(AN: Why hello everyone! It's TheHunterPersian back again bringing you another Vecpio fic! This time, THIS one is the one I've been hinting at since the end of Transfer, and in Kinjirareta Ai. I'm personally gunna call this my biggest fic so far, even more than Transfer, mainly due to the fact that this fic, while short on chapters, I wanna make it long and descriptive. Not to mention, as it is clear, this is more of an Action/Adventure oriented Vecpio fic, however, that's NOT to say there will be romance in it.
...however, it will be done in a... DIFFERENT way. How so? Well, you'll just need to read to see how I've done this!
I'd also like to give my thanks to Roxy1049 on DA again for letting me use one of her Vecpio edits as this fic's cover image!
So, let's get on with the show, this is: A Deal or No Deal!)
"Give it up, Chaotix! I've got all three of you tired, and there's no Sonic and his little rodent friends to save you!"
Eggman laughed as he stared down at the Team Chaotix members; Vector, Espio, and Charmy, all breathing heavily as cuts and bruises covered their body.
"We will NOT give up, Dr. Eggman!" Espio yelled, holding his kunai tightly.
"Yeah! What Espio said!" replied Charmy.
"Very well then, be it as it is, because it's your deaths that you are asking for!"
Dr. Eggman shot lasers from his Eggmobile as Vector grabbed Espio and Charmy and got them out of the way. He shot a fireball at the Eggmobile, but it was deflected, and it hit Vector.
"VECTOR!" yelled Charmy, buzzing up to him. Espio quickly followed suite, picking up his friend.
"H-Heh… don't worry 'bout me guys, Imma be alright. Just kick Eggman's ass fer me… alrighty?" Vector said. He smirked, and then fell limp.
"V-Vector?" Charmy asked, whimpering. "Is he-?"
"No, he's still alive," Espio said, checking Vector's pulse. "Just knocked out, that's all."
Charmy nodded, but then turned his head to face Eggman.
"YOU'RE GUNNA PAY FOR THIS EGGMAN! NO ONE HURTS VECTOR!" he yelled.
"Aww, the little tyke is trying his best to be threatening like his caretakers… How sweet…" Eggman mocked in a "baby" voice. Charmy yelled, and buzzed quickly over to Eggman.
"Charmy, no!" Espio yelled, extending out his hand. Before the small bee could attack with his stinger, Eggman pressed a button that caused a wrecking ball to appear, hitting the bee. The chameleon cringed as he saw what happened to the young child, hitting the wall and falling on the ground. Espio ran over to see the damage. Surprisingly, Charmy was knocked out, and none of his bones were broken from what would have been a very painful thud. He had to thank his lucky stars the youngest Chaotix member wasn't majorly hurt.
Espio grit his teeth as his lemon yellow eyes slit like a snake. His hand began to shake as it was visible as all day; the chameleon was enraged.
"EGGMAN! YOU'VE GONE FAR ENOUGH! NO ONE HURTS MY FRIENDS, NOT THE LIKES OF YOU, NO ONE!"
Espio didn't care if he felt like he was about to lose his voice, he wanted his message to be clear. However, Eggman simply laughed.
"Oh, Espio, if only you knew what this means, your teammates all beaten up, and you're the only one standing." he said.
"What do you mean by that, doctor?"
"ROBOTS! SEIZE HIM!"
"Wha-!"
It was too late, a multitude of robots came from the ceiling and rushed towards the chameleon. He tried to fight back, but there were far too many. The largest robot of them swung its arm cannon and struck Espio, knocking him out cold. Eggman laughed as the three Chaotix members lay unconscious on the floor.
…
…
"…hng… w-w… Wha?"
Vector rubbed his head as he woke up. His eyes became blinded by the light coming from the window.
"Wait… window?"
Vector saw that he wasn't in Eggman's base, but instead, back at the Chaotix Detective Agency. He had his head on his desk, as if he fell asleep on it. Getting up from his chair, he looked out the window to see that…
Everything was normal.
