Shadow walked. He didn't care where he was going; he just wanted to go into a private room to get away from everything. After a while of walking, he finally found an empty room in the pyramid base. Quietly, he stepped inside, intending to shut the door behind him until a quiet voice asked, "What are you doing, Shadow?"

The ebony hedgehog froze. That voice….it sounded too much like…oh never mind.

"Nothing," he replied, not caring to look at who he was talking to. He already knew. It was MJ.

"Oh…" MJ looked down. She was hoping to do something with Shadow…but she guessed not.

"I'll guess I'll be going, then…" she turned around and in the corner of her eye she could she Shadow watching her as she left. After she was out of sight, she quickly and quietly hid behind the nearby wall and waited.

Shadow looked ahead at the empty room and stood in deep thought. "Maria…" he whispered and closed his eyes. It was funny; this empty room just outlined in metal reminded him of a day he had never forgotten…

Flashback

"Shadow! There you are! I've been searching for you!" said the cheerful Maria as she joined Shadow's side in a room much like the one in the Pyramid base.

"Why?" he curiously asked.

"I want to teach you something. Don't worry, it won't be boring. It'll be fun!" Maria informed, smiling. Her blue eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Okay!" Shadow loved to have fun with Maria.

"Here, what I am going to teach you is a dance," Maria informed.

"A dance?" the ebony hedgehog inquired.

Maria nodded, the instructed, "First, you have to know the formation. This dance is usually performed with a male and a female. The female grasps the male's hand like this…" Maria weaved her fingers into Shadow's, "…and then she'll place her other hand on the male's shoulder, like this…" then, Maria placed her hand on Shadow's shoulder.

"Then what does the male do?" Shadow asked.

"The male wraps his other hand that isn't being held by the female's hand around the female's waist, like this…" Maria guided Shadow's hand around her waist, which made Shadow blush.

Maria laughed. "There's no need to feel shy, Shadow," she said.

Shadow still blushed. It felt weird to be holding a female like that…

"Now, how you dance is simple. You just step to the right with your right foot, then step to the right with your left foot, and then step to the left with your left foot and follow with your right foot. You keep switching back and forth while slowly spinning. Like this…" slowly, Maria did as she said.

Shadow stumbled. Maria laughed as he regained his composure. "It's alright. Let's try again," she encouraged, and they picked up from where they left off.

After a few circles, Shadow got the hang of it.

"Good job, Shadow!" Maria praised.

Shadow smiled. Maria was right. That WAS fun.

End Flashback

Shadow opened his eyes and looked about him. If only he could do that just once more… Shadow took a quick glance around the room. Good, nobody was watching.

MJ whipped her sweat off her forehead. That was close. If she didn't hide her head behind the wall, Shadow would have spotted her! After waiting a little bit, she peeked around the corner again…

Shadow lifted up a hand, acting like it was grasping the "invisible" female's hand. The other hand wrapped around air. Then, taking a deep breath and reminding himself how it went, he danced.

MJ's eyes opened wide. Whoa, Shadow was good! He danced like he was a professional!

After watching him a bit, MJ fell into a trance. She didn't even notice the ivory bat that stopped beside her…

"Hey, what are you watching?" Rouge asked.

MJ jumped and nearly squealed with surprise.

"Rouge!" MJ gasped as the bat looked over the seal to see.

"Shadow? Dancing?...He's pretty good, actually…" Rouge commented, and then she looked at the seal who was blushing.

The bat raised an eyebrow. "You like him?"

"No! No! I don't!" MJ defended, her cheeks now crimson.

Rouge smiled. She could feel an evil plan coming her way…

Rouge stepped into the metal room while MJ mouthed to Rouge, "No! No!" while shaking her head slowly, her cheeks burning hot.

Shadow froze and turned his head to see Rouge smiling. "What do you want?" he asked, irritated.

"I've got someone here who wants to dance with you!" Rouge informed.

MJ's eyes opened wide. No! No! No! Rouge! What in the world is she doing? What is she THINKING! Is she INSANE!

Rouge grabbed the seal by the arm and pulled her into view.

Shadow stared at MJ as her eyes started to shyly come up. Then, their eyes met. Shyly, MJ quickly turned away. Her cheeks felt like they were burnt.

