Chapter Four
Three hours later…
"I'm telling you all that guy is crazy and clearly off his meds." Amy said as she and her friends sat around a table in a mini restaurant eating pizza.
"Yeah he totally is. I mean what person goes into a shop and demands for some weird sounding crystals and strange herbs? The shop sells scented candles, soaps and bath stuff." Knuckles said with amusement in his voice.
"Oh shoot, I forgot to ring Shadow!" Sonic randomly shouted out in a panic then got his phone out of his jacket pocket.
"Come on pick up love. Shadow, where are you?" Sonic said then had a relieved tone when Shadow answered.
"Wait, wait slow down you are talking too fast. You couldn't find them and searched the whole damn planet? Whoa ok, ok you need to take deep breaths and calm down. Listen we are in the food court at the mall in this pizza restaurant, come to us and we will help you search for your cousin and friend ok. Great, good, we will see you in a few seconds. Bye love and see you very soon." Sonic said in a mix of emotions then hung up.
"Hold up what is going on?" Tails asked as he and the others looked at Sonic for an explanation since Sonic seemed to know far more than he was telling them.
"Mephiles is Shadow's cousin and Silver is their very close friend. They are all demons and have been helping Shadow with his investigation. They never returned and Shadow can't find them, he went around the freaking world looking for them. Shadow is really panicked right now and finding it hard to stay calm. They are his family and they never separate for long periods of time." Sonic said in a quiet voice so no one but his friends could hear as he looked at the half eaten extra large pizza in the middle of their table.
"Please help me find them." Shadow announced with very upset features on his face and eyes watering, appearing by the table the friends were sitting around, having no one in the restaurant notice this.
"Shadow come sit down and try to keep calm ok, we will find them." Sonic gently said then motioned Shadow to take the spare seat, which he did.
"Ok do you know where they were heading and did they leave a note telling you where they were going?" Rouge asked with a worried expression as Shadow looked ready to have a breakdown.
"No, they were certain they were coming home. I should have went with them, I should have skipped my meditation hour. I should have been there to protect them so something like this wont happen." Shadow said as he became very emotional, so much so the artificial lights began to glow brighter until each bulb near a table exploded.
Customers and staff screamed in fear and ran out of the pizza place as empty chairs began to tip over and fly across the place. Tables were tipped over and food began to explode after heating up to bubbling point. The friends watched with wide eyes as the pizza on their table exploded a little but luckily the hot splashes never went on anyone. They all then looked at a very emotional Shadow as he covered his face with both hands and mumbled this is all my fault they are missing.
"Shads, babe, take deep breaths ok. Guys I think we should go or they will think we set all this up to prank everyone." Sonic calmly said as he slowly rose from his seat then his chair was chucked backwards, hitting the wall behind him with such a force the chair cracked and broke.
"Shit you're doing all of this Shadow?" Knuckles gasped out as he finally realised it was Shadow, having to ask to confirm it.
"I'm sorry alright, I'm panicking and losing control. You try having this powerful darkness inside of you and try to remain calm when your family is damn well missing!" Shadow shouted out with an aggressive tone as he uncovered his face and semi glared at Knuckles.
"Let's just leave before the mall cops show up ok." Amy said as she could see through a cracked window panel and in the distance a couple of people in official uniform were charging over.
"Fine to my place." Shadow said then clicked his fingers, all vanishing just before the cops entered the pizza establishment.
They appeared in Shadows living room and Shadow began to pace while looking very stressed.
"Ok I can usually track them down by sense alone but for some reason I cannot sense them anywhere. It is like I'm blocked somehow or there is a stronger untraceable force cancelling it out and screwing with my head." Shadow seriously said as he walked back and forth while trying to calm down.
"Is it possible they had to return to hell?" Rouge asked as she and everyone watched Shadow.
Shadow suddenly stopped his panicked pacing and turned to look at Rouge. He had a very angry look in his now glowing red eyes and growled aggressively at the question.
"They would have called me if they were going back home. So no they are not in hell." Shadow spat out with rage.
