Shadow wanted so badly to see them face-to-face, but he knew how Sonic would react. He needed to stay far from that so he asked a fellow demon to it. A powerful one at that and one that Shadow, Sonic, and Silver have met before. Shobsha leaned against a tree, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Shadow sat above him in the trees. Shobsha was currently in his Mobian form; a gray jackal with white spider-like markings and mismatched eyes. A scar went over his right eye.

"Are you sure they'll come?" Shobsha asked. Shadow growls.

"Of course they will. Don't doubt me, Shobsha."

"I'm not doubting. Also, stop calling me that. I'd prefer if you called me by my Mobian name." Shadow rolls his eyes.

"Fine, Infinite." Their relationship was a feeble one, the two often at each other's throats. But, strangely enough, the two were always there for one another. A weird relationship, but the two dealt with it. A rustle, crash, and groan of annoyance disturbed the forest, causing the two to go on high alert. Infinite bared his teeth, summoning a red, jagged sword. Shadow summoned his own sword; a beautiful blade that had an orange hue to it and heads screamed along the flat of the sword. The rustling continued, getting closer. A white body pops out of a cluster of leaves, a blue head following afterwards.

  Sonic and Silver. Shadow held his breath, his heart leaping at the sight of the two, Sonic mostly. Infinite relaxes, though a scowl was smeared across his face. "So you're the two?" He asked, his voice low and menacing. Silver hops up off of the ground and dusts himself off.

"I suppose so. Are you the one that sent us the letter?" Infinite nods, presenting his hand to the two.

"My name is Infinite." Silver and Sonic shake his hand.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Infinite. My name is Silver and this is-,"

"I already know who you are. The only reason why I'm here is to ask a few questions concerning Meilawn." Silver was slightly taken aback, but he just nods as his hand falls to his side.

"As you said in the letter. What do you want to know?"

"Do you know how to get there?" Silver sighs and shakes his head, Sonic speaking for him.

"We've been trying to for the past year. We haven't had much success." Infinite sniffed, crossing his arms.

"Perhaps my friend and I could be of help." Infinite gives a toothy smirk to the two, but Shadow knew that it was really for him. Shadow narrowed his eyes, biting back his growl of annoyance. Sonic turned his head to one side.

  "Who's your friend?" Infinite shrugs.

  "He doesn't want to show himself. He's shy. Aside from that, we may be able to help. Now, follow me." Infinite starts to lead them to the left of him. To the cave. To Hell. Shadow trailed after them, still in the trees. He knew that he'll have to come out, but only when there's more demons around him. That's the only way that Sonic would stay away from him. Maybe he'll stay away from him. Shadow knew Sonic enough to know that he may just not give a damn and hug Shadow anyways. They reach the cave, to which Sonic stopped as he recognized the area.

  Infinite stops as well and Silver looked at Sonic in mild confusion. "Sonic, what's wrong?" The blue hedgehog didn't reply right away so Infinite did.

  "This is where Sonic and his mate first departed." Sonic jumped and blushed as he glared at Infinite. Silver looked between the two, his ears bent in awkwardness.

  "He's not my 'mate.' We're just... very close friends." Infinite snickered.

  "Yeah. Just friends." He leads them into the cave, Shadow slipping in after them. It didn't take long for them to get to Hell. Silver gasped while Sonic tensed, eyeing each of the demons that eyed him. "I'm sure you remember Isalov," Infinite said with a flourish of his hand. The giant demon quickly dismissed the new-bloods before turning his attention to Sonic.

  "It's certainly been awhile, hasn't it Sonic?" Sonic shrugs, giving Isalov a cold glare.

  "Certainly has been." He relaxes as he asked something in a soft voice. "Do you know where Shadow is?" Isalov looks behind Sonic and gives the best small smile he could.

"Maybe you should try looking closer." Sonic and Silver turn around just in time to see Shadow's wings woosh from his back. His wings touched the ground and even went a few inches above his head. Horns as long as a finger protruded from his head and his eyes were now a blood red. Sonic gasped at the changes, but that didn't stop the smile from spreading across his face. Sonic takes a step towards him... but Shadow quickly steps back, his mouth slightly agape. His fangs were longer.

  "I'm only here on business, Sonic." The smile faded slightly as Shadow straightened himself. "Follow me." Shadow walks past them and didn't stop to check if they were following. Isalov lightly pushed them, urging them to follow. They did, Silver looking around in fascination but Sonic with his head low. He didn't imagine that this is how the reunion would go. Shadow leads them further into Hell, through twisting pathways until Shadow finally stopped by a large door. With a single command in the demonic tongue, the door spoke back with the same language.

