Note to readers: I'm so sorry for being late with putting this chapter for all of you. I guess that trying to add more characters into this story and improving it proved to be more difficult than I imaged. In any case, I'm still planning to put World Three into the story as well as some of SEGA's most popular characters at Chapter 8. In any case, I hope that I get reviews from all of you. It would really mean a lot to get some honest feedback so that I could improve more. I also want to apologize on making the chapter too long. But I had too many ideas in my mind and it all came out and once. In any case, I would like to thank the group known as Generation A for their continued support. Oh, and Megaman-NG, thanks for the reviews that you've submitted. It really means a lot. I would also like to thank AnimeMasterZero for putting up the story of his called "Rockman Exe: The College Years." This story of his is just starting to heat up and I hope that I get to see more chapters soon. Well, that's about it for this month. Later!

Part 7

Miguel suddenly started wake up all of a sudden for as he rose from his bed and looked around the room that he's in. After asking the Chaotix all about what they have been doing near the advanced terminal, the teen began to sigh with both confusion and amusement for when he heard that they were speaking with both Lan and MegaMan. Before he could ask anything else about their little conversation, Miguel heard Sylphiel yawning from the distance meaning that she must've been tired for all that's happened today. It had been around 8:20 p.m. at the time the last time he checked a clock for the current time. That was when he decided that they should all call it a night and get their rest so that they could save up their strength for when they searched for the remaining piece of the Chaos Emerald tomorrow.

The Chaotix were a bit disappointed with the thought of having to sleep early at the time, but Miguel quickly reminded them of why they were all in the world that they're in now. After a few moments of numerous arguments and whining, the teen was finally able to get the four Mobians to agree with getting to bed and resting up for the next day. That was when they started to search through the huge tree house to see if there are any bedrooms to sleep in. Lucky for them, they were able to find five separate rooms with a bed in each of them as well as some cabinets and closets for cloths. They even have windows on top of the ceiling so that they could have a nice view of the sky.

As soon as they've found out the number of rooms there are, Miguel started to discuss on who should take what room. They all agreed that Charmy is still a little too young to have a room on his own so Mighty was glad to share a room with the young bee. Both Vector and Espio happily agreed to both have a room of their own as well as both Miguel and Sylphiel.

In any case, just as he looked at the window on the ceiling, the teen saw the night sky being decorated with the numerous amounts of stars that adorn its black surface. "Now what was that disturbance that I've just felt?" Miguel thought to himself as he tried to understand the energy that he'd just felt during his sleep. "What could be that strong enough to wake me up? Whatever it is, it was able to emit a strong amount of Chaos Energy. The only being that I could think of that would be able to emit that much power is Nightmare Parasite Chaos and it could be in another dimension rotting in some hole. But, it's strange. The energy that I'm feeling right now isn't like Parasite's. Almost as if it were this being was human but not completely. I don't know, maybe it's just about what happened to me today that's been really bugging me."

As he thought about those thoughts, the teen got up from the bed and began to look around his surroundings and saw that he was still in the same world that he landed in along with Sylphiel and the Chaotix. "Hee! Two years ago, this all would've been strange to me," he thought to himself just as he laid himself back on the mattress of the bed he was sleeping on. "I mean, no one back in my world would ever believe what I've just been through and saw throughout this time. I mean, it probably wouldn't matter since time over there is much slower for when I'm outside it. I mean, for all I know, by the time I do get back to my world it would be as if I've never left. If anyone were to learn of this, they probably want to get here too and..."

Just before he could finish the rest of his thoughts, Miguel started to hear a knock coming from the entrance to his room. "I wonder who would be up at this time?" the teen thought to himself just as he looked at the watch on the wall and saw that it was about 2:00 a.m. in the morning before he began to speak. "Who is it? Do you know that it's 2:00 a.m. in the morning?"

"Miguel, it's me, Sylphiel," he heard the voice of his female friend saying to him while at the same time using a meek and innocent tone of voice as he was surprised from the response.

"Sylphiel? Just what in the world are you doing up at this time?" the teen asked with a curious and shocked tone just as the shrine maiden just as he approached the door and reached for the knob.

As soon as he opened the door, Miguel saw Sylphiel right in front of the door with both her priestess cape and vestments removed revealing her broad and yet soft shoulders. He also saw her arms crossing over each other as he saw her feeling helpless and cold from the night. From what he could see in her face, the teen could tell that the shrine maiden is feeling very helpless and frighten.

"Hey, what is it, Sylphiel?" the teen asked his female friend just as he spoke with a concerned and yet tired tone in his voice. "Is something bothering you? Did you have a bad dream or something?"

There was an awkward and long silence for a moment for when Miguel asked that question. Before he could have the chance to break the long silence with his voice, the teen heard Sylphiel speaking to him with a shy and quiet tone, "It's nothing, Miguel. I've just had a terrible feeling within my body just as I was sleeping and looked all over the place to see where it came from. It's like nothing that I've ever felt before since our first encounter with Nightmare Parasite. But the energy that I'm feeling is nothing like that disgusting thing. It's almost as if it were part human as well, only this one is extremely terrifying and powerful."

"I guess that I wasn't the only one that sensed the power that I've felt a moment ago," Miguel thought to himself just as he placed one of his hands on one of the shrine maiden's shoulders and began to speak to her with a reassuring tone in his voice. "Sylphiel, I'm not too sure that it's something that we need to worry about. I've felt the same thing too and it's just like what you've just described."

The teen soon heard a surprising gasp coming from his female companion from the response that he gave to her. "Look, it might probably just be nothing, Sylphiel," Miguel responded to Sylphiel with a calm tone just as he took his hand off of her shoulder and started to reach for the door. "It could be some sort of reaction that we're having towards the Chaos Emerald shard that we're looking for or it could be just another nightmare that we're having. In any case, we can't do anything about it now. We should just try to get back to sleep and..."

Before he could finish the rest of his sentence, he heard the shrine maiden cutting into his words by saying to him while at the same time giving him a teary-eyed look as she embraced herself harder as if she's suffering from a chill, "Miguel, I don't want to go back into my room. You see, the truth is that I'm afraid of sleeping or being alone."

This new information took Miguel by surprised for when he heard those words come out of the young female's mouth. He didn't think that the shrine maiden mind if she were to take a room for herself. But hearing this coming from her lips simply changes things.

"Sylphiel, why did you tell me this just now?" the teen asked the shrine maiden just as he moved out of the way for her to enter his room and closed the door. "I mean, when we were arranging for who gets which room, we all thought that you wouldn't mind having a room to yourself. I mean, you sure were polite about it."

"(Sighs) I just didn't want to offend anyone for when they've asked me about it," Sylphiel responded to Miguel's words with a soft tone just as she sat on the bed that he was laying on. "I'm sort of used to dealing with the feelings that I have for whenever I sleep alone. But, whenever I do, I wake up in the morning only to find myself all alone in whatever room I slept in with tears in my eyes. I just don't want to be that way anymore. Do you mind if I slept with you for tonight so that you could keep me company?"

The very question sort caught the teen surprised and off guard for when he heard those words from the shrine maiden. He even started to blush at the thought of the young woman sharing the same bed as he is. "Whoa! Wait a minute, Sylphiel!" he said to his female friend with a confused and panicked tone in his voice just as he saw her facing his direction with a look of confusion on her pretty face. "Now, I understand that you can't stand having to sleep all alone in a room by yourself, but this is just so sudden! I mean, the two of us sleeping in the same room together is just too soon! I mean, we shouldn't be...!"

