Amy and Cream ran back to Shadow after riding the bumper cars for a while. When they reached him, Amy took the doll from Shadow and continued to hug the life out of it; Shadow was thoroughly repulsed at the sight.

The three of them went on almost every ride and visited almost every attraction Twinkle Park had to offer. They went on the Ferris wheel and the Tilt-o-Whirl, then to the Carousel and another ride called, "The Graviton Thriller," a ride that moved so fast that you were literally pushed back from the gravity. All the while, Shadow kept avoiding one specific ride, saving the best for last. Furthermore, he kept his eye on the time, hoping it would go fast; another part of his devilish scheme.

When they go off the last ride they were on, Shadow offered to buy them a slice of pizza and a soft drink. Amy and Cream agreed to his offer, and the three of them sat at a table and munched on their food.

Everything is going perfectly, thought Shadow, as he took a sip of his Mountain Dew. It's time to commence the removal of the nuisance that is Cream.

When they were finished, and after a quick trip to the restroom, they began to think of where they ought to go next.

"Where should we go now?" asked Amy, "We've been on almost every single ride here."

"Well, not exactly," said Shadow, as he scratched the back of his head, "There's still one ride we haven't gone on. I was kind of saving it for last."

Amy and Cream exchanged glances of perplexity, as Shadow continued to hesitate.

"What ride is that?" asked Cream, feeling kind of suspicious.

Shadow smiled a wicked grin, as he said, "It's, 'The Tunnel of Love.'"

Immediately, both Cream and Amy were on high alert. Amy was a bit embarrassed and Cream was shocked beyond all belief. Shadow didn't say anything else. He just stood there and stared at them, allowing them to absorb what he had said.

"I hope you don't mind," Shadow finally said, "But I was kind of hoping you'd go with me, Amy. I wanted to show you just how sorry I was for what I had said earlier and felt this was the only way to show you."

Amy stood there, speechless. She wanted to say something, but the butterflies in her stomach wouldn't allow the words to come out. She made incoherent stammering noises, but the response she was looking for wasn't among them.

"YOU CAN'T!" Cream blurted out. Her heart rate was skyrocketing and her fear was through the roof. She knew she couldn't let them go. She knew she had to stop them somehow.

"And why is that?" asked Shadow, "It's not your decision; it is Amy's, so butt out."

"It's not fair to me," said Cream, trying to remain calm, "We can't go on a ride that only two people can go on. That's not fair."

"I hate to admit it, Shadow, but she's right," said Amy, in her defense. Shadow didn't look worried in the slightest. He smiled and let out a chuckle.

"Well, we don't have to worry about that," said Shadow, as he smiled, "because it appears Ms. Cream has to leave."

Amy and Cream raised an eyebrow at him. Confused, Amy looked at her watch that she had on her wrists. Cream looked as well and grew wide eyed, as the numbers 9, 4, and 5 stared back at them.

"OH NO! I MISSED MY CURFEW!" Cream shouted in horror. Amy looked just as horrified as Cream was.

Gotcha, thought Shadow, as the grin on his face grew even wider.

"Oh Cream, I am so sorry! I should have kept an eye on the time for you! It's entirely my fault," said Amy, taking the blame for what had happened.

"It's no one's fault," added Shadow, with fake concern, "It happens. We were having so much fun that we lost track of time. I'm pretty sure your mother will understand."

"She's going to kill me!" Cream shouted, "You don't know what I had to do to convince her to make it 9:30! What am I going to do?"

I should only be so lucky, thought Shadow, as he rolled his eyes. Although his plan was working beautifully, he couldn't help but hear something erroneous about the way Cream sounded; sort of like she really wasn't all that concerned, but faking it, somehow.

"I guess you better get going," said Shadow, still faking concern, "Wouldn't want you to be later than you already are."

Cream looked up at Shadow in defeat. She knew that he had planned this all along, from the beginning. However, she knew that she couldn't do anything about it. She looked over at Amy, giving her a hopeful glance, a single tear drop streaming down her face. Amy saw this and couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She knew she had to help her somehow, but she didn't know how. Defeated, Cream hung her head and began walking towards the main entrance. Shadow watched her and couldn't help but smile.

Immediately, Amy blurted out, "Hey, Cream, how about I come with you!"

Shadow's smile faded in seconds. This was unexpected.

"What?" Cream asked. Her face lit up with hope.

"I'll come with you. Since it was my fault that you were late, I'll come with you and help explain things to your mom. I'm sure she'll understand."

Now, it was Shadow's turn to be defensive. "That's not really necessary, is it?" he asked, nervously, "I mean, she can explain the situation on her own, I'm sure."

