Great Forest - One of those Days...

[Lans]

Sally slowly glanced around as she picked herself off the ground. A few seconds ago she had been at GUN HQ, listening to another round of unit status reports. When it'd gotten to her turn to mkae a reports, she'd scooted her chair back...and almost immediatly fallen over backwards as the chair jammed against a tree root and tipped over. Of course, the mere fact that it'd jammed against a TREE root was the first indication that something had been wrong.

Now she was in the middle of a forest...somewhere. She took out her palm pilot and called up the GPS function...only to immedatly get an error message. She frowned. "Great..." She sighed, glanced around, then started heading North East. She'd just have to hope she could find someone that could help her figure out where she was.

[Jamie Lee]

A ways in the direction the squirrel had been heading toward, a tawny cyborg rabbit was leaning against a tree. She caught a yawn and was slowly beginning to doze off, a sketchpad she'd been scribbling in beginning to slide off her lap.

[Stoney]

A purple cat named Blaze had just been cruising along one of her favorite hangouts in Soleanna, a long straight stretch of road where she could practice her running abilities. Since her first trip through the dimensions that resulted in her meeting a cool blue hedgehog named Sonic, she'd concluded that it was of utmost importance to improve her physical strengths in addition to her metaphysical ones. Besides, she'd quickly gotten tired of Sonic leaving her to eat his dust.

It was to her shock and disbelief, therefore, that the smooth pavement her feet had been hitting gave way to packed dirt as a primitive hut seemed to rise up out of nowhere right in front of her face. Being inches away from collision, there was no time to slow down or attempt to dodge; all Blaze could do was close her eyes and brace herself as she plowed clear through the hut's wall and into its interior, landing on a rather messy bed in a completely dazed state.

"Leave me alone Sonic Man..." She uttered dizzily, her eyes spirals.






Cream the Rabbit had been getting out of the shower in her house when she slipped on the wet floor of her bathroom. With a cry of surprise, she tumbled backwards --

-- And into Knothole.

Cream blinked up at the blue sky, wondering when her bathroom had had a skylight. Sitting up, she realized she was in a populated outdoor area.

...And still naked.

The scream could've been heard in China, had China existed.






Not five feet from Cream, Cheese appeared in midair along with the neat folded pile of Cream's clothing that he'd been napping on. Both tumbled to the ground in a disorganized heap.

Cheese finally wrestled his way free a few moments later, his emotion ball a dizzy spiral and his expression clearly saying, "WTF?"

[Lans]

Finally after a short walk, Sally found herself comming to the edge of a village. She quickly spotted Bunnie and headed over to her. "Hello there!" she said in greeting, "I'm sorry, but I was wondering if you could help me, I'm a little lost."

[Jamie Lee]

Bunnie's ears shot straight into the air. Unfortunately for Sally, the scream had come first and now that currently took precedence in the rabbot's mind. Failing to notice the squirrel, much less hear her, Bunnie had sprung to her feet and bolted into the village, leaving her art supplies behind her.

As the rabbit arrived at the source of where the scream had come from... She halted dead in her tracks and gawked like a deer caught in a set of headlights. The cold feeling in her face suggested her color had drained and her jaw slide open.

"Oh--Oh m-mah stars--CREAM?!"

[Stoney]

The young rabbit's head snapped around to stare in wide-eyed horror at her new, unintended voyeur when she heard her name be called. She didn't recognize the rabbit lady, but apparently they recognized her, which just made things that much worse.

Terror and confusion and mortal embarrassment mixed together into a thick sludge in Cream's mind. Her previous scream repeated itself, louder this time, as she snatched her clothing away from Cheese (sending the chao comically spinning in the air, cartoon-style) and covered herself.

"S-stay back," She squeaked, trembling in humiliation with her own face equally drained of color as tears welled up in her eyes. "I-I'm not dressed yet!"






Poor Cheese had been spontaneously turned into a light-blue and yellow-colored top when Cream roughly jerked her clothes out from underneath him. Now he hit the ground in an awkward splayed-out position with his eyes pointing in two different directions and his tongue hanging out of his mouth. His emotion ball had become an even more elaborate and tightly-twisted spiral, indicating dizziness as well as confusion.

[Lans]

"Cream?" Sally repeated. As in Cream the Rabbit? But that might mean she was on Christmas Island.

