I do not own anything but the plot and OCs. Everything else belongs to Sega, Archie, SATam, and all those who created them

I was originally going to dedicate a chapter to Mina the Mongoose, and had already had the idea finished, until I realized that I had not liked my work and have decided to dedicate a chapter to Cream the Rabbit's mother, Vanilla, instead.

The flashback of Vanilla's husband dying will seem very heartwrenching, but that's the only part that will be, everything else will be lighthearted.

Also, this is one of the few works of her out there that doesn't have her screwing half of the damn world, so please, try to enjoy. Long chapter.

Chapter 18: Secrets As Sweet As Ice Cream

Vanilla broaded her pimped out appearance in the mirror. Her deep maroon evening gown glittered down to her feet, her dainty, aging shoulders hung loosely like she was a youth going to a party. Her hair was kept down, and her makeup was done by her daughter, Cream, who was now 12 years old. Her shoes made her taller than she appeared, and she sighed heavily as Cream laced the diamond necklace around her neck.

She was an exotic, exquisite taste to the eye, but why would she bemoan a look of sheer elegance? Because she had a date with Vector, that's why.

Vector was a creepy young man who adored women older than he, and Vanilla certainly wasn't lacking in age. She was 10 years older than Vector when Cream was born, and the crocodile's insatiable lust after her only made her uncomfortable. His chameleon companion was only after her money. Both had swindled her into going on the date with the crocodile.

She turned and looked at Cream, cupping her face in her two hands and sweeping her hair backwards. "Oh Cream," the mother rabbit said. "I loathe tonight, but I want you to take a stack of money in the safe and spend it on you today. I may not like tonight, but I want you too."

Cream nodded and asked, "When will Vector get here?" Vanilla sighed and replied, "In two h-" Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong! Ding Dong! The bell went off like it was rigged to explode, and to a degree, Vanilla wished it would. At least it would get Vector gone from the presence of her house.

"Damn!" the gentle rabbit cursed. She peered out her bedroom window, and by damn, that crocodile was 2 hours early! "He's here!" Cream said in alarm. Even she was creeped out by Vector, once she became old enough to understand what stalking was.

Yes, what do you call breaking your neck to be near a woman who's clearly not interested in you 24/7? What do you call calling her at the most obscene of times without regard that maybe that person has a life? What do you call bothering your daughter and letting her play with some weird kid who has the mannerisms of those he lives with? Stalking.

The only relief from his stalking was that she knew he wasn't some psycho with a shrine dedicatted to her like Amy did to Sonic. No, he was a lovesick man who loved anybody that could be old enough to be his mother, and she was going to become his date that night.

She trudged herself down the steps, as if she was marching towards her execution instead of a date night. She was sure as hell that Vector was a nice man, she just hoped that he knew that somewhere on Mobius, there was another 26 year old just like him, and they could be together and leave her and her daughter the hell alone.

She opened up the door to see Vector in what has to be the most expensive attire he could find, with his gilded watch, and his fancy gloves. His tuxedo screamed, "I didn't pay my electric bill to buy this!" His shoes were without a scratch, and usually, his sneakers were beat up and way too big for his feet.

Vanilla didn't know whether to whip him or slam the door in his face. He looked handsome. The kind of handsome that he should reserve for a lady in his age bracket, not hers.

Reluctantly, she took his hand and looked back at Cream, who had the grimmest face no mother would ever want to see. "Good luck, Mother." the young rabbit said remorsefully. Vanilla shared Cream's look, and away she was pulled into a limosine, that, once again, screamed, "I skipped out on a few bills to be with you!"

Now the date had a price tag on it, like an old memory. This is one price she'd hate to pay back, but the interest was stacking up already, and hard.

Vanilla's stomach sat on edge the whole time she was in the car with Vector. Her stomach lurched quesily at every touch from Vector; and that was a lot of touching too. When they had finally reached ther destination, Vector had already moved to kissing her neck. The sensation gave her familiarity, but not in a good way. Vector reminded her of someone; someone she knew long ago.

The limo chauffer opened up the door and addressed them, "Would m'lord and his lady step forth out of their carriage." This creeped her out even more than usual. Vector stepped over her and out of the car first, then she, with the chauffer stopping her and whispering in her ear, "Would m'lady gladly accept my offer for calling her a cab and the police. I can see he is making you very uncomfortable."

He wouldn't be wrong.

But still, she declined. That was probably her worst mistake yet, as she would soon find out.

The date moved quickly to a reserved table in the darkest corner of the room. The kind of dark corner someone shady would sit in if they were trying to make a deal with the Devil and not be noticed. Alone on the table sat a lone plate of spaghetti, that could only mean that Vector was ready for a kiss, and maybe more.

The last time she had a date like this, she got pregnant. Then again, her boyfriend didn't make her feel like she was being set up to be ax-murdered all of a sudden and was actually someone she liked, not some creep who had an obsession for older women.

Vector slung his arm around her waist and steer her towards the pasta dinner. He sat her down like a gentleman would and took his place across from her. He tapped his happy fingers enthusiastically on the table and said, "So Vanilla, have you liked the date so far?"

Vanilla sweated. She didn't know whether to be brutally honest and shatter his heart, or lie and be trapped with him a moment longer. She allowed her mothering instincts to kick in and lied, "Well Vector, this dinner is nice and all, but perhaps we could go to the movies?"

Vector stared at her for a long time and she was ready to head for the bathroom and dissappear through the window, like she would at the theatre, where everything's dark, quiet, and everyone's distracted. But then Vector smiled and said, "Of course, my love. We shall go after dinner."

Vanilla thought she'd die on the spot, and so the dinner progressed, with cheap, dollar store wine and awkward questions, from none other than Vector:

"Do you like marriage?"

"Do you think we're a cute couple?"

"I was thinking of adopting Charmy, does that sound nice?"

"Do you think I'm cheap?"

"Are my manners bugging you?"

"Eggshell or Ecrue?"

"What kind of flowers will we pick for our wedding?"

"Do you wanna be a momma again?"

By this point, Vanilla was ready to walk out on him, but then again, he'd probably read that as she wants him to take her on the couch of his nasty apartment. She stayed silent, then Vector moved closer to her, stroked her hand, and popped the question.

"Do you think your wore out body could teach me a few things?"

If she wasn't ready to bust the glass bottle of wine over his head before, she was now, and then the memories came back to her.

