(Ex; idea by Cubed)
Cream is at home playing as usual with her lego toy town. Since she built and arranged it herself she was especially proud. So when Cheese her faithful companion came flying in the window nearly knocking over some of the buildings she worked so hard on she was understandably upset.
“Cheese! You should really watch where you’re going!” Cream says scolds. “I worked really hard on this!”
The little chao seems sorry. Cream regrets having been so harsh on the little person. “I’m sorry but you should really be careful around buildings! What if there were people in them?” She stops to imagine it. “That would be fun.” She decides. Her friend appears to agree and hops up and down in assent. Cream has to take hold of him so he doesn’t endanger more of her masterpiece. That is when she notices the shiny thing her buddy has with him.
“What is that you have?” Cream asks. The chao looks down at the glowing stone he has and looks away quickly as though it isn’t there. “Let me see it.” She reaches for it but it is clear that Cheese wants to keep it for himself. “Fine then! Be that way!” Cream says resentfully turning away. “Humph!”
It looks like she has chagrined the tiny blue guy again and he tries to show his prize to her by way of apology. Cream keeps turning her nose away but that doesn’t last. She can’t stay mad at her best friend for long and soon she’s examining the rock closely.
“Wow it’s bright, where did you get it?” Cheese shakes his head. “It’s pretty…” She hands it back to him and goes to get some yarn. “You wouldn’t want to lose it.” The chao nods as she secures it around his neck. “Let’s go outside and play.” With that the pair is off.
In Chuck’s lab Chris, Chuck, and Tails are messing around.
“So the Chaos Emeralds are from your planet?” Chris asks.
“Yes.” Tails replies.
“Well we don’t have anything like them here.”
“That isn’t quite true…” Tails says. “Lately I’ve been picking up something with very similar energy readings to an emerald but not quite right.”
“Really? Grandpa do you know what Tails is talking about?”
Chuck rubs his chin a moment and looks at the ceiling. “It may be a piece of the Wishing Stone…”
“Wishing Stone?” Chris and Tails say simultaneously.
“Legend has it that it was a magical gem the size of the Master Emerald or thereabouts. They say that there was nothing it could not do. The tale says that a selfish person shattered it because he could not have it for his own. The shards disappeared each with the power to grant wishes to who knows where. Balderdash if you ask me.”
“This scanner doesn’t lie, Chuck.” Tails mentions reading it again. “What other explanation is there?”
“What if it really is a Wishing Shard? I’d love to make a wish!” Chris says.
“A fairy tale if I ever heard one!”
“Well we could go find it. If we go see what this thing is then there would be no question.”
“Can you isolate the location of the ‘wishing shard’?” Chuck laughs.
“I’ve been trying to get a lock on it all day but ever since I’ve detected it the signal’s been on the move.” Tails explains. “I can’t pin it down.”
“Chaos Emeralds are hard to track as well. We may still need to wait for it to settle down.”
“I want to go see it now!” Chris whines.
“We can’t. The scanner could lead us in a circle and we’d be no closer to finding it.”
“I think we should try it tomorrow. If this mystery energy signature really is a ‘wishing shard’ it should still be around.” Chuck laughs again. “Kids…”
In the flying headquarters of Eggman, the genius is plotting.
“Ah, what mayhem should I cause this time?” Eggman muses aloud. “What havoc should I wreak?”
“Perhaps a tidal wave to destroy the city?” Suggests one robot.
“Maybe you should call upon your mechanical legions to capture it.” Suggests robot no. 2.
“The city certainly is annoying…” Eggman considers. “I could wash it away or have my army take it over…which one?”
“We could begin construction of the weather machine immediately. It could be ready by tomorrow.”
“Your army is ready to march now! You could have the city by sundown!”
“So I can only mobilize the invasion force?” He rubs his chin. “There’s still Sonic…”
“He is quite the thorn in your side.”
“He should be dealt with immediately.”
“Hmm if only there was some way to stop him from ruining my plans…”
“I’m sure he can’t stop a tidal wave! He’s afraid of water!”
“The army will indubitably destroy him! He is only one hedgehog!”
“He always seems to find some method of foiling me. I hate to say this but I’m not confident either of those plans will work!”
“There is no chance of failure!”
“The odds are against him!”
“That’s it! The odds! I’ve got to stack them in my favor. Hmm…”
“How do you plan on doing that, sir?”
“Both plans are superb.”
“Exactly! If I tried to utilize both of them at once there would be no way he could stop me! Even as fast as he is he can’t be in two places at once!”
“Brilliant approach doctor.”
“True genius at work.”
“I know, intellect like this, it’s a crime to have. Prepare the weather machine and make sure the army is ready to march by tomorrow!”
“Yes sir!” His servants rush off to fulfill his wishes.
Above the city Cream and Cheese are flying.
“Isn’t it a great view?” Cream asks. Cheese chatters happily beside her, he agrees. She lands on the tallest building in the square and Cheese alights alongside.
