[Coolshaymin]

Not far from Amy as well as coincidently being the house Espio was supposed to investigate according to Charmy's Directions was a somewhat large home topped with a mushroom. It looked really old and wore down but somehow still managing to stay standing. If Cream was in there, it was probably a good idea to cross it off the list pretty fast or it may fall on her or some other tragic accident. The front door seemed to hang open almost invitingly for those that came near the rather creepy home. If the rabbit was in there she was probably scared out of her mind. As for Espio, Vector was being offered money to investigate this disturbing wooden fortress so he was obligated by his profession. The dark night did no favors for the ominous creaking and occasional shadow that seemed to be in the window but probably not. May not hurt to at least go inside to see if there is at least some crying before marking it off as not a place for childern.

Ready?
Go!

[Deleted]

Espio still had it. The ninja ran through the Mushroom Ruins at high speeds. He wasn't proud of what he'd been doing since his last mission, sure he'd come out of it alive, but when he stayed at the hospital to have his injuries looked at after his near death experience, Vector had insisted he stayed for as long as possible. And well, the ninja couldn't exactly say no to his boss, however that didn't mean he had to like it. Finally, a job had come in for him, and it was to search for Cream the Rabbit. It wasn't his first time meeting Cream, and he was more than happy to seek the young girl out if she was here and missing. Not to mention, he was finally out of that hospital. He didn't particularly like Charmy, but he would take this one all the same.

Ah, But Espio had fallen into his thoughts for long enough, he had work to do. Quickly turning invisible, he arrived at a creepy mansion, a strangely perfect first spot to check for Cream. He pulled out his Kunai and looked in through the door. Definitely a creepy mansion. With his luck the young rabbit had found herself stuck in there, which meant he'd half to go in there, and then who knows what else would happen. So, naturally, he stepped inside, kunai still in hand, in order to see what was going on...

[Mari]

"

Wow--What a run down house! I'm not sure this is the kind of place Cream would want to hide out in, but I guess it couldn't hurt to investigate. It's not like there's anything else around...--H-Hey! Where do you think you're going?? It's not very nice to ignore me like that, you know.

"

A mildly annoyed pink hedgehog moved to tail Espio, who had unwittingly made himself her focus for the time being. The creepy old house didn't scare her of course. In all honesty, she was actually hoping they would find something paranormal inside. ...Preferably of the ghost, not the monster, variety. That sounded fun. But then again, she didn't think Cream shared her love of the spiritual, so perhaps she shouldn't wish such things while it was possible they might terrorize her best friend.

[Coolshaymin]

In a Bedroom somewhere in the house

"Amy? Cheese? Where did you two go?... And where am I?" Cream asked out to no one in some room in a  very ill maintained house. She was alone now in what appears to be a bedroom when she woke up. The bed was worn down though not uncomfortable exactly. Though the dusty and worn down atmosphere was starting to creep her out. She knew ghosts existed because she has been in a few such spots with Amy before on adventures. Did not make them any less spooky and she hoped they were at least friendly if they did live here. "... I hope Amy and Cheese are okay..."

"Oh! H-hello? How long have you been there?" Cream asked a little spooked as she noticed a mysterious shadow in the corner she did not notice until now.

---

Meanwhile, with Amy and Espio

The inside of the house was a fairly large one. It was not so big it was easy to get lost as from the outside it was not huge or anything. Regardless, the foyer was large and wooden like the rest of the place with small amount of furniture. A large chandlier wobbled on the ceiling. There were two doors on the 2nd floor up a shortcase, one in the middle and one on the left. On the ground floor there were three doors. One on the left wall and two on either side of the stairs. One door, the one on the right side of the stairs was jarred a little into some darkness. There was the sound of creaking throughout the old and worn down house.

[Deleted]

Espio hadn't noticed Amy as he went up to the house, but he sure heard her voice. Anyone who had couldn't forget it. "A-Amy? I was unaware you were looking for Cream as well..." The Chameleon was quick to regain his composure while coming out of his invisibility, something in his mind deciding that, yes indeed, this was where he needed to look. Call it a hunch, and like any good detective, he was keen to follow up on it. "I'm not sure what it is, but I think Cream is in here. So, shall we investigate together, since you are here?"

