CHAPTER 1

The sun was setting high in the sky within the clear sky of Tech City. It was silent outside of the Chaotix Detective Agency with Shadow, Sally, and Sonic blankly staring at the group that were in front of them.

Espio, Rouge, Freya and Charmy stood across from Sky and the strange demonic little girl who was known as Angel who stood next to him. With exhausted looks on their faces, they coldly glared at the two.

Sonic's eyes caught sight of the few four legged monsters were that were covered in brown fur. The monsters were brutally beheaded with their bodies scattered over the black top pavement. He slowly looked away from their bodies and looked at the group that stood in front of him. He didn't know what was going on but he could feel the tension that was going on between everyone. Before he could speak up, he had heard the white bat woman calling out towards Shadow.

Rouge's aqua eyes fell upon the black and red hedgehog and her heart raced in happiness. "Sha-Shadow?"

The ebony hedgehog's ears perked up and his attention was directed away from everything else as he heard her voice calling out to him. "Rouge?"

The male bee directed his attention over at the black and red hedgehog and shouted out in excitement. "Shadow!"

Shadow looked over at the familiar male bee who was happy to see him. It was none other than Charmy. He was back in Tech City and reunited with the Chaotix but he had wondered why. "Charmy?"

While gritting his fangs in uprising anger, the male white bat clenched onto the handle of the scythe he had held over his shoulder tightly as his yellow eyes glared over at Shadow. "Shadow", he spoke in a low and hateful tone.

When Shadow heard him speak his name, his eyes coldly flashed over towards the male bat. "Sky..."

With still not having a clue on what was going on, Sonic could still feel the heated tension in the air. Despite this, he had wanted to make some light of the situation. With a nervous look on his face, he pointed to himself, "Uh, Sonic?"

Sally didn't think that anything was funny with the matter. It was apparent that the Chaotix were caught up in some sort of fight. She placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes over at the blue hedgehog. "Sonic", she spoke in a low and threatening tone.

The young white rabbit girl jumped up in excitement along with a bright and wide smile on her face as she directed her attention towards Shadow. "Darkness-san!"

Before Shadow or anyone else could react, he was suddenly tackled to the ground by the child and found her hugging him tightly.

The group gasped and was taken by surprised as they watched the young girl suddenly throw herself onto Shadow and started to hug him.

The young girl held onto the confused hedgehog in a tight embrace and nuzzled her head onto his chest contently. "Oh, Darkness-san!" She exclaimed in an excited tone. "It's you! It's really you! I can't believe it!"

Sonic arched an eyebrow as he witnessed the young girl hugging a confused Shadow. He turned to Sally with a confused look and spoke in a low voice towards her. "Wha? I think this girl is confused. She just called him Darkness."

While watching the girl hug the clearly uncomfortable hedgehog, a nervous look had formed on Sally's face. She couldn't help but to feel that something strange was going on and it was no coincidence that she called Shadow by his demonic counterpart. "There's something strange about that girl..."

Sky arched an eyebrow and formed a sweat drop on the side of his head as he watched Angel hug Shadow while she had him on the ground. He sighed slightly, "Seriously, Angel?"

Sonic turned back to Shadow who was struggling to remove the girl from him. It appeared that the girl was somewhat strong. He watched as Shadow tried to shove the girl off of him but she would barely budge. "Do you know her, Shadow?"

Shadow continued to try getting the girl off of him but she clung to him tightly and was determined to not let go of him. "I haven't see this girl in my life!"

The longer she watched the girl hug Shadow, the more she had gotten annoyed by it. With her fists clenched, Rouge began to slightly punch her knuckles into each other while glaring at the rabbit child. She took a step forward towards the both of them. "Um excuse me? But..." She suddenly grabbed the girl by her shoulders and forcefully threw her body away from Shadow's. "You mind keeping your hands off of my husband!"

