It's been a while I know, but at long last I present chapter 4. Please read and review!

Rapt Sorrow Chapter 4: Saturday night fun, with a side of terror.

Shadow left the arcade when he got bored of beating all the newbies at every possible difficulty and handicap. "EVP is kinda freaky eh?" some random passerby said. Shadow began to think for a moment.

As he thought, his surroundings changed as though he imagined where he was. "Space Colony Ark..." he thought. He saw parts of that same dream he saw before flash before him. He remembered it all, the soldiers, the running, Maria…. The artificial surroundings abruptly disappeared, and Shadow was back on the street.

Sally walked by and noticed Shadow standing there, staring off into his abyss of endless angst. "Hey Shadow! What cha' doin'?" Shadow turned toward her abruptly and stared at her with the most terrifying glare she had ever seen. "What do you want! You just going to stand there looking at me like I committed a crime!"

"It wasn't me! It wasn't my fault she's dead! For crying out loud its that damned GUN! Why should you deserve to pity me like this! No one likes you anyway!" Shadow's screaming no longer began to make any legible sense after that. And after Sally stood through every second of Shadow's seemingly drunken madness she ran off frightened and in tears.

"Now remind me, Amy," Sonic said puzzled "Why in the world are we going to Twinkle Park with Knuckles and Rouge?" Amy straightened his collar. "You promised me we'd go on a date, and besides, Rouge wanted to thank me for helping her." Sonic loosened his noose like tie before he turned blue. "You didn't do it by yourself you know." Amy pulled a hammer from her purse and whacked him upon his sacred head. "Don't be silly dear, it was my idea all along," she said laughing maniacally. "Oh dear, you've fainted. I'll just set you down on the couch, pull out my almighty hammer of persuasion and…"

Sonic stood up suddenly as good as new. "I'm up!" Amy laughed at him.

"Time to check the e-mail," Shadow said as he sat down. "You have one new message." He looked closely at the sender's name. "This must be Ash. How did he get my e-mail address?"

Dear Shadow,

I am inviting you; rather Mina is inviting you, to join us later this evening at Twinkle Park. Don't think I am out for revenge, because this is all Mina's idea.

P.S. You dropped your address book at our last "meeting."

Not So Sincerely Ash,

"So that's where it went. Who does he think he's fooling? He obviously wants revenge, so I'd better dress to kill." Just then a dress fell out of his closet. "Not what I meant."

"Oh I can't believe it. Twinkle Park is so beautiful at night!" Amy exclaimed. "So tell me, Amy. For whom are we waiting?" Sonic asked sarcastically. "Knuckles." Sonic seemed shocked. "Knuckles?" Amy sighed and then responded, "Yes, Knuckles and Rouge." Sonic began to snicker. "Oh man I don't believe this!" Amy frowned at him. "Don't be rude here they come now."

A rather well dressed couple approaches them. "Whoa, who is this gentleman, Rouge?" Sonic asked. "Are you stupid or something? It's Knuckles!" Sonic gasped. "Knuckles is that you, wearing clean clothes and enough cologne to make a large animal sick?" Knuckles stared coldly at him. "Very funny Sonic, and I see you've settled down with your worst nightmare." Amy threw her hammer at him and glared menacingly. "What did you say?" Knuckles got up off the ground and said, "Nothing… Ouch…"

Shadow parked his car outside the building. "So this is where Mina lives?" Shadow stepped out of the car and strolled up to the door. He rang the doorbell after a moment of hesitation. An older looking Mina-like person answered the door. "Hello?" Shadow stammered for a bit. "Mina?" The figure laughed. "Oh, no. I'm her mother. Come in."

"I thought Ash was taking her to Twinkle Park? Is there a change in plans?" Shadow thought back to the e-mail he received earlier. "No, Is Ash here yet?" Just then the doorbell rang in an ominous tone. Mina's mother let the person in. Ash has arrived. "Aren't you a little early shadow? I thought we were picking you up?" Ash said sarcastically. "Oh don't be silly. I thought it would be better if we went in my car." Ash looked at him funny. "You have a car? I thought you walked here." Shadow smiled. "I came in that shiny black car you undoubtedly saw on your way in." Shadow peeked outside at Ash's mode of transportation. "Wow, a white van. That'll definitely pick up girls." Ash glared furiously at him. "Why you?" Just then Mina came downstairs. "Well shall we go now?"

"You certainly have a nice car Shadow," Mina said politely. "Thank you. It must be very different for you," Shadow said. "It handles much better than the tour bus that Ash drives around." Shadow laughed. "I bet it does." Shadow thought for a moment. "Wait a sec! Tour bus?" Mina seemed surprised to hear him say that. "Haven't you heard? I am a singer." Shadow continued his focus on driving. "Oh…" Ash spoke up just then. "Ahem." Mina looked over at him. "Oh, I'm sorry Ash." Ash just sighed for a moment. "Welcome to Twinkle Park."