Before he could have the chance to finish the rest of his sentence, Miguel's words were soon cut off for when he heard the shrine maiden saying to him with calm and yet disappointed tone of voice just as he saw her starting to get up from his bed to leave, "I'm so sorry, Miguel. I didn't mean to startle you like that. I'll just leave you alone and I won't be a bother to you anymore."

Before he could give her the chance to do so, the teen started to regain his full composure and said to her with a mutual tone, "Wait a minute, Sylphiel! I didn't mean it like that. I mean, I don't mind sharing the bed with you. Uh, I mean, I was just too confused and shocked for when you asked me to keep you company. I just didn't think that you wouldn't like me touching you anywhere on your body. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings by saying that."

As soon as he said those words, Miguel saw Sylphiel starting to face away from the door to his room and said to him with a cute and hopeful expression on her face, "I know that you wouldn't do this sort of thing to me, Miguel. You're one of the most trusted friends that I've ever had. So, does this mean that I could be allowed to sleep with you for tonight?"

While giving into the puppy dog eyes that the shrine maiden gave to him, the teen soon began to give off a sigh of defeat just as he spoke with a calm tone, "I guess that I have no choice in the matter. So I guess that it's okay for you to stay here if you want."

As he saw a happy expression starting to appearing on her face, Miguel blushed for when he saw Sylphiel starting to wrap her arms around his body just as she said, "Thank you, Miguel! You don't know how happy that you've made me! I promise that I won't be a bother to you for when I get on your bed!"

"But I still don't think that the two of us sharing the same bed together is such a good idea, Sylphiel," the teen said to the shrine maiden just as he released himself from her embrace and tried to not blush right in front of her. "I mean, I should just sleep on the floor if just being near me is making you uncomfortable. I don't want to..."

Just as he was about to protest, Miguel started to hear the cute giggles of Sylphiel just before he saw her walking towards his bed and alreadied laid herself on one of the sides of his bed while wrapping her entire body within the blankets. "Don't worry about that, Miguel," the shrine maiden said playfully just as he saw her starting to get comfortable within the bed's soft mattress as well as the pillows and blankets. "Both you and I could just tuck in separate blankets so that we wouldn't be touching each other. But if you really want to..."

"Okay! I think that the two of us should be getting to sleep right now!" the teen responded to his female friend rapidly just as he closed to door quietly and started to approach his side of the bed while trying not to show the blush on his face. That was when he became a bit hesitate for when he was about to get into the bed.

"Great! This is totally embarrassing! I'm going to sleep in bed next to a very beautiful girl!" He thought to himself with a nervous tone in his mind's voice just as he started to go into the bed with the shrine maiden while at the same time breathing in some air to calm himself. "Okay, Miguel. Just stay cool and don't do anything that might embarrass you or her for the rest of your lives. Just keep yourself covered with another blanket and you'll be just fine."

As soon as his thoughts were finished and his body full wrapped around the blanket, Miguel turned his face towards Sylphiel's direction and saw her already starting to drift off to sleep. "Well, at least it's easier for her to get to sleep," the teen thought to himself just as he stared at the peaceful expression on his female's companion's face before turning away. "It must be rough for her to deal with the kind of pain that she's going through all by herself. Especially for when it comes to dealing with the lost of everything she loves. Well, at least she'll be able to sleep easier tonight since I'm going to be the one to keep her company. All I have to do is just don't make too much movements that might disturb her and then..."

Miguel's thoughts were soon cut short for when he felt something wrapping themselves all around his own body. He then started to blush furiously for when he realized that it was the shrine maiden's own arms being wrapped around him. Just as he was about to release himself from her arms' embrace, the teen began to hear Sylphiel's relaxed and drowsy voice saying to him with another cute giggle in her voice as she cuddle closer to him with a strong hold, "Holding something like this actually helps me to sleep a lot better. Besides, you're so soft and warm to hold. Mmmmmm. I hope that you don't mind."

Before he knew it, Miguel soon found himself mumbling nervously and quietly to her while blushing madly, "Well...I-I-I don't k-k-k-now about that, S-S-S-Sylphiel! I d-d-d-don't think that a-a-a girl like you is s-s-suppose to do th-th-that! I mean, th-th-th-this is so inappro...!"

Before he could have the chance to finish the rest of his sentence, the teen started to hear the cute giggling of Sylphiel just as he felt her embrace growing tighter and felt her face being snuggled onto his back. "But I like it like this, Miguel," he heard her saying to him with a childish and drowzy tone just as Miguel tried his best to turn himself to face the shrine maiden while at the same time trying to loosen the strong arms' embrace that he was in.

Before he knew what was happening, he soon found her head starting to rest on his chest with a peaceful expression on her face. As soon as he looked at Sylphiel's face and was about to argue some more, the teen soon found himself looking at her sleeping face and just didn't have the heart to tell her to let him go. "Well, at least she's now asleep," he thought to himself while giving off a quiet sigh of relief just before he felt the beautiful female starting to embrace him more tighter than the first time as if he were a huge stuffed animal. "Well, she does look rather cute sleeping like this. I mean, no one else is in the room right now to make us feel embarrassed. Now that I think about it. It really doesn't feel all that bad having a beautiful young woman in my arms that only wants to have some company. I must be in heaven!"

As soon as he finally realized what he just thought, Miguel soon started to shake his head off just before he tried to get his thoughts in order, "What was I thinking! Why would I have thoughts like that! I mean, Sylphiel has got to be older than me by about two years and here I am wrapping my arms around her! What the hell am I even doing considering the thought!"

Before he could have the chance to consider the thoughts even further, the teen soon found himself yawning and becoming a bit too drowzy from the mental struggle that he had with himself. "Man, am I so tired," Miguel thought to himself just as finally gave up and started to embrace Sylphiel with his own arms. "I guess that I have to get some rest as well. I mean, no use in worrying about a problem like this for when a piece of the Chaos Emerald is still out there somewhere. Well, it's off to dreamland for me."

"Good night, Sylphiel. Sweet dreams," that was what the teen said softly to the shrine maiden in his arms just before he closed his eyes and began to dose off to sleep.

For when she first opened her eyes and woke up to the morning sun, Sylphiel started to look around the place that she's in more refreshed than she had been for years. Just as she was about to get up from her resting place, the shrine maiden felt two arms being wrapped around her body as if she were a stuffed animal. Just as she could panic about the realization that someone is in the bed with her, Sylphiel looked up at the person that she's with and saw that it was none other than her friend Miguel that has his arms wrapped all around her body. That was when the memory of last night's events started to come into her mind calming her down a bit.

"I'm just glad that it didn't lead to anything...final," Sylphiel thought to herself just as she blushed at the thought that crawled through her mind before she calmed herself down a bit as she began to release herself from the younger male's embrace. "I guess that all I need was a little company to help me sleep better. Miguel was certainly good person to allow me to sleep with him like this.

"Perhaps I should do something to thank him. Maybe a well-cooked breakfast would be a good way of showing him how grateful I am for letting me hold him last night. Yeah, I'm sure that the Chaotix wouldn't mind a good breakfast either. After all, they would all need the energy if they're all going to track down the last shard to the Chaos Emerald. Speaking of which, I'd better go back to my room and check on it."

