I apologise that I haven't updated in over a year but I have taken ill for some time from my last update and since then I have been in and out of hospital too many times that I have lost count. Even at this moment I am in hospital with my laptop typing this update. Also I am coming to terms with my grief over my Uncle who had passed away and for some time I had lost my creativity and will to keep up with my stories. And so with the death of my Uncle you can see why my mum is really worried about my health. 3 But now I am trying to get back into my routine of daily updating as I know that my Uncle wouldn't want me to stay upset. And so without further delay I give you my latest update. Once again, I apologise...

Chapter 18: Introducing the Ultimate Life Form

After Rose was freed from Danny's restraints, our four hedgehogs had successfully completed another round around the building; unfortunately not one of them spotted the main parasite therefore things were now looking grim for our four hedgehogs.

"Amy? I didn't hurt you did I?" Rose asks her, referring to the incident that happened not too long ago.

"Umm, no not really." She says as she gave her a reassuring smile, but something in her voice made her sound uncertain. Blackout and Danny couldn't help but sigh, they had too many close calls and they couldn't help but wonder when their luck will run out. It was then that the four hedgehogs heard a loud hissing noise from around the next corner. The four stopped. Glanced at each other. Then blinked. What the hell was that? What was around the next corner? All of sudden both Amy and Rose screamed out loud to which the two males rushed to their aid however they were too late. When the two girls stopped screaming the males noticed one thing about them that they wished they didn't. Their normal position had slouched, which only meant one thing. The parasites are back and this time they've got Amy.

"No. This can't be happening!!" Blackout yelled hoping that his eyes were tricking him. 'No, she can't be gone. When? How did this happen?'

"They've got Amy." Danny growled leaving a sinister frown of his face while getting into his fighting position. "She must have got a bite wound or a scratch from an infected person to become infected herself." Blackout could not believe what he was seeing, the girl that he was supposed to protect had become infected herself which meant that he had broken his word once again. How could he look at her again knowing that he can't even protect her?

".....well... I see that this body..... Is somewhat... suitable... for me..." said the parasite that was in Amy's body.

"It is isn't it? Don't worry about your speech, it will improve after some time then you can talk as fluently like me." The parasite said in Rose's body, throwing Rose's head back in mock laughter.

"I see... our mother... will be pleased... after seeing us..." the parasite said before looking at the two males. "Two down.... two to go..." it hissed at the two males who were ready for a fight.

"My children, you may stand down for now." Said a figure in the darkness, Rose and Amy stepped back while the figure stepped into the shadows. However what they saw was definitely not human because what stood before them was a small and thin looking parasite however even though this parasite is small (when I say small, not midget small but at least 4 inches shorter then Amy kind of small) they was sure that this particular parasite is very powerful as both Danny and Sonic could feel a powerful aura surrounding it. "I see you've met my children." Said the small parasite it's hollow and black eyes looked as if it there were endless black holes.

"Yes, unfortunately." Said Danny who snarled at the parasite's who were both in Amy's and Rose's bodies which earned him hisses and growls from the parasites. "So, I'm guessing that you're the mother parasite then." His voice now calmer as he folds his arms however never one minute did he let his guard down to this new foe.

"I see that you're very observant." It says as it bows with a sickly looking smirk on its face.

"Well now that I know who you are let's try and get a few things straight here." He says looking briefly at Blackout before continuing. "First of all, why?"

"Why?" it repeated Danny's question. "Why do you think, this way we can take control of the world and make it into a better place." Danny scoffed at that.

"A better place? How does turning everyone into a parasite infected fiend help the world?" he asks with a hint of sarcasm.

"Why just think, if everyone was infected with parasites then people would think like each other therefore there would be no need for wars or conflict. That's how." It says a smirk still plastered on its wrinkled face.

"Well even though that sounds 'lovely' I would rather prefer if things were like before after all I miss Rose and her feisty attitude and I'm sure that you miss Amy right Blackout? Blackout?" Getting no reply, Danny glanced at Blackout who was looking at the ground.

"Ah yes, the hedgehog who wanted to protect the one he cares about and failed. Hehe my, my what were you expecting? A happy ending??" it chuckled loving the miserable aura that surrounds him.

