Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are copyright SEGA Enterprises, LTD. and Archie Comics Publications. NiGHTS and related characters are a copyright of SEGA Enterprises LTD. Delphine, Dimitria, Ali, Marco, Lisa and Devon are a copyright of Delphine. Special Thanks to Jared Matte for letting me use him in this story. Everyone else wanted their last name changed.... Everything written here is fiction. Any similarities between real events and the events in this story are purely coincidental. (assuming you liveon Earth) Does anybody really know, where we should go?.... --Meredith Brooks, Down By the River The Red Silk The Gathering --Delphine V'pury On a planet far away from Mobius, far away from Earth, in a dimension all its own, there were also problems, but of a different sort. Someone, something, in shadow was waiting for his chance. For he, too, wanted domination of the planets, the dimensions. He too wanted the red silk. And he wanted to get it, right now. "Aknar!" he shouted. Aknar timidly walked up to him. "Yes sir?" "When will the ship be ready?" "The ship is ready now, sir. You can leave whenever you see fit." Aknar was doing a good job trying not to run off screaming. His master was one of the major V'pires .... meaning he had been around for an awful long time. Time being as it is, this made him look extremely ugly. Aknar was fairly young, and looked somewhat handsome when not in his V'pire state. At the moment he was, for it was recommended that you look like one of kin when you are in the presence of the Master.... it just makes things easier. "Good. I want to leave for planet Earth now. Have you gotten the portal ready, yet?" "As soon as you are, sir." Aknar said. "Good, good. Come along then, let us go see if this can really be done." The Master, although ugly, was also somewhat intelligent. Aknar looked up at him, Aknar being around four feet, and the Master being approximately seven feet tall. The Master's features were horrific. He had dark black bags under his eyes, and the skin was hanging down. There were flaps of shin everywhere, looking like it was not even connected to the bone. It was just hanging there. He had fangs about an inch long. His fingernails were about six inches long. They were all cracked and chipped. His head was a ghostly white, with no hair to speak of. He could not be in any form but V'pirian. Most other V'pires could morph into human form, bat form, and rat form. The Master could not do any of these. He was the Master. He didn't need to. Aknar was dark haired. His eyes were a dark purple, very close to the Master's black pupils. Aknar was fairly strong, but nowhere near the strength of the Master. Aknar was also fairly normal, but when in his V'pire form he was almost as ugly as the Master. In V'pire form, his violet eyes darkened into a reddish purple, and his face scrunched up, and he gained fangs, which he used to do what every V'pire does. Drink blood. The Master and Aknar had arrived at the ship. While they had walked down the many hallways from the Master's domain to the outside, they had been silent. Now the Master spoke. "Today, we shall travel through time and space." he said. His voice was old, scratchy, with a mean note to it. "By way of this machine." He pulled out a device similar to the one Peter had used. He turned it on. A portal similar to the one that Ali and Delphine had jumped into appeared in the sky, although much larger. The two V'pirians walked up into the ship. The engine roared, and the ship ascended into the air. It hovered for a moment, then flew into the portal and disappeared. The Dream World In a dimension very different from any other you have other seen, except maybe in your dreams, there were also strange things going on. "Reala!" Wizeman called out. Reala flew up to Wizeman's thrown. He bowed deeply. "Yes?" "As you know, I cannot leave this place into the human world until I receive the last Ideya." Reala nodded. "The red Ideya; the Ideya of courage." Reala nodded again. "But, there is a way for others to go to the human world to get a different form of power, one that could help me get this Ideya, and stop that wretched rebel NiGHTS." "But if...." Reala clamped his mouth shut. Wizeman looked down at him disapprovingly. Reala winced, waiting for the blow that would end his existence. Instead Wizeman sighed. "You are my most powerful 'maren. It would not be wise to destroy you." Reala sighed with relief. "This time." Reala tensed again. "I have discovered that every night, at exactly midnight, a portal opens to the human world. the problem is that it opens exactly over the border between Nightmare and Nightopia. I want you to go there, enter the portal, and bring me back this power." Wizeman concluded. Reala