The secret of Chao's

It was an ordinary day for Green Hill. Perfect sun with a grand, yet strange pattern of tiled grass naturally swaying against the gentle, crisp breeze of early Spring wind. It is always a blessing to be in eternally peaceful weather, and the population of the nearby city of Station Square would agree. Tails agreed so well, that he had recently set up his new lab at Green Hill, with his own style of workmanship that was seen so well back at the Mystic Ruins. A medium sized building constructed into the hillside, but the interior large enough for a workforce to be able to set up inside easily. It was his own, and he could use it for whatever he wanted to use it for, his research and advancement in machines that is rivalled only by Dr. Robotnik himself, for tests of speed throughout obstacle courses, or just plain relaxation. Of course, with Green Hill nearby, there was no end to ways of relaxing in the day.

As it were, on this day Tails was taking a break from his ordinary work to wander the great plain he had forever knew as home, visiting the locations of his most interest, being the higher hills of the area, or the riverbed that lay throughout. He and Sonic was to meet with his friend Cream that day, and he was eager to arrive, so eager that in fact, he stood upon something he wished he had not. Slowly tilting his head to look down upon what he had trodden so rashly upon, his eyes met the victim and culprit of the action.
"Sonic!" Tails began slightly panicked. "I think I stepped in something brown!"
Reacting to his own thoughts, Sonic stole a glance at what Tails had stepped upon, and quickly looked away. A moment later, he turned to get a clearer picture.
"Whoa." Sonic stuttered. "Err… I'm sure it's no problem, but I'll be just over there when you're ready."
In his haste to get away, Sonic crouched down and begun to perform his spinball manoeuvre, speeding away over the nearest hill. Tails tilted his head in confusion at Sonic's actions and risked one more look upon the brown item that was upon his shoe and found it not to be as he expected. It was Chocola, the brown Chao. Realising his actions was much worse than before, he turned to see if anybody had seen him stand on Chocola. His nervous glance was met by the cold stare of Cheese, who had the natural light blue colour of his fellow Chao.
On average Chao are cute, timid creatures that live only nearby clear watered lakes, but they are able to adapt and often kept as pets. Because of their cute nature, most people have at least one as a pet.
Unfortunately for Tails, Cheese wasn't looking as cute or timid as he normally would, especially since he was openly wielding a large knife.
"Get him off of your shoe or die." Cheese ordered, pointing the knife towards Chocola then aiming back at Tails. Nervously laughing slightly, Tails hurried to do so, but during the action, Cream was just passing over the nearby hill, holding a bouquet of flowers with only Blue and Orange petals. Noticing this, Cheese hurried to hide the knife by throwing it into the closest bush and returned to his cute, innocent face as normal Chao would. In Tails own rush to abandon evidence of any problems, Tails dropped Chocola and dived into the same bush, taking care to hide himself entirely.
Cream was happily skipping up to Cheese until she noticed Chocola lying on the floor, in what seemed to be a lifeless state. Shocked at the sight of her own Chao standing over another Chao's corpse, she dropped the bouquet of flowers and stared in awe at the situation.
"Cheese… is that…?" Cream forced out, keeping bay any tears she could.
Cheese gave a look of shock to Cream, noticing what it looked like had happened.
"Your dead, you little mutant!" Cheese whispered to Tails, trying to not give anything away to Cream, who with her ears were able to pick up the slightest wind of a voice.
"What did you say?" Cream said, tears beginning to stream from her eyes as she found it harder to accept what had happened.
"Chao chao?" Cheese replied, trying not to let Cream know of his ability to speak.
Unsatisfied with this reply, Cream only found it in her to ask, "Did you kill Chocola?!"
"CHAO!" Cheese protested, taken aback by the claim.
"And I thought we went after Eggman to save him!" Cream cried, the tears now actively rolling down her face. "But you wanted him back only to kill him?!"
Trying to defend himself, Cheese waved his hands around repeatedly 'Chao'ing in his defence.
"Go… Go have a time-out!" Cream cried, turning and running from the area. Cheese, taking the accusations quite difficultly, dully stood on the ground before slowly leaving, not bothering to move Chocola's now dead body.
It wasn't long until Tails found it safe enough to leave, and rushed not only out of the bush, but all the way back home, avoiding the few dangers that Green Hill offered, then sealing himself inside his home with his Titanium hanger door.