Some time later…

"Wow hasn't this been fun?" Mina said excitedly. "Yes, it has," Ash said glaring at Shadow. "Don't be like that Ash. Are you jealous?" Ash froze. "Jealous of what?" Ash asked inquisitively. "Jealous of Shadow." Shadow spit out the soda he was drinking. "Jealous? Don't be silly." He was interrupted by Mina when she spotted something. "Oh look! The arcade!" Ash began groan. "Oh, please. Not right now Mina." Mina turned to him happily. "Come on Ash. Just one game." Ash seemed a bit relieved. "Fine." Mina suddenly spoke up. "One game of DDR!" Ash's jaw dropped to the ground. "Oh god…"

"You suck! Game over," the voice from the game said. Ash was panting heavily. "Is… is it over yet?" Mina laughed at him. "Yes it is. Get up silly. A little dancing can't be that bad." Shadow stepped up to the machine. "No it can't," Shadow said as he put in some money.

"Perfect, just perfect. I'm still crying," the voice from the game said sadly. "Oh my god!" Ash screamed before he fainted. "Wow! You're really good Shadow. Do you play often?" Shadow wiped his forehead and picked up Ash off the ground before answering. "No not really."

"Well look who it is! What's up Shadow?" Sonic said. "Sonic? What are you doing here?" Shadow asked surprised. "I could ask you the same thing Angsty." Shadow didn't seem amused. "I told you not to call me that!" Shadow jumped up. "Oh my… Is that Knuckles?" Sonic gave a simple nod. Shadow broke out in laughter. "Oh this is just so great." Knuckles, now vastly offended, glares evilly at him. "You got something to say?"

"Boys knock it off!" Amy and Rouge said in unison, "Oh, hi Mina!" Mina bowed to them. "Hello Amy. Hello Ms. Rouge." Rouge seemed flattered. "Oh please. Just call me Rouge." Ash revived from his "danced out" state. "Whoa! It's a happy gathering." Shadow let go of him. "Welcome back to reality Mr. Mongoose."

The earth shook violently for a moment. Screams could be heard all around. "What the hell was that?" Knuckles asked. "Ha, ha, ha, at last! The world will be mine!" a sinister voice shouted. Robots dropped from the sky, causing mass mayhem and panic. "Its Dr. Eggman! Run for your lives!" someone yelled. "We need to get out of here fast!" Sonic yelled. Amy screamed as they all saw a pillar about to fall upon them.

Everything froze. Shadow looked around. The girl from his dream appeared before them. "You must save them. You're the only one who can," The figure spoke. "Until their powers awaken, you must protect them." Shadow stood still. "Who are you?" He asked. "Do you not remember? I am Tikal." After that she vanished. Then another girl appeared. Shadow recognized here immediately. "Maria?" The blonde haired girl smiled and spoke. "Shadow, use your powers for good. Remember? You are the Ultimate Life Form!"

Everything snapped back to reality. Shadow jumped up into the air and homing attacked the falling pillar. "Let's go. Move!" They all began to leave the park. Once they had reached the entrance, group of robots surrounded them. "Looks like this is it guys," Sonic said. "No it's not! Chaos Spear!" The robots were pierced with an incredibly intense light that destroyed them all in a single blow. "Shadow, how did you?" Shadow interrupted them. "No time. Go!"

Shadow stood at the entrance. "Shadow we have to go," Sonic said. "I'll hold them off, just go!" Shadow yelled. "I'm not going anywhere. Knuckles take them to a safe place." Knuckles gave a thumbs up and ran off with the others. The robots began to surround them. "Ready?" Shadow asked. "Lets do this." They grabbed each other's hands and ran in circles. The running began to create a tornado as they ran faster. All of the robots became engulfed in the twister and are tossed around into their doom. Shadow and Sonic stop running. "Whoa, I'm dizzy." Sonic said. "Come on, let's go."

"Interesting. I've found at last Sonic! Oh and look, if it isn't Shadow," a mysterious voice said. "Who are you?" Shadow asked. "I am the great Dr. Eggman. Don't you remember? You must have lost your memories when we were sent to this world. You both used to be hedgehogs, and quite the nuisance. Now that you're humans, nothing can stop me from conquering the universe. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Shadow laughed. "Your insane old man. You should go back to the old folks home before your break a hip or something." Eggman stopped laughing. "How dare you! It's time to destroy you once and for all!"

"Just see if you can keep up old man. Chaos Control!" Shadow teleported behind Eggman. "Boo!" Eggman jumped. "Ah! Why you!" Sonic got up from his dizzy spell. "Shadow, be careful." Sonic crouched and began to spin fast. He let go and sped at the machine Eggman was seated on. Sonic broke through the machine sending it flying. "Blast you! You haven't heard the last of Dr. Eggman!"

"Did I just do that?" Sonic asked. "I don't know what's going on, but It has something to do with someone named Tikal," Shadow said, "she may know more about our strange abilities." Sonic sat for a moment and suddenly realized something. "Wait, did you say Tikal? She goes to our school. Apparently she's a psychic or something like that."

Shadow sat down next to Sonic. "She's been in my dreams telling me to remember my true past. Telling me to protect you guys until your powers had awakened." Sonic stood up. "Well it seems we had better go get some info. Lets go find the others." They left the burning park to find the truth.

"How is it I could see Maria? She's supposed to be dead. I still don't remember who she is though. The Ultimate Life Form, me? What's this all supposed to mean." A voice interrupts his sleep. "Destiny…"

Join us next time, when the fun really begins. The army vs. Eggman, Shadow steals a giant robot, and much more.