"Sorry, Shadow," said Amy, as she began leaving, "But I have to make sure she's alright."

Unable to convince her to stay, Shadow crossed his arms and turned away, mumbling, "Fine, whatever."

"Oh, by the way Shadow," said Amy, as she walked back up to him. Out of nowhere, she gave him the tiniest peck on the cheek and said, "I forgive you for earlier. Thanks, again!"

Shadow stood there, frozen in shock and happiness. This was something that he hadn't expected. He began to feel something rushing over him, something he wasn't familiar with, but a rather good sensation. Soon, as he watched Amy and Cream run off, the sensation he liked so much dissolved into hatred, for he knew something was up, though he didn't know what.

As Amy and Cream ran towards the entrance, Cream thought she heard Shadow yell something. When she turned her head to see what he said, she was bewildered to see the vacant spot where Shadow once stood.

Amy and Cream ran out of Twinkle Park and headed towards the street. When they got there, Amy began plotting.

"Okay, if we head down Main Street, we should be able to catch the bus that heads towards your house. If we hurry, maybe we can get there before 10:15, a reasonable time to..." Amy said, pointing down the road.

"That won't be necessary," said Cream, as she began walking down the road. All of her worry was gone, as she casually walked down the street towards her place.

Amy was perplexed. "What do you mean 'that won't be necessary?'" asked Amy, "You missed your curfew and you're acting like it doesn't faze you in the slightest!"

Cream kept walking down the road, almost as if she was ignoring her. Amy caught up to Cream, just as she was in front of the alleyway, grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"What's going on, Cream?" asked Amy, "I demand to know what this is all about."

Cream looked at Amy and saw the fury in her eyes. She knew it was best to tell her the truth.

"Well, the thing is," she began, slightly scared, "I…I didn't really miss my curfew time."

Suspicion overcame Amy, as she let go of her arm. "What do you mean?"

"You see, I convinced my mom to make my curfew time 10:30 for tonight, not 9:30."

"So why did you say 9:30 instead of 10:30?" asked Amy.

Cream looked at her feet in shame and mumbled, "Well, I only said 9:30 because…well…I…I didn't want…um…"

"What?" asked Amy, as she put her hands on her hips, "What didn't you want?"

Cream let out a deep sigh and said, "I didn't want you and Shadow to be alone in Twinkle Park!"

Amy was taken aback. She was shocked that Cream lied to them, all because she didn't want her and Shadow to be alone.

"Why?" asked Amy, "Why didn't you want us to be alone?"

"Well…" said Cream, looking at her feet again. It only took that look to register what Cream was thinking.

"You thought I was going on a date with Shadow, didn't you?" asked Amy in accusation, "Cream, I told you before that this wasn't a date! Why didn't you believe me? I love Sonic, not Shadow. I admit he's a great guy, but I wouldn't replace Sonic for him! Why didn't you trust me?"

"It's not you I didn't trust," said Cream, "It's Shadow. I didn't want him to think that it was a date, so I asked to come along so he would know it wasn't. I lied about my curfew time so you could take me home and not be alone with Shadow. Amy, I'm sorry! I truly am! I was just trying to protect you! I didn't want you to get hurt!"
Amy sighed and smiled a weak smile. She knew Cream was just looking out for her, like a little sister would. She knew she meant no harm.

"Please forgive me," said Cream, as she hung her head in shame.

Amy smiled at her. "Of course I forgive you," she said, "Just promise me that you'll trust me next time. When I said it wasn't a date, I meant it."

They gave each other a hug and began giggling.

"Now, let's get going, before you really miss your curfew!" said Amy, as she and Cream began walking down the road.

As they walked down the road, hand-in-hand, a dark figure stepped out of the alleyway, fists clenched and teeth gritting.

"That no good liar!" shouted Shadow, as Omega stepped out from behind him, "She lied to me! She played me like a fool!" Shadow had used Chaos Control to teleport from the inside of the park to the alley, where he had ordered Omega to wait for him. When he was there, he watched and waited for the two of them, listening to everything they had said from the moment they left.

"That little brat cheated!" said Shadow, "She will pay for her deceit, and then some! I'll show her never to mess with the Ultimate Life Form!"

As the two of them began walking the opposite direction, towards Shadow's house, Omega asked, "So, what are you going to do about this, now?"

"There's nothing I can do about it now," said Shadow, as his fists clenched even harder, "She may have won this round tonight, but come tomorrow, I'll make her see that when you play with fire, you're going to get burned! What goes around ALWAYS comes back around!"