Chapter 7: The Production

"Hey! Hey Charolette wake up!" Whisper/screamed a voice in my ear. I grudgingly opened my eyes to see a pair of blue ones staring back at me from a creepishly close distance. So, like most normal people might do -using the term 'normal' very loosely- I screamed. I screamed and tucked my head under the covers briefly noticing a flash of yellow as my eyes shut tight.

"Man, Charolette! Don't do that!"

I then recognized the voice to be Scourge's. I looked out from under the covers to see Scourge just in front of the door holding his ears, his face in a contorted grimace.

"Crap!" I said, throwing back the covers and hopping off to the floor. "Scourge I'm so sorry. I promise I didn't mean to use the Chaos, I swear it!"

"Rgghhh… It's fine." He moaned. "Oww…." He shook his head and stood up to his full height, though, his ears sunk low. I hugged him and patted his shoulder.

"Are you sure you're gonna be alright?"

He nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I should be fine. It's Mogul we're going to have to worry about isn't it? He isn't used to you at all." He smiled halfheartedly.

"That's true…." I agreed. "I just hope I impress him enough."

"I'm sure you will," Scourge reassured me as he placed his arm on my shoulder. "Heck, you even impressed the Doc. Not an easy feat."

"Thanks, Scourge." I said, wrapping my arms around his waist. Mainly because that was the only part of his body I could easily hug seeing as his shoulders were where my head was at. He slowly hugged me back. "Sorry about your ears again…" I apologized.

"It's fine Charolette. I'll recuperate in time for tonight."

"Alright…." I said, walking over to my dresser. "Hey, who else is going besides you, me and the Dr.?" I asked, pulling out some jeans and a long sleeved purple shirt.

"Uh, I think Patches is, and then Miles is buying a ticket. Boomer doesn't do this type of stuff, and I'm not too sure about Fiona. She usually doesn't miss a chance to go to a party or anything."

"Alright, just so long as you and Miles don't try to kill each other like you did a few days ago. Nearly took out the main hall…" I said.

"Hey, fuzzball started it. Messing with my coat and all, ya know?" He said. I heard him then jump onto my unmade bed.

"Please get your dirty shoes off my comforter." I asked him, clothes in hand.

"Eh, get dressed Charolette. We still have some stuff to do before we leave." He said, kicking off his shoes one by one. The first landed against the far wall by the window. The second bounced off the dresser's door and hit the back of my calf.

"Oww." I complained playfully.

"Cry me a river, kid. Now go get dressed."

"I can't do that when you're in here Scourge. " I said.

"Course you can. It won't bother me any."

"Well it will me." I muttered under my breath as I walked to the other side of the dresser facing the wall, making sure the door was covering my left side with the wall to my right.

Slowly, I began to change.

"Are you that scared that I'll peak?" I heard Scourge asked from his perch. "It's not like I haven't seen anything like that before."

I blushed.

"Well, I'm not used to having other people watch me change on a regular basis. And somehow you seem to have this uncanny ability to sense when I'm going to change my clothes….Why is that, Scourge?"

"Eh,… that just means that you should be used to me by now."

I placed my hand on the door to the dresser and peaked my head around to face him.

"No, it means that I should be worried that you're trying to do something."

Like ticking off Miles for one thing…

"What, you don't trust me?."

"Considering you kind of lied to me about who you were? Not as completely as you might like." I retaliated, finishing putting on my shirt.

I then walked forwards and closed the door as I retrieved his shoes from the far side of the room.

"I believe these are yours?" I asked as I handed them out to him. He looked over at me and grabbed the shoes, but pulled them so I fell over onto the bed. He then rolled over so he was looking at me right in the eyes.

"You know I wouldn't try to do anything to ya." He said softly as he caressed my face with his free hand.

I pulled away and stood up sharply.

"Yes, you would." I replied. He sighed and began to pull his shoes back onto his feet. "Remember when you grabbed me around my waist after you nearly pushed my off the cliff? And the first time we trained in the woods, don't think I forgot about that."

"So I like to get you scared before I cuddle up to ya. What's so wrong about that?" He asked.

