After exiting Ludwig's Castle, Shadow and Peach had a little discussion about what the Koopaling had spilled.

"You were right, Shadow. Saphanolis is probably a god."

"Perhaps so, but Ludwig didn't tell me much that I didn't already know. Now, where's our next destination?"

"Actually, before we go anywhere else, why don't we have a snack together?"

"OK."

A few steps later, Shadow and Peach found a rock that was the perfect height for them to sit down on. They reached into their backpacks for some snacks, Shadow pulling out a pack of Swiss rolls and Peach pulling out a Nature Valley peanut butter/dark chocolate granola bar.

"Hmmm, I'm surprised these didn't get melted going through Magma Plains," said Shadow.

"Those look delicious!" said Peach. "Mind if I have one?"

"Not at all, provided you give me half of your granola bar."

"OK!"

And so, Shadow and Peach traded snacks and chowed down. As he sat atop the rock and snacked, Shadow reflected on what he'd learned about Saphanolis so far. Though not usually one to get worried, he had to wonder why a guy like Bowser would enlist the help of such a being. He remembered during the Soleanna Incident how Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik had once requested his help in getting Mephiles. While nothing ever came of that, the idea of powerful villains such as Bowser and Robotnik enlisting the aid of forces beyond their comprehension made him rather queasy. Still, Mephiles was nothing that he couldn't handle, and if he could defeat The Dark One with the aid of Sonic the Hedgehog and Silver the Hedgehog, then he felt that defeating Bowser and Saphanolis with Peach's help wasn't entirely out of the question, either.

"Ah, what a beautiful view!" said Peach. "Listen to the birds chirping, too! Isn't that wonderful?"

Shadow nodded. "Actually, I agree with you. Sometimes, I'll go up to the observation deck of my best friend's mansion and just stand there and listen to the sounds of nature."

"Ooh, I never knew you were into that! You know, the more I learn about you, the more you seem like a nice guy!"

"You'd be surprised."

Peach wrapped her arms around Shadow. "And that's why I like you so much!"

Peach kissed Shadow, whose eyes widened as he flailed his arms about. Though he had noticed the princess taking more of a liking to him recently, this was something that he was totally unprepared for. He wanted nothing more than for her to stop smothering him with her feminine affections. Actually, as much as he wanted to break free of her grasp, he found his resistance flaking with every second, and soon enough, he gave in to her soft, warm caress. All he could think about was how beautiful she looked with a strawberry between her lips, and knowing that those very same lips were making contact with his, he wanted her more and more. He didn't even care that all the heat and greenness were rushing to his face. As long as he had such a beautiful woman in his arms, he was willing to surrender to whatever sensations came over him.

Peach was equally – if not more – willing to give herself to Shadow. Even if he was "the ultimate edgelord", the fact that he was willing to train her to use firearms and the fact that he'd saved her life on more than one occasion made him that much more appealing to her. It didn't even matter that he was an artificially-created hedgehog; he was just so handsome and cuddly that she wanted to give him all of her love. Even if Mario was still her favorite person, Shadow had earned a special place in her heart, and she wanted him to know it. Heck, partly owing to her stature as a princess, she got a real charge from being dominant over him. Furthermore, she also felt good from making him feel like a special guest in the Mushroom Kingdom. Eventually, Peach broke away from the kiss, but kept her arms wrapped around the huffing and puffing Shadow.

"Wow, you look like you enjoyed that as much as I did!" said Peach.

"Um…I…er…well…I…uh…p-please excuse me for a moment…"

Shadow gently broke free of Peach's hold and scrambled for a large tree that was a couple ways away from the rock they sat on. After hiding behind the tree, he pulled out his Droid Razr Maxx and called Rouge.

"Hello?"

"Rouge…help! HELP!"

"Shaddy, what's wrong?"

"I…Princess Peach…she…"

"Oh my god, Princess Peach didn't get hurt or kidnapped, did she!?"

"N-no…sh-she's fine…it's just…she…"

"Yes?"

