I am so sorry this took so long. It's a really long chapter, though, so that should make up for it, I hope :) I decided that I won't split it up into two chapters because y'all have waited so long for it. Here you go!

Enjoy!

Diclaimer: I own nothing but Riku and Kai, so there :P

Chapter 11 !!!!!1!!!111!!!!1!!! We Did it, Biznotch!

The quintet (That's my new favorite word, if you couldn't tell) waved goodbye as the small band of Shadow clones flew off towards the late wicked witch's castle to party. They entered Emerald City and went straight for the Eggman, noting the odd smell seeping from the bush next to the entrance to the Eggman's room. They were standing in the corridor in front of the floating head of the Eggman, bobbing his head in time to E.G.G.M.A.N. When the song was over, the head had finally noticed them and appeared a bit startled.

"Who dares walk in on The Eggman while he's busy!" the floating head bellowed as his mustache bristled in annoyance and neon flames flared behind him.

"We have the wicked witch's bra!" declared Scarecrow cheerfully. Everyone then looked at Tin Man, waiting for him to show the bra.

"Well?" growled the Eggman, growing more impatient then he already was. Fox elbowed Tin Man in the gut, and then held his elbow in pain as a clang rang through the chamber. Scarecrow then leaned over to Tin Man.

"Why aren't you bringing out the bra?" whispered Scarecrow to Tin Man.

"What bra?" Tin Man answered too quickly and too loudly. Scarecrow then tackled Tin Man to the ground and pulled the lacy undergarment out from hammerspace. Scarecrow stood up and chucked it towards the Eggman while standing on Tin Man to try and prevent him from getting up. Too bad hay isn't heavy enough to hold down a metal axe man for long. Tin Man shoved off Scarecrow effortlessly and ran towards the object of his affection, only to fall flat on his face and be crushed by a cow.

"What the-?" Tin Man questioned as he moved his head, realizing that Fox had tackled him, and the cow fell on Fox.

"I thought Fox was over that whole cow thing," said an astonished Cream. Scarecrow shrugged and looked up at the Eggman.

"There's the bra!" Scarecrow proclaimed, pointing at the fussed over article of clothing. The Eggman gaped at the bra strewn across the floor, the only remnant of the wicked witch that Tin Man was desperately reaching for from his position under the cow twenty feet away. The cow mooed in protest as she felt the tin echidna under her struggle.

"Don't struggle so much! It makes everything worse," scolded Fox, who was now halfway out from under the cow.

"How are you so far out?" Tin Man yelped.

"Experience," Fox answered simply. Fox finished crawling out from under the cow and went back to stand with the others while awaiting the Eggman's reply. The floating head had finally peeled it's eyes from the bra and looked up at the gang.

"Amazing. Simply amazing! You actually did it!" commended the Eggman, trying to clap but then remembering that he didn't have hands. "I should have given this thing hands …"

"Huh?" asked Cream.

"Uh, nothing!" replied the Eggman. His eyes narrowed slightly and began shifting left and right suspiciously. Tin Man had finally crawled out from under the cow and began racing to the bra laying before the green, gaseous head. "Get away from that!" bellowed the Eggman. Tin Man eeped and ran to the others to cower.

"Who's cowardly NOW?" said a smirking Fox.

"Oh, shut up, you smart ass!" snapped Tin Man.

"But I'm a fox!" retorted Fox.

"I thought you were a lion!" an astonished Scarecrow said to Fox.

"SILENCE!" roared the Eggman. The quintet huddled together and began quivering with fear.

"Aren't you going to help us now?" Cream asked after a few moments.

"I never said I was going to help you," said the Eggman stuffily.

"WHAT!" the fellowship shouted together. They all began shouting at the Eggman. Cream eyes were brimming with tears as she spoke and so were Cheese's, but that was because Cream was choking him to death again. Fox and Scarecrow were trying to persuade the Eggman into helping them, while Tin Man was flat out pissed and throwing every swear and insult that had been invented at the floating head.

"I said that you needed to get the bra so I can help you, not necessarily that I would help you!" boomed the Eggman in a loud voice so he could talk over the protesting party.

