CHAPTER 17

Early the next morning at the Chaotix, Shadow and Ker were informing everyone of the strange demon they had encountered the night before in the lobby.

"How awful", Tonya had said after they had both got done telling her and everyone else what had happened last night. "Thank God you two are okay."

"It's too bad the demon got away", Espio spoke.

"And Nack", Appex spoke bitterly. Just hearing that Nack and his old gang were back out causing trouble again struck a nerve inside of him.

"So no one's heard anything about that demon in the news this morning?" Rouge had asked.

Midnight shrugged his shoulders, "They mentioned something about sightings of a monster with one arm."

Shadow crossed his arms, "That sounds like our guy."

"We have to stop him", Ker spoke.

When Rouge saw Shadow and Ker about to walk out, she stopped them in their tracks, "Hey! Hold on you two!"

Shadow and Ker spun around to the concerned bat woman.

"You can't just walk out and expect to find this thing with your little demon intellect", she explained. "What if you do find this thing again? You got your asses handed to you last night because it absorbed some kind of diamond that we don't know a thing about."

Everyone began to agree with Rouge.

She continued, "What if he got stronger and grew his arm back or something? We don't know what kind of demon it is or where to exactly find him."

Espio had agreed with her. "She's right. We need more info on this thing."

Shadow sighed heavily after when he realized that Rouge had made sense and was right. "Okay you make a point. But where and how are we gonna learn more about this demon?"

Tikal bit her lip in hesitation before speaking out, "How about Nails?"

The room got silent as everyone gave Tikal a long and awkward look.

"…She used to be a pro at dark magic and stuff right? I bet she has some information."

Shadow crossed his arms as he didn't like the idea of going to Nails for help. He still didn't completely trust her. "I don't know, Tikal."

Tikal now wished that she didn't bring Nails' name up. She thought that she had now made an issue about going to her for help.

Tonya didn't like the idea of going to Nails for help either, but even she had to admit that it wasn't too bad of an idea. "I know Nails can't a hundred percent trustworthy right now, but what other lead do we have?"

Shadow sighed in frustration as he knew that going to Nails would probably give them more answers on what they needed to do to find that demon. "Fine."

A small smile formed on Tikal's lips as she noticed that her suggestion had shined a little light on what they had to do. "Great! I'll take you down to her magic shop."

Rouge arched an eyebrow, "Nails has a…magic shop?"

Later in the afternoon, Tikal had taken Shadow, Ker, and Rouge to Nails' shop. She was sitting at a round table with Rouge and Nails while Shadow and Ker were looking around the shop in curiosity.

Shadow was looking at the strange things that were placed in glass jars on the shelf. "I can't believe this."

Ker was glancing through some books about magic and witchcraft. "I know. This is amazing."

Shadow turned to the group, "Why haven't I noticed this place before?"

"Well", Nails began. "This place is located on a not so busy part of the city so I don't get a lot of customers, but once in awhile I do have wandering souls walking in." She made a warm smile towards the orange echidna sitting next to her. "Like Tikal."

A light blush had formed on Tikal's face when Nails mentioned her name.

Rouge rolled her eyes as she just knew that Nails was trying to flirt with Tikal. "Okay Nails, we came here for a reason. Can you help us or not?"

The black bat shrugged her shoulders, "I'll tell you all that I know. What does this demon look like?"

The women turned to Shadow and Ker and waited for them to start describing the demon.

"Well", Ker started, "He was big, gray, bulky."

"Big ass spikes on his shoulders, some even came out of his arms", Shadow added. "He was gross and had skin tougher than Rouge's homemade pound cake."

Rouge flashed her eyes over at the hedgehog and crossed her arms.

"Got it", Nails spoke as she stood from her chair. "I got just the thing."

Rouge watched as Nails walked over to a bookshelf full of books. She turned to Shadow with an arched eyebrow. "I thought you liked my cooking?"

Shadow only gave her an uneasy smile and shrugged his shoulders.

"I found it!" Nails sat back down with the group and placed a big thick book on the surface of the table.

The book looked old and worn and there was no title on it.

Nails began to flip through the pages of the book, "This should be able to tell us what kind of demon we're up against." She had finally stopped turning pages when she came across the same demon Shadow and Ker was describing. She pointed at the picture.

"That's it!" Ker exclaimed. "That's him!"

Rouge studied the demon's appearance, "Oh he is pretty gross looking."

"How do we beat him?" Shadow asked.

"Like you do with most demons. Cut his head off or blow him to pieces", Nails simply answered.

"But he absorbed that diamond that made him stronger." Rouge thought the demon would be twice as powerful with that diamond inside of him.

Nails shrugged her shoulders, "Unfortunately, I don't know a thing about that weird diamond that made him stronger."

Ker bit his lip in worry, "But he was already strong before he got a hold of that diamond and Shadow and I barely made a scratch on him. How are we even going to get near him now?"

"We'll just have to give it our all." Shadow turned to Nails, "Does it give us any hints on where we can find him?"

Nails glanced through the description of the demon, "It says he mostly hangs around graveyards."

Shadow turned to Ker, "The Tech City Cemetery."

Ker nodded towards the hedgehog, "We should go."

"Right." Before he and Ker could leave, they heard Tikal call out to them.

"Wait!" The echidna stood from her chair, "I want to go with you!"

Shadow turned to the echidna in surprise. He had wondered what had made her want to tag along with him and Ker so suddenly. He gave Tikal a firm look. "Tikal, it's too dangerous and you know that. Stay with Rouge and Nails." Before he could turn away from her, he heard Tikal shout at him.

"No!"

Shadow began to grow agitated with Tikal, "Tikal, listen to me!"

She clenched her fists tightly, "No, Shadow! You listen to me!"

Everyone in the room had gotten silent and was surprised by Tikal's sudden outburst.

"You may have the power and authority to tell the detectives what to do but you can't boss me around! You can't tell me what to do!"

Rouge was surprised in Tikal's sudden attitude towards Shadow.

Tikal noticed the annoyed look Shadow had on his face. She knew he was getting angry with how she was talking to him, but she tried not to look intimidated by him. "I'm strong too! I'm not this helpless kid and you know that!"

Ker bit his lip as he saw Shadow's surprised look on his face. He knew Shadow was famous for having a temper on him and if he had gotten angry enough, he would do things he would later regret. He had hoped Shadow wouldn't get so angry, he would lash out at her. The last thing he needed was Shadow yelling at Tikal.

"You're not the only special one around here so I'm helping whether you like it or not!"

Ker's heart skipped a beat when he saw Shadow take a step forward to Tikal.

"Fine", Shadow had spoken. "You want to play with the big kids? Then be my guest."

Rouge thought it was too dangerous for Tikal to go as well and she was shocked that Shadow didn't force her to stay behind. She stood from her chair, "But, Shadow!"

The hedgehog turned his head to her, "I can't stop her so let it be."

Rouge and Nails watched full of worry as they left out the shop to go look for the demon.

In The Next Chapter…

Maxcell: This is all your fault!

Nack: Maybe we don't have to do all the work after all!

Shadow: Damn it! Did this thing get stronger?

Tikal: They're gonna die…and I can't help them…