Just then there was a rather loud yelp of fear from one of the huts and a small orange blure shot out and attached itself to Sally's leg.


"Aunt Sally, Aunt Bunnie! There's a purple cat lady sleeping in my bed!"


Sally blinked. "AUNT Sally!?" she said out loud in surprise and confusion.

[Jamie Lee]

"No, no, no Cream!" Bunnie tried to say softly, throwing her hands up. "Hon, it's alright, it's me, yer Aunt Bunnie!"

Her ears drooped with confusion over her 'niece's' protests. The fact she was no longer roboticized aside, it confused her why the young girl was so distressed about her nudity. For mobians, clothing was more of an ornamental suggestion than a necessity. Nevertheless, her mouth thinned and she gave an acknowledging nod. "C'mon Hon, let's get ya'll out of the open so we can get that there dress on ya, righty?"

She motioned her hand over toward a nearby set of bushes.

[Stoney]

Let's see. Strange woman claiming to be her "aunt" asking her to go into a set of bushes in an unknown forest alone and naked. Cream was pretty certain that what her mommy had taught her about talking to strangers applied here.

"U-um, n-no thanks," she uttered, eyes darting around as if seeking some avenue of escape. Problem was, getting up from her current spot would reveal her bare derriere to the world, so she couldn't flee. She was trapped in one spot, too terrified to explain herself and too mortified to resolve the situation.

A small, pathetic whimper escaped her throat as, in a last desperate act, she turned to the one person here she knew she could trust. Clenching her eyes shut and huddling into a ball, she squeaked out, "Cheese, please help me..."







AND THE CHAO LEAPED INTO THE AIR WITH A SUPER SAIYAN BATTLE AURA, as if a thousand volts had electrocuted him. His mistress was in distress! His aid was needed! IT WAS TIME FOR A HERO. A CHAO HERO.

Unfortunately Cheese did not know the skills Cream most desired at that moment, which probably would've involved magically teleporting her to a safer area so she could dress in private. All he knew was the extensive battle tactics Cream had taught him.

So he targeted the person who seemed to be the focus of her distress: a half-robot swamp rabbit in a lavender jumpsuit. After zipping between the two, he gave Bunnie such a glare as to wither the skin off a rhinoceros, DARING her to come closer so he could take her down Jackie Chan style. And if she did, there would be a reckoning. Oh, there would be a reckoning indeed.

[Jamie Lee]

And it was then for the first time that Bunnie had actually noticed the strange little blue creature. She blinked in surprise at it; it reminded her of a doll Cream often once carried everywhere. She scrunched her mouth, looking back at Cream and then at it. Whatever it was, its expression seemed clear (even though it looked more adorable than ferocious)

"Alright then honey," she said to small rabbit. "How's about this... Ah'll turn around n' let ya'll get yer gown on. Ah'll even cover mah eyes so ya'll know Ah ain't peekin'. That sound fair?"

Without waiting for an answer, she turned her back and placed her hands over her eyes as she'd promised. Just before doing so however she noticed Sally standing there with Tails. She quelled her excitement to call out to the squirrel, hoping not to frighten Cream any further until she was dressed.

[L]

A distressed canine suddenly found himself standing in the middle of a Forest. He remembered taking a sleep aid to help him through his train ride, but now how he'd ended up here. That in mind, he did the only thing he could do. "... CURSE YOU, ORBITZ.COM! CURSE YOOOUUU!!!" He cried loudly.

[Lans]

Sally, still confused, knelt down next to the kid. "Look, hun, I d-" She stopped as she noticed the two tails on this...fox. "Tails?"


"Yeah, Aunt Sally. I was comming back from Rosies after my lessens to get my hocky stick and suddenly there was this BIG explosion and this purple cat lady landed in my bed, and mentioned Sonic, and then I ran out here!"


Sally paused a second, making sense of Tails' rapid story. Purple cat lady...Blaze? Sally though, getting up again.


Tails suddenly noticed somthing about 'Aunt' Sally. "Aunt Sally...where did you get those weird clothes?"