"Muggle f---ing troll s---!" screamed Tin Man. "Your mother is a f---ing s------ ----- --- ----- hippopotamus ----!" Tin Man began screaming but Scarecrow slammed a hand over his mouth, but Tin Man's muffled vocals rambled on.

"The Great Eggman has spoken!" bellowed the Eggman as his head disappeared and the fire died down to glimmering embers, resembling a neon molten lava pool. Cream fell to her knees and began bawling, and Scarecrow and Fox rushed to her aid.

"- in a castle far away where no one can hear you f--- --- ---- soup ---- -" Tin Man was still rambling away before Scarecrow clasped a hand over his mouth again.

"Don't cry, Cream!" Fox told Cream as he kneeled down to her and gave her a hug.

"The Eggman is just a prick!" interjected Scarecrow from his position next to Tin Man.

"I know," said Cream as her sobbing softened to sniffles, "it won't be so bad to live here with you guys. It's kind of like being hom-" she started, and then broke out into a new crying fit. Scarecrow decided to go comfort Cream and went to her side.

"---- ---- -------- alakazam!" Tin Man finished. He was gasping for breath and noticed Cream crying. "What happened?" asked Tin Man, " And where's that mother f---ing Eggman?" The others simply ignored him. A foot away from Cream, Cheese was gaining consciousness again and sat up. He looked over to the Eggman's throne area and noticed a curtain nearby shuffling slightly.

"Chao chao (What the hell)?" Cheese chirped as he fluttered over to the curtain and pulled it all the way back to reveal a green crocodile pulling levers and turning cranks. Cheese looked over to the bra and noticed that a claw was coming down to retrieve the bra lying on the floor in front of the throne. The crocodile looked over and noticed the curtain open, but couldn't close it before the rest of the group noticed him too.

"Who are you?" asked Scarecrow. Suddenly the Eggman reappeared again in a flash of light.

"Ignore the crocodile behind the green curtain. He is of no importance!" the floating head bellowed. Cheese simply opened the curtain in the middle of his sentence to reveal the crocodile speaking into a microphone. "Don't open that curtain again! Get away you, you … uh …" the crocodile shouted into the microphone as the rest of the group approached him. They stood there staring at one another for a while until the crocodile sighed.

"Okay, you got me," submitted the crocodile as he stepped out of the booth he was standing in.

"Wait … YOU'RE the Eggman?" asked Scarecrow, as stunned as the rest of the group.

"Yep," the crocodile sighed. Cream realized that he looked just like that weirdo that jumped in through her window one night back home. Cream began crying harder at the thought of home.

"So you're just some hack who's been jerking everyone's chain just to rule the country as an all powerful floating head?" Scarecrow asked.

"You must be Sir Points out the Obvious, A.K.A Scarecrow," the crocodile said to Scarecrow.

"How did you know?" asked an astonished Scarecrow. No one was surprised at this statement, so Scarecrow was ignored.

"I am Vector the Crocodile. Wizard extraordinaire!" proclaimed Vector, thrusting his hand in the air.

"I thought you were a salesman," thought Cream aloud. She didn't notice that she let her thoughts slip, but did notice how nervous Vector suddenly looked.

"Uh, well, I'm not …" said Vector slowly. He then decided to move on.

"So you wanted a brain, huh?" Vector asked of Scarecrow, who was absentmindedly picking his nose, or trying, anyway. It's kind of hard to pick a round nose with no apparent nostrils, and don't ask how I know.

"Yup!" Scarecrow responded cheerfully.

" Well, how can you walk, talk, think, and breathe without a brain?!" Vector shouted at the oblivious blue scarecrow.

"I don't breathe," Scarecrow countered, sounding hurt.

"How can you walk, talk, and think if you don't have a brain?" Vector ask, unhindered by his brief lapse in thought.

"You know, I never really figured that out. It was always pointed out, but never addressed …" Scarecrow mused to himself, hand on his chin. The author began whistling while twiddling her thumbs. "So, what DO I get?" asked the Scarecrow.

"Let me get my bag of lies- er - magic.!" said Vector as he scuttled into the booth and procured a red bag from behind a shelf, while Tin Man snuck over to the bra on the floor and tucked it away into hammerspace, hoping no one noticed. Vector dug through the red velvet bag and pulled out a rolled up a piece of paper tied with a wet noodle and handed it to Scarecrow.

