What the story is about:

Espio, Charmy, Mighty, and Vector have been best friends since childhood. Now they have formed a detective agency, dedicated to solving crimes and mysteries. It was a great success. Things were running smoothly until one day, a legendary hero was murdered in cold blood. News of this grisly incident had sent shockwaves throughout Station Square. A tragedy, to say the least. Now, the Chaotix will have to solve their biggest case yet. They must use their detective skills to investigate the city, weave through the web of deceit, dodge danger, and stay alive long enough to ultimately uncover the truth of who did the deed, and why. And stuff.

Fall from Grace

Prologue

Ah…Station Square…two sides of a coin. During the day, it's quite a nice place to live in. The people get along fine. Just about everyone in any given neighborhood knew each other. Children happily played after a routine day at school. Adults had their nine to fives. There was always something to do in this city, whether it would be going to the local theater to catch a flick, dropping by the ice cream shop for a quick treat, mellow out at the local bar, or going for a stroll in the park, you are in the company of a friendly community. I like it. It's real nice. It seems that nothing could go wrong here…

And then night comes.

The darkness beckons. Police sirens wail through the streets, alerting the citizens that yet another crime has been committed. Thieves, murderers, drug dealers, the mob…all the little hoodlums come out of the woodwork when the sun goes out. Folks are smart to stay in their houses. It ain't safe out there. One wrong move and you're likely to be pushin' up daisies. Best advice to you? Just stay inside and hope you'll make daylight.

Though now that I think about it, just about any city is like that. The police really have their work cut out for them. You gotta respect the cops, whether you like 'em or not. They have one of the most dangerous jobs out there, yet they have one of the lowest salaries. But as the saying goes, "it's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it."

My job isn't a picnic either, but it's how I make my living.

I guess this is where I come in. Name's Espio. Espio the Chameleon. I'm a private detective. My colleagues and I run an agency on the corner of 3rd and Baker, on the second floor. We call ourselves the Chaotix Agency, a team of detectives. We've been doing this gig for about three years now. Vector, Mighty, and Charmy have been good friends of mine for as long as I can remember. We established the Agency shortly after the Ark incident. Knuckles had inspired us to go on our own and dedicate our lives to helping people in need (well…for a small fee of course…).

We each have our jobs within the agency, to keep it running like a well-oiled machine. My role in this group is the field scout. It's simple enough. Go out in the field and gather information using various means. It's a cakewalk for someone so highly trained in the ninjitsu arts as myself. I can take two pictures of you and record your license plate number in as quick as a sneeze.

Charmy is the youngest in our organization, and doesn't do nearly as much investigating as the other members. He mostly stays here at the office, keeping things organized and taking calls whenever the others aren't present. Charmy is a good kid, shows a lot of promise. He's a bundle of energy and very enthusiastic…maybe too enthusiastic. He certainly knows how to brighten the mood, in both good and bad ways.

Vector is one diligent crocodile, never afraid of tackling the newest assignment that comes our way. He's our interrogator. His job is to, you guessed it, interrogate. Make those pigs squeal. Spill their guts. As if you couldn't tell by the giant headphones, he's the music lover of our group. "I can't function without music." He would always say. "It's my passion, man." Whether the big lug is working, playing, sleeping, eating, you can bet there's music banging those eardrums of his. I'll never understand about this "hippity-hop" or "pip-pop" or whatever he calls it that he likes to listen to so much, but hey, whatever makes him happy.

Since its inception, the Chaotix Agency has closed many a case throughout the years, but our biggest mystery has yet to be solved. It still eludes us to this day. And that mystery is Mighty. He stopped showing up at the agency about a year ago, when we were at our prime. There wasn't as much as an utter. No note, no phone call, no word. Nothing. He vanished without a trace. We contacted everyone we knew including the police, Sonic, Tails, Rouge, the President, G.U.N., for any information they can find about him, any information at all. No luck. We tried tracking him down using our own detective work, but alas…still nothing. His disappearance raised many questions. Was he kidnapped? Did he head for greener pastures? Was there unfinished business he had to take care of? Is he even alive? To this day, we don't know. We're not any closer to finding him since a year ago. Everyday we think about him. All the time we hope that one day; that one armadillo will step through our front door…and then we'll become a full-fledged team again. Until then, the Chaotix Agency will operate as normal. But it sure hasn't been the same.

We get the usual cases around here from our clients. It's mostly the small stuff. Find this, spy that. Our most popular are these middle-aged dames…I tell ya, these broads are a paranoid bunch. Nine times out of ten they're suspecting that their hubbies are cheating on them. And well...nine times out of ten they're right. It's too easy to catch them in the act, a bit too easy I'd say. All you need is patience and a camera. Not that I'm complaining, it's quick and easy money.

But enough yapping about us and our agency. It's 7:23 pm on a cool Friday night, and things are starting to wind down here. Hmm? Hold on. I hear someone coming up the stairs right at this moment. Sounds like another potential client…

Chapter 1 is next…