Chapter Fifteen
They all stood and looked out into a large field while standing in front of a wooden fence. Eyebrows were raised in question at the many Chao roaming about in this field.
"O-k and that is in no way weird." Knuckles said while watching a couple of Chao chase each other near to where they were standing.
"There has to be like a few hundred Chao here but why?" Sonic said and was growing curious to know.
"What I fail to see any dark Chao. There are plenty of neutral Chao and quite a few hero Chao but not a single dark Chao." Shadow commented with a small frown.
"Hey yeah you're right babe, maybe there is but can't be with the others due to their dark nature." Sonic said in realisation while looking at the Chao.
"That's a possibility, want to go find them then take one Shadow?" Zhadow casually said to start with then smirked at Shadow deviously at his little idea.
"Tempting but I don't think it would be a good idea. Saying that I could do with a minion again that isn't afraid to bite." Shadow mused over the idea of having a dark Chao of his own and imagined all the things he could do with one.
"I forbid it babe, there is no way I'm allowing you a dark Chao just so you can set it on me." Sonic semi seriously said with a deep frown at Shadow.
"Spoilsport." Shadow grumbled while he crossed his arms and frowned disappointingly as he was very much liking the idea of having one.
"You can always take a neutral Chao and turn it dark." Knuckles casually said with a shrug.
"No Chao!" Sonic firmly said in a semi loud tone while glaring at Knuckles for giving his boyfriend ideas.
"You are so bossy and controlling at times." Shadow mumbled unhappily while pouting a little.
"Before a full blown argument happens, let's at least look around and find out who owns all these Chao." Zonic said with slight annoyance for still standing around doing nothing.
"What makes you think someone owns all these Chao?" Silver asked while looking at the zone cop.
"Call it a hunch." Zonic sighed then pointed to their left at a sign stating no trespassing.
"Oh right so this is like a Chao farm then, cool. I know someone who would love this place." Sonic said as he grinned while locking eyes with that sign.
"Can't you lot read the sign, it says no trespassing!" Someone called out with attitude as they walked towards the group, making all turn their heads and watch.
"Again this place is in no way weird." Knuckles muttered as he watched this worlds version of Cream storm up to them.
"Why does Cream look like some bikers chick?" Silver whispered with a slightly tilt of his head.
"And how come she looks like twelve and not six?" Knuckles whispered before Cream got to them.
"Well, are you all like dumb and cannot read?" Cream said with a devious grin while crossing her arms and standing in front of all with badass attitude.
"Can we swap our Cream for her?" Shadow quietly whispered to Sonic who shook his head in response to that joke.
"Yeah we can read but we are lost and so happened to have came across this Chao farm." Sonic cheerfully said with a smile at the rabbit.
"Sure you did. If you don't get off our property then I'll have mama shoot you all." Cream seriously said with slight narrowed eyes at Sonic.
"How about I shoot you dead right now little girl." Shadow growled a little aggressively while narrowing his eyes at this worlds Cream.
"Yeah with what weapon hotshot?" Cream said with a devious smirk at Shadow.
"With this." Shadow replied with a sinister chuckle then pulled out a hand gun from his quills.
"And why do you have that with ya?" Sonic asked with a dry expression at his boyfriend.
"For emergencies." Shadow seriously said as he pointed it at Cream.
"I advise you put that away Shadow." Zonic seriously said and was getting ready to pull his own weapon out if Shadow did fire at the rabbit.
"I like you black hedgehog, come with me and I'll get mama to help point ya back to town." Cream said with amusement and didn't look at all threatened by having Shadow point a gun at her head.
Shadow shrugged then slipped his gun back in his quills then all followed Cream.
"Nice farm you have here." Sonic casually said as they walked along side the fence keeping the Chao in the fields.
"Sure whatever, those are not all that important and basically rejects. The dark Chao are what's important around these parts, people go nuts just to buy one from us." Cream indifferently said with very little interest in this conversation.
"Yeah and we all know someone here that would love one." Knuckles said with a snigger.
"Yeah but Shadow is not getting one." Sonic seriously said and could already feel the pain from just imagining the bites from a dark Chao.
"How about I show you the dark Chao pen Shadow while mama gives your friends directions." Cream deviously said as she looked back at Shadow.
"Sure and chill Sonic it's only looking at them, I won't actually get one." Shadow said then assured his partner when Sonic grumbled something under his breath.