Sky dropped the scythe he had held and watched as the girl was thrown back into his direction. He held out his hands and caught her safely into his arms. "I got you, Angel."

Espio, Charmy, and Freya made their way over to the rest of the group while Rouge had helped Shadow from the ground. Espio glanced over to Angel and then back over to Shadow while he arched an eyebrow, "What the hell was that all about?"

Shadow was just as lost as everyone else was. He hadn't seen that girl at all before but she knew him. She knew who he was and it only made him uneasy about it. He slightly shook his head, "I have no idea."

Rouge's eyes shifted over from Angel and back towards Shadow. "Shadow", she spoke in a low and worried voice. "That girl called you Darkness..."

Shadow mindlessly stared at the strange young girl while Sky put her back down on the ground after catching her in his arms. "...Yeah", he spoke lowly. "I don't know who she is but...she is a demon."

Sonic rose an eyebrow in disbelief towards him. He just knew that there was no way that the child they all saw was a demon. "Wha? That little girl? How can you tell?"

Shadow's eyes were still locked onto the young girl's red eyes while she had given him the same look. "Just look at her. Her eyes, her fangs, her essence..." He slowly clenched his fists, "Like everyone else in The Dark Alliance, she has a strong demonic energy. She's definitely a high ranking demon..."

Freya made a nervous look as she glanced back over to the girl. "Just like Scourge and Fiona..." she murmured in a low tone.

Sky looked down at the rabbit girl with an annoyed look on his face while she happily stared at Shadow. "Angel, what the hell were you thinking throwing yourself all over him like that?"

She clasped her hands together with a slight blush on her face. "Oh Sky-sama, I couldn't help it! Meeting Darkness-san in the flesh? I just got so excited!" She paused when Shadow had suddenly called out to her.

"So your name is Angel right? What do you want?"

She paused and hesitated a moment before she had spoke out to him with a wide smile on her face. "Darkness-san acknowledged me! Pinch me! I'm dreaming!"

Shadow grew impatient with her quickly. He wanted answers from her and he wanted them right then. "Answer the question!" He had spoke in a loud and demanding voice.

Espio had realized that when Angel spoke towards Sky or Shadow, she would use a honorific term after their names. He had thought that she had maybe looked up to them or admired them.

A small yet evil giggle escaped from Angel, "Darkness-san, what are you doing?" While flashing her fangs within her evil smirk, she slowly extended her hand towards Shadow. "You're here with your powers just locked away. You know what you can do. The Hell you can raise on this miserable planet!"

Rouge's eyes widened when she saw Shadow suddenly kneeling down to the ground while holding his neck like he was in pain. Her heart raced as she saw Angel slowly approaching them with her hand still extending outward towards Shadow. She turned back to Shadow in worry, "Shadow!" Before she or anyone else could do anything, she watched as Angel took her free hand and gently swung it through the air. Suddenly Rouge and the rest of the group were suddenly flung away from Shadow. They all fell to the ground after having their bodies forcefully thrown away from Shadow.

Freya slowly tried getting up from the ground. "What the hell?" She groaned lowly.

"It's some kind of telekinesis." Sally's eyes glared at Angel who had approached Shadow once again.

She slightly clenched her hand using it to grab around Shadow's neck without actually touching him. She leaned over to him while he tried gasping for air. "Oh come on. You can do this and more if you allow me to help you reawaken your powers."

Shadow tried to talk as she continued to grab him around his neck. "Go to Hell."

With a slight chuckle escaping her, she took her finger and pressed the tip of it against her wrist.

Shadow's eyes widened as she took her nail that looked practically like a talon and sliced it down the center of her wrist. His heart raced as he saw blood tricking from her wrist. "...No..."

As soon as Angel released her untouchable grip from him, she quickly grabbed him by his neck and slammed his body down onto the ground by using her incredible strength.

Sky's mouth hung open as he watched what was about to happen. 'Angel...she's gonna do it. She's gonna reawaken Darkness...'