risked a question. "But what does it look like?" he asked. "It is in the form of red silk. Now go!" Wizeman pointed at the door. Reala quickly obliged. In Nightopia, NiGHTS was exiting the King's thrown room. He had had a similar conversation, but instead of getting this red silk, he was to stop Reala from entering the portal at all costs. As NiGHTS flew towards the border, he thought about what the King had said. he flew towards the border, lost in his own thoughts. Reala arrived at the border two minutes before the portal appeared, and half a second before NiGHTS arrived. They looked at each other in silence. "I suppose you've come to try and stop me." Reala said, breaking the silence. "I suppose I have." NiGHTS said. "Too bad." Reala went back, then came forward towards NiGHTS in a drill blast. NiGHTS dodged and Reala slammed into the tree NiGHTS had been standing in front of. He lay on the ground, holding his head. Then he got back up and faced NiGHTS. "If you think a stupid move like that is going to stop me...." NiGHTS drill blasted into Reala, sending him flying again. Reala landed with a 'thump', but quickly recovered. He was getting ready to attempt a drill blast, but suddenly, the portal opened. Just like that. The two 'maren looked at it in surprise. They had both known that it would be there, but they hadn't really believed it.... until now. Reala flew towards the portal. NiGHTS quickly intercepted him, knocking them both to the ground. NiGHTS flew up into the air, blocking the portal from Reala. Reala thought quickly, then decided to para-loop. Before NiGHTS knew what was happening, he was flying through the air, landing about twenty feet away. Reala laughed. "See ya!" he waved, then flew into the portal. NiGHTS picked himself up, then flew over to the portal. He debated over what to do. He decided that since he had failed to stop Reala from going into the portal, then he might as well follow him and try to stop him. He flew into the portal. Seconds later, it disappeared. Earth Louisiana: Monroe, June 25, 6:00pm Central Time In a average house, on an average street, in an average town, in an average state, in an average country, on an average planet, in an average universe, was an average boy. Yet soon, destiny, being as it is, would change that. This 16 year old boy, Jared Matte, was, at the moment, troubled. "I hate my life." he said. "Oh wait a minute, I don't have one." Jared was a depressed kid. He felt that he was a nothing; just extra baggage. Dangit was he wrong. He didn't feel like watching TV, and wasn't hungry. "Oh well," he said. "There's nothing to do in here so I'll see if there's anything to do outside." He put on his black leather jacket over his white tee shirt, walked out the front door and down the street. It was evening, and no one else was outside. Various insects were buzzing around, and Jared got the occasional mosquito bite, although they didn't live to see another day. He walked down to the end of the street, which ended at the train station and grew into a main road. Jared stood there and his green eyes scanned the freight train slowly pulling out of the station. He caught a glimpse of the packages inside, and he could've swore they read New York. An idea was forming inside his head. he looked around, then ran along side the still slow moving (and rather long) freight train. He grabbed onto the opening and hoisted himself inside. He looked at the boxes. "Yeap." he said. "They're going to New York." He paused. "Well, since I'm already on the train, it wouldn't hurt to stay on it." He smiled, something that was rare yet beautiful. The train pulled out of the station. It sped up, going faster with each turn of the wheels. Soon it was far out of Monroe, far away from his average home, on an average street, in an average town. New Hampshire: Charlestown, 10:45pm EST Lisa sighed. Here she was, out in the middle of nowhere, lying in a field, staring up at the stars, and she felt as happy as could be. She knew why, too. Lisa Baerry, 15, came from a broken home. She lived with her mother. Her father lived somewhere out in California. She got a postcard from him about once a year. So she had a few problems, as all teenagers from broken homes do. One was depression. Every once in awhile she would just get his empty feeling inside. It made her sad knowing that her parents were so unhappy. Her second problem was that she was restless. She had an air of adventure around her, and it seemed she had been born a few centuries too late; she should've been around at the time of pirates and when explorers were discovering new lands. But soon she would be having all the adventure she could stand. Lisa sat up. She pulled a wad of money out of her purse. She counted it