Shadow's Passion.

Characters of "Sonic the Hedgehog" by: Yuji Naka

Characters of "The Slayers" by: Tsuguhiko Kadokawa

Characters of "Yu-Gi-Oh!" by: Kazuki Takahashi

Story written by: Maurice A. Nigma

Part 1

On the surface of the planet Mobius, a lone hedgehog makes his way through the Green Forest area while stopping to look up at the night sky. As Shadow the Hedgehog looked up at the clear night sky and stood there while seeing how beautiful the stars and the full moon are at that night, his thoughts were suddenly flooded with the images of a girl that he once thought of as only a friend. Now he considers that beautiful young girl to be more than a friend. A girl that goes by the name of Maria Robotnik.

"Maria," the black hedgehog thought to himself as he continued to stare into the night. "I wish that you are here with me so that I could see that beautiful smile on your face. I know that you want me to be happy with the friends that I've made, but the emptiness I feel within my heart just can't seem to be filled.

"I mean, Sonic looks to be happy with Amy despite what he says. Knuckles and Rouge are starting to develop a little relationship on their own. And Miguel and Sylphiel; those two are starting to become a little bit more than friends despite what either of them say about it. As for Tails, well, he's still a bit too young to start having a relationship with a girl. I bet that the little guy would blush and then faint at the slightest whisper about the subject. Hee!

"It seems that every one of my friends are starting to have a close relationship with their own girlfriends while I can't seem to find my own. I mean, Maria was about the only girl who was ever nice to me. She's been so kind and friendly to me ever since I've first awaken into existence. She also treated me like a brother with great kindness despite the fact that my creator, Professor Gerald Robotnik, told me that she had a terrible condition. But as our time together grew, so did my affection towards her.

"I just wish that sometimes I was never created to begin with. That way, Maria would still have a chance to be alive and live life to her fullest rather...!"

At that moment, Shadow started to shake himself on the head a bit as he regained his senses. "Hee! I almost lost it there," the black hedgehog said to no one in particular. "Maria wouldn't want me to live my life with complete sadness and isolation. I mean, I do have good friends.

"I mean sure, Sonic can be a pain at times, but he's a really good guy to talk and argue with as well. Tails is a really interesting kid to have a good conversation with as well as Knuckles, especially when the kid talks about his inventions. Miguel, well for a human, he's a really nice guy and there's something special about that guy that I can't seem to point out. The same can be said about Sylphiel. She's just too good and pure of heart to be a real human being.

"I mean, from what Vector has told us on their recent adventure, she wouldn't dare to swear in public for when she and Miguel went on their little tour of his world. She almost reminds me little bit of Maria. However, I must say that those two must be very special for having defeated Nightmare Parasite at its powers' peak for when he attacked the planet Mars in that other universe we had been to..."

That was when Shadow started to cut his speech short for when he looked around and saw that there was no one to listen to the tale he just told. "Hee! I guess I am starting to lose it," the black hedgehog thought to himself, "Me talking all by myself with no one to listen to me. I just wish that Maria were here so that I could tell her the many things that I've accomplished with my life so far."

Then, as if to grant the wish he made in his mind, Shadow began to hear the voice of a young girl from behind him that sounded familiar, "Well then Shadow, I think that your wish has just been granted! Tee hee!"

When he heard the voice, the black hedgehog started to turn towards the source, praying to himself that he wasn't just hearing things. As soon as he faced the figure that was talking to him, Shadow nearly tried to hold back tears for when he saw the young blonde girl giving him a beautiful and serene smile on her face.

"Maria," the Ultimate Life Form said as he reached out for the young girl with his hand while trying to hold back tears at the same time. "I can't believe that it's you. I mean, I thought that you died for when you tried to save me from those G.U.N. Soldiers at the space colony A.R.K. How is it that you were able to...?"

Before Shadow could have a chance to finish the rest of his question, Maria started to close his mouth with her two spectral fingers in order to silence him. Then she put both of her arms around the black hedgehog and gave him a big warm hug.

"I was confronted by three mystic beings who told me all about how you were able to fight a being that is more powerful than anything from within this universe," Maria said as she loosen her embrace on her friend. "They even told me that it once again threatened to attack your friend named Miguel Angel Arias by sending its newly created agents to his world. They also said that the boy would need your help in order to defeat these creatures with the aid of another from a world different from Miguel's or your's.

"That's the reason why they transported my spirit to this plane in order to tell you all of this. When I finally arrived to this world, I was able to see you looking up towards the stars and moon just talking to yourself. I heard everything that you said and I think that what you did for your friends is wonderful. But, I also heard you saying that you're lonely without me to comfort you. I don't want to see you being all sad and lonely while trying to help your friends. I want you to live a full and happy life, even if it means spending it with someone other than me."