[Stoney]

And it was about that point that Blaze staggered out of Tails' hut with a dizzy look on her face. Her eyes were half-closed and unfocused, possibly due to concussion, and she was keeping a hand held to her head to halt the blood flow from a shallow cut above her left eye. But from the looks of the numerous splinters and other pieces of wood jammed into her skin, that was the least of her injuries.

Oh yes, not to mention the fact that Soleanna had been magically transformed into a forest-dwelling tribe of primitive hut people who lived in the dirt and filth like savages.

She was not having a good day so far.






Cream took a peek out from behind her hands after the rabbit's declaration, seeing that she was indeed true to her word and had turned away. Hope blossomed in Cream's mind; not only was it now possible for her to dress herself with what decency could be gained from doing so out in the open, but she could potentially escape as well.

She still didn't understand where she was or how she'd gotten here; everything around her was strange and unfamiliar. It looked vaguely similar to the Leaf Storm Zone, but only in a fundamental way, like how you might say two fish look similar since neither have arms or legs. Beyond the basics, nothing rang any bells. This was definitely not the place she'd played in and explored during her as-yet brief life. Therefore, finding something she recognized was top priority at the moment.

Quick as a flash the dress was on her head and the panties, gloves and shoes were secured in their proper positions. With her heart beating wildly and her hands trembling from fright, Cream snatched Cheese out of the air and took flight, pumping her ears as rapidly as possible to escape into the forest canopy.






Oooh yeah, she was definitely trying to throw off his guard or something by turning away. Cheese tensed himself. All he needed was to see that small nigh-imperceptable flash of movement that preceded a sneak attack, and it would be on like Pong, baby.

There was some rustling behind him. He paid it no mind; it was probably his mistress putting on her clothes, and he couldn't for a moment take his eyes off his enemy to check out of fear that that would be the moment said enemy would strike. So he continued to bore a figurative hole in the back of Bunnie's head with his nonexistent eye-lasers, plotting the many different ways he could attack her with her own robotic limbs after he tore them off.

Needless to say, he was surprised when Cream suddenly grabbed him and took off. He could fly just fine by himself, so why hadn't she given him orders to do so? Perplexed, he allowed Cream to carry him along like luggage as they headed for the green ceiling of leaves -- and freedom.

[Jamie Lee]

At the moment the young girl began to lift off into the air, another rabbit stepped out of a nearby hut. At first she saw Bunnie standing there with her hands over her eyes, which perplexed her, until movement caused her to look up.

Her pupils restricted and she gasped. "Cream?!"

[Stoney]

Cream's ascent promptly halted as she forgot to keep flapping her ears out of sheer surprise.

"Mommy?!"






Cheese's eyes went wide as they began to fall out of the sky. Mayday! Mayday! The ship is goin' down, captain! She can't take any more! Fire the emergency thrusters and head for the lifeboats! Women and Chao first!

Acting quickly, he squirmed his way out of Cream's arms -- luckily, her grip had slackened in her shock as well -- and zipped around to pull on the back of her dress as he began flapping his own miniscule wings as hard as he could, trying to stop their freefall. He was partially successful in that they slowed down, but there was no way he could possibly support his weight and Cream's together in the air.

They descended, drunkenly, and made a crash-landing in the bushes Bunnie had offered to shield Cream behind earlier.




For many long moments, there was silence.






Cream exploded out of the bushes at a full sprint, leaving a trail of relieved tears in the air behind her. "MOMMY, MOMMY!" He collided with the older rabbit and hugged her with all her six-year-old strength. "THE CREEPY LADY IS TRYING TO TAKE ME AWAY!" She bawled. "WHERE DID OUR HOUSE GO? WHAT'S GOING ON?!"







Cheese crawled out from the shrubbery that had cushioned their landing, giving it a mental thank-you as he took to the air again in pursuit of his mistress. He was going to have to have a talk with her about dangerous stunts after all this.

[Lans]

At that moment, Sonic came speeding into the clearing and spotted Bunnie. "Bunnie!" he rushed over to her, "We've got a mondo problemo Buns. Dash is back, only it's not our Dash...I think. Anyway, Sally got pulled up through this portal by this Finiteevu guy and she's gone!"


Sally meanwhile stood off to the side with Tails watching this. "Sonic?"


He glanced at her for a sec, "Hey Sal," Then he double taked and gaped at her, "SALLY!?"