"Go ahead, MJ. Dance with Shadow," Rouge whispered.

"I don't think—"

"GO!" before MJ knew it, Rouge had pushed her in front of Shadow, accidentally slightly bumping into him.

Rouge smiled, reaching behind her.

"I'll leave you two alone…" then, the ivory bat shut the door behind her as she exited.

I'm going to kill that bat once I'm out of here, MJ thought, and Shadow thought the same thing.

Nothing happened for a while…until Shadow grabbed MJ's hand and lifted it up, weaving his fingers into hers. Then came the one part…

Finally, Shadow wrapped his arm around MJ's slender waist gently.

MJ gasped. Could this really be happening?

Shadow cleared his throat.

"Hmm?" MJ asked.

"You're supposed to put your hand on my shoulder," Shadow instructed. "Don't you know this dance?"

MJ blushed even more (if she could). "No…"

Gently, Shadow placed her hand on his shoulder and then put his arm around MJ's waist again.

"Do you know how to perform the dance?" he asked.

MJ shook her head and looked down.

"It's easy. First, you…" And step-by-step, Shadow taught MJ the dance, until finally they started dancing on their own.

MJ couldn't believe this was real. It seemed so…magical, so unbelievable. She felt like she was floating on a cloud. She felt so…she couldn't put it into words. It was just amazing.

Shadow watched MJ's every move. She's very graceful…a natural, he thought.

MJ felt like her crush on Shadow just washed away. It felt like there was nothing else in the room except them. Touched by all the emotions, MJ finally rested her head against Shadow's chest, closing her eyes.

Shadow was surprised. This young seal…felt so close to him. Then, Shadow noticed something. MJ had fallen asleep and was dancing in her sleep! Shadow stopped dancing, and MJ, in her sleep, stopped dancing. Her head was still against his chest.

He shook his head, smiling. Wait…smiling? SMILING! Shadow NEVER smiles! At least, the only one who ever made him smile was….was…Maria. So much like Maria…Shadow couldn't ignore the resemblance (except the look). They had the same attitude, mind and everything. Only one thing was different…MJ was alive and Maria wasn't. Shadow laid his eyes on MJ, this time looking at her differently—as if she was a sister to him. He was thankful she was asleep.

Gently, Shadow petted MJ's head. "I promise I won't let you die…not like I did Maria…" Shadow closed his eyes, burdening that promise deep inside his heart.

Then, Shadow picked up the sleeping seal and took her to her temporary bedroom. As he laid her down, and tucked her in, Shadow felt different.

It's like I'm repaying Maria for all she's done to me… Shadow thought. He looked at the peaceful look on MJ's face, and then walked away, turning off the lights…

………..

Knuckles sighed and looked beside him, where an unsure teal echidna stood. Sonic had done it again. He asked him if he could look for the keys to open the stupid door that blocked them from going any further in the pyramid. At first, he said no, but when Maya Eva offered to help…he started thinking, "How hard could it be when two people are looking for the keys?" Well, what he SHOULD have thought was, "Does she even know how to treasure hunt?"

"Look," Knuckles turned to face Maya Eva. "All you have to do is use your instincts."

Maya Eva was confused. "But….I'm not an original echidna like you! How am I supposed to—"

"You made Eva to be from a tribe, right? You made her to be a great treasure hunter, right?" Knuckles questioned.

Maya Eva slowly nodded 'yes' to each one.

"Then problem solved! You can find them!" the red echidna turned around to go look.

"How?" Maya Eva wondered.

Knuckles sighed in frustration. "You. Are. Maya Eva. Are you not? You should have all the traits from her except her attitude," he replied.

"OH!" Maya Eva exclaimed.

Knuckles just shook his head, but then froze. That vibe….a key was near. He was sure of it.

"Knuckles, why is my head throbbing towards my right?" Maya Eva questioned, her paws clutching the sides of her head, not understanding what was happening.

Knuckles looked at her. "Stay calm. There is no reason to get scared; after a while, you will get used to the feeling," he informed.

"But why am I feeling this way?" Maya Eva asked, almost shouting.

Knuckles winced. "You don't need to shout. Relax. The feeling you are experiencing means that a chaos emerald—in this case, a key—is nearby," he explained as patient as he could.

