Chapter 2: Shadow Explains it All The group ran down the hill and away from the palace. "We can't stop until we get to town! We'll be safe there!" Shalita called to the others. "I don't understand!" Sonic yelled back. "What's the big deal?!" There was a roar, and a group of animals jumped out at them from behind, hissing and baring their fangs. Cream and Amy screamed. "Vampires!" Shalita yelped. "Figures!" Shadow growled. "The Queen's calling out her Drones!" Shadow flipped open a device that was strapped to his left wrist. "Sophia, group of eight coming in from the northeast. We got Drones on our butts. Get ready for Maneuver 34-B!" "Read ya loud and clear. Shadow!" came the reply on the wrist communicator. "How much further till the safe point?" Sonic asked, dodging a vampire that was lunging at him. Shadow pointed down towards a valley. There was a city that was starting to illuminate with its lights. "We need to get down there!" "Let's burn rubber then!" Sonic said, pouring on the speed. Down in the valley, a white fox was arming controls inside the city limit, next to a major road. She spotted figures beyond the city running down the hill towards her. She held up her hand radio. "Here they come, everyone. On my command-" Sonic and Amy were the first ones through, followed by Shadow, Shalita, and Kitti, and bringing up the rear was Tails, Cream and Cheese. "NOW!" the fox yelled into her radio. A bright yellow shield energized over the city, and the vampires behind were repelled back a few feet. "We made it," Shalita sighed. "Hey Shal," the fox called, pointing to the squirming grey kitten in her hands. "What's with Genghis Kitty there?" "Kitti's made some machine that can transport people from another dimention to ours. We need him to show us how we can take these people back home," Shalita said, gesturing to the others. "In another lifetime, maybe!" Kitti growled, swiping at Shalita. "It's that or face charges of treason against the rebellion," Shalita glared. Kitti swallowed. "Since you put it that way..." As soon as everyone was settled into a bunker underneath the city, questions began to roll. Sonic was sitting in a chair, staring at Shadow, who at across from him in a couch. "I can't believe it...after all this time..." "How long HAS it been?" Shadow asked. "Nearly two years," Sonic admitted. "Excuse me," Cream spoke up. "Sonic, may I ask who Shadow is?" Sonic smiled softly. "That's right, you haven't met yet. Shadow, meet Cream. Cream, this is Shadow, and old...aquantince of ours." Shadow held up a hand. "It's okay, Sonic. I changed." "What I want to know is how you got here. We thought you died," Sonic said. "I figured as much. Well what happened was that I started falling into Mobius's atmosphere after we saved the ARK from crashing into the planet, I started performing a Chaos Control to stop time and save my life, but too many factors altered the energy of the chaos, and instead, I was transported to this world." Shalita continued for him. "I found him wandering around in daylight outside of the city, so I brought him in. He told me the story of what happened, and then wished there was something he could do to help people. So I told him about our fight against the vampires." "Yea, what's the whole deal with this vampire business anyway? I thought they were just horror stories," Sonic asked. "Well," Shalita started. "It's a centuries-old war. Once every couple hundred years, a powerful vampire rises up to kill the leader, and take over as the new leader. The leader usually altrenates between a male, called the Alpha, and a female, called a Queen. This century's model is a Queen called Shaetore Valcena, and she's a vicious one, cunning by far. Now, we started a resistance group bent on rooting out and destroying the Alpha and Queen vampires. Unfortunitely, we have to find the next Alpha and destroy him first before we destroy the Queen. Otherwise, the Alpha will rise to power when the Queen is killed." "So why is Shaetore trying to take people from OUR world then?" Sonic asked. "Too many people are aware of Shaetore's existance since we started the rebellion, and she wants a fresh supply of unsuspecting victims." "How is she doing that though?" Tails asked. Shadow sighed and spoke up. "When I appeared on this world, Shaetore's lackey, Kittikahn Karnage, had detected the energy signiture and told Shaetore about it. Shaetore called out her Drones to kidnap me, sometime after I had joined the rebellion. So one night when I was on patrol, I was jumped and taken to her palace. They tortured me to get the data they needed to get into our world." "Makes sense to me, but why was it that we were the only ones targeted?" Sonic asked. "'Cause it's...chaos?" Amy spoke up for the first time. Everyone looked at her and she shrugged. "At any rate, we're gonna get Kitti to help us get you guys home," Shalita said. "Incidently, I'm working on a way to try and find a way to build an immunity to a vampire bite. Think you guys can donate some blood samples for us to study?" Sonic looked at the others. "Whatcha think, guys?" The other nodded in agreement. "We're in, Sonic!" Tails said. "All the way!" Amy added. Sonic looked at Shalita. "Okay, Shal. You can count on us."