"Hey it was just a question, just trying to narrow places down." Rouge defended herself and was quite fearful of Shadows more aggressive attitude.
"Why are you all so damn interested in helping me anyway? You all do not like me neither do you like my family so why do you want to help me?" Shadow asked with a firm dominant voice, narrowing his glowing red eyes at the friends minus Sonic of course.
"Fine if that is how you are going to act then screw you and your demon family. I'm outta here." Knuckles said with a frown then began to leave.
"Yeah I'm with Knuckles." Amy said then began to follow the echidna out.
"Wait guys don't go, it's not Shadow's fault ok. He's trying to calm down just give him a moment." Sonic called out then rushed to stop his friends from leaving.
"I'm sorry but if you don't want our help then there really isn't much we can do for you Shadow." Tails sighed then too made his way out of the living room bumping into his friends by the front door.
"To answer your question, we are here because you asked for help. We are here because Sonic is also very concerned and wants us to help. If you really want, and need, our help then you need to stop this behaviour and be more nicer to us. Prove to us demons are not all evil and selfish, that they can be nice and pleasant to be around." Rouge said as she and Shadow locked eyes, having a bit of a stand off.
"I am trying my damn hardest to keep in control alright, I am worried that they have been kidnapped and are being tortured by these sick bastards who are causing havoc on demon kind. When I find those mortals I'm not only going to punish them but I'm going to drag there sorry asses to hell for what they are doing to us all." Shadow said as he really tried to cool down and become a little more pleasant to be with.
"Then take all that rage and turn it into energy to find those kidnappers and do what you just said. Don't take it out on us ok hun." Rouge said with a friendly smile.
"I am sorry. I should go apologise to everyone before they leave." Shadow sighed then walked out in the hallway by the front door.
"Shadow, you alright?" Sonic asked as he saw his boyfriend walk over while he stood in front of the front door, stopped his friends from leaving.
"I, I would like to apologise for my behaviour towards you all and you did not deserve that attitude towards you. I would very much appreciated your help and I will do whatever I can do to keep myself in check. So please stay and help me find my family before it is too late, before they either die or be forced to obey the ones who have them captive." Shadow sincerely said with a very sad expression, now truly believing it was these demon kidnappers who had Mephiles and Silver.
"Well make sure that you do." Knuckles seriously said as he glared at Shadow with his arms crossed firmly.
"We will gladly help you Shadow so let's make a start." Tails smiled at the demon happily.
"Fine only because I don't wish for anyone to die or get hurt regardless to the fact I don't really know them well." Amy sighed as she agreed to help.
"Thank you all very much." Shadow said with a more cheerful tone, smiling at all in the hallway.
"Right then, let's brainstorm and see if we can figure out where they were heading last night." Sonic said as they all made their way back into the living room where Rouge was comfortably sitting on the end of the sofa.
Two hours later...
"This is hopeless, we keep asking the same question, going through the same stuff and coming up with nothing." Amy groaned as she slouched in her space on the sofa.
"Hey guys, how's it going in here?" Sonic asked as he walked in with a sad look in his eyes.
"Not so good, has Shadow managed to make contact with either of them yet?" Tails asked as he watched Sonic come over and sat on the edge of the coffee table.
"No and it is really frustrating him that all he is getting is, in his words, emptiness. He is convincing himself that they are dead because of the lack of response. He's not doing too well at the moment and needs a moment to collect himself. I left him meditating in his room, I think doing it now will help calm him down." Sonic said as he looked at his friends on the sofa.
"Well they should have left some kind of note for Shadow. I mean if they knew he wasn't coming with them and there was a risk of not coming home then they should have told Shadow where they were going at least." Rouge said as she would have done that or made some kind of message to get back to her friends just in case.
"Hold up, Sonic go get Shadow. I think I might have an idea on how we can find out where they were heading." Rouge quickly said with excitement then watched as Sonic nodded and dashed out of the room.
A few minutes later...
"Sonic said you might know how to find them." Shadow asked as he came into the living room with Sonic beside him.