"But how could I possibly do that, Maria?" Shadow asked with a bit of doubt in his heart along with an angry sounding tone in his voice. "You were the only girl that I have fallen in love with since I was created! I don't how I could possibly love another who could be as sweet and gentle like you! Who were those beings that brought you back to me only to have you say that to me!"

The black hedgehog only heard a sadden sigh from Maria before she began to speak to him again while once again wrapping her arms around and patted his back in order to calm Shadow down, which made the black hedgehog blush a bit in surprise. "Please be calm, Shadow. I don't want to see you this way. As for the answer to your question, well unfortunately the promise that I've made to those beings prevents me from revealing their true identities to you. But I can tell you that they are on the side of good if they were willing to defy the wheels of fate in order for me to come back to this world just to see you again. I wouldn't be here if they weren't. But, my time on this plane is growing short and I can only be here for only this one time. All I can tell you is that the creature's power, the one that you know as Nightmare Parasite, will only continue to grow strong if its agents aren't stopped. Here, take this."

With those words, Shadow began to feel Maria's arms unwrapping themselves from his body. Then, he felt his love's hand putting something inside of his own. Before he could have a chance to say anything, Maria began to say to him while Shadow saw her beginning to fade from existence. Maria also happened to notice this too for when she took a look at her hands.

"It seems my time here in this plane has just ran out, but not in vain. The gem that I just gave to you should be able to transport you directly to your friend's world. Please help the people of Miguel's world to be happy as much as you had made me. Also make the person that you've fallen in love with feel special like you did with me just now. Farewell, Shadow the Hedgehog and I will always love you."

Just before the black hedgehog could have a chance to yell for Maria to stay, the image of the young girl faded from his sight but not before Shadow saw a teary smile appear on her face before she vanished from existence. As he stood there feeling all confused, angry, and bewildered at the same time, Shadow began to remember the final words that the love of his life said to him before she faded from existence.

"Help the people of Miguel's world to be happy," the black hedgehog thought to himself as he began to calm himself while remembering Maria's last request, "and also make the person that I've fallen in love with feel special like I did with Maria. Now how in the world am I suppose to do that? I guess I'd better wait and see. In the meantime, I guess that I'd better perform Maria's first wish."

As soon as he finished his thoughts, Shadow began to unclench his fist to find a sparkling and round green gemstone shining with a light similar to its surface.

"This stone that Maria gave to me," the black hedgehog thought again as he began to examine the gemstone that he was seeing. "She said that it could enable me to get to Miguel's world. Only problem is: how am I going to use it to get there?"

As if to answer his question, the gem in his hands began to glow with a brighter light than it did before. Before he could react to what was happening, Shadow's sight was soon covered with a blanket of white light while falling into unconsciousness.

In a land that is outside of the human world, a world that is ruled by magic, monsters, and other mystical creatures, a young girl who donned a magician's outfit was walking on a grass field when she suddenly saw a shooting star colliding with the ground about thirty feet away from her.

"What in Ra's name was that?" the Dark Magician Girl thought to herself as she went up to the crash site in order to investigate the crater that now stood before her. "Whatever that was, it felt strong, powerful even. I haven't felt this much power since I was an apprentice to my master in Egypt. This power I'm feeling is even more powerful than that of the pharaoh himself. I'd better check it out to see if it's dangerous."

As the female magician began to approach closer to the site of the where she saw the star crash, she began to see a green light being emitted from within the huge hole. When Dark Magician Girl was able to see what was in the hole, all she ever saw was the same green light that she saw a few moments before. She began to submerge her hand into the hole in order to reach for the object. Then, when she finally got her hands on it, the young magician pulled her hand out of the hollow crater and began to inspect what appears to be a green gemstone within her hand.

The stone that she got from the crater was about the size of her palm and glowed with a beautiful emerald colored light that sparkles with loveliness. But what astounded her the most was the power that she sensed being emitted from it.

"That's strange," thought Dark Magician Girl as she continued to examine the gem within her hand, "The power I'm sensing from this stone doesn't seem to be evil. It feels as though it were a part of some unknown entity. An ancient one at that too. Possibly even more ancient than the pharaoh himself. I'd better..."

Before she could have time to finish her thoughts, she suddenly saw the green gem within the palm of her hand beginning to glow with a brighter light than it did before. As her eyesight was being taken over by green light, Dark Magician Girl suddenly felt her entire body being lifted and taken into the air by a mysterious force. She struggled to break free from the invisible grasp of the mysterious phenomenon, but it was no use.

Just before she thought that she going to see the end of her life, Dark Magician Girl began hearing a male voice speaking inside of her mind. The voice she heard sounded wise and ancient. But the voice that she heard wasn't that of her master nor the pharaoh.

"Calm yourself, young magician. The force that you're feeling right now is only taking you to another realm and nothing more. The stone that you've just touched is the source of the phenomenon that you're experiencing. Right now, you're on your way to a world that is similar to that of the modern world that you saw for when you were summoned by the pharaoh, but is quite different I assure you."