“It almost looks like my toy city from here.” She watches the city activity. “It sure would be fun if it was. I’d like that a lot.” Cheese once again assents. “But that won’t happen no matter how much I wish it would.” Cream says sadly. Her companion tries to console her and shows her his glowing rock again. She looks at it and feels a bit better.
“It’s okay.” Cream says regaining some of her characteristic happiness. She looks at her buddy. “We can still dream can’t we?” Cheese nods. “That’s where wishes come true!”
Below the pair the city is darkening. The evening is setting in and the pair notes this with alarm.
“Oh no! It’s this late already?” Cream says incredulously. “We had better get home!” Cheese is way ahead of her because he’s already taken off. “Wait for me!” She flies after him.
Sonic is out enjoying an evening run.
“Man, I heard those guys talking.” Sonic says to himself. “Something as powerful as a Chaos Emerald? Sounds like trouble to me.” He thinks a moment. “They said it could grant wishes though, what would I want?” He thinks some more.
“I’d wish for a hundred chili dogs!” He decides. “I’ve never had the chance to eat that many at once. It’d be pretty cool to try.” He looks around. It’s dark out.
“It’s getting kind of late I had better go back. After all we’ve got an early start tomorrow. I wouldn’t want to miss a hundred chili dogs for anything!” Sonic heads back.
Back at Cream’s house she and Cheese are just getting in.
“Aren’t you late?” Vanilla asks as Cream enters. “The streetlights are already on.”
“I’m sorry, we lost track of time!” Cream says hurriedly. “We were all the way-”
“It’s okay. I know you’re a good girl. You wouldn’t stay out on purpose so I wasn’t worried.”
“Really?”
“Mm hm. You’re not naughty.” Cream breathes a sigh of relief. “But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get into bed this instant.”
“Yes mommy.”
“Even good girls need sleep.” Cream nods then her and Cheese file off to the bedroom.
“What a wonderful child.” Vanilla thinks to herself.
The next morning in Chuck’s lab his assistants are preparing for departure.
“You ready Chris?” Tails asks calibrating his portable scanner.
“You bet! I can hardly wait!” Chris replies.
“It is exciting.” Tails admits. “Readings like this are really rare. Even if it isn’t a piece of the Wishing Stone it’s really powerful.”
“I hope it is a Wishing Shard, I have a couple wishes I want to make.”
“Well if it is, you can go first.” Tails says generously.
“Really?”
“Why not? You believe in it more than we do, who better to test it?”
Chuck bursts into the room. “Are you two ready to go find our ‘wishing shard’?” He asks laughing. The two boys nod. “Let’s get started then!” They leave to find the anomaly.
The airship of Dr. Robotnik is alive with activity.
“Is the weather machine ready to be set up?” The mastermind asks.
“Not quite.” Replies no.1 “It still needs some finishing touches.”
“How about the army? Are they ready to deploy?”
“No…” Robot no.2 hedges. “They aren’t quite all online…”
“Well then get to work you worthless buckets of bolts! Have you ever heard of an ambush? It won’t work if you take all day!”
“The weather machine isn’t fully functional yet.”
“Not enough of the soldiers are ready to march.”
“No more excuses! You built the device didn’t you?” Robot no.1 nods. “Get it on the ground! You can finish it up down there!” He turns to Robot no.2. “Get the rest of those drones online now! I want the entire force prepared in ten minutes!”
“But doctor-”
“You said that it would be ready today.” The doctor says encouragingly. “You’ll get it done. The both of you are such good workers that this should be easy for you. I know you can do it.”
“Thank you doctor.”
“Your words are too much!”
“After all I wouldn’t want to have to improve on you…though you both would probably make splendid appliances!” The droids look apprehensive. “Now you understand.” They nod. “Get to work!”
Cream and Cheese are up early for young children.
“It’s an absolutely beautiful day!” Cream enthuses. “Cheese wake up, you’re missing it!” The sleepy chao doesn’t stir. “Wake up!” She shakes his bed. Cheese wakes up slowly; he looks at her and rolls over. “Come on!” She picks him up and walks out of the room.
“You’re up early.” Vanilla says setting up breakfast. “What are you up to?”
“We were just going to go out and play.”
“That’s fine.” Cream and Cheese move to exit. “Hold it, breakfast first you two.” Vanilla admonishes. “Outside will be there when you finish eating. Now go on before it gets cold.”
The kids eat quickly and are off like rockets. Vanilla smiles to herself watching them depart. “Silly kids…” She comments dotingly.
Cream and Cheese are flying leisurely.
“Aren’t you happy to be awake?” Cream asks. The chao gives her an odd look. “Well you should be!” Cheese flies over and gives her a smack. Cream seems hurt that he would do such a thing but with a chao laugh he is gone. “So you want to play tag…” She pursues her play pal.
The task is not so simple though. The little chao is evasive and has a head start. Try as Cream might she can’t catch him. Even though she is in hot pursuit of her buddy he is somehow able to slip away. She scours the city at mach speed (for her) but there is no sign of him. She is just about to give up when she feels another tap. Though she spins reaching for her assailant he escapes again flying a straight path.