again. There was still three hundred dollars in cash. She was planning on running away again. This time she wouldn't be going back. She wanted to go to New York, but to one of the places not so well known. She had looked through at the map and decided that Thendara was the best place. It wasn't very well known, and was sort of small. She got up, and walked towards the bus station. When she got there, there was no one else there, except for an old homeless lady, a very tired looking business man, and the ticket seller. She walked over to the ticket booth and asked how much a ticket to Thendara cost. "Thirty-five dollars," the man said grumpily, as if it was common knowledge. She reached into her purse and took out two twenties. He took the money, and gave her a ticket and a five dollar bill. She looked at the time on the ticket. It read 11:30. Lisa looked at the clock on the wall. It said 11:00. she thought. She sat down. The businessman looked over at her. He gave a vain smile. She smiled back, although it was fake. She sat in silence while she waited for the bus, lost in her own thoughts. Half an hour later, the bus to Thendara arrived. She walked outside, and onto the bus. She gave the driver her ticket. Then she sat in the back of the bus. The engine roared. The bus started, then rolled off down the street. Soon it was gone. Lisa was on her way to New York. New York: Thendara, June 26 5:00 pm, EST "Great. We're stuck on a strange planet in a strange world, we have no idea where we are, we have no idea where they are, and to top it off I have to wear this cloak!" "Ali, just-- just shutup, will you?" Delphine whispered to her friend, Ali Cat. "You have to wear that cloak because someone could see that you're not human and freak," she finished. Ali sighed. Delphine looked around. They were hiding in a cardboard box, in an alleyway. She looked at the building they were facing. Red brick. The one behind her was gray brick.... at least it was now. Ali adjusted her black cloak that Delphine had "borrowed" from a store a couple of blocks down. The price tag was still attached. "I hate this planet." Ali said. "I'm not too fond of it myself." Delphine told her. "But we have to stay here until we find Sonic and the others. And to do that we have to wait till nightfall. So be quiet!" Delphine said fiercely. Ali looked down. She hugged her knees to herself. "Sorry," she whispered. Delphine sighed. "I should be the one apologizing. We're both stressed out and I'm taking it out on you." Delphine said. Her legs were crossed in a loose Indian style. "Sorry." "You shouldn't be sorry. This whole thing is my fault. If I had gone back to the caves...." "Please, don't start the self-pity thing again. And don't blame yourself. It WAS NOT your fault. Now, let's be quiet. Try and get some sleep. I'll keep watch." Delphine said. Ali sighed again, then leaned up against the back of the battered cardboard box and closed her eyes. Soon she was having a somewhat peaceful catnap. Delphine sat back and sighed. She thought about last night, the night they had arrived. They came out of the portal in the same alleyway there were hiding out in how. The portal had quickly closed when they were landed. It had been night when they came through. Delphine had looked around while Ali stayed in the alleyway to try and figure out what happened. What Delphine saw surprised her out of her mind. Everyone on this planet was human! she had thought. Then she thought about Ali. She had gone into that store and "borrowed" the cloak, and brought it back to Ali and explained the situation. Ali had taken the cloak, although not willingly. Then they went looking around, but they couldn't find anything. The only building they could go in that the didn't was the one directly across the street. They couldn't find any sign of Peter, Snively, the robots, or their friends. So they had gone back to the alleyway, and had been there since. Six hours later, Delphine woke Ali up, who had fallen into a deep sleep. She looked around, surprised. "It's night already?" "You've been under for about six hours." Delphine told her. "What? Why didn't you wake me? You must be tired. C'mon, you go to sleep, and I'll...." "No time for that. We need to find out where they went." "Oh, come on. They're not anywhere around here. We've looked everywhere. What do expect, for them to be across the street?" Just then two older guys walked by. One had spiked hair, the other was shaved bald and was wearing an earing. The spike-haired one had a nose ring. "C'mon, ya don't think I'll believe that?" The bald one said. "I'm telling you, they've got aliens in that building over there," Spike-hair said, pointing across the street. They walked on. Ali and Delphine looked at each other. Ali