Vector's Uncle Tarnish was who he reminded her of. Year ago, Vector's slimy uncle vied for her affection and loved to jump the gun in relationships too soon... and make remarks like that...

He may have fought for the side of good, but his intentions with her were more than villainous, as she could remember the heat of his breath hissing, "C'mon baby, I know you want me. You wouldn't be with them if you didn't." It made her spine shiver thinking of all those forced kisses, and she wasn't going to go through with it twice.

So she ended the date right then and there, prepared to walk home, until she saw Charmy walk through the doors, and a very unhappy kangaroo flounced in there, huffing. His voice commanded attention as he boomed, "Who's the son of a bitch that owns this kid?"

His accent was Australian, his silver eyes were familiar. Even the gun was familiar. He cleared his throat and roared again into the dead silence, "Bloody hell! Tell me who owns this brat?"

"I do." Vector stood up, slamming his hands on the table, ready for a brawl. The kangaroo hustled his way to him, dragging the bee by his wings and slamming him in front of the crocodile. "What did he do?" Vector commanded.

"Your little bastard thought he could point a BB gun at me and shoot me." the angry kangaroo threw a BB gun, it's shells, and a silencer at the crocodile's feet. Vector looked up at him and a silent conversation passed between them.

"I'm a tired old man," the kangaroo said at last. "Tame your brat, or I will for you." "Oh, don't worry, I will." Vector said to the kangaroo as he turned and walked out. The kangaroo said nothing in return. Then Vector turned on Charmy, striking the boy with his fist.

"Little bitch! I'll have your throat for this!" Then the daylight cleared on Vanilla as she watched the kangaroo storm through the doors, as she could really care less about the Chaotix at this point. She saw a knife on the table, picked it up, and slammed it into Vector's shoulder and chased after the kangaroo.

She followed him out into the parking lot, calling, "Jack! Jack!" the kangaroo turned around, his periphial vision piercing her before he lurched his body around and settled his eyes on her. "Vanilla?" he asked, his voice still stern.

So he did remember her. Jack remembered her. Now who was Jack? He was that trigger happy Australian Kangaroo everybody called Jack because he reminded them of both the movie character and how intricate his name was. Not even she remembered his name, but he did, like he knew her now. She wondered if her old comrads were anywhere around.

She knew also Jack's kids well. The three of them fell down the same path he did, with Nack outstandingly besting him in the "Who's the Worse Villain Ever" contest, and all three of them coming in hostile contact with Cream's friends, as they spoke about them a lot.

The more relatable child, as she's heard from Sonic multiple times, was Fiona. She was more like him as he may have been older than all of them in the group, but Jack had seen and had some terrible things done to him.

But according to everybody else, Nic, might be her name, was the sibling you wanted to talk to if you wanted a job done right. Just like Jack made sure of. Of course none of them were really his children, as he took a vow to never marry. A lot of the people she ran with did. In fact, only she and and another person of the gang she ran with did marry. He just never had kids.

Which leads to her sick confession. She was a villain in her youth. She ran aongside several people, who she wondered about every night, regardless of what day it was, but not tonight, she had a lovesick crocodile who wanted her to marry him bad, and a man from her past to deal with.

"Yes," she replied. "It's me, Vanilla Hlari." The kangaroo's silver eyes pierced at her, making her feel like she was at a high noon showdown with an outlaw in the Old West. His eyes always had a feel of that. "You're divorced?" he asked. "No, widowed." "What," Jack's eyes lit up in disbelief. "How?" It was a long story. A hard story. It sickened her to tell it, but she found herself telling the tale of her husband, Rean the Rabbit.

Flashback

She had just got through putting an eleventh month old Cream back in her crib for a nap when she went down to spend some alone time with her husband.

The world was at peace, her flowers she and her husband had planted together were blooming like they had been touched by a divine hand, and dinner was growing in the gardens, just waiting until the last of summer to peak their true beauty to the family of rabbits- the Carnathans.

She and her husband spent private time together, and layed there pressed against each other's nude bodies in bliss.

That is, until violent knocking was threatening to bust the door down. Vanilla shoved on her dress, which was a veil white, nightgown-esque appreal, and her husband jerked on his shorts. He grabbed a baseball bat and demanded to know the person's name.

No answer.

Rean demanded again.

No answer.

Then he threatened.

No answer.

Thinking it was a prank from the local hooligan boys, he unlocked the door, the bat clutched tightly in his hands, raised like a sword, and he opened it. Bam!

Not a single word was exchanged. Just a gunshot and it was all over. Her husband's blood was resting on their Victorian, violet-pink couch, and he, with a bullet hole piercing the side of his nose, was on the red carpet, bleeding, staining it a deep crimson.

Then the man barged his way in, his rifle waving violently through the air, his thundering voice booming, "I'll finish you! I'll finish you all!"

Vanilla's eyes widened as she recognized who it was- Tarnish the Crocodile- Vector the Crocodile's uncle!

"You!" Vanilla recalled herself saying before she dashed upstairs to check on Cream, who was screaming by now.

She rabbit-jumped over the couch, her body flying, her ears flapping her up the stairs, until she felt a tug on her dress, then a yank. Her whole body slammed on the stairwell, her leg breaking, her crying out. She didn't beg, but she cried. She knew that she had failed as a mother because now Cream was going to die.

The crocodile ripped her up by the hair on her head and forcibly marched her up the steps to Cream's room with a gun held tightly to the back of her throat. She tried to fight back, but Tarnish had grown smarter since the last time they met. He stood back far enough to have a good spot to instantly kill her, and to not get attacked either.

But she didn't know why Tarnish was doing this. It had been years since they had last saw each other. Why didn't her kill her then and get it over with? Why now?

Tarnish threw her into the door to Cream's room hard enough to crack it before he karate kicked it in, revealing a squaling Cream standing up in her crib. Vanilla kicked Tarnish in his vitals, but he looked at her with a face of hardened steel.

"Please," Vanilla begged, the tears sprinting down her face like Olympic athletes as she was yanked up by her hair once more and forced to look at her daughter. "She needs me. My Cream needs me. She has nobody else now."

And something about that allowed a miracle into her life. Tarnish threw her into the crib, knocking it, her, and Cream over. She hoisted Cream into her arms with sonic speed and snuggled Cream deep within the warmth of her body.