"Oh…" Maya Eva let go of her head and waited for further instructions.

"Now you need to just let your instincts take over. Let them guide you, but remain in control and conscious," Knuckles instructed.

The teal echidna's eyebrow rose in confusion.

"Just follow the feeling to guide you to the key basically," Knuckles said in simpler form.

Maya Eva nodded, and then as calm as she could, she walked towards the direction the throbbing was aimed. After walking a distance, the throbbing fled to the top of her head. Maya Eva looked up, and then looked behind her at Knuckles.

"I'm letting you do this one," he said.

Maya Eva sighed. How was she supposed to get up to where the throbbing led? Think, Rachel, think! she thought. Instantly, her mind did a flashback of the game Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. Then, she remembered. Maya Eva looked at her knuckles and then walked over to a column that looked like her only way up.

With the slight piece of confidence in herself, she dug her knuckles into the column and then climbed the concrete pole. Finally, the exhausted echidna reached the top and found that it led to a room. With the last of her strength, Maya Eva plopped down on the floor of the upper room.

"You okay?" Knuckles called.

"Yeah…just exhausted," Maya Eva replied, taking deep breaths.

"Harder than it looks, isn't it?" Knuckles said.

Maya Eva nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her answer.

"Keep moving, though. We need to find the other keys. I'll start looking for the other one or ones," Knuckles offered.

Maya Eva rested until she couldn't hear his fading footsteps, and then stood up. The throbbing now was in the front of her head. Quietly, she walked over to where a giant picture of a dandelion hung. The throbbing was like a heartbeat, now.

"It must be behind the picture…" Maya Eva reasoned.

Gathering her strength, Maya Eva charged and dug through the picture. Before she knew it, she was engulfed in the wall. No need to panic…stay calm… she thought, then she reached out with one arm, digging.

"OW!" Maya Eva yelled as her hand collided with a hard object.

Wait a minute! The key! Trying to conceal her excitement, Maya Eva grabbed the key with both hands, and dug her way out of the wall.

Holding it out in front of her, she smiled, proud of her accomplishment. Wait another minute….Maya Eva sighed. She was covered in dust. Then, without thinking further, she shook like a dog would after it had taken a bath. She looked back down at herself, and then smiled.

"NEXT!" she yelled, jumping out of the room to find the other key.

A few minutes later, Knuckles and Maya Eva found all three keys.

"Nice job. Let's get back to the others," Knuckles said.

Maya Eva nodded, smiling proudly. She was excited, and couldn't wait to tell Shani about it all!

After taking a few steps, the ground rumbled. "What was that?" Maya Eva whispered, waking up from her short daydream.

The ground rumbled again. "I don't know…but I don't like it," Knuckles replied.

Suddenly, a shadow came over Maya Eva and Knuckles, but the teal echidna was the only one who looked behind.

"Kn-kn-n-n-n-Knuckles?" Maya Eva stammered, poking the red echidna in fear.

"What?" Knuckles looked behind him. His eyes opened wide.

There behind them was the biggest ghost he had ever seen.

"I thought ghosts didn't exist…" Maya Eva whispered.

"I guess they do…" Knuckles gulped.

"WAAAAAAAAAA!" the ghost roared, making the room they were in shake.

"This is not good…" Maya Eva concluded.

Knuckles nodded.

Narrowing its eyes, the ghost backed up, then charged at them, full throttle.

"RUN!" Maya Eva exclaimed, and in an instant both of them were fleeing from the towering ghost.

Knuckles looked back at him, and noticed that the ghost wasn't going to give up.

"We're running around in circles…" Maya Eva informed in a sing-song voice.

"And it looks like we'll have to get rid of him. He's not giving up…" Knuckles added.

"Well then what do you suggest!" the teal echidna inquired.

"I suggest you be quiet and listen to my plan!" Knuckles retorted, and shared his idea.

"Sure it will work?" Maya Eva asked.

"Positive. Now SPLIT!" Suddenly, the two echidnas split up as one ran up the giant cylinder in the middle, and the other kept running.

Just as Knuckles said, the ghost kept following him. Maya Eva, rushed over to the other side of the cylinder, where a rope hanged from the ceiling. Reaching out with one hand, Maya Eva almost reached it when the ghost disappeared and re-appeared in front of her!