Charmy watched everything taking place in front of him and the rest of the group. "Oh no..."

Rouge's heart raced when she caught sight of Angel pinning Shadow down to the ground and holding her bloody wrist above his mouth. "Shadow, no!"

Freya stared as Shadow tried to push Angel away from him. Her heart raced in her chest as she stared at the blood trickling down Angel's arm. 'Wh-what's happening? She's trying to make Shadow drink her blood? What's going to happen? Will he...will he become Darkness?'

Shadow tried to fight her off of him, but she was just too strong. While she held her wrist above him, he felt her blood dripping onto his face.

She giggled as she lowered her wrist down towards his mouth, "Having Darkness-san drink from me? What an honor!" She continued to giggle as her wrist had gotten closer towards his mouth. "Open wide!" Before she could lure her wrist closer to him, she was suddenly knocked away from him by a fast moving blue blur. She fell to the ground causing her to release her grip on Shadow.

Shadow got up from the ground and turned to Sonic who was standing in front of him while he had his eyes fixed upon the demonic child. "Sonic?"

"I don't know who or what the hell you think you are but it looks to me like you're trying to hurt Shadow and his friends. That's not cool, kiddo." The blue hedgehog crossed his arms as he watched Angel stand from the ground and angrily confront him.

Angel gritted her fangs angrily as she glared towards the blue hedgehog. "Who is this blue fool?"

Sonic arched an eyebrow towards her, "Sheesh! Talk about no manners!" He pointed to himself, "The name's Sonic. Sonic The Hedgehog!"

Sally called out to him in worry, "Sonic, be careful! That girl's dangerous!"

Angel angrily huffed under her breath and extended her hand out towards Sonic. "I don't care who you are! You're in the way!"

Before Sonic could make any movements, he found himself suddenly hovering from the ground. "H-Hey! What's going on?"

Espio witnessed Angel's power once again going into play. "Damn", he swore. "More of her mind bullshit."

Angel had then took her free hand and extended it out as well. She then began to slowly clench her hand as if she was grabbing something.

Suddenly everyone had heard Sonic crying out in pain.

Angel continued to slowly clench her hand while she angrily looked at the blue hedgehog. "I'll kill you right where you stand!"

In horror, Freya watched as Sonic suffered while Angel used her powers on him. "Oh God! What's she doing?"

Sky calmly watched as Angel tortured Sonic with her powers. "She's crushing his insides with her power..."

Sally watched in worry as Angel slowly crushed Sonic's insides. "Sonic!"

"Damn it!" With a yellow aurora glowing around his hand, Shadow quickly raised his hand towards Angel's direction. "Chaos Spear!"

Angel was then struck in her shoulder by Shadow's searing attack. She fell back onto the ground causing her to release Sonic.

"Angel!" When Sky saw her fall to the ground, he came rushing to her aid.

Sally had done the same and kneeled down next to Sonic who was on the ground looking downwards and coughing as he tried to catch his breath and held his side. "Sonic! Are you okay?"

He made a small nod while he still looked down to the ground. "Yeah I'm fine, Sal", he spoke in a hoarse tone before she hugged him lovingly in her arms.

Sally nuzzled her head against his chest gently as she was on the edge of tears. "Oh thank God, Sonic."

When Sky picked Angel's body off from the ground and held her in his arms, he saw Shadow confronting him with an angered look on his face.

He clenched his fists tightly while he coldly glared at him. "You have a lot of nerve showing your face around here, vampire."

The vampire bat formed a small smirk, "It's good to see you too dear, brother in law..."

While Shadow hatefully glared at him, Rouge stood next to him and had given him the same look. "Brother!"

Before Sky could say anything else, he felt Angel gently pulling on his black vest. He looked down at her while he held her in his arms and heard her low voice calling out to him.

"Sky-sama, I don't want to play anymore. Let's go home."