"Yeah Sonic, chill." Creams deviously said as she glanced back at Sonic with a not so good grin.
"Zhadow." Zonic whispered as he placed a hand on Zhadows shoulder then stopped walking, making his partner stop too.
"Yeah?" Zhadow whispered back while glancing at Zonic with a small frown.
"This place and that Cream, it doesn't feel right or safe." Zonic seriously said in a hushed tone as he watched the others get further away with this worlds Cream.
"Want to scout around?" Zhadow asked with a grin.
"Yeah, I can't shift this bad feeling things on this farm are not all they seem." Zonic said and then dragged Zhadow with him.
Meanwhile...
"And here we are." Cream announced as they approached a run down looking house with one window boarded up and the front door needing a serious replacement.
"Wow this place looks..." Silver began to say then stopped as Cream turned around and glared at him.
"You dare say anything bad about my home and I'll slap you about so badly you'll be in a coma for months." Cream seriously said with promise to her worlds while glaring at Silver with anger.
"No, no, erm I was going to say nice and cosy." Silver said back in a panic and taking a step backwards from the, clearly, psychotic rabbit.
"Oh good, it is isn't it. Come on then let's go find mama." Cream said with a delighted voice and suddenly looked way too happy.
They walked inside after Cream opened the door then followed the rabbit into a kitchen. The inside was dull with squeaky flooring when walked on, a strange smell was all around, dust and dirt were everywhere apart from the kitchen. The kitchen seemed like the only place that was kept well clean and maintained and that was now starting to raise some questions.
"Hey mama, found these guys lost by the Chao fields. They need directions to get to town, come on Shadow let me show you the dark Chao while my mama directs your friends." Cream explained to her mother, who was standing by the oven and had just switched it on.
"Sure thing darling." This worlds Vanilla said with a grin as she looked over at the group then watched Cream grab Shadows wrist and drag him out through the back door.
"So nice place you got here." Sonic casually said as he looked at the adult, farmer looking, rabbit with a smile.
"Please sit and have some pie, you all look exhausted." Vanilla said with her grin still there then walked over to the fridge and grabbed a large pie she cooked yesterday evening.
"Thank you." Silver happily said for he was feeling hungry.
All took a seat and all seemed to fail to notice the zone cops were not there with them.
Meanwhile...
"Yeah we keep the dark Chao in the barn and away from the rejects." Cream said as she pushed a door open and motioned Shadow to follow her inside.
"Uh-huh and people don't want those Chao, you just leave them in that field to look after themselves or do you and your mother still keep them healthy?" Shadow asked as he walked into the, amazingly very light inside, barn.
"Oh we keep them nice and well fed." Cream sniggered as she spoke then walked towards a pen filled with dark Chao.
"Cool there must be like thirty, maybe forty, dark Chao here." Shadow said with a grin as he approached the fence and stood there next to Cream looking at the evil dark Chao.
"Knew you would appreciate them more than your friends would. I think dark Chao are amazing and so much stronger than normal Chao." Cream happily said as she bent down and picked one of the closest Chao up then passed it to Shadow.
Shadow took the Chao with a smirk and lifted it up so they looked into each others eyes. The dark Chao showed a question mark then a heart as it locked eyes with Shadows.
"Aw it really likes ya Shadow." Cream said with a light laugh as she watched Shadows smirk grow wider.
"That's cool and all but Sonic will never allow me to have one. He thinks I'll set it onto him and he's right to think that, I would especially if I catch him eating my pie again." Shadow semi seriously said as he went to pass the Chao back.
"And you do as people tell ya? Shadow if you want a dark Chao then have one, why stop yourself from being happy just to please someone who is dumb enough to provoke you." Cream semi seriously said as she took the Chao and placed it back into the pen with the others.
Meanwhile...
"Zonic, let's check out that building." Zhadow whispered while pointing to a metal looking barn with some rust on the walls and large door.
"That reminds me of this slaughtered house in this zone I had to go to a few months back. Had to stop these nutter's from kidnapping people and turning them into some weird sauce." Zonic said with a deep frown then both slowly walked over.
"Now be very quiet ok Zhadow, we do not want to draw attention to ourselves." Zonic quietly said as they approached the slightly open sliding door.
"Same to you." Zhadow replied with an eye roll then both opened the door and stepped inside.
"Oh my god." Zonic whispered with a look of horror that was hidden under his helmet.
