A/N: Request for bearvalley3365! Enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic and Co., or Disneyland! Which is a pity, because considering what I'm about to pull here, I'll be lucky if I don't get sued. :P

"Here, fishy fishy fishy!" sang Rouge, dabbling her hand into the little stream. "Come to Rouge, little fishy!"

"When we go back home, I never want to eat another fish," grumbled Shadow from the bank.

"I'm not tired of them yet."

"I am. No more fish. I'm skipping dinner today and taking a nap. You catch yourself whatever you want."

"Well, if you don't mind missing a nice, plump trout," said Rouge.

"One more nice, plump trout, and I'll turn into an osprey," groaned Shadow, already shutting his eyes.

Shadow drifted off peacefully, while Rouge fished away. The pickings were pretty bad, however; she could only catch tiny fishies, not worth keeping. Exasperated, she thought back to those shiny lures Shadow had bought and returned along with the fishing pole. Maybe they had something shiny she could use as bait?

It was a risky venture. If Shadow was awake, he'd never have allowed for it. But, laughing in the face of possible disaster, Rouge fetched the motorcycle's key, dangled it in the water, and waited.

Amazingly, it worked. She soon obtained a sizeable trout, sleek and glistening, and with a very wide throat. Rouge noticed this fact particularly, because it swallowed their key.

Well, no matter. The trout could have the key, because she had the trout. Humming to herself, she set to work cleaning and gutting the fish, aiming to retrieve the key from its stomach.

Then things went rapidly downhill. There was a sudden shrill screech, and a red-tailed hawk swooped down and seized the fish right from under Rouge's nose. It was almost out of sight by the time she recovered from her surprise.

"Get back here!" she shouted, taking off in pursuit. The hawk was pretty fast, though, and a bit smaller and nimbler than Rouge. She chased the bird so furiously that she didn't even notice she had flown over a fence and entered a different area.

Eventually, though, the change became too obvious to miss. Rouge slid to a halt midair and blinked around in dismay. There were tall, colorful metal things everywhere . . . and fences, and buildings, and so many people on the ground . . . what in the world was it? The last time she checked, she hadn't left the planet while chasing that hawk.

Speaking of which, the hawk had disappeared during her moment of distraction. Rouge looked around desperately, then landed on the ground.

"Excuse me," she called to a passing lady and her kids. "Have you seen a hawk flying by here?"

The lady looked at Rouge and smiled.

"Goodness, I don't recognize you. Are you from a new movie?"

"Uh—"

"And my my, how old are you? You couldn't be older than eight, to fit into that costume. Aren't you a little young to be working here?"

Rouge saw the situation was getting shaky.

"No, no, I'm old enough," she said hastily, edging away. "It's an optical illusion."

"Really?" The woman looked after Rouge blankly as the bat whisked away to interrogate someone else.

"Excuse me!" she called to an elderly gentleman, who either ignored her or didn't hear her. "Hey, wait!" she called to a little kid, who squeaked in fright and scurried away. Hissing in exasperation, Rouge turned around to find someone else to ask—and found herself faced with an enormous mouse.

Rouge blinked at the rodent in silence for a moment. It stared back at her with unblinking eyes, a wide grin on its face. Suddenly the creature spoke.

"You want a photo, kiddo?" Its voice was strange and muffled, and its mouth didn't move.

"N-no," Rouge gulped, backing off. "No thanks . . . "

She took off again. Forget the key for now, she had to find her way back and tell Shadow about this. Insanity of this level called for backup! She took to the air and tried to get her bearings. From below, a security guard started to shout. Gulping, Rouge dove off in a random direction, nearly crashing into a tiny rocket ship fastened to a stick and rotating around a central pillar. Swerving, Rouge shot towards a comforting-looking stand of woods.

Luckily, that stand of woods was the right one. Within minutes she was back by the stream, waking Shadow.

"Didn't catch anything?" he yawned. "Say, what are you all worked up about?"

"I caught a fish all right," said Rouge. "But a hawk stole it. I was chasing the hawk, and I suddenly ran into this crazy dystopian city! There were these weird metal machines, and I have no clue what they were for, and people walking everywhere, and children were piloting little rockets! And there was a HUGE mouse! Twice as tall as me! It was all I could do to get out of there and back here."