"What do you want from me? Why are you doing this?" the young girl asked telepathically with a panicked tone in her mind's voice.

"I'm doing all of this so that you could assist a human and a Mobian in a battle against a powerful creature's agents," the mysterious being responded while keeping a calm tone, "A creature that is so strong, that I doubt that even you're master, the pharaoh, could defeat it with his full powers."

"But who are you? What is your purpose by pulling me from my world? And what's a Mobian anyway?" Dark Magician Girl asked as she continued to feel the mysterious force pulling on her.

"My identity is not of any importance," the mysterious voice said as to the young girl, "What is important is the survival of the holder of the Star Sword. A weapon that was once in possession of a great powerful being whom existed eons ago. If that holder should perish, then not only will his world would suffer, but yours and every other world will follow along with it. Now I must leave you to fulfill your mission so that the entire cosmos could be one step closer to be at peace as it did eons ago. Farewell."

"Wait! Don't go! What..?" was all that Dark Magician Girl could say telepathically before she fell into unconsciousness while her eyesight failed her.

While in a dimension between the fabrics of time and space, a creature was preparing to launch its assault on an unsuspecting group. A creature that possesses the ability to steal large amounts of genetic information from other living things. It could also steal the powers and abilities from other beings and make them its own. It also has an ability that no other living being possesses: the ability to resurrect the dead. This creature is also a genetic experiment that is meant to be a great weapon of mass destruction. A creature that goes by the name of Nightmare Parasite Chaos.

The creature continued to watch the scene of one of its worst enemies enjoying a peaceful even at his own home world: Miguel Angel Arias. The very same human who, along with another human female named Sylphiel Nels Lahda from another universal plane, had defeated it in its first and yet most humiliating battle in its life.

"Miguel and Sylphiel," the creature thought hatefully as it turned its attention away from the image of its enemy enjoying his time in his home world and looked at its deformed body. "Just the thought of those names burns my fluids. He and that wench of a woman are responsible for reducing me into my previous state! Not to mention the fact that they've also reduced the chances of me being restored to my former state. Oh, how I would like to see their suffering! Oh, yes! The thought of it just..."

That was when Nightmare Parasite began to have a thought that it never thought of before. A thought that struck its mind like a bolt of lightning. The thought that it had in its mind since it was delivered it first defeat at the hands both Miguel and Sylphiel.

"What is it that makes these two humans so unique?" the creature thought as the idea passed through its mind, "That Sylphiel girl doesn't seemed to be much of a threat despite the fact that she was somehow able to survive my direct assault on her body and was able to absorb the energy of the Chaos Emeralds as well as make that part of my body her own.

"Miguel though, he might present much more of a threat than I could have ever imaged. My former creator/master, Ixis Naugus, was defeated and destroyed at the hands of this human boy for when he tried to achieve great power by gaining the powers of the Star Sword. A weapon that is now in the possession of that human boy!

"Ixis was a fool to think that he could gain the power that he seeks by defeating Miguel! For his foolishness, he suffered the ultimate consequence. Now it is my turn to accomplish the one thing that Ixis wasn't able to: to gain the great power that he so desperately desires and to defeat that human, Miguel. And I know exactly how to do it too."

"Kanzel! Mazenda!" Nightmare Parasite shouted as it suddenly felt the presence of two figures approaching it. "Good. Now that the two of your are here, I would like you to perform a little task for me."

That was when a female voice answered to the creatures words by saying, "What is it, creature? We don't have time to deal with you or any of your foolish missions! As we recall, Dilgear was the first of your minions that ended up being deformed from one of your little tasks!"

"I agree," a male voice added, "Ever since the day that you've brought us back from beyond, you've done nothing but bark orders to us! I want you to give the two of us one good reason why...!"

Nightmare Parasite soon began to give out a hissing chuckle as it cut off the male's question. Then, with a single thought, the creature soon began to say out loud with its hissing-sounding voice.

"Hee! Hee! Hee! You two have a lot of nerve to talk to me like that. I like seeing that from two of my new additions to my Nightmare Soldier Army. For your bravado, I would like to reward you two by giving you an assignment that would be most suitable for creatures with your outstanding abilities. None that Dilgear has to deal with, mind you. Do you both remember the sorceress named Lina Inverse?"

"Just how in the hell could we forget about that girl?" shouted Kanzel. "She was the one responsible for our deaths to begin with!"

"Not to mention that she was also the one responsible for the death of our Lord Gaav, the Demon Dragon King!" added Mazenda.

"Hee! Hee! Hee! I see that you two still have a strong memory," the creature said to the two with a snicker in its voice. "Well, now that it's been cleared, I'll get straight to the point. One of the sorceress's friends named Sylphiel Nels Lahda had her first encounter with a human boy named Miguel Angel Arias. He's a human boy from a world that is far more advanced than your own. I want the two of you to go to his world to try to eliminate him."