She looked up at Tarnish, knowing what was going to happen next, but the olive bronze crocodile only looked at her and spit, "If your daughter turns out to be a bitch like you, I will be back, and I will kill both you and your little bitch."

He spit in the floor and was gone.

She waited there for an hour before she called the police, to make sure he was gone, and there was enough evidence to incriminate him too, and then the police rushed there.

She felt relief that she would finally see justice served for her husband, that was until they arrested her. They told her that because she was a criminal she didn't have rights, and that they were going to renew her expired warrant and have her imprisoned. They even joked about having her daughter locked up with her in solitary confinement.

They also said that Tarnish was the best man ever for killing her husband and how they wished that he would've done the same to her and her little brat.

She was then brought before the newly crowned King Max, who had her thrown in the dungeon, and her daughter mailed to another country where she'd never be found.

To insult the wound too, they gave Tarnish a Medal of Honor and named a day after him. She would be forced to partake in the ceremony and deliver a speech about how much of an honor it was that he killed her husnabd and how grateful she is that some couple from another country has her daughter and that she's alive.

She would not stand for it, and remembered her dress. She hung herself and nearly succeeded in dying, that was, until she woke up in Docile's mansion in Ukraine. He, being the son of the ambassador, had many soldiers guarding her to make sure she was safe while he pulled strings and got Cream back.

It took him about a month to find her, and when he did, she was already speaking her first words, which were, according to Docile, Yoruban, and was already walking. At least the family in Yoruba was nice to her.

She could never thank Docile enough for what he did for her.

End Flashback

Jack looked ready to explode.

"Why did that bastard get away with what he did? He almost killed you, and then I would've had to make a man dissappear!"

"Easy Jack," Vanilla comforted, feeling Jack's transformation come on (as everybody knew that he was the elusive bunyip of Australia). "It's over now, and I'm positive that you're not the only one feeling that way. If it makes you feel any better, King Max was revealed as the fake he is and was dethroned."

"But our warrants had expired," Jack sputtered. "We were free men and women." "But we aren't Society's Favorites, now are we?" Vanilla asked the tall kangaroo. "Ugh, no." he sighed defeatedly.

The two stayed silent, until Jack remembered something very important. "I was told to give you this," Jack said, slipping her a letter. "I apologize I didn't give you this sooner, but I ran into issues with that kid before I could, and you know how I hate to have a raised voice to the ladies."

"I know," Vanilla giggled. "What does it say?"

"Unimportant shit." he answered.

Vanilla looked at the parchment. It was a handwritten note from Shank Sneak, the father of Espio the Chameleon. He was inviting everyone for a reunion, and he remembered her name well enough to write her this personally, but why?

And besides, she never recalled a Shank Sneak at any point in her life, and as far as Espio goes, the best description she got of his father from him was, "He's a dumb bitch." Like that told her anything.

But why? Why? Why would he get involved with her? And how many and who was going to be at the reunion?

"Do you know about this?" Vanilla asked the kangaroo. "No, and I don't care. I doubt the others do either." replied Jack. "But wait Jack, I want to see what it is. We don't know much about this Shank Sneak now do we?" "No. But what does that-"

"Jack, I have a bad feeling about this, and I don't want to be alone when I get there."

"Then don't go. What if it's a trap?"

"Then it will be the same trap that Docile, Rain, and Premonition are falling into. I owe Docile my life for what he did for me, and I can't forget about Premonition and Rain. Why should you?"

"They forgot about us."

"They didn't. They just wanted to put all of the past behind them and go on with their lives."

"But remember who will also be there if we're there."

"And half of them are dead. Please Jack, I know that we made damn well sure that life was swept behind us good, but please don't let me go alone at this. I just want to make sure, it's so odd about the time it would take one man we don't even know to put forth effort to find us. I need to make sure that our friends will be alright."

"If it will make you happy, then I'll be happy. I just need to know where it is."

"Good, but first, take me home and get me out of this shit."

"I thought you looked nice."

"Well, I don't feel nice with loverboy still around."

The two looked back at the restaurant to see about 9 men subduing Vector. "I see your point." Jack replied, and they hopped into his vehicle and went to Vanilla's house.

The next day...

Jack, Vanilla, and Cream had polished off a good meal when Cream said, "You never answered my question about who this is." Her eyes narrowed at Jack, and Vanilla got very uncomfortable, but Jack took the lead and smoothly delivered with a genuine smile, "I'm your mother's friend."

Cream rolled her eyes and snidely remarked, "As long as you two don't do it in my room, I'm okay." Immediately, Vanilla whipped her daughter by her arms to face her and said in her mother tone, "You don't ever talk to guests like that! You hear?"

"Yes ma'am." Cream said monotonely. "Now clean up breakfast and go to your room." Vanilla commanded. "I can't wait till I'm old enough to move out, then you'll see! I'll be nothing like you!" Then Cream burst upstairs stomping angrily.

"I'm sorry about my daughter-" "She's 12, I've dealt with three like that. That phase will pass, but make sure she still knows who's boss before she hits the Magic Hormone Years." Jack interrupted.

Vanilla stood astonished at his calmness his morning. Just yesterday he was ready to take out his anger in violent ways, but not this morning, and then he popped an important question on her, "Why do you hide me from your daughter?"

That was an...interesting question. Why did she? She stayed silent, her embarrassment encompassing her. "I understand," Jack answered for her. "I'm not a nice man. None of us were nice people. I know why you'd hide her from me." Another moment of awkward silence passed between them.

"So, what time does the card say?" Jack asked Vanilla. "It said to be ready by tonight." the rabbit answered. Jack looked like he was about to choke. Vanilla doubted he read the letter long enough to pack decent bags for the trip over here, which only sparked her question, "Hey Jack," the kangaroo turned to her. "Why did you come to America in the first place?"

Jack paled. "I needed to see my son. He took a siezure and hit his head on the corner of a sidewalk. He's in the hospital with a coma."

Vanilla clasped her hands over her mouth in shock. "I hope he will be alright." It was the most tedious thing to say, but she didn't know how else to respond. No wonder Jack was so hostile yesterday. He had just gotten back from Australia to see his son lying in a coma on a completely different hemisphere. She knew that she would too if Cream was in that same predicament.

"I think we can kill two birds with one stone," Vanilla threw out there, making Jack rise an eyebrow.