[Jamie Lee]

"Cream?" the taller rabbit said in a hushed voice as the child grabbed her. She knelt down and pushed her back, holding her by the shoulders so she could study her face. Her breath quickened.

"O-Oh mah mah.. Cream? H-how did ya'll--wh-when did--Oh mah stars, it's really you!" her voice hitched. As tears began to gleam the corners of her eyes, she grabbed the child and embraced her tightly into a bone-crushing hug. Afraid that, somehow, if she let go the child would wisp away in a puff of smoke.

"Oh mah stars... oh mah stars..." she sobbed repeatedly, "Oh Aurora! Ah've missed ya so much!" she squeezed the poor girl even tighter, her face flushed and now stained with tears.

She looked up suddenly, Bunnie seemed to be at the moment distracted with speaking to Sonic. "Bunnie! BUNNIE!" she called out regardless. "BUNNIE LOOK!"

Bunnie had initially tried turning around when she heard Vanilla, but Sonic's arrival had cut her off. "W-wha? Dash?! What about Sally-girl now?!" she shifted between her feet several times, looking between Sonic and the other two rabbits when she heard Vanilla call. When Sally announced herself the rabbit opted to grabbing both her and Sonic by the hands and attempted to pull them over. "Fellas! Fellas come lookit! It's Cream!"

[Stoney]

"M-mommy?" Cream squeaked as the air was suddenly crushed from her lungs. "Y-you're hurting me m-mommy..." She grimaced and squirmed.






Cheese looked puzzled as he floated over beside his mistress. The mistress' mother had somehow gotten to...wherever they were. Wait, weren't they at Cream's house just a second ago? Cheese looked around, his emote becoming a question mark. How'd a forest appear inside Cream's house? Or were they even still at the house anymore? None of this was making sense so far.

Then his danger senses began tingling. He whirled around to see that rabbit from earlier pulling more people over to them.

Oho! Going for reenforcements, was she? Well, it didn't matter. He'd take 'em all on! He got into a battle stance and motioned them forward with one stubby paw. Bring it, biatches!

[Lans]

"Sonic...what-?" she started to ask 'what are you doing here?' but Sonic interrupted.


"Sal, what happened? I mean where'd you go, how'd you get back..." he looked her over, "..And where'd you get that outfit?"

But before Sally got a chance to even think about an answer, Bunnie had interrupted them. Sonic zipped over to watch the 'reunion' "Cream? You mean THE Cream?" They'd all shared stories about missing relatives, "But Bunnie," he said quietly so Vanillia wouldn't hear, "She's not...I mean she isn't...roboticized..."

[Jamie Lee]

"A-Ah know! Ah ain't got no idea what's goin' on! Ah mean, lookit her! I-it's her!" She exhaled and shook her head in bafflement as she stepped up beside Vanilla.

At the child's protests Vanilla loosened her grip "Oh, baby, Ah'm sorry baby, Ah'm so, so sorry... Ah'm just... oh mah stars A-Ah'm just so happy to see ya'll! It's been so long.. How did... how did ya'll get here?! Oh mah baby, mah precious, precious baby..."

She gave the bunny a kiss on both cheeks, then on the nose, then another big hug and just snuggled her face against the child's. Tears continued to streak down her face.

[Stoney]

Cream looked confused once again. A million questions buzzed through her mind, and after a few seconds where she composed herself, she was finally able to voice them. The first and most puzzling query on her mind was, obviously...

"M-mommy...when did you get an accent? "

Cream gave her mother an odd look, which was growing more perplexed by the second. "A-and I've only been away in the bathroom for half an hour...there's no need to be so s-sad..." She gently reached up and wiped one of Vanilla's tears away, then sniffed and wiped her own eyes, confused about why they were both crying. Still, she resolved not to let up with the questions until everything was sorted out.

"W-where did our house go? A-and who is that c-creepy lady over there?" She pointed at Bunnie. "She tried to take me away mommy, but I didn't let her, just like you taught me."

Then Cream did a double-take as she saw who was with Bunnie. "MISTER SONIC!" She perked up almost immediately and began waving at the hedgehog with much enthusiasm. "MISTER SONIC, OVER HERE!" He'd definitely be able to explain what was going on. Mister Sonic knew everything.