"You want the two of us to go to his world and try to eliminate a human boy?" Kanzel asked with a mock tone of seriousness in his voice, "If he's so much of a threat to you, then why don't you get rid of him yourself?"

"I agree with Kanzel!" Mazenda added, "Why should the two of us waste our time and energy trying to defeat a boy that you couldn't...!"

Before the female could have the chance to finish her sentence, Nightmare Parasite began to reach out to the two of them with what was left of its own hand and began to squeeze it. As soon as it squeezed its own liquified fist tightly, the two figures began to clench onto their chests in pain.

"Don't you two dare forget this fact!" the Chaos clone said to the two with a tone of anger in its hissing voice, "I was the one that put your pitiful bodies back together as well as gather all of your astral essences! I could just as easily destroy you two creatures right now if I choose to! So unless you two are planning to end your rejuvenated lives so quickly, then I would suggest that you'd better follow my orders! Do I make myself clear!"

As if trying to respond to the creature's question, both Kanzel and Mazenda tried their best to nod their heads to their benefactor. When it saw their responses, Nightmare Parasite began to chuckle with delight as it released its hold on the two Monsters.

"I see that my little demonstration has finally gotten through your thick heads," the liquid creature said as it began to turn its attention back towards the bubble like screens. "Now then, I want you two to know that the human that you're about to face is much more powerful than the sorceress that you know as Lina Inverse. He possesses a weapon that is far more powerful than the weapon that you know as the Sword of Light. Not to mention that his soul is unlike that of any other human that you two have ever seen or encountered. He'd managed to fight me off at my full strength for when I had my first battle with him and the shrine maiden called Sylphiel. And I once held the powers of the Gods and Monsters themselves."

"Well, if this boy that you've mentioned to both me and Mazenda is as strong as you say, then I'd say that it might be worth our time and power after all," Kanzel said to the liquified creature as he did his best to get to his feet with a smirk on his face. "Otherwise, you wouldn't go through all this trouble just to get our attention."

"I'll say," Mazenda added as she too tried to get to her feet while catching her breath. "Now just tell us where we could find this boy and we'll take care of the rest. I would like to see exactly just how strong this human is before we kill him."

With a menacing chuckle of satisfaction, Nightmare Parasite began to say to the two Monsters, " Hee! Hee! Hee! I see that you two are beginning to become eager with accomplishing this task that I've set out for you.

"Very well, I'll send you two the world where the boy lives. But the two of you better blend in with your surroundings so that you could have a better chance at launching a sneak attack. But if the two of you really insist on trying to find him your own way, then go ahead and be my guesses. And if anyone tries to stop you...well, it's their own back luck. Hee! Hee! Hee! That way, the boy would be easier to lure out.

"Oh, and I neglected to mention this to the two of you, but I've enhanced the natural strengths of your bodies and powers so that way they would be much stronger than they once were. That way, you have a better chance at achieving victory as well as tracking down the energy of the boy that you seek. Now go and search for him at once."

While seeing a smiling nod on their faces, the Chaos clone began to reach the two Monsters with its slimy and tentacle-like hand. With just a wave of its hand, the creature saw both Kanzel and Mazenda vanished from its presense without a single trace. It then turned its attention back towards the bubble like screens that it watched before and snickered at the human that was enjoying his life at the world that he calls home.

"Look at him, all happy in that world of his," Nightmare Parasite thought to itself, "He isn't even aware of the danger that he and his world would soon be in. He may have defeated Dilgear in his enhanced form, but how's he going to fair against two Monsters of the Demon Dragon King? Soon, when he draws his last breath of air, the great power that he has within his body would soon be transferred to me and I would be known as the most powerful life form in the entire universe! Hee! Hee! Hee!"

Just before it could enjoy the rest of the moment enjoying the thought, the Chaos clone soon began to turn its attention away from the sights of its enemy and saw what appears to be a girl dressed in magician's clothing lying unconsciously on the ground. From where she's lying the ground appears to be that of the one in the human boy's world.

"Well, judging from her appearance, I'd say that she's not the Lina Inverse that destroyed both Kanzel and Mazenda back in their world," Nightmare Parasite thought as it carefully examined the girl. "But, she does appear to be emitting a lot of power. However she's not too much of a threat to me. Of course, just to be sure, I'll send her some company that both Kanzel and Mazenda are familiar with. Hee! Hee! Hee!"

Miguel Angel Arias, a teenaged boy who now lives in the city of Sylmar, was spending a quiet even at home watching a little bit of television in his home at the living room after dealing with a week's worth of stress caused by some schoolwork from his college classes. He wore his usual attire composing of a white shirt and blue jeans with sneakers on his feet.

"Stress that was made much worse by three little monsters, thank you very much," he thought to himself as he recalled the events of the day, which is Saturday. "Some people might think that Saturday is the day where all you can do is just sit back and relax all day, but not for me.