"Blackout, calm down, I understand what you're feeling right now but don't show any weaknesses to this guy. He will play with your emotions and uses them to his advantage. I know that you think that you have lost Amy but that is not true. She is still there and is fighting; don't underestimate her after all she was under Rose's training." Blackout looked up to see him after his little speech. Even though he knew that it was his fault that Amy was now infected he couldn't help but realise that Danny was right. Amy has probably be in many situations like this before when she had left him and started life as a member of Angels 4 Hell, plus she has been under Rose's training so surely Amy can keep fighting the parasite inside of her, at least until both him and Danny find a way to get those disgusting creatures out of them. He nodded to show his appreciation while Danny just merely smirked.

"Now, now foolish hedgehogs, you're forgetting one thing."

"Oh really and what might that be?" says Blackout, his confidence slowly coming back to him.

"Hehe, you see with each passing second my children grow stronger. Just how long do you think your friends can keep fighting for... hmmm?" Hearing this, the two male hedgehogs simply growled and without warning they both simultaneously attacked. However the small parasite knew better and sent both Danny and Blackout flying with a flick of the wrist, literally! "You think you weak creatures are able to hurt me? Please, I am a far more superior being then to you lowlifes." Anger began to build up inside both the two males. "But as much as I would love to play with you two, I have much business to do. Have fun my children!" it says as it runs off at an unbelievable speed.... Which left them to do one thing and that is to worry about Rose and Amy.

"Well Danny any ideas?" says Blackout as the pair got into their fight positions even though they didn't want to hurt either Rose or Amy.

"I got an idea yeh."

"That's great Danny, mind telling me what it is?"

"Oh don't worry you don't need to worry about that" he says dropping his fighting stance as a metal cage suddenly dropped onto both Amy and Rose. Blackout was stunned. What in god's name just happened? "There you go. Nicely kept in the cage." He says proudly while dusting his hands, he glanced backwards only to see Blackout looking very confused.

"You had that planned all along, yet you didn't tell me?!?!?" Blackout exclaimed while Danny just grinned at him.

"What? You're not mad at me now are you?" he says sarcastically before looking at Amy and Rose. "Well, what do we have here? Two messed up parasites who takes orders from a midget, huh?" he says quickly earning growls from the parasites.

"You will pay for this, hedgehog." Said the parasite in Rose's body while Danny just scoffed at the threat.

"Really? I'd like to see you try." Earning a hiss from the parasite as it tries to break the cage that held her but at a simple touch it was thrown back to the middle of the cage. "Energy field." He said simply, "Did you really think that I would just use an ordinary cage?" he says making a tutting noise.

"You may be able to stop us but you can't stop our mother...." she said a smirk playing on her lips.

"That's right..." continued the second parasite, "she....will be able.....to take.....control of .......you....insignificant fools....." Once again Danny scoffed. "We shall.... see... you...soon..." and with that the two parasites released its hold on Rose and Amy brining their consciousness to the surface. The two girls woke up groggily, an immense headache pounding on them both as they groaned at the pain.

"Amy? Is that you?" he said quietly, kind of ashamed that he could do nothing to stop the parasite from taking over her. She lifted her head despite the pain and managed to give him a small smile. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop the parasite from taking over." He said in a low voice so that Rose couldn't hear. Amy nodded slowly with however a smile on her face.

"It's okay, I understand. Besides I know that you and Danny will probably put a stop to this madness." She gave him another smile before looking around at her surroundings and realised that she was in a cage. "What happened here?" she asked him.

"When the parasites took over you and Rose we had no choice but to put you guys in this cage or at least, drop a cage on you." He explained, Amy saw the yellow energy that was highlighting every bar of the cage, curious she tried to touch the yellow light but was quickly warned by Blackout. "Don't touch it! It has a high voltage that will shock you!!" immediately Amy reeled her hand back, she looked at Rose only to see her frowning at her now burnt hand.

"Oh how perfect, how bloody perfect." She says sarcastically holding up her burnt hand and then looking at it disgusted. "I don't even know a charm to heal this." she mumbled to herself before growling at the thought that she couldn't help herself. Seeing her distress Danny muttered another few words before seeing her hand become as good as new. Surprised by the sudden change of her hand she immediately glared at Danny. "I didn't need your help." She said her eyes glaring daggers at him.