"Yeah but first I need to ask you a few questions. First question, who gave them that lead?" Rouge asked with a smirk.
"No idea and Mephiles never writes anything down for he has a very good memory so he doesn't need to." Shadow answers with a frown.
"Fine not a problem, question two. Apart from leaving notes, ringing and texting you, is there any other form of communication between you, Mephiles and Silver?" Rouge asked next, not at all fazed by the lack of information so far.
"We can talk to each other telepathically and leave each other messages to be played later on in our minds." Shadow answered with a raised brow at why she wanted to know that.
"Question three, is it possible you have an unread message in your head that you have no idea is there?" Rouge grinned as she asked, thinking she might be on to something here.
"I don't know, I usually know when they leave me a message. I mean it is possible I could have one and not know about it especially if they left me one while I was deeply distracted or concentrating on something. Give me a moment to check." Shadow said then closed his eyes and gave a look of concentration.
"I can't find any...wait...does Charlotte hill sound familiar to any of you?" Shadow said then opened his eye to look at all.
"Mephiles gave me a message telling me he and Silver were heading to some place called Charlotte hill. I've never heard of the place have any of you?" Shadow seriously said with a puzzled expression.
"No but I can do a little research on my laptop. I will need to go home and..." Tails cheerfully said then stopped as Shadow clicked his fingers and a laptop appeared on his lap.
"You can use mine, it may be a little different but you look smart enough to figure out how to use it." Shadow smirked a little darkly as he looked at the surprised fox.
"Erm thanks but it won't like mess with my head right?" Tails asked as he lifted the screen up and switched it on.
"You have authorisation so no but I would watch out for firewalls though. They will screw you over if you get the pass code wrong." Shadow chuckled with amusement as he watched Tails gulp.
"Cool nice background babe." Sonic said as he lent over and looked at the screen when the laptop finished loading up.
"Yeah my favourite place in hell, that is the biggest lava fall we have and the drop is never-ending too. I flew down to test that theory and soon got bored as it seemed there was no bottom. I think I spent almost five hours going down or it could have been six." Shadow said with amusement.
"You flew roughly six hours going down a hole with lava flowing in it just to see if it really was bottomless?" Knuckles asked with a raised brow at Shadow.
"Yeah pretty much, not the only thing I did in hell to see if it was true or not. Probably won't be the last either as there are a lot of places to go in hell and all have their special areas. Apparently there is a hidden portal somewhere in the caves of death but I have yet to find it. Might have another look when I visit hell next weekend to give my report. You all could come if you like but you probably won't survive for long." Shadow shrugged as he casually spoke back.
"How did you fly down there when you doesn't have wings?" Amy said as she gave Shadow a disbelieving raised brow at what Shadow said he did.
"You wont see my wings unless I transform or we all go to hell together. I am not transforming ok, I don't want to waste energy or seem like an evil jerk in your eyes." Shadow said with a grin at Amy.
"Shadow's more demonic side comes out to play when he transforms and it can get to the point he can lose control if wound up enough." Sonic explained to his friends what he understood of what happens to Shadow when Shadow gets his demon on.
"Erm Shadow, I have a little problem getting onto the internet. It keeps telling me I don't have a signal. I have tried three times now and it keeps giving me the same message. I am a little uneasy trying again in case I end up cursed or something." Tails said as he stared at the message box that popped up that had animated fire on the top, he getting this feeling if he kept trying something unfortunate will happen to him.
"No that cannot be right, you should have full access. I have a very good signal connection to hell and here." Shadow frowned with confusion then motioned Tails to pass him the laptop with a hand motion.
"Well maybe there is a power outage?" Tails shyly chuckled as he passed the laptop over.
"Ok let's see." Shadow said as he let go of his laptop, it floated in front of him, and he cracked his knuckles then wiggled his fingers before finding out the problem.
"Wish I could do that with objects. Hands free wherever I am." Tails muttered as sometimes it was annoying having to hold things while also reaching for other items he needed.