"I mean, Angel, Mikey, and Kenny are nothing but trouble. Just this morning, when Maricela brought them in at 8:00 a.m., those three little goblins started running around the house, wrecking and climbing on everything in their path! When it came to lunch, well let's just say that things got a little messy from there. I don't even want to think of what happened with the rest of the hours with those three.

(Sighs) Well, I'm just glad that those three little pigs are already out of here and both of my parents are out to some wedding taking Eliana with them. Eli did say that she would like to meet up with Carmen in order to see if she has anything interesting that she would like to hear. Now it's just me all alone in this big house so that I could rest. I mean, I was a bit hard on them this morning for when I snapped at them for trying to do my best to keep Angel under control. Maybe, this is the chance for me to settle down and relax a bit so that I could blow off some of the extra steam."

But just before Miguel could have a chance to get into the mood, he suddenly heard the noise of a digital alarm being set off.

"So much for trying to settle down and relax!" he thought frantically as he went to his room and began searching, "I mean, the one time that I started to become more relaxed after a stressful day, another dimensional portal starts to open without any warning to release another power hungry villain from another world that's possibly from an anime cartoon that I saw on T.V.! What could possibly...?"

Before he could have a chance to finish the rest of his thoughts, Miguel finally found what he was looking for: a special computer that has the ability to scan the entire globe through the use of the planet's satellites. This is no ordinary computer for it was given to him by the young fox boy genius named Tails Miles Prower, the young friend of Miguel's favorite SEGA hero: Sonic the Hedgehog.

"It's a good thing that I've just hidden this away from the sights of the rest of my family," the teen thought as he placed the computer on his lap like a portable laptop. "It's hard enough trying to conceal the truth about alternate realities to the people of this world, but trying to explain the whole thing to my entire family is going to be tougher. As soon as I've taken care this mess it's back to relaxing in my bed for me to only enjoy. Now let's see."

As soon as he began typing a command on the computer's keyboard, Miguel waited a moment before he saw the results of his patience and started to become confused.

"That's strange," he thought as he looked at the computer's screen that has the global map on it. "According to the computer's scanner, it says that a being that's emitting a decent amount of Chaos Energy is right around this area at Sylmar Park. But it doesn't say anything about a dimensional portal being opened anywhere around the area.

"How in the hell is that even possible? A being from another dimension able to get into this world without the aid of a dimensional portal or a Chaos Emerald? Now that's almost about the weirdest thing that I've ever encountered since my first real look at that green gem. All I have to do is find whoever or whatever is causing this energy and put it out of its misery. From what the scanner tells me, there really isn't that much Chaos Energy to deal with, so the source shouldn't be too difficult to handle. But just to be sure that no unexpected surprises get me by the tail."

With that thought, Miguel soon started to reach behind his back and pulled out a weapon that no one in his family knew about: the powerful Star Sword. A weapon that he possess that allowed him to harness the powers of the most powerful and natural force in the universe: the Chaos Emerald.

"I'm just amazed that this sword was able to stay concealed from my family's eyes for so long," Miguel thought to himself as he took the time to look at the weapon's silver blade with the four-pointed red star. "But, I can take the time to think about that later. Right now I have work to do. All I have to do is to just warp to the place where the source of the Chaos Energy is being emitted and I have just the thing to help me do it."

As soon as he finished with his thoughts, the teenaged boy began to place his hands on the silver blade of the Star Sword and started to concentrate on finding the source of the Chaos Energy that he is looking for. He then shouted the two words that activated special time and space warping technique, "Chaos Control!"

Before he knew it, Miguel saw himself being carried off into a tunnel of green light that leads to almost nowhere. Only that the teenaged boy knew exactly where he is going to end up. The trip through the tunnel finally ended for when he finally got to his destination. The park that he was in was beautiful with the moonlight reflecting over the green leaves of the trees. The light that was being emitted from the park lampposts made it even more beautiful as it reflects off of the benches and grass that it was on. Even the playground sands glittered with their brilliance as if to make it look like that it was made with pure diamond dust.

He then began take a look around to see if there were any people or nearby police officers to catch him holding onto the Star Sword. As luck would have it, there wasn't a single sign of a police car or any signs of life to be seen within the park sight. Miguel suddenly heard the sound of a person groaning in pain with a tone that he once heard in a horror movie once. That was when he started to jump to conclusions.

"Whoa! Back off, whacko! I have a sword and I'm not afraid to use it!" the teenager shouted as if to try to frighten whoever was making the frightening sound.

"Augh! Miguel? Is that you?" the person said while sounding like he just came out of a coma. "Man, do you usually talk this loud? I mean, you were loud enough to wake almost about everyone in the area. By the way, what are you doing in this area anyway?"