The sun was shining, the sky was bright blue, and there wasn't a single cloud in the heavens. It almost was like the Chaotix hadn't taken the case that led them to that Eggman attack.
Eggman attack…
Vector froze when he thought about it.
"Awh, crap! Where's Espio and Charmy?!" he frantically yelled. He rushed over to Charmy's room and opened the door. Fortunately, the bee was on his bed. Vector took a sigh of relief, and walked over to him.
"Charmy?" Vector said, poking the child. "Charmy, wake up."
"Mmm…" Charmy muttered. "V-Vector?"
"Yeah, it's me."
Immediately, when Charmy looked up, he shot towards Vector and hugged him.
"Oh, V-Vector! I thought Eggman killed you when he hit you with your fireball! I was so worried!"
The crocodile could tell that the child was close to tears, so he patted his back, soothing him.
"Hey, Eggman needs more than one stinkin' fireball to bring me down!"
Charmy began to laugh, no longer sad.
"Heh, that's the Charmy I like to see. C'mon, let's go see what Espio's up to."
Vector and Charmy walked to Espio's room, opening the door and expecting for him to be there.
"Hey, Espio, yeh doin' okay-"
The large green reptile froze when he saw that Espio's room was completely empty.
"That's strange…" Vector thought.
"What's wrong, Vector?" Charmy asked.
"Espio's not in his room."
"He's not? Well, maybe he's in a different part of the house! After all, you know he wakes up early!"
"That is true… c'mon."
Vector went into the living room, but found no Espio. Not in the kitchen, or even the very small laundry room.
There was no Espio meditating, no Espio lying against a wall, no Espio doing anything ninja related, nothing. It almost was like he…. disappeared.
"I'm gunna go check outside!" Vector said in a panic, becoming more worried. He exited out of the Chaotix Detective Agency, and looked around the entirety of the property. Again, there was no sight of the chameleon.
"Where did he go? Do you think he went somewhere?" Charmy asked when Vector got inside.
"I dunno… and that's the scary part…" replied Vector.
Just then, there was a tapping on the window. Vector and Charmy turned their head to see two familiar faces; a red and black orb headed robot, and a yellow and black cube headed robot.
"It's Orbot and Cubot!" Charmy said. "What are THEY doing here?! Don't they know bad guys aren't invited?"
"Charmy, I'm gunna have to ask ya to stay back. Ya dunno what they could possibly have," Vector replied. He walked over to the window and opened it.
"Package from Dr. Eggman!" Cubot said, holding out a tablet in front of him.
"That's not a package, bolts for brains," Orbot spat. "A package is something in a box or at least, a material WRAPPED in something. This tablet isn't, as it isn't in anything."
"Well okay, fine! What do YOU want me to call it then?"
"It's a delivery! That's not what I want it to call it-"
"Are yeh two done?" asked Vector. The two robots looked up at the crocodile.
"DELIVERY, from Dr. Eggman," Cubot yelled, giving Orbot the evil eye. He handed Vector the tablet.
"We must be going now," said Orbot, and the two robots set sail back to the evil scientist on a mini Eggmobile. Vector and Charmy watched as the two sped off, and seeming to… fight about who would be the pilot.
"That was weird," said Charmy.
"Agreed… anyway, let's see what "Baldy McNosehair" has to offer for us."
"That's Sonic's lame line!"
"I know, and I'm temporarily takin' control of said lame line."
Vector turned on the tablet, and an image of Dr. Eggman appeared on screen.
"Oh ho ho ho! It's nice to see you, Chaotix! Did you expect me?" The doctor asked.
"Gee, I dunno, does two robots handin' ya a tablet sayin' it's from Dr. Eggman count?"
Eggman paused and turned to look at the side.
"YOU IDIOTS! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE IT ON THEIR PORCH! NOT JUST GIVE IT TO THEM! I SWEAR, WHEN I'M DONE HERE I'LL… GAH, NEVER MIND!"
