=Chapter 8=

Shadow spun around and saw the crystallized demon bearing his image. The crimson-splashed male could not believe what his eyes were telling him. It was Mephiles the Dark.

"What...how?" Shadow rasped.

"MRRWAA HA HA HA HA HAAAAA! Surprised?" Mephiles cackled.

Shadow's demeanor quickly went from shocked to antagonistic.

"I don't know how you are still here, but one thing's for certain, I'll send you back to hell where you belong!"

Instantly, the ebony hedgehog launched himself at the demonic being. Mephiles countered by causing hundreds of his demonic familiars to appear and surround Shadow.

"Damn!" he cursed.

"Mwwaa ha ha ha ha!" Mephiles leered. "Soon Shadow, I shall have my revenge!"

"Not if we can help it!"

Sonic and the rest of the team had followed Shadow and found their opponent. Like Shadow, both Blaze and Silver drew back in surprise and shock after seeing Mephiles.

"Impossible!" Blaze cried. "We destroyed you!"

"Incorrect, my dear!" Mephiles sneered.

He used his powers to attack them which sent the entire team flying towards the opposite direction. But they all held their ground and charged towards him in a tactical manner. Mephiles countered by unleashing his familiars at them. Sally, Amy, and Blaze took cover.

"Damn!" Sally cursed. "I've never seen anyone with that much power."

"Which makes him a bigger asshole than Eggman ever was." Amy commented.

As they took cover, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Silver, and Shadow were still going at Mephiles. Backing them up, were the Chaotix crew and Rouge. Mephiles continued his onslaught seemingly having the odds in his favor. However, both he and the opposing team were evenly matched. Then, Mephiles successfully foiled Shadow's attempted to fire a Chaos Lance at him. Amy, watching, could no longer sit still.

"C'mon guys." she said, summoning her hammer. "We gotta help the boys."

The sakura hedgehog began to charge at the demon with her hammer. However both Sally and Blaze saw that her sneak attack would fail and tried to stop her.

"Amy! Wait!" Blaze cried.

But her warning came in a little too late. Mephiles, aware of her presence, turned around and raised his arm which froze the cherry-pink female on the spot. Shadow saw this from the corner of his eye and instantly intervened. He dropped his fight with the demonic familiars like a hot potato and launched himself at Mephiles, actually catching him by surprise and giving him one hell of a punch.

"Damn, nice shot, Shadow!" Sonic commented.

Shadow ignored him and quickly went to Amy's side after she was released from the binds that Mephiles had previously put her in.

"Are you alright?" the ebony hedgehog asked his betrothed.

"I'm...I'm okay." Amy rasped.

Before Mephiles even had a chance to get up, Knuckles, Sonic, Vector, Espio, and Silver ganged up on him and pummeled him into the ground. But at the last moment, the demon blasted them all away. Overwhelmed, Mephiles decided it would be best to make his exit now before the team got rid of him before he was able to exact his revenge. Something that irritated him to no end. But he caught something that he found most interesting. Mephiles saw how furious Shadow had gotten when he attacked Amy and also how the crimson-splashed hedgehog was aggressively shielding and protecting her. Upon realizing that an advantage had presented itself, an evil grin appeared on his sickly pale muzzle.

"Aha! It seems you have a weak point, Shadow the Hedgehog." the demon leered.

"Oh put a sock in it, you basterd." Sonic growled.

The blue blur attempted to perform a spin dash on Mephiles, but before he was able to, the demon vanished without a trace as did the rest of his minions.

"Dammit! I almost had him there!" Sonic ranted.

"Umm..we won?" Vector said, shrugging his shoulders.

"No, he'll be back." Shadow said.

XXXXXXX

For the next two days, the entire city was put on alert. Rouge had G.U.N. set up the underground bunkers and place them on standby in case of an emergency. Wedding plans were temporarily put on hold, much to Amy's partial delight. Shadow on the other hand, was quite agitated. Not just because one of his greatest enemies had somehow returned, but what he had said earlier.

'Aha! It seems you have a weak point, Shadow the Hedgehog!'

Just what the hell kind of nonsense was that basterd spouting? It shouldn't have, but the whole thing was really bugging him. Amy could tell, because his fur had gotten all ruffled and hadn't come to see her the night before like he had always. The sakura hedgehog that afternoon, went in search of her midnight groom-to-be. She found him in the main Computer Lab. Unlike the other labs, this one had a huge screen on the wall. Shadow was searching the whole area relentlessly for any sign of Mephiles. Frowning, Amy went up to him and wrapped her around him. Shadow made a pause and completely melted in his future bride's embrace. He put his hand on hers.

"Are you feeling alright, love?" the crimson-splashed male murmured.