"Seemed like you needed it at the time." He says casually before leaning back narrowly missing the throwing knife that was thrown. She snarled at him before lying on the floor as she couldn't see anywhere that she could lean on.

"Listen Rose, maybe you should stop this and give this guy a chance here." Said Amy after seeing Rose's anger, hearing this however made her sit up. Her head turned ever so slowly to face Amy her eyes narrowed and her lips had twitched into a snarl.

"What did you just say? You think I should give this guy a chance? After what he did to me?!?! Are you insane???" she started to make her way towards Amy, anger clearly showing in her emotionless eyes. However despite the situation she still argued back.

"This isn't healthy Rose; can't you see what this is doing to you?" she yelled at her as she stood up to face her.

"So what? Since when did you care? When did anyone started to care about worthless and pathetic little old me?? That's the reason why I left in the first place or can't you remember that? Besides I've realised from someone that emotions are nothing but for weaklings....." she paused for a moment. "Did you actually think I would let someone like him to enter my life again?" she said finishing off with a growl. Earning no answer she huffed and lay back on the floor. She then turned so that her back faced them and she growled once more at the situation before silenced filled the air. Amy sighed silently admitting defeated as she looked at Danny who couldn't blame her for Rose's stubbornness. She was always that kind of girl at least; she was after she had left... "This is ridiculous shouldn't you two be finding that main parasite by now instead of waiting here with us." She said gesturing to Danny and Blackout.

"Erm, well..... They need to watch over us Rose." Amy said, quickly thinking of something. Hearing this Rose seemed to be amused.

"Oh and is this because of the parasites that are inside of us by any chance Amy?" she said calmly, inwardly grinning at their reaction. "What? You think I don't know? You guys should know by now that assassin's know everything." She then sighed now bored with the conversation. "Now if you don't mind, you can get us out of this cage and then all of us will go and find this troublesome parasite." She stopped to cough slightly causing everyone to become cautious. "Relax I'm fi-" she coughed violently before her eyes closed and collapsed luckily due to her reflexes Amy caught her just in time. Danny cursed at the state she was in.

"The parasite must be taking its toll on her, she's getting weaker by the second." he made the cage disintegrate knowing that keeping the cage there would only use up his energy. "We better move on before we're too late." He took Rose from Amy knowing full well that Amy wasn't that strong and confidently strode forward as if to lead the group. Blackout shrugged his shoulders and followed him who was followed by Amy. "So, you guys got a plan to get rid of this parasite?" he asked as he didn't have enough information on this new foe to think of one himself. Blackout thought for a moment.

"Well, we could try what we tried on that big parasite that we had defeated, you know try and find out it's weak point." He says as he walked alongside the blue hedgehog with light blue highlights. However the pink hedgehog on his other side dismissed the idea.

"It'll be too long and a waste of energy to figure that out. We don't even know how strong this guy is, for all we know he could have another form or another source of energy that we don't know about." She says not liking the fact that she had argued against Blackout's idea but it had to be said.

"I agree with Amy, we don't know enough about this guy. However there must be a way. Amy, this might be an awkward question but when that parasite controlled you, did you feel anything that might give us an advantage?" he asks as one eyebrow rose. Amy pondered on this for a moment as she thought carefully.

"Well, I know that they lock on targets within their surroundings. Maybe we could use that somehow?" she said, trying her best to remember the parasites behaviour. Silence was in the air for a few moments before Danny thought of something.

"Maybe we could try and confuse it..." He said although he wasn't sure.

"How so?" Blackout said.

"Well, we could always faze out, faze in, attack then faze out again." He paused thinking this through. "What you guys think?"

"I suppose it could work, it's not a definite plan but it'll do for now." Blackout replied.

"Agreed." Amy said.

"Marvellous, now if Danny would let me stand on my own two feet then everything will be absolutely perfect." Said the voice of none other than Rose, Amy leaned back slightly to see Rose slightly annoyed of the fact that she had to be carried around the building rather than walking on her own two feet.

"Actually I prefer you this way; it's very quiet without you." Danny said smirking a little at the thought of her reaction.