He paused for a moment and thought that with her injured and him surrounded, surrendering would be the best thing to do. He made a small nod as he agreed with her, "Yes let us go."

Shadow and the rest of the group watched as the two suddenly disappear within a mysterious black fog

Sally glanced around for any sight of Angel and Sky but they were nowhere to be found. They had gotten away. "They're gone..."

"Pretty sure that won't be the last of them", Espio just knew deep down that this wouldn't be the last time either of them would encounter Angel.

Sonic slightly held the side of his lower stomach as he and Sally walked over to the rest of the group. A slight chuckle had escaped him, "Monsters, vampires, demonic little girls...so this is what the big city is like eh?"

Sally slightly flipped her red wavy hair as she heavily sighed and placed her hand on her hip. "You have no idea..."

Sonic turned to Shadow who still appeared slightly shaken up from his encounter with Angel. He arched a brow towards him. "Hey, Shadow? What the hell was up with that girl anyway? She was trying to make you drink her blood...why?"

Shadow paused from his question and gave the blue hedgehog a worried look. He didn't want to explain to him what Angel's intentions towards him was. He was certain if he told him, Sonic wouldn't look at him the same way again.

Before she allowed Shadow to speak, Sally placed her hand gently on Sonic's shoulder and had him turn to her. "Let me put it to you this way, hun. If Shadow were to drink any demonic blood, his demon powers would be full on at a hundred percent." She didn't want to tell him bluntly that Shadow would basically turn against everyone. If she had, she knew Sonic would definitely think differently of him. She saw the still confused look on his face and gave him an uneasy look. "...I'll explain more about it later."

He made a small nod. He still didn't quite understand everything but he knew it wasn't the exact time and place for her and everyone else try to explain everything. "Okay, Sal."

Espio took a step towards Shadow with a concerned look, "You good, Shad?"

He turned to the purple chameleon and made a slight nod, "Yeah I'm fine."

He could tell from Shadow's reaction that he was still kind of uneasy and he couldn't blame him. With him and everyone watching what was happening, it was a pretty scary situation. However he tried shaking off horrid thoughts that came rushing to his mind and tried focusing on other positive notes. "Sucks you had to come back to such a mess but...we are glad to have you back, Shad."

Charmy nodded in agreement along with a wide smile on his face, "Yeah!"

When Shadow heard his voice, he directed his attention towards the male bee. "Charmy? Not that I'm not happy to see you but what are you doing back in Tech City?"

He crossed his arms with the same wide smile on his face. "Hey you know me! I just can't stay away from this place!"

A slight smile formed on Freya's face as she directed her attention towards Shadow. "Boss, we missed you so much!"

Shadow turned to her and made a small smile back towards her, "I missed you guys too."

Before she took a step towards him, her body froze as he mind was suddenly clouded in thoughts. Yes it was great to have him back with her and the rest of the team but she couldn't get Risa's words out of her head. '...What if Risa is right? What exactly was going to happen if Angel succeeded in making him drink her blood? Would he become like the demons in The Dark Alliance? Would he become a...monster?' She broke out of her thoughts when she heard Rouge's voice calling out to Shadow. She turned and saw Rouge running over to Shadow and wrapping her arms around him happily.

Shadow wrapped his arms around her body and held her close to him. "Rouge?"

With a concerned look, she placed her hands gently on the sides of his face and looked into his eyes. "Are you okay, hunny? I was so worried."

He removed her hand from the side of his face and kissed it softly, "I'm fine, hun. I promise."

"Oh well in that case..." She then took her hand from his and placed her finger against the point of his nose while she narrowed her eyes at him. "Why didn't you tell me you were on your way back from Acorn Kingdom?"

He slightly shrugged his shoulders while having an uneasy look on his face. "Sorry, hun. I didn't call you or anything because I wanted to surprise you."

She took her finger from his nose and crossed her arms as she turned away from him. "You could've texted me or something!"