"What's this?" asked Scarecrow, who sniffed the moldy paper and stuck his tongue out in disgust.

"A diploma to show your … specialness …" said Vector, who had a hard time describing Scarecrow's intelligence without insulting it.

"Thank you!" squealed Scarecrow as he pulled the noodle off of the paper and crammed the paper into his chest while gnawing on the noodle. Vector then turned to Tin Man and looked at him sternly. Tin Man groaned and handed over the bra. "You wanted a heart, right?" Vector asked Tin Man.

"Yeah, so hand it over!" demanded Tin Man, "The love of my life had to die in order for me to get it, you know!"

"But how could you love her without a heart?" Vector asked Tin Man.

"Well I- … don't really know," Tin Man answered as he wondered about what the crack-pot 'wizard' had just said. The anger had vanished from his face as he began to ponder this. Vector began rummaging threw his bag and pulled out an ad from a magazine.

"Here you go!" announced Vector as he handed the ad to the dumbstruck tin echidna.

"What the hell?!" Tin Man questioned.

"It's an ad for those love hotlines that people call. You could probably find someone there!" explained the green crocodile.

"Couldn't you have just given me the bra of my lost lover?" asked Tin Man.

"You have to move on. She's dead," was Vector's explanation to Tin Man, but he really was just a pervert and wanted the bra for himself. Vector turned to Fox and allowed Tin Man to ponder over the ad. "And you wanted courage, I believe," Vector asked Fox.

"Y- y- yes, sir," replied the terrified fox cub.

"Well, it might just be me, but if you decided to stop that crazy tin can from getting the bra back, risking the possibility of having another cow fall on you, I'd say you've got plenty of courage already!" explained Vector.

"Yeah, you're right!" exclaimed Fox, "Can I change my wish, then?"

"Why not?" shrugged Vector.

"Hey! If he can change his wish, I want to change mine too!" complained Tin Man.

"You already had your turn!" snarled Vector. Tin Man then crossed his arms and proceeded to pouting. "Go on," Vector prompted Fox.

"Can you make it so cows don't fall on me anymore?" asked Fox. Vector put his hand to his chin and began to think.

"It must have been a curse put on you by the wicked witch. It should have worn off by now, considering that long stretch of time where no cows fell on you," stated Vector.

"Then why did that cow fall on me earlier?" asked Fox, confused by this statement.

"There's a dairy farm right above here," Vector explained as he pointed to a hole in the ceiling right above the cow.

"Oh! Then what do I get?" asked Fox. Vector pulled out a horseshoe from the red velvet bag and handed it to a confused Fox.

"This is for luck, which you seem to desperately lack," explained Vector. The crocodile then finally turned to Cream. "What did you want from me, dear?" asked Vector in a gentle manner.

"I just want to go home!" bawled Cream as fresh tears came to her eyes. Cheese sighed and prepared for the storm.

"Don't cry, bunny. Now you calm down and I'll get right back to you, alright?" cooed Vector. Cream nodded and as she cried, Vector turned to go into the booth when he felt a tug on his leg. He looked down and noticed Cheese standing by his feet.

"Chao chao (What about me)?" asked Cheese, annoyed that he was left out. Vector smirked at the tiny neutral chao and grabbed a notepad and pen and wrote down something. He tore the note from the notepad and handed it to Cheese. Cheese scanned over the note and began to chuckle evilly to himself. "Chao chao chao (Why didn't I think of this)?" he wondered out loud.

"You were too bloodthirsty to give it thought," answered Vector for Cheese. Vector then turned and approached the sobbing rabbit again after she'd calmed down. "Where are you from, sweetie?" Vector asked Cream.

"Station Square," she answered. Vector paused for a moment.

"I've given it some thought, and I've decided that I'll take you there myself!" Vector declared.

"What?!" Cream blurted out, forgetting her manners for pretty much this entire chapter.

"I'm actually from the world where you come from, so I know the way there, and knew I'd have to leave here after everyone figures out I'm not an all powerful, giant floating head," explained Vector.

"Oh, thank you so much!" thanked Cream as she hugged Vector, and Vector found out he was even more perverted than he originally thought, because a very disgusting and perverted thought came to mind about Cream at that moment, and that scared him and the author slightly.

