After another hour or so of waiting, they were all finally through.

It took them another half hour to cross through the dry landscape, but far ahead, they could see bits of green and a deserted town.

"So, this is the place," Connie uttered.

They didn't seem to have too much trouble getting here, though it sorta helped that they had a few professional soldiers helping them along the way.

They could make out the faint line of tracks that led throughout the west end of town, though the sun was starting to come down.

Like on Earth, time wasn't always the same wherever Steven went.

They hadn't encountered that Shadow guy yet, but something told Steven that they'd find him as soon as they got into town.

There was supposed to be this penguin guy, Pennington, who knew where this crystal star was supposed to be. The guide said he wasn't supposed to be around, though it said they might find him if they got on the train at Rogueport.

As they got close, the terrain seemed to rise a bit where the train presumably unloaded its passengers. The crumbled and charred remains of a red-and-white building stood immediately before them.

A black-and-red figure rose from it.

Connie, Riku, Lea, and Steven summoned out their weapons, while Peridot immediately took to cover.

Shadow's eyes opened up, and he pointed some type of assault rifle at the group.

As he heard the shots from Shadow's gun, Steven leaped into the bullets' trajectories, all of them bouncing off his shield.

Shadow seemed unimpressed, "Just as I figured."

The black hedgehog leaped high into the air, spinning into a ball, and then launched himself into some of the robotic wreckage nearby, while simultaneously ripping out a rocket launcher from it.

"Target sighted!" one of the soldiers nearby said.

Although they held their fingers near the triggers, the soldiers held their fire as Riku rushed ahead to engage the hedgehog head on.

"Riku!" Steven called out, "come back!"

Riku was too far ahead for Steven to protect him, and Steven didn't to see anyone hurt or dead.

Especially not like what happened during that last fight.

As Steven though this, he saw a rail lift up from one of the tracks as Peridot concentrated her mental energies upon it.

"Peridot, wait!"

"What? Can't you see that I'm trying to do something useful for once?"

Peridot then sent the beam flying towards Shadow, as Riku simultaneously strove to dash at him.

A faint noise came from Shadow, and he then leaped onto the beam before then dashing across it, despite his feet not seeming to connect as he strode.

Riku, luckily, jumped out of the way as the rail came close.

"Careful with that!" he shouted.

But before long, Shadow was soaring over them, his rocket launcher directly aimed for the ground.

-PSHOO-KABOOOM!-

A rush of dirt, grass, and fire rushed over the group as Steven quickly deployed his bubble. Luckily, it had caught Connie, Peridot, and one of the soldiers, though there was no telling where the others had gone.

Steven could briefly see a flash shortly after the blast subsided, and so Steven quickly dismissed his bubble, readied his shield, and then leaped toward where he saw it.

-PLUNK!-

Through the dirt that now covered his body, Steven thought he could see Shadow being thrown back, and his weapon bouncing on the ground.

"Damn," the hedgehog said, "the hell was that?"

But before Shadow could get back up, Steven slammed right near him, and then smashed his shield into him.

"This is for all those people that died!"

The blow hit hard and knocked Shadow back, though he was quicker to recover this time.

Steven then heard a loud, imperious voice come from within town, accompanied by a whoosh, "Shadow! What is the meaning of this?"

Shadow did not respond, but instead looked around, as if looking for a way out of his dilemma. As Steven watched his movements, Shadow clutched onto the side of his chest, as if Steven's blow had almost knocked the wind out of him.

"Maleficent," Steven heard Riku say from somewhere in town.

"I should have known that you were responsible for the rift."

"What are you up to this time?"

"Blizzara!" Steven heard Connie shout as she pointed her keyblade at Shadow, right at the edge of his field of view.

An ice crystal shot out of the end of the tip of Rose's Sword, and then began drifting towards Shadow.

The hedgehog immediately leaped over the tracks, and the began drifting through what remained of Poshley Heights. Upon a closer look, it seemed as though some sort of thrust was coming out of the soles of his shoes.

As this was happening, Steven heard Maleficent say, "Me? I am simply taking what is rightfully mine."

Now that he was relatively unoccupied, Steven peeked over the tracks and shouted, "This world doesn't belong to you!"

Far in the distance, Shadow continued to retreat into town. Now that he seemed to be out of reach, Riku then turned his attention back to the ominous figure who was now speaking.

Maleficent looked unquestionably evil, wearing a long, flowing black robe and wielding a sinister staff. She seemed to be wearing a horned headpiece that clung tightly to her. Although it was difficult to make out, her skin also seemed to have a greenish tint to it.