When he looked at the ground, Miguel soon saw the one person that he never expected to see. Or for that matter, a hedgehog. But the teen soon realized that who he just heard speaking wasn't the same blue hedgehog that he always looked up to as a child. The hedgehog that he was looking at is the black Ultimate Life Form that goes by the name of Shadow the Hedgehog.

As he began to help the black hedgehog back up to his feet, Miguel put the Star Sword, that he still has in his hands, back into its resting place, which was the mysterious hilt that's on his back. But before he could have the chance to answer Shadow for when he finally got the Ultimate Life Form to his feet, the teen began to panic about the little outburst that he caused a minute.

"Uh, Shadow?" Miguel began to say to the black hedgehog nervously, "I think that the two of us should get out of here to a much more private place so that the people of those houses wouldn't call the local authorities on us."

"I have to agree with you, kid," Shadow responded as Miguel saw that the black hedgehog was looking around the area, "I'd say that we'd better warp on out of here before the people here started to bring in the pitch forks and torches."

Teenage boy was a bit confused at first for when he heard the black hedgehog made that wise crack of his, but he suddenly got the idea for when he realized what Shadow was getting at. Miguel started to unsheathe the Star Sword from behind his back again and started to say, "Shadow, you'd better grab onto me very tight 'cause it's going to be a very bumpy ride."

As soon as he felt the black hedgehog hands got a grip on his waist, Miguel began to touch the silver surface of the Star Sword's silver blade and started to concentrate on the place that he and Shadow would like to be other than the place that they were in at the moment. He then began to shout out for when he found the perfect destination to hide out, "Chaos Control!"

Before long, both he and Shadow were traveling through the tunnel between time and space in order to just before they reached their destination.

As soon as they've arrived at their destination, Shadow landed his feet successfully to the ground as he let go of Miguel's waist while trying not to blush at what he had to do. He then began to look around the place that they were in. The building that he's in seemed to be like an ordinary home that's best suited for a normal-sized family. The walls that he saw practically have pictures of Miguel and to what appears to be members of his family on them. The room that they were both in appears to be a living room complete with furniture that matches with one another.

"We're inside the living room of my home right now, Shadow, so you could relax and make yourself comfortable," he heard Miguel say as he saw the human teenager beginning to lower himself to a chair that he brought up while putting his Star Sword on the carpeted floor before he spoke again. "My parents won't be home for hours and my little sister went with them. Okay, now that we're out of harm's way and out of the sights of any nearby spectators, do you think that you could clear things up for me by telling me what the heck's going on here? I mean, how is it possible that you were able to get to this world without the use of a dimensional portal? What exactly happened?"

"Well, it's going to sound a bit strange, Miguel," the black hedgehog began to say to his human friend he too lowered himself to sit on the nearest couch that was apart of the living room, "But it started for when I received this gemstone from Maria."

When Shadow pulled his fist towards Miguel, he opened it to reveal the green gemstone that he had received from the spectral form of Maria. Just as he saw the human becoming entranced by the shine of the stone, Miguel suddenly backed away as he said with a confused tone, "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Wait a minute! Did you say that Maria gave this stone to you? The same Maria that saved you from those guys of G.U.N. in the space colony A.R.K.?"

As Shadow nodded his head, he heard Miguel beginning to say with a bit of confusion in his voice, "Okay, now this is weird. I mean, wasn't she killed for when she ejected your from the space colony?"

"I thought the exact thing for when she appeared in front of me, Miguel," Shadow responded as he looked at the gemstone that's still in the palm of his gloved hand, "She told me that the beings that brought her back to life had a task for me to perform. She said that they want me to help you to protect this world from Nightmare Parasite's newly created..."

Just before the black hedgehog could have the chance to finish his sentence, Miguel cut him off by saying with a surprised and panicked tone, "Whoa! Nightmare Parasite! Are you sure, Shadow! I mean, both Sylphiel and I had wiped that creature out of existence with her Dragon Slave spell and the power of my Chaos Form! How could it have survived!"

"Calm down and just listen to me before you start to jump to conclusions, Miguel!" Shadow said to his friend with a loud tone as he saw the human beginning to calm down a bit before speaking again. "Okay, now that you've calmed down, please allow me to explain the rest of my story. Now, I don't know how exactly did it survive, but I can tell you is that Nightmare Parasite is still alive and it just sent two of its newly created agents to this world in order to, no doubt, get to you. That was why Maria was sent to me so that I could be sent to this world in order to help you protect it."

"Well, I might not understand how exactly Nightmare Parasite survived, but I do know that the two of us must stop its agents from harming this world," Miguel said as Shadow saw the human beginning to walk out of the room. A moment later, he saw the human teenager carrying to what appears to be a portable computer in his arms.

