Alright everyone! I can't believe it's time. I'm actually sad this story has to end. I know I've said this at the end of A Spy's Day Off AND Shadikal: How is it Possible, but this one just takes the cake here. This is truly the best story I've ever written and you guys made it possible. And it just hit 10,000 hits!

BTW: That movie reference from the previous chapter. When Sonic told Sally to get out of his Crush 40 shirt before she jinxed the band and they break up, that was borrowed from the hit Adam Sandler movie, "The Wedding Singer." But in the movie, instead of Crush 40, the band on the shirt was Van Halen.

I would copy SilverDawn2010 and shout out the names of everyone who stuck with this story from beginning to end, but there are so many of you guys. It would take me forever to name all of you. You guys rock!

So without further ado, I give you all the final chapter to DSB. Enjoy!

Don't Stop Believin'

Chapter 15: Hold On To That Feelin'

Quarter past six. Shadow and Tikal were at the restaurant called The Brethren. It was pretty much the Mobian equivalent to a TGI Fridays. There were TV's everywhere with different sports games on, music playing, it was a family place. There were parents with children all over the place both human and Mobian. And the food was actually good there.

One by one, each couple showed up. First Knuckles and Rouge arrived and took their seats. Then Silver and Blaze came in. Followed by Tails, and then Cream and her mother arrived and the mother rabbit shot a very strange look at Shadow to which he shrugged. They had to wait a few more minutes for Sonic and Amy to arrive. And when they did, everyone was easily able to take notice of Amy's body. Because right now it was mostly covered in bruises and scratches.

"Amy! What happened to you?" Cream asked immediately worried.

"What she said." Rouge added. "You look terrible."

"Did you run into a tree or something?" Silver asked.

Amy looked at Sonic and the both of them shrugged. It wasn't anything to be proud of, but they had always been honest with their friends. So the two of them sat down, and explained everything that had happened in the past 24 hours. And needless to say, everyone was a bit surprised, and confused.

"Alright. So…let me get this straight." Knuckles gave it a shot. "Sonic's ex-girlfriend showed up trying to get him back but instead ended up getting told off by Sonic and tried to beat up Amy?"

Sonic and Amy both nodded confirming Knuckles to be correct.

"Why would we she do something like that?" Tails asked knowing Sally almost as good as Sonic. "I thought Sally would be more understanding."

"I did too, lil bro." Sonic told the young kitsune. "But not everything is quite what it seems in this crazy world."

"Are you alright, Amy?" Cream asked the hedgehog still worried.

Amy smiled at her.

"I'm alright, Cream. I promise you, I'm perfectly alright."

Vanilla patted her daughter's back.

"Don't you worry, Cream. Amy can take care of herself." But then she made a concerned look at Amy. "You didn't fight back did you?"

Amy rubbed the back of her head.

"Well….I wouldn't call it fighting back." She tried to explain. "More like…"

"She threw her hammer at Sally when her back was turned." Sonic finished for her.

Amy was smiling as she remembered how dead on her aim was when she threw that hammer. The face of that hammer hit Sally right in the back of her head. She was probably knocked unconscious after a few moments after the hammer made contact. And that was just fine with Amy. She got clawed by the bitch. She at least got in one good shot back at her.

"Yep. I sure did." Amy was damn proud of it too. "She tried to steal my hog."

"Atta girl." Rouge was not against Amy's tactics at all. "Show em' who's boss. If anyone tried to steal Knuckles away from me, I'd kick their a…"

"Rouge! Why don't we ask Shadow why he asked us all here?" Vanilla stopped Rouge before she said a word that Cream shouldn't hear.

And then everyone got back on track.

"Yeah. Why DID you call us here, Shadow?" Blaze asked him confused like the rest.

"It's not really like you to invite everyone to dinner and then offer to pay." Tails said.

Shadow shot a confused look at the young fox.

"I never said I would pay for dinner." Shadow corrected.

Tails rubbed the back of his head and chuckled.

"I know. I was kinda hoping someone could spring for me. I'm flat broke."

He had used up all of his money on tools and parts again. Whenever that kid gets his greasy gloves on any amount of cash, he had to spend it on whatever parts he could get to improve his plane. It was his curse.

Sonic sighed at his little brother.

"Don't worry, buddy. I got ya covered."

Tails smiled. He could always count on Sonic.

"Thanks a lot, Sonic."