“You want to race? Then I’ll catch you!” Cream declares chasing Cheese again.
This time though the advantage Cream’s. She may have started the race choking on Cheese’s dust but she is still a rabbit and they’re champion racers. Another factor was that Cheese was tiring out so it is no surprise that he is caught just outside town. Cream grabs him in the air and brings him down. They fall to the ground rolling in the grass. After they’re done tussling they lie down pooped from their game. Watching the clouds go by as they catch their breath they doze off.
In the central part of the Square Chuck and Tails are conferring.
“I can’t make any sense of this reading Chuck.” Tails says checking his scanner. “I’ve checked it again and again.”
“I’m not having much better luck.” Chuck replies. “Is this thing broken?”
“They can’t both be broken.” Tails protests. “That doesn’t make sense!”
“So you’re telling me this rock doing loopty loops and figure eights does?” Chuck retorts. “It’s a rock not a bird!”
“Maybe it can fly…” Chris suggests. “It is the Wishing Shard after all.”
“You stay out of this!” The two researchers snap.
“You can’t get a fix on it at all?” Chris sounds crestfallen.
“That’s what we’re trying to do.” Tails explains. “Let’s check again, there must be a logical explanation for this.”
“You’re right.” Chuck agrees. “Let’s compare readings.” The scientists put their heads together.
“I’m noting a distinct pattern Chuck.”
“The vectors on our screens are intersecting at an increasing rate.” Chuck agrees turning toward the west side of town. “In that direction.”
“It’s like it’s stopped.”
“I’ve got the same coordinates for its last location.”
“It must be there then.”
“Guys?” Chris says noting something out of the ordinary.
“We’ll see if it’s the Wishing Shard pretty soon I suppose.”
“Um, guys? We may have another problem.”
“Don’t you want to find the Wishing Shard Chris?” Tails asks.
“I do but…” Chris points behind Tails.
“Well let’s get moving boys! That thing may fly off any minute!” Chuck says enthusiastically. “What’s the matter?”
“Behind you, Grandpa.” Chris says.
“What’s –oh, I see.”
A mechanized army is marching down the street.
In the only fortress in Station Square Eggman is double-checking his plan.
“The army is already mobilized?” Eggman asks.
“It has been on the move for eighteen minutes four seconds and counting.” Robot no.2 says.
“The weather machine is on the ground?”
“Its magnetic field disruptor is operating now.” Robot no.1 replies.
“Good, good!” He rubs his hands together. “What about the hedgehog?”
“He has not been spotted on the scene as of yet.”
“Everything’s going according to plan and Sonic isn’t even here? How could things be more perfect?”
“Everything staying exactly this way and no variables being added to the equation.”
“You’re right, there is still time for Sonic to show his spiky head and try to ruin everything. Are my backup measures in place?”
“We have an entire battalion of forces in reserve awaiting orders.”
“If worse comes to worse the weather machine was built to your specifications. It cannot be impacted from the outside and be inflicted damage.”
“Ahh, that is good to hear. Even if he does try to pull a miracle there will be far too many robots for him to handle and he’ll be bouncing off my weather machine all day! By the time he makes progress doing anything the city will be under my control or underwater!” The mad doctor takes time for an evil laugh. “Things are finally going my way!”
At home everyone’s favorite blue blur has just woken up.
“Man, what a crazy dream!” Sonic says sitting up. “A chilidog bigger than me! That’s too unbelievable.” He looks around.
“Where is everybody?” It comes to him in a flash. “They’re gone already! I’d better hurry or I won’t be able to wish for any chilidogs!” He runs off.
On his high velocity jaunt to the Square he doesn’t notice anything unusual. He searches the area for Tails and the others. It isn’t long before he finds them.
“Hey guys!” Sonic says jovially. “Did you- what the?” He sees the marching mecha force. “Eggman?”
“Boy am I glad to see you Sonic!” Chris says relieved.
“How long has this been going on?” Sonic asks.
“Not too long.” Tails replies.
“And how come I wasn’t invited to the party?”
“It was a surprise even for us.” Chuck says. “So we didn’t know either.”
“Well I’ll take care of this! I’ll be done in no time!” Sonic runs off again.
“There sure are a lot of them this time.” Chris says looking around. “It may take him a while.”
“My scanner’s going crazy!” Tails says suddenly.
“Mine as well. Let’s see, it appears we have a more urgent problem now.”
“More important than an invasion?”
“Uhhh…the magnetic field in this area is warped and drawing the moon closer.” Tails says. “That is not good.”
“Is it going to hit us?” Chris is nervous now.
“It could but that is the least of our worries. The orbit of that satellite will probably make the low tide mark around skyscraper height.”
“Huh?!”
“It’ll flood the city.” Tails explains. “Where is this disturbance coming from?”