As she reluctantly released herself from her male companion's embrace, the shrine maiden started to blush a bit just before she calmed herself down a bit in order to think properly. Sylphiel started to notice Miguel starting to stir a bit in his own sleep for a moment just before he dozed right back to his own slumber. The shrine maiden then sighed quietly to herself as she began to quietly walk towards the entrance of the bedroom. Sylphiel was also glad that she wasn't able to wake up anyone from the other rooms so that she wouldn't have to explain to the Chaotix about why she coming was out of Miguel's room.

Just as she re-entered the bedroom that she was about to sleep in, the shrine maiden began to search within her cape, a dickery that has a red jewel embedded onto it, purple gloves, and tunic that's on the chair besides her both of her violet boots. As soon as she finished rummaging through her priestess attire, Sylphiel soon found herself looking at a near-completed green Chaos Emerald within her hands as it sparkled like another piece of jewelry.

"It's still hard for me to believe that this little jewel could contain so much power," she thought to herself as she continued to stare at the green jewel with a fasinated look beaming all around her face. "I mean, from the moment that I've first took a look at one of these from one of my previous adventures, I thought that they would be harmless. Now after discovering that I've absorbed some of its latent energies and harnessed powers and abilities that I never knew I had."

Sylphiel paused for a long moment just before placing the cosmic emerald back in its place and started to think about having to sleep with Miguel last night for when she felt terrified at sleeping all alone. The thought soon caused her to blush just as she dismissed it and started to put on both of her boots. Before she knew it, the shrine maiden was marching herself outside of her bedroom and towards the kitchen.

"Now it's time for me to get breakfast started," the female thought to herself just as she entered into the kitchen and started to rummage through the refrigerator in order to get the ingredients needed in order to begin her next great meal. "Now, let's see. We have eggs, bacon, sausage, orange juice, butter, milk, hash browns, and pancake mix. This is perfect! These ingredients are just what I needed. I do sure hope there's enough for everyone. I guess I'd better get started."

With those thoughts done in her mind, Sylphiel started to grab all of the ingredients that she listed in her mind and started to make the breakfast that she has planned to make for everyone that are still asleep within their rooms.

Just as he was suddenly awoken by the loud voice of his Navi, Lan did all that he could to keep from falling onto the ground. The boy started to grumble a bit for just as he started to say to his friend, "MegaMan, why did you do that for? I was having such a nice dream!"

"Well, if I hadn't yelled, then you wouldn't be able to get up at all," he heard his blue Net Navi saying to him with a stern and scolding tone of voice. "Anyway, you've already spend about fifteen minutes staying in bed while I was trying to get you to wake up. If you don't get a move on, you'll be late for Ms. Mari's class...again! You only have like about fifteen minutes to be there on time, so you'd better hurry up!"

With those words said by his Navi, Lan quickly began to grab his usual daily attire and started to change out of his bed wear. Before he knew it, he was rushing down the stairs of his home while trying to get his blue head band on his head. That was when he started to notice the smell of his mother's delicious cooking reaching his nose just as he walked towards the dining room. As soon as he reached his destination, Lan soon found himself listening to his mother humming her usual cheerful tune just as she finished making several hash browns.

"Morning mom!" the boy said to his mother just as he saw her turning towards him with a smile on her face.

"Morning Lan, I see that you've been waking up late again as always," she said to him with a giggle in her voice just before she arrived into the dining room with a plate that has eggs, bacon, hash browns, and pancakes on it. "Now, do you want some orange juice with your breakfast or would you rather prefer milk?"

"I prefer to have some juice, please!" Lan responded just as he started to quickly gobble up everything that's on his plate in matter of minutes before wiping the outside of his mouth with his napkin. "But please make it quick! I'm already late enough to get to Ms. Mari's as it is!"

"Oh? Didn't you get that e-mail notice from your school, Lan?" he heard his mother asking just as he was starting to become shocked with what his mother said.

"Notice? How come that I've never heard of it up until now?" the head-banded teen asked while at the same time trying not to choke on the food that he has in his within his mouth before turning his full attention towards his P.E.T.with a annoyed expression towards his Navi. "MegaMan, how come that you've never mentioned anything from the school before you woke me up?"

As if to respond to his question, he heard the little blue Navi chuckling nervously just as he spoke, "Ha. Ha. Ha. I guess that I was just too busy with trying to get you up that I've totally forgot all about it. But I'll go check your inbox right now and see if it's there."

Just as he drank the glass of orange juice that his mother prepared for him, Lan patiently awaited for what his Net Navi found for him. A few seconds later, he quickly turned his full attention back towards his little blue friend while at the same time seeing him with a nervous smile on his face, "Well, it seems mom was right about that e-mail from the school after all, Lan. It says that due to some unexplained occurrences that took place in Dentech Academy yesterday, the school would be closed up until Monday for it's under the full investigation of the Net Police. I guess that there wasn't a reason for me to wake you up after all. Ah, ha ha ha."

As he heard the blue Navi's nervous and quiet chuckle, he was just too focused on what his friend said before. "Dentech Academy is closed up because of strange things that happened there?" Lan thought to himself as he stared at his empty plate. "Then what I've just experienced wasn't a dream after all! Those animal-like aliens from a bizzare world, the two humans from possibly alternate reality of my world, the Chaos Emerald, the Star Sword, and those green pirate ghost-like creatures. Everything that both me and MegaMan as well as our friends just experienced last night was all real! Even that annoy conversation that Vector was trying to...!"

Just before he could have the chance to finish the rest of his thoughts, the head-banded boy soon heard the voice of his own mother saying to him while at the same time trying to get his full attention with a worried tone, "Lan, are you alright? You haven't touched a bite of your food and you usually eat about four plate fulls of breakfast."

"Mom's right about that, Lan," he heard the voice of his Navi saying to him with the same concerned tone in his voice while the boy looked at his friend. "You usually start pigging out at the sight of food right in front of you. Now what's wrong?"

As soon as he heard those words, Lan soon snap himself out of his thoughts and began to say to both his Navi and mother by saying with a cheerful tone of voice, "No, it's nothing. It's just that I thought that I was a little surprised that school is going to be canceled. Not that I would mind having the day off and all."

"Oh, I bet you would," he heard MegaMan saying to him with a sarcastic and smart-aleck tone in his voice. "I mean, with me trying to get you to wake up every morning, you should call it a miracle."

"Shut up, MegaMan," was the boy's response to his Navi while at the same time doing noticing the plate full of food right in front of him along with orange juice as he began to eat at a slower pace. "Thanks for the second helping, mom!"

"You're welcome, Lan!" he heard his mother saying to him while hearing her humming her usual happy tone just as he also heard the sounds of sizzling food coming from the kitchen. "Hey Lan, did you happen to contact that young man Miguel that brought you home last night to thank him? He really seems like a nice young man along with his friends dressed in those animal costumes."

When those words reached his ears, Lan found himself starting to say to his mother with a sort of surprised tone in his voice, "Mom, I've just barely met the guy and those two costumed kids. I don't even know if they even have Navis or not, let alone their own P.E.T.s."

"Well don't be so sure about that, Lan," his blue Navi responded to him with a sort of mutual tone in his voice. "Last night, Vector and the guys called up on us to see how we're doing and they also...!"

Before he could allow his Navi friend to speak further into the subject, the head-banded Netbattler began to say to his friend with a stern voice as he pushed the MUTE button on his P.E.T. in order to silence him, "MegaMan! You shouldn't be telling mom all about that! Now's not the time to start talking about me and Maylu having a good relationship or stuff like that!"