"AH!" startled, the teal echidna fell on her bottom, and didn't notice the rainbow gem that fell from a pocket of hers…

With one swing of an arm, the ghost made the rope slide to the other side of the room, making it unreachable from the cylinder.

"No!" Knuckles spat, and stopped running.

The ghost floated threateningly towards the fallen echidna.

"EVA! THE GEM!" Knuckles yelled at the top of his lungs.

Taking a quick glance, she saw the Rainbow gem and grabbed it, raising it, hoping it would do the same as it did to the robot earlier. Instead, a blue ring made of light, erupted from the gem and expanded at a shocking rate, knocking out everything in its path…except for the ghost.

Instead, the ghost simply screamed and covered its eyes, stunned for the moment.

"Knuckles, NOW!" Maya Eva yelled, making sure that the ghost stayed stunned.

Almost as quick as Sonic, Knuckles climbed up the cylinder. Once reaching the top, he jumped off and glided towards the rope. Finally, he got a firm grip, and allowed himself to drop, dangling from the rope.

Suddenly, holes in the ceiling appeared, allowing light to flood the entire room. Eventually, it reached the ghost.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" it screamed helplessly.

Maya Eva stood up as Knuckles returned to her side, and together, they watched as the ghost evaporated into thin air.

Silence lasted a moment.

"Well….that was fun!" Maya Eva said.

Knuckles rolled his eyes and about collapsed.

The teal echidna giggled. "Come on," she said, "Let's get back to the others."

……...

"I'm gonna SO beat you!" they heard Shani declare as they reunited with the group.

Sonic snickered. "I'd like to see you try!"

"Try what?" Maya Eva asked.

"Me, Shani, Sonic, and Darkness—"

"Sonic, Shani, Darkness and I!" Tia informed, correcting Jet's grammar.

"Sorry! Shani, Sonic, Darkness and I, " Jet glanced at Tia before continuing, "Are going to race to the end of the next tunnel, or room of some sort!"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "All right, as long as I don't get hurt!"

"I'll tell them when they can start!" Krystal offered.

Knuckles nodded, and Krystal excitedly hopped over to her position.

Maya Eva, Tia, Lee, Amy and Tails stood over to the side, cheering on their favorite racer.

"GO SHANI!" Maya Eva cried, cupping her hands around her mouth.

"YOU CAN BEAT 'EM, SONIC!" Tails and Amy encouraged. Sonic winked in reply, getting down on the ground so one knee could just barely touch it. The other three did the same.

"COME ON, DARKNESS!" Tia yelled.

"LET'S GO JET!" Lee exclaimed.

"Now, before we begin the race—"

"Yeah, yeah, we know, Knuckles. We can run into anything but you. We. Know. Just start the race already!" Sonic interrupted.

Knuckles "hmphed", then turned around, putting one key in at a time.

"On your mark…" Krystal started.

Shani tensed up. Just relax, Bridget, she told herself, it'll be all right. You can do it! You can beat 'em!

"Get set…"

It's just like when me and Bridget—excuse me, Bridget and I—raced in the city. The only difference is: We're in a pyramid, Jet thought.

Knuckles finally opened the door, revealing a giant room full of loop-di-loops and long run aisles.

The perfect place for running, Sonic thought excitedly.

The red echidna stepped out of the way so then he wouldn't get hurt.

Be ready for anything, Kogome, Darkness thought, all ready to burst out running.

"GO!".

In a flash of light, the three runners were off, dashing like lightning across the room and into another, neck-to-neck.

"How are we going to keep up with them?" Maya Eva wondered.

As an answer, Tails walked up in his cyclone, with Lee in the seat behind.

"Want a ride?" Tails asked, and the others smiled.

Meanwhile, the four runners were going as fast as they could, each feeling the need-for-speed pulsing through their veins. It was a rare feeling only a few can experience: running as fast as the speed of sound—and Darkness, Shani, and Jet should consider themselves lucky. But only one of them will be able to experience traveling as fast as the speed of light….

Hey, this makes me think of a song! Sonic thought excitedly. Before he knew it, everyone in the room instantly felt the song around them, like it was floating in the air, wishing them to win.