"That's a lot of trouble just to get a fish back," said Shadow.

"Ah, heh heh, well . . . that's the problem. The fish had our motorcycle key inside it."

Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Oh, come on. A fish couldn't swallow a whole key!"

Rouge gave him a disbelieving look.

"Seriously? You believe me when I tell you about alien cities and giant mice, and you don't believe that a big fish could swallow a little key?"

"What, you expect me to believe everything?"

Rouge folded her arms and gave him a "get real" look.

"Okay, so I'm in denial," groaned Shadow. "Really, Rouge? You fed the key to a fish?"

"He took it! And the hawk took him!" protested Rouge. "Come on, you have to help me get it back."

"Ohhh, no. Not another wild goose chase. I'm going back to sleep."

"Oh no you're not!"

A while later, Shadow and Rouge were slipping over the fence bordering Disneyland. Rouge thought it would be better if they were cautious, so they slipped into a stand of bushes and quietly watched the crowds strolling by.

"See! The machines!" whispered Rouge. "Just like I told you!"

"And people standing in long lines to use them," murmured Shadow, his eyes narrowed in puzzlement.

"Do you suppose they're some kind of ritualistic torture devices?"

"The people don't seem to be in any pain," observed Shadow. "Look over there. They're being spun around at high speeds in strange teacup-shaped vehicles. I think this is a training ground of some sort!"

"What are they training for?" whispered Rouge, her eyes wide. Shadow only shook his head. He didn't know.

"There!" Rouge cried out under her breath. "The giant mouse! There's two of them now!"

"I see it," rasped Shadow. His breath sharpened slightly. "Rouge . . . they're Mobians."

"Wh . . . what?! Th-they can't be Mobians! They're enormous!"

"Look at them. They look more like animals than humans, just like us. Their muzzles and eyes are a lot like ours. Look at the male. He wears only gloves and shoes, like a Mobian male. The red pants must be some kind of laboratory-added feature."

"Laboratory?!"

"They're mutants." Shadow's voice was a grim whisper. "You're right, they are enormous. They move unnaturally, and they don't seem to blink or speak at all."

"Yes! When I saw that one up close, his face didn't ever move, and his voice was all creepy and weird!"

Shadow gritted his teeth.

"Rouge, there's something horrific going on here. They're mutating Mobians and training humans for some twisted purpose. Dr. Eggman's schemes are dandelion fluff compared to this! Under no condition—under no condition!—can we afford to be caught by these people."

"What are we going to do?"

"We're going to find that hawk, and that fish, and that key," gritted Shadow. "We can't let them retrieve the key and gain access to our vehicle—they might use it for their own purposes. And then we're going to warn the nearest authorities of this monstrosity!"

"But how do we find the key without being seen?"

"It's a hawk, Rouge. It'll stay away from people. We just have to search the wooded areas, and nobody will find us there."

"What if the hawk was working for them?"

"Then we're doomed," said Shadow grimly.

They began to slink through the shrubbery and trees, dodging and sneaking their way through the outskirts of the park. By some miracle, they found the hawk's nest. The hawk was still stuffing pieces of Rouge's trout into the gaping mouths of its hungry offspring.

"Just a minute, ma'am," whispered Rouge, flapping up to the nest. "You have our key!"

The hawk eyed Rouge grimly and seemed to consider attacking, but Rouge had already snatched the key from the remains of the fish.

"Thank goodness she didn't feed it to any of the little ones!" she gasped, diving back to the ground. "Now let's get out of here."

As the two of them attempted to slink out of the park, they heard footsteps approaching. They dove low into the bushes and waited silently for the disturbance to pass.

It was the giant mouse. He was still walking stiffly, his hands swinging at his sides in a fashion almost natural, but somehow strange—constrained, or mummy-like. One would think he was wearing a costume instead of walking about in his own skin.

"Off-duty, thank gosh," his strange, muffled voice drifted back. "This is getting to be too much . . . I have had it."

Raising his hands to his ears, he began to tug and twist strangely at his head.

"Oh—good—gosh—" choked Rouge.

Shadow wasted no time on horror. He shot from the hedges and wrenched the mouse's arms down, driving the oversized rodent into the ground.

"Are you out of your mind?!" he hissed, shaking the mouse furiously. "You can't just do that!"