"Now can we get back on topic?" Silver asked. "So what gives, Shadow?"

"Would this happen to do with why you've been so quiet lately?" Tikal wanted to know herself what Shadow was up to.

And the black hedgehog looked at his girlfriend and nodded.

"Yes, Tikal. It has to do with that." He went on. "The truth is, I've been thinking extra hard about something. Something that is very important."

No one still could get a clear reading from that. Just what was Shadow up to? And why was it necessary to have everyone around?

"What does this have to do with, Shadow? Are we moving away?" Tikal tried to guess.

"No." Shadow answered. "This….has to do with you and me."

Has to do with Shadow and Tikal? Now this was going somewhere. But the direction was still a bit hazy without the right details.

"Is something wrong with our relationship, Shadow?" Tikal was starting to get a bit afraid of where this might be going.

Shadow nodded. "Actually there is, Tikal. I've been thinking a lot and I've come to realize, I'm not happy the way our relationship is right now."

Those words that exited his mouth made everyone realize what was going on. What this all was. And the tears Tikal formed in her eyes added on to it.

"I get it now." She sobbed. "You're breaking up with me! And you invited our friends because you didn't want me to make a scene!"

Tikal began to cry into her hands. But when Shadow tried to say something, Rouge cut him off.

"How could you?" she shouted. "She's a sweet girl! How could you not like her?"

"You love her!" Silver was shouting too. "You said it yourself!"

"I should have known this would happen sooner or later." Knuckles remarked.

Everyone, even Cream began to voice their objections at Shadow's decision. But whenever Shadow tried to say something, they interrupted him. After about three minutes of hearing them yell at him and Tikal crying right next to him, he got fed up. He stood up, reached behind his back, pulled out his handgun, and pointed it at the roof.

*BANG BANG BANG BANG*

He fired four shots in the air and the result was exactly like he had expected. Everyone was now silenced and Tikal had stopped her blubbering. But everyone else in the joint had gone to the ground thinking it was some sort of robbery. Rouge quickly cleared it up that Shadow was authorized to carry the gun as the black hedgehog sat back down with all the shocked looks still on him.

"Now are you going to let me talk?" he spoke in that dark tone he hadn't used in quite a while.

"O….kay." Tails looked like he was about to wet himself.

"Thank you." Shadow looked back at Tikal. "Tikal, I'm not breaking up with you."

"You…you're not?" she muttered.

"Of course not. Why would why ever do that?"

"But you said you weren't happy with our relationship."

"No no no. I love you so much. I'm not happy because…well…I want more."

No one still had a clue what the heck was going on here. But then Shadow got out of his chair and stood up as he grabbed Tikal's hands with his own and held them gently.

"Tikal, I love you more than life itself. I never thought I could feel this way about anything." Shadow was going somewhere with this. "The reason I've been so quiet lately…is because I've been wanting to say something to you. Something I think I should have said a long time ago."

And then it was right there, in front of everyone in the restaurant, in front of his friends, in front of his girlfriend…

Shadow kneeled down to Tikal. And the girl's eyes, along with everyone else's, went wider than ever before.

"Tikal, I've been wanting to do this for some time now. I'm only sorry I didn't do this sooner." Shadow reached behind his back and pulled out of nowhere, a tiny black velvet box. When he opened it up, there was a ten karat diamond ring inside of it. And then Shadow asked this.

"Tikal, will you marry me?"

Almost immediately, Tikal started crying again. But this time she was happy. No. Happy wasn't the word for it. More like she was in a world of total euphoria right now. This wasn't a breakup. It was a proposal. She was so overcome with emotion she ended up going to her own knees sobbing uncontrollably. And Shadow sweatdropped because he really didn't expect this kind of a reaction. He closed the box and then hugged the girl trying to get her to calm down a bit so she could give an answer.

But even though all of them were completely overwhelmed with the shock of seeing Shadow propose, Rouge had her eye on that tiny black box. There was a gorgeous diamond ring inside of it. And her finger was about the same size as Tikal's. With everyone's eyes glued on Shadow, she actually slowly tried to make a grab for it. But Knuckles grabber her arm.

"Are you serious?" the echidna demanded. "You'd seriously steal an engagement ring from your own friend?"

"But…pretty." That was all Rouge had to say on that.

"Leave it alone." Knuckles warned. "You may be my girlfriend, but I still don't like that you're a thief. Leave it alone."