“I’ve triangulated it to be from that tower on the other side of the city.” Chuck says.
“We’ll need the X-Tornado for this!”
On the outskirts of town Cream is just waking up.
“Mmm…” Cream’s eyes open. She can see the slightly cloudy sky. She turns over to look at Cheese. He’s still fast asleep. She is just about to wake him when she notices something amiss.
“Where is the grass? I’m sure we were laying on it…” Cream looks down and sure enough the ground is green. She touches it then runs her hand over it. “Doesn’t feel like grass…” She says to herself. “It feels like paint.” She looks at her hand and can see the ink on it. The area she touched flaked right off on her. “Where are we?” She wonders.
Cheese picks this time to wake up. He sits up and looks around then tries to get Cream’s attention.
“What are we going to do? I don’t know where we are!” Cream laments. Cheese pays no mind; he’s pulling on her hand trying to get her to follow him. “Cheese, I’m trying to think! Could you-” She looks at what he is pointing at. “Oh…”
They can see the city from where they are. It’s different though because it is only a few steps away. Cream looks at Cheese who hops up and down then back at the metropolis. After rubbing her eyes she smiles slowly.
“Is this real?” Cream asks. Cheese nods. “I have to be dreaming…” He shrugs and walks toward the city. “Wait for me!”
The pair enters the city limits slowly. They step gingerly as not to damage the play area while looking around.
“It’s just like an actual city!” Cream gushes. “With streets and sidewalks and cars…” She stops to pick up one. Holding it between thumb and forefinger she examines it. “It looks so real…” She looks around. “And there are so many too! Cheese, isn’t this amazing?” She looks for the chao but he’s nowhere to be found. She drops the automobile absently searching for him. It falls and impacts the pavement heavily lodging itself in the street. “I should be more careful. That wasn’t mine.” Cream chastises herself having heard the noise the vehicle made.
“Now you want to play hide and seek? Okay, ready or not, here I come!”
At home Vanilla is washing dishes from breakfast.
“They hardly ate anything.” She notes scraping the plates. “But they did seem eager to be on their way. They’re young, I understand.” She hums while cleaning the rest of the dishware.
“Breaking news, this just in!” Blares from the living room.
“They left the T.V. on too?” Vanilla says leaving the sink. “Well I doubt they were thinking about it.” She goes to turn it off.
“Station Square is under attack!” A news anchor yells. “An onslaught of robots has come to conquer our fair city! It is believed Dr. Eggman is behind this.”
“Oh, well Sonic will take care of that.” Vanilla says watching the newscast. “She left her toys out too?” She sees playthings on the floor. “I’ll pick them up for her. She should be more careful though.” Vanilla is straightening up the living room now.
“Also a mysterious tower has appeared in the middle of downtown. Eggman is suspected of this as well. As its function is unknown a large scale evacuation has already taken place. Most citizens are encouraged to stay away from the inner city until the commotion subsides.”
“I hope Cream stays away from there too. I don’t want her to get hurt.” Vanilla says. “Sonic sure does have his work cut out for him today.” She looks around. The room is spotless now. “Well I’m done.” She goes to cut off the television.
“I have just been handed a bulletin! I cannot believe what I am reading!” Vanilla pauses hand over the Power button. “An enormous rabbit has just been sighted in Station Square! You are hearing me right an-we’ve got a visual? Go to it already, I want to see it!”
The screen changes. It shows Cream at two hundred feet tall tiptoeing through the city as though she is sneaky. Taller than many of the skyscrapers she isn’t fooling anyone.
“Cream?” Vanilla asks watching the footage. “How? This has to be a-”
“You are not seeing things!” The news anchor says as the camera rolls. “This is no camera trick! I have just been handed another bulletin! I have been informed that the military has been notified and will take action against threats on our city. I assume the monster on screen is priority one.”
“Military?” She says worriedly. “Monster? Cream’s not a monster, there has got to be some mistake!” She heads out leaving the set on. “I’ve got to warn her!”
In the forest Knuckles the Echidna is uneasy.
“Something is wrong, very wrong.” The red guy says to himself. “I sense a powerful force at work.” He walks toward the municipality. “I don’t understand, is it a Chaos Emerald? The balance of everything feels upset. What has happened?” He emerges from the forest and can see the city.
“What is all this?” Knuckles demands. “Robots, that tower-” He gasps. “Cream?” He shakes his head vigorously. “That can’t be.” He begins running toward town.
“If all this is real Sonic’ll need all the help he can get!”
In the X Jet Chris and Tails are flying.
“Chuck can you read me?” Tails asks. “Can you read?”
“I’ve got you loud and clear.” Chuck replies over the radio. “What’s your plan?”
“We’re heading for the weather machine now. We’re going to take it down!”
“I’m not certain that will succeed.” Chuck says. “It’s a building and solid-looking perhaps another approach would-”
“You come up with that while I try this first!”
“Okay. Say Tails that odd energy signature is right near-”
“Tails out!” He cuts off the radio. “Chris are you okay back there?”