Meanwhile, Cheese's mind was only on the events that had already transpired. What Tails had done he was blamed for, and he had to take the blame, there was no choice. Tails must pay for it, he must be punished, he must feel the pain he gave Chocola, the sting of Death! But how could he do it without anyone knowing? Would it even matter? Nobody would suspect a Chao. All he had to do was go into Tails lab, and kill him, however way he could. That would settle it, and seal his fate.
It had only been 30 minutes, and Tails was still shaken up, staying sealed tightly inside his lab, working on the Tornado 2 to take the weight off his mind. It wasn't working, and the weight of standing on Chocola hard enough to kill the poor Chao was unbearable. What madness would put him in a place where he would have to kill? There was little time to think about it, because only moments later the Titanium bay doors were being torn open with a squealing grind of metal, followed by Cheese smashing his head through the small remaining gap.
"Your going to die, you weak little mutant!" Cheese shouted, tearing the rest of his body through the gap and quickly pulling a gun through the hole to aim at Tails. In his shock, Tails dived behind the Tornado 2 and used it as cover, listening to the bullets ricochet off of his precious plane, or fly past his head. As soon as the gun clicked to say it ran out, Tails made a break for it, running as fast as he could to his control room, sealing the door on his way in.
Bullets bounced into and cracked his bullet proof glass, making it harder for him to think of any way he could get out as Cheese ever quickly approached his hiding spot. Daring to glance outside, Tails had accidentally pressed a button on the control panel, activating the Tornado's engine. Cheese took his opportunity to dive at the glass, but found out that when he had jumped he was being pulled back by the furious rotation of the Tornado 2's propeller, sucking him towards it.
Seeing his doom before him, he had to do anything he could to save himself. Large, bloodstained claws grew from his tiny, adorable hands and he slammed then into the Tornado 2, once again giving off a sharp shriek of tearing metal which made Tails cringe, but only for a moment as he saw the red glint of blood piercing his precious airplane.
"Chao's are evil! I KNEW IT!" Tails exclaimed, looking at the claws in awe.
"But you won't live to tell anyone!" Cheese shouted, his claws dug deep into the Tornado, keeping him safe.
A slight pause, a small gulp. Realisation set in. Getting out to tell anyone wouldn't be easy. The only way out of the room was the door, and to do that he would have to turn the fans off and unseal himself from safety.
"Wait… that's it!" Tails shouted, pushing another button on his control panel. Cheese curiously tilted his head as sections the floor rumbled slightly, only for it to lift up below him, crushing the Tornado 2 quickly into the roof before he could act, and one with one last spark, exploding the Tornado, sending shrapnel all over the room, bouncing off the glass causing Tails to hide under the desk. It was another few minutes before Tails dare move, or even breathe loudly.
"Sonic's obstacle course. How lucky to have it." Tails mentioned as he unsealed the room. "Ugh, this mess is going to be hell to clean up, but at least he's gone."
Tails looked at the wreckage one last time, just in case he had indeed survived, but nothing had moved and all in sight was shrapnel. The only thing of importance was three long pieces of shrapnel covered in blood, but it was expectable. Not looking back, Tails hurried to leave to search for his hero, Sonic.
Moments later, the shrapnel jittered, budged, and then threw the wreckage aside. It wasn't blood covered shrapnel, it was claws. Long, sharp, bloody claws as Cheese pulled himself out of his would-be tomb, cursing and condemning Tails as he left.

