"Well, boys, I think I've come up with the PERFECT plan this time around!" Vector declared with a massive grin.

Espio sniffed. Much to his displeasure, the swamp still smelled just as horrible as it did yesterday. Not that he actually had a nose to begin with, but still!

"Uh… you're… sure?" Charmy asked, finally breaking the long and awkward pause.

"Yeah, of course! I'm certain everything'll work out perfectly this time!" Vector insisted.

"Well then… what do you suggest?" Espio asked, trying his hardest not to sigh.

"Yeah, let's hear it, Vector!"

"Well," the bulky crocodile paused to scratch his chin thoughtfully, "I was thinkin' that we should change around our original plan just a little bit to make it better."

"Better how?" Espio frowned.

"Better, like, it'll actually work this time!" Charmy interjected.

"Yeah, yeah," Vector shook off their comments as unimportant, "but anyways, I was thinkin' we should basically follow the same plan as last time… except for one tiny detail: we switch places."

"Switch places?" Charmy held up his hands in confusion.

"You know, this time Charmy and I'll save Knuckles, while Espio provides the distraction."

"What!" the ninja chameleon exclaimed, disgruntled. "You can't expect me to be loud and irritating! I'm… a ninja! That sort of behavior would go against my code of honor!"

"Oh, come on. Just think about it, Espio. Charmy and I couldn't distract the guards for very long because they could see us. No matter how fast we ran, it didn't matter; they were always able to find us and throw us out! But if you stepped in and did it, the guards wouldn't have anywhere to look! Not when you've got those snazzy ninja powers of yours workin' for ya!"

"Well, fine…" Espio groaned, reluctantly unfolding his arms. "I'll do it, but only if we all agree to stay at the designated rendezvous point for longer than five minutes…!"

"Done deal!" Vector slapped Espio's outstretched hand in agreement. "You ready for this then, Charmy?"

"Yeah, you bet, Vector! Let's fly!" Charmy exclaimed.

"Wait a moment… We're going to enter the fortress in the exact same fashion as before?" Espio spoke up, looking doubtful.

"Well, yeah! So far, that's the only thing we've actually had success with every single time…!" Vector replied, shrugging.

"Well, if they're dumb enough to continue falling for it…" the purple ninja acquiesced.

With the help of Charmy, the three detectives soared up to the stronghold and entered it using the same window as every other time. Once they were inside, Team Chaotix headed straight for Knuckles, but they were surprised to find out that he wasn't being held in the same place as last time.

Slightly disheartened, the team wandered around for a long time before they finally managed to locate Knuckles. According to Espio's observations, he was trapped in a jail cell, still unconscious and heavily guarded.

"Alright then, Espio. It's up to you now. Good luck." Vector nodded at him.

"Thanks; I wish the both of you good luck as well…" Espio replied as he rendered himself invisible.

oOoOoOo

Espio made his way down a large corridor, one where he was certain any noise he made would carry far across the building. Once he reached the center, he paused, holding up his hands in a fighting stance.

'I can't believe I'm forced to resort to this…' the chameleon inwardly groaned.

Much to his own disgust, he opened his mouth and let loose a loud belch, one that actually rivaled Vector's.

'I'm… so ashamed…'

Only the tiniest of blushes was visible within the otherwise deserted hallway.

oOoOoOo

"Hey! Espio actually did it!" Vector grinned as he watched the majority of the guards leave to find out about all the commotion.

"Wow! I didn't even know that Espio could burp!" Charmy laughed.

"Yeah, I know, right?" Vector snickered along with him. "…Oh, wait! We still gotta save Knuckles!"

"Didja eat enough burritos this time?"

"You better believe it!"

oOoOoOo

Barreling around the corner at top speed, Vector charged into the room, blasting the remaining robot guards away with his fiery breath.

"Heh, luckily for us, they're all Steel types…" Charmy mused as he examined the remains.

"Shut up, Charmy, and get over here! I need ya ta help me open this door!" Vector snapped as he began to yank on the cell door which held Knuckles captive.