"I'll take you to see Nack, and you can stay as long as you like, and I'll fit you with some nice clothes." Jack stared at her for a moment before just simply nodding his head.

"Go get cleaned up," Jack told the rabbit. "I'll handle cleaning up after breakfast." Vanilla looked at him, a silent conversation passing between their eyes, and Vanilla headed upstairs to shower and get dressed.

When she had done that, she searched for Jack some clothing he could wear-something of Rean's.

Digging through the haunted part of her closet brought back ghastly memories. It had been a while since she had last looked at Rean's clothes, and she could all ready see that the dust and moths had claimed most of his garments, and she almost broke down crying. Almost.

She could hear Rean now saying, "Now baby, don't cry. It's gonna be alright, you're alright." Of course those were the same words he'd say to Cream when she's cry when she was a baby, and the same words that would comfort her now. Then she bucked herself up and looked for something Jack could wear.

He could've wore Rean's old clothes-if he wasn't a foot taller than the man and twice his size, and eventually, she gave up and told Jack the news, only the shower was on with the door opened. She was inclined to look, but didn't. Instead, she slammed the door as loud and as hard as she could and hurried down the steps, Cream right behind her, wondering what was wrong.

Vanilla felt ashamed of herself for even allowing the thoughts that entered in her mind to slip into it in the first place, and then here come's Jack, in all his wet, naked glory, a sight to behold if he didn't have a double-barreled shotgun cocked in his hands and a face that could kill an army by the mere look of his eyes. If Vanilla wasn't blushing before, she was now.

She wasn't blushing because he was hot, or out of embarrassment, it was both, as the last time this happened was many years ago, and it was Rain instead who was naked, only he had just finished up a night with his future wife, and Uncle Chuck, his sister, Aleena, and their team in all their magnificent, heroic glory decided that ambushing them would be the best thing ever.

So there she was, at 13, watching some 17 year old, naked man sling shurikens and try to slice the hell out of his adversaries with his katana, and his girlfriend at the time, Cloud the Lynx, wasn't too far behind him, naked too.

Once more, Docile took care of her, as she was too appalled to moved. Vanilla looked up at Jack and demanded, "What the hell? You're naked! My daughter just saw you! What in the-"

"I'm trying to avoid what happened to Rean." Jack answered angrily.

"That was over 11 years ago-"

"And he never got a fighting chance. That hasn't happened to Jack before, and it ain't happenin' to Jack now, nor Vanilla and her daughter." Vanilla hated it when he done that.

And for the record, that did happen to Jack, many times. Especially when the team had first started out... It just didn't end the way Rean's experience did...

Vanilla looked him in the eyes and said, "By the Goddess, don't just stand there naked, go put on some-"

Ding Dong!

Vanilla didn't need psychic powers to know who that was.

"Cream," Vanilla commanded sternly. "Go upstairs! Now!"

"But-" the young rabbit protested.

"Now!" Vanilla almost boomed. When Cream had dissappeared up the steps, she threw off all her clothes, told Jack to get beside her, opened the door, and held her body close to Jack like mating lovers would. Then much to her dismay, it turned out to be Sonic and his friend, Jet, standing there with wide eyes and their mouths agape.

"He-we-" Jet sputtered out.

"I'm sorry Vanilla. I didn't realize you had a man over." Sonic apologized. Vanilla and Jack raised an eyebrow.

"What do you want?" Vanilla asked.

"We wanted to check out if Bark's seer of a sister was right about some kangaroo named Hramrelsin Lwak Ardu Lange Ritsky the Kangaroo being here." Sonic answered.

"She did warn us to avert our eyes though." Jet mumbled in the background.

Vanilla looked up at Jack, who looked on at the boys like the darkest secret had ever been spilled in the history of the world. "The seeress." was all that he mumbled. "Well, what do you want with Jack?" the rabbit asked. "He is needed to...go forth and question the motives of those who invite him..." Sonic said with uncertainty.

The reunion, Vanilla thought. Something is definitely going to go wrong then. I was right, we need to attend. "Okay, thank you, come back later." Vanilla said rapidly, closing the door as she said it.

"They look so much like Charles and Diamond it's damning!" Jack splashed out immediately. "Well, Diamond is Jet's father and Charles is Sonic's uncle, so they do have a right to look like them," Vanilla answered. "And besides, it's not like they could help it." "And those two will be the same two people over at Shank's Reunion Party." Jack returned through gritted teeth.

"Well, we have bigger problems to worry about now," Vanilla warned. "You heard the blue boy, there are motives to be questioned, so Docile needs us!"

"I wouldn't doubt it now," Jack's voice deepened into that demonic tone. "Where is this reunion?" "Rainbow Valley." was all that Vanilla answered.

Reunion Night

A dark purple chameleon with apple gold eyes looked at them all with a smile. Vanilla and Jack stood close to each other, adorned in business casual outfits, a longshot from everyone else's evening gowns and tuxedos. If they didn't want to stick out now, they sure looked like the sorest thumbs around.

They looked beside the chameleon, a dark red chameleon with light brown eyes standing in a deep amythyst purple gown had her arm looped around her husband's, her long eyelashes beckoning them all like a forbidden temptation. Their only son, Espio, stood there like he was a crowned statue.

Vanilla looked around and as far as they could see, familiar faces were all around them, but not as many. And Vanilla's eyes met hard with Rhodedendron, the mother of Predator Hawk.

She was as blue as her son, but her eyes were a deep turquiose, like looking into a pair of jewels, but she had a look about her that there were more to those eyes than what seems. Almost like she was trying to determine the best way to cook you up for dinner. Her white dress was a stark contrast to the vibe she let off, and even worse, she was one of the good guys.

She, Charles, Diamond, Flowers, that polar bear guy's name nobody could ever remember, Aleena, Rosemary, and Tarnish fought for the good guys, and in fact, Vanilla felt very ashamed to be near her, but Rhodedendron wasn't very judgemental, just very aggressive.

Maybe motherhood mellowed her out, given the fact she had 15 children altogether. Maybe parenthood mellowed them all out.

Shank the Chameleon smiled at them all, and started playing 60s and 70s music. Then he pulled a microphone from his tuxedo pants and said, "Villains and Heroes, welcome to the...uh...However Long It's Been Since You Last Tried To Beat Each Other's Brains Out Reunion."

