Speedy's note: Have you played Sonic Advance 2 or 3? If no, you missed something 'cause the games are fun; if yes you will certainly remember playing as Cream and Cheese. Remember the boss fights? The ones that would drive you crazy with Sonic or Knux, because you constantly lose lives before finally figuring out the boss' weak spot? I guess I stared pretty stupidly at my Gameboy when Cheese finished a boss that had taken me half an hour with Sonic within one attempt and record time. From that time on, I wondered about these cute little chao … Isn't the Chaos creature a mutated chao? And then… these scary chao in Sonic Chronicles…. I wonder…

Killer Chao?

Chao are strange little creatures, Sonic thought, pressing Cream down behind a block of machinery. He could feel the little rabbit shiver, her brown eyes locked on the giant robot just a couple meters away. She surely still saw the robot's huge hammered fist slamming out for her; if she had already truly grasped that Sonic had snatched her and carried her out of reach – for now at least – the hedgehog wasn't sure.

"It's okay, Cream," he whispered, softly patting the bunny's shoulder. "We'll make it."

Cream looked up to him. "I'm scared, Sonic…"

"I know." Sonic nodded, giving the rabbit a smile.

Cheese however seemed another matter; Cream's best friend and full-time companion fluttered right in front of the big machine, tiny wings seeming barely able to keep the chao's weight afloat, but still Cheese appeared anything, but not scared.

Cream clearly was, and seeing her more than pet fly around carelessly like that, she stretched out a small, shaking hand. "Cheese! Come here! It's dangerous there!"

The chao turned around and after a second of hesitation fluttered clumsily over to Sonic and Cream. The little rabbit immediately grabbed the light blue creature as soon as it came into reach and hugged it to her chest.

Still crouching aside of the bunny, Sonic had already focussed on the robot again. "Stay here, Cream," he said before stepping out of their shelter.

"Be careful Mister Sonic!", Cream called after him, hugging Cheese even harder.

"Sure," Sonic muttered, for once even ignoring the rabbit's tendency to add that strange formality to his name. He scanned the robot in front of him, the two giant hands and the canon-like device mounted in the belly of the vaguely humanoid machine. The hands had already proven to be dangerous… but their reach was limited to the length of the arms. The canon's fire was not.

The blue hedgehog had not fully finished his studies on his opponent when it took the considered weapon into action.

Sonic was saved by mere reflex, his legs having taken him away from the bomb shot at him long before his brain had truly noticed anything further than 'oh crap'. By the time his consciousness had caught up with his feet, it was almost too late to see the giant fist slamming at him. With a yelp of shock, Sonic dashed forwards, brute force driving solid metal against his right shoulder and down his back, throwing him off his feet to roughly slide along the ground.

Gasping, the hedgehog crawled to his feet, bleeding from one skinned knee and grazes on his chest, holding his pained shoulder. The robot had turned away from him, maybe considering the injured hedgehog as no longer a threat, and was now advancing towards the block Cream and her chao were hiding behind.

"Hey! Big piece of junk! Get back here!", Sonic called at the machine, forcing himself to a run and into a spinjump at the robot's backside.

It slowed, shook itself once like trying to get rid of a little insect bothering it, and turned around again. One of the oversized hands reached out to snatch Sonic, but the hedgehog didn't plan on getting caught again.

Picking up his trademark speed, he started running around the big machine, hoping to stir up enough wind to be able to take advantage of it. The robot's head snapped around rapidly as it tried to follow Sonic's movements. Curling into a ball of spikes once more, Sonic launched himself at the twitching top of the machine, earning a set of sparks and a small dent in the robot's armor. Strategy alright, the hedgehog thought, speeding up again and landing another couple of hits. One more… and that should do it…

'Alright' changed instantly to 'mondo problem' when the loud shriek of a terrified child cut through the air.

Sonic stopped dead in his move, landing on both feet and head whirling to look over his shoulder. Cream was stumbling out of her shelter halfway, both tiny hands stretched out in front of her, her young face set in despair and fear. "Cheese! Come back here! Please! Cheese!"

The little chao didn't seem to notice the immediate danger threatening it as it fluttered closer to the tall robot as if suddenly curious what that blue hedgehog was fighting there.

"Cheese! Go back to Cream!", Sonic shouted, muscles bracing to jump for the little creature and snatch it out of the air.

He shouldn't reach the chao however as the robot had decided to take advantage of the hedgehog finally and for once stopping to move too fast for the machine's inbuilt sensory. Its right fist lunged out for Sonic, meeting him in mid jump and therefore with a relatively limited chance for the hedgehog to dodge. Colorful stars exploded in front of Sonic's eyes with the pain as he was flung to the ground. Directly after his own impact, the robot's solid torso hit the floor not far from him with massive force and stopped moving.

Sonic lifted his head, blinking rapidly to squint through the haze of pain. The robot lay powerlessly sprawled on its back, a tiny additional dent adding to the ones Sonic's attacks had caused showing where Cheese's small form had hit the machine's head. With a groan Sonic levelled himself out of the wreckage and stood holding his aching stomach, looking out for Cream and Cheese.

The chao floated aside of the remains of the robot, patting its tiny hands together in a not quite successful attempt at applauding; the rabbit was about to crawl out from behind her shelter and now ran for Cheese, her long ears trailing behind. When she reached Cheese, the chao flopped into her open arms.

Finding both of them okay and happily reunited, Sonic slowly limped over to the heap of what was left of the robot. The pieces of armor that were still recognizable as such showed deep traces of his quills.

The blue hedgehog turned around at hearing Cream's footsteps. Cream stopped at his side, carrying Cheese in her arms. "You did it, Sonic!", she happily declared.

Sonic ran a hand through his messy spikes. "Well, yeah… But Cheese helped great deal…"

Cream brightened even more and addressed her chao. "You hear that, Cheese? Mister Sonic said you're a great help!"

"Chao chao!"

"Just 'Sonic' for you, Cream," the hedgehog corrected automatically, although he somehow doubted she would lose any of her extreme politeness. He smiled down on the rabbit. "Let's go… or do you want to stay here?"

The young rabbit shook her head. "No."

Sonic threw a side glance at Cheese as Cream strolled along at his side. The chao had snuggled up against the rabbit's body, slightly curled up in Cream's grip, closed its eyes halfway and right now purred contently. The personification of adorable cuteness. No telling the little guy has just given a huge robot the final blow.

But having seen what the tiny creature could do without any sign of strain or fear, Sonic couldn't help but wonder, and for a second the mental image of Cheese's eyes turning darker in an unseen moment and it flashing an evil grin baring long, sharp fangs flashed through his mind.