"The fact that you enjoy it." I said walking out the door. My bed could wait to be made until I got back later.

By now I thoroughly knew my way around the castle and didn't make any detours on my way to the lab, which had become my second room while I was here. That is, if I wasn't outside practicing my fighting or dangling off a cliff…

I heard Scourge's faithful footsteps behind me. And even though he didn't say anything, it was still nice to have him nearby. I know I seemed a bit harsh on him, but he was plenty used to it, and some part of me thinks that he likes it when I try to stand up to him. That sick, twisted, sadistic side…

I shuddered at the thought, and went straight back to my determined path. The Dr. was waiting.

That's right. That was the day I was to meet Mogul, the beneficiary of the experiment. At the very least, I thought, I'd be able to see more of the world that I was currently staying in.

Maybe even find someone else who can get me out of here.

When I pushed through the door to the lab I tapped Boomer on the shoulder and gave him a hug.

"How ya doing Boom?" I asked, quickly walking over to a piece of machinery in the corner.

"Morning, Charolette. Doing okay, and I wouldn't touch that if I were you." He added. I slowly put down a little bobble that I was fondling.

"Why? Does it explode or something?"

"No, it actually makes you seem like your drunk if it's opened."

"Oh." I said, setting it back down slowly on the table. "That wouldn't be good."

"No, it wouldn't."

"I think it would be pretty funny. When'd you make it?" Scourge asked as he walked over and picked up the object I had JUST sat down.

"A few weeks ago actually," Boomer answered as he walked over and grabbed it out of his hands. "And when I tested it out Patches and Fiona ended up spending an entire afternoon trying to play ring around the rosy with the Doctor. Trust me, it wasn't fun."

"Actually, that sounds mildly amusing." I agreed.

Boomer sighed.

"I wouldn't suggest trying it today though, especially when you need to meet Mogul. Trust me, you'll want to be completely coherent."

"Yeah, he's right… Aww man. Then at least save it for us, huh Boomer?" Scourge said tossing it to the purple walrus. He almost missed it, and caught it about five inches from the ground.

"Darn it, Scourge! Don't do stupid stuff like that!" He yelled, cradling the little bobble.

"Sorry, I thought you had it." He said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Obviously not."

I sighed and shook my head.

"Hey, do you know where Finitevus is? He said he wanted to talk to me before we left." I asked. "I mean, I know we still have a while but I sti-,"

"I'm right here." Interrupted his imposing voice as the Doctor walked in. His eyes had large circles underneath them and he seemed more grumpy and gloomy than normal.

"Uh, what did you need to see me about?" I asked hesitantly.

"Oh, yes." He said. He then pulled out a large box from behind him and placed this on the table. "This is for you first of all."

I raised my eyebrows at it and pulled it towards me. The box was absolutely HUGE! A really pretty light lavender with a large yellow stick on note on top. My name was on it.

"Who's it from?" I asked as I pulled off the lid.

"Mogul." Finitevus answered. "He thought you might like to wear it tonight."

You already opened it? I thought as I took out the tissue paper. My eyes then widened in utter awe of what laid on the table in front of me. An absolutely beautiful blue dress covered in sequins making swirls over the seemingly ever changing single color of the material. Light blue ruffles showed faintly underneath, giving the skirt some extra poof. I slowly pulled it out of the box, careful not to snag it on anything.

"It's gorgeous." I said, holding it up to myself and twirling around the lab. "And you said Mogul sent it? How did he know my size and stuff?"

"The material in this world is more adjustable than the material in yours….. Could you please stop doing that? You're going to break something." He growled.

I stopped twirling, but continued to hold the dress up to me.

"Sorry. It's just so much prettier than anything I've seen in my world." I said solemnly putting the dress down. Finitevus was giving me the look I hated receiving from him. The look that suggested I was nothing more than mere child. It seemed so inappropriate to me seeing as how I was traveling between different worlds and stuff. But, I suppose the least I could do was to act like a proper representation of the people on Earth.

"Eh, you'll be twirling around later at the club." Scourge reassured me, patting my back. I looked again longingly at the dress and sighed. As Scourge said, later.