"Fire!"

A hail of bullets flew from the nearby soldiers towards the dark sorceress, though she seemed to dissipate into a green flame, only to reappear atop one of the other buildings.

She looked displeased.

"Will you not interrupt me when I am talking?"

"Sorry," said Lea, "but it looks like these guys don't play nice."

Some of the soldiers, taking cover behind the tracks, turned to shoot somewhere else, though Steven couldn't see what they were shooting at.

"As I was about to say…"

Far to Steven's left across the tracks, Shadow's black form rose into the air and unleashed a storm of bullets upon the some of the soldiers nearby. A few shots strayed toward Connie, but the barrier produced by Rose's sword-turned-keyblade deflected them.

The sight was gruesome, but Steven tried to remain as calm as he could.

I can fix them… I can fix them…

He had fixed Connie, so fixing them should be a cinch, right?

Shadow then spun himself around, and three small spheres seemed to rush toward the group.

"Grenades!" one of the soldiers still conscious shouted.

At this moment, Peridot rushed past Steven and then extended her arms outward. The grenades then seemed to stop in their trajectory, before then being pushed back toward the city and exploding in midair. A few specks coming from the explosion seemed to shoot towards them, but no one seemed to be injured.

Because of what was happening, Steven hadn't quite picked up what Maleficent was saying. It sounded like she was saying something about "controlling the worlds from this one," but he'd have to ask someone else later.

When Steven returned his attention back towards Maleficent, he saw Riku run and then leap on top of the building Maleficent was on.

Maleficent said, "You do not…"

Just as suddenly, Shadow came up from behind the boy in his ball form.

"Riku!" Steven shouted.

Riku instantly rolled to dodge out of the way of Shadow's attack, but just as unexpectedly, Shadow seemed to home in on Riku. In a swift recovery, Riku whipped his keyblade in front and intercepted Shadow's attack, but unlike Steven's block, the boy was pushed back.

"Keep firing," one of the soldiers said.

"Shadow!" Maleficent remarked, taken in shock. "Minions, come to me!"

With a wave of her staff, Maleficent called forth a pair of large, bluish-gray Heartless knights, carrying what appeared to be large shields with bestial faces embedded into them.

Although the soldiers continued to try shooting at both Maleficent and Shadow, their bullets seemed to be deflected by shields of the two towering Heartless. The shields then opened their bestial maw, and fired a pair of fireballs towards the tracks.

"Take cover!"

At the command, everyone scrambled over to the sides of where the fireballs looked like they were going.

-KABOOM!-

Despite their somewhat small size, the blasts seemed to uplift the earth and tear the tracks from their place, though the blast seemed smaller than whatever Shadow had used before.

With a stir of her staff Maleficent then conjured for a small, electric storm, though it was unlike any storm Steven had witnessed.

"You defied the darkness once, but now it shall see to your end! Thunder and Lightning come forth! Bring him to his knees!"

As the charge from Maleficent's attack began to gather, Riku leaped high, but Shadow jumped with them, spun around, and kicked him straight into the ground.

-BOOM!-

Despite the distance, Steven could hear Riku's cries of pain.

"Riku!" Connie then shouted out, "do that thing! Whatever it was you did back at the Beach House, do it again!"

Do the roar.

Steven did not know where that voice had come from, nor where he could have possibly heard it before, but for some strange reason, he was overtaken by a strange compulsion to scream at the top of his lungs.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

He screamed towards the sky, and for a brief moment, the world seemed to fall silent.

But despite his cry, nothing happened. When he looked at the people around him, they merely regarded him as though he had lost his mind to the battle around him.

"Steven?" Connie said.

"Steven," said Peridot, "we're not going to win this fight by screaming with whatever it is humans use to amplify their speech patterns."

"No offense," said Lea, seeming to address Peridot, "but I think we've got more important things to worry about."

He then began to leap over the tracks.

"Soldier, get back here!"

One of the soldiers, most likely the sergeant guy, tried to call out to Lea as he rushed forth, but it didn't seem like he'd listen.

"Sorry, but Riku's too important to leave behind."

"HAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA…!"

Although not much could be seen behind the towering shield Heartless, Maleficent's triumphant laugh could still be heard.

Lea clenched his teeth.

So Riku was defeated after all.

Steven had already seen Riku being overwhelmed by Maleficent and Shadow's combined onslaught, but now the deed was confirmed.

"You won't be getting away with this!" Lea shouted.