If that didn't send them all running for the hills, Vanilla and Jack didn't know what else would.

Jack slung his arm around her waist, as if to throw off suspicion that he was worried for her. His neck craned to get a good look as to who she was looking at, and he didn't like what he saw. Rhodedendron the Hawk!

He and Rhodedendron never got along because well, as demons, things got a little complicated, and every fight they ever had ended in gore. They were demon's after all.

He had to resist the urge to sneer at her, but she didn't hesitate to cross her arms sternly and let her eyes glow an eerie red for just a second. Jack wanted to return the look, but by damn, was he ever tall! He'd do that and everybody would know then. Instead, he creased his eyes at her and turned around to face Shank.

Both of the ex-villains eyes darted from all angles, capturing the view of the people around them.

Shadow, he's a good guy, Rhodedendron, Vanilla'd have to see, Chuck was on the other side of the throng, King Armado sat near the steps of Espio's house, and Rain and Docile were hanging towards the back of the crowd as if trying to not be seen.

Vanilla whipped away, pushing her way past the crowd and immediately tossing herself into the shocked arms of Docile Hawanya the Frog. Vanilla snuggled into his arms as Docile made a few grunts, realized who she was, and wrapped his arms around her, albeit, red with embarassment as the group looked at the orange rabbit and the light green frog.

His aquamarine eyes peered into her brown ones as he held her like you would a newborn. "Vanilla?" he said questiongly. "Docile!" was what Vanilla wanted shout, but her words were outcrowded by the microphone screeching in Shank's hands before he delivered, "Okay. Everyone in, and we'll listen to some Oldies Tunes."

The crowd did not move but maybe at the pace of a limp tortoise. They were all very careful, and Docile, Vanilla, Rain, and Jack did not blame them. They stood there mouth agape.

"I think we should wait awhile and stand here, talking." Jack suggested.

"No," Rain rebuked. "It would draw too much suspicion. Besides, Docile and I have a reputation to uphold."

Rain and Docile knew a lengthy amount of English, but they didn't let anyone know that. They let them all think that they were stupid in the ways of the Englishman's tongue. It was how they kept safe for all those years, especially given their high dispositions with Rain being the younger brother of one of the biggest crime bosses in Japan, and that of Docile being the younger brother of the new Ambassador of Ukraine.

Docile was a representation of the country, so he was expected to know a few English phrases, but not many. Rain, on the other hand, would often be expected to be snuggled deeply within some unknown place in Japan, disposing of bodies of those who made his day hell.

But it doesn't explain who these two are exactly. Docile was a Ukranian man born in Kiev with 4 nephews and a niece of his older brother's making, his eldest being the maniacle, crazed serial killer, "Flying Frog."

He, Rain, Jack, Vanilla, and a few others ran in a tight-knit gang until they disbanded and he presumed on with his life, trying to hide the horrors of his past, and because he became a stand-in dad for his nephews and niece.

His brother, the newest ambassador of Ukraine, had the worst views on childcare ever. He could recall asking him when he'd take care of his children, and the answer he got: "Maybe someday."And Flying became his father's bitch.

He destroyed Flying's body every way he could-crossing every line he could get away with. Jalea, Flying's mother, was either too inexperienced with the subject to understand, or was in so much denial she was choking on it, so she was no help, and when he tried to make a move to help all of her children, she tossed as many as she could in other countries so he couldn't have them.

He confronted both his brother and Jalea about it, and the only answer from the Spanish frog, Jalea, was a literal lugie to the eye. His brother basically told him that if his eldest son was going to make his life miserable, he was going to repay the favor.

Funny thing is, he knew that his brother was around here somewhere, and he was on watch for him, but he couldn't do that with Vanilla nested deeply into his arms like a daughter to her father.

Rain was a hetrochromatic lynx and a retired Raiju Ninja Grunt. Everyone in his family, save for his brother's wife, Ocean, and his niece and nephew, Lightning "Lynx" Byers, and River Byers was either blessed, or cursed, depending on who you spoke to, with the gentic disorder that set them apart from the rest of the population and came as a warning to all they met in battle.

In Japan, he was bad news to anyone who encountered him, and he was wanted alongside his father, his brother, and the notorious Akoshi, the father of that Monkey Khan boy that River married and notorious substance dealer and mobster, and he was wanted dead.

Rain married a lynxwoman named Cloud, but he got a visectimy to make sure he never had children because it was already bad enough he was hated by most of the world, did he have to bring an innocent life into his mess he made?

Sadly, mistakes were made, and because of that, at the age of 39, Cloud, the age of 36, became new parents to a son, after the fact he had to take in Lightning and River as his own, and had had them for years.

Rain was also very proud when Lightning excelled past Rain's previous place as a grunt, and was able to take his place beside Conquering Storm. Fitting, because Conquering Storm was arranged to be married to him anyways.

He wasn't too happy to learn that Lightning had been banished, bringing the ultimate shame and dishonor to his family, but at the same time, Rain wasn't too surprised he was either, given the type of person Conquering Storm's father, the husband to the previous Bride of the Raiju Ninja Clan, was.

With the amount of beatings he gave his daughter for telling her own father that she loved him, it wasn't any surprise either that she recoiled at the thought of love.

Lightning was shattered when he had to tell him that he had been banished. Rain was there for his nephew. Hell, it didn't even matter to him, but Lightning couldn't take it anymore and one day, he and Akoshi woke up to both he and Leiang Monkey Khan gone and never saw them again until they were well into adulthood.

In fact, he thought they were both dead until River came back, after suffering a miscarriage and had told him that Lightning was alive, and so was Monkey Khan.

He, Cloud, and Akoshi immediately boarded their private plane to see the boys, only to have learned that they had just barely missed them and that they were on their way back to Japan.

When he had resaw them, he almost didn't recognize them, because they were 14 and 13 when they ran away, 26 and 27 when they came back. Now Lightning is married to a Maybelle Makashura and River is married to the Monkey Khan boy.

Now Rain's red and yellow eyes glossed over the crowd hunting for Ocean the Lynx, the mother of Lightning and River the Lynx, his niece and nephew. She sexually and physically abused them as children because she could and she often gloated that she would gladly do it again.

It was because of her she destroyed both of their lives. Except River had the worst luck with most of her boyfriends doing the same to her, except Monkey Khan, who treated her like gold and was gentle with her.