"Why you-" she didn't get any further.

"Now both of you stop that!" The three hedgehogs had stopped walking and Danny and Rose had stopped arguing at Amy's outburst. Finally getting silence, she rubbed the bridge of her nose and continued. "When this whole situation is over you two can kill each other all you want for all I care, however can we please stick to this?" her only reply was a scoff.

"Whatever girl." And with that Rose hit her 'captor' over the head just hard enough to release her from his grip as she landed gracefully on the floor. "Shall we keep moving?" she asked rhetorically before moving forward followed by the other three. However just when they were about to turn the corner she stopped walking causing the others to stop too. She slowly turned her head to the others with a questioned expression. "It is me or has the temperature suddenly gotten colder?" she asked in a whisper voice. The three looked at each other carefully noticing the temperature has definitely gotten colder and it was getting colder by the second. Four heads then poked around the corner only to see that the corridors were covered in what seemed like frost, looks like beyond this point that things are going to become even colder.

"How could this have happen?" asks Amy who too spoke quietly.

"Could it be that they have adapted to extremely cold temperatures as well?" Danny asks.

"That's impossible, isn't it?" Blackout answered but he however was also unsure.

"Must you be stupid?" Came a fifth voice. Four heads immediately whipped around only to find none other than the Ultimate Life Form himself.

"Shadow??" Yelled Rose and Amy. Blackout was about to say the same thing but realised that would tip off to Amy that he actually knew him so he kept his mouth shut.

"How did you get here?" Amy asked obviously astonished.

"I'll explain later, we don't have much time-"

"Well at least you could tell us what are you doing here?"

"Well if I must say, I'm here to help you defeat this creature and to-" he stopped mid-sentence to look at the two girls properly. "Why may I ask are Miss Rose and the hedgehog wearing dresses? And why are you two wearing tuxedos?" he asked with a raised brow. "A party perhaps?"

"You guessed right." Amy said nodding her head pleased to see a good friend of hers.

"Leave Shadow, we do not need help from the likes of you." Rose said slowly making sure that he had heard every word. 'Hedgehog? Still using that nickname for me I see. Just because you left me at the age of 10 doesn't mean that I'll forget what you did to me.' Rose thought slightly sneering at the sight of Shadow. Hearing this Shadow seemed amused.

"Careful hedgehog I warned you that that temper of yours will get you into trouble one day." He says casually keeping his eyes on her. It was then that at close inspection that he noticed how she looked. He noticed that she has now grown into a young, mature and ......beautiful woman now there's a word he never thought was in his vocabulary.

"Go to hell Shadow!" she yelled snapping him out of his trance before she strike him or at least tried to as he had her pinned to the wall before anyone could blink.

"I didn't teach you everything I know little hedgehog so don't bother try to think that you are able to strike me." He whispered into her ear before letting her go. Rose growled and rubbed her wrists. She stayed silent knowing that in her weak state of that blasted parasite she had no chance to attack him just yet, however once that thing is gone then she'll teach that hedgehog why you shouldn't mess with an assassin, and a trained assassin at that.

"So, your Shadow..." the light blue highlighted hedgehog spoke, his fists clenching slightly however they were hidden due to the fact that he crossed his arms. The ebony hedgehog's head turned to face the one who spoke.

"Indeed I am and who might you be?" he too asked this, his voice calm but stern.

"My name is Danny, I see that you are the one who helped my Rose, that is, until you abandoned her." he says his voice also calm too calm considering the situation.

"My reasons for that are not to be discussed by the likes of you; as I see that you're the one who hurt her in the first place." Shadow replied.

"I have explained my reasons to her for why I did that." He retorted back at Shadow.

"So? That doesn't make it any better that you hurt her in the first place."

"Same goes for you."

"WOULD YOU TWO STOP IT!!!!!" Yelled Amy who finally got their attention, feeling a little déjà vu, she took a deep breath before continuing, "Shadow, it's nice to see you but like you say we really, really do not have time for this." She turned to Danny "As for you, pick a fight later, or I swear to god that I'll kill you both." Knowing that it wasn't an empty threat they kept quiet.

"Thank you, now Blackout, what you think that we should do?" she asks suddenly immediately catching him off guard.

