Shadow sat on his bed, staring at his hands. His forces had crushed the rebels and he had finally defeated Sonic, but he felt despair and hatred. "What have I done?" Shadow tightened his hands into fist, "I didn't want to kill him. I just wanted him to know that I was better than he was." Shadow stood up and looked out his window, "Speed, Sonic, and all of those people, dead. Sonic kept trying to befriend me even while I was trying to take him down. Speed offered to be my brother." Shadow closed his eyes and his body shook, " I have lost everything that meant anything to me." Shadow walked to his bed and grabbed the orb Luxor had given him, "I will return to the Mobian Realm and confess. I will make amends for what I have done." He held up the orb and lighting shot from it and opened a black vortex in front of him, "First I must get Rouge's soul back to her." He leapt into the vortex and it shut behind him.

Speed opened his eyes and found himself lying on a cold metal floor. He sat up, "Where am I?"

"In my lair!" An old man sat at a computer consol.

"And does the lair owner have a name?"

"Lazar!"

"The dark wizard Lazar?"

"That was another lifetime." The old man stroked his long graybeard, "I see my brother has started again."

"Started what?"

"Long ago, I decided to seal my dark powers in to a crystal computer. My younger brother thought it was foolish and tried to steal it. I caught him and sealed him in a sick realm. The realm was half-dead and there were little materials for him to build. I thought he was effectively removed from this world."

Speed chuckled, "Guess he found away."

"Yes! He found a way to temporally escape from his realm. He gathered dark followers and used pure souls to make his stay permanent. He would strip the planet of its resources and use it to infuse his realm. I would have intervened, but he stayed far from my reach."

The green hedgehog shrugged and walked to the old man, "Why not stop him now?"

"My power must never be activated again. As soon as this threat is gone, I plan to go back into my slumber. I have a way for you and your friends to beat Luxor, but time is short. His power grows."

Speed moved to lean on the consol, but he fell through it. He shot to his feet and jumped back, "What in the heck happened?"

"Your just a spirit. A ghost if you will."

"Where is my body?"

"The berserker system has taken it over. It is lost!"

"Why?"

Lazar rubbed his eyes, "I developed the berserker system long ago to make the ultimate killing machine. When Robotnik managed to steal my computer, he downloaded it and tried to make it into his weapon. Unfortunately for you, the system has developed a mind of its own. I managed to pluck your soul from the body before it could be tainted by it. I have a temporary body for you. After you retrieve the item I need you to get, it should become permanent."

"Item?"

"Back before I was born, five items of incredible power were hidden around the globe. Legend tells of five warriors who would rise up and defeat a great evil. And since my brother is more evil than Robotnik, I figure it is time. Once you have gotten your item, your body will become permanent."

Speed nodded, "Sounds good! Who are the other four?"

"Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, and Shadow!" Speed opened his mouth to speak, but Lazar pointed to a metal sphere hovering a few feet away, "I will handle them. Go!" Speed shrugged and stood under the sphere. Lazar pressed some buttons and a blue bolt of light shot from the sphere and Speed glowed blue for a few minutes and returned to normal. Lazar smiled, "That body should last for about four hours. Plenty of time to retrieve you're item." Lazar hit a few controls, "You must head for Angel Island. I believe the item there is perfect for you." Speed vanished. " Good luck!"

Speed appeared in his headquarters on Bounty Hunter Island. The body he had was his, but before his enhancements by Robotnik. No spurs, no expandable quills, and no super speed or strength. Speed chuckled, "Sorry Lazar, but I am not leaving my wife with that monster."

Shadow snuck into the inner sanctum of Luxor on the Ark. He had timed his so called father's timetable and knew this was the time he was in the other realm. He picked up the marble sized purple sphere. He smiled and slipped it under his glove, "Now to get you to your body!" He snuck out of the room and ran down the hall. He hid in a shadow as two robbed individuals walked by. He straightened the bag that hung from his shoulder. He wished the orb had more teleportation abilities. He carefully walked down a corridor and entered the teleporter room. If he still had his dark power, he could have gone straight to Knothole. He smiled to himself, he was glad to be rid of them. He set it for the Station Square link and jumped onto the pad, "Time to make things right." He vanished and reappeared in the old military base in the Mystic Ruins. Shadow walked to the exit, but a dark bolt blasted him down. He pushed himself up and looked to his attacker, "Saber!"

A yellow hedgehog walked into view, "Master Luxor thought you would betray him. I'm glad he asked me to capture you."

Shadow chuckled, "You think you can beat me. Even without my dark powers, I am more than a match for you."

Leda pushed Sperk against a tree. It had taken a full two seconds to snap the echidna's neck. They waited a few minutes for medical help to arrive and then took off to the woods. Leda wanted Sperk so bad. Their lips fought each other for several minutes. As Sperk's hands began to wander, a dagger impaled the tree. Leda recognized it and jumped out of the way. Sperk simply pulled out the dagger. It exploded. A green version of Sperk walked into the area. Sperk walked out of the smoke and lunged at his copy. He fell through it.

"A hologram!" Leda looked up as the real one jumped from the top of a tree and aimed a pair of blaster pistols at Sperk.

Sperk turned to the hedgehog, "You....die!"

Speed smiled, "Stop making my body ugly." Sperk lunged at Speed and he opened fire. The red bolts from the blasters just singed on the crimson aura around Sperk. Sperk slammed Speed out of the forest and he hit the sidewalk on the edge of the kingdom hard. He hobbled to his feet, "I miss my super strength."

Sperk stepped out of the woods, "I will kill you!"

Speed cursed himself from dropping his blasters, "How about a game of cards?" Sperk cracked his knuckles and Speed finally saw what it was like facing himself in this form, "I have been a real jerk." Leda just watched from the distance. She didn't have a clue who was who."

"Die!" Sperk moved at lighting speed and punched Speed hard in the jaw. Before he hit the ground, Sperk curled into a ball and slammed him into a building. Speed bounced off the wall and landed on the ground. He couldn't move his body. Sperk drew his sword, "I don't know who you are, but your finished." Sperk raised the sword high and swung down hard. The sword hit Speed's chest, but it didn't cut. It started to crack. Before Sperk could move, it exploded. Both hedgehogs were sent flying through the air. Sperk landed several feet away and Speed landed near Leda. The echidna walked slowly toward him, but he shot to his feet.

"My sword!" He looked at the sharp spurs on his knuckles. He smiled, "I'm back! My body!" He jumped in the air and whooped with joy, "All right!" He looked toward his loner body and saw it start to disintegrate, "He really met temporary." The berserker system had been transferred to the temp body and it to was dieing off. "I'm free!" Speed turned to his wife, "Miss me?" Leda fainted. "Guess so!"

Shadow jumped behind some controls as Saber shot dark bolts around it. Shadow held his broken arm as he tried to come up with a plan. Saber was a lot stronger than he thought. Shadow cursed himself, he had grown dependant on the dark powers he once had. Shadow spotted an air vent and quickly dived for it. Saber tried to blast him, but Shadow managed to get into the vent before he was blasted. Saber ran to the vent, but Shadow's feet met him as he tried to jump in. Saber fell back and Shadow jumped out of the vent, "I don't run!" Shadow tackled him down and ran to a pile of old storage boxes. Saber jumped up and fired a bolt. Shadow slid down and the bolt blasted the boxes. The started to tip toward him. Shadow heard Saber scream as the boxes fell on him. Shadow didn't waste time in leaving; he had more important things to do.

Jiece18: Just to let you know, Lazar came from the Sonic Cartoon!