Eggman cleared his throat, and turned to face the screen.
"Anyway, you must be curious as to why I've given you this! Well, I'm sure you're worried about your little friend, Espio, right?"
Vector and Charmy were taken aback. "H-Huh? How do YOU know about Espio being gone?!"
"Heh heh, it's quite simple actually! Move the camera!"
The camera facing Eggman turned, and with it, caused Vector and Charmy to freeze.
Espio was on the ground, hands tied up in handcuffs as Eggman's foot squished his head. Vector and Charmy gasped and almost let the tablet go.
"You see, I have a little FRIEND of yours right here, do you recognize him?"
"E-EGGMAN, THAT AIN'T COOL!" Vector yelled. "GIVE MAH FRIEND BACK!"
"Oh, I'M not going to let him go THAT easily. That IS… if you do me a favor…"
"What favor?" Charmy asked, however, Vector hushed him.
"You WILL bring me all seven Chaos Emeralds, all under Sonic and his friends' little noses, if you want him back!"
"And what if we decline?" asked Vector.
"Oh, surely you won't come to that, because…"
Eggman's foot squished Espio's head even harder, causing the chameleon to yelp out in pain. Charmy cried as he turned away, closed his eyes, and covered his ears. Vector watched as his friend… his BEST friend, was being tortured right in front of him.
"Decline and I'll make sure your friend doesn't survive another day! And trust me, it won't be by me."
The camera looked up at a multitude of robots, all pointing guns and lasers at Espio.
"THEY will too."
"Y-YER SICK! YER FU-… I MEAN, FREAKIN' SICK!"
"Ahaha… years of being BEATEN by that… LOATHSOME hedgehog certainly does quite a bit to you… I'm going with a plan even HE won't expect."
Vector grit his teeth and growled. He didn't know what to do, he couldn't let Eggman have the seven Chaos Emeralds, it would just be the end of the world.
But at the same time…
His friend's life was at risk. If he said no, Eggman would simply kill him.
Detective life was hard, but no choice Vector made in his life would be as hard as this.
Finally, he sighed, and came up with a conclusion.
"Alrighty… fine… we'll getcha those emeralds…"
Eggman took his foot off of Espio's head. The chameleon looked at the screen, giving a face of fear, a face he had never made before. It chilled Vector to the bone, and he knew it would surely stay with him.
He was breathing in and out, but was afraid to say anything in the fear of having his friends watch him being tortured. However, he began to mouth words.
"Help me."
Vector nodded as the camera turned to face Eggman, who was now smirking.
"Excellent… Don't worry; your friend will be kept safe by me on my airship. You won't need to worry about a thing, just get me those emeralds, and I'll return your friend in one peace. Transmission, over."
The tablet's screen filled with static as Vector turned it off. He walked over to Charmy and touched his arm.
"I know yer worried about Espio, I am too. But we got no choice, Charmy, we gotta get those emeralds," The large green reptile explained.
"B-But… what about Sonic and the others? They'll know and… they'll hurt us!"
"Don't worry, I've got an idea for them to help us if they do encounter us. For now, let's head out, we gotta do this fer Espio."
Vector smiled. "Be strong fer me, and fer Espio, okay?"
Charmy wiped his tears, and a smile formed on his face.
"Y-Yeah… I'll be strong!"
"C'mon, there's an adventure waitin' outside fer us."
"Yay, adventure!"
Charmy buzzed around hearing that. The crocodile smiled seeing Charmy all happy and giddy like normal. But the matter of Espio still tore at him.
He trusted Eggman's word about keeping him safe (despite being the evil mastermind that tries to defeat Sonic), not only that, Espio was a strong individual, and most likely or not, he would find his way out.
The two Chaotix members stepped out of the door, and ran to Station Square. Thus, beginning their quest for the Chaos Emeralds, and their quest to get back Espio.