AN: Part of this chapter is written in Amy's perspective in third person and in Italics. Just so you know :)

=Chapter 11=

Shadow and Mephiles continued to duke it out on the rooftops whilst everyone else was down to last handful of flaming monsters on the streets below. The ebony hedgehog wanted the demon to be hit so hard that it would give him cause to cry for mercy. But Mephiles wouldn't give Shadow that satisfaction. He wouldn't let Shadow get off without suffering his wrath. Silver meanwhile held back on his newly obtained information because the last thing he wanted was Mephiles becoming aware of that he knew Amy's whereabouts. Finally, when the last fire creature was extinguished, almost all attention was turned on Mephiles. Shadow managed to corner him again on a different rooftop.

"You will tell me where the female is." the crimson-splashed male hissed.

Mephiles saw that he was about to lose another battle which extremely irritated him. Things were not going the way he wanted them. Sonic was coming towards them, intending to back Shadow up.

"Another time, perhaps." Mephiles told the ebony hedgehog.

Then the demon suddenly disappeared within black and purple smoke, startling the other two hedgehog. When Shadow realized that Mephiles had vanished, he flew into a rage.

"DAMMIT TO HELL!" he screamed.

"Slippery basterd isn't he?" Sonic quipped.

"I'M IN NO MOOD FOR YOUR COCKY MOUTH FAKER!"

"Hey, hey, easy Shadow! You're not the only one who's worried about Amy!"

"Uh, fellas? If I may?"

The two turned around and saw Silver standing calmly to their left.

"I just wanted to inform you guys that I did a little mind probing."

Sonic and Shadow exchanged glances.

"And?" Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Amy's in New City of Soleanna." Silver announced. "In the warehouse district."

Both Sonic and Shadow gave a look of surprise.

"You're certain?" Shadow cried.

"Absolutely positive." Silver replied.

Without another word, Shadow promptly took off.

"Silver," Sonic said. "if you weren't a dude, I'd kiss ya!"

XXXXXXX

Back in the darkness of early morning in Soleanna, Amy was still stuck inside the dim and cold warehouse. She was all curled up in the corner almost into a tight ball and shivered with her teeth chattering. Amy fought to keep her eyes open so she wouldn't fall asleep in that condition. When she couldn't stand the biting cold no more, the sakura hedgehog tried to scoot closer to the boiler to warm up. Amy groaned as she shifted her stiff muscles. Before the cherry-pink female could reach it, the wide metal doors suddenly burst open, making her jump. Mephiles had returned with a very furious look on his face. He stomped over to the shivering female and grabbed her roughly by her quills, making her yelp out.

"Your wretched mate is infuriating me." the demon hissed.

Amy could only whimper. Hours spent in freezing conditions had made her throat terribly dry and put a strain on her vocal chords.

"Perhaps a battered female will have him mind his attitude." Mephiles continued.

The unfortunate sakura hedgehog gave another terrified whimper.

XXXXXXX

The team had to retire to Castle Mobius to take a brief period of rest to rejuvenate their energy after spending nearly all night out battling. Shadow all the while took the time to tactically prepare a battle plan for Soleanna as he did not physically require rest. Knuckles had considered notifying the National Guard for a search squad to comb the entire province but Silver advised against it so they would have the element of surprise. It would also minimize the possibility of Mephiles running off to some other perhaps farther area with Amy. Shadow on the other hand, had the boarders of Soleanna secretly closed so nothing would get in or out until the team thoroughly investigated. Hours after sunrise, they all went out to the coast and blockaded everything quietly so as not to arouse any attention. As a precaution, two members of the team went to different areas of Soleanna like, Wave Ocean, Kingdom Valley, Tropic Jungle, and the main city. Shadow, Silver and Blaze went to New City and had the whole town heavily guarded and shut down its port. Then they went off to the warehouse district.

Mephiles was sitting on a silo silently like a ghost watching the sun set. A cold breeze fluttered through the air and made the sun's reflection upon the water appear like millions f glittering diamonds. The demon was in his crystalline form and his claws had specks of blood stained on them. He had given Amy a little bit of a beating to relieve his anger towards Shadow. He still had the young flower tied up in the warehouse and was contemplating on what to do next. How would he garter Shadow's attention the next time he wanted it and if he should use Amy as a means to make the crimson-splashed male buckle under his demands. Suddenly, Mephiles felt a presence in the air that made him spring up in alert.

'Impossible...' he growled mentally.

Before Mephiles could truly react to this upsetting of mental peace, he was suddenly and harshly driven into the cold asphalt below him.

"Before I tear you to pieces," the ebony hedgehog growled. "Where. Is. SHE?"

Mephiles merely snickered at him. At this point, the best revenge he could get was to deprive Shadow of the person he cared for most.

"You'll just have to tear me to pieces then." he hissed.

To which Shadow did not have to be told twice. He went straight away at beating the demon to a bloody pulp before he had a chance to retaliate. Meanwhile, Silver and Blaze were looking among the warehouses to locate their missing teammate.

"She's in one of these things." Silver said, excited.

"Are you sure, Silver?" Blaze asked.