XXX

Shadow was searching the grounds of his mistress's castle, seeking the stragglers that hadn't left yet after his clones threw a giant party at the strip club celebrating Rouge's death. Shadow smirked as he thought about it. "Such morons," Shadow said to himself as he flew around a corner and spotted a small troupe of clones clustered against the castle. Many were strewn along the wall, passed out, and Shadow even spotted a pair making out as well. A hazy memory of a drunken snogging session came back to Shadow and made him shudder. He dived at the small band of drunken clones and proceeded to kick them off the premises. Shadow was tossing drunken bodies over the property line and finally got to the pair making out. Shadow saw signs that it was about to go farther when he grabbed one and flung him off the other. "Hm, well, I knew you argued like a couple, but I never thought this would happen," Shadow said smoothly to the one he pulled off.

"Mind your own business, Catpan!" The clone shouted in a drunken slur, "I love Riku!"

"You, or the alcohol, Kai?" Shadow asked him smoothly. Kai stuck his tongue out at Shadow and then threw up a little on the ground. His spines appeared to be stained with a milky fluid, which made Shadow think of an egg white on a banana. Shadow shook his head and thought that the alcohol fumes were going to his head.

"Hey, you can't talk to Chadow like that, Kai! He locht his liver!" slurred Riku.

"You mean luver?" asked Kai of his friend.

"Yeah, lever!" spouted Riku, who then passed out. Shadow shook his head and picked up Riku so he could chuck him over the property line. As Shadow walked away, Kai lunged at Shadow and tackled him around the legs, causing him to topple over backwards onto Kai. Shadow knew he was drunk, but couldn't take anymore crap, so he immediately stood up, picked up Kai and Riku, and punted them across the hills. Shadow smirked and continued his rounds. When he was sure he had checked every nook and cranny of the vast castle grounds twice, he traveled back to the last spot anyone had seen the wicked witch. The sentry tower. Shadow had finally reached the tower and stopped to take a breather. He was exhausted from chucking his drunk clones off of the property, and thought about coming back here after a short nap, but knew this couldn't wait. Shadow walked over to the center of the room, to the pile of clothes and kicked them away, revealing a lock and handle in the floor. Shadow pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the lock and pulled open the secret trap door. A black blur shot out of the trap door and began gasping for air.

"I thought you had abandoned me! What took you so long?" demanded Rouge the Bat while dusting off the spare set of clothing she kept under the floorboards.

"I had to dispose of my drunken clones. They are of no use to us now, for they have betrayed you," Shadow had explained, not moving from his position.

"I heard," Rouge muttered while going through the pile of clothes she had shucked off during her performance, "Where's my bra? They didn't take it, did they?" asked Rouge.

"No, the clones didn't touch your clothes," replied Shadow.

"Then where is it?" Rouge asked, growing impatient.

"The rabbit and her friends took it," Shadow began, taking in the priceless look on Rouge's face, "they apparently needed it so the Eggman could help them,"

"That perverted quack of a crocodile," muttered Rouge, "he just wanted my bra! What idiots for actually believing him!" She picked up the old robes on the ground and used them to smear away the make up on her face, revealing a pea-green muzzle underneath, and sighed, "At least I don't have to wear so much make up anymore," Rouge pondered.

"You look better without it," commented Shadow, walking over to Rouge, "Why do you put it all over your body, anyway?" he asked, always curious about it.

"For those odd incidences where I'm walked in on, like when one of your clones walked in on us," replied Rouge, blushing slightly at the memory. Shadow wrapped his arms around Rouge's form and pulled her close for a hug.

"Good thing that will never happen again, since everyone thinks you're dead. That was a stroke of genius and good acting back there," Shadow commented. Rouge turned to face him and looked into his ruby eyes, resembling bleeding mirrors, she always thought, and locked lips with her lover. They began to kiss quite passionately, as Rouge was shucking off her robe around her shoulders to allow it to drop to the floor, whilst Shadow removed his gloves so as to fondle Rouge better. The passion infused pair fell to the floor with a thump, Rouge on top, of course. While their embrace grew into a love making session, two witnesses observed them from the corner of the open window to the tower, not wanting to be seen.

