Chapter Seven: Three and None
After about one more straight day of driving, the six friends arrived at their first destination. The car came to a haoult in front of a cottage rental area that was fairly wooded. Inside, Knuckles stood up and took a microphone belonging to a Barbie karaoke set.
"Great, it's our inspirational speaker for the evening" Cream giggled. Ignoring that comment, Knuckles continued.
"Now listen guys, this maybe be a life changing experience, a time altering vacation, a…"
"Cut to the chase!"
"Just have fun; we will be staying in a little cottage of my uncles that I…slightly upgraded to our likings..." They all clapped. Rouge then knocked on the glass that separated them from Sunny, cueing her to open the doors for them. As soon as Sunny let them out, Knuckles led them all to the front desk of the check in cabin.
"Hi Jeff!"
"Oh Knuckles! Hi! Your cabin is ready for you, and the renovations are all done" he said, tossing Knuckles the keys.
"By the way how is your uncle?"
"Great, living it up in Hawaii!" he said, catching the keys.
"Okay well have fun; I'll have a tour guide show your friends around our resort"
"No need, Jeff. I got this!" Knuckles said confidently, pounding his chest. He led them all through the lakefront resort, where all the cottages were located.
"Ohh, which one is ours?" Cream asked with bright eyes; these cottages were almost the size of her house!
"Pshh, you call these cottages? Wait 'til you see ours!" he smiled. He led them all the way to the base of a giant, rocky cliff. Small stairs were carved in on the side, all the way to the top.
There is NO freakin' way I am climbing this!" Rouge said. She looked at it. A huge tall mountain. Stairs. No.
"Not a problem for those of us who can fly" Tails smiled, extending a hand to Cream and Rouge.
"This is too much for even my wings" she said.
"We could fly together?" Tails offered.
"That's sweet of you. You know, you PIGS could learn a thing from Tails" Rouge said to Sonic and Knuckles. She silently hoped that they weren't angered at this statement. But a little more chivalry would be nice…
"Relax, no one is walking, or flying!" Knuckles said as he pressed a button. Down came a bench bearing a striking resemblance to a ski lift. "Hop in."
The all rode up of the rocky cliff. As they piled out the girls squealed at the sight. They all came face to face with a huge mansion of a cottage. It had two stories, with a deck on the top made for observation at the beautiful overview of Lake Huron. The cottage itself was made up of a stony finish, with an elegant-meets-woodsy feeling. The place was surrounded by woods, with a small secluded pool in the back.
Everyone immediately ran inside, where Sunny was waiting to open the door for all of them.
"How does she get up here so fast…?" Cream asked.
"Just ignore it" Rouge replied. Sunny held the door open as the girls walked in, but the boys stayed behind.
"Au contraire, Sunny bear" Sonic smiled "Allow us to help you"
"Oh no, no, no, you boys go ahead inside!" she smiled.
"I insist" Knuckles said, walking over to pick up some luggage.
"On one condition" Sonic said. "You must come swimming with us this evening" he said, extending a hand. "Deal?"
"Oh you are just too adorable, how can I refuse?" Sunny smiled, shaking his hand. They all began bringing in the luggage from the lift. The boys high-fived each other. The girls heard none of this, as they were inside already picking out where they would sleep. The doors to their rooms were painted the color that represented each of them (Amy-pink, Rouge- purple, ect.) so they weren't too hard to choose. All of the rooms seemed to have something in them that fit the individual's needs.
Amy's room was mostly pink and red. She had a waterbed and a small balcony, and also a hardwood floor with a red carpet and sofa; she had a small marble fishpond and a large trampoline. Rouge's room was purple and white, with a fully stocked vanity, two telephones, and a bed encrusted with jewels. She had a small loft above which held two beanbags and a bookshelf full of magazines. Cream's room was tan colored and white; it had glass tables and a flat bed; there was an arch that led to a small room with huge windows for viewing, and a fully stocked ice cream bar.
The boys' rooms were a bit different. Tails had a room with a climbing ladder that led up to a study filled with books; Sonic's had a small personal gym; Knuckles's had a rock climbing wall. Each room had their own marble bathroom and shower, flat screen TV, and walk in closet. As everyone was unpacking, Knuckles yelled over the intercom.
"Everyone report to the observation deck when you are done unpacking."
Cream was just finishing unloading her stuff when she heard a knock at the door. She opened it to find Sonic wheeling a suitcase into her room.
"More luggage!" he said.
"Um, pretty sure this isn't mine" she replied, suspiciously looking and the ugly green suitcase.
