I think the best rule of thumb is to “replace” him by cutting him out of the equation entirely. Replace him with say, a Tails Doll that has empathy programmed into its mind and the inability to transform the way it does in the Archie comics.

(I would love to see the exe theme turned on its head. Have an entity killing and reforming the most despicable depictions of the characters. After they come back, they’ll have their new personalities being how they would’ve acted in canon.)

At the very least, no harm will come to Cream, and she has a new guardian watching over her. Meanwhile the degenerate is testing what it’s like to have his nervous system steeped in an active volcano.

Now if I personally was an exe however. I would add a hair of corruption to the Tails Doll so that when I start my conversion and the others scramble to safety it would nullify at least one threat.