stood up. She bowed and said, "After you." "Much obliged, friend." Delphine said. They grinned at each other, then ran across the busy street, almost getting run over five times. They got to the other side of the building and went to the side. "Okay, now what do we do?" Ali asked. Delphine looked around. She saw the fire escape. She looked up, and saw that a light was escaping from the second story window. "We climb up that ladder," she said, pointing, "to the second story window. We climb in, and see if we can find them." Delphine finished. Ali nodded. Delphine climbed the ladder. After she had gotten to the first story, Ali followed. Delphine reached the second story and climbed onto the balcony. Then she turned and waited for Ali. Ali was almost there when she slipped. She started to scream, but caught a ladder rung "Ali hold on!" Delphine yelled. She leaned over. She could just reach Ali. Ali grabbed Delphine with her other arm. Delphine strained. She was tired, so she was having trouble. Finally she pulled Ali up. Ali stood there, panting. "Are you alright?" Delphine asked. "Yeah *pant* I'm *gasp* okay." "Good. C'mon." Delphine opened the window. She stuck her head in, and looked around. She didn't see anyone. So she hoisted herself over the window sill and into the building. "C'mon," she said to Ali, waving Ali towards her. Ali climbed in. Delphine landed over and whispered in her ear. "We go down that hallway," she pointed, " and look around. I'll decided what we do after. I still don't know what we'll find." "If anything," Ali whispered. The two walked down the hallway. There wasn't really much of anything. They came upon a janitor's closet near the entrance, but nothing else that they could see. They were about to go back when Ali saw a curve in the hallway, and shadows. "Look," she whispered. Delphine obliged. She gasped. Then the two backed against the wall next to the curve. Delphine carefully looked around the bend. She saw a room. A laboratory. To one side there was a table covered in test tubes, formulas, and other things. There was an older man there, around 48 years old. He was conducting a test. On the other side of the room there was a twenty year old man, watching a monitor embedded in the wall. And in the middle of the room there was.... "What? What's in there?" Ali asked, eager to take a look for herself. Delphine turned away from the room and closed her eyes. "They are using our friends as science projects." Delphine whispered. She was seething. "They're using our friends as SCI...." Delphine clamped a hand over Ali's mouth. "Shh!" she whispered fiercely. "There's two other people in there." "Good. We can kill them." "What? No! We have to wait till they're gone!" "Gone, shmon. I'm going in there now!" She was about to go in when the older man said, "Hey, Alex, I think I heard something out there. Will you go check it out?" "Sure Rob." Delphine and Ali froze. "See? This is what happens." Delphine said. "Shutup! We need to get out of here!" "No, really?" Delphine said sarcastically. She looked around. Lying on the floor was a broom. She picked it up. Just then Alex came around the bend and saw them. "What the...." he was interrupted by a bump on the back of his head. Delphine had hit him with the broom. "You know, they really should pick these up. Someone could get hurt." The two grinned. "Alex? Alex? Hey Alex, what's out there?" Getting no answer, Rob came out of the lab. Delphine and Ali grabbed hold of him. He gasped as he was pushed against the wall. "Okay Bumbo, tell us how to get our friends out and we'll let you go." Delphine said. "Why--*gulp* why should I tell you." "Let us put it this way: If you don't tell us, your friend on the ground is going to be the lucky one." Ali told him. He gasped. "P-- point taken," he said shakily. He reached inside his pocket and took out a key. "This will open the lock." he said. Delphine took it and stared at it. "That's it?" she asked. Rob nodded. As an afterthought, she said, "What type of metal are the bars made out of?" "Titanium." "Thought so." She pressed her thumb against his throat. Soon he was out on the floor with his friend. "I don't want him to watch us," she said in reply to Ali's look. The two walked into the lab. "Delphine!" Knuckles said. "Ali!" Marco cried. "About time," Sonic grumbled. "About time?! About time?! We go through Hell trying to find you, have no idea where we are, practically get killed, and all you have to say is about time?!" "Ali?" Delphine asked. "Yes?" "I'm exhausted, in an extremely bad mood, and I'm getting a headache. I suggest you SHUTUP BEFORE I GET MAD!" Ali shrunk back. Delphine walked over to the cage and unlocked the door. they walked out. "Thanks," Sally said. "Don't worry about