As soon as he finally realized what he just said out loud, Lan began to turn towards the entrance of the kitchen and saw his mother looking at him with a small but happy and mischievous grin on her face just as she said to him, "So, what's this about you and Maylu having a small relationship, Lan? It seems to me that that's what you've been trying to keep MegaMan from talking about. So what did this person Vector say about this relationship that you've had with Maylu, Lan?"

The young twelve year old boy began to blush with a shade of red on his face for when he heard those words from his mother. He was blushing so badly that he wished that he could crawl into a hole and die. Just before he could even have the chance to explain about what happened, Lan began to hear his Personal Terminal starting to beep rapidly signaling him that someone sent in a message. Seeing this as the perfect excuse to get out of his current predicament, the boy began to say to his mother with a rushed tone in his voice, "Sorry, mom! I have to answer this one! It could be from the Net Police and I have to answer it through my room. Thanks for the food!"

Just before he could give his mom the chance to say 'You're welcome,' or anything for that matter, Lan was up and running up towards the stairs to his room. As soon as he was in the confines of his own room, the young boy started to push the MUTE button on his P.E.T. again and before he knew it, he began to hear the voice of his blue Navi beginning to say to his NetOp with an annoyed tone in his voice, "Lan! I hate it for when you push that button! You have no right to do that just when I was about to say something!"

"Well, you shouldn't be spilling the beans about something as personal as to what Vector said about both me and Maylu in the first place, MegaMan," Lan replied to his Navi with a annoyed and angered tone just as he placed his P.E.T. on his computer terminal's own port. "Besides, I wasn't the only one who was embarrassed for when those guys also mentioned about you having a crush on Roll and..."

"Lan, I think that we should just forget about that and get a good look at that e-mail that just arrived!" MegaMan said with an embarrassed and yet serious tone in his voice just as he saw the blue Navi starting to scan the e-mail data that was sent while at the same time calming himself down. "Lan, it's from Mr. Famous. He says that he would want you to go to headquarters along with Chaud. Apparently, he would like to ask you some things about what happened yesterday."

"Well, I guess that I should get going there then," the boy replied to his Navi with a sigh of annoyance as he began to marched out of his room and towards the hall.

Just as he was about to go through the front door and pick up his shoes, Lan heard the voice of his mother saying to him, "Lan, where are you going at this time, dear? Aren't you going to finish the rest of your breakfast?"

"I'm off to the Net Police HQ, mom!" the boy responded to his mother's words just as he finished tying the laces on his shoes. "Something important just came up and I have to go see what it is. It won't take me too long to get it done so I'll be back in a little bit."

"Just be back by the afternoon!" he heard the voice of his mother saying to him with just before he exited through the front door and started to attach his skates onto the bottom of his shoes.

Just as he skated along streets of his neighborhood, Lan began to hear the voice of his Navi saying to him, "Do you think that Famous and Chaud are going to ask all about what happened yesterday?"

"Somehow, I think that it's going to be a lot more than that, MegaMan," the boy said to his blue friend while at the same time passing through a STOP sign and skated towards his left. "I mean, how would you explain to them that we just had a close encounter with two humans and animal-like aliens from another planet?"

"Yeah, I see your point there, Lan," he heard MegaMan responding to him with a thoughtful tone before speaking again. "Speaking of whom, how do you think those guys doing in Yai's treehouse right now?"

"Well, we could go there on our way back from the main office of the Net Police," Lan answered to his Navi while at the same time seeing his destination coming within his sights as he closed in on it. "Right now though, I don't want to know what they're planning to do. After what that Vector guy tried to do by asking us about our personal lives, I'd rather not know what those guys are planning to do with us. But for now, let's focus on getting to the meeting before we show up late again."

"For once, I'm not going to argue with you on that one, Lan," the young head-banded Netbattler heard his blue Navi saying just as he jetted himself through the entrance of the Net Police Building and started for Famous's office.

Just as the four of them began to march out of each of their own rooms, the Chaotix were a bit surprised for when they saw Sylphiel in the kitchen near the stove cooking some meat while at the same time trying to prepare some dishes on the counter next to the stove that she's working on. That was when Vector chose that moment to speak his mind for as he said, "Yo, what up, girl? What are you doing up at this hour? And is that bacon that I smell coming from the stove?"

As if to respond to the green crocodile's question, the four Mobians heard her being startled and then began to speak to them with a sort of calm and friendly tone of voice just as they saw her giving them a beautiful smile on her face, "Hello, everybody! I hope that you all don't mind that I've made breakfast for everyone. It's seems that there's little too much food in the refrigerator so I thought that I would be able to make everyone breakfast as a surprise."

"No, we don't mind at all, Sylphiel," Mighty said to the shrine maiden as he looked as surprised as the rest of his companions just as he looked on and continued to watch her cook the food that's on the stove. "It's just that you've surprised us a bit for when we saw you cooking breakfast at this time."

"Well, I don't mind cooking and serving everyone breakfast, Mighty," they all heard Sylphiel saying just as they all saw her coming out from the kitchen and looked at her dirty hands that's covered with the grease of the food that she was cooking on the frying pan. "I thought that since every one of you were so nice to me about what I've told you last night, I figured that I would thank all of you by making breakfast for everyone."

"Why that's a nice thing for you to do, Sylphiel," Espio said to the shrine maiden while at the same time yawning with exhaustion in his voice. "We're really starving after that long sleep we all had last night, I'm prepared to have some food in my belly."

"That's for sure, Espy!" they all heard the voice of their young friend Charmy starting to say to them while at the same time watching the bee flying up towards the young human girl before speaking again. "Do you want help with trying to get breakfast for everyone on the table, Sylphiel? I would be more than happy to help out."

"Hee! Hee! Hee! Sure, Charmy. That's very sweet of you," they heard Sylphiel responding to the young bee's request with a cute giggle in her voice just as three of the Chaotix saw him starting to fly towards the kitchen with so much energy and enthusiasm. "Since you're going to help me out, think that you could start by helping me stir the bacon on the stove while I prepare the pancake mix?"

"Sure thing, Miss Sylphiel!" the three Mobians heard the young bee saying to the shrine maiden while at the same time walking towards the entrance towards the kitchen of the treehouse and saw Charmy already starting to stir the sizzling bacon on the frying pan.

"Yo! What about us?" Vector asked with a serious tone just as he entered the room along with both Espio and Mighty who were starting to look worried and sighed with defeat. "Isn't there anything that the rest of us could do to help with preparing breakfast?"

"Don't worry about a thing, Vec," Charmy responded to the green crocodile while at the same time continuing to stir the nearly perfected meat that's on the frying pan. "You guys could just sit down in the living room and relax while both me and Sylphiel continue to get breakfast ready. The two of us should be able to get it ready."

"Yeah. Yeah, Charms. Whatever you say," Espio said to the young bee while he and his two companions started for the dining room and sat at a random chair of his choice before speaking to both Mighty and Vector. "Boy, guys. You'd think that with all that energy that Charmy is putting to help out Sylphiel, it make him look like that he was interested in her."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, Espy," Mighty responded to the purple chameleon with a smile on his face while at the same time tilting his chair backwards as he kept his seat in balance. "He could be attracted to all kinds of pretty girls, but at least he's got better matters than Vector did around Cream's mom."

"Hey! I'm not that bad, Might!" the green crocodile said to the armadillo with an annoyed tone of voice just as he looked at him with a threatening glare on his face before calming down as soon as he realized something. "Hey, has anyone seen Miguel this morning?"

"You know Vec, I was thinking the exact same thing," Espio said to the croco while at the same time looking all around the room to see where their human friend could be. "I haven't seen a trace of that guy since we all got up. Just where in the world is he?"

