Chapter 3

"Cream, I told you before, anyone that I bring down here is someone I'm sure is on our side," Tails said.

The blade was brought back into the tunnel where it came from, and a female rabbit, in her 20's, stepped out. If Tails wouldn't have mentioned it was Cream, Sonic would have mistaken her for another rabbit entirely.

She wore black leather that was tight against her body, and it went from her neck and down her body, ending at just above her knees. She didn't have sleeves, and a belt around her waist had two knife pockets, both with a blade in them. Her long ears were tied behind her, making them look like a ponytail. Her body was slender and good looking.

Sonic mentally shook his head after finding he was staring at her. If he ever got back to his own time, he'd never look at Cream the same way again.

Anyways, Cream stepped closer, suspicion in her eyes. Probably because of the fact that Sonic hasn't changed in the last ten years. Cream looked towards Tails, who just gave a nod, as if confirming he was sure.

"He told me something when we met. Something only the two of us would know," he said. "Now let's get to the base."

Tails walked down the darkened tunnel that Cream came out of. Tails pulled out a flashlight and flicked it on, as the three of them walked down the tunnel. After about ten minutes, they reached what looked to be a dead end. Tails pulled out a small keypad, with ten numbers on it, and entered in 062184. The large steel door in front of them opened like a garage door, revealing the base to Sonic.

The base was fairly large, with a couple of beds sitting in one corner. Nearby, there was also an old couch, somewhat beat up but still useable. Also, there was a screen showing a part of the city above them, which Sonic guessed was hacked into Eggman's security systems, and a shelf with food and a safe.

Also against one wall was a glass case, with one of Amy's red dresses hanging inside. Also in there was a picture of Amy, one of her Piko Piko hammers, and a copy of the one and only CD she made. The last thing he noticed was the computer in the opposite corner, with a familiar black and red hedgehog sitting in front of it.

"Hey, faker," Sonic joked, as Shadow turned towards them.

"Faker? I think you're the fake hedgehog around here." Shadow replied. "At least I didn't disappear for ten years and let Eggman take over."

"Hey, that was unexpected," Sonic countered. "I was running after the missile going towards Amy's apartment, running faster than I ever ran before. Somehow, I was transported to this time while running after that missile."

"It sounds like you went so fast that you broke the fabric of space and time, resulting in an unforeseen event that propelled you to another point in the space-time continuum. Such an action would require a high rate of speed figured out by the equation…" Tails said, before Sonic interrupted.

"Enough with the scientific babble. The question is, how do I get back?" he asked.

Tails sat down ands thought for a moment, while all eyes were looking in his direction. He seemed lost in thought, so lost that Eggman could probably capture him, and he wouldn't even notice.

"I have no idea," he finally said. "I may be able to put together the theories and equations on the space time continuum, and maybe come up with a workable hypothesis for you to reverse what you did and have you get back. But that will take time, and there's no guarantee that it will work once we find a solution."

"Not very promising." Cream said, sounding colder than sonic has ever heard her speak. "Now if you guys will excuse me, I'm going to check out what's happening around the city."

Tails nodded at her words, as she sat down in front of the screen showing the city. As Sonic watched, Cream changed the scene to show different parts of the city. Tails also watched for a minute, with an expression Sonic couldn't quite place.

Did Tails have feelings for her?

"Shadow, hack into the Eggnet and see what you can find on the space time continuum." Tails finally said, turning towards him. "If we're going to reverse this, we need all the information we can get."

Shadow nodded and started tapping some keys on the computer. The computer that he worked on would be top of the line in Sonic's time, but was most likely obsolete now. Sonic watched the two of them work, then motioned for Tails to follow him. Tails got up and walked over to the other side of the base, where Sonic was standing.

"Okay, first off, what is the Eggnet?" Sonic asked.

"All the ISP's were brought together into one company soon after Eggman took over, and he called it the Eggnet. The only sites that can be accessed, however, are the ones with Eggman propaganda. All the other sites are still there, but can't be accessed without clearance." Tails explained.

"Well, at least Eggman ended the Firefox vs. Internet Explorer wars," Sonic said with a smirk, then turned serious again. "And what about Cream? I noticed you looking at her earlier."

"I can't help it, Sonic. I love her, but I'm not sure how to tell her. And also, she's been cold and distant for a long time, since Amy, Vanilla, and Cheese died. Since we were her friends, and Eggman wanted to eliminate any resistance before it started, he went after our friends," Tails explained. "Cream's house was invaded with Eggrobos while both herself, Vanilla, and Cheese were home. Vanilla told Cream and Cheese to run, while she tried to stall them for as long as she could. They took her into custody, and went for the two of them. One fired at her, but Cheese leaped in front of the blast and took it herself. In the ensuing chaos, Cheese's new egg was crushed."

"So how did Cream escape?" Sonic asked.

"I knew that Eggman was coming after us, so I was on my way there to get the three of them into hiding. I was able to help her escape, but was too late to get the other two out." Tails answered. "Vanilla was publicly executed, and her last words were 'Cream, wherever you are…I love you'. She took it hard, basically shut herself from the rest of the world, and made it her personal mission to get revenge."

"So she's now like Shadow when we first met him? That's not a good thing. I just hope I can get back, so I can stop all of this befiore it starts," Sonic said

---
Meanwhile, at Eggman's base, one of the Eggrobos walked into Eggman's office and saluted before speaking. Eggman had his back turned, so all the Eggrobo could see was the back of the chair.

"Sir, I have news to report…" he started.

"This had better be important, or else you'll be going to the scrap heap," Eggman told him.

"It is, sir. We encountered the resistance leader in the city, and were prepeared to capture him, when a hedgehog stopped us," he said.

"You bothered me in my private offices to tell me you were attacked by Shadow?" he asked, an edge in his voice, as he turned towards the robot. He had the same oversized mustache and oversized gut, but his hair was completely white now.

"No sir. This hedgehog was not black, but blue."

That got Eggman's attention. He stood up and slammed his palms on the desk in front of him.

"Blue? Are you absolutely sure?" Eggman asked, as the Eggrobo jumped at his sudden reaction.

"Yes sir," the Eggrobo answered.

"Thank you. That will be all," he said, and the Eggrobo quickly left before he changed his mind. "If Sonic is back in town, that means that maybe I can use that new plan that I've been working on,"

He gave a smirk, as he looked over at the machine standing in his office, unmoving. It was powerless for now, but soon, it would be the method that he will use to finally flush out the rebels.

To be continued…