"Sure it is! Its, um, your…shaving…tampons…"
Cream put on a skeptical look as she slowly opened the bag. If this was another one of their exploding paintball tricks…
"BOO!" Tails jumped out. She looked unsurprised.
"Oh come on! That was GREAT!" Sonic pouted. Cream smiled and crossed her arms.
"Yeah, you guys are prank masters" she said sarcastically.
"Better than you!" Sonic said as Tails was checking out the ice cream bar.
"Psh do I need to bring up that Peter site…told you that you would die?" Cream smiled.
"One thing! I can outprank…" he paused. "anyways, getting off-topic. Knuckles put an exploding lipstick in Rouge's vanity and we need you to act all innocent and make sure she uses it; DON'T rat us out"
"Okay, as long as you guys promise not to go through my ice cream bar"
"Promise" Tails said, his mouth full. As they exited, Tails turned around.
"Hey by the way need any help?" he asked. Cream nodded as she checked what was left. As he sat down next to her she looked in and discovered the only thing left in the bag was her panties.
"Umm….actually nevermind"
"No, no I'll help!" he said, grabbing the bag from her hands.
"No don't look…"
But he had already pulled her blue duck-covered panties from the bag. He immediately threw them back and blushed.
"I told you!" she lightly slapped him and smiled.
"Okay I'm sorry! I'll just get out! Fine!" he fake- yelled. She smiled. As he closed the door behind her he slid down as he blushed, wondering if Cream was actually upset. In her room, Cream cleaned out her clothes.
"Oh man! How did THIS get in here?" Cream said. She held up a pair of lacey underwear that was practically nothing but stings; Rouge bought it for her and she had never worn them. "Maybe I threw them in here by accident? I'm sure glad Tails didn't see!" she said in relief. As she finished she headed out to the observation deck.
Meanwhile, the boys tapped their feet in the upstairs TV room. Knuckles wouldn't let them look outside until everyone arrived. Tails walked in.
"Dude! How was it?" Knuckles asked, putting his arm around Tails. Sonic put his arm around him also.
"Give us the details? Did you touch them?"
"WHAT are you guys talking about?" Tails said, squirming out from under their arms.
"We're TALKING about your panty raid!" Knuckles smiled. Tails jumped back.
"The-there was no panty raid! I just accidentally saw them! How do you guys even know?"
"We accidentally left the intercom on, and see, the button gets jammed in that room, so we heard everything. Tails gasped.
"So…it wasn't a panty raid? Shame. How many man points did he lose?" Sonic said, looking over to Knuckles.
"About 100"
"100? That's totally unfair!" Tails whined.
"Want to get it back?" Sonic asked. Tails nodded excitedly.
"Come on a REAL panty raid with us, tonight" Knuckles smiled. Tails shifted uncomfortably.
"I'm not sure if I feel comfortable doing..."
"Doing what?" Cream asked, stepping in the room. Tails panicked. He didn't want Cream thinking he was some dirty perv.
"…doing a dance at the Powwow Camp Night tonight" Sonic broke in.
"Oh, there's a Powwow tonight? We should definitely go!" Cream smiled. Tails let out a small sigh of relief.
"Let me tell you all about it" Knuckles sad, chatting it up with her.
"Psstt! Blink twice if you're in" Sonic whispered. Tails stood for a minute, thinking. It felt wrong, but he needed those man points. But then again…Cream was his friend.
"The guys will make sure we aren't caught, and as long as it's JUST for man points…"
Tails blinked twice. Knuckles looked back, and Sonic gave him thumbs up.
"HOLD ON! I'M COMING! JUST LET ME GET THE LIPSTICK CREAM RECOMMENDED!" Rouge shouted at Amy, who was trying to hurry her along. Amy ran in the room and sweat-dropped.
"Uhm…one second guys. Rouge, don't make me use this hammer!" she yelled, running back.
"Oh so you're the one we are getting to do this?" Knuckle said to Cream. She nodded, smiling. "You just earned my admiration for the day." He high-fived her. Cream motioned for the guys to huddle.
"Okay, so Rouge will definitely try to hit on hot guys, right? Well, I figure I pull her aside and tell her to use it right as she's talking to one" Cream smiled evilly.
"We have a genius in the cottage!" Sonic smiled. All of them put their hands in.
"On, two, three, GO TEAM!" they all said. Amy, Rouge, and Sunny walked in. Knuckles assumed his position at the front of the doors.