"But now the only problem is how to find them. I mean, if what you say is true, Shadow, then it'll be hard to find them using this computer scanner that Tails gave me. You see, since you were able to get to this world without the use of a portal that's powered by the energies of a Chaos Emerald, then there would be no doubt that Parasite would try to do the same thing with its agents. I mean, I was only able to get your Chaos Energy signature and pin point your location through the use of this scanner. If the two agents of Parasite have used any sparks of Chaos Energy whatsoever, then I would've told you where they both are and we could've tried to stop them right now."

"Well, that's just great," Shadow said as the black hedgehog walked over to Miguel in order to take a closer look at the device that the human was holding. "Mind if I take a closer look at that device, Miguel? I happen to be quite the expert when it comes to computers and machines."

"Sure, Shadow. Be my guess," Miguel responded as he handed the scanner to Shadow and the black hedgehog began to take a look at it.

When Shadow opened up the computer-like scanner, he saw that it looked just like an ordinary laptop computer. As soon he turned it on, the black hedgehog began to look at the screen and typed into the keyboard. While typing a command to the scanner, Shadow soon began to see a global map of Miguel's world on the screen.

"Miguel's world is almost looks like the planet Mobius," the Ultimate Life Form thought as he continued to keep his eyes on the screen. "The satellites of this world really brought out the details. The planet is so blue and green. Maria would've loved it."

With a long sigh, the black hedgehog continued on typing and staring into the computer screen. That was when he heard the voice of Miguel asking, "What's the matter, Shadow? Something on your mind?"

When he turned towards the human teenager's direction, Shadow began to say to his friend, "No, it's nothing, Miguel. It's just that I have been thinking about Maria a lot. I guess that I haven't quite gotten over the fact that both you and Sylphiel can comfort each other with love. The same should be said about Sonic and Amy, as well as Knuckles and Rogue."

That was when the black hedgehog began to hear Miguel speaking to him with a nervous and panicked tone, "Wha..What are you talking about, Shadow! I swear that both Sylphiel and I aren't interested in one another! Man! I thought that Sonic was the only one taking those shots at me! I've never expected this sort of thing from you!"

Shadow began to chuckle a bit for when he heard the teenaged human being nervous and saw him blushing red. But before he could have the chance to talk to Miguel in order to calm him down, the green gemstone that he had began glowing with a small amount of light that has a color similar to its surface. That was when he heard his human friend saying to him while calming down at the same time.

"Whoa! That gem that you have in your hands is starting to glow, Shadow! Just what is causing it to do that anyway?"

"I'm not exactly sure, Miguel," Shadow responded to his human friend as he looked at the mysterious gem, "but whatever is causing this gem to react this way must be extremely powerful. We have to try to find the source of the disturbance and take care of it."

"That's right, Shadow! Now let's do it to it!" Miguel responded to the black hedgehog, "So how in the world are we going to find whatever is causing your gem to start reacting that way?"

"Well, I think that we should..." that was all that Shadow could say before he was stopped by a voice inside of his mind.

"Dark Magic Attack!" shouted the female voice as it faded from his the depths of his mind.

As soon as he was back to reality, Shadow began to shout out, "Miguel! I just heard the voice of a young woman screaming an attack! By the sound of things, I'd say that she's in trouble!"

"But I didn't hear anything, Shadow," Miguel responded to the black hedgehog as he gave him a cocked eyebrow. "How is it even possible for you to listen to a voice to begin with? Are you sure that you're alright?"

"Look, Miguel, I'm telling you that I've heard it! A young girl was screaming! What do I have to do to get you to..!"

That was all Shadow could say for when his thoughts were turned back at the glowing stone that he has in his hand.

"It's the stone," the black hedgehog said out loud as he looked at the stone reaction as he moved his hand in different directions. "The voice that I've heard must've had something to do with this stone's reaction!"

"Well then, all we have to do is just find the settings on this scanner that Tails put on and we could track down the source of the energy that your stone's been picking up," Miguel said as he took the computer away from Shadow and began to typing on it. "Now, Tails had just taught me this for when he was in my world last time. All I have to do is just type in the command in order to adjust its settings for the energy signature and...hey what's this?"

When he heard Miguel say those words, Shadow began to take a closer look at the scanner and saw that his friend's hand was on a small thin plastic-looking black rod of sorts which is located on the left side of the device. With a closer examination, the black hedgehog saw that the thin rod was connected to the computer by a black wire. As he wondered about this, Shadow saw Miguel's hand pulling the rod away from its resting place and saw the human beginning to examine it.

"Hmm. Whatever this thing is, I'm sure that it might have something to do with the computer's way of finding a different source of energy," Shadow responded to his friend as he saw him beginning to point the rod to his hand, which still contained the green glowing gemstone that Maria given to him a while ago.

"Hmm. I wonder," Miguel began to say as he continued to keep the front end of the rod on the gemstone as Shadow began to notice the human's thumb on a small button at the other end. "If I place the front end of this thing on the stone that you're holding and push this button, then maybe it could trace down the same energy signature that matches the one that this stone is emitting. Well, here goes nothing."