"She…she…"

"Shaddy?"

"…She kissed me!"

Rouge let out a happy gasp. "NO FREAKING WAY! I can't believe my little Shaddy…wait a minute…Shaddy, are you having an affair with the princess?"

Shadow let out a brief growl. "No Rouge, it's not like that. Mario and Peach are in an open relationship."

"Still, I can't believe you're in love! I'm so happy for my little Shaddy baby!"

"Rouge, I swear to god, if you keep fawning over me like that, I'm going to hang up and not talk to you for the rest of my journey."

"Shaddy, don't make me reach through the phone and tickle you!"

Shadow sighed. "OK, you win again."

"Good boy!"

Rouge reached through the phone, not to tickle Shadow, but to ruffle the quills on the top of his head, much to his displeasure.

"Well anyways, I have to get back to work now! Best of luck to you and Peach, hon!"

"Right. Goodbye."

Shadow hung up and returned to the rock where him and Peach had been seated.

"Is everything OK, Shadow?"

Shadow nodded. "I'm all right. I'll be honest, though: you're the first woman who ever kissed me."

Peach let out a happy gasp. "Oh, aren't you lucky! Such a handsome guy as you deserves a kiss!"

Shadow's Hedgehog Sense tingled again, but before he could react, Peach kissed him again. As tough as he fancied himself, he couldn't deny that a woman's touch was perhaps the best thing in the world. However, this kiss didn't last as long as the other one.

"Say, I'm curious:" said Peach. "Why does your face turn green when you blush?"

Shadow shrugged. "Hell if I know. Maybe it's the result of Black Arms DNA. That aside, let's clean our guns before moving on."

Shadow and Peach cleaned their submachine guns again.

"You know, I'm genuinely curious as to where our trip will take us next," said Shadow.

Peach looked down the other side of Vanilla Mountain, and as she did, she felt her heart sink.

"Um…Shadow…"

"What?"

"I hate to say this, but our journey's going to take us to Cookie Forest next."

"Why, what's wrong with Cookie Forest?"

"Numerous legends surround it. Everybody agrees that it's haunted, and supposedly, there are people who went in there and never came back out alive."

Shadow crossed his arms. "Well, whatever's in that forest, I'm sure it's no match for us. Don't forget that we have a wide array of firearms at our disposal."

"I know, but still…I'm wondering if it's even worth it to go through there."

"Hey, you're the one who wanted to step up and be an inspiration to her people, weren't you?"

"I was, but…"

"Look, I don't know exactly how you feel, but if my friend made me promise to give everybody a chance to be happy, then I'm going through with you, no exceptions."

"Please…"

Shadow loosened his stance and pointed a hand at Peach, palm-up. "Peach, I like you, and I want you to succeed. I could never live with myself if you just gave up now and let Bowser ruin the Mushroom Kingdom. Please, if you have any respect for the citizens of the world, just go into that forest! I promise I'll do everything in my power to protect you! That's what my friends would want!"

Peach looked into Shadow's blood red eyes, which were now showing some vulnerability and sadness rather than the cold brutishness that usually came from them. He'd agreed to do things for her that he wasn't comfortable with, so for her, the answer was only natural…

"OK, Shadow…I'll go. Just promise me one thing…"

"Name it."

"Could you please hold my hand while we're walking through the forest? I'd feel better about going through if you did."

Shadow nodded. "Gladly."

Shadow and Peach climbed down Vanilla Mountain, being careful not to tumble and fall on their way down. Only a few yards from the base of the mountain, they came to the entrance of Cookie Forest and paused, after which they looked each other in the eyes.

"Well…this is it," said Shadow.

Knowing there was no turning back now, Shadow switched his MP5 to his left hand and extended his right to Peach, who took it. Thus, they entered Cookie Forest. As soon as they entered the forest, the sky darkened as if night were falling, though it wasn't hardly noon. Throughout the forest, typical creatures of the night such as crickets, owls and even the occasional wolf could be heard chanting some vague symphony. Peach's gait slowed as fear crept over her. Shadow urged her on a little, but tried not to push her too hard. As much as he wanted both of them to get through this forest, he also didn't want either of them to fall victim to whatever hazards might be lurking here. Already, his Hedgehog Sense was tingling, but he elected to stay his trigger finger for now, preferring instead to let whatever was stalking them draw a bit closer before filling it full of holes.