As if on cue, all three members of the Chaotix soon heard a big yawn coming from the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. Before either of them knew it, they all saw the tired image of their human friend Miguel starting to tiredly approach them while at the same time trying his best to get himself fully awake. As soon as he reached one of the chairs around table and sat himself down on one of them, the three Mobians heard the human teen giving out another yawn that sounded like a lion trying to awake from its long slumber.

"So, did you have a nice sleep last night, Miguel?" Espio asked Miguel with a curious tone in his voice while at the same time seeing him stretch both his arms and legs.

As soon as they saw him finishing with stretching his limbs, the three Chaotix members heard their human friend starting to say to them while at the same time giving out another loud and long yawn, "(Yawn!) You could say that, Espio. (Sniffs) Hey, is that some of Sylphiel's cooking that I'm smelling right now?"

"Yep, you got that right, homeboy!" Vector responded to the human teen with a smile on his reptilian face. "From the way that girl of yours cooks, I'd say that she were an expert chef or a home maker of some kind."

Before they could hear Miguel responding to the green crocodile's words while trying to deny that Sylphiel was "his girl," they soon saw the beautiful human girl coming out of the kitchen not expecting her to make her entrance. They soon noticed that she turned her full attention towards the young man's direction with a bright smile starting to appear on her face before she said to him with a polite and yet shy tone in her voice, "Oh, Miguel. I didn't hear you come in while I was cooking. I see that you're awake already. Well, don't worry about breakfast. Both me and Charmy should be able to get it ready for you as well as the rest of the Chaotix in a matter of minutes. Do you think that you could be patient a bit more while I get the rest of our breakfast ready?"

"Oh, well sure I can Sylphiel," they heard Miguel responding to the beautiful girl with a sort of shy and flustered tone in his voice. "Just take all of the time that you need. The last thing that we would want is for you to burn whatever it is that you're cooking for breakfast. Heh!"

As soon as they heard the two teens saying those words, Vector, Espio, and Mighty soon focused their full attentions towards Miguel who they saw starting to become a bit flustered with what his female companion said to him. That was when they also noticed that the shades of red starting to appear on the shrine maiden's beautiful face while looking like an innocent girl being asked out on a date. That was when the long silence was broken for when Sylphiel said, "Well, I guess I'd better help Charmy get the rest of the breakfast ready. Despite having cooked before, he's still a small child. I'll see you in a little bit."

"Well, it already looks to me like both Miguel and Sylphiel have something very interesting that they wouldn't want anyone around here to find out," the green crocodile thought to himself with a sly grin on his face just as he saw the shrine maiden beginning to leave the dining room and turned his full attention towards Miguel again who was still a bit flustered. "Judging from the way those two are acting towards one another, I'd say that those two are starting to get the hint about one another. Perhaps I won't need to launch my plan on those two since they're both mature adults. Besides, I do owe them one for helping us take out that monster back in Miguel's world and they deserved some privacy after..."

Just before Vector could have the chance to finish the rest of his thoughts, he along with Miguel, Espio, and Mighty were suddenly startled by the voice of the young human girl named Yai who was speaking to them with a sly tone of voice as she seemed to appear out of nowhere, "Heh! Heh! Heh! It looks to me that both Miguel and Sylphiel are a bit embarrassed about what they did last night."

"Yo! Where did you come from, Yai?" Mighty said to the little blonde girl with a surprised tone in his voice just as all three of the Chaotix started to turn towards the source of where the voice came from and saw the little girl grinning at them with a sly and playful smile on her young face.

"And what do you mean by what you said about both Miguel and Sylphiel having done something last night?" Espio added to his friend's words with both a confused and surprised tone in his voice just before he spoke again. "Just where in the world do you get infomation like that anyway?"

"That's what I'd like to know myself," they all heard Miguel suddenly spoke up with a suspicious and yet nervous tone in his voice as the three Mobians saw him keeping his eyes aimed at Yai.

"Well, just to remind all of you that I'm the rightful owner of the building that you're all sleeping in, remember?" the young human girl said to the three Mobians while her big forehead shined with light with a mischevous grin on her face as she held up a couple of photos within her hand. "As for how I knew about what those two did, I had Glyde look over at all of the security cameras that have been installed all around the treehouse in case any intruders come in. I also had him take a couple of pictures of the two of them nestled in each others' arms like a cute married couple!"

As soon as they all heard those words, the three members of the Chaotix all heard Miguel starting to give out a panicked gasp just as he spoke to Yai while getting up from his seat, "Wh-Wh-What! Just how in the world were you able to take a picture of both me and Sylphiel like that and what makes you think that we are a couple! First of all, Sylphiel came into my room last night because she's scared of being all by herself at night and she looks so defenseless and cute for when she asked to sleep with me in my room. I've felt so bad for her that I've allowed her to come into my room and..."

That was when they heard the older human teen cutting his words short for when he realized what he just said. Everyone in the room soon saw him starting to sit back down on the seat that he was in with an embarrassed expression on his face as well as a shade of red on his face. "I'm so terribly sorry to have taken those pictures, Miguel," the three friends heard the voice of the butler Navi Glyde saying to their human friend with an apologenic tone of voice while his image appeared over the P.E.T. device that his NetOp held. "It's just that Miss Yai gets so curious for when she noticed that both you and Miss Sylphiel being rather friendly to one another like you shown us yesterday. She just couldn't help it."

"Glyde, just go off in your daily rounds and come back for when you're done," the three members of the Chaotix heard the little girl saying to her Navi just before they saw Glyde bowing respectfully and his image disappearing from above her Personal Terminal.

She then turned towards Miguel's direction with an amused expression just as she held out a couple of pictures towards their direction before speaking again, "Well, well, well. It seems that Miguel here is a bit embarrassed about what both he and Sylphiel did last night! Hee! Hee! Hee! Well, I'm sure that the Chaotix would be more than interested to take a peek at what..."

Just before Yai could have the chance to finish the rest of her sentence, Vector suddenly spoke up with a serious tone in his voice as he said to her while raising his hand towards her direction, "I think that me and my friends here would pass on seein' those pics, little girl. I mean, both Miguel and Sylphiel are mature adults and they're able to make their own decisions in life. What they did is their business and their business alone."

A moment of long silence began to go across the room that they were in. First both Mighty and Espio began to look at the green crocodile with shocked and worried expressions on their faces along with Yai. Even Miguel turned his full attention towards Vector's direction with a surprised and shocked expression on his face.

"Whoa, Vec. Were you just trying to be mature just now?" the purple chameleon said to the green crocodile with a surprised tone as he move towards his friend's direction and examined him like a doctor would do to a patient. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Of course that I'm fine, Espy!" Vector responded to his friend's words with a rather annoyed tone as he swatted Espio away from him like a fly. "It's just that I don't think that it would be right for us to be divin' into Miguel and Sylphiel's business is all. Wouldn't you agree, Might?"

"Well, I can't believe that I find myself saying this, but I have to agree with Vector on this one," the black and orange armadillo said as he too was as surprised as his purple friend was just as he turned his full attention towards the little girl. "I mean, I don't think that it's really nice to start making fun of Miguel and Sylphiel with those pictures that you took of them. I mean, the four of us owe these guys for when they've saved us from all of the trouble that we ourselves caused back in Miguel's world for when we've fought with a part of a monster named Nightmare Parasite that's from another world completely."