“Yeah, hey isn’t that Cream?” Chris points out the oversized woodland creature.
“Where? Yeah, so?” Tails says briskly. “We’ve got more important- WHAT?”
“I guess asking how it happened is out of the question.” Chris chuckles.
“How long has this been going on?” Tails demands tensely.
“I’m estimating about fifteen minutes of our half hour time slot.”
“What?”
“I don’t know. But um is that the National Guard?”
“I guess they’re here to help. The city IS in turmoil.”
“Then why are they aiming at Cream?”
“You’re right!” Tails says glancing down. “That isn’t good.”
“Let me off down there. Someone has to explain this to them.”
“After that can someone explain it to me?” The pilot asks touching down.
“I don’t know you’ll probably have to wait until the end of the episode just like the rest of us.”
“Huh?” Tails is confused.
“Thanks Tails!” Chris says hopping out of the advanced flying machine. The befuddled fox nods and takes back off.
“All right!” The commander of the unit yells. “We bring this down then we take care of everything else!”
“Right!” The troops reply.
“Ready!” The platoon shoulders their weapons. “Aim!” Now they’re locked and cocked. “F-friendly in line! Halt!”
“Stop!” Chris yells running up to them. “What are you doing?”
“Neutralizing this threat to the city citizen, stand down!” The sergeant commands.
“No, she’s my friend!”
“Well she is the city’s enemy!”
“Why? What has she done?”
“She has…” The sergeant and his men look around.
They can see Cream treading lightly between buildings avoiding stepping on as much as possible. “Cheese?” She calls. “I know you’re around here somewhere! I’m going to find you?”
“Done what?” Chris asks again. “I think you should help with the robots or something. She’s just a kid, she doesn’t mean anybody harm.”
Looking at the big bunny the sergeant can see Chris is right. “Company move out!” He directs them to the nearest group of enemy combatants.
“That went well.” Chris thinks. “I hope it’s that easy for Tails.”
In the Egg Carrier there is celebrating going on.
“I’m going to win!” Eggman says incredulously. “All these times I’ve tried time and time again but this time I am the victor! Oh what a joyous day!”
“Quite the occasion indeed doctor.” Robot 1 says.
“It shall go down in history.” Robot 2 agrees.
“Let’s see the status of the attackers.” The battle appears on screen. “Sonic isn’t doing too well. It appears he’s got too much to handle! Now my weather machine, how are things where it is?” Now the tower is on screen. “It looks like the fox is trying this by himself, wait Knucklehead is down there too. Blast and pound away, that won’t be enough, I made that thing impervious to attack! There’s nothing you can do!”
“Probability of success is 87%”
“Only eighty-seven? Your math computation logistics must be damaged.”
“Either single factor has 87% likelihood of occurrence. Put together success rate is actually 174%.”
“That’s more like it! Let’s see what the news thinks of my victory!” The news is turned to next.
“Latest in our top story, ‘it’s looking for cheese.’” Says the souped up T.V. set.
“Huh? What about me? Why am I not the top story?”
“This fantastic being on your television screen has been quoted as saying ‘cheese’ several times. It is as though it is searching for something. Incredibly enough damage from this colossal caricature of a rabbit has been minimal. Will keep you posted on any new developments.”
The bridge of the Egg Carrier is deathly quiet. They are staring at the screen open mouthed at the live feed of Cream searching for Cheese. All is forgotten as they gape stupidly at the monitor.
“I know why you aren’t the top story sir.” Robot one says breaking the silence.
“As long as my plans aren’t interrupted I don’t care.”
“They probably will be compromised doctor.” Robot two says. “The odds dictate that this new variable will change everything.”
“Change everything how?” Eggman asks sounding clueless for the first time.
“Success probability will drop 208%.”
“Two hundred eight? I know that is wrong; there is no logical basis for that number to come out in calculation! I can’t come out worse than when I started!”
“Untrue. The negative 32% is signified by not only both plans failing but this place being destroyed as well.”
“Destroyed?”
“The destructive potential of said variable is far too high to discount any scenario no matter how distasteful.”
“Quite simply you and your plans could be crushed very quickly.”
“Nothing ever goes my way…” Eggman whines.
Meanwhile Sonic is very busy.
“Man!” He thinks. “Maybe I bit off more than I could chew. It may take a little more than no t-” He is knocked from his feet as a robot lands a lucky swing. Now he is surrounded.
“There are too many of them!” Sonic thinks darting out of the circle. “I’ll have to try something else.” He turns to put some distance between him and the robots but stops as he hears a familiar voice.
“Cream!” The voice calls. “Cream listen to me!”
“Is that…Vanilla?” Sonic turns around.
Indeed it is Cream’s mother. She is calling out for her daughter heedless of the danger she is in.
“She’s right in the path of those robots! I’ve got to help her!”
“Cream I need you to-” Vanilla stops as Sonic carries her out of harm’s way.
“Sorry but I don’t think Cream’s anywhere around here!” Sonic says still running.