Cheese recognized that name. Sahnick! It was that guy he'd teamed up with during one of Cream's crazy adventures, changing his shape to mirror the hedgehog's likeness in order to temporarily take orders from him. And now that he looked closer, one of the individuals that rabbit lady had gone to for backup shared an astonishing resemblance to this Sahnick character.

Cheese's eyes buldged in appalled shock. Et tu, Sahnick?! What a traitor to the cause! He'd show no mercy to that hedgehog now! A vein bulged in Cheese's forehead as he bared his teeth and the incoming trio, giving an adorable little chao growl in their general direction.

[Lans]

Now it was Sonic's turn to be freaked out. He was sure he'd never met Cream before. SHe'd been roboticized before Vanilla had come to Knothole. He looked uncertainly at Bunnie, hoping for answers...and nearly jumped out of his skin when someone put a hand on his shoulder.


"Sorry," Sally apologized, "Look...I'm sorry if I'm interruppting something important, but I could really use some answers here. Where are we...and who are all these people, Sonic?"

Meanwhile, no one had noticed that Tails had apparently vanished...

[Jamie Lee]

Vanilla eased up her elation as the child asked her questions. She studied the young girl with an odd look. When she asked about the house, initially the older rabbit had thought of the house she had before the coup... but no, that couldn't have been right... Cream had been born after the coup had occured. "Hon... ya'll've been gone a good three years... an' that lady is yer Aunt Bunnie. She's missed ya something' fierce too..."

She pressed her lips together, attributing the child's strange amnesia as an effect of her roboticization. Come to think of it... how did she get deroboticized? How did she get away from Robotnik? So many questions began to rage in her mind now...

[Stoney]

Cream...stared.

"Th...th-three years?!" She gasped. "B-but I just got in the shower thirty minutes ago! You were there, mommy! You were in the kitchen chopping up vegetables for lunch with Gemerl!"

She slowly began backing away. This...this wasn't right. Her mother had always been an only child -- she never had an "Aunt Bunnie". And that accent...

"MISTER SONIC!" Cream suddenly cried out as she broke off from Vanilla's embrace and ran over to the hedgehog, knowing that he alone could bring her the answers she needed. "Mister Sonic, what's going on?" She asked frantically, looking up at him with a pleading gaze. "What's happened to Mommy?! Where are we?!"






If Cheese had had fur, it would have stood on end the moment his mistress ran over to speak to the traitor hedgehog. His mouth dropped open in horror. She'd fallen for their sinister trap! Oh noes! He had to get her out of there before she was harmed!

Darting over behind Cream, Cheese began tugging on the back of her dress as insistently as he could, clearly demanding she move away.






"Cheese...?" Cream blinked as she was engaged by her chao. Turning around, she used one hand to still her pet's movements. "Cheese, what's wrong?"






The chao shot Sonic a fierce glare. Turning back to Cream, he pointed at the hedgehog and spoke one of the few words he knew.

"Enemy."






Cream was perplexed when she saw who Cheese was pointing at. "What?! But that's Mister Sonic! You know him, we've adventured with him plenty of times! Right, Mister Sonic?" She turned to the hedgehog, waiting for his confirmation.

[Lans]

Sonic just shot a glance at Bunnie. Could this be some sort of side effect of whatever de-roboticization process had been used on her? "Kid...Cream...do you remember anything about the...roboticizer, or Robotropolis? How bout Robotnik?"


"Sonic, WHAT are you talking about? That's Cream the Rabbit, she's helped you defeat Robotnik on at least five different occasions." Sally said, "And what in the name of Chaos is a roboticizer?"


"Sal what-?" he started to ask in bewilderment, then suddenly his expression turned hard. Before anyone else could react, he had leapt up and zipped into gear, grabbing Sally and slamming her up against the wall of a nearby hutt and holding her there by the shoulders. "Sorry, but we've already been through this dance once before," he said humorlessly, "All right, where's the real Sally?"

[DB]

And... a certain tenrec joined the fray. He HAD been looking around Knothole after Sonic abruptly left the hut, but really, he had no idea where he was going, so he'd decided to find the blue hedgehog again in hopes that he could clear things up. Instead, he came across a rather odd sight. Mainly, that Sonic was assaulting a GUN officer.