"Only if you are..." Amy murmured back.

Shadow's blood red eyes softened and he stopped from his search to turn around and hold her. Amy nuzzled into his white tuft of fur, making him nuzzle her cheek in return.

"Go back to your dorm." Shadow softly told her. "I'll be there shortly."

Amy gave a nod and went off on her way. The hall on the 4th floor was quiet. There wasn't even anybody in the Rec Room. It seemed that Mephiles' sudden appearance had given everyone quite an uncomfortable stir. Amy let out a sigh and fumbled through her pocket for her keycard when she got to her door. Suddenly, the locks clicked open before she even got it out. Amy stared at the doorknob in bewilderment and slowly turned it and opened the door cautiously. Then, the sakura hedgehog was suddenly confronted with Mephiles the Dark himself, who was standing in her room.

"Hello, my dear." he leered evilly.

Quickly, Amy summoned her hammer, threw it at the demon and raced through the hall. She spotted what she was looking seconds later and activated the alarm.

"INTRUDER ALERT, INTRUDER ALERT."

But this did not deter Mephiles. He continued coming after Amy and she continued throwing her hammers at him. Finally, she could no longer use this tactic as the demon kept disintegrating them.

'Shit. What now?' she thought.

The young flower ran down a staircase, not trusting herself to use the elevator. She tried to at least outrun him, but Mephiles was way ahead of her. He suddenly teleported in front of her, making the young flower screech to a halt.

"What the hell do you want?" Amy demanded.

"You." the demon simply answered. "You're perfect for getting my revenge on Shadow."

Before he could lay a hand on her however, Silver suddenly appeared out of nowhere and put Mephiles in a psychokinetic bind and hurled him down the stair case.

"Are you alright?" the albino hedgehog asked Amy.

"Yeah." Amy rasped. "Now that you're here."

Mephiles was back on his feet in no time at all. He flew back up to confront Silver. He socked right in the gut causing him to cough out blood a fell to the floor like a sack for potatoes.

"Silver!" Amy cried.

She quickly rushed to his side and simultaneously shielded him from the impending demon.

"Now then my dear, if you'll come with me." Mephiles said, extending his hand out to the sakura demon.

"In your freakin' dreams!" Amy spat.

Mephiles merely chuckled at her.

"I like your courage." he laughed.

Before he had a chance to get at her, Knuckles, Shadow, and Sonic rushed to the scene and charged at the demon.

"Get the hell out of our house, asshole!" Knuckles barked.

Mephiles growled. With Shadow present, he could not carry out his plan the way he wanted to. He would have to come up with a plan B. So without a further word, he vanished.

"DAMMIT! He got away from us again!" Sonic ranted.

Shadow quickly flew to Amy's side, who was still shielding an unconscious Silver.

"Are you alright? Did you get hurt?" he asked, frantically checking the cherry-pink female for injuries.

"I'm okay, but that jerk did a number on Silver." Amy replied.

"Let's get him into the infirmary." Knuckles said.

XXXXXXX

While Silver was being treated for his injuries, Amy had explained to the others what had happened. Promptly thereafter, Knuckles, alongside, Tails, Espio, and Vector, went off to tighten the mansion's security measures. Then Shadow turned to Rouge.

"Rouge, go help Rose move her things into my dorm please." the ebony hedgehog said.

"What?" Amy exclaimed.

"Please hear me out, Rose."

The sakura hedgehog let out a sigh and she and Rouge went back to her dorm to collect her stuff. An hour later, she had moved into Shadow's dorm. It was located on the 7th and top floor of Castle Mobius, plus it was the only dorm located on that floor. It was also quite larger than Amy's dorm and was painted with black and burgundy colors. The furniture was a very art deco style. Amy felt like she was walking into a fancy furniture store. After she was settled in, Shadow joined her.

"Can I ask you a question?" Amy asked.

"Mmm?" Shadow answered.

"Why did you make me move in with you?"

"Why? You don't like it here?"

"Well, it's not that. Just...why now?"

Shadow sat down on his bed beside her and pulled her into his arms.

"After what happened, I don't want you by yourself." he explained.

'Oh jeez. I can see where this is going.' Amy thought nonchalantly.

Shadow began nuzzling under her chin making the young flower purr a little. Then with a sigh she got up and went to get ready for bed. She came out of the bathroom in her and got into bed. Her groom-to-be promptly joined her. He tucked her in and pulled her closer to him. Amy mewed out a yawn, exhausted by all the excitement that went down evening.

"I hope Silver's okay." she murmured.

"I'm sure he'll be alright." Shadow replied softly.

Amy let out another yawn and fell asleep in her lover's arms.