Rain could often remember nights when the two were screaming in their dreams and had to visit multiple therapists and placed on pill after pill, medication after medication to help them, but they were never right again.

Always kicking, screaming, crying, clinginess, and where was their father to be found? Nowhere. He only showed up long enough to do his wife and then he left for spans up to 10 years at a time. Then again, his brother had never exactly been the brightest light in the room.

It's not that he had a mental illness, it's just that he was stupid. One time, he, Rain, and their multiple siblings went to boarding school for free after the principle mysteriously "vanished," and his brother flunked out because he couldn't even remember his ABCs. His handwriting was so atrocious translators from as far as Egypt and South America had to be hired to read his writing, and even then they couldn't even figure it out, and they were suppossed to be the best in their country.

He met Ocean by flaunting about how he was a career criminal around like it was a fruit medley, and little did he know, even though it was obvious to everyone else (how do you go from mall clothing to imported material from France and Italy in one week) that she only wanted to marry him because he was rich.

His brother was always in the hospital for something stupid, like riding a bike down an escalator crammed full of people, or by trying to save the sharkies from inequality in that tourist trap ChomperLand by jumping into the water during feeding time. He even went bankrupt by randomly giving people cars. Very expensive cars, if they gave him their phone number.

Maybe it was how his brother had no sense of direction in life (as in, the man couldn't even find his own house if you pointed to it), or maybe he was just hard of thought, but either way, he was a dumb shit.

Maybe his brother was here too, with Ocean. He must remain vigilant, because she was going to be trouble for them.

The four of them waited around for a few more seconds before they slowly mounted the steps with caution. About 90% of the people there hated the four of them, and likely, they were disappointed that they weren't thrown into unmarked graves yet.

CRASH!

Rain, Docile, and Vanilla jumped and turned to face the product of the noise- Jack, who kicked down the record player that Shank had playing when he had first greeted them all.

"Jack!" Vanilla exasperatted. The kangaroo looked up at them all, and whispered a hardy, "What?" Jack's old friends's stares said more than enough for him, and he found himself retreating from beating the record player some more in favor of opening the door to Shank's house.

It was very quiet when they got in there, and it wasn't because of them-it was due to how awkward the atmosphere was. Even they themselves were very quiet, with the sounds of their feet knocking against the wooden floor illuminating the building with noise.

Several people's eyes were on them, some kept their eyes to theirselves, and the group scanned their surroundings until Vanilla found the most hanus sight she's ever see- Tarnish the Crocodile.

She wanted badly to grab the punch bowl on the other side of the room and smash the whole thing on his head, but she couldn't. The sheer number of heroes outnumbered the four of them, despite people like Rosemary Prower and Queen Aleena being dead. But seeing Tarnish in the state he was in almost gave the rabbit a sense of victory. A victory that belonged mainly to time.

Tarnish sat in a wheelchair, his speech slurred, his eyelids drooping floppily like a puppy's ears. Beside him was Vector, and he did not look happy to see her at all.

Not that she cared anyways.

Jack couldn't keep his eyes off of Rhodedendron, and neither could Vanilla. Shadow the Hedgehog stood beside her, and his gaze illuminated her evil-looking eyes.

Rain and Docile's eyes marched all over the room, never finding their intended target. Perhaps they were in a differents room?

Docile's eyes darted to a very familiar looking hedgehog with a grey mustache and light brown eyes... and he looked a little confused. A very famous blue hedgehog had his hands on the older hedgehog's shoulders, trying to consolidate him as he rambled on about how it was "Sonny's bedtime and that he should be asleep."

Docile tapped on Rain's shoulders and gestured that he would talk to the hedgehog. Rain gestured that he would see if Premonition was anywhere around.

Premonition the Wolf was like a mother to them all, and wound up getting jailed for it. She had already had two children- Drago and Lupe, and was in line for baby #3, until she lost it, then was executed for her role in Jack, Docile, Rain, Rean, Cloud, and Vanilla's lives.

The light green frog approached the blue hedgehogs, and lightly, he said, "Charlesviche?" Charles turned around and looked in his direction and smiled. "Aleena?" he said like a happy child. The younger blue hedgehog, the famous Sonic the Hedgehog, looked on at the older frog, his ears perked up, and then asked, "Who are you?"

Docile was tempted to speak in his English tongue, given the fact that Charles mistook him for his little sister, and Sonic had no idea who he was, but there was always someone watching, whether you realized it or not.

Docile just responded in his Ukranian tongue and prayed that Sonic understood the language. He didn't. He knew that his nephew, Flying, spoke multiple languages, like Sonic, and he could act as a sort of translator for him, but alas, he didn't want his nephew to be near all of these people, given the fact that Flying could be a bit volatile towards those who threatened his beloved uncle.

Eventually Docile gave up the ghost and peered into Charles's confused eyes and said slowly, "Charles, if you remember me, I'm sorry."

Docile only recieved a blank reply from both Sonic and Charles, and as Docile turned away, Charles piped up with a, "Do I know you?" "From someday." the frog replied as he walked away.

Docile knew that it was a bit hasty to leave like that, but given the fact that Charles didn't recognize him now, he might not ever recognize him ever.

That fact made him sad. He had done so much in his life, it was hard to imagine that he'd ever meet Charles on such neutral ground, and now that he can... he can't do anything about it.

Docile inhaled deeply, knowing that his sins could not be forgiven on the physical plane because the one person he owed an apology to the most had succumbed to the diseases of age.

Rain marched through the kitchen, being precautious not to do it the way a ninja would, but instead, like a normal person as to not make the throng think he is up to no good. It was hard to get rid of habits.

Even then, he could feel the eyes of the Shank and his family never peel away from him as he walked into their kitchen- which was large, majestic, and filled full of food that a few members of the party and family were enjoying.

He grabbed a plate to be inconspicuous, but continued to stay silent, that was, until thier son, Espio, decided to talk to him.

"Konnichiha. Mi satoshi egaarimasu." (Hi. You look familiar.) the young chameleon spoke in Rain's native tongue.

Rain stayed silent, hoping the American chameleon wold get the hint and go away, but shamefully, he didn't.

Rain looked to see if Shank was understanding a word he said. Luckily for him, he looked as confused as ever, so Rain took this as his chance to pounce and say, "Watakushi haanatawo chi teimasuka?" (Do I know you?)