Rouge whined one last time and she put her hand back to herself. Luckily no one else noticed that.

But now Shadow had finally comforted Tikal enough to the point where her crying had calmed down. She hadn't stopped entirely, but she was at least able to talk again.

"Well?" Shadow said to her. "Aren't you going to say something?"

Shadow grabbed the box and opened it up again revealing the ring to Tikal once more. It was just so beautiful. A ten karat diamond placed on top of a golden band that would fit her left ring finger perfectly. Tikal's eyes were locked onto it. And then she finally spoke.

"Oh Shadow." She whispered as she covered her mouth with her hands. And then she nodded her head. "Yes. Of course I'll marry you."

Everyone gave a very big smile as Shadow took off Tikal's left glove, and slid the ring onto her ring finger. It was a perfect fit. After she gazed at the ring for a minute or so, Shadow helped his new fiancé up to her feet. And then everyone around them, friend or not, began to clap. The whole restaurant who feared Shadow's gun not too long ago was now clapping for his successful proposal. Then the manager, a big Mobian penguin came out.

"Congratulations!" he said. "We have a policy here. Anyone who proposes in the establishment gets a free meal courtesy of the boss. And that's me."

"Really? For all of us?" Silver asked.

"For all of you!" The penguin shouted. "Now enjoy!"

The penguin went away and Shadow and Tikal sat back down and now all the eyes were glued on them. Tikal was showing her ring to Blaze and Sonic was just staring at his black and red doppelganger.

"So that's why you've been so quiet." He figured it out. "You've been waiting for the right time to propose to her."

Shadow nodded and gave a response.

"I wanted you all to be here for this because I thought it would be easier than having to call you one by one and tell you the news." Shadow had this planned ahead apparently. "And I specifically wanted Rose to be here because now since Tikal said yes, I have a question for her."

No one exactly knew why Shadow always called Amy by her last name. Maybe it was because he wasn't as familiar with her as he was with Rouge or Tikal. But whatever.

"What is it you want to ask me, Shadow?"

Shadow actually game Amy a small smile.

"I was wondering if you would like to be the wedding planner."

Amy gasped at that. She thought she was dreaming.

"You….want me….to plan your wedding?"

Shadow nodded. "I think it's safe to say you're the one most qualified."

Just to be sure, Amy asked Sonic to pinch her. Which Sonic did. Nope. She was in full reality. Shadow had just asked her to plan the wedding for him and Tikal.

"I accept! I totally accept!" Amy had just turned on the girl within. "Alright, you two just set a date and I'll let my mind finesse on ideas."

"We'll keep you posted." Tikal said to her.

And then Tikal just felt like she had to kiss Shadow. And she did. With all her passion. She didn't care who was watching. She wanted everyone to know how strong her love for him was. And Shadow felt the same thing right back at her. He wrapped his hands around the dreadlocks on the back of her head and pressed his lips harder against hers.

And the sight of that made Silver and Blaze want to kiss too. Which of course they did. And sooner than expected, Knuckles and Rouge started kissing too. And then Sonic and Amy just looked at them.

"Do you think that'll be us one day, Sonic?" Amy asked referring to Shadow and Tikal.

Sonic shrugged. "Maybe someday, Ames. Maybe someday."

The hedgehogs were now looking into each other's green eyes.

"Well I for one won't stop believing we will." Amy said.

Neither them noticed the pun. And then Sonic unknowingly made another one.

"You hold on to that feeling, Amy. And don't let it go."

And then, just like that, Amy and Sonic began to make out too. Seconds later, by either some freak coincidence or some spiritual thing, the famous Journey song came upon the speakers of the restaurant.

Just a small town girl

Livin' in a lonely world

She took a midnight train goin' anywhere

As the song went on, no one but Sonic and Amy seemed to care. This song would forever be THEIR song. It symbolized a lot for them. Amy never stopped believing in Sonic, and Sonic always had a feeling in his heart for Amy. And by that song, they two of them were united. And now they had a wedding to look forward to.

But that's another story.

XXX

Well, there you have it folks! It's finally done. And I think we all know what this means.

SHADIKAL WEDDING TIME!

I think it's about time I did another Shadikal. And I'm thinking about starting up some sort of contest for all you guys. I'll keep you posted on that.

Thanks to all of you who made this story so great. And I'll be back soon with the new wedding story soon.

But until then, as always, peace bitches.