"Aw," sighed one observer, "they wuv each other!" he slurred to his comrade.

"She has green skin …" said the comrade, dazed at seeing Rouge's naked form dragon snaking with their captain.

"I'm not surprised, really," mentioned the observer, "I saw it through a smudge in her make up once. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me,"

"Be quiet, Riku! Do you want to get caught?" the comrade hissed at Riku.

"Oh, Kai. From what I hear, they wouldn't notice a heard of elephants stampeding right next to them!" rejoiced Riku. Kai nodded in agreement for once, as they watched the act they had only gossiped with the other clones about play out before their prying eyes. Kai wanted to look away, but found it extremely hard to even close his eyes while Riku watched with eagerness, absentmindedly sucking on the stump of the finger Cheese had stolen from him. Though Riku was against it, the peeping toms slipped away before the lovers were finished, remembering that they now had to find jobs. When the nasty deed was complete, Shadow and Rouge cuddled on the floor of the sentry tower lovingly.

"Hey, Rouge?" asked Shadow.

"Yes, my dear," prodded Rouge.

"How come last time we had sex your make up didn't come off, but this time it did?" Shadow continued.

"Simply because I wanted it to. It's enchanted to work that way," Rouge explained. Shadow nodded in understanding.

"We just had sex on a dirty, molding floor," Shadow said, masking his disgust.

"Then I'll go take a shower, and you go grab the saddle and riding crop," declared Rouge as she removed herself from Shadow's embrace and went to the showers, while Shadow chaos controlled to Rouge's tower, where he gathered the items and went straight to the bedroom to dress himself for the night's escapades. The bat and the winged hedgehog were never bothered again. Not by 'wizard', clone, or tax collector either, for a roaming pack of enchanted wolves tore up anyone who dare approach their love nest, and also took the rest of the fingers off Riku's mutilated hand.

XXX

A giant crowd had gathered at the town square of Emerald City to see off 'the Eggman' and the little bunny who had disposed of the wicked witch. They were swinging banners of deep green with "GET THE HELL OUT, ALREADY" sewed into them with blazing gold thread. Vector was standing inside a crimson hot air balloon, making a grand speech to the people of Emerald City, telling them to leave Espio in charge when they find him. Apparently, no one wants to look behind the plot device bush. Cream was saying goodbye to everyone and turned to her companions. "Mr. Fox, stay brave, and I hope that cows will never fall on you and shatter your bones into tiny shards again," Cream said to Fox, who was dabbing away tears with his tail.

"Uh, okay … -sniff- … I'm s- st- still going to miss you, Cream!" bawled Fox as he hugged Cream tightly and rubbed his snot into her dress. He finally let go, leaving a string of snot from his nose to her shoulder between them, which Cream didn't seem to notice. Cream then turned to Tin Man, who was drinking heartily from a can of beer so his tears wouldn't rust him over, which was contrary to what he told everyone else.

"I hope you find your true love soon and that you live happily ever after, Mr. Tin Man!" chirped Cream at Tin Man.

"Whuzzat? Oh, I hope I find my glove too. He's me alkeyhal buddy!" replied Tin Man as he stumbled a little towards Cream. Cream then turned to face Scarecrow, who was now trying to shred the paper that Vector had given him.

"It makes better stuffing when it's shredded," explained Scarecrow when Cream saw him tearing the greasy paper. Cream then walked over to Scarecrow and gave him a hug.

"I'm going to miss you the most, Mr. Scarecrow," Cream sighed to Scarecrow, who had hugged her back by now.

"Buttered Toast, Cream," said Scarecrow.

"Huh?" asked Cream, confused.

"You smell like buttered toast. And not that crappy burnt toast, either. It's juuuuust right," explained Scarecrow. Cream smiled at Scarecrow, not really knowing how you respond to such a statement.

"Will you get over here and quit makin' cutesy comments about everyone, already!" Vector shouted from the basket under the balloon. Cream left Scarecrow's embrace and picked up Cheese, who was reading his note given to him by Vector over and over again, memorizing every detail and letter. Cream stepped daintily into the basket and waved goodbye to all her friends and to the random townsfolk. Vector unhooked the latch that kept the basket tethered to the ground and pulled the lever above him to release a flame to help raise the balloon. Before the balloon could get a foot off the ground, a large gust of plot device wind blew through the city and shoved the basket and the hot air balloon, as well as Cheese's note, out towards the crowd.