He laughed slightly and pulled her body against his so he could hold her body close to his. "I said I'm sorry, hun. Calm down already."

With a small smile formed on her lips, she once again turned to him and nuzzled her head against his chest while she embraced him lovingly. "I just really missed you, Shad. I'm glad you're back" she spoke in a soft tone.

"I know. I missed you too, baby." He placed his finger under her chin and made her look up at him before he pressed his lips against hers.

When Sally's eyes caught sight of the two lovers reuniting with each other, flashbacks of her and Shadow's intimacy had flooded her mind. After she and Shadow talked everything out, it was settled that it was just pure tension and nothing else. In Shadow's words he had wanted them both to just forget about it and move on. However deep down, it still bothered her that they were both pretending that none of that ever happened. She felt that she could no longer look at the two and decided that it was time for her to take off for Future City. She turned away from them and the rest of the group, "...I'm going to overview the mission with Miss Wish."

Shadow turned to Sally who was looking outward towards the city. "We both have to report to Sarah about Kingdom of Acorn."

"No", she quickly spoke out while she slightly turned her head to him. "That won't be necessary. I'll take care of everything."

He began to wonder why Sally suddenly wanted to confront Sarah alone and explain their mission. He wondered if she was planning to tell her anything different than what he would've told her. "But, Sally..."

She had then completely turned to him with a serious look on her face. "Your presence isn't necessary. Use this opportunity to spend time with your team and family."

He really wasn't reading her. Her facial expression made it seem like she was upset about something but at the same time, she was being sincere towards him by allowing him to spend time with Rouge and the rest of the Chaotix. "If you say so, Sal."

"We'll keep in touch." After making a slight nod, she turned to Sonic who stood there with a blank look on his face. "Come on, hun. I'll take you to Miss Wish and acquaint you with my team."

He made a nod towards her, "Okay sounds great!" When he saw her beginning to walk into the city, he turned back to Shadow and the rest of the group. "See you guys around! Take care, Shadow!"

Charmy waved as Sonic started to walk away with Sally. "Bye, Sonic! Bye, Sally!"

When they both had walked off, Espio turned to Shadow. "So this Sonic guy? He's gonna be working with Sally and her team now?"

He made a nod as he replied to him, "He's gonna be her new Field Mission Specialist."

The chameleon placed a finger to his chin and found it interesting that Sally's team also now had someone who was a Field Mission Specialist next to theirs. "Interesting..." His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Shadow's voice speaking out to him.

"Anyway, what all's been going on since I've been gone?"

Espio scratched the side of his head and began to slightly think of everything that had happened since Shadow left for his mission with Sally. As he thought about it, quite a lot had been happening within the team and all of Tech City. His eyes glanced over at Rouge, Charmy, and Freya who were giving him grimaced looks. He turned away from them and sighed heavily before directing his attention back to Shadow. "Too much to be honest. You might wanna pull up a chair..."

Author's Note: Well here it is! The sequel to Royal Pain is a go! And sorry about the confusion if any of you saw a status update about the story being put on hold due to my internet being out. The issue was apparently fixed soooo yeah. lol Anyway hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter! It's October and I gotta say this story fits perfectly with the spooky mood of the month! This story will have none other than Darkness making a return and once again wrecking havoc upon the city and this time he won't be alone. Expect plenty of violence and gory scenes because let's face it. It's Darkness after all. And also we'll be seeing new villains making an appearance. And if you're confused about why this is ShadowxSally...don't worry. You'll find out.

Alright this pretty much sums it up! Buckle up! It's gonna be one Hell of a ride! See you guys on the flipside!

In The Next Chapter...

Scourge: Who the hell are you?

Angel: Devil, you're back!

Devil: Just leave everything to me...

Sally: Did you tell her? About us?

Shadow: I told you not to mention anything about that.

Rouge: ...Shadow, what happened in Acorn Kingdom?