Housebreaker
Yeah, I'm back with my Chaotix fics. :D I've been working with two longer stories too, but let's see if I'll ever finish them. But about this story... there's actually nothing particular to say. The whole story just started from a couple of funny lines and I wrote this without thinking too much. I was tired and the characters are tired. Just a one shot that's trying to be funny.
"Boy, traveling sure makes ragged. Feels pretty good to get sleep in my own bed."
"M'hm."
The clock was almost one at night when Chaotix's detective trio walked from rail station homewards. Due to their latest job, they had had to tour several days and had just returned. Vector carried Charmy, who had fallen asleep in the train, and Espio took care of their suitcase. The office was already in sight. But when they were still some way off, Espio suddenly stopped.
"What's up?" Vector asked, turning to look at the chameleon, who pointed the house.
"Did you leave the window open?" the lizard asked.
"No."
Both scanned the house for other conspicuous things and then silently continued walking. When coming near, they heard a silent rattle inside.
"Housebreakers?" Vector whispered.
"Again? The office could be changed somewhere, where every year someone won't try to rob us."
"Right away, when we have enough money to move. Will you already think about being a busker with shamisen?"
"No."
"Is that so? Anyway, go and get that burglar out. I did the job last time."
"Sure, but just for a change you could use another reason."
"Look who's talking. Take him off quietly 'cause I don't want Charmy to wake up and began that crazy, half-asleep run wild."
"Yes yes." Espio put the suitcase on the ground and turned invisible. The chameleon went trough the window and glanced around. Two of the kitchen's cabinets were open, but stuff wasn't lying around. Espio didn't bother trying to remember every squeaky flooring (and there were lots of them), so he sneaked from room to another on walls. At the very moment, workroom's door opened. Flashlight's spotlight before him, the thief tiptoed into the living room and straight to the staircase. He was wearing black clothes and even covered his face with a balaclava, but inferring from ears and tail, he was probably a wolf. He had a pistol on his belt. The chameleon followed the robber with some distance while wondering, why they had too had a couple of burglars. Was it just a coincidence, some kind of thing in this part of the city or did they look stupid enough to be robbed? Even the house didn't indicate about great richness.
The burglar walked surprisingly calmly trough the corridor, examining the doors on the way, and then stopped at the end of the corridor, before the last door. Espio waited in the ceiling above the thief, when the wolf pondered a moment and then opened the door and stepped inside his room. Scoundrel.
The burglar glanced the clean, kinda empty room and then headed to the bureau and first tried the only drawer equipped with a lock. It didn't open. He didn't give up but took a piece of iron wire from his pocket and began to wring it in the keyhole. The chameleon dropped on the ground and with an interest waited in the doorjamb if the burglar would succeed picking a lock. The drawer clicked open. The operation had been so neatly that Charmy could probably do it too. Espio decided to buy a better lock into the drawer.
Contently humming, the thief picked up a skillfully carved wooden box and opened it.
"Be careful. Those are very sharp."
The box fell on the floor, when the burglar stumbled on his feet, turned around and fumbled the pistol in his hands. He pointed it and the flashlight at the doorpost standing chameleon not understanding when he had been able to sneak in, as far as he cared about that kind of details after almost having a heart attack.
"H-hands up or I'll shoot!" the robber threatened. Instantly the chameleon disappeared and in a split second the burglar noticed he had lost his weapon and his hand was tightly held behind his back. The chameleon appeared next to him.
"I don't recommend. Bullets are expensive, misses even more." the lizard noted and began to tie the thief up with a rope.
While waiting, Vector had found the deck of playing cards in their suitcase and now played solitaire with his other hand, while still holding quietly snoring Charmy with another. The crocodile just finished the deck of hearts, when the front doors lock clicked and Espio stepped on the stairway.
"What took you so long?" Vector immediately asked, scraped the cards at one heap and stuffed them back into the suitcase.
"I was too tired to take the situation seriously." the chameleon answered and helped with the playing cards.
"I'm not surprised. Did you called the cops?"
"Not yet."
"I'll do that, as long as I've put Charmy in the bed."
"Right. You want tea?"
"Why not."
Vector went inside with the bee and peeked in the workroom, whence was heard vexed mumbling, nodded at the burglar who stopped struggling in his ropes when seeing the crocodile, and then Vector continued upstairs. In the meantime, Espio dragged the suitcase in the hallway and headed to the kitchen.
Vector returned downstairs after covering Charmy in bed as quietly as he ever could.
"Well well, what do we have here." he said when stepping in the workroom and for a short moment looked the thief tied in a chair, whom Espio had taken the balaclava off. The wolf looked kinda mediocre. His pistol and the beanie where on the office table.
"If you had come yesterday, no one wouldn't have probably stopped your burgling. What even is so interesting in this house? We don't have any chaos emeralds, even though one could come such conclusion." Vector chatted while typing the police station's number on the phone, took headphones off his head and then sat on the office chair to wait for an answer. He kept an eye contact in the thief. The wolf looked very angry. Soon a police officer answered.
"Good... evening, Vector the Crocodile in the phone. We caught a burglar from our house. Could you come and take him? Right, thank you. Goodbye."
"So the police is coming?" Espio asked when stepping in the room with two mugs of tea. He handed one of them to his boss.
"Yup, told us to wait a second. Thanks." the crocodile answered and sipped his tea. The chameleon left standing against the wall and for a moment the reptiles quietly looked the wolf, who at the moment tried to shake the dumbing scarf off his muzzle.
"Whadda you think, should we join the police forces? We could get monthly salary from catching bad guys like we now do." Vector thought.
"Guess you can't get in if you don't have a diploma from police education." Espio said.
"Yeah. Dang you bureaucracy."
"Charmy wouldn't even get into the school."
"Yea, what age limits that kind of institutions usually have?" the crocodile yawned and looked at the window. "Still this present detective agency -way seems to be the best choice."
"Mmh."
Yet another moment they listened to the wall clock's ticking and then a police van curved on the front yard, sirens yelling.
"Darn it. Now Charmy will wake up!" Vector grunted and drank the rest of his tea.
"I'll take care of him." Espio stated, left his tea mug on the office table and went upstairs. Vector lifted up from his chair and began to untie the burglar from this one's seat.
"Thank you very much for this hassle." he mumbled to the wolf, took him and the pistol and the balaclava with him and walked to the front door to meet the loudly knocking policemen.
It sure is nice after a travel return to home and ordinary life.