Nothing appeared out of the ordinary aside from the distraction of the three Wolves earlier. Sonic's eyes wandered around the room he and his friends entered. It didn't take long to discover some wreckage.

Uprooted floorboards and cracks in the walls seemed indicative of a struggle. They had to have been on the right track. His little brother Tails looked down and crouched. In his hand, was a black quil. He flipped it and analyzed it from different angles.

"No mistaking it," he remarked. "This is definately Shadow's."

Amy stared. Her face made Tails look again. He stepped back upon discovering dried blood on the floor. The pink Hedgehog held her mouth as her eyes widened.

The Fox boy turned to her and said, "I have a bad feeling about this."

His friend nodded. Sonic looked over his shoulder at his two friends. Amy rubbed her arm and looked down at the wreckage.

What if Shadow was losing?

She closed her emerald-green eyes and shook her head. There was no possible way. Her friends were strong. Not even a powerful wizard like Sandy could have anything over them, especially Shadow. Thoughts of him and the last time they were with each other flooded her head. She encountered memories of them in the forest before they entered the castle.

She hugged her arms. A chill crept up her spine. Each hair along her arms stood up on end. Smoothing them out do nothing to calm her nerves.

Something kicked a couple pebbles next to her. She turned. A short gust of wind ran through her short bubblegum-pink hair. For a moment she stared at the corner. Amy could have sworn something dark moved.

She took one step. Tails and Sonic didn't notice as Merlin spoke with them. Sonic said while she crept towards the shadowy corner, "I don't know about you guys, but this whole place smells of trouble. Where could Shadow have gone?"

Merlin replied, "Normally I'd be able to sense strong use of magic."

"And?"

"Well, it's not an easy task with you emitting a huge amount of dark magic."

Sonic tapped his foot and frowned. Amy, in the meantime, looked around the corner, turning left and right. Her red and white boot kicked something. A small turquoise crystal no bigger than a 2B pencil rolled into a small sunray poking through a window. While a little see-through, it reflected light in a beautiful manner, sparkling in different colours.

The female Hedgehog crouched for a better look. She reached for it but paused. Beside her was another one of a greater size speared into a ground. More similar crystals grew around it in random areas and sizes.

Fear gripped the cotton-candy-pink girl.

Someone behind her said, "Run."

At that moment, she spun around, mallet in hand. She took a step back, keeping the mallet in front. Out of the dark corner, stepped Shadow.

Amy lowered the weapon and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Oh, it's only you, Shadow," she held her chest as a small smile grew on her. "For a moment you had me worried."

"Don't lower your guard!" he said.

"Huh?" Confusion filled her green eyes as her mouth made a small twitch. Shadow threw a punch. On impulse, Amy lifted her hammer. "Hey! Shadow...What're you..." A kick was thrown at her hammer. "Omph!"

"Sorry. I can't control this. Sandy's using some sort of magic. It's making me do this."

He struck again and knocked her weapon out of her hands. It was propelled into the air and became imbedded in an overhead wooden beam. Amy fell onto her tail with a thud.

A chaos spear formed in Shadow's hands.

"Get away," Shadow said as his hand raised above his head. He gritted his teeth. It seemed as though he hid it, but his eyes were watery. "Amy!" he yelled.

Amy's eyes shrunk in terror. All colour drained from her once rosy cheeks.

A gust of wind combed through her bright-coloured bangs. Another voice said, "Ames!"

She blinked and looked. Sonic stood over her with his back facing her. His fangs poked out a little as his dark energy swirled around him. With a firm grip, he pushed Shadow's glowing arm.

"Tails!" he called. "Get Amy and run!"

"On it!" the little Fox answered. He grabbed Amy's arm and pulled her onto her feet. "Come on, Amy. Let's get out of here. Sonic will take of it."

"Shadow..." Amy said. She shook her head to awaken from her shock. Tails helped her move to a safer spot in the room.

Merlin adjusted his glassed. He narrowed his blood-red eyes and rubbed his white and grey beard. He muttered, "He's under some sort of control."

"That explains a lot," Amy replied. "Any way to undo it?"

"Why yes. Yes, there is. But doing it through magic will come at a cost I'm afraid. So I wouldn't advise it."

She stepped in front of her old teacher and clenched both hands in anxiety. "Please, Merlin. It can't end like this."

"You were always the brave one, my dear. But let's see what your friend Sonic can do. Other ways to put an end to this would be to knock out the controlled victim, force the one who is controlling to put a stop to this, or ending the life of the controller. There aren't very many other alternatives...well, except for this other one. There's hardly any point mentioning it."

"Tell me anyways. We need to consider every possibility."

His elderly eyes locked with her energetic, determined ones and answered, "An act of love."

Amy's cheeks reddened as she tensed. "An act of love?"

"I told you there was no point saying anything."

She turned to the side. Her face softened, and her eyes focused on the boys throwing punched at each other. Both of them dodged and blocked the other's attacks.

She said, "I wouldn't say there isn't any point of trying. We are all friends after all. It doesn't sound like it has to be a specific type of love right?"

