Shadow walked into the main control room of the space colony Ark. The place hadn't been touch since the biohazard incident. He walked over to the ejection capsule that had been used to send him to Mobius and Sonic on a trip to his death. He placed a gloved hand on it and sighed, "Maria!" He shook off old memories and walked to the elevator. He rode it to the main lab and walked in. Everything was covered in a layer of dust. He went to a computer screen and wiped off the dust. He hit a few buttons, but the screen remained blank, "Fifty years!" He rummaged through the drawers. The papers he found said nothing of his creation. He tossed them down and pushed over the computer, "Nothing!" His usual calmness was quickly being replaced by anger, "Why can't I find anything? Did that thing really tell Professor Gerald how to create me?" Shadow walked out of the lad and into a dusty dark corridor. He ran to Gerald's private office and pulled the doors open. The place had been ripped apart. No doubt by G.U.N troops. Again he found nothing useful. As he decided to give up, a small beeping sounded from his shoe. He took off the small box and turned it on. He had set the internal scanners to activate the box if someone else was on the Ark. The black hedgehog followed the signal to one of the cargo bays. He quickly jumped in and looked around at the abandoned metal and wooden crates stacked everywhere, "A trap!" A dagger impaled itself in the floor in front of him. It beeped, "Crud!" He jumped back as the dagger exploded. A green hedgehog dressed in traveler clothes leapt from the smoke. He landed a punch across Shadow's jaw. The sharp spurs on his knuckles left an imprint. Shadow rolled across the floor and stood up, "Lucky punch! I won't let you have another one."

The green one rushed forward at high speed, "I don't need luck!"

Shadow ducked down and grabbed his arm. He flung the hedgehog down. As he hit the floor, Shadow jumped up high and curled into a ball. He spun around fast and shot down toward the hedgehog. Before he could hit, a red bolt of energy hit him and sent him flying into a pile of crates. A female echidna walked out of the shadows with a laser rifle, "You were right. He doesn't need luck he has me."

The hedgehog stood up and cracked his neck, "Nice shot! I'll finish it!" He pulled out his last two daggers from his belt and threw them at Shadow.

"Chaos Control!" Shadow vanished and the daggers blew up the crates. Shadow appeared above the pair and landed next to them. He drove his heel into the girl's stomach sending her down. And he ducked a punch from the hedgehog and connected with an uppercut. The hedgehog fell back, but landed on his hands. He launched his feet upward and hit Shadow in the face. Shadow curled up and rolled away.

The hedgehog helped the echidna up, "You all right?" She nodded.

Shadow rushed forward and smashed his fist into the hedgehog jaw. He fell to the ground. Shadow ignored the girl and leapt at guy. He brought his legs up and tossed Shadow over him. Both got to their feet. As the prepared to go again, a loud voice echoed through out the cargo bay, "Enough!" Black smoke flowed over the floor and a man walked into view. He was human, about thirty years old. He had long, but scraggly blue hair and green eyes. His skin was slightly pale and he wore a dark robe. He looked at the two fighters, "I think that is quite enough. I didn't call you both here to fight."

"Then why did you call us?" Shadow stood straight and crossed his arms. His eyes glaring at the man.

"And who in the hell are you?" The hedgehog stood ready to strike.

"Forgive my rudeness! My name is Luxor! I am the ruler of the Nightmare Realm. For years I have given the scientist of your world little ideas and techniques. You two are the latest of many creations over the years."

The hedgehog lunged forward and rammed his fist into the guy's face. He rolled his shoulders as Luxor picked himself off the floor, "You were the reason Robotnik put me through hell for almost a year. The reason I killed so many people."

Luxor stood up and bowed his head, "I am sorry my son! Robotnik twisted the information I slipped him wrong. But have you not benefited from the enhancements he had given you? The speed, the strength, and the power." He patted him on the shoulder, "I deserved that punch, Speed. But I hope we can repair the rift between us." Luxor walked over to Shadow, "As for you! I hope you can learn to trust me enough to learn your true destiny."

"What destiny?" He had perked Shadow's interest.

Luxor smiled and walked toward the center of the bay. He flung his arms out and a dozen different mammals and humans appeared in the bay. "The destiny I talk about is revenge and peace. We will destroy the vile presence of Robotnik and his warlords. Unite the planet under one benevolent ruler ship. You my sons will help me bring peace to this world."

Speed glanced over to his wife, "What about her?"

"Leda!" Luxor nodded, "I encourage my family to be happy. I have no problem with having a daughter."

Shadow and Speed walked over to a corner. They still wanted to pound the heck out of each other, but they had to talk, "What do you think?"

Shadow rubbed his chin, "I don't know! I fail to see how we can trust him so easily. But I like what I hear. I'll stick around to see more."

"Agreed!"

Shadow stepped toward Luxor, "We'll stick around, but if we start to not like what we are seeing, we're gone."

"Fair enough!" Luxor clapped his hands and two cats walked up, "Make sure they get the best rooms here." They bowed and lead the trio out of the bay. Luxor chuckled.

"Are you sure about them master?" A robe figure appeared behind him.

"I will not abandon them. I did help create them. How did the impregnating go?"

"As planed my lord."

"Good! In two months time, I will have the power to pull this pathetic world into the Nightmare Realm. Then it will know true peace."

Knuckles sat on his desk as he watched Sonic stare blankly at the ceiling. The hedgehog had come to him in order to get help in making sense of everything, but Knuckles couldn't offer any ideas. The guardian tried to think of how or why three perfectly normal mammals would suddenly go nuts. 'Well Amy wasn't completely normal.' Knuckles sighed and walked over to his friend, "Mopping around isn't going to help your friends. We need to come up with a plan."

"You think of something I didn't?"

Knuckles flopped down on the couch next to Sonic, "What about Robotnik?"

"Possible! But he would have gloated about it by now."

"Good point!" Knuckles rubbed his chin, "How about Bojack?"

"Tikal would have given us a heads up."

The echidna sighed and leaned back, "Well there are more enemies, but I can't think of anyone who could pull this one off."

Sonic slowly stood up, "Maybe I should be looking for an answer. But I wish I knew where to start."

Knuckles shrugged and jumped to his feet, "We should go! Tails is my friend too."

"Thanks bro!"

"Hey I have to take a vacation form the island sometimes. But we need a place to start."

Sonic rubbed his neck, "Lets try and get Shadow to help us. We could use the help."

"Yeah! Too bad Sperk is dead! He would have had contacts we could use."

Sonic managed a small smile and a nod. He knew that Sperk had survived and decided to trivial the world as Speed. Sonic sighed, "He isn't as dead as you might think. When we get with Shadow, I will give him a call." Knuckles was surprised, but kept quiet. He had thought about faking his death and living a peaceful life with Julie-su. But it had only lasted a few seconds. Sonic walked toward the door, "Lets just hope we can get to the bottom of this."

Shadow and Speed stood at a large view port that over looked the planet. Speed glanced over to Shadow, "You sure about joining that guy?"

"He knows why I was created. It is something I have been pondering my whole life." Shadow turned to his, "What about you?"

"I haven't a clue. Maybe the thought of being a part of family was alluring."

Shadow held out his hand, "I would not mind having a brother. Lets stand together with our father." Shadow smirked, "And if he is lying, we will crush him together."

Speed smiled and griped his hand, "Done! Today we are brothers."

"And we will stand together against all."