As soon as he heard Miguel say those words, Shadow soon heard a beeping sound being emitted from the computer scanner. Before he knew it, the black hedgehog began to see the screen of the computer change from a global map of Miguel's planet to a blue screen with a window that say, "New energy source now in computer's search memory banks." The form also had a blank typing space at the bottom with a OK click button below it. When that happened, he soon began to see Miguel burst with joy as he saw the human beginning to type onto the device's keyboard again.

"It worked!" Miguel said, "The computer is beginning to scan the planet in order to find the source of the same type of energy that your stone is emitting right now. Now all I have to do is type in the command for the scanner to begin and transmit the location of the energy source and we'll be all set."

"That's great, Miguel," Shadow said to him with a smile as he saw Miguel finish typing the rest of the command and clicked the OK button.

When that happened, the black hedgehog watched the computer screen changing from a blue screen back to the global map screen that he saw before. Shadow also noticed that the map of the screen soon began to widen and was reduce to a flat map of Miguel's planet. The Ultimate Life Form also began to see the map reducing itself for when a red targeting arrow pointed to one of the countries on the world map. Then he saw the country's map soon reduced itself to what appears to be a state map for when the red arrow pointed to one of the states of the country. When the state map was in view, Shadow began to become curious for when he saw two red and green squares being placed on two separate locations of the map. One was saying, "Target" while the other is called, "Main Point."

"In case that you're wondering about this, Shadow," Miguel said while startling the black hedgehog, "the red square above the green one shows the location of the other source of the energy that we're looking for. The one that emits the same type of energy that your stone is emitting. Now, the green one, it shows our current location. All we have to do is to read the map to see where that other source is and we should be set."

"Then I think that it would be best that you read it, Miguel," Shadow said to his friend while turning himself away from what appears to him to be a very confusing map. "I don't know this world as much as you do and, besides, looking at that map is starting to give me a headache."

While hearing a soft chuckle from Miguel's throat, the black hedgehog began to walk around the living room patiently while waiting for the human to finish reading the map on the scanner's screen. Then, that was when Shadow began to hear Miguel saying while using both a curious tone, "Hmm That's funny."

"What is it, Miguel?" the black hedgehog asked as he walked up back towards the human before his friend began to respond while carefully looking at the screen.

"Well, according to this map that the scanner is transmitting, it says that the source that we're looking for is in Panorama City, Shadow. In that area, the source is somewhere near the building that's called the...the Valley Indoor Swap Meet?"

"Is there a problem, Miguel?" Shadow asked with concern as he looked at the worried expression on the human's face.

"Well, that area that is near the building is sort of a place where neighborhood gangs like to hang out, Shadow," Miguel responded as the black hedgehog saw his friend beginning to turn off the scanner and walk out of the room while shouting the rest of his explanation. "You see, the Valley Indoor Swap Meet is where a bunch of people would like to go to get clothes, jewelry, furniture, you know, that kind of thing. But that's not what worries me because right now its 8:00 p.m. and that place is closed by that time so there wouldn't be any bystanders to get in the way. What worries me is that there are neighborhood gangs over there that aren't the most friendly people that you would want to meet."

"But what makes that a problem, Miguel?" Shadow asked with an arrogant tone in his voice, "If any of those people dare to cross our path, we'll make them wish that they hadn't decided to mess with the two of us to begin with."

"What I mean, Shadow," Miguel began to say to the black hedgehog as he saw the human returning to the living room, "is that if one of those gangs were to get their hands on that source and, if it's as powerful as I think it is, then the people who live in the area is going to have a real mess on their hands. Even the police there won't be able to handle the kind of heat that the gangs there would bring if they get they're hands on what's causing that reaction your stone's been having. Bottom line, we got to get to that source before either of them do. And if the police or anyone else were to get wind of this, the people of this world would be coming there like locusts."

"Then what are doing here just standing around here for? Let's get going," Shadow said as he pick himself off of the couch and placed the green gemstone in a secret holding compartment in his shoe, "And I have a feeling that the voice that I heard in my mind has something to do with the reaction that this gemstone has been having."

"We could get to that place faster if we warp using the Chaos Control, Shadow," Miguel said to him as the black hedgehog saw the human picking up his mystic weapon from the floor. "The place is still surrounded by invisible Chaos Energy that the people of this world haven't picked up yet, thank goodness. Once we get there, the two of us should split up and search for the place for the source. We'll have a better chance at finding it if we do and there's that gemstone of yours. If it's reacted because of the energy that the source of the disturbance is emitting, then it shouldn't be too hard for you to find."

As soon as he nodded his head, Shadow began to prepare himself as both he and Miguel shouted the two words for his time and space warping technique, "Chaos Control!"

Before he knew it, both he and his human friend are traveling through the tunnel between time and space in order to reach their destination.

End of Part 1