“But she is! I saw her on the news! The military-”
“Military? What would they have to do with Cream?” He sets her down.
“Haven’t you seen her? She’s-”
Just then a huge foot lands on the platoon of bots advancing on them, flattening the entirety instantly. “FOUND YOU!” Comes a distorted voice that resounds in the bones of the pair. A massive hand reaches behind a building and hoists up a chao the size of a parade balloon.
“Really big.” Vanilla finishes.
“No kidding!” Sonic looks up at Cream. “Whoa!”
“I’ve got to warn her. The military want to attack her!” Vanilla sounds worried.
“There’s got to be some way to get her attention…” Sonic says rubbing his chin. “Like that…” He says watching Vanilla fly off after her daughter.
Cream and Cheese are having a ball.
“This is more fun than I thought!” She enthuses. “What can we do next?” Cheese seems to have an idea. “You want to race? To where?” He indicates the tall black tower. “Where should we start?”
Cream looks for a suitable spot for a starting line. Finding one she sweeps all the gray action figures out of the way back into their container and moves it. Unknown to her she had just demolished the remainder of Eggman’s force and swept it into the reserves deployment cell. By moving it the contents were shaken and turned to unrecognizable scrap.
“Someone should really watch where they put their toys.” She says. “I already stepped on some of those and I’m sorry but they should be more careful.” Cheese tugs on her hand because he’s ready to race. She proceeds to the impromptu starting line.
It is a relatively straight shot to the eyesore building down the widest main street in the Square. Now that it is clear our racers take their marks.
“Are you ready?” Cream asks. “On your mark, get set, go!” The two are off barreling down the avenue. Cheese flies while Cream runs.
Poor Vanilla is left behind. “Cream wait for me!”
Rouge the bat is watching the situation from above with a smile.
“Well isn’t this funny? Everyone is out full force to handle one little girl?” She chuckles. “Maybe little is a bit of a stretch…whatever. I’m more interested in that jewel.” Her eyes fall on Cheese and the Wishing Shard which is glowing brightly suspended from his neck. “There’s more to it than meets the eye.”
In Chuck’s lab the engineer is making a discovery.
“This tower is emitting that magnetic field disruption…to stop it I’d have to get inside and reverse the polarity.” He says to himself. “How would I do that?”
“Chuck how is it coming on that other solution?” Comes over the radio. “I can’t bring it down by force!”
“Tails, you’ll need to get inside and reverse the polarity! That’ll short the machine out!”
“I can’t!” Tails yells back. “It’s impenetrable!”
“Scratch that…” Chuck thinks. “Tails I’ve been tracking that energy signature and it’s right near you!”
“We don’t have time for that!” Tails snaps. “We’ve got bigger problems than some fairy tale!”
“Strange thing for you to say. Like what?”
“You don’t know? Look at the city!” The transmission ends.
“Hmm…” Chuck looks out a window. “This bears investigation.” He says seeing Cream. “I have a sneaking suspicion…” After running some calculations he nods. “I thought as much.” He looks at the computer and out the window again.
“That energy anomaly is coming from them. It’s the only explanation for what’s happened at any rate. This may complicate things. Hmm…”
Downtown the military have begun their assault on the weather tower.
“Company halt!” The convoy comes to a stop. “Begin barrage!” The sergeant commands.
“I guess I’ll stand aside and let them have a crack at it.” Knuckles says giving the vehicles a wide berth.
“With the army’s help we’ll break a hole in this thing easy!” Tails says optimistically bringing the X-Tornado around for another strafing run.
The building is shaking under the continuous fire but holds strong. Everyone present increases their attacks on the structure. Knuckles finds a vacant spot and begins to pound on it again as well. Now the building is rocking violently. It gives the impression that it is on the verge of giving way but then the attacks stop.
“Everybody watch out!” Tails yells. “Cream is coming!”
Though the military doesn’t know Cream by name they do notice the mammoth youngster running right at them. “Troops! Evasive maneuvers!” The soldiers try and clear out of her path.
“She’s headed right for us.” Knuckles says. “Better get out of her way.” He prepares to leave the area when he hears something amiss. “What?”
Vanilla is flying after Cream as fast as she can. Her much larger daughter easily leaves her behind.
“Cream you’ve got to stop!” Vanilla yells. “You don’t realize what you’re doing!”
“Hurry up Cheese!” Cream teases. “Slowpoke!”
“The city is in danger, look around you!” Cream stops. “You heard me, thank goodness!” Vanilla flies in front of her. “If I can just get you to see me it’ll be alright.” She is gaining altitude fast. She is just level with her daughter’s chin when she speaks.
“I’ll give you a head start!” Cream chides. “Go on, go!”
This burst of sound staggers Vanilla and the accompanying blast of air blows her out of the sky. Unable to compensate ears badly abused she plummets to the ground. “Aieee!” She yells falling fast. “Oh!” Abruptly she stops descending.