"Chaooooo (Nooooo)!" screeched Cheese as he leapt from Cream's arms and after the note.

"Cheese!" Cream hollered after her pet chao. Cream then ran to the side of the basket and jumped over the edge to fetch her chao. Cheese had reached his note and clutched it close to his tiny chest, right before he was smashed up against Cream's. "Don't run off like that!" scolded Cream, but Cheese couldn't understand anything, due to the lack of oxygen to his brain. Cream then realized that she had just jumped out of the basket, her ticket home … She ran back to the hot air balloon. "Mr. Vector! Let the balloon down!" Cream hollered to the crocodile, who was now ten feet in the air.

"I can't! It's too far away and I don't know how the hell to run it!" shouted Vector to Cream.

"But I-" Cream began to protest, but Vector had already lost his attention and began waving at the crowd again.

"So long, weirdoes!" shouted Vector, as he waved. When he turned away, a thunderbolt came down from the sky and struck the balloon, creating a giant hole. The balloon, along with Vector, was then sent flying comically through the air, twisting and turning towards the sky until there was nothing left to see but light blue. The gathering had grown quiet and awed, but not by Vector's depart. A pink bubble was descending from the sky, and Cream remembered that it must be Amy, that pink hedgehog she met back by the Black Arms. As the bubble landed in the spot where the hot air balloon was once grounded and popped, Cream's conjecture proved correct. The pink hedgehog was in the same pink ballroom dress that Cream saw her in last time they met, but this time she had an oxygen tank strapped to her back and a oxygen mask on her face which was taken off immediately.

"This time I came prepared!" declared Amy as she gestured to the oxygen tank and mask on the ground.

"Amy!" cheered Cream as she ran over and gave the sorceress a hug. Geez, there's a lot of hugging in this chapter. "Mr. Vector disappeared and took the balloon with him and now I can't figure out how to get home!" Cream told Amy.

"Don't worry, sweetie! Have you learned your lesson?" asked Amy sweetly of Cream.

"… What lesson?" asked Cream, confused.

"You know … you ran away from home and learn that there's no place like home?" asked Amy, a little unsure this time.

"I didn't run away from home. A tornado came and took me away from home," Cream explained.

"Well crap in a hat! There goes my plan," pouted Amy as she began to think about how to get Cream home. "Well, what did you learn, then?" Cream put a hand to her chin.

"I learned that getting cows dropped on you is bad," thought Cream.

"Nah. You need to learn something more global, something that covers more bases of life and something all people can relate to," explained Amy.

"Why?" asked Cream.

"That's forth wall issues that I can't explain to you," Amy waved Cream off and let her eyes wander to the trio of oddballs that were Cream's companions. She looked over Fox and saw his shocked eyes and snot and tear smeared tail. She looked at Tin Man too, noticing his giant axe that he had slung over his shoulder and the six pack of beer in his left hand while he chugged a can. Then her eyes caught the last member of the group, and she fell in love. That tall, thin figure. The cerulean hue of the fabric that held him together. Those, lime, sharp eyes that were busy watching his gloved fingers twiddling with each other and watching the one that broke off fall to the ground so he could pick it up and sew it back in place up-side-down.

"Oops," said the delicate, lighthearted voice of that hedgehog like scarecrow as he flexed his finger and realizing that it bent the wrong way.

"Amy?" asked Cream, waving her hand in front of a dazed Amy's face. Amy snapped out of her daydreaming and looked at the bunny like it was the first time she'd ever seen her.

"Who is that handsome hedgehog over there?" asked Amy as she pointed at Scarecrow.

"Oh, that's Mr. Scarecrow. He's really nice," answered Cream. Amy walked over to the befuddled scarecrow as he tried to reattach his finger properly.

"Hey there Mr. Scarecrow," Amy said to Scarecrow, who looked up from his work, "I'm Amy the Good Witch. May I know you're name?"