It was a hard day of searching for Tails, of questions and no answers. He couldn't find Sonic, or reason for the happenings of the day. He was of scientific mind, so fate was no possibility, but how could he not see Chocola before he stood upon the Chao? More so, how could Cheese be able to hide such large claws? Perhaps religion was the only answer here, and that they were in fact, of the devil. But, he still needed to tell someone, and at this point, it could be anyone. Sonic was no where to be seen, and Cream would still be dismayed about the loss of Chocola. It wasn't long until Tails had realised he was right next to Angel Island, which had once again fallen into the ocean but not because of the broken emerald. Knuckles would listen, he might be able to help!
Motivated by determination, he took to the skies in hopes of sighting Knuckles in his usual place, in front of the emerald.
He had been alone on Angel Island for too long, and the pain of being so solitary was finally beginning to get to him. Knuckles had done what most people had. He got a Chao, and raised it on Angel Island to accompany him on his eternal mission of protecting the Master Emerald, one of which he fails often. The day was like most days, except now he wasn't in the dark skies. He was once more, sitting near the emerald, looking around the area for any kind of invaders that may seek to harm the emerald. His Chao, who he had decided to name Knuckles as a testament of its potential power, was gleefully flying around the area, searching more for nuts than intruders. Unfortunately for him, he spot a fuzzy yellow intruder heading their way, and had to hurry back to Knuckles bountilessly, only to let Knuckles do the work. Upon reaching him, all he could do was tug upon Knuckles' arm and point him in the right direction, who replied with a silent, stern nod and prepared to greet the intruder with force.
Tails had seen Knuckles now, and was descending while wondering exactly what to say. Chao's were evil, it was simple. Telling someone that their cute pet will murder them, not so. But someone had to know, someone had to help him spread the word before the Chao could do anything drastic. As soon as he touched the floor, he made it his business to run straight over to Knuckles without looking around to tell him of the news.
"Knuckles! You gotta help me!" Tails spluttered, confusing him slightly. "Chao are EVIL! They tried to kill me, and they have claws!"
Knuckles watching the frantic mad babble of Tails shook his head and rested a hand on Tails shoulder.
"Tails, Chao's aren't evil, I know by experience. You're eleven years old, you shouldn't let nightmares get to you." Knuckles advised, looking back to his chao. Out of curiosity, Tails looked over Knuckles shoulder, only to find what he had least expected. Another Chao, red in colour, appearance of an angel, intent of a devil.
"Not you too!" Tails shouted, pushing off Knuckles and jumping back. "They're murderers! Assassins! Killers in a cute outfit!"
Short fused but controlled, Knuckles slammed his fist into the ground to silence Tails. It worked too well, as it made him fall over too. During the panic however, the Chao in question was able to begin to make his own move. Recovering a tiny, two way radio he had hidden before, he was already in communication with other Chao's, for Tails knew too much and needed to be silenced, now. He would be paid for the information, in seeds rather than currency. A way to live, crooked or not.
"Think it through Tails, Chao have been in society for years now, years before you were born! Why would they strike now, when before you were born humanity was weaker?" Knuckles announced, attempting to deter Tails.
"But, Cheese attacked me! He tried to KILL me!" Tails argued, clearly going nowhere.
"Tails, you need a break from your work, go get some sleep." Knuckles replied, waving him away.
"Fine, don't believe me, I'll find someone else, someone has to help me!" Tails announced, quickly taking off. Left blinking, Knuckles decided to ignore the event and return to his post at the Master Emerald.

He ran around Station Square, trying with every person he could to warn them, to tell them that Chao are Evil, but none would have it. He caused so much trouble he was shunned from the city and banned for the day, not allowed to return unless he wanted to find out what happens inside a prison. He had nowhere left to go but home. And it was just how he left it, a burning wreck.
Tired from his constant unheard preaching, he was going to go straight to his bed. Only if it were so easy. Once he had entered the building, he had failed to notice that the wreckage had been not only moved, but pushed around the room and littered all over. He had been watched from when he entered the room, and now, it was time for him to pay for his inattentiveness.
Nearly instantly, red alarms were going off with extra durable steel barriers closing all over the room, sealing the inside perfectly from the out, air tightly. Surprised by the sudden rush of movement, all Tails could do was look around the room shocked, before looking back to the control room where he first caused the wreckage inside. A shrill laugh rose from the room, spine chillingly cold and downright frightening, but it served to tell Tails who it was.
"You… but I killed you! I crushed you with the Tornado!" Tails exclaimed, in fear and awe.
"Ha! You, kill me?! Impossible!" Was the reply from his bleeding blue nemesis, Cheese. "You couldn't kill me no matter how hard you tried, and now your trapped here! I'm going to kill you, nice and slow."
To rush an already panicked Tails, Cheese burst through the previously bullet-proof glass that was the window to the control room and flew straight towards Tails. Distraught, he dived to the floor, but not before receiving a large cut to his cheek. With only the option to move forward, or backwards into Cheese, Tails jumped back up and rushed into the control room and slammed down on a button, shutting the remainder of the window behind another thick blast shield.
"Ok… life or death. What can I do right now?" Tails asked, only to hear his own question echoed in the room. "I've no choice; I'll have to activate the self destruct on the lab. The map was in here, but given the state of the room, it's among the torn up papers." Tails glanced around hopefully for the map, only to be greeted with the first thud of Cheese hitting the window's blast shield. "I've not got the time to find it. I need to get out of here. Going out the door would be going to Cheese, but there's not another way."
Noticing a small impact in the floor covered by the torn papers, Tails' inquisitive side took over. He picked himself up and kicked the papers aside, revealing a small hole that had been created at some point.
"Yes! An escape!" Tails exclaimed, jumping down it in a hurry. It wasn't hard for Cheese to hear Tails go, given his excitement, and let out a small snicker before turning and flying away from the control room.

