Author's note: Feedback schmeedback. I'm anxious to make another chapter to this story, so that's what I'm going to do!
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Chapter 5: Cream
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Nervously Shi put her hands around the green Chaos Emerald. Then, all at once, in one motion, she grabbed the Emerald and raised it above her head.
Had there been any sources of light in the room other than Juan's lantern, the light shining through the Emerald would've made a pretty picture.
The whole spectacle was interrupted when an audible voice reached the ears of Juan and Shi.
"You must be Juan and Shi. The two of you are very brave," the voice said. "You have gotten so far, and I am proud of you."
Juan blinked. "Hey, whose voice is that? Can't be Knuckles' voice, and I don't think it's Amy's voice either… it's too high."
"I'd better tell you," the voice responded. "I'm Cream. Cream the Rabbit. I can't doubt that you know who I am."
Shi snapped her fingers. "Oh, yeah! Cream!"
"I can't see you," Juan interrupted. "Where are you?"
"That's a little difficult to answer," came the response. "You're listening to my spiritual essence, which has been separated from my body and trapped inside this Chaos Emerald, as Knuckles told you earlier."
Shi didn't miss a beat. "So, if I break the Emerald, you'll be free?"
"Exactly. Go ahead, break it!"
"Right away, Cream. Hey, Juan! Catch!"
Shi threw the Chaos Emerald up in the air and spiked it at Juan, who met it with a karate kick that knocked it into the wall behind Shi, shattering it.
"Watch it!" Shi yelled. "You nearly smacked me in the eye!"
Before Juan could respond, something came out of the fragments of the Emerald and flew toward Shi, embedding itself in her.
"What was that?" both siblings exclaimed at the same time.
Cream's voice rang out again. "I have united with Shi, so that I can help her. Do not fear."
At that moment, Juan noticed something about one of Shi's rings, the orange one. The fake jewel now displayed an image of Cream. Juan quickly pointed this out to Shi, who noticed it as well.
"Ah, you've noticed. I did that just to remind you of me."
Shi was still confused a little. "And how exactly do you intend to help me?"
"If you touch that fake jewel while concentrating your thoughts on me, you'll transform to look like me. You will also be able to use some of my abilities. Go on, try it!"
Without hesitation, Shi did as she was told. There was a flash of light, and Shi had united with Cream. She still had her own bodily proportions, but her overall appearance was now like Cream's. (Think of the Soul Unisons from MMBN4 and you'll know what I'm talking about.)
"Now it should be easy for you to understand the Chao. You can also use a weak but fast and multi-hitting Ear Whip move."
"Pretty nice," Shi said, "but how do I go back to normal?"
"Just touch the rim of one of your rings while concentrating on your own skill."
Without questioning what she was told, Shi did this, and reverted to how she was before.
"Now do you understand how I can help?"
"Perfectly," Shi replied, "but I have one more question. What about the Chaos Emerald fragments?"
"Don't worry about them. Eggman won't have much use for them, nor will you."
Shi was now satisfied. "Well, okay. But how do we get out of here?"
Juan gestured at the abyss that they had crossed with the last transport lift. There was a cable for one last transport lift, but it wasn't active.
Beside the abyss was a column. Several lights ran from bottom to top. The column appeared to be some kind of switch.
Shi approached the column and gave it a good yo-yo smack. The bottom light turned green, then quickly faded. Juan kicked the column, and the same thing happened.
Even when Juan and Shi alternated hitting the column, they couldn't hit it rapidly enough to get the lights lit quickly enough.
Then Shi smacked her forehead. "Duh! Why am I so stupid?"
Shi united with Cream again, stood beside the column, and spun in circles, ear-whipping the column again and again and again.
The lights quickly reached the top of the column, and stayed. One last transport lift started up, and approached Juan and Shi, who hopped on and rode to the other side. On the way, Shi reverted to normal.
Not surprisingly, the lift dropped Juan and Shi off near the entrance. The stone tile was still being blasted up and down by the geyser that Shi created earlier.
"Going up?" Juan asked jokingly.
Both siblings climbed onto the stone tile as soon as it landed, and when it was next blasted up, they both climbed onto solid ground.
"Well, we're back at the surface," Juan commented, "but how do we get out of this stupid forest without getting trapped in another loop?"
"That way," Shi responded, pointing.
"How can you be so sure it's that way?"
"There's an exit sign right there."
Juan took another look. "Oh. So there is. Come on, let's move!"
After saying those words, Juan took Shi's hand and rushed into the forest in the direction the sign pointed.
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Cool, huh? What's next? You'll find out… as soon as I get some feedback… or I get tired of waiting… whichever comes first.