "My parents…"
•~•
Ten minutes later, Shadow and Sonic arrived at the scene. The two hedgehogs rushed over when they saw the sight the girls were in. The three of them sat on the steps of the manor, bloody, bruised, and worn out. Sonic reached out to Sally, and she flung herself into his arms. "Sal, Jesus Christ, are you okay?" he questioned with concern laced in his tone. Her face had dried blood all over, and her eyes looked kind of puffy like she had been crying.
"Don't worry, this isn't my blood," she clarified. "It's Infinite's. I-I killed him."
Shadow looked stunned by the reveal. "You succeeded?" he asked in astonishment.
Blaze nodded and stood up with her arm in a makeshift sling. "She truly did. It's finally over."
Shadow eyed the injured cat's arm. "And what happened to you?"
She looked down briefly at her arm. "Oh, it's just a fracture, I'm sure," she tried to play off coolly. "It came with trying to take down the guy."
Shadow turned his attention over to his wife. "And you? Surely you've got your version of events. Are you injured?"
Amy cracked a smile, appreciating Shadow's attempt at humor to lighten the mood. "I'm fine, Shadow. My body has mostly healed from my battle."
Shadow wrapped an arm around her waist and brought her close, kissing the top of her head. "I'm so incredibly proud of you," he smiled lovingly. His focus shifted to the rest of the group. "In fact, I'm proud of everyone today. Working together as a team shows that teamwork pays off. We defeated our foe, and now we can finally relax."
•~•
In the basement, Blaze worked on reviving Silver now that they had killed Infinite. Walking around his open casket, Blaze performed a smudging ceremony by wafting a large piece of burning sage. She watched as the smoke licked up in the air. Next, Blaze walked over to her workstation, set up with lit candles, and extinguished the smudge now that she had cleared the air of bad energy. The cat reached for the knife still coated with Infinite's blood. She placed the weapon within a small spell circle drawn out on the tabletop.
She heard footsteps coming down the stairs and glanced over only to see the ebony hedgehog. He smiled as he approached her. "Almost ready?"
"Yes," she nodded before noticing something. "Amy's not going to be here when Silver wakes up?"
His smile dropped momentarily. "Uh, no, she's still a bit rattled with what Infinite put her through," Shadow replied.
"Makes sense," she nodded in understanding. "You know as well as anyone how he meddles in your mind, clawing at your oldest wounds, making them new again."
"You're right, I do," he dwelled momentarily.
Changing subjects, Blaze cleared her throat. "Alright, give me your hands," she ordered softly. Shadow obliged and placed both of his hands in hers. Blaze gripped them softly and closed her eyes. "Verha hel igjen, verha hel igjen, verha hel igjen."
With every chant, the pendant now around Silver's neck began to glow brightly. Silver's grey ashy skin slowly started to fade away, and the color of his skin and fur began to look vibrant and lively again. As Blazed watched his revival, a pit formed in her stomach as she recalled the previous encounter with her husband. Backing up hesitantly, Shadow turned to look at the nervous feline. "Blaze, are you okay?"
She didn't respond and, instead, fled the scene running upstairs with urgency. Shadow started to go after her, but stopped when he noticed all the color had returned to his brother's body. Slowly his eyes fluttered open, and he sat upright like a mummy rising from the tomb. Shadow smirked. "Morning sleeping beauty," he cracked.
Silver rubbed at his eyes and looked around groggily. "I'm back?"
"You are indeed. Nice to be back with the living, huh?"
"Speaking of which…where is Blaze?"
Shadow's expression shifted. "About that…"
•~•
Upstairs in her bedroom, Amy stood outside on her balcony with a glass of alcohol in hand. She stared up at the night sky, dwelling on the inner turmoil Infinite had put her through. "Dad…" she spoke, looking up to the heavens. "I know you think Shadow was the wrong choice for me, but as much as I fought it, I could never give up my feelings for him. I couldn't walk away." She turned her head to the side and sighed. "I met him at a time when I was scared and alone. I know that's kind of messed up, but I did fall in love with him. As for Shadow, I know what he is." She took a long swig of her drink, letting it burn the back of her throat. "The truth is, I'm a monster, too. We've all done terrible things, Dad. Except for Faith. She's innocent and pure, and I plan to keep her that way."
•~•
Meanwhile, in Faith's bedroom, the little hedgehog stared out her bedroom window. Her bedroom door opened, and she turned to look only to spot her father looking at her. "I saw the light on under your door. Your mother told me she tucked you in."
She tucked her arms behind her back. "I don't like to sleep when things are happening. I heard you woke up, Uncle Silver."
He approached her. "Yes, and he's very eager to see you." He reached down and lifted her into his arms. Shadow carried her over to her bed and laid her down. "In the morning," he added with a chuckle. Faith smiled up at her father as he began to tuck her in. "There's nothing to worry about anymore, okay?"
"That makes me feel better, daddy."
Shadow smiled and backed out of the room and flicked the light switch off. With that, he closed the door, leaving his daughter to sleep. Faith turned over in her bed and blinked a few times, her eyes glowing a bright red.