Hey everyone so sorry for the long delay! Anyway here's chapter 28~

::Allie's point of view::

Once Sho and I had finished up our food we continued to wander through the mall, laughing and chattering about utter nonsense. The large mall was packed full of people at this point, bodies just swarming every which direction.

A cold breeze slipped across my skin and it caught me off guard. I stopped in my tracks and became very uneasy. There shouldn't be a breeze indoors…

The world around me became muffled and the same cold breeze shifted my hair forward. I immediately spun around and I dropped my bags.

My body shook as my sight came into contact with neon green irises across the crowd. A tall man with charcoal grey hair and pale skin faced me while everyone else pushed and moved around both of us. My irises burned and my vision turned red. I opened my mouth to let out a scream but all that sputtered out was a small noise. He grinned my way and his sharp teeth spread his libs thin and wider than humanly possible. A harsh pain rushed through my body and I clenched in another scream, bending forward a bit in agony.

I looked back up just as an overweight woman walked by and the new form Mephiles had taken disappeared.

A hand on my shoulder caused me to jump and stumble away.

I let out a small shout before realizing the world had returned to normal. Shona looked down to me, confused. I shuffled to pick up my bags and kept looking around, I wiped the pained tears out of my eyes, one of the contacts bending harshly against the wet film.

"He's here. We need to leave now." My voice cracked.

"He as in Meph-" She started but I shushed her with a harsh noise. Her eyes went wide and she looked over my shoulder then back to me. With a worried look we exchanged nods and made a quick exit to my car.

We shuffled through the crowd pissing off a few people as we rudely shoved our way to the large doors. The atmosphere become suffocatingly thick and a strange white noise made up of whispers caused a pressure to build in the base of my neck.

We broke through the crowd and pressed through the doors, the pressure and voices leaving my mind. I stopped only for a second to look back to see if he was still in vision; thankfully Mephiles was gone. As soon as we stepped into the parking lot we made a half jog to the Bronco which I promptly unlocked in the approach.

We leapt in and slammed the doors, tossing our bags in the back seat.

I started the car and checked my mirrors.

I let out a scream when I saw him standing directly behind the vehicle. A glare now set on my face I cranked into reverse and slammed down on the gas, whipping the car out of the parking spot- he, of course, jumped out of the way easily.

I didn't bother to look behind us and just made a mad dash to the highway.

Once on the highway I brought out my phone and dialed.

"Are you calling Shadow?" Shona gripped onto her seatbelt.

"Nope. Your home phone, praying to god that Amy is either stupid enough to answer or smart enough to recognized my name on caller ID."

And thankfully she was one of them.

"Hello?" a cheery voice beamed through the phone.

"Amy! Oh I've never been so happy to hear that horribly pitched voice!" I sighed out in relief.

"I'll ignore that last part- what's wrong?" I could practically see her clenched jaw.

"Mephiles made an appearance! What do I do?! I'm on my way home but I'm about to hit traffic!"

Her reply was cut with static and then the call dropped.

"Amy?! Amy! FUCK!" I cried out and dropped my phone in the cup holder. My eyes began to sting as the contacts moved around. I furiously rubbed at my eyes before getting out the lenses, allowing my red lined pupils to shine.

Shona jumped back in her seat against the door "What the fuck is wrong with your eyes?!"

"It's a long story! Shadow kept messing with my energy 'cause apparently he can do that! So now there is chaos energy in me and it caused this whole thing!" I waved a circle about my eyes before ramming the horn at a driving jack-ass.

I let out a huff of air then pushed my hair back behind my ear, the ring on my wrist bumping against my cheek bone.

"So why do you have one of his rings- turning into a rabid fan-girl and stealing his stuff?" She nervously chuckled and readjusted her sitting.

"It keeps the energy in check plus if I take it off he-" I stopped then smacked myself in the face. "You are the smartest person I know."

I took to steering with my knees and attempted to pull the ring off. How did he get this damn thing off, I swiped my finger around the circumference and the line lit up with a red glow. I felt the golden metal separate from my nerves with a searing pain. I snarled and twisted then yanked the damn thing off, dropping it in my lap and returning my hands to the wheel.

"Yea that didn't look painful." Sho said sarcastically just as the ring began to pulsate and glow. "Set a timer for thirty minutes." I focused on driving.

