Chapter 1- Metarex Aftermath And Getting Use to A New Era

Despite it being a day in a time called a "Dark Dawn", it was a bright day at Cream's house. Bushes were spotted with roses. Flowers of all sorts were everywhere on the grass, gently swaying from the gentle wind. The sun was out and shining. Amy walked out and stretched with a long hum from the enjoyment of the fresh air gently feathering her skin. "You ready, Cream?" she called over.

"Yup!" Cream walked out blowing her long rabbit ears back as Cheese follows her.

"Chao chao!" He squeaked.

"So where are we going?" Cream asked.

"At HC Market in Mobotropolis. It's a big deal that she moved the store in the city, so it's probably gonna be crowded. Hm... Which makes me wonder if she struck a deal with Nicole..." Amy wondered. "Guessing she helped her moved."

"Maybe they're friends." Cream assumed. Cream looked down for a bit in thought then looked up as if a lightbulb popped from her head. "Hey, you think maybe Tails should come with us?!"

"Eh heh..." Amy laughed nervously. "Well, actually... Tails knew this girl too, you see."

Cream tilted her head in confusion. "What happened?"

"Well, see here... he and Honey was in a match tournament. She went a little rough on him while he was off guard in a way where he considered her a cheater. I would think he'd still have a grudge on her. So, it wouldn't be a good idea to have these two reunite but hey, that was pretty thoughtful of you!" Amy scratched her head. She remembered the times with Tails and Honey. In Amy's point of view, she'll admit that Honey didn't really know when to stop teasing Tails. Then again... it was Tails. The fox cub is the most adorable thing on the planet and irresistible to tease! Besides Cream, now that Amy looks at her.

"Umm... why are you looking at me like that?" Cream asked.

"Oh nothing." Amy replied.

"Wait... so how long ago was this?" Cream asked.

"About a year ago I think." Amy replied.

"Hmm..." Cream put her finger on her chin. "Yeah, I think Tails would have gotten over it by now, if that's the case."

Amy raised her eyebrow with a smirk. "You really can't get him off your mind right now, can't you?"

Cream then glared at Amy, blushing. "N-No! That's now what it's like!"

"Wait... don't tell me!" Amy's grin became more wide. Before Amy could make that assumption, Cream blushed like a cherry as she yelled out.

"Let's just go to HC!" Cream's shoulders raised as she looked down.

"Alrighty then..." Amy giggled. The two started walking down the hill from Cream's house, heading towards Mobotropolis. "But you SO have a crush on Tails."

"SHUSH!" Cream covered her mouth with her ears.

"Choo choo choo..." Cheese said a in a worried tone, glancing at Cream.

"Oh... yeah." Cream said he in reply.

"Huh?" Amy asked.

"We should probably be a little careful of our surroundings in town. Considering what's been happening around the news." Cream insisted.

"Oh yeah, you're right. Gee, I was so excited about meeting Honey, I forgot about the messed up crimes that have been going on. Oh boy..." Amy made a worried face when she had a thought. "Now I'm worried for Honey. What if somebody breaks in and robs her?"

"True," Cream replied. "I wonder if she knows what the outside world has gone through lately. Then again, I'm sure Nicole wouldn't let that happen."

"Eh... then again and again... she's one brutal butt kicker!" Amy assured. "Even if someone were to try, they better do more than just threaten her!" Cream's eyes widened. Amy noticed and broke a sweat. So far everything she just told Cream made her assume she's just one crazy cat who loves clothes.

As they were getting close to the city, the sky grew gray. It was clear that the holo lynx does her best to keep the streets clean but her citizens are no help at all. Mobotropolis was getting duller and dirtier. Careless people kicked cans all over the streets and vandalizing property. The sidewalks went from a pestle white to a metal gray, the walls were smeared, and there were a few whiffs of smoking too. It was becoming from a nice and beautiful city to Nicole's city in Robotropolis Filter. Amy saw all this, and began to feel bad for Nicole. It's been a very rough time for the economy and she's probably having more work than she can take. This was not the city she gave to these people. Cream stuck close to Amy. Feeling the cold breeze on her bare arms, she was looking around, paranoid of followers or worse, muggers. Then she looked up on a rooftop. She almost thought she saw a red robed figure standing up there. She rubbed her eyes to focus on the figure. It was gone.