"Nightmare Parasite," they all heard the voice of Miguel saying the name of the monster with such anger and hatred in it. "That monster was resposible for the deaths of so many people back then for when both me and Sylphiel first met! People from another world that didn't know what was going to happen or what hit them for when that thing...!"

They soon heard the human teen started to silence himself for when he finally figured that he spoke a bit too much about the monster that they heard both he and Sylphiel call Nightmare Parasite. All three of the Chaotix didn't know what to say to Miguel for when he spoke those words right in front of the little girl. Before either Vector, Mighty, or Espio could have the chance to speak to their human friend in order to calm him down, they saw the little rich girl starting to walk up towards him with a sort of frightened and sad expression her face.

"I didn't know all about that, Miguel," they heard the young girl named Yai saying to them while at the same time saw her face's expression feeling ashamed about what she was going to do as she pocketed the pictures that she had in her hands just as she turned her full attention back towards Miguel. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make fun of both you and Sylphiel if you are going to react like that. I just thought that the two of you would enjoy a good laugh after what we just went through last night. You both sounded like the type of people that liked to be close to one another and become real shy about it for when your friends ask you about what you did. Please forgive me."

There was a rather long silence for when he heard those words come out of the little rich girl's mouth. Soon, all of the anger and hatred that he once had for the creature named Nightmare Parasite was soon forgotten for when he turned to see the sad and ashamed expression that's on Yai's innocent-looking face. Miguel then began to put a gentle smile on his face while at the same time speaking to the little girl with a gentle tone in his voice, "It's okay, Yai. You didn't know that this sort of thing might happen. The guys were only trying to be good friends by telling you all about what they've been through and how both me and Sylphiel were able to help them for when they were in trouble in my world. You did nothing wrong."

"So, does this mean that we're cool with the whole thing?" he heard Yai saying to him with a sort of meek tone as he noticed that she was awaiting his answer.

"Well, not quite," Miguel answered to the little girl with a sort of serious tone in his voice as he looked at her with a stern expression on his face. "First of all, you have to hand over those pictures that you've had Glyde take of both me and Sylphiel. I don't want the rest of your friends to get the wrong idea about what those pictures show."

The teen heard a defeated and disappointed sigh that came from Yai before he saw her handing out the three photos towards his direction before taking them and placed them on his outstretched hand just as she said, "Oh, fine. But that still doesn't change the fact that both you and Sylphiel make a cute couple in them. Even your animal friends would know that."

Before he could have the chance to respond to the little rich girl's comment as he pocketed the pictures behind his own back pants pocket, Miguel turned to find Vector, Espio, and Mighty, grinning at him with sly expressions on their faces just as he said to them said while starting to develope a red shade color on his face, "Uh guys, just what in the world are you looking at?"

"It seems to me that you have a little more in your mind about Sylphiel than what you want the rest of us to know, homey," the green crocodile said to him while keeping his sly grin aimed at his direction.

"I'm sorry to have to say this, Miguel, but I think that for once Vec might have a point," he heard Mighty saying to him just as he turned and saw the armadillo staring at him with the same playful sly expression as Vector's. "I mean, everyone could see the expressions on both of your faces for when both you and Sylphiel looked at one another."

"I'm with Might on this one too," he heard Espio saying to him while at the same time hearing him using the same tone as his two friends. "I mean, from the way that the two of you just greeted each other and blushed a while ago, it seems that the two of you slept with one another or something."

Those words that he heard the purple chameleon saying to him caused him to blush profusely for when they reached his ears. Just before he could have the chance to deny anything about what the purple chameleon said, Miguel's nose suddenly picked up the delicious scent of food for when he heard the voice of Sylphiel saying with a cheerful tone in her voice, "Hello, everyone! Breakfast is ready to be served! I do hope that you all like it."

As he turned towards the shrine maiden's direction, the older teen soon saw that both she along with Charmy who were both carrying trays filled with large amounts of food on them. The food that were on the trays were what he expected from Sylphiel. One was filled with a bunch of hash browns along with a pile of toast. On one of the other plates, he noticed that it was filled with strips of bacon while another one contained piles of well-cooked scrambled eggs. He then turned his attention towards the young bee Mobian and saw that he was carrying two huge glass pitchers filled with both milk and orange juice in each one.

As soon as he saw the two of them placing the contents they were holding onto the large table, Miguel started stand up from where he was and said rather frantically as he began to leave the room, "Oh, I just noticed that the two of you didn't bring any spare dishes and glasses for anyone to serve their own food with. Do you mind if I go back into the kitchen to get them for you while both you and Charmy get the food ready on the table?"

"Of course that you can, Miguel," he heard Sylphiel responding to his request with a eager tone in her voice just as he headed towards the entrance of the kitchen. "Just be sure that you bring the pancakes that I've stacked near the stove along with the sausages while you're bringing the dishes and glasses."

"Okay!" was the teen's response for when he entered the kitchen of the treehouse and began to see what he was going for.

What he saw near the stove that the shrine maiden was using was a huge stack of pancakes that looked well-cooked and ready to eat placed on a flat and clean plate. What he also saw was a plate that's filled with sausages that looked good enough to eat for himself. But he soon turned his attention towards the task at hand as he began to grab as many clean plates and glasses as best as he could.

"Now what the hell was that all about?" Miguel thought to himself just as he paused for a moment in order to properly digest the info that he just heard from the three Mobians as well as from Yai while trying his best to balance what he could carry in his arms. "Since when has my love life become everyone's business all of a sudden? I mean, sure that both me and Sylphiel have started to become rather attached to each other since the day we met, but that means nothing.

"Besides, what would she see in a guy like me anyway? I mean, it's not that I'm worried that she's a bit older than me by a few years or the fact that she's an anime character. It's just that, what would a beautiful and gentle girl like her see in a guy like me? I'm not the kind of guy that's really bold or handsome as Gourry was. Of course, I've never had a date with a girl before let alone one from an anime. (Sighs) This is so damn confusing. I don't know how I should be feeling towards Sylphiel for when..."

The teen's thoughts were soon cut short for when he heard the voice of Yai saying to him with a sort of curious and impatient tone in her voice while catching him by surprise, "Hey, Miguel! What's taking you so long to get all the extra plates and glasses for your friends? Sylphiel was beginning to worry about you for when you didn't show up fast enough to bring them. Is something the matter with you or what?"

That was when he soon turned his full attention toward the little girl and looked at her direction while trying to put on a friendly smile on his face as he spoke to her while faltering a bit, "N-Nothing is wrong with me, Yai. I-It's just that I've been thinking about a few things that I've had in my mind lately."

"This wouldn't have anything to do with both you and Sylphiel snuggling with one another like a cute couple last night would it, Miguel?" he heard Yai saying to him with a sort of mischievous and playful grin on her face.

That was when he chose to answer the little girl's question by saying to her with a rather busy sounding voice while at the same time trying to avoid the subject, "Don't you think that we should be getting these plates and glasses to the others by now? I'm sure that they're becoming impatient about waiting for breakfast."

"Whatever you say, Miguel," he heard Yai responding to his words with a sly tone just as he started to take whatever glasses and plates that he could carry toward the dining room.

"Boy, first the Chaotix are trying to get in on my business about my love life and now a little anime girl is going it," he thought to himself just as he approached the dining room. "What else could go wrong besides the fact that I'm already in the middle of an interrogation about how I feel about Sylphiel?"

Just as soon as he reached the table, Miguel heard the voice of Vector saying to him with a mock tone of impatience, "Hey, Miguel, what took you so long? Is there something bothering you or what, man?"