By the time we got home I hadn't seen Mephiles again, a long drawn out sigh escaping my lips. We slipped out of the car and made our way inside; my skin grew cold when I was able to push my front door open without turning the nob.

"Mom!" I called out into the house.

Utter silence.

"No- No- No!" I cried and ran upstairs to find it empty then stumbled back down to the kitchen. The air was stale and cold and Shona had disappeared. Everything seemed to lack color and I went for the knife drawer.

I pulled out my mother's 7 inch blade that she kept sharpened and unsheathed it from its case. A whisp of smoke pushed my hair off my shoulder and I spun, slashing the knife and getting a slice across Mephiles' chest.

The blade against his skin created a noise similar to a quarter being pressed into dry ice. An inky black liquid evaporated form the blade and he disappeared into the misty fog he traveled by. An invisible force hit me and I was blasted against the wall, I cried out in pain.

I held up my unequipped arm in defense, my eyes squeezed shut to keep the tears from blurring my vision. A hand wrapped around my wrist and I yanked back and jutted the knife forward.

A grotesque noise hit my ears and a warm fluid slipped across my hand…

::Shadow's point of view::

"Hey there it is!" I heard the echidna call out from another side of the open area, breaking through the tree-line to dash to the gem.

"No you idiot!" I snarled but as his mitten wrapped around the emerald a beam of red light shot out, hitting him in the side and throwing him to the ground.

A metallic noise of gears grinding brought my attention to the assailant.

"Metal Sonic." I snarled and grew a chaos spear in my palm, the energy crackling more than usual. The robot turned his red gaze toward me and made a series of noises. I chucked the spear and it hit him dead in the chest.

He recovered quickly and fired a laser in my direction; I leapt to the side and let another spear well in my palm. I threw the bolt quickly and followed after it. Just after the energy sank into the machine I coiled into a homing attack, ricocheting off the metal foe.

I jumped back and landed swiftly on my feet, preparing another spear. I felt myself a bit more tired than I should have been.

Damn it.

How could I have forgotten? Just as Metal Sonic shot another beam the faker finally made his entrance and landed a solid punch. I let the spear absorb back into my system and advanced to Knuckles. He was just picking himself off the grass, emerald still in hand. He eyed me before tossing the gem to me, its red glow warming my hands.

"I think you need this more than I do." He motioned down to my missing inhibitor ring.

I gave him a curt nod and we both turned to the Metal Sonic. The Faker jumped back and the Echidna charged, rallying the robot with furious punches.

I charged in after Knuckles to give a returning kick, throwing Metal back into the air. He corrected himself and the rocket on his back shot him back down landing a punch against my left cheek.

I stumbled back and threw a quick spear.

The robot convulsed as the energy shot about his system.

A faint glow out of my peripheral vision caused me to look down.

No.

Not now…

"Can you two handle him?" I called to Knuckles and the Faker. They both nodded and I turned and dashed off. I skated as fast as I could; Allie had activated the beacon on my ring and I needed to get to her as soon as possible.

I hopped that she had just removed it on accident.

The boom echoed around me as I broke through the sound barrier, shooting through the forest from the way I had come, leaves whisking up into the air in my wake.

"Damn it. Damn it. Damn it." I snarled and clenched onto the red emerald.

I banked once then again then a final time before leaping up and blasting out of the woods. I skidded to a stop and dashed down the road that lead to Allie's house. The minute I stepped in the front door the air went cold and my fur prickled against my skin.

A large noise came from the kitchen and cry from the human I vowed to protect.

I dashed to sound and saw her crumpled against the wall, shielding herself with her hands.

"Allie-" I reached out and grabbed onto her wrist over where the ring had scared her skin.

What happened next caught me by surprise. She pulled back on her arm causing me to stumbled forward.

She let out another cry and a ringing hit my ears. I titled my head down to see her hand gripped around a large cooking knife.

The weapon was pressed down to the hilt of the blade into my abdomen.

The pain that was delayed and my vision began to shake.

"Damn…" I coughed out.

My voice caused her eyes to shoot open and realize what had just happened...

DUN DUN DUN!

not much to say here anyway-

::Question for the Chapter::

What do you think will come of Shadow's new injury? How much of a threat do you think Metal Sonic posses as? What do you think will (or want) to happen next?

Let me know what you think!

~FurrReal