******Author's Note******

One thing I forgot earlier!

Disclaimer: I no own Sonic! Sega and now Nintendo owns him! I own nothing! Probably not even Nightmare! Sega can have him, if they'll put him in a new game! I'd pay to play that! On with the story!

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~*~ Sonic and Tails' House ~*~

Sonic opens the front door, stalking in dejectedly, his head lowered. Shadow follows soon after, still with an indignant look on his face. Sonic looks at him, then sighs in mock anger.

"All right, you beat me. THIS time. Next time, i'm gonna show you why they call me The Blue Wonder!"
"Hmph. We'll see about that, hedgehog."

Suddenly, Shadow notices a glint in the corner of his eye. Quickly turning around, he rushes to the corner, and pulls out a battered and beaten Tails, laying him down upon the kitchen table. Sonic rushes to his aid, noticing the unconscious fox-boy.

"Tails!! Buddy!! Speak to me!!! Wake up!!!"

The Darkness Factor
Chapter 2: Nightmare Revelations

Darkness. Silence. Then, dim light, and voices.

"Tails!! Buddy!!"

Brighter light. Louder voices.

"Speak to me!!! Wake up!!!"

Flickering his eyes, the young Tails stares blankly up at an aqua-colored hedgehog.

"Sonic...? Is that you?"

"Tails! What happened here!!?"

"Well....I was just surfing through, deleting Eggman's files, when I came across something called....Project Nightmare..."

"Project Nightmare?" Sonic inquires. "What's that?"

"According....to what I read....Project Nightmare is Dr. Eggman's newest creation using the data from Project Shadow which I assume he stole from the military. He was designed to surpass Shadow's power by implementing DNA from the prototype of the ultimate life form, the Biolizard. Apparently, its arm had floated into the colony, so Eggman must have taken a sample before heading back to Earth. From the pictures i've seen, Nightmare looks like Shadow in every way, except for a few blue quills in its hair. I think that's what attacked me, and threw me in the corner...."

Sonic took this oppurtunity to scowl. "Dr. Eggman....he's messed with us for the last time! I'll call Amy to watch over Tails! Shadow, you go on ahead and sneak in the back of the desert, then meet me in the core of the Pyramid Cave!"

And with that, Shadow dashed out the door, while Sonic reached for the phone. In less than a minute, the cute pink companion of Sonic opened the front door of their house, holding a First-Aid kit and wearing a white skirt uniform.

"Never fear, Amy Rose is here!"

"Amy, you take care of Tails! I'm about to stop an Eggman....once and for all!"

Rushing out the door in his usual fashion, Sonic spins through town. Amy just sighs, and Tails looks a little forlorn.

"What's the matter, Tails?"
"I forgot to tell Sonic.....if Eggman stole the technology from the military.....chances are they'll want to keep it quiet and contained.....at all costs..."

Amy gasps, but holds back any feelings as she quietly patches up Tails.

~*~ Pyramid Cave ~*~

Dr. Eggman sits patiently in his chair, glancing at the security monitors from time to time, when a streak of blue bursts through the door. Not turning around, he replies casually.

"Ah, Nightmare. I see you're back already. Did you take care of that nuisance Sonic like I asked?"

What he heard next, from a voice he quite recognized, drove his blood cold.

"I wouldn't say that just yet, EGGMAN!!"

The mad scientist turned around, and glared at the blue wonder. "SONIC!!! YOU!!! What are you doing here??!"

"I came to stop your plans....and Nightmare!"

"Nightmare?!?! But how did you know about-" Eggman sat there. "....Tails...."

Before Sonic could reply with a spinning attack, a voice boomed through the pyramid on a loudspeaker.

"STAY WHERE YOU ARE AND PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!!! YOU ARE ABOUT TO BE ENGAGED!!!"

Eggman looked furious. "The military!!! I KNEW they would find me out sooner or later!!"

Jumping out of his chair, he pressed a button on his control panel, opening up a wall to show none other than his Flying Egg Machine. Hopping in, he opens the roof of the room. Sonic becomes annoyed.

"And just where do you think YOU'RE going??"

Eggman began to take off, as he gave his advice. "The same place you should be going if you want to stay alive! OUT OF THIS PYRAMID!!!!" On that note, Eggman takes off, and attempts to outrun the helicopters now pursuing him. Sonic, however, is not so lucky. As soon as he is about to rush out the door, several agents burst through the door with shotguns. Of course, Sonic's not one to let a little thing like being outnumbered stop him, and uses his Bounce attack to smack down upon their heads. The ones that weren't confused, kept firing their weapons at him, but to no avail, as he uses his Rolling Spin attack to knock them unconscious, then speeds out the door. The rest of the trip is quite uneventful, until he gets to the entrance, where he notices several Flying Dogs and Hot Shots. Sonic stops in his tracks, and lowers his head as the guards rush in from behind, guns pressed against his back.

"Come with us. Now."

Walking along, he gets into the helicopter in handcuffs, once again off to prison for interrogation.

~*~ Pyramid Cave Rear Entrance ~*~

Shadow rushes to the door, looking around. Once sure he was not followed, he opened the door. But not before hearing a voice behind him.

"Going somewhere?"

Whipping around, he sees an ominous figure, and glares at it. "Nightmare."

-End Part 2

Author's Notes: Short chapter, I know, it's crazy. But i'm tired, and thus far, out of ideas. Give me R&R, and it'll help. Thank you.