"Sh-Shadow…c-c-can we p-please g-go b-b-b-back now? Th-this place is g-g-giving me the c-creeps!"

"Why stop now? Nothing's hurt us yet. Keep your eyes peeled."

Peach did her best to obey Shadow's command. Even so, the further they went into the forest, the more the grip of fear seemed to wrap around her. She desperately wanted to save the Mushroom Kingdom, but at the same time, she wondered if it was worth going so deep into the forest and potentially never coming back again. Her only consolations were that: 1. Shadow was holding her hand, and 2. He'd gotten her this far without anything exceedingly bad happening to them, so she had some faith that they'd get through this too. Even so, it was really hard for her to ignore the chills running up and down her spine, the fog of darkness in her mind and the eerie glowing silhouettes of the vegetation in the forest, vegetation from which potentially dangerous predators could pop out from at any second. She nervously wrapped a sweaty hand around the grip of her Uzi, trying to be ready for anything, hoping that 600 rounds per minute of 9mm Parabellum ammo would be a sufficient deterrent to anything that came at them. Suddenly, she felt Shadow stop, and she looked over at him.

"Shadow, w-why are you…"

Peach looked in the same direction that Shadow was facing, and she wished she hadn't: though frozen in its tracks and covering its face in fear, there was a Boo right behind them. After a few seconds of being frozen in place, gasping in horror, she let out a loud, girlish scream as she unleashed full-auto fury in an attempt to kill the Boo.

"Peach, cease fire! CEASE FIRE!"

Peach didn't let go of the trigger until the 32nd round in the magazine had been expended. Even then, she kept the Uzi pointed in the direction of the Boo, screaming intermittently, her hands shaking like the dickens.

"Are you happy now?" said Shadow. "You just wasted an entire magazine on a foe that can't be killed with conventional weaponry. "Now let's reload and…"

Shadow was cut off by the tingling of his Hedgehog Sense, which alerted him to a sizzling, hissing sound…and then another…and another…and some more. Somehow, Peach's discharging her Uzi had drawn the attention of another foe: Bob-ombs.

"HIT THE DECK!"

Knowing that no good could come from standing around nor attempting to blow away the Bob-ombs, Shadow scooped up Peach and ran to Iron Maiden's hills. He nearly tripped on an errant log at one point and nearly dropped Peach, but he regained his balance and managed to get far enough away from the Bob-ombs before they all exploded, producing a few brilliant flashes of light. Seeing various Dry Bones and Bony Beetles illuminated by the Bob-omb explosions, Shadow let some rounds loose at them after setting Peach down.

"Come on," said Shadow. "I don't think we have that much longer to go."

"H-how do you know!?" said Peach. "You've never b-been here before!"

"Neither have you, but we're doing all right so far."

Peach reloaded, as did Shadow, and they kept going, managing to cap a couple of Chargin' Chucks and avoid some Boos before they found any sort of light, which shone on a lone castle. Without hesitation, they entered.

As soon as the door closed behind Shadow and Peach, she slumped against it, burying her face in her hands. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's OK, Peach. It's all over now. I'm proud of you."

Peach lowered her hands and stared at Shadow for a brief moment. In the next, he kissed her forehead and gave her a big hug, which she gladly returned. She softly wept as she buried her face in his chest fur, trying to make sense of what she'd just been through. While she had been on an adventure or two with Mario and Luigi, and even one of her own, none of them had been quite as harrowing as what she just went through. Nevertheless, she also felt a sense of empowerment, knowing that she'd been through a deep, dark place where people were said to never come back from, and here she was, in the arms of the one man who'd helped her. If things kept going the way they were, she would most likely be able to do it on her own.