it." Delphine said. Knuckles came up and hugged her. She hugged him back. "Are you okay?" he whispered. "Sure. Are you?" she whispered back. "Yes." After a moment, they pulled away from each other. Delphine looked over at the clock on the wall. she thought. She looked around at the others. "Shall we leave?" everyone nodded and murmured their agreement. Ali led the way, with Marco's arm around her shoulder. Delphine sighed, and she and Knuckles followed up from behind. They went past the two scientists, down the hall, and next to the window. "Stay here a minute guys. I need to make preparations." She grinned. "Oh boy. Now what'd you do?" Ali asked. "You'll see." Delphine climbed out the window and flew down to the ground. She went over to the corner, and looked inside the van she had seen. She was right. The keys had been left in. she thought. She climbed in to check and see if it still worked. She turned it on. The engine roared, then died down to a low hum. She went forward, then back. She drove backed into the alleyway, checking the brakes. "Come on down guys!" she yelled up to the balcony. Sonic climbed out the window and looked down. "Holy shit! She's got a car!" The rest of the Freedom Fighters climbed out. They all looked in down amazement. "Well? You guys gonna come down or what?" she yelled. In minutes they all had climbed or glided down to the bottom. "Del, how did you...." Sonic paused. "Never mind. I don't want to know." Delphine smiled. She opened the door and jumped out. "You like?" she asked. "Like it? This is awesome! Where'd you get it?" Knuckles asked. "Oh, I have my ways." Delphine told him with a smile. "Sal, do you think you could drive this?" Ali asked. "Yeah, probably. But why?" Sally asked. "Yeah. I can handle it." Delphine said. She fake pouted. "Del, we got here over twenty-four hours ago. You haven't slept at all since then. You are going to sleep. NOW." Ali told her. "Yes mother," Delphine said with a smile, but it wasn't a sarcastic smile. Sally climbed into the drivers seat, Ali into the passengers. The rest got into the back and sat on the floor, which was carpeted. Delphine leaned against Knuckles, and he put an arm around her. she fell asleep on his shoulder while they drove off. Sonic got him a blanket from an overhead compartment, and he spread it over her. No one noticed Dimitria's silence. Thendara Train Station, June 27, 7:00 am EST Jared was jarred awake by the sudden stop of the train. Jared heard shouting. Then he heard a door opening. He looked up. It was his! He looked around, then leapt behind a large pile of boxes. He found a ripped potato sack and hid under it. Then he lay still and held his breath. "C'mon! There's no one in there! Let's get this stuff in the other one and get outa here." "I coulda swore I heard someone in here." Jared remembered the boxes he had bumped into, making them fall. "You're just hearing things." "Whatever," the guy muttered. The two left the compartment. Jared let out a long breath. he thought. He got up, threw the sack into a corner, and walked over to the door. He looked around, saw a bus station in the distance, then jumped down. Then he ran all the way to the station. Thendara Bus Station, 7:15am, EST Lisa got off the bus. She looked around, deciding which way to go. Just then the businessman came from behind her and grabbed her arm. She twirled around in surprise. "Little girls shouldn't travel alone," he said. "It's very dangerous." She tugged on her arm, but he wouldn't let go. He felt a hand on his arm and turned his head. There he saw a boy of average height, looking at him with anger in his green eyes. His slightly long hair had been messed up on the train ride, and part of it was hanging over his left eye. "Let her go," he said angrily. "Why should I?" the businessman asked. Jared punched him. Blood squirted from his nose. The man let go of her arm and brought his hand to his nose, covering it. Blood was running down his chubby cheeks and dripping onto the floor. The man glared at Jared, who was standing there, rubbing his knuckles. "Reason enough?" he asked, thoroughly pissed off. The business man just glared and said nothing. Then he turned, and walked off. Jared turned to Lisa. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Yes," she said, not quite sure what to say. "Thank you." "No problem," he said. He turned away from her and prepared to walk away. "Now I need to...." "Wait!" Lisa cried out. Jared turned. "I don't even know your name." Jared smiled. "Jared. Jared Matte." He held out his hand. She took it. "Lisa Baerry." Her blue eyes looked into green. She noticed the way his eyes faded into blue at the center. Just then a boy who had been watching from the side walked over. "Hey man, that was cool the way you knocked off that freak-man," he said. "Thanks," Jared said. He turned to Lisa. "You don't seem to have much baggage," he said, looking at her purse. "Well...." She blushed. "I guess I sort of ran away." "Hey, you's a runaway too?" the new boy asked. Lisa nodded. "Man, this is wacked." He looked at Jared. "Well, it looks like we got a threesome, don't we?" "I guess so," Jared said. He hadn't really thought about it before. "Hey, maybe we should stick together." Lisa said. "Well, if we did, then we'll need to know each others names." Jared said. "Oh yeah, sorry. The name's Devon. Devon Comber. How da ya do?" They made the rest of the introductions, then they all sat down and explained there reasons for running away. "It's because I can't stand my mother anymore." Lisa said. "My parents got divorced, and all she does now is nitpick every little thing I do. I couldn't stand it. So I stole some of her money and came her. I figure I would go unnoticed because it's isn't a very large town. It seems I wasn't the only one." She smiled, somewhat sadly. "I left because I hate my life. I felt like such a loser that I couldn't stand it. I just felt there was more to life, more to my life, and I wanted to find it." Jared told them. He sighed. "I left cause a my old man. He's, like, insane, ya know? Whenever I do something wrong, he just freaks." Devon lifted up his shirt. Oh his stomach was a nasty looking bruise. "He did that. It's not the only one, but it's the only one that don't make me wanna freak. I figured if he kept doing this I'd probably wind up dead or in some hospital somewhere, so I left." A tear escaped his eye. He wiped it away. The outskirts of Thendara, 8:00am, EST The ship arrived. In a field. It came out of the portal, and fell onto the ground, creating a slight 'BOOM', which could be mistaken for distant thunder or a really loud radio. Inside, Aknar was shaken out of his seat. The Master wasn't. They walked out of the ship, Aknar stumbling onto the Earth, the Master walking easily onto the soft grass. "Bumbling fool," he said as he passed Aknar. Aknar stood up and followed him. The Master walked up a hill and looked down upon the small hill. "Are we going to use such a small area, sir?" Aknar asked. "Yes. It will serve as a base of operations." The Master looked around. "We will wait until nightfall. Then we shall conquer." The Master walked to the ship. He stepped up the ramp back into the ship. Aknar stood there, thinking. The ship was rather large. It was shaped in an oval, with only one story; but it was long, so there were many rooms. They had also brought along 2,000 of their best soldiers. All V'pires drank blood. If a V'pire mixed their own blood with that of their victims, the victim would become a V'pire. Aknar reflected over the trip. It had seemed to take a lot longer physically that it did mentally. he thought. Then he turned back towards the ship, walked to it, and stepped inside. Once inside, he turned the stealth mode on. They would not be bothered until nightfall. Then they would be doing the bothering. Somewhere in the same field, 9:05 am NiGHTS woke up. When he entered the portal, he had been thrown through time and space. Being in a world far different from the places all the rest came from, his journey was a bit rougher than they all had had, so when he came through, he had fallen onto the ground, exhausted. Now he looked around, wondering where he was. He was ready for anything. Or so he thought. He flew up to the very same hill that the Master had, and looked down upon the town. It seemed to be busy. Very busy, but not as busy as some of the towns he had seen in the images from dreamers minds. He looked around him. Behind him he found a small forest. He decided he should hide there until night. He flew over to the woods. In the small forest, he found a spot to sleep under. NiGHTS sat down, and leaned against a tree. He thought about what the King had told him. If the King was right, which he usually is, then he had to stop Reala at all costs. But little did NiGHTS know that Reala wasn't the only villain after this power. There were others. There were also others against these villains, some knowing, some unknowing. There were two groups. One was a group known as the Freedom Fighters. You know them well. The other had no name. It consisted of three members. Three human beings. These three teens would soon become a fighting force which only one world has known before. Mobius. Because Mobius had a similar team. This second team was made up of a leader, a fighter, and a majician. They did not know they had these powers, but they would soon find out. In a fight for freedom; a fight for their planet; a fight for other worlds; a fight for their life. End of Part 1