The young chameleon looked stunned as his eyebrows raised high within the sky. Maybe he'll go away now.

Instead, the chameleon replied, "Watakushi Espiosan. Anatano iki ko wo chi teiru kaminari. Wo ha shi baraku tomo hito ni shi you saremasu." (I'm Espio. I know your son, Lightning. We used to be friends a while back.)

Rain huffed indignantly. This little fuck was nowhere near friends with his nephew. In fact, Lightning often recalled nights of waking up naked with Espio's hands on his penis, stroking it to him. He did not want a sexual relationship with Espio, but that chameleon knew how to cross lines.

They were also enemies, not friends.

Rain sighed and gave an indignant scowl to Espio. Then he huffed, "Sukuna nen ha, sorehanakata watakushi no oi kara kiki ita hua." (Boy, that was not the story I heard from my nephew.)

Then he marched away.

Meanwhile, Jack and Vanilla were having an interesting conversation... with Bean's mother, Flowers the Duck, and Bark's dad, Flare the Polar Bear...

The kangaroo and rabbit stood there listening to Flowers and Flare talk to them. Vanilla didn't know how to react, but she knew that something made her mad about them, and Jack looked ready to eat flare.

Flowers's voice sounded very superficial, as if she was deliberately pretending to talk to a stupid person and that's what infuriated Vanilla the most, and there was a bigger question as of to who Flare actually was.

Vanilla could remember the picture of Bean and Bark Cream had brought home one day. Flowers looked a lot like Bean, and Bark's father may not be his father at all, they look absoloutely nothing alike. In fact, Vanilla would bet her life savings that if Flare and Bark took a paternity test, they would be a negative match.

And then there was the other issue that made all women over the age of 40 jealous- the fact that Flowers looked as if she hadn't aged a day past 17. How she pulled off such a stunt, Vanilla would love to know, but that wasn't what infuriated her the most...

"Oh, cheating on our husband too aren't we?' Flowers cooed. Vanilla flushed bright red, and trying to sound faithful to Rean, she wound up messing it up with an exasperatted, "I... Uh.. No.. I mean..."

Flowers put her fingers to Vanilla's lips and whispered, "It's okay, most of us has been there. Besides, I wouldn't doubt what a good screw Jack might be."

Vanilla didn't know whether to run away or scream. Instead, she stayed frozen as Flare moved away with Jack, giving a big kiss on Flowers's lips

Vanilla could remember how people thought of her as a whore for sleeping with Rean and getting pregnant at 14, and many thought she did it on purpose to trap Rean, which wasn't true. It was a slip up of the birth control on both parts, and well, Cream arrived shortly after the mistake.

She was not about to take a walk down memory lane again, and certainly not with the likes of Flowers and her Polar Bear Monsieur. Especially given the fact that since Vanilla, being the cheap tramp she was, was not about to let Flowers bask in the glory of how she was a saint for cheating on her husband.

Quickly, she mustered up, "And how does your husband feel about you cheating on him?"

Flowers stared at her for a second before she giggled, "Oh, I left him and my son for Flare, and we have another one together, to replace all our other children we pretend don't exist."

She kept that smile on her face at a constant. Faker.

"How about Flare's wife? How does she feel about you tramping around with her husband?" Vanilla said, displeased now with how jealous of Flowers she had always been for all of those years.

The female duck clapped her hands together and said, "He left her. We just brought her along because we could. Won't it be nice? I bet you she's liking this party."

Flowers pointed towards the direction of a tan polar bear that was stuffing her face with as much food as she could, and the rest was being dumped into her dress. Her eyes were wild with fear, her hair was matted, her whole body was scarred, and the woman was in a tattered dress with no shoes, a beanie, a scarf on her body, and she was dropping blood everywhere from her monthly visit from Lady Red.

Vanilla felt very sorry for her, and when Charles and Sonic approached her, she let out a massive squal and went dashing out of there as fast as she could.

"What happened to her?" Vanilla gasped in sympathy. "Oh, where she comes from, they like to beat their wives and by the looks of her, she must've had it rough. Thank the Star Gods that Flare is nothing like the previous men that handled her." Flowers said in genuine sympathy.

The way Flowers spoke those words made her sympathy seem like she was mocking her, and in a way, she was. That poor polar bear lady, she really did have it rough, and hearing what her culture did to their women, made her hate Flare even more.

"A bear!" Charles shouted, breaking the silence suddenly. "No, no, no," Sonic said gently. "There are no bears over there."

"But Sonic, I swear I saw one." "No, Unc, ya didn't. Let's go upstairs." Sonic dismissed.

"Oh my, Alzheimer's. Isn't it awful?" Flowers squeaked. Vanilla sneered at her.

She had a grandfather that had Alzheimer's, and he sounded nothing like Charles did. Alzheimer's cannot be ruled out as a factor, but she'll be damned if it was just that.

Charles was under so much stress in his life, it may have gotten to him finally, in his old age. And before she could think again, Jack was very angry, very quickly, and stomped away from Flower's new mate.

He grabbed Vanilla by her hands angrily and marched her up the stairs. Rhodedendron followed a few steps behind.

"What did he want?" Vanilla asked at last. Jack's voice deepened a little as he growled, "He wanted to know if he could sleep with you."

"Sleep with me?" Vanilla repeated slowly. "That slimy-assed bastard left his wife and kids to rediscover his youth. I'll be damned if he fucking "rediscovers his youth" with you."

"Easy Jack," Vanilla tried to reassure the angry kangaroo. Then another voice joined into the ploy. "How can you be damned," Rhodedendron said contemptuously. "You've already been damned."

Hearing the light blue hawk's voice made her and Jack jump. Then Jack's voice deepened to anger.

"What in the fuck? What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious," Rhodedendron blahed boredly. "Enjoying the party, just like you."

"Why would you bother with us?" Vanilla asked, her adrenaline warning her f an impending fight.

"Oh mortal dearest," Rhodedendron cooed. "Don't you know that Shank has betrayed all of us to the Battle Bird Armada Regime." "The same regime Flowers's son and your son defeated?" Vanilla question.

"No, the other Armada," the blue hawk just about boomed before her voice returned to a delicate snear. "The same Armada that still believe their fallen dictator is a saint. He tried to rally up a group of-"

"Who is he?" Jack demanded.