Though normally a strong, stoic hedgehog by nature, Shadow couldn't help but feel a tinge of sadness for Peach and thought about how if he'd even made one wrong move, she would be toast. On the other hand, he felt a genuine sense of relief, knowing that she was here in his arms now and was anything but toast. As he continued to hold her, he thought about how far they'd come and felt a growing confidence in her. While he, as an immortal, artificially-created hedgehog could've easily done this quest on his own, there was just something so comforting and uplifting about bringing her along to help him out. He felt that if they were ever separated, then at least he'd feel happy knowing that they'd made a difference in each other's lives. Eventually, they let go.

"Thank you, Shadow! That was really sweet of you!"

Shadow nodded. "You're welcome, Peach."

Her spirit improved, Peach giggled and kissed Shadow. No matter how many times she did this to him, the feeling of intoxication he got from her lips never lessened, nor did the urge to blush. When she was done with the kiss, she got to her feet.

"Let's go!" said Peach.

Shadow nodded, and they went straight down a narrow hallway, only to come to a huge room with an equally huge pool of lava. Their only means of ingress for the other side was a stone raft with two stone paddles.

"Looks like we'll have to paddle across," said Shadow. "You take the paddles; I'll shoot."

"Right!"

Shadow and Peach hopped onto the raft and began the perilous trek across the lava. Shortly into their crossing, a Podoboo jumped out of the lava, but it missed them, and they were able to continue on. However, Shadow's Hedgehog Sense alerted them to another problem…

"HOLD IT!" said Shadow.

Peach temporarily stopped rowing, which was fortunate because a spike dislodged from the ceiling and nearly came down on them. Having missed it, however, she and Shadow continued on. However, doing so still proved to be quite the challenge, for a Blargg came out of the lava and attempted to swallow their raft. However, Shadow fired a brief burst from his MP5 at it, which didn't do much damage on its own, but he'd shot it in the eyes, thereby causing it to let out a pained roar as it was blinded. For what was perhaps the first time in his life, Shadow felt a tinge of pity for his foe, feeling that maybe it was better that he ended its life more quickly rather than permitting it to suffer like this. He figured that Peach's influence was causing him to feel a bit queasy about shooting other living beings. Nevertheless, he sucked it up as best as he could and capped a couple of Koopa Paratroopas. When they dropped into the lava, he was reminded a little of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Nevertheless, he did his best to concentrate on the task at hand.

Thus, Peach kept rowing, and Shadow kept his MP5 at the ready. More Podoboos, Blarggs, falling spikes and Koopa Paratroopas were the order of the day here, but even if some of these were things that Shadow and Peach hadn't encountered before, their determination didn't waver. Even when fireballs started coming at them from somewhere on the other side of the lava pit, neither of the heroes backed down. Granted, Peach had to duck at times to avoid the fireballs that Shadow failed to block with his body, but they kept on truckin'. Eventually, they reached the other shore, and upon dismounting the raft, they discovered what it was that was shooting fireballs at them: small gray Bowser statues. Shadow destroyed them with his fists, and him and Peach entered another big red door.

"Hey, what are youse two doin' here!?" said a Koopaling with sunglasses. "More importantly, who's the black and red guy!?"

"My name is Shadow the Hedgehog. I'm the Ultimate Life Form."

"Oh yeah!? Well I'm Roy Koopa, and I'm gonna see just how ultimate ya really are!"

"Very well then. CHAOS SPEAR!"

Before Roy got a chance to aim the bazooka he was carrying, a Chaos Spear struck him, and again, this one nearly fried his organs, but didn't kill him. With the Koopaling stunned, Shadow ran over to him and pointed his MP5 at him.

"Talk about Bowser's plan or die," said Shadow.

"OK!" said Roy. "About Saphanolis…he's probably older than time itself! I think that guy's a myth, though!"

Shadow lowered his MP5. "Congratulations on preserving your own life, asshole."

Shadow turned around and left the castle with Peach. If Saphanolis was a myth, then what was Bowser really up to?

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.