"WOW," Amy said in shock and a bit of sadness. "The city is getting filthy..."

"... And a little spooky." Cream agreed. As they were walking by a dark alley, they can see a police tape fenced around it. They saw a bunch of MPD officers, detectives, and Nicole's mini drones over there, while a few camera flashes fired. Cream held Cheese for comfort as they were passing by the scene.

"Poor Nicole," Amy said sadly. "She would have never wanted her city to turn out like this."

"C-Can we walk a little faster?" Cream didn't like the sight where it's possible to see a dead body. Amy's eyes widened, remembering she's taking a younger girl with her. She grabbed Cream's hand and walked faster as she pleaded, while Cheese held her neck.

"Sorry, Cream!" Amy said in a straight face, taking her rabbit friend away from the scene as possible.

"N-No... it's okay" Cream said confidently. Cream knew she had seen worse. The cold and bloodshot eyes of her friend in the Typhoon. She remembered when the blue eyes that always light up in happiness became a shear cold glare of guilt and just immense anger. The ones that showed her what can change something as happy and innocent as her friend was.

Amy took a stop and looked around.

"I believe it's just around the corner behind the Detention Center." Amy theorized. They took a left and kept walking. As they kept walking, Cream took a listen at the gossip around the streets. She heard one mobian with a deep and rough voice talk.

"I met this drug lord around a shadowed corner. He carries these strange experiments. One of them is called Fear Dose. Nasty stuff. Makes you hallucinate real badly and drives you insane."

"Hallucinate?" A guy with a snarky voice spoke. "What does it make you see?"

"I hear it's like the same kind of experience as sleep paralysis. You see things that scars you for life. Some people saw black widows crawling up their body, getting jump scares by strange noises in their heads. There was this one guy he said he knew, that the man saw a doll just floating towards him. The guy was running like a real nut bag."

"How did the drug lord know that?" The snarky guy asked skeptically.

"'Because I've done this many times' he said. He calls himself Detective Sunshine."

"Detective Sunshine? Heh, yeah. Sounds like one of those new crazies..."

"Yeah. But hey. He's been paying real good money to his men. I hear he's always looking for new recruits."

"How much?"

"Rings are depending on hours... but once we start getting to banks... Ho Ho! Fun for everyone..."

"Huh..." The snarky thug looked pleased. "I'll look into it."

Cream's eyes widened as she was staring at the cement floor. She just heard a couple of likely to be criminals gathering to work for a crime boss. The rabbit girl stuck closer to Amy, trying to avoid a single chance of one of these men having a glance at her. Amy noticed Cream has been doing this for awhile now and smiles.

"Don't worry," Amy said laughingly. "I won't let anything hurt you."

"Amy...?" A soft voice ringed in behind them.

Cream looked over, while Amy looked behind her. It was a cat that wore a very intricate attire. Red hairband and elaborate white and laced cloth-like hair barrettes around her ponytails, along with a red dress with poofy shoulders, black straps on the cuffs, a black collar, a pair of white sharp like wings on the back, and white laces on the lower rim. Her dress also has black outlines around the waist and shoulders, and a black area on her front skirt with white fasteners. She also had white gloves with red backs and laced cuffs, black arm wrappers around her wrists and pointy black and red high-heeled boots. She smiled happily, holding her hands behind her back in excitement. Amy's face lit and she yelled

"HONEY!"

"AMY!" The cat yelled back. They then gave each other a big hug. "How long has it been?"

"I have no idea! You've disappeared for a bit!" Amy replied.

"Hello," Cream greeted a little nervously. The cat then looked over at Cream.

"Well hel- OH. MY. GOSH!" Honey exclaimed, clapping her hands on her cheeks. "Aren't you just the cutest little rabbit girl ever!" She ran over and hugged the rabbit. Squeezing her, VERY tightly. Making it hard for her to breath. Her eyes were big, trying not to squeal. Cheese was floating by hoping the cat doesn't catch him for
style="font-family: '.SFUIText-Italic'; font-style: italic; font-size: 19pt;"his cuteness. Cream was never so DEATH hugged by someone before.