“Gotcha!” Knuckles says catching the devoted mother in the air and landing.
“Thank you Kn-” Just as suddenly she’s airborne again as he tosses her aside. “Ouch!” She turns to her savior. The last she sees of the hard-as-nails echidna is of him trying to hold up Cream’s foot. That doesn’t last too long and he disappears under her sole. “Knuckles!”
Cream continues running colliding with the tower and bringing it down. “I win!” She says happily. “In your face!” She teases her blue buddy. He makes a dour face.
She notices the building she knocked over. “I shouldn’t have done that.” She tries to pick it up but is surprised when it bends and breaks where she touches it. “I didn’t mean to break that, it wasn’t mine…” She looks around. “I had better step over these...” She says contritely noting the tanks and jeeps in the army convoy. “I don’t want to break anything else.” She takes measured paces to avoid the vehicles.
“Now what to do?” Cream wonders. “I know! I’ll rearrange the city so it’s more like mine! If who’s ever toy this is comes back I’ll put it back the way it was and apologize for the things I broke.” She wanders off.
“You don’t realize what you’re doing…” Vanilla says to herself. “Please don’t. I wish there were some way she could hear me…”
Cheese lands nearby. He notices Vanilla and walks over. Since he’s a small chao in comparison to his friend he’s barely thirty feet tall. He squeals to get her attention.
“If only I could get her to listen to me…” Vanilla mumbles. Cheese squeals again. “Oh Cheese how can I get Cream to listen?” She asks turning to the parade float sized pet. “I’ve got to warn her before she…” She trails off.
Cheese gives the impression that he is listening. When Vanilla is done he grabs the stone around his neck which is glowing very brightly and extends it in her direction.
“What is that?” Vanilla wonders flying up to it. “Will it help me reach her?” Cheese nods and encourages her to touch the gleaming rock. It almost seems to beckon to her as well sensing her heartfelt desire to reach her progeny and shining even brighter. “If it will help me…” Vanilla places her hands on the stone.
In the headquarters of the local villain everyone is downcast.
“The army is decimated…” Eggman mopes. “Why?”
“The robots were designed to combat Sonic not an immense enemy.” Robot no. 1 says. “That was not in the design so there was no chance of success.”
“You said that the tower would be completely impact-proof! Why is it destroyed?” He demands angrily.
“Impact calculations were based on a relatively small area being hit at any given time. A better description of what actually happened would be compression. There was a large amount of force directed on a bigger area constricting it from more than one direction. Impact proof not crush proof doctor.” Robot no.2 explains.
“That clumsy rabbit ruined not one but two plans? Without even meaning to? This isn’t fair!”
“Things could be worse, sir.”
“How? How could it possibly be worse?”
“You could be ruined.”
“What do I have left?”
“Your health.”
“After all you too could be flat.”
Eggman considers this a moment. “You know what? You’re right; I can still beat the odds!”
“What do you mean?”
“Both plans have failed, we have already lost.”
“Don’t you remember? You told me that I had a negative 32% chance of success after…she showed up. That meant I would fail and be flattened! So if we leave now we’ll leave the winners! With any luck that oversize pest will take care of the city for us!”
“Sound logic doctor.”
“Even a small victory is a victory.” The Egg Carrier leaves the area.
Sonic is just arriving on the scene again.
“Whoa, I saw what happened!” Sonic says looking around. “Is everybody alright?”
“I’m fine Sonic.” Chris says. “I was with the military.”
Tails touches down the X-Tornado. “I’m alright but Knuckles…”
“What happened to him? I would’ve been here sooner but I was keeping people out of Cream’s way.”
“He saved Vanilla but Cream…” Tails looks down. “I saw it from the sky.”
“Knuckles?” Sonic looks worried thinking about possible outcomes. “Nah!” He says lightly. “Can’t be!”
“I think he’s gone.” Chris says. “If she stepped on him he’s…”
“A little help!” Comes a gruff voice.
“Knuckles!” Sonic yells running to a pothole. “You alright buddy?”
“Yeah, but I’m stuck. She pressed me into the street can you help me out?” Knuckles asked trapped in the pavement.
“Sure thing man.” Sonic grabs Knuckles’ hand and pulls. “Hey you’re pretty stuck!”
“I know. She had to weigh a ton!”
“Several hundred would be my best guess.” Tails says absently.
“Well you always were a hard head!” Sonic laughs.
“Very funny Sonic.”
“Um, guys? Shouldn’t we be worrying about Cream?” Chris asks. “She did say she was going to rearrange the city. Isn’t that bad?”
“I don’t think these buildings are intended to move so that would make it very bad.” Tails concurs.
“We have to get her attention!” Sonic says decisively. “Otherwise everything could be leveled!”
“You try to get her attention by ground.” Tails says boarding the jet. “Chris you’re with me we’ll try to get her attention by air.” Chris nods. “Let’s go!” Tails takes off and Sonic zooms away.
“Hey guys I’m still here.” Knuckles says. “Hey guys?”