"… I don't have a name. I'm just called Scarecrow. Everyone calls me Scarecrow. The old farmer who owned the field I stood in called me that, too. He'd come out of his house late at night with his shotgun when the neighborhood kids would come and throw eggs at me and he would say "You damn kids git the hell off mah field!" and then he'd shoot his shotgun at them and they'd run away. One time he actually got one of them in the head and he buried the kid right behind me and told me, "Them Gale Force will never find 'im behind Scarecrow, no siree," and then the next morning Cream came and freed me!" Scarecrow told Amy. Amy stood there in shock for a minute and then patted Scarecrow on the head, which made him giggle.

"That's nice …" Amy told him, a little unsure on how to react. Then an idea came to her. It hit her so hard it felt like an alien latching onto her face and smashing her into the ground with extreme prejudice. She went over to Cream. "That's it!" she told Cream.

"You found a way for me to get home?" asked Cream.

"Duh! You have learned to pay attention to you friends!" said Amy, "The reader knows you didn't really pay attention to much at the beginning of this story," she explained.

"The who knew what now?" asked a drunken Tin Man who stumbled over and into the conversation.

"Forth wall crap- can we please move on! I have to tie up the scarecrow and take him back to my mansion," Amy said as she put Cream in place, "Now Cream, I want you to click those boots together and say that you learned to pay attention to others," Amy told Cream.

"Chao chao chao "chao chao chao"?! Chao chao chao chao chao (What do you mean by "pay attention to others"?! She never pays attention to me)!" shouted an angry Cheese.

"Hush, you adorably dreadful thing!" said Amy to Cheese.

"Chao chao ('adorably dreadful')?" questioned Cheese.

"Say the words after you click your heels together 3 times!" directed Amy, ignoring Cheese completely.

"What about these boots?" asked Cream.

"A little late to ask, isn't it?" said Amy, who had become incredibly agitated over the past few seconds, "Now click those clonking boots together and go home already," Amy told Cream as she was pulling rope out of a frilly pink purse and tying it around Scarecrow. Cream did as she was told and clicked the heels of the ruby boots together 3 times.

"I've learned to pay attention to others, I've learned to pay attention to others …" she kept repeating over and over again and she closed her eyes and felt very dizzy all of a sudden. When she opened her eyes, she found herself lying in her own bed, her black and white bed. She looked around and noticed that everything else was deprived of color as well. "I must be back now," Cream said to herself. Cream then heard footsteps coming closer to her room.

"Cream? Are you awake, dear?" asked the sweet voice of Vanilla.

"Mom?" Cream wondered aloud. Vanilla opened the door to find that Cream was indeed finally awake.

"Oh, Cream!" Vanilla cheered as she ran over to hug her daughter. "Sonic! Knuckles! Tails! Cheese! Cream is awake!" Vanilla shouted.

"Chao chao chao chao chao (You don't have to be so freaken' loud about it)," mumbled an agitated Cheese who was sleeping next to the leg of the nightstand he was tethered to. More footsteps were heard ands then Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails were in Cream's room, all with casts on various body parts.

"Hey, Cream! Glad you're awake!" Greeted Sonic, who was in a neck brace and was waddling like a penguin to stay balanced because both arms were in casts.

"We thought you were a goner for a while," said Knuckles, who was in a wheelchair and had his upper body bandage free.

"Mmffl mmrf mf mmffl," said a muffled and full-body-casted Tails who was nudged into the room by Sonic.

"Hello!" Came a voice from the window. Everyone who could turned to the window to see a crocodile looking in the window, "Looks like she's woken up,"

"Wait a second," Cream interrupted. Everyone looked at her, a bit surprised by the interruption, "I've been asleep? When?" Cream asked.

"Well, since the tornado came through. You're lucky to be alive, my sweet," explained Vanilla to her daughter, "you hit your head pretty badly," Cream just stared at her mother, trying to remember if she hit her head or not.

"But I was in another world. A magical place where the Black Arms and an evil witch and wonderful friends lived! And you were there!" Cream said and pointed her finger at Sonic, "And you were there, too!" she said as she pointed at Knuckles, "And you where there," as she pointed at Tails, who had fallen asleep due to being awake for longer than his fragile body could stand, "and you …" she said as she pointed at the crocodile at the window.

