AS OF 11-14-05: Ugh... I should have more of this here by now... anyways...
I haven't given up on this story, in case that's what you're thinking. But, I can't really add more to it for the time being. It's gone from my computer and I have to find the floppy disk it was backed up on. So, until then, sorry for any problems!
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Hey, kaze here. I've been around for not too long and I've decided to take up working on a Sonic story. Obviously, I have no idea what to name it, so I'll be coming back every now and then to start and add stuff to it. It's set a few years in the future, so the characters are a bit older. The main character, 9 year old Cream the Rabbit, is sucked into a situation involving the military, Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat,a talking chao (me), Eggman, and some rich jerk named Jack who's trying to get Vanilla to marry him.

Please comment! I need to know what you think!

Chapter 1

Three years have passed since Dr. Eggman's latest attempt to conquer the earth. For Cream, it was a peaceful but odd period of time, for the mad scientist had seemingly disappeared.However, some of his robots were still causing trouble in Emerald Town and the surrounding areas. Of course, it was nothing her role model Sonic the Hedgehog couldn't handle; he did only save the world more times than the rabbit could count on her fingers. Sonic was eighteen now and dating Amy (though she doesn't know how long), much to Cream's dismay, as she spent a lot of time at her best friend's apartment listening to her say over and over again on the phone to her boyfriend, "No, I love you more..."

When she couldn't stand that, she left, without Amy noticing, and headed off to Tails' Lab, where she just sat there, watching him tinker with machines and type in data on the computer. Technology wasn't Cream's favorite thing, though; she had enough of that dodging flying badniks that seeming came from nowhere and, on more than one occasion, while watching Tails repair G-mel, the monitor the robot was hooked up to exploded for no reason.

Besides, Cream already had her hands full taking care of her chao, Cheddar and Cherry. These two were the offspring of her friend Cheese, who died a year ago. Cheddar, a normal chao and older of the two, wore a red sun visor on his head. It looked really silly, since it was too big for him. He was nothing like his father; in fact, he was often getting into trouble and dragging Cream down with him, especially when he "accidentally" broke her mother's fine china. Cherry, a hero chao and the younger sibling, wore a red beaded necklace with a jewel pendant in the center. Unlike her brother, she was sweet and innocent, and liked to sit on Cream's head once in a while.

Since Dr. Eggman's "disappearance," Cream and her mother Vanilla moved from the middle of Leaf Forest to Emerald Town, just a block away from Tails' house. It was a nice change of atmosphere, though the air quality wasn't quite the same. Cream didn't like the pollution, and car exhaust made her gag. She was glad to live a bit closer to her friends for a change.

Cream closed her journal. She was finished writing in it for the day. As she stood up from her chair, she gazed at an old picture of Cheese sitting on her desk.
"It really hasn't really been the same since you passed away," she said to herself. She was about to leave the room when she heard a loud crash from downstairs, followed by her mother's voice.

"Cream!"

"Great," she muttered. "Cheddar's at it again."

Upon entering the living room, she just happened to see Vanilla standing by a broken vase on the floor. She was holding a broom and dust pan. Sitting on the table where the vase once sat were Cheddar and Cherry, both gazing at the mess on they just made.

"One of them knocked it over while they were playing in the living room," Vanilla explained. "You need to keep a better eye on them, Cream. They're still young. And you know I'm expecting a guest this afternoon."

"Who is it again?" Cream asked, taking the broom and dust pan from her mother.

"It's Jack. The nice gentleman we met last month at the Annual Picnic on Emerald Beach."

"What?!" Cream dropped the broom, making the two chao jump as it clattered on the floor."THAT rich jerk?!"

"Cream, I told you not to say things like that," Vanilla said to her, "You know it's impolite."

"But, Mom, you see how he acts! He think he can win you over with money!!"

"Don't be so silly." Vanilla walked into the kitchen. "He knows I don't care about expensive things."

"He says," Cream muttered, still sweeping up the broken vase.

"Look," said her mother, "All I want you to do is at least try to get along with him when he arrives."