"What the hey?!" roared the mouse in shock. "What are you?! Get off me!"

"We're here to help you!" cried Rouge, scrambling out of the bushes as well. "We'll help you escape!"

"Escape what?!"

"Come with us! We'll warn the authorities!"

"Warn them about what?!"

"Don't make so much noise!" barked Shadow. "You want us to get caught?"

"Heck yes!" bellowed the mouse, struggling to get away. When Shadow grabbed his arm, the mouse began to holler for help at the top of his lungs.

"Shut up, shut up! We're trying to help you!" growled Shadow.

The mouse continued to bellow. Desperate, Shadow struck him firmly in the collarbone, knocking him out.

"It's worse than we thought," he snarled, panting. "They brainwash their victims."

Rouge helped him drag the unconscious mouse into the bushes.

"He's not mentally stable," growled Shadow. "We can't leave him alone here."

"I'll go get the cops," said Rouge firmly.

"You can't drive!"

"I'll manage. I swear."

Nodding grimly, Shadow tossed Rouge the key and watched her skid back towards the park fence. He would have to keep this deranged mouse subdued and hidden until she came back with reinforcements . . . judging by the size of the place, a lot of reinforcements.

An hour and a half later, Rouge returned. She had a strange look on her face.

"Are they coming?" asked Shadow grimly, looking up from guarding the still-unconscious mouse.

"No, no," said Rouge. "I talked to some cops, and they explained about a couple of things, and I figured they didn't have to come."

"Didn't have to?!" Shadow got to his feet. "Are you insane? We can't take down this entire compound ourselves."

"We don't have to," said Rouge uneasily. "It turns out everything is okay!"

Shadow regarded her blankly.

"Everything is okay?"

"It's been a misunderstanding, that's all," urged Rouge. "We should wake this guy up and let him go, and just—just leave here. Quietly. It's fine, trust me!"

Shadow took a step back.

"Rouge," he rasped, his eyes darkening. "What did they do to you?"

"No, they didn't do anything! I swear. Shadow, please let's just go! Nothing's wrong, trust me!"

"Trust you?!" Shadow took Rouge by the shoulders and shook her lightly. "You've been brainwashed! Snap out of it!"

"I'm not brainwashed!" Rouge pushed him off.

"Then why did you suddenly come back here with a total change in attitude? Why won't you tell me what happened?"

Rouge groaned.

"Because you're really, really, really not going to like it."

"You bet I don't like it," growled Shadow.

"No, I mean, you're going to be furious if I tell you," said Rouge.

"I'm pretty furious as it is!"

Rouge groaned again and sat down.

"Fine. I'll tell you. Just don't kill me, okay?"

A while later, Shadow and Rouge were returning to the motorcycle, having convinced the guy in the Mickey costume not to tell anyone about the incident. Shadow's ears were back in a combination of annoyance and mortification.

"Answer me this, Rouge," he said at length. "How is it that we manage to get into this kind of nonsense everywhere we go? I mean everywhere?"

"Could be your dark mind," said Rouge drily.

"As in?" Shadow snapped.

"As in, you see what's supposedly 'the Happiest Place on Earth,' where people go to have fun, and you immediately assume it's an evil lab facility where they brutally mutate Mobians."

"Don't pin this on me. You thought so too."

"Only after you came up with the idea! I'll admit I was a little freaked out, but I didn't immediately assume it was Doom Central!" Rouge shook her head and laughed suddenly. "You know, it's actually kind of funny, in a sad sort of way."

"A very sad way," growled Shadow. Rouge chuckled.

"You know, I'm glad we went in there. It wasn't so bad—kinda interesting, really. If I ever get a chance, I might take Maria and the other girls to have a jaunt around the place."

"Don't see why."

"Heck, why not? Always fun to tour Doom Central. Maybe we could get a group rate on a mutation!"

Shadow glanced balefully over his shoulder.

"I'm going to be hearing about this for a while, aren't I?"

"You bet you are!"

"Great."

A/N: By the way, Rouge doesn't make idle threats. There's a SonicSong182 video on YouTube called "Blaze Goes to Disneyland," where the Sonic girls really do go for a tour of the theme park! And fight Eggman, of course. Cute movie! Check it out if you're after some more theme park action. :)