"Oh," said Maleficent, "but I think I will! Shadow, bring him to the castle. We'll discuss this episode later.

"I don't know who you are, or how that girl wields the power of the keyblade, but even if you are Riku's friends, there is no saving him! His heart shall be consumed by darkness! This world, and all others, shall belong to me!"

With another harsh laugh, Maleficent disappeared in a whiff of green flame. Shadow leaped high into the air from the rooftop he was on, carrying Riku's limp and torn body with him.

"After him," said the sergeant.

But just shortly after Shadow disappeared out of sight, more Heartless appeared within the area, and the two shield-Heartless fired another volley of fireballs.

So much had happened in such a short frame of time.

Once Riku was securely contained, Shadow returned to the fortress's unofficial throne room. There, it seemed that Maleficent was meeting with the Shadow Sirens. All three of them were dumber than bricks.

They all turned to him when he entered.

"The boy is securely apprehended?" Maleficent asked.

About as good as he's ever going to be.

The kid was knocked out cold, and he was literally frozen. If it were up to him, Shadow would have put a few more bullets in his head for good measure, but Maleficent wanted him alive so she could use that keyblade of his. Something about hearts or that sort of bullshit.

Shadow thought about sawing Riku's hands off - it would prevent him from using that keyblade against them - but apparently only Riku could wield it or something like that. It would take a miracle to convince him after capturing him, if what Maleficent said about him was true.

"Yeah," Shadow finally responded.

"It's a shame we couldn't defeat these… other-worlders when we had the chance. Those bullets were really starting to get on my nerves."

Or she's just too scared.

For all her big talk, Maleficent seemed to have trouble backing it up. Sure, she had that dragon form, but it's not like Shadow hadn't seen anything like that before, and the people of this world were pretty weak.

That summoning in the battle was pretty quick thinking on her part though.

The goons weren't really trouble on their own, but that other kid complicated things.

There was definite force behind that punch. Even Sonic or Knuckles would probably fall from a few direct hits, but that kid hit hard.

Who the hell is that guy?

"So, your magnificence," said the shortest of the Shadow Sirens, Beldam, "what do you wish for us to do now?"

"Guh-huh-huh!" said Marilyn, the largest of the three.

"Patience, my dears," said Maleficent. "The doors to the Shadow Palace shall open for us soon indeed, with or without these Crystal Stars."

"But," said the remaining Shadow Siren, Vivian, "we should still be looking for them, right?"

"Of course we should be, Vivian!" said Beldam. "But thanks to that stupid maiden, we don't have the map!"

"Patience," Maleficent restated. "So long as these intruders and Peach's beloved knight remain unaware of our plans, things will go smoothly."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Shadow said.

"You have something to say?" Maleficent said indignantly.

"Here."

Shadow then pulled out the folder and map that he had found on Riku's person, and then handed them off to Maleficent.

After opening it, Maleficent put the map off to the side, before browsing the contents of the folder.

"They've got schematics on the entire sewer network under Rogueport, including pipes and where they link to."

"What is this?"

Maleficent then pulled out a file on what appeared to be Mario and several other individuals, who presumably resided in this realm. The list seemed to be color coded, to indicate which people might be potential allies to the outsiders.

"Traitors," Maleficent said with apparent disinterest.

Vivian was one of the people listed as a "potential ally" in that file, though if Maleficent had taken note of that fact, it didn't show aside from that brief remark.

Shadow watched as she continued to sift through the files. A few of them seemed to detail a report of some kind, though Shadow hadn't gone through it yet.

"My, this is quite interesting," Maleficent said with a smile on her face.

"What is it, Miss Maleficent?" Vivian asked.

"It seems we will have no need of that map you treasure so much. Within these pages lie the secrets to the Crystal Stars, should our key fail us."

"Guh?" Marilyn uttered.

"I'll need some time to go over this. In the meantime, the four of you may do as you please. Within the hour, I should have a new set of tasks for you."

"Oh yes," Beldam said gleefully, "that sounds wonderful! Come my lovelies! We must… er… what was it we were doing before we got here?"

Marilyn simply stood silent, while Vivian scratched the back of her head.

"Spreading darkness and terror?" Vivian said awkwardly.

"Mweee-hee-hee-hee! Why yes, that sounds like a wonderful thing to do!"

"Didn't you say that you found some of the traitors at The Great Puni Tree?" said Maleficent, looking up from the report.

Shadow, at the very least, remembered the report. Some of the X-Naut guys didn't take it too well that their leader was dead, so they went with that second-in-command-guy to one of their other outposts.