Not waiting for a response, Espio stepped inside, Kunai in hand, and Shuriken not too far from his left hand. He glanced around the entrance, unsure what to expect. This was new territory after all. He got close to the wall and became invisible once more, concerned with the possibility of an ambush. A ninja could never be too careful. He quickly approached the door to the right of the stairs, and looked into it, the fact that it was ajar suspicious to him. He couldn't even see anything in there, but that likely meant if someone was in there, neither would they. He quietly creeped inside the room, prepared for anything he found, or at least, he hoped so, considering their current location.

[Mari]

"

" . . . Yeah! Sure. I'll do whatever it takes to find Cream. We came here together, but she wasn't here when I landed. Speaking of which, you don't know anything about any big portals to weird smelling worlds, do you?

"

The first thing Amy noticed was that Espio was looking for Cream for some... odd reason. Hey, she was displaced too, y'know! What was the big idea, and why were old faces suddenly appearing? ...Y'know, come to think of it she hadn't seen Espio in a long time. Could that mean--... Amy reached out into the darkness and felt a familiar tingling at her senses. Sonic. Here?! Suddenly, Amy wasn't so annoyed about being displaced. But ... she couldn't go off chasing him now. Not while her best friend was in danger. That's not what Sonic would do. Amy casually followed Espio into the room, not doing a whole lot to hide herself really. I mean--Who or what would live in a place like this? Her mind was, frankly, elsewhere as they approached the open door. Mostly on Cream--....and Sonic.

[Coolshaymin]

"Um... Mister Shadow?" Cream asked as she froze when something felt wrong to her. This stranger was giving her the creeps for some reason and she looked towards the door. The shadowy figure was not even moving or saying anything either. They just stood there silent and constantly watching her... "Well, I should go look for my friend. Thank you for watching over me, Mr. Shadow. Bye," Cream excused herself and made to head to the door until she felt something grab her arm as she turned around.

"Wh-what are you doing? And why are you..." Cream stammered out as she looked back and saw something horrifying. She felt like she knew it was that wide yet she could not move... She did not have Cheese or anyone nearby... She was alone and now...

---

The open door had only darkness but there seemed to be stairs heading down. It seemed to lead to the basement but it was so pitch black it was hard to tell how far down it went. However, right before they entered, there was a scream coming from the 2nd floor. The scream sounding like it came from... Cream? "AMY!" the voice cried but there was only silence outside the house settling. It definitely came from the room on the left.

[Mari]

Amy perked up at the sound of Cream's voice, her heart jumping a little. That was a cry for help! Turning about, she promptly curled into a ball and built up speed, kicking up a cloud of dust before abruptly launching herself up to the second floor at high speeds in search of Cream. She'd probably left Espio choking on her dust, but that wasn't important right now. Flying across the house, Amy threw herself right at that left door and! ...attempted to open it with her hands like a normal person. What? ...Well actually, she hadn't really come to a stop first. That door was going to get thrown open if it was unlocked, but she would actually wind up crashing into it and potentially breaking it down if it wasn't. Best of both worlds! ...If your word includes splinters, of course.

"

Cream??

"

[Coolshaymin]

"Amy! You made it!" the voice of Cream greeted Amy as she crashed through the door, it appearing not to be locked as it slammed open from her force. Oddly, it did not look like Cream was in any danger at all. She was by herself and oddly not startled by Amy's entrance. The rabbit closed her eyes a little as tears formed.

"I-I was so scared all alone. I'm glad I have a friend like you," the young girl claimed with a sad expression. The bedroom seemed empty enough and about as old as the rest of the house. There was just faint light coming through the window next to the used bed.

[Mari]

Amy's heart was pounding! Something had to be really wrong for Cream to scream like that! She had to --...be perfectly fine and thankful to see her?

"

(Is that all? I guess we've grown closer than I realized. ...Sometimes I wonder if--No. Not after Emerl.) O-Oh... Yeah. Of course I made it~! I wasn't just gonna leave you here all alone! I'm still not sure where here is, but this house is really creepy for sure.

"

Seeing Cream cry drew Amy closer to try and comfort her. She eased her way over, calming down from her rush and reaching out to gently brush the tears from Cream's eyes, pulling her in for a hug. They'd been through a rough journey, and she supposed she understood why it was so upsetting for the other.

"

Hey... It's alright. I'm not going to leave your side until I know you're safe and sound, alright? Now let's get out of this place. I think I can feel Sonic's presence somewhere~!

"

[Coolshaymin]

"Y-you sense Sonic here? R-really?" Cream asked for confirmation. Her tears were wiped away and she let out a bit of a sniffle. However, if there was close paying attention, there was a small smirk on the bunny's mouth.

