=Chapter 7=

When the girls finally returned home, the sun had already set, so it was dark out. The guys were out front, sitting around a large open fire pit and cooking hot dogs and making s'mores simultaneously. Each had an expression like they were all minding their own business. The girls had seen this through the van windows and Sally, Rouge, and Blaze got suspicious. After parking the van in the garage and while Amy and Cream went indoors through there, the other three girls confronted the boys.

"What are you guys doing?" Blaze inquired.

"Nuttin'." Sonic said. Then he held up a stick with a steaming hot dog on the other end. "Wanna a wiener?"

"Uh, no."

"If you're not doing anything, then why are you all out here?" Rouge asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Cause we feel like it." Knuckles said.

The girls stared at them as they continued to cook their sausages and s'mores.

"You're up to something!" Sally exclaimed accusingly.

"We're not up to anything, Sal." Sonic calmly replied.

"Fine, whatever okay?" Blaze said, ready to drop it.

The girls walked off still giving rather suspicious and accusing expressions. They were about to enter the garage when something caught Sally's eye.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" she exclaimed.

Seconds later, Rouge and Blaze caught sight of what was hanging on the front door. The boys continued cooking their hot dogs and s'mores without showing any sign of panic.

"BOYS!" Rouge shouted.

All three of the girls stomped right back to the large fire pit. They had the tattered and paint stained dress and were absolutely furious.

"Just what the hell did you guys do to Amy's dress?" Blaze demanded.

"It was Shadow's idea." Silver replied, putting together a s'more.

Rouge nearly popped a vein.

"Shadow! For Christ sakes, do you have any idea how much trouble we went through to find that? And how much it cost?" she angrily ranted.

"Relax, babe." Knuckles calmly intervened. "We got a replacement."

"And a far more suitable one at that." Shadow added.

That still didn't satisfy the girls.

"You got a replacement?" Sally asked, sarcastically. "And where might we find this replacement?"

"Same spot as the other one." Sonic said.

Both Blaze and Rouge let out a sigh of frustration.

"You're still in big trouble!" Sally hissed.

The boys still showed no sign of fearing their wrath and went along with their hot dogs and s'mores.

XXXXXXX

"They did WHAT?"

Blaze had just broke the news to Amy as soon as she, Sally, and Rouge got back in the mansion.

"They totally destroyed the damn thing!" the lilac cat explained furiously. "All because Shadow didn't like it."

"Oh my god..." Amy moaned, while pinching the bridge of her nose.

"They said they got a replacement." Sally added.

"I'd like to see this replacement."

"Hear, hear." Rouge said.

They all went to the storage room where the original dress was kept. When they got there, hanging on the mannequin in its place was a more decked out dress and with a very Goth Lolita style to it. It had a strapless and corset-like top, the skirt part was very long and flowing with a parting in the front with purple under the black. It also came with a blouse-like collar which acted like a choker with red rose on the front and a long white lace tied into a bow bellow it. The veil had a comb-like headband with smaller red roses hot glued to it and two different types of black fabric layers that was also a Goth Lolita style. The last element of the veil had, was black and purple fabric ribbons. The girls all stared at the 'wedding dress' in complete shock and became absolutely appalled.

"They call this appropriate?" Blaze cried. "This isn't even wedding material!"

"Where they hell did they get this? Hot Topic?" Sally cried.

Amy all the while was still staring at her 'new dress'. Slowly, she grinned from ear to ear.

"...I like it." she said. "I really like it."

"Are you serious?" Blaze cried in disbelief.

"Amy, the bride is not supposed to wear black." Rouge protested. "It's bad luck!"

"I know that." Amy countered. "But the theme is Goth right? Plus, since the wedding is on Halloween, the bride's maids can wear orange."

There was a brief silence.

"That...actually makes sense." Sally said.

"Oh alright." Rouge sighed, giving up. "I'm still pissed though."

Amy was mentally dancing for joy. The whole dress issue was now a huge load off her mind. She wouldn't have to dread wearing the other one now.

XXXXXXX

Later that evening, Amy was in her room watching TV when the door chime went off.

"Coming." she called out.

The sakura hedgehog went to go answer her door and found Shadow waiting in the hall.

"Oh hi, Shadow!" Amy sang.

She gave him a little bear hug to which Shadow exchanged.

"Thanks for saving me from regretting wearing a bland dress." the cherry-pink female whispered.

"Of course." Shadow replied.

He grabbed a handful of her quills and started to nuzzle her neck. Amy purred in response and after hearing her, the ebony hedgehog carefully but suddenly, scooped her up, making her yelp in surprise. Shadow carried her back to her bed and set her down onto it, promptly seizing his bride-to-be in a kiss. Amy squirmed a little beneath him, but Shadow gently pinned her down so she couldn't escape from him. Amy let out a little whine, but continued in the wrestling match happening inside their mouths. Finally, they parted, leaving the sakura hedgehog breathless.

"You know, you can be so pushy sometimes." she muttered.

"Am I?" Shadow asked coyly.

"Mmhmm."

Shadow dove into her neck again and gave another series of nuzzles.

XXXXXXX

The next morning was rather slow. A few people woke up early. The excitement from the night before had left everyone a bit more exhausted than normal. When everyone did finally wake up, the alarm sirens suddenly rang out. One by one, they all raced to the main conference room. Shadow and Sonic were already there.

"What's the trouble?" Knuckles asked.

"Someone's tearing up downtown is what." Sonic replied. "Big time."

Shadow pulled up satellite footage that showed the downtown area Station Square. The damage that had done was major.

"Rouge, contact G.U.N." Shadow said. "Have them get the populace to safer areas."

"I'm on it." Rouge replied with a nod.

"As for us, we'll go out and address the situation."

"Let's go, team!" Sonic cried.

They all left Castle Mobius and headed straight for downtown. When they got there, everything was just a mess. Numerous vehicles were thrown around and damaged beyond repair. Shattered glass was scattered all across the streets, the buildings had broken windows, internal damage, and were on fire.

"Damn." Sonic rasped. "It's like a tornado went through here."

Suddenly, a fiery beast popped out of nowhere and attacked the team,

"Whoa!" Sonic cried, dodged a lunge from the monster.

The creature hissed and lunged again. Both Knuckles and Shadow quickly pummeled it to the ground.

"Is it just me, or am I getting a serious case of déjà vu?" Silver asked.

"I think it's déjà vu." Blaze agreed.

The pair had seen these monsters before. This caused the other members of the team to become interested.

"Care to share something with us?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah, we saw these guys in Soleanna." Silver replied.

"Hey, you're right." Sonic commented. "That's where I remember these guys from."

"But...wait a minute, we defeated Iblis years ago!" Tails protested. "How can they still be here?"

Shadow, in the midst of battle, was also pondering about the same thing. Then he made a startling realization.

"Unless..." he murmured to himself.

The midnight hedgehog raced past the creatures to find where they were originating from. He came to a secluded area where purple crystals were now sticking out of the ground and the destroyed buildings. Shadow paused in his steps as he oversaw the damage made. Suddenly he heard a hissing voice from behind him.

"Hello, Shadow..."