Cream is striding toward the center of town. Still taking care not to damage the scenery it takes a while.
“These buildings look so real…” Cream breathes. “It’s so amazing; I want a city just like this.” She reaches her destination. “I think this would look better in the park area.” She reaches for the tallest building in the Square.
That’s when Tails makes his move. Shifting to X-hyperspeed mode he circles Cream’s head trying to divert her. She tries to swat him idly.
“Silly fly, can’t you see I’m busy?” Cream says aggravated. “Go away!” She manages to touch the X-Jet and a wing flies off. Tails has to make an emergency landing.
Now it’s Sonic’s turn. “I hate to do this but…” He attempts to spin dash Cream’s toe. She raises her foot and tries to squash him. Of course the blue blur is far too fast for that and switches to her other foot.
“What is that bothering my foot?” Cream can’t really see anything, he’s going too fast. “Doesn’t matter, just a bug.” She stops paying Sonic any mind and is back to renovating downtown.
“Sorry guys, I guess we’re just too small.” Sonic says trying his hardest to get Cream to stop.
“Nothing we can do.” Tails says to Chris. “The wing’s busted.”
Chuck watches from his lab and shakes his head. “If only…”
Cream is just about to lift the building from its foundation when she hears a voice.
“Cream.” The voice says. “You really shouldn’t do that.”
Cream turns around. “Mommy?”
“Yes dear.” Vanilla replies from across town.
“I was just playing with the toys…”
“I know.”
“I’ll apologize for what I broke. I didn’t mean it.”
“I know. But you need to stop.”
“Why?”
“Because this isn’t a toy. This is actually Station Square.”
“You mean…all these buildings are real?”
Vanilla nods. “They shouldn’t be moved.”
Cream looks as though she has seen a ghost. Looking closely at the skyscraper that’s taller than her by a few inches by scale she can see people inside. She recoils in shock smashing two more parked cars. “Mommy I-”
“It’s alright honey.” Vanilla says consoling her daughter. “You did good.” She starts to make her way to Cream, carefully walking amidst buildings no taller than her waist. No easy task at three hundred fifty feet tall. “You tried to be careful.”
On the ground Sonic is running point for the massive motherly figure making sure no hapless bystanders were in her way. “This is something else!” He says double checking where Vanilla is stepping. He looks up, way up at her. “But I’m thankful somebody could get her attention…and everybody else’s I’ll bet!” He laughs at that.
“But the action figures and the building…those were real?” Cream asks on the verge of tears.
“Those were Eggman creations; I don’t think we’ll be missing them.” Vanilla replies.
“But I-”
“I’m proud of you.” Vanilla embraces Cream. “You tried to be as responsible as you could.”
“But the cars…”
“It’s okay. You did your best. No one was in them, that is what was important.”
“I-”
“You saved the city all by yourself. Everyone is thankful. I’m glad you’re my daughter.”
Cream can’t take anymore. She starts to cry on her mother’s shoulder. The meaning of it all is overcoming her and she wasn’t ready for the news (she is just a kid after all). Cheese lands nearby and with her free hand Vanilla touches the Wishing Shard. The spell is reversed and the three are back to normal size.
“Cream!” Sonic yells. “Are you alright?” Chris, Tails and Knuckles aren’t far behind.
“You’re all okay!” Cream is happy to see them. “I didn’t know if I…”
“Well-” Knuckles begins but Vanilla shakes her head. “I’m relieved to see you’re alright.”
“I really saved the city?” Cream asks incredulously.
“Yep. Made me look bad!” Sonic laughs.
“You hear that Cheese? We saved the city!” Her companion is happy about it.
“All’s well that ends well!” Tails says. Everyone nods.
In Chuck’s lab he’s explaining everything.
“So that really was a piece of the Wishing Stone?” Chris asks.
“Yes.” Chuck replies. “Cheese found it and I guess him flying around with it gave us those crazy readings.”
“So Cheese made the wish?” Cream asks.
“I think since it happened to you both that you both wished for it.”
“So that glowing stone was the Wishing Shard?” Sonic says. “Where is it now? I still got a wish to make!”
“That must’ve been the disturbance I felt. It was so much like a Chaos Emerald…” Knuckles says ignoring Sonic. “I was confused a moment.”
Chuck nods. “As for where it is I don’t know.” They all look at Cheese who doesn’t have it. “By the time I checked the scanner it was gone.”
“Maybe it just grants a couple of wishes then disappears.” Tails suggests.
“You may be right. It defies explanation how it works.”
“Well it’s gone. I guess I won’t get a hundred chili dogs…” Sonic sounds disappointed but then his stomach growls. “Oh well, I think I need just one for now.” He dashes off.
“Do you think we’ll ever see the Wishing Shard again?” Chris asks.
“Who knows?”
At her home Rouge is examining the Wishing Shard.
“Hmm, how does this thing work? Seems valuable enough, what does it do?” She holds it up. “I wish I knew…” A realization comes over her and she smiles.
END