"Well I'm not going to be here, Mom. I'm taking Cherry and Cheddar with me and I'm heading to Amy's." Cream came into the kitchen with a small pile of trash on the dust pan and dumped it into the garbage can.

"I'll be back before it gets dark. Hopefully, Mr. Jack would have gone home by then."

"All right." Vanilla watched as Cream came back into the room, picked up her chao, and headed for the front door. "Be careful."

"Don't worry, Mom. I'll have G-mel with me. And I can defend myself."

Cream left out the door, with Cheddar at her heels and Cherry on her head, and closed the door, leaving Vanilla alone in the living room; she seemed to be rather worried for her daughter.

Amy Rose kicked the door open to her apartment and stumbled inside, her arms full of shopping bags. Following after her with a half-concerned, half-amused look expression was Sonic, carrying something in a backpack.

"Are you sure you got all that?"

"Yeah, Sonikku. Nothing I can't handle."

Sonic closed the door behind him, and put the grocery bags on a nearby chair. He then proceeded to take some of the parcels Amy was carrying. "I'll be handling these."

"Hey!" Amy said angrily. "I told you I could handle it!"

"Not when you were about to drop them!" Sonic replied. "You should be thanking me."

"Really now?" Amy had put the parcels on the coffee table and was gazing at Sonic now, with her hands on her hips. "Why should I? You never offered to assist me before."
Sonic flopped onto the sofa, placing the shopping bags on the floor. "I did,when we were in the grocery store, but you said, 'No, no, I can handle it. You don't have to do anything.' Right after that, you dropped the eggs on the floor, then slipped on the mess you made."

"You pushed me!"

"I did not! Though, I have to admit, you did look funny when you backflipped in the air before landing."

"Did I really?" Amy narrowed her eyes, letting Sonic know she was started to get ticked off.

"Nah," the hedgehog said, hesitating a little. "Not the least bit amusing."

"Okay." Amy smiled. She picked up a grocery bag from the chair and took it to the counter. "I think it's about time I make us some lunch."

"Sure thing. I could use some grub." Sonic picked up the remote from the coffee, sat back on the sofa, and began flipping channels on the television.

The room was silent for a few minutes, as Amy started putting up groceries, when knocking was heard at the apartment door. Before Amy could pause, Sonic had already answered the door.

"Hey, Cream! Long time no see!"

"Hi, Sonic-san." Cream walked inside the apartment,with both Cherry and Cheddar at her heels. When they saw Sonic, they jumped on him, nearly knocking him down.

"Whoa! Looks like these two sure have a lot of energy to burn!" He was struggling to get them off him with little success.

"So how have you been?" Amy asked Cream.

"Could be better." The rabbit flopped on the sofa next to Sonic. "My mom's having company over."

"Really? Who?"

"Jack."

Sonic finally had gotten Cheddar off his face and looked at Cream, puzzled. "Jack McHopperson? That rich guy who lives in that big mansion at the edge of Emerald Town?"

"That's him."

Amy gasped. "NO WAY!"

"Yes way."

"But he has NEVER come out of his own home and gone to another person's house. Especially yours!"

"First time for everything."

"Isn't he also regarded as the biggest jerk ever?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah."

Amy spoke again. "And very handsome?"

"I don't pay attention to those details."

Sonic's turn."And arrogant?"

"Yup."

"And smart?"

"Don't care."

Sonic scratched his head. "Really?"

Cream looked back at Sonic with a rather disgusted face. "I just can't stand that guy! I see him for what he really is--impolite, idiotic, and ugly-- but my mother is just too busy being flattered by him and loving all the flowers and gifts he keeps getting for her to even care, much less notice!"

"But, Cream," Amy started, "maybe if you took the time to get to know him--"

"That's not gonna work, Amy," Sonic told her. "You only met the guy once. That shiny smile and charm is only an act to attract the ladies."

"How do you know?"

"He told me himself. I've been dragged over his house too many times that I can count-- because of my reputation as a big hero and all-- mainly so he can 'tutor' me in the ways of 'being rich and famous.'"

"So, he isn't--"

"Not a bit."