GUN. Did this universe have a GUN? Or was this the GUN he knew, somehow ending up in this world like he had? Either way, GUN agents= bad news for Dark Legionaries. (The fact this officer was more or less a clone of the lady he'd seen earlier either went unnoticed or uncared for, however... but it could also be because this version was wearing clothes.)

Hopefully with his hologram up, she wouldn't notice... then again, seeing her current situation, she probably wouldn't notice him at all.

He swayed in place a moment before turning to a nearby person.

"Hey, I haven't a clue where I am right now, can you show me around?"

[Stoney]

Cream was wide-eyed and in shock at the hedgehog's sudden attack on the squirrel. That squirrel wasn't a robot! She hadn't even done anything wrong!

"Um...I-I don't know what a Roboticizer is either..." Cream spoke up meekly, wincing afterwards out of expectation of she-knew-not-what. "Is that b-bad?"






"Enemy," Cheese hissed in his mistress' ear, more insistent this time. Didn't she understand? That hedgehog was an obvious threat! He'd even turned on one of his own accomplices and attacked her!

Cheese paused, collected all his strength, and pulled backwards as hard as he could on Cream's dress in a single, incredible show of Chao Power!






Cream didn't budge an inch.






Cheese finally gave up, panting a little as he sought to rest his aching arms. His mistress had obviously been going a bit heavy on the ice cream lately.

Fine...if she wouldn't get away on her own, he'd fight the hedgehog to prevent harm from befalling her. Cheese flew up inbetween Cream and Sonic, spreading out his arms and legs to act as a living barrier while he gave the hedgehog a look so full of venom that the air practically dripped with it.

Benedict Arnold was about to face his court-martial, oh yes. Cheese would show him exactly why they called him Ultimate Master of Rocking Horse Chao-Fu. All he needed was for that hedgehog to take a step towards them, or open his mouth, or even so much as give them a funny look. THAT'S ALL HE NEEDED. Just one sign that Sahnick was about to attack them next, and then BAM, the hedgehog's ancestors would wonder why they were suddenly feeling a sharp pain in their skull. C-BOMB REPORTING FOR DUTY, SIR.

[Jamie Lee]

Vanilla had looked surprised and even a little hurt when the girl pulled away from her. And even more surprised when she saw her run off toward Sonic. And come to think of it, what was that little blue thing that was with her? It... it looked like her old doll come to life...

Bunnie was equally confused. The confusion only heightening at what Sally had said, and Sonic's sudden turn of violence against her.

The confusion about Sonic's actions was only temporary though, as her mind quickly turned to the same gear his had. For the moment the concern became a higher priority in her mind as face donned an affronted expression.

That, however, was seconds before she'd heard someone address her. She glanced at the stranger, looked back at Sally, and then promptly did a double take. Despite the fact Sonic had already mentioned something about it, the rabbit still found herself caught completely off guard.

"DASH?!"

[Lans]

Luckily Sonic was saved from a chao bombing, though with what did happen he might have welcomed it. A second after he shoved her against the wall, Sally reacted on instinct, slamming her knee up between his legs and sweeping his feet out from under him.


"What the HECK is up with you, Sonic? I AM the 'real' Sally! We've been working together, mostly, for a while now!"


Sonic, for obvious reasons (namely that he was too busy holding the remains of his family jewels and moaning on the ground), didn't answer


Sally just sighed, and was about to look to one of the others for answers, when she spoted Dash. "YOU!" She immediatly drew her firearm and advanced on him, "I should have guessed! What's Finitevus up to this time? Some sort of memory altering device?"

[DB]

The tenrec gave a confused blink at the rabbit's reaction. "Why does everyone here knows my name...?"

Of course, he didn't get the time to have that answered before the GUN agent ... dispatched... Sonic and took a gun to him. So much for hoping not to be noticed.

He glanced again at the rabbit, suddenly noticing that she, like himself, was a cyborg. Looking back at the GUN agent he shrugged, reaching to his other arm and pressing a button causing the hologram to flick off. There was no point keeping it on now- the whole reason he had it in the first place was to avoid spooking people, but if there were already cyborgs like him wandering around, then what'd it matter? Plus, it wasn't like it was fooling the GUN agent. It was better off being off then eating up energy...

"Actually..." he muttered, "the Doc doesn't have anything to do this... at least from what I know."