"Vector, that isn't a very nice thing to say to people," he heard Sylphiel saying to the green crocodile while at the same time sounding amused with what the Mobians was trying to do just before the teen turned towards her direction and saw her smiling towards his direction. "Thank you for bring the glasses and plates, Miguel. What happened to the pancakes and sausage that were in the kitchen?"

Miguel soon found himself beginning to chuckle sheepishly for when he heard those words. Just as he was about to answer her question, the teen soon heard a response coming from the kitchen that he just came out of for as the voice of Yai answered for him as he turned and saw the rich girl holding out the plates containing the pancakes and sausages, "Here they are, Miss Sylphiel! I'm sure that the rest of you must be starving for a taste of what she's cooked for all of you, am I right?"

"You bet that big shining forehead of yours that we did!" Miguel heard the voice of Mighty saying to the little girl while at the same time feeling a bit embarrassed about what he just said. "Sorry about that, Yai. It's just that whenever I get hungry, I always seem to blurt out the wrong thing to say at the wrong time."

"Well, I guess that I could forgive you this time, Mighty," he heard the voice of Yai saying to the armadillo just as he saw her placing the plate filled with sausages on the table along with the plate that stacked with pancakes. "This is about the only time that I've ever had to help out someone around the kitchen. In any case, once all of you are finished with your breakfast, I'm sure that all of you would want to start the search for that last piece of that Chaos Emerald that you've been searching for."

"She's right about that, guys," he heard Espio saying to everyone while at the same time trying to place food on his plate. "I mean, I'm surprised that no one was able to harness the full powers of that single emerald shard since we've arrived to this world yesterday."

"Well, we could all start searching for it in the middle of downtown once all of you are finished eating," he heard Yai responding to everyone while turning towards her direction and saw her grinning as her forehead shined like a bowling ball. "But first, we need to get Miss Sylphiel something nice to wear on her tour of the city. A lady of her figure needs something nice to wear other than those rags that she's been wearing. Plus it'll raise some suspicion about where she really came from. I'll get one of my maids to have them cleaned up once we pick out the perfect outfit for her to wear."

"Yo! Don't forget all about us, Yai Girl!" Miguel suddenly heard the voice of Vector saying to the little girl just as he turned to see the the Mobian giving out a cheerful grin just as he noticed him trying his best to swallow the food that's in his mouth. "(Gulps) Now, as for us trying to blend in with the crowd, all we have to do is just act like regular people in costumes and we'll be alright."

"Well, I have to agree with Vector on this one," he heard Espio saying with a serious tone while at the same time finishing the food in his mouth as he he saw the purple chameleon wiping his mouth with a napkin. "I mean, both me and Charmy were able to pose as humans in costumes for when the two of us were at Lan's house and Mrs. Hikari didn't seem to notice."

"Well, I don't see what's wrong with that as well," Mighty responded to his friends' words with a cheerful tone just before he saw the armadillo finishing the food in his mouth and gave out a soft burp before wiping his own mouth with a napkin of his own. "I mean, this world is starting to get interesting from what we heard about from Glyde last night for when he helped us operate this treehouse's computer terminal. I mean, I just want to see what else this city has to offer."

"Well, what are we doing here just yakkin' then?" he heard Charmy shouting out with excitement just as Miguel turned to see the young bee along with his friends starting to pig out on the food that's right in front of them.

"Please, everyone, there's suppose to be enough food for both me and Miguel too you know," Sylphiel said to everyone with a mock upset tone just as Miguel turned and saw the shrine maiden having a playful smile on her face just as well as a red blush as he also noticed her starting to pass out an empty plate and a glass towards his direction. "I think the two of us better get started before the Chaotix eat the entire thing."

The teen chuckled a bit just before he and Sylphiel began to take off food for their own plates. When he finally got his breakfast together, Miguel was about to eat a small portion of his food for when he heard the young voice of Yai saying to him with a playful tone of her own, "Well, I'll be at my house taking my bath if you all need anything. I'll just get Glyde to keep you guys company for after he's done with his daily rounds. I'll see you all later!"

As soon as he saw the little girl leaving through the treehouse's front door, the teen soon turned his attention back towards his meal and began to eat. Just as he held out a piece of bacon in his hand, Miguel began to have a thought in his mind that just never occurred to him until now. "I wonder how Sonic and the others are doing right now?" the teen thought to himself just as he stuffed the meat into his mouth.

Just as Tails was doing his best to locate either Miguel or Sylphiel from wherever they might be, Sonic suddenly came into the room at a great speed for as he went up towards his best friend and spoke to him with a concerned and serious tone, "How's the search for both Miguel and Sylphiel doin', little buddy?"

"I'm afraid that it's not doing so well, Sonic," the two-tailed fox answered his blue friend just as he continued to type at his workshop's main computer furiously. "I'm trying my best to locate the energy signature's of their Chaos Energy from their own worlds, but so far I'm having no such luck."

"Just keep trying to find either of those two, Tails," Knuckles said to the young fox just as he leaned against the wall and tried to keep himself calm. "I'm afraid that those two aren't the only ones that are missing. I went over to the Chaotix's place in order to ask for them to watch over the Master Emerald and I've found their place abandoned. I've also sensed a small but potent amount of Chaos Energy surrounding their office which means that something big has happened. That was when I went to you guys so that you could contact both Miguel and Sylphiel in order for all of us to look for the Chaotix together. But after hearing that Tails couldn't reach Miguel through that computer that he gave him or find an energy signal from Sylphiel's jewel pendent, something terrible must've happened to the two of them as well as with the Chaotix."

"I wouldn't worry about them for a minute, guys," Shadow spoke to them while at the same time watching the progress that the fox genius was making on his computer terminal with a calm tone. "Both Miguel and Sylphiel are probably trying to have some privacy in order to spend more time with one another. As for the Chaotix, I'm sure that wherever they are, they're someplace safe along with those two love birds."

As soon as the black hedgehog said those words, a sudden and long silence began to envelope the room that the four Mobians are in. Before the Ultimate Life Form could have the chance to break the long silence by asking what was going on, he soon found the eyes of Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails looking at him as if he were an alien being from another planet. Shadow soon found himself starting to become startled as well as a bit frightened for as his three friends continued to stare at him.

"Guys, why are you staring at me like that?" the black hedgehog asked with a nervous tone in his voice just before he backed away from his three friends who still wore blank looks on each of their faces. That was when he saw Sonic's expression changing into a mischievous grin just as before he spoke.

"Shadow, are you feelin' alright?" Sonic asked his near-identical twin with a playful tone. "Were you just trying to help us calm down by talking positive? For that matter, since when have you become interested in both Miguel and Sylphiel's or anyone's relationship?"

"I may not agree with Sonic, but I think that he might be onto something there," Knuckles said to Shadow as the blank expression on the red echidna's face turned calm. "I mean, from the last few months that we've last seen each other, you've been acting kinda different lately. I mean, at one time, Tails once saw you looking at the moon while having what he says to be a real smile on your face."

With those words said by the guardian of Angel Island, the Ultimate Life Form soon found himself turning towards Tails with a shocked and embarassed expression on his face just as he spoke to the young genius with a rather miffed tone, "Tails! Since when have you saw me like that? How was it that you were able to see my face with...?"