"Of course it has to be a specific type of love. If it weren't, these spells would lose their effectiveness. Everyone has a loved one if you look hard enough. Oh no, this is specifically love between two lovers. Everyone knows that's the hardest form of love to find."

Amy paused. She watched the two jump around the room. Tails hovered over the floorboards. He blocked the bit of sun as he made a full circle.

"Where is Sandy?" he said.

Merlin said, "She could be anywhere. However, knowing her, she'd want to watch all of you turn on each other. Therefore, it stands to reason that she'd be in this room."

Amy, in the meantime, paid little attention. Her eyes remained fixed on her two friends in their fight. She chewed on her bottom lip and gripped her dress. Colour still flooded her face. Tears welled up in her large eyes.

Pain filled Shadow's red-eyes. He frowned more at every kick and punch he threw. He told Sonic, "Just take Amy and leave. Find a way home."

"And you should know. THAT AIN'T HAPPENING!" Sonic yelled and kicked him in the jaw before punching him several times. Shadow broke free and flipped, kicking his opponent along the way. It knocked down the blue Hedgehog.

Sonic rolled into a ball to soften the fall. Within seconds, he crossed both arms like a shield as Shadow threw a series of fast, unforgiving punches. Each strike was deflected as the dark energy around Sonic shielded his arms and deflected the blows. It was no better than hitting air.

A burst of energy blew when Sonic pulled down his arms and yelled. Rolling into a spin dash, he hurled himself towards his dark opponent. Dark purple energy zapped around him and pulled Shadow towards him like a magnet, allowing Sonic to not miss. The dark Hedgehog teleported and knocked Sonic down with a strike at the head. It didn't knock him out though as he rolled onto his feet.

There was no smirk which would have been usual for Sonic. He frowned at Shadow. He leapt to the side. Shadow missed and punched the ground.

The boards cracked and caved into a crater. The dark Hedgehog yanked out his fist and turned at the exact moment Sonic threw a kick. Within seconds, Shadow dodged him and grabbed his leg. With a firm spin, he threw his opponent aside. The blue Hedgehog crashed into the wall, knocking down some old wooden beams and crates. Busted wood and loosened rocks tumbled over him.

Amy and Tails's eyes widened and they cried out in unison, "SONIC!"

Shadow stared at the rubble. He held his head and clenched his teeth as his legs turned his body. At every step, he shook. He glared at his hands that began to glow and point at his other friends.

Amy stared at the debris and turned to look at Shadow. His hand aimed at her as a green glow emitted from it.

"S--Sh--Sh--Shad--d-d-ow..." she spoke, but the words barely formed in her mouth. A blank expression appeared. She stared at him filled with a fear he never thought possible to exist in her.

Was she afraid of him?

"Amy!" Tails called out, and, in a matter of seconds, the twin-tailed Fox ran between them. Tears formed in his baby-blue eyes as he focused on Shadow's uncontrollable hand. "I won't let you hurt her, Shadow!"

Shadow's other arm shook as he forced it to grab his glowing hand. He gritted his teeth and swore. The charging chaos-spear burned his hand.

Amy blinked. "Shadow?" she said. Still shaking, she stood. She stumbled, taking a couple steps forward. Her emerald green eyes shifted and fixated on what her multi-coloured friend was doing. "Shadow!" She broke into a run. Tails tried to grab her but missed.

He called out, "Wait, Amy! He can't control himself! You can be killed."

Amy kept running. As she moved closer, Shadow's arm shook while trying to contain his out of control hand. Before he knew what she was doing, she tackled him.

His red eyes widened, and he stared down at the girl holding onto him.

"Please, fight it..." she said. Her voice was soft as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I know you can do it." She looked up at him.

Shadow's expression wasn't fully readable. Did he really have what it took to stop himself? To stop Sandy?

Normally his pride wouldn't permit him to admit any form of weakness. However, after all he had done, attempting to destroy her, the one person he never considered a true threat and one was sweet to most people, he didn't feel powerful.

Despite that he said nothing, Amy detected an internal conflict.

It's now or never, she thought.

"Shadow...I..." she started. His red eyes stared at her with such intent. "I love...you. You know that right?"

At that moment, the light in his hand dimmed. His arms no longer shook.

Amy tucked some hair behind her ear and said, "I understand if you don't feel the same way. I've...noticed these feelings for months, and I just couldn't bring myself to say anything."

Without hesitation, Shadow seized her arms and pulled her into a hug.

"I don't know what you did, but I can control myself now," he said.

"Merlin said that love could stop what Sandy did to you. Not the way I imagined this would go mind you. But I had to do something."

"Hate to interrupt and all," a familiar voice said from the side.

Everyone turned to see Sonic brushing off the dirt. Tails smiled as did Amy.

The little Fox ran over to his older brother and said, "I'm glad you're okay. Man, that was scary."

"Eh, nothing I couldn't handle. Now that this has been taken care of, we just have one more thing to do. Track down that queen," Sonic said.

As he spoke, his green eyes began to softly show while the dark magic continued to surge around him like charging lightening.