Shadow slammed the door of his apartment as he walked in. Nobody hit him before! No one was fast enough! How did that red-haired punk sneak up on him?

He lobbed his skateboard under the coach and dropped his backpack at the door. He then followed the skateboard and flopped on the coach.

He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. What was going on, anyway? That blue-haired teen was as fast as he was. No, just a smidge too slow.

Shadow sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his hand. With his eyes squeezed close, he couldn't help but notice how big of a headache he had.

Movement. Shadow was instantly tense. Someone else was in the apartment!

He got up from the couch and silently walked over to the bedroom. Peeking in, he noticed the redhead Dr. Robotnik had promised him. Her hands were still tied, but her feet were as well now. She was also gagged.

Once again, he sighed. Walking in, he pulled out his Swiss Army knife, and cut off the gag first.

"Get away from me!" she shrieked, doing her best to wriggle away from him.

"Look, whoever you are, if I wanted to do anything but cut you loose I probably would have done that by now. However, you're not making this any easier for me," Shadow explained.

The girl just glared at him in stunned disbelief. This allowed Shadow to finish cutting her bonds. When he was finished, he flopped on the large bed next to her, and just breathed a deep sigh. He even closed his eyes in an attempt to relax.

He could tell the girl did her best to shuffle off the bed as soon as he hit, but he didn't care. He knew she wasn't going anywhere.

Even if she tried, he could catch her.

"This place is a mess!" she complained.

"Look, princess, it's where I live and I'll live how I like!" Shadow replied, rolling over so he didn't have to look at her. He had to admit though, she was pretty.

"How do you know who I am?" she asked.

Shadow turned his head as far as he could to look at her. "Excuse me?" he asked.

"I said, 'How do you know who I am?'" she replied. "I don't know who you are, unless your name's Princess. I was just using a pet name that somehow makes girls feel better," Shadow answered. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Princess Sally. Can you tell me where I am?" She looked both scared and confused at the same time. Shadow took a deep breath before he continued.

"You're on Mainstream Avenue, Apartment 34, Floor 3, which currently resides in Chicago of the United States of America on the continent North America, located on the planet Earth."

"Oh." Looking slightly defeated, she walked over to the bed and landed heavily on it. Shadow shifted to a sitting position right next to her, and, fidgeting, looked at the floor with her.

"Nice shoes," he commented, making her jump a bit and blush.

"Thanks," she mumbled. "I don't know where I got them." She looked right into his eyes, and Shadow could almost feel himself starting to like the girl a little more than in a friendly fashion. "Can you keep a secret?" she asked, jarring him back to reality.

"Sure. What'dya wanna say?" he replied.

"I apparently come from a different planet, called Mobius. For all I know, my royal guard Antoine, Tails, Knuckles, and maybe the rest of Knothole village are captured, especially since Sonic went into a coma recently." She looked like she was about to cry.

Shadow put his arm around her shoulders and held her close, letting her silently sob into his shoulder. Why did she trust him so much?

"Speaking of Sonic and Mobius, I have a few of his games. Wanna try playing one?" It was a lousy attempt, but anything to cheer her up would be worth it right about now.

She stared at him for a minute, allowing Shadow to study every detail of her beautiful blue eyes. After a bit of hesitation, she finally replied.

"Sure."