"I don't know-"

"I bet-"

"Don't ever interru-"

"You knew of this-"

"Yeah, five minutes ago."

She approached Jack and Vanilla. Her long dress made it appear as if her feet weren't moving at all.

Jack, seeing this as a threat, leaped out of his own skin, and by leaped, whenever he transforms into a bunyip, his skin flies off of him in a bloodied heap. Rhodedendron's meek little form melted into that of blood-dripping wings, flames abound on her body, red eyes with flowers for pupils, the marking on the side of her neck glowing, her veins beginning to take on a volcanic appearance.

When she exhaled, smoke billowed from her other-worldly nostrils.

Sonic, taking this as a bad sign, transformed into a black werewolf, no werehogs in this story, and snarled at the bunyip and Babylonian Apocolypt.

He stood in front of his uncle protectively. "It's Jelly and Jam Time!" Uncle Chuck shouted out loud.

By now, footsteps were stampeding up the steps like wild herds of buffalo, and Jack and Rhodedendron took this as their cue to leave- by destroying the wall of Shank's house.

Sonic grabbed Uncle Chuck and left through the bathroom wall. When the first few faces rounded into Vanilla's view, that being Flowers and Flare's, they gave a smirk and whistled, "Wow, you and Jack sure know how to raise each other higher, if ya get what I mean."

Docile and Rain were next, and they knew what had happened, by the looks on their faces.

Vanilla glanced sheepishly at the crowd and smiled, "I can explain." She let out a nervous giggle, and knew that only she could save herself, and quickly, she thought up of an explanation.

Meanwhile in the woods, Jack and Rhodedendron didn't know who was chasing who by now. The redundancy of everything boiled down to mainly hate that had been left to boil., and soon Jack found himself atop of Rhodedendron, both violently sharing in a passionate kiss.

Their lips locked like never before, and a strange sensation tagged at the both of them. The kisses became more subtle and relaxed to the point their hands were drifting to whatever they pleased, and just as Jack was about to rip the evening gown off of the woman beneath him, he restrained himself.

He had fallen for this pitfall once, many years ago, when the two were dating secretly. Well someone eventually found out on her team, and it had to end.

That person discovering their secret was Tia the Duck. She was a green Babylonian Apocolypt, the possible mother of Speedy the Bird, and she was orphaned when Jet's father killed her parents when they decided to try and kill his village, leaving her behind.

The bastard thought that something else on that awful planet would get to her first and left her there to die.

Rhodedendron was already an orphan years before her, and she took in the young duck, who wouldn't have been no more than 10 when they first met, Rhodedendron being in his age bracket, which made her about 16 when she took in Tia.

She was a shy little duck, but she was dangerous too. She posed a small threat, but often it was Rhodedendron you had to watch out for, and Tia had no qualms about biting someone either. Well, with Tia being 10 and all, she had a tendency to let information slip, and this time was no different.

Jack was enraged when Diamond the Hawk, the killer of Tia's parents, father of Jet the Hawk, forced him and Rhodedendron to break up, and instead of Jack taking it like a man, he blamed Tia, said some awful things to Rhodedendron, and left off into the woods never to be seen again until the next battle.

Now Rhodedendron was one of four in a group of identical quadruplets, and when they came, they came for vengeance after hearing that their sister was hurt when she had to break off the relationship because heroes and villains meeting up together was immoral.

It was an unncessary break up because in a few months, Aleena was with Honore, Sonic's father and the biggest threat that loomed all over the world- an evil demon himself with a nasty secret.

The people of France feared him so much, he became a country wide legend. Jack had even found the glory of fighting him himself. The king of the Loup-Garous. Bunyips, by nature, were a hell of a lot stronger than any werewolf, and capable of keeping powerful monsters at bay inside their gaping mouths, but Honore was a different story.

Loup-Garous were French werewolves, and where France is such a refined country it's monsters and demons are both well-mannered and fashionable, it would be wise to say that they have a manner of control on themselves, and kill by will, not by insatiable hunger like the bunyip or the Babylonian Apocolypt. The Loup-Garous blended in easily with their surroundings, despite the lack of forest to save themselves. And they didn't seem to mind if other people saw them.

Jack lived in the seasonal billabongs or rivers, wherever he could find, only approaching the cities through the sewers. He could never dream of such a bravery like the Loup-Garous.

Then again, the other werewolf nationalities were sitting in his place too- hating the fact they they could not do what their French cousins could.

Honore knew what he was doing, and Jack lost that battle before it had even started.

The only reason Honore spared him was because he had never heard of a bunyip and wondered what the hell he was. Honore had never been fallen in battle until Eggman decimated him with silver bullets and scattered his bodyparts amongst various places in the world in silver crates, leaving his children bastards and his wife's bed cold.

He had suspicions about Sonic and they were proven correct tonight. As for Nic, Nack, and Fiona- his children- he pretty much knew that Fiona was a mortal because of all the times he had to refrain himself from eating her when Nic brought that delicious meat-sack home, and as for the other two, he pretty much was lost on whatever the hell they were, but it was obvious they were not of this world.

Like Tia.

Like Rhodedendron.

A simple heartbreak had lead to all of those years of hating each other, all because of an innocent child's slipping tongue. He felt so stupid for it too. He needed to apologize to Rhodedendron. It needed to end, right here, right now

""Rhodedendron," the kangaroo started, sweeping his hand over the hawk's face. "I'm sorry."

Rhodedendron froze, her red eyes wide with shock. H-he apologized to...me...of all people. Rhodedendron thought.

She blinked and looked up at the kangaroo. She smiled at him and gracefully applauded, "And I thought I'd never hear those words from you."

Jack smiled back at her. Then he layed himself beside her, slightly stroking her arm, before the woman sighed in bliss.

You do know that this still doesn't change the fact that I'm married and the Armada is coming for us all anyways." Rhodedendron blurted.

"Oh, that," Jack chuckled nervously. "What do we do now?"

Rhodedndron stood up and brushed herself off. She handed Jack her hand and helped him up.

Will you stand with us, Jack?" Rhodedendron asked curiously. "Aye," he nodded. "I will."

And together, they rallied their generation of heroes and villains and stood together against the looming threat.

End of Chapter 18

Dear me, longest chapter ever, and I apologize for that, it's just that Vanilla deserves a story that has her as a more prominent character without having her bang half of the cast.

Anyways, thanks for reading. Come again.