Before the black hedgehog could have the chance to complete the rest of his question, the main computer suddenly started to beeping slowly but weakly as it sounded like a submarine radar. The four Mobians soon forgot about Shadow's own personal life and turned their full attention towards the computer screen in order to see what was going on. Tails began to rapidly type on the keyboard of his computer and put in the proper code to search for the precise location of the source that's causing its sensors to go off. That was when his eyes began to grow wide with shock just before he began to speak.

"We'll all worry about Shadow's personality later, guys. Right now, we have other problems," the young fox said to his three comrades just as he kept his eyes glued to the computer screen. "The computer has just found the energy signature of Chaos Emerald shard that's in Sylphiel's jewel pendant. However, I could only find a weak signal coming from it. It could be because of the world that she's in. Wherever she is, the natural defenses of that world is keeping some of her own Chaos Energy from ever being sensed. But that's not the only thing, Miguel is with her too. His body's own Chaos Energy is a bit stronger than Sylphiel's, but it's not strong enough to determine an exact location."

"So just tryin' to create a portal to the world that both Miguel and Sylphiel are in is simply out of the question," Sonic responded to the fox's words just as he began to think about what he just heard. "Even if all of us were to use a Chaos Emerald or more in order to use the Chaos Control, we wouldn't know where we might end up. Perhaps maybe in another time of our world. And even if we did get to place that we want to go, the risk of having the Chaos Emeralds falling into the wrong hands is just too great."

"What about the Chaotix? For all we know, those guys could've either ended up in Miguel's world or somewhere else," Knuckles added to the blue hedgehog's words with a hint of worry in his voice. "If either Sonic or Shadow couldn't use the power of Chaos Control to get to them, then what are we going to do if...?"

Just before the red echidna could have the chance to finish the rest of his sentence, an alarm within Tails's workshop began to go off like wild bullhorn. The two-tailed fox soon began to type at his computer's keyboard very rapidly and turned his full attention towards one of the other computer monitors near his main screen. Just as soon as everyone turned their full attentions towards the smaller monitor near the main one, what they saw was Dr. Eggman Robotnik in his latest creation doing one of his usual rampages. Sonic was the first to make his comment about the new situation that just appeared before them.

"Well, this is just great! First we've got our friends that could be scattered towards different worlds," the blue hedgehog said just as he stared at the screen with Robotnik's image. "Now we've got Robuttnik here stirring up his usual trouble! Now how are we going to deal with two problems?"

There was a moment of silence as everyone in the room began to think of a situation to the problem. That was when Shadow started to speak with a serious tone, "I think that the three of you should just stay in this world to deal with Eggman while I go to the world that both Miguel and Sylphiel are in. Once I've located those two, I should be able to find the Chaotix with their help as well. I have a better chance of finding those two since I'm more experienced on how to use and control the Chaos Control. Plus, I have a power source that's much more powerful than a Chaos Emerald by itself or perhaps even seven combined."

"And just what exactly is this power source that you've planned on using in order to get to where Miguel and Sylphiel as well as the Chaotix?" Knuckles asked the black hedgehog with a curious and suspicious tone in his voice as he cocked his eyebrow towards his direction.

The Ultimate Life Form soon found himself reaching into the holding compartment of his shoes and pulling out the green gemstone that he had recieved in his adventures a while back for when he was in Miguel's world. A gemstone that he along with a girl named Mana received for while they were fighting a powerful monster. As soon as he showed the powerful gemstone to his three friends, Shadow saw their each of their faces filled with both shock and surprise. Shadow grinned for when he saw the expressions on each of their faces just before he heard Sonic speaking to him.

"Shadow, just when in the world did you get this sort of stone and who gave it to you?" the blue hedgehog asked his twin counterpart with a curious tone in his voice.

"Well to be rather honest, Sonic, I have no clue on who exactly gave it to me," the black hedgehog responded with a rare sheepish tone in his voice. "All that I could tell you that mystic beings from another realm just offered their help to me in order to fight a powerful monster that came to Miguel's world a while back."

"Well whatever it is, I'd suggest that you get to that world as soon as possible, Shadow," Tails responded to the Ultimate Life Form with a serious tone in his young voice just as everyone turned towards the fox's direction and saw his face back towards the main monitor. "I've just picked up the energy signature of a Chaos Emerald just now. Not only that, but from what I could gather with this radar, it seems that there are two in that world. Only one of them is emitting a weaker energy signature than the other."

"If that's the case, then we've got to act now and quickly," Knuckles said to everyone in the room while at the same time starting to head towards the exit of the workshop. "I'm going back to Angel Island to continue my duties of guarding the Master Emerald. I'm not going to take any chances if Robotnik is planning to launch an attack."

"Then I guess that both me and Tails should get going too," Sonic responded to the red echidna's words as he turned towards Tails's direction. "The two of us could handle Eggman just fine on our own. Not to mention the fact that the X Tornado should pack the fire power necessary to do the job. Wouldn't ya agree, Tails?"

"Well, I'm up to teaching Eggman a lesson again like Sonic is," the two-tailed fox said to everyone with an enthusiastic tone just as he got up from the chair near his computer and began to head towards his workshop's lab table where he usually works on his projects and began rummaging through its drawers. "However, I'm more concerned on what Shadow's going to do once he reaches that world that Miguel and Sylphiel are in. Which is why I'm going to give him one of my latest inventions that I was going to give to Miguel in case another portal appears in his world."

As soon as the young fox genius was finished with searching through the contents of his work desk, he then turned towards Shadow's direction and presented him with a flat device that also possesses a keyboard on it. Just before the black hedgehog could ask about the device that he just received, Tails said to him with a rather confident smile on his face, "I wouldn't worry about how the device works, Shadow. Once you find Miguel, he should be able to easily activate it and get it to work without any problems. Just go to that world and find those two before something terrible happens."

"As soon as you do find them, then the three of you could search for the Chaotix," Knuckles added to the young fox's words just before he opened the door. "If they're out in another world like the last time that they've been to Miguel's world, then we could have a real problem on our hands."

With those words said and done, the red echidna left the room while only leaving Sonic, Tails, and Shadow to remain. Before the black hedgehog could have the chance to say anything, Sonic was running outside towards the exit of the door and Tails was heading towards his workshop's launching pad. Before he knew what was happening, Shadow the Hedgehog found himself completely alone in the workshop all by himself with nothing in his mind but the mission at hand.

"I guess that I should get started then," the Ultimate Life Form thought to himself just as he looked at the green gemstone that he still possessed in his hands. "Now, all I have to do is just focus on Miguel's own Chaos Energy and I should be able to transport to where both he and Sylphiel are. Since he emits the strongest amounts of Chaos Energy than either of us, I should have a better lock on his whereabouts. With any luck, the three of us should be able to find the Chaotix as well as the Chaos Emeralds. I just hope that the energy within this stone is powerful enough to send me where both Miguel and Sylphiel are. Well, here's goes nothing."

With those thoughts said and done, the Ultimate Life Form began to grip onto the stone in his hands very tightly and concentrated on what he was supposed to find and where he needed to go. At first, finding the human's unusually high Chaos Energy was proving to be a bit more difficult than he had hoped. But after what feels like about hours of trying, Shadow was finally able to get a lock on where Miguel's Chaos Energy could be. With the help from the green gemstone in his hands, the black hedgehog was finally able to get a lock on what world that his human friend was in.

"I just hope that it's in a place where the natives are friendly," Shadow thought just before he concentrated even hard than before and began to shout out, "Chaos Control!"

Before he knew what was happening, the black hedgehog soon found himself being enveloped in a blanket of emerald-green light just as he traveled towards his destination as he kept his concentration in check.

End of Part 7