Chapter Two: The Goddess of Darkness Returns

	Aushatara, the black hedgehog, sat in the middle of the underground chapel, tied to a chair with a 
gag in her mouth. She looked very frightened as Shaetore approached her with a book in hand, wearing 
black robes.
	Up above, a figure watched the cerimony from the rafters, thinking up a plan. A chao landed beside 
the person, a rabbit.
	"Cheese," the rabbit whispered to the chao. "Get the others, Miss Valcena's gonna do somethin' 
bad!"
	The chao nodded and fluttered off, leaving the rabbit to calulate what she was gonna do next.
	Shaetore circled around Aushatara, chanting, a and a coldness filled the room. Aushatara froze and 
Shaetore closed her eyes, having felt the presence of her mistress. Her eyes burst open moments and 
smirked. "Ah little Cream," she called out, loud enough to know that the rabbit was the one being addressed. 
"Dear sweet Cream, welcome to my chapel."
	"Oh well...its...uh...nice to be here!" Cream said back nervously, being polite as she always is, no 
matter what.
	"You know, my mistress would like to meet you," Shaetore said, turning around to look at Cream. Cream 
smiled nervously again. "Well...uh...gee...thanks for the offer, Miss Valcena...but....um...unfortunitly I can't stick 
around for long...sorry!"
	"Oh NO, Cream...I INSIST!" Shaetore growled with a smile and lept up towards Cream. A figure lept in the 
way and knocked Shaetore back. She slammed against the floor and looked up at her attacker. "You!"
	A blue hedgehog stood there, joined by a pink fairy, a black and yellow penguin, a red dragon, a golden 
sea lion, a silver flying girl, and a black hedgehog.
	"Hiya Shaetore!" the blue hedgehog smiled, grinning almost playfully.
	"Aww, having a bad hairday, Shaetore?" the pink fairy taunted.
	Shaetore glared at the blue hedgehog. "Chaima, never too far from the field, are you?"
	"When it comes to you? Never," Chaima replied, still grinning.
	Cream landed from above, using her ears like wings to land her safely on the ground. "I'll untie Miss 
Ranay," 
she said, running off towards her.
	"OH NO YOU DON'T!!!" Shaetore yelled, running after her.
	"DOG PILE ON THE BAD GUY!!!" Chaima yelled, tackling Shaetore. The others followed suit.
	Cream and Cheese untied Aushatara. "Run Miss Ranay! You're free!"
	Aushatara sat there, not moving. Cream looked at her. "Miss...Ranay?"
	Aushatara lept from her seat, looking around. Then she began to laugh, scaring Cream and Cheese. The 
Mobians fighting Shaetore stopped, staring at Aushatara.
	"Hey, what's with her?" the black hedgehog asked.
	"I dunno, Chalcon," Cream said, looking at Aushatara. "Miss Ranay?"
	Aushatara looked at Cream with a cold look that frightened her even more. She looked towards 
Shaetore and 
grinned. "I have returned!"
	Everyone but Shaetore became slack-jawed, staring at Aushatara in shock. Shaetore laughed. "Welcome 
back, my lady."
	Aushatara's head jerked towards the door. "Quickly, we must leave here. I sense him coming."
	Shaetore looked at Aushatara. "Where would we go? Where will we hide?!"
	Aushatara waved her hand, and a portal of light opened. "No time! Get in now before I leave you 
behind!"
	Shaetore didn't need to be told twice as she left from the shocked Mobians' grip and lept into the 
portal.
	Aushatara looked back at Cream. "Till we meet again, lil Rabbit!"
	And with that, she lept into the portal, closing behind her.
	Chaima ran over to Cream. "Cream, Cream, you okay??"
	Cream looked at Chaima, scared. "What...what happened to Miss Ranay?"
	Chaima sighed. "I'm afraid, Cream, that the Dark Goddess has possessed Aushatara once again..."
	Behind them, the doors burst open and Sonic, Knuckles, Geoffry, Hershey, Bunnie, and Antoine 
ran in.
	"Where are they?" Sonic demanded.
	Chaima looked up at Sonic and stared. Sonic stared back.
	"Sonic!" Chaima yelled and ran to him, hugging the king tightly.
	"Chaima! What're YOU doing here?" Sonic asked.
	Bunnie ran to Cream and hugged her. "Cream! Thank Hope you're safe! Did thay hurt you?"
	Cream hugged back. "Bunnie! It was scary! Miss Valcena nearly hurt me! But Chaima saved me!"
	"Sonic," Chaima said, looking up at his friend. "She's back! She escaped through a portal, but she's
 back!"
	"Yes, I realized that the moment I said foot in this wretched place," Sonic said, looking around with a 
sneer.
	"What're we gonna do?!" Cream wailed.
	Sonic sighed. "Unfortunitely, Aushatara's in the No-Zone right now, and I can't sense her out until 
she appears in a zone somewhere. For now, we sit and wait."
	"Sonic..." Knuckes spoke, looking at him. "I cannot ask you to go. You know you aren't allowed to 
leave this plane like Aushatara can, it'll destroy you."
	"Yes, Knuckles, I AM aware of this, but I cannot send you either. I need you here," Sonic said.
	Geoffery St. John, a skunk that sported the James Bond look, stepped forward. "Sir, I am willing to 
volinteer my team to seek out Aushatara, wherever she maybe-"
	"No."
	Geoffery stared at him. "N-no, sir?"
	"No. I need you and your team here. I suggest that Cream and her team should go after them."
	This caused an uproar from the Secret Service.
	"THIS IS AN OUTRAGE, YOU WERE ALWAYS STUBBORN-HEADED-"
	"-Cannot send a child on such a dangerous quest-!"
	"AH WILL NOT HAVE MAH COUSIN BE PUT INTO DANGAH-"
	"Zis will not be tollerated!"
	"SHUTUP!!!!" Knuckles yelled, silencing them. "I will NOT have you questioning Sonic's orders!"
	Sonic cleared his throat. "I'm not exactly ORDERING her to go...I'm requesting for it..."
	He knelt before Cream to her eyelevel. "Whatcha say, Miss Rabbit? Can ya do it for us?"
	Cream nodded. "Of course, Sir!"
	Sonic smiled softly. "Then its settled. Now we wait for Aushatara to make her move..."