Amy's face suddenly turned red for some odd reason. "So that time when we were invited there for dinner and he said he liked my evening gown--"

"Lied with a smile," Cream answered. She was gazing at Cheddar and Cherry around this time, who both were sitting on the floor looking at the television.

The two chao were staring at the screen, not blinking, as if they had never seen it before and were very fascinated by all the colors.

Seeing them act this way made Cream sigh.

"What's wrong?" a far away sounding voice asked.

"Huh?" The rabbit jumped, startled. She turned to Sonic, who was looking at her, worried.

"I said was there something the matter, Cream?" he asked.

"Uh, no." She sat back in the sofa, watching the TV. "Nothing's wrong."

"Hopefully..."

"I can't believe this... Late again..."

A scientist carrying a folder filled with lots of papers came rushing down a white corridor, mumbling to himself. As he went by, surveillance cameras lining the walls followed his movement.

He turned the corner and came to a stop in front of a secure-looking door.

"Okay, okay, now, where did I put that...."

Still talking to himself, he rummaged through his pockets until he took out a card and quickly swiped it on a device sitting on the left side of the door. A green light came on, and the door slid open. The scientist walked in, and the door slid closed behind him.

Inside, there was a small collection of empty stasis tanks around the room and other people in lab coats talking amongst themselves at various areas. The scientist headed over to the nearest table and slammed his thick folder on it, silencing the voices. An old man with a bald head and a short white beard walked up to him.

"Ah, Doctor Benedict, nice of you to finally show up."

"Oh, Dr. Marcos!" Benedict immediately jumped, a little startled. Straightening his glasses, he said, "I didn't see you there!"

"What's your excuse this time, eh?" Marcos raised an eyebrow. "Still messing around with things you don't have time for?"

"Well, you see, Doctor, I had to restore all the lost work that had been saved on my laptop because Kaze played with it and crashed the system. I spent--"

"So, it's that riduculous pet project of yours at it again, eh?" Marcos narrowed his eyes at Benedict. "Did I not tell you to start throwing away all the data you have on that creature?! You need to be working hard on this prototype just like the rest of your colleagues. You're lucky the military doesn't just cut off the funding for this project."

"B-but," the young scientist stammered, "Doctor, I can't just throw away my life's work!"

"'Life's work?' You call that thing you created your 'life's work?'" Marcos laughed haughtily. "Come on, Benedict! You're to young to know when something is considered one's 'life's work'."

The rest of the research team had all eyes on Benedict. He felt a drop of sweat roll down the side of his face.

Marcos seemed to ignore the agitated look on the young man's face as he turned to the other's and began to speak.

"May I have your undivided attention, ladies and gentlemen..."

Benedict stared at the ground, feeling defeated. He didn't really like the fact that Marcos was pressuring him to get rid of his research, and he didn't want to work on that prototype either.

The task had been assigned to all the personnel at the Johansen Laboratory Complex by the high officials at G.U.N.;
develop something to counter Dr. Eggman's rogue machines, to destroy them all and keep the citizen's safe. Hurry up with it, they said, lives are at stake.

Benedict could never understand what exactly the point of all this was. After all, there already was a big shot celeberty hero and his friends handling it.

"... this day, all of our hard work and dedication shall have resulted in something that benefits all of mankind..."

Benedict looked up through the crowd at Marcos. The old man was really selling this thing to the others, he thought.

"...a machine of revolutionary power and unparalleled technology..."

He watched as Marcos moved towards something covered in a dirty looking tarp among all the stasis tanks and place a hand on it.

"Ladies and gentleman, I present to you..."

He pulled away the tarp. Underneath it was like nothing anybody in the room had ever seen.

Benedict had to stand back as all the other scientists in the room crowded around it as though they were small children rushing to see one of the other kid's new toys.
He stayed a few feet away from them alone. He caught a glimpse of what looked like a metallic black and red spike as the crowd struggled to get a good view.

"...Metal Shadow," Marcos concluded.

All the other scientists cheered and clapped their hands. All except Benedict, who didn't see what he had helped create...

...but he knew exactly who this so-called prototype looked like...

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End of Chapter 1
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8-5-05: That's all for the first chapter! Things are really going to get started in the next part, so some of it will be up later!