Thanks to his two tails, Tails was able to fly down the hole safely. At the bottom he could see all of the pipes and workings that kept his structure alive.
"Ok. The first button was in the weapon storage room, hidden behind… what was it?" Tails begun in thought. "It was behind… the safe, yeah, that was it. To make sure thieves went for the empty safe rather than touching the button."
With his destination decided, the first thing he had to do was find the first vent he could break open and go down. So, naturally he began walking among the pipes and shafts. Moments through the tunnel, something unexpected happened. The floor completely burst open, smashing the pipes and structures nearby, flooding the area with debris and gas. Shocked by the noise and sight, Tails once again naturally dived towards to the floor.
"No escape now, Tails. You will die here!" Cheese announced frenziedly charging at Tails. Panicked by the speed and force of the movement, Tails jumped up and spun around, his tails smashing powerfully into Cheese, knocking him back into the gas and causing further amounts of gas to leak out. It was becoming difficult to see now, and Tails had realised that his attack had forced one of Cheese's claws to stab into his tail, wounding his mobility, flight and fighting ability.
"You little mutant! Stop resisting and just suffer!" Cheese howled, rushing once more. With nowhere else to go, Tails quickly dived down the hole Cheese created, and attempted to fly using his tails, only to find out this caused immense amounts of pain, forcing him to slam into the floor below.
"Ow! Why did I use concrete tiles on the weapons storage floor?!" Tails spluttered, pushing himself back onto his feet. With no time to spare, he rushed over to the safe and dived his hand over it, pressing the button behind the safe.
"One down, four to go… oh crap." Tails said as he was turning to leave, only to be greeted by Cheese who was wielding a machine gun he would usually have mounted on his Tornado. "Wait! Shoot that and you'll blow us both up!"
"Haven't you realised it yet Tails?" Cheese questioned, snickering. "I can't die, you haven't got a prayer of getting out alive, and soon, our plan will come into action!"
"Your plan? What are you going to do?!" Tails questioned desperately.
"The world will find out, soon enough. But you die! Here, and now!" Cheese said, beginning to squeeze the trigger. Tails shut his eyes, unable to bare hearing the gun fire, and the bullet strike him. It was a few moments until he realised that he wasn't shot.
Cheese had a bullet hole, directly through his head and skull. He wavered a moment, before collapsing atop of the machine gun he was wielding. Tails rescuer was none other than Emerl, the Gizoid that was thought to have blown up with Robotnik's latest Death Egg.
"Emerl! But how?! You blew up!" Tails called out distraught. Shaking his head, Emerl motioned for Tails to follow him out of the room. "I can't go yet, I need to set the self destruct for the base." As a reply, Emerl shook his head once more, and put one finger up, then pointed to Tails.
"Yes, I have a switch… wait, do you mean that you've activated the others?" Tails questioned. Emerl nodded, and motioned Tails to leave once more. "Ok, let's get out of here."

It took ten minutes to get back to the control room, and five minutes for Tails to hot wire the blast doors open so they could leave, but once they had run from the lab Tails pressed the final button, causing an immense explosion to cover over Green Hill and shine through Station Square.
"There's no chance nobody would have seen that, come on Emerl, let's go find some place to rest." Tails said, limping on away as his pains begun to catch up to him. Without any questions, Emerl nodded and followed Tails away from the burnt down lab.