"Well, I haven't really come up with anything, maybe we should find another way round?"

"There will be no point, we're going to one destination anyway, if we've come this far then we'll just continue on this corridor. Going a different way will only waste time that we haven't got enough of." Shadow said seriousness once again was detected in his voice.

"Against my morals I agree with Shadow." Surprising Rose said.

"Alright then, we'll keep going down this corridor but keep together everyone." Danny said before leading the way down the corridor followed by the others. An eerie hissing was heard when the group moved down the corridor. With Danny at the front, Amy and Rose in the middle and then Blackout and Shadow at the back for any surprise attacks, the group trod carefully making sure to keep their surroundings in sight for any traps or parasites. Every step they took made them sure that the temperature around them was dropping even rapidly, the five hedgehogs shook slightly at the cold but that didn't phase their concentration. After what seemed like hours of walking through the freezing cold corridors, the blue hedgehog at the front of the group stopped walking which made everyone else stop as well.

"What is it?" Amy whispered peering over his shoulder so that she could see what happened. She took an intake of breath at what she saw causing the other three to lean to side also. There in front of them was a white ball of gleaming light but it didn't seem threatening. Amy watched in awe as the ball of light moved back and forth slowly. She was about to walk towards it when Danny rose a hand up to her as if telling her to stay back. As if on cue another ball appeared through the wall however this ball was black and bigger than the other. The darker ball noticed the light one and without another second thought it devoured the other. How exactly? She did not know. All she did know is that whatever the darker ball was had a heavier and evil aura surrounding it and whatever it was, was getting even bigger. Rose looked at it with disgust while the other three looked at the scene with caution. When they saw the darker ball finished devouring the lighter one they watched as it floated to through the opposite wall it came through, making its exit. "What the hell was that?" Amy asked however she kept her voice low just for safe measure.

"It's seems were too late." Rose spoke as she kept her eyes on the floor.

"What's going on here? You look like you have just seen a ghost." Blackout asked.

"You guys didn't see it?" Amy turned to look at the others in disbelief, how could they not see what happened?

"I sensed something but didn't see anything. What did you see?" Amy looked at Danny in horror. Was it only her who saw it?

"It was a black ball or something devouring a smaller white ball." Rose stated simply, causing the three males to look at her oddly. Amy looked back at her in relief; at least there was someone who saw it too.

"How come you were able to see it and we weren't?" Blackout asked aloud who was basically speaking for the three males. Rose looked back at Amy and thought for a moment.

"Maybe we have some sort of connection with each other." She said while keeping her eye on Amy as if she was trying to decipher what the connection was. And then it hit her. Her eyes narrowed in realisation and snarled slightly at what she had just discovered. Throughout Rose's thoughts Amy watched her reactions, judging by her behaviour she wondered what it could be that Rose has uncovered.

"What is it Rose?" she asked her as she waited patiently for an answer.

"We're infected by the parasites, that's the connection, that's why we're able to see things that the others can't. As much as I hate to say this, it seems that these parasites are making some progress with taking over our bodies."

"Some of the parasites must have completely taken over their hosts; therefore their host's souls leave from the body and have nowhere to turn to because they are not at rest. They wonder around the building looking for somewhere out, but that black ball that Amy and Rose saw must have been a dark spirit that gets stronger by eating the souls of other people." Danny said, understanding the situation fully now.

"And how do you know all of this?" Shadow snapped at him, neither his body nor head faced him but he was glaring intently from the corner of his eye.

"I read something similar to this somewhere before." the blue hedgehog replied coolly to which Shadow just scoffed but said nothing.

"Rose," Hearing her name being called she turned to look at Amy.

"Couldn't you at least try to get along with them?" Rose turned to look at the two who were in a glaring contest before turning back to look at Amy.

"No."

"But Rose, can't you see how much they care for you?" Amy said to her mentally gesturing her to the two men.

"What are you trying to say Amy?"

"She's trying to say that those two must really care for you if they want you to give them a second chance so that they could prove themselves to you." Blackout said standing next to Amy so that he could be in a supportive manner. Rose sighed.