"So, is there anything that we need to go over before this evening?" I asked.

"Just this. Don't take anything to drink except water. Anything else you find in any other world will be too much for your body system to handle. The food is fine because the nutritional values are the same anywhere. Not to mention that liquids can be more easily tampered with, and we don't need you being tampered with. Understood?"

"Yeah, there are a bunch of creepy guys around that place." Boomer added from across the room. "Scourge included."

"Gee thanks." The green hedgehog replied.

"I don't think I'd want to take anything but water anyways. " I replied. "But, couldn't that be 'tampered' with too?"

"The air could be tampered with, Charolette. The point is that water is the simplest form of substance available. Now, if you're done asking stupid questions?" Finitevus snapped.

"Yeah," I said picking up my dress box. "I'm going to go practice. If you'll excuse me."

Finitevus waved for me to leave.

"Be ready to go by promptly six o'clock."

"Yessir. See ya later Boomer." I said walking out. He waved a hand at me as well.

As I walked out the door I heard Finitevus begin to talk again.

I opened the box once more to look at it and smiled. Gosh was it pretty.

I then ran towards the front hall where I could get to my practice room. They set it up for me when I got here, just in case I made it. Luckily for them, I could utilize their handiwork.

The front hall echoed with my footsteps as I walked over to the left side. Once there, I set my box on the ground and opened the hidden door in the wall.

The small room I entered was covered with carpets and other sound reducing materials so I could sing as loud as I needed without completely killing their ears. Lord KNOWS that helped a lot in the last week.

I walked over to the stereo sitting in the corner and popped in a couple karaoke CDs into the six disk turn table. Even though I wasn't allowed to go back to my world, Scourge was, so I had him get some CDs for me. I still haven't been able to visit, and he won't tell me how my family is doing at all.

"I'll save that for another day I suppose." I told myself as I pressed on the power button. I heard the system buzz and the first track began to play.

Can you feel the love tonight.

Concrete Angel.

Don't stop believing.

Forever and for always.

Hound Dog.

Open your eyes to love.

So many songs. Over and over.

Eventually, I stopped and walked out to get some water since my throat was about as dry as the Gobi desert. And as soon as I opened the door I ran into a big, red wall.

"Ow." I said, running into said wall.

"Nice to see you." The wall said back to me.

I looked up to see Miles' face staring back down at me. I blushed and took a step back.

"Sorry about that. I should've been looking where I was going." I said.

"No problem, I was just coming to see how you were doing."

"Oh, I'm doing fine… Just practicing some songs for tonight." I answered.

"And how's that going?" He asked, walking past me back into the practice room. So much for my water break.

I followed him back in and closed the door. His ears perked up at the sound, but he didn't say anything.

"So, what do you think you'll sing for him?" Miles asked.

"I don't really know. I just wanted to practice..." I answered, sitting on one of the fold up chairs in the corner.

He sighed and walked over.

"Well, I guess whatever you choose will be nice. Your voice is beautiful… And I was also supposed to tell you that it is about five o'clock, so you should probably go get dressed." He added with a small smirk on his muzzle as he leaned in close.

"I've been singing for that long? Shoot! Thanks Miles!" I said, quickly bypassing, but acknowledging, the closeness in which his face had been to mine, as I stood up and ran out the door, pausing only to open said door and pick up my dress.

I ran through the hallways up to my room, and despite the week of hard training I had, I was out of breath by the time I reached my room. The bulky box was definitely part of the problem.

As I opened the door, I saw something moved from the corner of my eye. I quickly turned and looked down the hallway. Nothing. Only the red carpet on the floor, the brass candelabras on the wall, and the occasional cobweb waving lazily in the corner. I looked the other way and saw the same thing.

"Okay… That was weird…" I said to myself as I opened the door. My bed was still a mess, but I didn't expect anyone here to make it for me. Unlike my mother, these guys had lives to live, and I don't think they'd spend it making up my bed for me.

I set the dress on the bed and walked over to the window to close the curtains. The sun was low in the sky. Which I suppose would be alright, considering the nights were getting a tad shorter all the time. I undressed and then slipped effortlessly into the dress.

