The next day, Team Chaotix, Cream, and Cheese continued their search. Currently, they were in a forest near the site where the fateful avalanche had occurred. Espio was on the lookout for possible dangers.
"Huh, I'm using muscles I didn't even know I had," Charmy commented. He rarely ever walked, he normally only hovered in midair, so going on foot felt different to him.
"You get used to it," Cream replied. She normally only flew when she had to.
"Place seems oddly deserted," Vector pointed out.
Cream was curious. "Where are the critters?"
They heard metallic stomping. The stomps were so strong that it caused the gang to lose their balance and they nearly fell over. They saw that a group of Snowies, or robots that resemble polar bears, were marching towards them, ready to attack.
Cream was frightened and hid behind Vector. A Snowy sprinted towards them and attempted to slam them from above with its huge paws, but Vector held its paws up and pushed back. After a struggle, Vector shoved the Snowy on its back and tackled it.
Espio turned invisible and snuck up on another Snowy before throwing shuriken into its back. It turned around and did not see him, as he was still invisible. However, the cold made him sneeze, which broke his concentration and made him visible again. The Snowy growled and chased Espio, but he camouflaged himself once more, which confused the robot.
"Take this!" Charmy shouted as he stabbed a Snowy in the leg with his stinger. He then became stuck. The Snowy shook its leg and threw him off, where he hit a tree. It then approached him menacingly and lifted its foot, ready to stomp on him.
Seeing this, Cream felt a jolt of adrenaline and courage inside her. "STOP!" she shouted, and she and Cheese charged at the Snowy. They both jumped on top of it. The Snowy snarled and tried to swat Cheese off its shoulder, but Cheese gave it a body slam that was enough to leave it lying helplessly on its back. Cream kicked it until she knocked its head off. A squirrel came out of the robot, looked at her in appreciation, and skipped off. This gave Cream another incentive to help, she knew she had to release the critters inside the Snowies.
The fight continued. Charmy would stab the robots in the leg with his stinger and Vector would flip them over right after before body-slamming them. Espio continued to throw weapons such as shuriken and kunai to poke holes in the Snowies to release the creatures within. Cream and Cheese knocked over the enemies by charging into them and gave them plenty of kicks and punches. Finally, all the Snowies were destroyed, and each animal was set free. The critters gleefully hopped off into the distance.
"My, you've become stronger since the last time we saw you," mused Espio.
"I couldn't have done it without Cheese here," Cream chuckled as she scratched Cheese under the chin.
They all heard a strange noise from afar. It sounded like something was burrowing under the ground.
Cream looked hopeful. "My dad loves digging, so maybe it's him." She skipped away, following the sound. The others accompanied her close behind. Espio was not exactly sure about this, and he looked around in suspicion.
"Dad, I'm here, it's me, Cream!" Cream called out. The burrowing sound became louder, and the ground was quaking. They all looked at each other nervously, and they were beginning to doubt that Ice was the source of it. Just then, a giant snake burst from the ground and hissed.
The others screamed and began to flee. Cream was frozen, but not from the cold, it was from sheer terror. Cheese grabbed Cream by the collar and pulled her. Cream snapped out of her state and raced behind the others. None of them were fast enough to outrun the snow snake, especially with its immense size. Cream and Cheese would have flown to safety, but they did not want to leave their allies behind. The snake opened its cavernous maw and swallowed them all before clamping its jaws shut. Like most snakes, it soon began to get drowsy after its meal, so it lay down.
Everyone tumbled down its throat and ended up in the stomach. Vector landed right on Espio, which knocked the wind out of him.
"Get off," Espio groaned.
The gang stood up. It was dimly-lit, and the walls were pinkish-red.
Cream grabbed Vector's hand, looking very nervous. "It sure is dark in here!"
Espio looked down and noticed that they were sinking at a rapid pace.
"We can't stay down here much longer, or we'll be its next meal," he said, keeping his cool.
"But me and Cheese can't carry all of you up there at once, it's too heavy!" Cream paced around anxiously. She knew she couldn't carry them one at a time, either, as they were sinking too quickly.
Cheese inspected one of the bags and found a rope. They handed it to Cream.
"A sleuth's always gotta be prepared," Vector said admiringly as Espio held onto Cream's ankles and Cream and Cheese flew up the throat. They stood at the back of the mouth and tossed the rope down.
"We're ready!" Cream called out.
Charmy and Vector held onto the rope and ascended the walls of the throat. Cream, Cheese, and Espio pulled them up. They reached the front of the mouth, but they saw that it was still closed.
"Now what?" Vector sighed.
"Maybe we could make him puke us out," Charmy suggested.
"No, no, just…no," Espio shot that idea down.
Just then, the snake yawned. It inhaled deeply, which sucked the gang backwards. Vector held onto the uvula as the others held onto his legs. Cream and Cheese, however, flew against the wind and reached the front of the mouth. Cheese stood on Cream's head and they both held the jaws open. The snake was still heavily asleep, so it did not even react to that.
"Guys, hurry!" Cream yelled in a strained voice. She and Cheese could not hold it up much longer. Cream then slipped on the teeth and started to lose her grip.
Vector swung back on the uvula and jumped forward. The rest of Team Chaotix landed on the tongue, slid over to the teeth, and held the jaws open. Cream and Cheese leapt out, and the others followed suit. The snow snake snored through it all and rolled on its back. Still, the gang remained silent and tiptoed past it. Once they were at a safe distance, they bolted out of there.
"You were a big help back there," Vector told Cream and Cheese with pride glimmering in his eyes. "You're getting to be real detectives."
Cream blushed. "Aw, it was nothin'."
Cheese cooed, looking pleased. The gang continued their trek.