"The barbaric monsters." Zhadow whispered with disgust in his tone.
Meanwhile...
"Man this pie is so good, what meat is this?" Knuckles said with a mouthful of pie.
"If I tell you that than it wouldn't stay a secret. It's an old family recipe and it stays in the family." Vanilla calmly replied as she rolled out dough for a pie order.
"So true and thanks for telling us how to get back to town and for this pie, Shadow's really going to appreciate it like hugely." Sonic said with a cheerful tone then ate more meat pie.
"And he will love it just as much as everyone does." Vanilla said with a laugh while she spoke.
"You guys are eating pie without me, so rude." Shadow announced himself as he and Cream walked into the kitchen through the back door.
"Shadow I said no Chao." Sonic groaned as he watched Shadow walk over holding a dark Chao.
"Not may fault the little darling began to cry for me when we were leaving. I am simply keeping it content before we leave." Shadow softly said while looking at the Chao in his arms, who was snuggling into him.
"Aw she really loves you Shadow." Vanilla said with a huge smile as she stopped what she was doing and looked at the black hedgehog standing near where Sonic was sitting.
"Seems that way yes and she won't be happy when it's time to leave, I do hope you can settle her once more." Shadow replied as he looked up and over at the adult rabbit.
"Keep her, she won't be happy when you are gone and will run off to look for you. It can be very dangerous out there for a Chao and we wouldn't want anything sinister to happen to her." Vanilla said with a grin at Shadow.
"Na-ah no way am I allowing this, you will only set it on me and I'll have bite marks from head to toe." Sonic seriously said as he stood up and faced Shadow with a firm expression.
"No I won't, unless you're stupid enough to eat my pie then of course I will." Shadow matter-of-fact said with a smirk at Sonic.
"I suppose dealing with a dark Chao is more better than dealing with you when you are angry. Oh fine you win Shads ok, you can keep her." Sonic sighed with defeat and did think it was so much less painful getting a Chao bite than a chaos spear.
"Guys it's time to leave!" Zonic called out as he and Zhadow made their way towards the kitchen.
"But we haven't finished the pie." Silver said with a slightly sad look as he watched the zone cops enter with frowns.
"Oh god you ate the pie." Zhadow said as he covered his mouth to stop himself from puking.
"I thought you liked pie?" Sonic said with a tilt of his head.
"He only likes fruit pie but we really do need to leave right now, the sun will be setting soon and we shouldn't be wondering about during the night." Zonic lied convincingly and was desperate to leave after seeing the horrors in that building.
"He is right, you really do not want to be out during the night. How about you take a pie for your travels and please don't be strangers." Vanilla said with a pleasant enough voice then got another pie out of the fridge.
"Thanks, best pie ever." Knuckles said with a grin as he stood up.
"Don't mention it and when you reach the town please mention how good my pies are so I can get more customers." Vanilla said with a smile while passing Silver the pie.
"We sure will, thanks. Bye and thanks again for your hospitality." Silver politely said as he took the pie then all began to follow the zone cops.
"Don't mention it, bye!" Vanilla called back.
Soon the group were out of the house and walking away from it.
"Get rid of that pie." Zhadow seriously said as he looked at Silver.
"Hey no way, that pie is so good. Just because you don't like..." Sonic began but was cut short from finishing.
"It's made from Chao meat now get rid of it." Zonic said and was trying hard to not puke from just seeing those Chao being slaughtered by a large machine.
"Oh my chaos I ate that! Silver get rid of it." Sonic cried out with horror.
Silver chuckled the pie and Shadow chaos speared it with anger. The pie vaporised from the energy and then the group walked faster to find a safe place to make a portal out of here.
"Making pies from Chao is the most horrifying thing I have ever heard, these versions of Cream and Vanilla are evil." Knuckles said as they were now walking fast beside the Chao fields.
"All those poor Chao, we can't leave them here to be slaughtered and made into pies." Silver said with a sad tone while looking at the happily playing Chao.
"Not our zone remember so we cannot do anything that will cause this worlds versions of ourselves trouble. It might end up as us being turned into pies." Shadow said with a deep frown while hugging his dark Chao protectively.
"Let's just make a zone portal and leave before they change their mind and come for us." Knuckles said and was looking a little unwell from just thinking about what he willingly ate.
With that said the group stopped and the couple got their emeralds out, crossed them then said the magic words. When the portal appeared they all rushed inside with the portal slamming shut behind them.