The song went something like this….

Well I don't show off, don't criticize

I'm just livin' by my own feelings

And I won't give in, won't compromise

'Cause I only have a steadfast heart of gold!

I don't know why, I can' leave though it might be tough

Don't ask me why, I don't need a reason

I got my way

My own way!

It doesn't matter

Now what happens

I will never

Give up the fight!

Long as the voice inside drives me to run and fight

It doesn't matter who is wrong and who is right!

Well, I won't look back-- don't need to!

Time won't wait and I got so much to do!

Where do I stop now?

It's all a blur and so unclear!

Well, I don't know, but I can't be wrong!

It doesn't matter

Now what happens

I will never

Give up the fight!

Long as the voice inside drives me to run and fight

Place all your bets on the one you think is right!

"Whoa!" Darkness yelled as she didn't quite make it around the loop. "Aaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Gotcha!" Tails said, catching the hedgehog in the TORNADO before she could hit the ground.

"Thanks, Tails," Darkness breathed with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"No pro—SHANI!" Tails had to veer over and down to catch the light blue hedgehog, too.

"Aw, man!" Shani complained, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Its okay, Shani," Maya Eva patted her friend on the back, "You'll win next time."

Shani smiled. "I hope so…thanks, Eva."

Maya Eva smiled.

"Hey! They're close to the end!" Amy shouted, and everyone looked at the last two racers.

It doesn't matter!

"Hey, you're pretty good to keep up with the world's fastest hedgehog!" Sonic admitted.

Now what happens!

"Thanks…" Jet replied, and then silently added: It's always an honor to run with the blue blur anyway.

I will never

Give up the fight!

Long as the voice inside drives me to run and fight…

It doesn't matter who is wrong and who is right!

Right then, they were neck-and-neck, with the finish close ahead.

No, no, no, no…IT DOESN'T MATTER!

And in that split-second, Sonic inched ahead, just to win it, but on the other hand, Jet had slowed down.

"Woohoo! Hey, Jet, why did you—" Sonic's voice trailed off as he noticed Jet was staring at something behind him—not in a friendly glance.

As the TORNADO landed beside her, they also saw what she saw. That intrigued Sonic to turn around—that was when it was his turn to glare angrily.

In front of them was none other than Doctor Eggman himself.

"Greetings, Sonic…and everyone else," he said in that I-know-something-that-will-destroy-you voice.

"Hello, Eggman," Jet retorted.

Eggman just grinned. "I bet you know now that I have a base in outer space…"

"—tell us something we don't know!" Sonic replied in a snotty tone.

Eggman chose to ignore that comment and continued, "Well, I'm afraid you won't be allowed to go into outer space unless you take a rocket—and the only one here is the one we're using."

"Your point is?" Lee questioned.

"My point is!" Eggman was getting annoyed with the interruptions. "That you won't be able to be stowaways. I'm very sorry, but my little friend here wants some fun…."

At that instant the pyramid rumbled and quaked.

"Sonic! Look!" Tails exclaimed, pointing a finger at a rising figure.

"No way!" Sonic gasped.

As the pyramid settled, everyone could see a gigantic stone statue—that seemed to be alive and working.

"I bet that's a machine!" Amy claimed.

"Right you are, Amy," Eggman replied, smiling. The mad scientist took a glance at his watch. "Oh, look at the time! I'd love to stay and chat, but it looks like I have some…plans."

Eggman laughed as he floated away in his hover-seat.

"Wait a minute…Sonic! Eggman's distracting us so then we can't get on the spaceship! What are we gonna do?" Tails asked.

"I'll tell you what you're gonna do: you're gonna get on that ship! Leave it to me to defeat this creep!" the blue hedgehog replied.

"Are you sure you can fight him on your own?" Lee wondered.

"Are you kidding? Of course he can! Don't you remember?" Jet questioned as she hopped inside the TORNADO.

Lee thought a minute, then gave the 'o' expression.

"Good luck, Sonic!" Amy wished, really having a hard time leaving him there.

Sonic nodded, and then waited until they were gone.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me, isn't it?" Sonic grinned.

The stone roared, and raised its hand to crush the blue hedgehog once and for all.