"What you are about to see will amaze" he warned. He then thrust open the doors to reveal a large, shaded sitting area with tons of binoculars…and a beautiful view. From there they saw the whole beach over the rocks below. The rocky cliff they were on gave them an amazing view of Lake Huron. At that time the sun was just setting, and rested softly on the lake, creating a creamy pink-purple color that wrapped around the sky. The water also looked a shade of regal purple, and sparkled like it was covered with sugar.
"Welcome to Oscoda, Michigan"
Later that night-
The boys quietly crept outside of Cream's door. They had decided to skip Rouge's room, since she was a light sleeper, and also Amy's because, well, she had a hammer. And apparently she sometimes had night fits, according to Sonic, who one time tried raiding her drawers. Knuckles slowly pushed open Cream's door and motioned for the guys to follow. Sonic rushed in, but Tails stayed at the door.
"I'm not sure…"
"C'mon, wimp!" Sonic said, pulling him in by the arm. Once they were inside, Knuckles looked around.
"Okay guys I'll check over there, you check over by her closet" Knuckles said.
"Hey wait Knuckles isn't that where…" Tails began.
"Shh! We are professionals, we know what we're doing" Sonic said, rubbing is hands together. "Now, where did you see her with the underwear last?" he said. Tails pointed to a drawer in a cabinet in her walk-in closet. The closet, which had a hardwood floor, was so big it could easily fit six people. They opened the drawer to find a small bin filled with all different types and colors of panties. Knuckles walked in, a fudge bar at hand.
"So THAT'S what you were doing?" Sonic questioned.
"I was TRYING to tell you!" Tails whisper-yelled. Knuckles shrugged.
"Oh, you found them!" he said, finishing off his ice cream.
"Yup, but you know, it's just what you would expect from Cream. Nothing too scandalous" he smiled.
"Wait, what about that one?" Knuckles said, pointing to a black lacy pair on the bottom. Sonic shrugged and pulled it out. Cream started to move, so without looking at it, they put everything back, took the one pair, and rushed out of the room. When they were all safely in Sonic's room, they leaned up against the doors and looked at it for the first time. Tails's eyes grew wide, and so did Sonic's. Knuckles became excited.
"What are these?" Tails questioned in awe.
"That my friend is a very sexy pair of panties" Knuckles said, grabbing the underwear. He smiled with lust.
"There's barely anything there! And-and just imagine Cream…sh-she wears…" Tails started.
"Enough! I don't want images in my head…" Sonic said angrily. Knuckles eyes grew wide. He stood there motionless. Tails blushed a dark shade of red as he realized what he was thinking.
"Oh…my god" Knuckles said, partially smiling.
"Are you SERIOUSLY THINKING ABOUT IT?" Sonic growled as loud as he could in a whisper. "Cream is…is like family! She's young! She is not some object of your twisted fantasies!" Sonic yelled. He too, though, was fighting back the inevitable images.
"Relax. You never got this tense when we saw other underwear like this" Knuckles said, recounting the times.
"But YOU never got this hung-up about it either!" Sonic shot back.
"Well, it's because you wouldn't expect little innocent Cream to have something like this!" Knuckles smirked. Tails still sat their, in a trance, blushing.
"Exactly! Little and innocent! And that's how I want you both to still think of her!" Sonic said, still angry. "Look at him! We might have ruined his innocence for good!" he said, pointing to Tails. He sighed. "Cream shouldn't even have these…I expected better of her" he said, his anger melting to wistfulness.
"Expect the unexpected!" Knuckles said, placing his arm around Sonic. Sonic gave him a doubtful look. "I'll try to keep this image of Cream out of my head as best I can, okay?" Knuckles said, sighing. Sonic smiled slightly.
"Good. Now to snap him out of it" Sonic said, pointing to the spaced-out Tails. He snapped in front of him. "Hey buddy!" Tails immediately snapped out of it.
"Sorry, Sonic…" Tails blushed, looking down. He felt a nosebleed coming on.
"Tails, forget about what you saw; pretend nothing ever happened" Sonic said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Tails nodded, but Sonic saw a little red under his nose.
"Oh boy" Sonic thought.
"So, what should we do about them?" Knuckles asked, pointing to the object which caused all this.
"First thing tomorrow, I'll put them back, since I think I am the only one who can keep myself under control" he smiled. The two boys both agreed and soon parted, left with a memory of an unusual night.
"Oh Cream…what happened?" Sonic said sadly, looking out the window. He tossed in his bed, trying to forget the images of that night. He thought of reasons why she would do this. He wondered what else he didn't know about her. Suddenly she seemed unknown; an alien in his mind.