Shadow answered it and the door hummed before clicking open. "Come on," Shadow said, walking into the room. Sonic and Silver follow. The room looked more like an open landscape with gardens of red, blue, green, purple, black, and gold. The trees twisted horrendously, a pulsating red within the bark. The grass varied in certain areas. To the right, the grass was blue and green while to the left, the grass is just black. Flowers that sparkled gold swayed menacingly, their toothed petals glaring at the group. There were demons here, a very specific group.

Most of the demons were skinny and tall, some wearing robes that fluttered with no wind while others wore nothing. The place hummed with power so strong that it made Silver dizzy. Shadow leads them further back, greeting other demons as they passed. The striped hedgehog was well-liked, this Sonic could tell. Shadow really does fit in here. That small bit of news drove Sonic further into his cell of sadness, now with a few chains of anger. Shadow stops in a small alcove where the trees stood all around them. The 'door' was covered by spiky vines that whispered horrors into the mortals ears.

"Why did we have to go all the way back here?" Silver asked.

"So that we can't be interrupted." Shadow walks through the vines, which pulled to either side of the doorway. He stops and looks back. "Come on. These vines haven't been fed in awhile and they will gladly drink your blood." The two jump before quickly walking into the secluded area. The walls were crawling with live vines that squelched and squeaked as they rubbed against each other, even though they were so quiet. It sounded like mice. Shadow stops in the middle of the room and turns on his heel, staring the two down. "Have you had any success with getting into Meilawn's realm?"

  Understanding where the little meeting was finally going, the two sighed. "No. We've been trying ever since you..." Silver stops and looks into Shadow's eyes. He narrowed them further. Silver clears his throat. "But, I do believe I know how to, although it'll be extremely difficult." Shadow quirked an eye at him.

  "How so?"

  "Well, I'm using Sonic's mind, his memory, to try to locate the realm. I'm pretty close to actually accomplishing that. After that, we need to create a strong enough connection so that we can send enough forces over to stop her. But, in order to do that, we need a person on the other side to be able to connect it. Kind of like a rope. Not only that, but we need to find out if we're able to survive in this realm. You two went there through your minds because both of your bodies were still back in our realm." Silver, with confidence, stared Shadow down, almost expecting a cocky smirk saying that he's already done all of this.

Shadow didn't. He nods understandingly. "You did a good job, but do you know how to get to Meilawn's realm to establish this connection?" Silver shamefully shakes his head.

"I was kind of hoping you would know." Shadow growls.

"Well, I don't. I've been trying to get there for more than a year. No fucking success."

"Can't one of your demon friends help?" Sonic asked, scowling. His voice dropped with venom and his eyes held a dark glint that shivered with anger. Shadow noticed the hostility and grew soft, his body relaxing.

"I've tried, but they're all too busy. Lucifer gave me this assignment and only me alone. Getting help from someone else was a fairytale... until he said that I could retrieve you."

"So that's all we're here for? Business?" Sonic grew more agitated by the minute, but Shadow kept his cool.

"I'm afraid so," Shadow replied hesitantly. Sonic growled, baring his teeth, but a huff behind him caused him to turn. It was Isalov. He didn't like how Sonic was acting, whether he was Shadow's mate or not. "We need to work together if we wish to follow through with your plan, flawlessly. Can we at least do that?" Silver nodded instantly while Sonic hesitated. Shadow walks up to the blue hero, almost too close for normality. "Please, Sonic? I would ask for any other reunion, but this is important." Shadow grabs Sonic's hand without thought, simply acting on instinct.

"Please?" Sonic looked at Shadow with sad eyes. He sighed, a small smile on his face accompanied by a light rose blush.

"Okay." Shadow smiled, slowly backing away from Sonic.

"Alright. You two need to stay here. Isalov, go to the library and grab whatever books you think will help. I need to report to Lucifer before we begin." Sonic nods, giving a thumbs up.

  "Don't take too long. Wouldn't want to wait another two years." Shadow smiled, giving a small chuckle before running out of the alcove, Isalov going after him. Silver shivers, causing Sonic to look back at him. "What's up, Silver?" He wraps his arms around himself, his electric orange eyes darting from one side to the other.

  "I don't know, just... this place is amazing but it gives me the creeps." Sonic looks around and slowly nods in understanding.

  "I get what you mean. But, don't worry! We'll be fine and if a demon tries to mess with us, Shadow will have our backs." Silver shivers again.

  "I hope you're right."