By V-Babe
Author's Note: Hayai, the name of Sonic's chao, is "fast" or "rapid" in Japanese. Hey, it sounded like something Sonic would name his chao, and it sounded a heck of a lot better than my original idea, "Mach 1". ;-_-
"The doctor will be with you in a moment."
Moment?! thought Sonic, More like a MILLENIUM! Seeing as how he had no choice-his chao DID need his check-up after all-Sonic repositioned his chao Hayai in his arms and went into the clinic's waiting room.
"SONIC!" screamed an overly-happy female voice.
"Oh, great!" Sonic muttered.
"Who's that, Daddy Sonic?" asked Hayai about the pink hedgehog rushing to his daddy.
"Believe me, Buddy," Sonic answered the little white chao with a blue halo, "You don't want to know!"
"Oh, don't be silly, Sonic!" exclaimed Amy Rose as she grabbed Sonic's arm, nearly making him drop Hayai.
"WHOA!" Sonic yelled as he scrambled to keep Hayai from being hurt. "You all right, Buddy?"
"I OK, Daddy Sonic." Hayai then gave a thumbs-up. "I past cool!"
"THAT'S my boy!" A proud blue hedgehog patted his chao on the head.
"Oh!" Amy exclaimed. "is that your chao? He's so KYUUUUUUUTE!!!!"
Hayai tried to get as close to Sonic as he possibly could. "Daddy Sonic, she CRAZY!!!"
"Oh, your so silly!" Amy practically yelled before Sonic could answer him. "See that white chao over there with the cute little bunny ears?" Before Hayai or Sonic could open their mouths to answer, Amy screamed "He's MY chao! Isn't he cute? His name's Sonic II!"
Sonic II? This girl is such a pain Sonic mused to himself. By Hayai's look of terror, he could guess the chao agreed.
"Miss Rose," called the receptionist, "The doctor will see you and your chao now."
"All right!" Amy called back as she went for Sonic II. "See ya later, Sonic!" she called as she disappeared.
"Whew!" Sonic breathed.
"Hey, Sonic!"
Sonic was a little happier to hear the voice of his friend and partner. "Hey there, Tails!"
"Cyclone!" called Hayai.
The small fox set down his white chao, Cyclone. Sonic put Hayai down in front of him, and the two chao went off to play while they waited for the doctor.
"See ya, Daddy Sonic!" called Hayai.
"Later!" Sonic then turned to Tails. At least now he had somebody intelligent to talk to. "So how's Cyclone?"
"He's good. Has Hayai started breaking the sound barrier yet?"
Sonic laughed lightly. "Not yet, but hey, he's just learning to run. He's pretty fast for a chao though. What I want to know is if Cyclone has started taking machines apart and putting them back together yet."
Now it was Tails' turn to chuckle, but before he could answer his friend a small voice asked "You Hedgehog and Fox Boy?"
Confused, the two friends looked to the side, but finding no one, they looked down to find a black chao looking at them intently.
"Well," Tails answered, "He is a hedgehog, and I am a fox..."
"I thought so," said the chao as though he was trying to sound like a villain. He still had a cute voice, though.
"What's your name?" asked Tails in an effort to be friendly.
"Daddy Eggman says I'm not to disclose any information to any blue hedgehogs or two-tailed orange foxes...whatever that means..."
"EGGMAN?!?!?!?!" Sonic exclaimed in shock.
Sure enough, Eggman was apparantly talking to a nurse. When he finished, he reached for the black chao. "Ready to go home, Eggy?" he asked in a voice Sonic and Tails had never heard him use.
"I ready, Daddy Eggman!" said Eggy as Eggman carried him out of the clinic at the same time Knuckles arrived carrying his dignified-looking green chao, Tikal.
"Strange..." Knuckles observed, "I never thought Eggman would care for a chao."
"Wierder things have happened," Tails answered as he petted Tikal.
Knuckles allowed Tails to pet Tikal for a few seconds before he put her down to allow her to go play with Cyclone and Hayai.
"I hate all this waiting," Sonic said as he tapped his foot and stared at his watch.
"Doctors aren't as known for speed as you are, Sonic," Knuckles reminded the hedgehog.
"Tell me about it!"
An elegant-looking black hedgehog strutted past the group, causing them to look for her "parent".
"It's that bat girl," Knuckles growled.
"Long time no see, Treasure Hunter," Rouge answered simply before she followed the chao to the other side of the room. She ignored Sonic and Tails.
Sonic was getting impatient. There were plenty of doctors at this clinic, why wasn't Hayai seeing his?
"All done, Froggy!" called Big the Cat as he came from the hallway leading to the examination rooms. He carried a sleeping bluish chao in his arms.
Froggy hopped behind Big out the door. "I guess everybody likes chao..." Tails noted.
"Yeah, everybody," Sonic muttered.
When his companions gave him confused looks, Sonic nodded in the direction where Rouge had followed her chao. Sitting in a corner was Shadow the Hedgehog, petting a fierce-but-slightly-nervous looking black chao in his lap.
"Faker," Sonic whispered under his breath.
"What's the matter, Maria?" Shadow asked the chao.
"I going to get shot, Daddy Shadow?" asked the chao-who was obviously named Maria.
"No, Maria, the doctor is a very nice man. He's not going to shoot you."
Rouge had apparantly been listening in on their conversation. "Shadow, I think she means is the doctor going to give her an injection. You know, like a vaccination."
"Oh! I don't know. I don't think so, anyway. Be a little more specific next time, OK?"
"I try." Maria hugged Shadow's arm, causing Shadow to smile slightly and pet her some more.
"I guess anybody who can love a chao like that can't be all bad," Tails noted.
Sonic shrugged. Maybe Tails was right. Knuckles had started out as his enemy after all...
"Mr. Hedgehog?" called the receptionist.
"Yes?" answered both Sonic and Shadow. Shadow jumped at hearing Sonic's voice. He hadn't known that faker was here!
"Uh.....both of you. The doctors are ready for you."
"Finally!" Sonic exclaimed as he gathered up Hayai.
"This way," she said as she led Sonic and Shadow down a hall. They ended up in opposite rooms.
*********
After the check-ups, during which Maria didn't get the shot she'd been scared of, the hedgehog rivals met each other in the hall. Shadow nodded approvingly at Hayai, and Sonic smiled slightly at Maria.
"I never expected you to raise chao," Sonic said.
"Nor I you," was Shadow's answer.
"Yours is Maria?"
Shadow nodded. "Yours?"
"Hayai."
"SOOONNNNNIIIIIICCCC!" Amy screamed as she raced towards them with Sonic II.
Sonic and Shadow's eyes both grew wide with pure terror. "Options?" Shadow asked quickly.
"One!" Sonic answered desperatly.
"Bolt?"
"Yes!"
"Ready?"
"GO!"
Hugging their chao close to them, Sonic and Shadow raced as fast as they could from the pink hedgehog, causing every face in the clinic to turn towards the blue and black streaks that raced past them, sending papers and magazines flying.
Amy fell to her knees. "Sonic, you're so mean!" she cried.