"Freaking positive."

The albino hedgehog suddenly paused in his steps and swerved to his right.

"There!" he exclaimed.

Both he and Blaze went towards the warehouse surrounded by wooden crates. This caught Mephiles' attention.

"NO!" he shouted.

Before the demon could stop the pair, he was quickly assaulted by Shadow. Allowing Silver and Blaze to inspect the warehouse.

XXXXXXX

Amy was lying motionless on the floor and slightly moaning. She had completely lost her voice and was partially bruised up with her lip bleeding. The sakura hedgehog was suddenly was slowly losing consciousness despite trying to stay awake. Then she suddenly heard a voice. Two voices. They sounded frantic. And familiar. Amy cracked her jade eyes open and her blurry image picked up a light purple form.

"buh...blaze?" she rasped out with her strained voice.

"Don't worry, Amy. We're gonna get you outta here. Just stay with me!"

The cherry-pink female flinched. Did Blaze have to be so loud? Then she felt a relief on her arms and heard metal clanking to the ground. The other voice was heard. It sounded like Silver.

"Here, lemme take her."

"Wait, hold up."

Amy felt something wrap around her and she was lifted off the ground. Her vision was still quite blurry and she was very confused as to what was going on around her. Then her partially blinded sight picked up a tuft of snowy fur.

'Shadow?'

"...shadow...?" the cherry-pink female squeaked.

Amy had thought that the ebony hedgehog had finally come. She felt relief pour over her and she snuggled and relaxed in the arms of the person holding her. The sakura hedgehog shut her eyes again as bright sunlight blinded them. She kept flinching to the loud noises of voices and other things arund her. Just what on earth was all the yelling about? Then Amy heard the motor of a vehicle and she was transferred gently from one pair of arms to another. She began to panic.

"...no...shadow..don't...leave..me..."

But with her voice being so small and strained, it was received as gibberish by the others that were with her.

"Just relax Amy it'll be okay."

"Hang in there, Ames..."

Wait. She could hear Blaze and Silver's voice, but where on earth was Shadow? Wasn't he just there, holding her? Confusion gripped Amy's mind as she was carefully placed in a warm place. Then that place started to move. Was she in a car?

"Hurry Silver, Amy could black out on us any second."

Amy realized that she was now with Blaze. But if Silver was there too, where was he? Suddenly there was an explosion and a shaft of purple light, making the cherry-pink female jump.

"What the hell was that?" said Silver's voice.

"Nevermind, drive!" replied Blaze's voice.

Finally, Amy became overwhelmed by the excitement that she started to slowly slip out of consciousness. She felt someone gently stroke her quills, instantly soothing her.

'...Shadow...'

And then there was darkness.

XXXXXXX

As night fell, Shadow was on his way back to Castle Mobius. Mostly everyone had gone back there and it was just him, Sonic, Sally, and Knuckles left. The crisis had been resolved and Mephiles destroyed. Shadow had gotten word that Blaze and Silver retrieved Amy while he was fighting the demon and rushed back to Station Square to get her medical attention. The crimson-splashed male was extremely anxious to get back to the mansion as soon as possible. He went as far as violating the speed limit on his motorcycle. Shadow could have simply teleported there, but his energy was greatly waned from battle so that wasn't possible. From what Blaze had previously told him, Amy was a little roughed up, but she was stable and it appeared that she was going to pull through okay. The fact that the sakura hedgehog had repeatedly asked for him before passing out, made Shadow want to rush to her side even faster. Finally, the crimson-splashed male arrived at Castle Mobius. Before dismounting from his bike, he got a radio report from Knuckle that he, Sonic, and Sally had just left Soleanna and they would be home in a half an hour. Shadow went straight to the Infirmary and saw Blaze watching over a comatose Amy through the door window. He slowly walked in, catching Blaze's attention and went over to her.

"Is she alright?" Shadow asked quietly.

"For the most part." Blaze answered. "She's got a few bruises here and there and a cut lip, but nothing too serious. What concerns me is the exposure. Her body temp was really low when we got here. That's why I got her on a heating pad, hot water bottle, and why she's practically almost buried in blankets."

"Hypothermia?"

"Fortunately not. But there's a good chance that she might wake up with the flu tomorrow. I put her on some meds, so she won't be konked out for too long."

"I see you also have her on fluids."

"Oh yeah, she was kinda dehydrated too, so I put her on those just in case."

Shadow gave a nod.

"Go get some rest, Blaze." he told the lilac cat. "I'll take over from here."

"You sure?" Blaze asked.

"Yes. If anything should happen, I'll call you."

Although Shadow had some medical knowledge, Blaze was really the true medic of the team.

"Alright." the lavender feline said. "You take it easy yourself, huh?"

With that, she left them alone. Shadow pulled out a rolling chair and sat very close next Amy's bed. He cursed himself for allowing that monster to even touch her. But now that he was destroyed, there was no point in despairing about it now. Shadow reached underneath the thick blankets and took her hand, rubbing it and kissing it. Then he leaned forward and kissed her muzzle.

"Get well, my angel."