"Eh?" Beldam uttered.

"You might find one of the Crystal Stars there. Perhaps if you found a way to infiltrate it, and persuade the local inhabitants to embrace the darkness, our plan can proceed on its rightful course. Infiltration is your specialty after all."

The three shadowy figures looked at each other with excitement, and then curtsied to Maleficent.

"Yes!" said Beldam, "We are ever humbled by your wisdom of your wickedness, oh honorable Maleficent!"

"We are thankful," said Vivian.

"Guh-huh," Marilyn uttered.

"You're certainly much better than that moronic Grodus fellow!" Beldam added.

"Excellent," said Maleficent, "now be off!"

The three Shadow Sirens then disappeared into the ground, and went off to wherever they usually go when they did that thing.

Maleficent then turned back to the reports in front of her, shuffling back through the pages.

As she was going through the profile list, her eyes seemed to twitch a bit, and her mouth briefly opened in shock.

"What…? But how can…? Could this mean…"

"Hmmm?" Shadow mumbled aloud.

"Oh, it is nothing," said Maleficent.

"Don't buy it," the hedgehog replied bluntly.

Maleficent then grimaced, but then held out the page she was reading before him.

"I could have sworn I remembered him from somewhere,"

As she said this, she pointed to a file detailing a creature or person named "Bowser." He looked like some sort of turtle-lizard-demon thing, with spikes on his shell, yellowish scales, and red hair, though like all the other pictures in the file, his seemed unusually cartoonish.

"Can't say I recognize him," said Shadow.

"Perhaps it is just my imagination," said Maleficent.

Steven and Connie reclined by the rubble of what once used to be a vibrant red building, dismissing their weapons.

The area was now clear of Heartless, though there was no telling whether Maleficent and Shadow would be coming back.

Steven had managed to heal the soldiers that got hit during the fight, just like he had done with Connie.

Peridot was over by one of the robot husks, trying to piece something together out of what remained.

Lea was over with the other soldiers, surveying what was left of the town. A few penguin folk and Toads who had been hiding during the firefight eventually appeared within sight. A few of the soldiers seemed to be questioning them, though Steven couldn't make out what they were saying.

For the few survivors there were, however, there were many more corpses, which the soldiers began making graves for.

"This place is bigger than I imagined it would be," said Connie.

"Yeah," Steven replied. "I guess it is."

Poor Riku. I hope he's alright.

Lea must have been taking it harder though. They must have been friends for who knows how long.

Steven could understand what he was feeling. After all, he had just lost most of his family over the past few weeks.

A voice broke the relative silence, "We found something!"

It didn't seem specifically addressed to him or Connie, but Steven stood up anyway. A few of the other soldiers around also began to make their way towards the temple-building in the distance.

Connie also stood up, and the two of them made their way over to where everyone was gathering.

When they entered the sub-district containing the ruined temple, they saw a large, blue pipe towards their right. Lea was already there.

"This is it!" Connie exclaimed.

"This is what?" Steven asked.

"The pipe! We can use this to reach Rogueport's Sewers!"

"Oh, yeah!" said Steven, still a bit unsure what this meant.

"I think I saw Shadow go over this way during the fight," said Lea. "He must have taken this pipe to go wherever he was going."

"But couldn't he have gone anywhere else?" Steven asked. The area looked fairly big, so Shadow and Maleficent could have gone anywhere.

"Wait guys! Wait up!"

Peridot came as fast as she could down the cracked streets, carrying some of the parts she had scavenged in her arms.

"What did I miss?"

"We just found the warp pipe to this area," said Connie.

"Well, this metal certainly looks salvageable. Wait, did you just say warp pipe?"

"Yes."

"But how does this even…?"

"Well, I guess we'll have to just see."

Connie then climbed up onto the edge of the pipe, and then lowered herself into it while straddling the edge with her arms.

"Wait stop…!" said one of the soldiers nearby.

"Connie are you sure this is…" said Steven.

"Don't worry, I think we should be… WAAAAAAAA…!"

Connie then let go, and then slid down into the dark abyss.

A/N: So, another chapter. Battle part might be confusing due to multiple things going on at the same time (and Steven not being able to hear everything). May have taken some artistic liberties with the battle site. Not sure if what had happened in the battle follows what everyone would do at any given moment, though I didn't really plan the battle outcome as it happened in this chapter. Anyway, be sure to stay tuned for more stuff (for however long that'll take)!