"Oh, you crazy little girl! What could possibly make you think I was in some magical world in your dreams," said the crocodile shiftily.

"But …"

"Cream, dear, you still have a bit of a fever. Why don't you come down stairs and have something to eat, hmm?" interjected Vanilla. Cream looked helplessly at her mom, and then gave in.

"Sure!" Cream agreed with her mom, and got up from her bed and began shoving her way through the casted patients that clogged the doorway so she could get to the kitchen.

"Would you like to join us, Mister Vector?" Vanilla asked the crocodile at the window.

"Nah, I've got things to do anyway. Goodbye, Ms. Rabbit, have a happy afterlife!" Vector called as he wandered away from the window.

"What a strange croc …" thought Vanilla aloud. She then shrugged and escorted the injured field workers down to the kitchen to go eat some pie. As she closed the door behind her, a small forgotten chao sat on the floor, smiling to himself wickedly as he rubbed his little stubs for arms together and began laughing maniacally.

"Oh, Cheese! I almost forgot about you!" gasped Cream as she opened the door and entered the room, "Are you okay? You were in my dream, too. Don't think that I would forget about my most precious friend in the whole wide world!" Cream said as she ensnared Cheese in a suffocating bear hug. "Do you want to come down stairs and have some pie?" Cream asked Cheese, loosening her grip enough to let him speak. Cheese's eyes darted back and forth as he tried to think of how to get out of eating the pie. Cheese then started wiping at his eyes and yawned.

"Chaooo (Ahhh)" Cheese sighed as he tried to look incredibly sleepy.

"Oh, I guess you're probably tired from our adventure, huh?" asked Cream, and Cheese looked really confused. He thought that that was just a dream, but Cream apparently had the same dream.

"Chao (Creepy) …" muttered Cheese under his breath. Cream gently placed Cheese on the floor again and tightened the leash he was on so he wouldn't get away, and left the room. "Chao. Chao chao chao chao (Phew. That was a close one)," Cheese spoke to himself as he gazed around the room and heard the clattering of plates downstairs and remembered the plan that the eccentric crocodile gave him in the dream, which he was questioning. Was it all really just a dream?

"Yay! Poison berry pie!" Sonic cheered from the kitchen, and Cheese heard them all eating the pie hungrily, slurping noises could also be heard from the kitchen, along with a smack on someone's head, Knuckles' to be exact, while he protested. Suddenly, gagging was heard from downstairs, and several thuds followed, silencing the gagging. It was done. Cheese smirked to himself.

"Chao chao. Chao chao chao chao chao (I've done it. I've finally rid myself of those imbeciles)!" cried Cheese in ecstasy, "Chao chao chao chao chao chao chao (I finally have time to clean my stash of guns in the basement)," Cheese announced as he got up to walk to the basement, and then quickly being yanked back to the nightstand by his leash. Cheese started trying to undue the leash, but Cream had made it so tight, his stubby little arms couldn't slip it off. "Chao chao! Chao chao chao (Damn Evolution! Not giving me fingers) …" Cheese grumbled as he fiddled with the leash. He tried to pull the nightstand with him instead, but it was bolted to the ground. "Chao … chao chao … chao (No … there was … time now) …" Cheese muttered as he had a complete mental breakdown and curled into a tight little ball of blue, malicious cuteness.

"And there the naughty little chao stayed for a good long time,"

"And did he ever come out?"

"Not yet."

TEH ENDE

Whad'ya think? I'm glad that I was able to actually go all the way through this story, having no clue how it was going to end. Kudos to Lordwindwalker for giving me the idea about Cheese actually succeeding his goal of killing Cream. I know that it became more serious towards the end, but I just couldn't think of a way to make it funnier. I thought the bittersweet ending (I borrowed the last 3 lines from Wicked (the book)) would make it okay, though. I had the intention of keeping Rouge alive from the start, though. That was all me, and a little bit from Wicked (the play). I will hopefully start those Bowser one-shots I've been meaning to do now (and various other things) , so keep your eyes peeled!

I do not plan on continuing this story (despite what the ending tells you), I might make a prequel pertaining to Rouge (Ala Wicked), but that's a big maybe. If you have any ideas, leave them in a review :)