"Look Amy, I know your concerned but-"

"But nothing!" Amy interrupted her. "I'm your friend Rose and so are they believe it or not," she motioned to Shadow and Danny. "Look, I want to help you but I can't do that if you won't let me, couldn't you just let your guard down?" Rose looked away.

"You know I can't. If I do, I'll get hurt again. I can't go through that amount of pain again Amy, you have to understand that. It just hurts too much." She whispered towards Amy. She decided that if she was going to show some emotion, she was only going to show that to Amy and no one else.

"You won't even try?" Amy asked quietly as she looked at the floor, slightly disheartened that Rose wouldn't even attempt to do what she had suggested.

"Amy," Hearing her name she looked up to the other pink hedgehog. "I've shown you more of the real me than anyone else has seen in this organisation." Amy knew where she was going with this.

"Rose, just give them a chance, you won't be able to let this go until you sort this out." Rose stared at Blackout for a moment.

"Why are both of you determined to help me?"

"What are friends for?" Blackout countered. Rose turned back to look at the two men who were now glaring daggers at each other.

"If I get hurt again, I'll hunt both of you down and make you pay, you do realise that." Rose said after a couple of minutes contemplating the pros and cons of Amy's plea.

"Yeah, I kind of figured that you doing something against your better judgement will have a price."

"Then you know me well." And with that she walked on, not even looking behind her to see if anyone was following her, obviously establishing that the conversation is at a close. After noticing the moving hedgehog the two angered males nodded to each other in a silent promise that they shall finish this later and walked after Rose.

"Coming Miss Rose?" Shadow asked Amy who nodded in reply and unconsciously held onto Blackout's hand before tugging him along with her as they walked to catch up with the rest of the group. Even though Amy wasn't aware of her doing such an action, Blackout noticed it immediately. Having not being familiar to such an action he looked to the side slightly feeling his cheeks heating up.

"Guys! Get over here!" the voice of Rose echoed through the cold and deserted corridors to reach the rest of the group. Shadow inspected the high-tech security door in front of him wondering how to get passed it without the use of a key and the fact that the door was frozen shut didn't help matters either. "Anyone got any bright ideas?"

"I could use chaos control and-"

"No!" Amy interrupted causing the others to look at her quizzically. "If we're doing this then we're doing this as a team." Blackout nodded in an agreement.

"Amy's right, who knows what's behind that door?"

"We can't exactly stop here." Shadow said kicking the door for effect. Rose walked towards Danny before giving him a kick in the leg, in response to that he made a pained expression not really expecting her to use any other violence other than her throwing knives or her fists before giving her a what was that for? look.

"Find a way to get inside." Was her explanation for her actions.

"Why do you assume that I know how to get inside?" he asked the pink hedgehog.

"Because you know more..." she paused when trying to find the right word without revealing too much to the others. ".... Stuff... than me."

"And that qualifies me of being able to gain access to this door in this particular situation?" Rose just merely nodded.

"This is as close to a plea of help as I will get, take it or leave it." Hearing this, Danny went into a thoughtful position as if wondering what he should do.

"Just open the damn door already! Your testing my patience and we don't have much time left." Snapped Shadow when seeing Danny's laid back behaviour to this situation, in some sort of reply Danny sneered at him before muttering something from under his breath causing the ice to melt just around the door causing the door to open automatically as they all stepped inside. "If you had the ability to do that, why didn't you do that earlier?" Shadow asked but got no reply. Blackout turned around being that he was the second last person to enter through the door only to find an exhausted looking hedgehog. Danny was able to stand by the looks of things but his exhaustion was evident on his face.

"Danny, are you alright?" Blackout asked but Danny just nodded in reply before he could get closer to him.

"I'm fine, Blackout, I'm just a little tired from that spell." He took a deep breath in hope to somehow help his exhaustion. "Conjuring fire to melt ice takes some work." He then looked to Shadow. "That's why I didn't melt the ice straight away, I had a feeling that something like this would've happened." Danny walked through the door despite his tired stance until the door suddenly closed behind him, leaving the group in what seemed like eternal darkness.

If they're any mistakes or spelling errors please tell me. Once again I apologise for not updating, I hope that I shall regain the forgiveness of my readers throughout the updating of this story. I'll try and update soon or whenever my dad brings the laptop again ...