"Yes very handy levitating anything I wish. Ok it appears there is a hidden signal counteracting and distributing the connection to hells WI-FI. I will not have that and going to cancel the signal. Wow a competition to win a holiday, no thank you maybe another time. Lets now get cracking on cancelling that signal and...done. You shouldn't have a problem now and I connected you to the WI-FI here and not hell. It might be safer for you and not so disturbing when pop ups come along." Shadow said with a devious smirk while typing furiously fast then when done made the laptop float down to Tails' lap once more.
"That was fast and thanks. I dread to think what kind of nuisance pop ups you can get when connected to hells internet." Tails muttered as he clicked into the search engine so he could begin.
"Trust me, your innocence will be lost forever for some pop ups do not have an exit option until it has finished showing you something very graphic. I have been around for some time now, it would be ignorant of me to not learn about technology and keep myself up to date with the times. It also helps that I can absorb information from others too, of course doing that will make my victim go insane so I don't do it much." Shadow casually said as he had heard Tails' words.
"Done that recently Shadow?" Amy asked with a frown, remembering a science teacher at school suddenly went insanely mad not long after Shadow started high school.
"Let's see the last person I did that too it was the year 1907 and I was in the middle of investigating foul play between a few rebellious demons in this little village. I needed information and so I tracked down the only witness to the crime and got it." Shadow calmly said with a dark smirk at the memories.
"You seem to be sent out to investigate a lot love." Sonic grinned as he looked at Shadow.
"Who else would my king send to get the job done if he couldn't send out his first officer and youngest son? I can't see any demon matching my skills and power and you cannot rely on my brainless older brother either. He's far too busy sucking up to dad, partying with the ladies and torturing the dammed. Considering he and me are the only ones that really leave hell, I was the better choice." Shadow said with a roll of his eyes as he imagined what his brother was doing right now.
"Probably defacing my room and messing with my things." Shadow thought as he frowned a little at that actually happening.
"Ok rewind, your father is king, the king of hell and of all demons?" Sonic asked with wide eyes, making all look up at Shadow.
"Yes but don't worry my brother is heir to the throne so I get a lot of freedom in my choices. Although father won't be very happy if I do end up kidnapped and tortured by some punk ass mortal bitch. No offence to any of you of course, you guys are like totally cool." Shadow smirked as he waved the concerned looks off dismissively.
"So does that make Mephiles your father's nephew or just a random cousin in your family?" Knuckles asked as he wasn't too sure about demon relations, now all but Tails waiting for an answer.
"My father's nephew and I should really tell father of his disappearance if we do not find him by nightfall. I don't think my uncle will be best pleased to find that out or about Silvers disappearance either. This is not a job I'm going to enjoy doing for I'll get the blame for all of this." Shadow grumbled unhappily with crossed arms and looking away from all.
"So Silver is like a friend of the whole family or is he something more than that?" Rouge asked with a sly grin.
"He is a close friend of the family although I have had my suspicions that he and Mephiles get up to no good in the bedroom together but they totally deny it." Shadow chuckles as he looks back at all.
"Hey guys I found it, Charlotte hill!" Tails suddenly called out as he clicked on a link.
"It's not an actual hill but a store that sells books and mystical objects. Do you think they ran into trouble on the way?" Tails said as he watched a picture of a shop appear then a few paragraphs under the picture saying what the shop was.
"Seriously they went to a book store? Where is this place." Shadow asked with a dry expression at where his two family members went.
Even though Silver wasn't blood family he was still classed as a member of the royal demon family.
"It's on the outskirts of our town. I never knew this shop existed then again I am not into the things they sell so why would I know about this store?" Tails said as he read through the information in his head.
"Right thanks for your help, I won't be long ok." Shadow seriously said as he frowned.
"Oh no you don't, I'm not having you go on your own." Sonic firmly said as he stood up and locked serious eyes with Shadow.
"Sonic is right, you shouldn't go by yourself. We are coming too in case you need back up." Rouge said as she too stood up.
"Ok if you all are sure." Shadow sighed heavily in defeat then clicked his fingers.
They all vanished and the laptop lightly plopped onto the sofa where Tails was sitting, luckily not too near the edge…