"That is perfect~. Don't worry, soon you three will be together forever~" the young rabbit stated... Wait, what? Suddenly, Amy would feel Cream's hand on the back of her head and pushing her closer. The rabbit's mouth opened to allow entrance for Amy's head... It would seem this was not the real Cream and she is trying to eat Amy whole!

(Amy! The Cream Shadow is taking advantage of your feelings and is trying to eat you!... Fortunately, the Shadow is using Cream's strength so her grip is not that strong. Roll a 8 or higher in STR to break free from the doppelganger's grip.)

[Mari]

"

Yeah! It's been a long time, but I can finally sense his presence again! I wonder if he'll be happy to see me. Ehehe...

"

"

What do you mean by... us three? Cr-Cream? What are you.. doing? You're scaring me...!

"

...Alright, you've got me. Amy isn't willing to get rough with what she believes is Cream. Cream began to pull her in and Amy just... reluctantly let her. She didn't really understand what was going on or why Cream was acting weird or what Cream was trying to do to her. And so Amy was gentle with Cream, even as the other manhandled her and shoved her face towards the other's weirdly large mouth. The idea that Cream might hurt her was far less worrying than the idea that she might hurt Cream. Her feelings were successfully used against her, and so she was more or less helpless.

[Coolshaymin]

Taking advantage of Amy's feelings, Cream swallowed down Amy. The rest of her seemed to come pretty quickly as her friend descended the hedgehog into darkness... Strangely, it was literally darkness. It was oddly open and not like a belly at all wherever she was sent to. The area was more or less a black void which one would not expect inside a rabbit like Cream.

To add to Amy's probable confusion was another... Cream inside of Cream? This one however was crying pretty badly... Probably from being inside of herself somehow... The rabbit slowly opened her eyes when she seemed to notice Amy.

"A-Amy? D-did the mean shadow monster eat you two?" Cream asked as her tears continued to flow... Talking about some creature Amy did not seem to see. Though she did not seem aware of any other Cream. She quickly ran towards Amy and tried to hug her as she closed her eyes and continued to cry.

"I-I'm sorry! This would not of happened if I defended myself. It caught me by surprise and... I just froze up and couldn't do anything..." she explained.

"If only I was brave and strong like you and Mr. Sonic. Without Cheese I was not sure what to do. He is usually there to help me be strong. Without him I was not sure what to do... And now I got you in the same mess. I'm sorry..."

[Mari]

Oof! Ammy fell on her bottom and just sort of sat there looking flustered after being ...Was she just eaten? She wasn't quite sure, but it definitely wasn't as ...gross as she was expecting. Before she could finish on that confusing train of thought though, Cream's crying drew her attention. In spite of the fact that she'd just been betrayed by someone she thought was Cream, Amy readily opened her arms for the other allowed herself to be hugged, pulling Cream into her lap and returning the embrace. Two Creams? Weird. She was kind of busy considering how to get out of this place. She would thing that her quills would be very painful on Cream's void tummy if she were to say, spin around with the quills erect... But--This didn't seem like anything she imagined a tummy to be like, not that she knew a whole lot about the subject... Would that even work? Finally, she snapped out of her thoughts and decided to give Cream her full attention.

"

Actually, it was you that ate me! Or well, someone that looked like you anyway. I'm actually kind of relieved to find you in here. I didn't want to fight back because well--...You know. But that's okay. Now that we're back together, I can be your cheese~! ...No pun intended.

"

[Coolshaymin]

"... Did... You just say I ate you?" Cream asked in a bit of surprise. How could they of ended up in the same place if someone else ate her? The only thing that made sense was that... "... Um, Amy? I think the shadow monster can copy the form of those it eats... W-we have to get out of here before he tricks anyone else!" the rabbit pieced together as a kind of theory.

"... Pun? What pun?" Cream asked in confusion of Amy's pun.

"Either way, I would be happy to have you as my Cheese, Amy. Together I am sure we can teach that mean shadow a lesson!" the young girl agreed when all of a sudden she began to glow a bright cream color. The light then extended and suddenly the darkness was cleared up in a blast of light. They were back in the bedroom... On the bed for some reason and the shadow/other Cream was gone... Small specs of darkness seemed to stay there before disappearing....

"... Are we out?" Cream was understandably disoriented... Did Cream's purity just destroy the fake Cream?