"I don't think this guy is as bad as they say he is" I said to myself. The dress fit perfectly, and I thought it matched my hair rather well. I felt the sequins on the dress rub underneath my arms. "Yeah, that's the only downside I suppose." I added as an after thought. "Ah well, time to do all the other stuff."

On my dresser, there was some makeup and hair stuffs that I had some how gotten Fiona to give me a couple days ago.

After messing with it for a while, I decided to let sleeping dogs lie and let my hair just fall down randomly, since there was no appeasing it without a shower or anything. And, due to my lack of time management, I didn't have enough to try to make myself look as nice as I would've liked.

I did slip on some little white flats that were hidden well underneath the big skirt, and after I thought I looked halfway decent, I walked out of my room and down the stairs towards the lab, as that's where I thought everyone would be.

I met Boomer in the main hall as he was trudging towards the doors with a large sack on his back.

"Uh, do you need some help?" I asked. He looked at me out of the corner of his eyes.

"No, I'm alright Charolette. Just gotta do some chores." He answered. "You look nice by the way. Good luck tonight."

"Thanks." I replied as he continued to walk away. From the bag, though, I thought I smelled something that smelled faintly reminiscent of raw meat.

Okay…. I thought to myself as I continued to walk down.

Once there, I saw Patches, Miles, Scourge and of course, the Doctor all waiting for me. The first three were at least dressed up somewhat, while the Doctor was still wearing his traditional garb of creepiness.

But, buttons were polished, pins applied and straightened, and they looked nice. Scourge's traditional leather jacket traded in for something a tad more classy… a simplistic tux jacket.

Single handedly, I thought that this sight alone could rival the proms that my school held. And the best part of it all was that I didn't have a date.

"Hello." I said, as I walked in. The dress snagged briefly on the doorframe, and I had to tug at the hem so it would get through alright. I then walked in towards them. Finitevus flashed a glance at me.

"Are you prepared?" He asked.

I nodded.

"I think so."

"You can't think. You don't have time to think around him. You have to know." Finitevus answered.

"Then, yes, I am." I replied.

He nodded.

"Fire up the star rods." Finitevus said. Miles nodded and walked over to a corner of the lab that contained a couple large poles with a star glass orb on the top. He pressed a couple buttons and a bolt of energy coursed through them. Slowly, a yellow portal began to open and the eerie glow shown throughout the room. I looked over at Scourge and the others. Their fur was glowing with the same color, and made their already sinister looking features even more… sinister.

"It's time." Finitevus said, holding his had out to me. I took it and he walked in first. As I stepped in, I felt the cool energy wash over me, almost like the Chaos energy did when I first absorbed it. As stepped in, everything went light.

A/N: To Adamanthys; first off, I appreciate you challenging me. I truly do. And hopefully I will be able to answer your question for you. Okay, I'll start where it makes most sense, at the beginning. So, there, obviously, Charolette and Scourge are basic human sized (seeing as they're both humanoid in form at that time) Finitevus enters and he is smaller than Charolette. Why did I make it like that? I honestly don't know why. If anything my only logical reason is to say that Sonic X (*raspberries over shoulder*) is my reason. When I was watching it (*gouges out eyeballs*) I figured that the animals are smaller than the humans. I then went, wait, I don't want them to be midgets! I want them taller than midgets! So, I made them slightly shorter than the average human.

Then,(to even things out) I make Charolette shorter in their world in essence to really even things out. (I know I said that twice…heh heh). Also, I wanted her to seem a bit more vulnerable in their world, so I made her shorter is size. Again, bigger than a midget.

I hope this answers your question without me coming across like a big 'ol jerk.

Please continue to challenge me. I want you to. So thank you.

To everyone else, I do have a file for this on DA, as well as some pictures. (More will be added shortly, and if you have any suggestions on what to draw, let me know, cause sometimes I need a little push.)

The new chapter is already underway. HERE COMES MOGUUUUUUL! *elephant in question comes out of comic book and whacks me across head with cane, and then disappears.*

-Dojang