"Sure thing, boss." Grabbing hold of his comrade's tail, the little bee yanked as hard as he could.

"Aah!" Charmy eventually exclaimed in frustration. "This isn't working! We probably need to find a key or something!"

"I don't have time to go hunting for keys, Charmy!" Vector roared.

"Hey! Try blasting it away with your fire breath!"

"I can't do that! I'd probably burn up Knuckles too! Besides… I 'might' be out of fire power at this point…"

"Try ripping it apart with your Gator strength!"

Vector roared in frustration. "I'm not an alligator!"

"Oh yeah? Prove it! Rip those bars apart! Rip! Rip! Rip, I say!"

Unleashing another roar of fury, Vector seized the bars and wrenched them apart in an impressive feat of alligator-er, crocodile prowess.

"There…!" Vector said breathlessly. "Think you can get in there, Charmy?"

"Sure I can." Charmy grinned and slipped inside.

"Oh man! He's so heavy!" the bee complained as he dragged Knuckles over to the cell door. "Hey! There's not enough room for Knuckles to fit through!"

"It's that fat head of his…" Vector sighed, looking pretty tired at this point. Thankfully, he eventually managed to force the gap to become wide enough for Knuckles' giant head. After much difficulty, the two detectives were finally able to get the majority of Knuckles' body through the opening.

"Oh no! Look! His feet! They're just way too big to fit though!" Charmy suddenly cried.

"Naw! They'll fit! Just send 'em through one at a time!" Vector ordered and, in the meantime, began to tug on Knuckles' arms.

"Okay…" Charmy turned and shoved his back against Knuckles' giant feet in order to help force them through the gap.

"Hurry up, Charmy!" Vector urged, "Espio can't hold them off forever!"

"I'm trying!" the bee insisted, and then finally, Knuckles was out!

"Great! Now we're good ta go!" Vector grinned, seizing the echidna and tossing him over his shoulder with ease.

"Finally! Let's get out of here!" Charmy cried and quickly slipped through the gap himself.

oOoOoOo

Espio was careful to dodge all the guards as he slipped from one point to the next, belching all the while. The guards were beyond confused. Where were all these sounds coming from?

Everything was going great for Espio until… he opened his mouth to burp and nothing came out! Panicking slightly, Espio scanned his memory for solutions. What could he do now?

Suddenly, the voice of Vector surfaced in his mind…

If ya ever run outta gas in your front end… try the back one!

Espio grimaced at the remembrance. He certainly couldn't bring himself to do something as disgraceful as… that! He just had to draw the line somewhere, especially now, when he still had some vestiges of dignity left.

"Hmm, seems like it stopped…" one guard remarked as he looked around carefully.

"What do you suppose it was, anyway?" another asked.

"Maybe… a bat… or something?"

"Ooh! Are you referring to Rouge?"

Espio suddenly tossed one of his kunai. It clattered loudly against the wall, and the guards all looked up in surprise.

"Hey! Where did this come from?" a guard picked up the kunai from off of the floor.

Espio smirked as they all walked over to inspect it.

But then, from out of the corner of his eye, he saw Vector and Charmy headed right this way!

"Vector! NO!" Espio bellowed.

All of the guards whipped around at the sudden cry.

"Hey! It's those two freaks again! And they've got the echidna with them! Get them!" one of the guards shouted.

Vector and Charmy frantically scrambled away while Espio prepared to attack the unsuspecting guards. Unfortunately, Espio's first attack resulted in his target flailing about madly, and this led to the chameleon getting clobbered in the head. Much like last time, the poor ninja fell to the ground unconscious and completely visible.

"Oh! Look! It's that purple lizard again!" a random robot beeped. "Does he like to take naps here, perhaps?"

"Just expel it!" one of the guards barked over his shoulder before running after Vector and Charmy.

"Yes, Master… Duuuukuuuu…" the robot responded and promptly dragged Espio off to the exit.

oOoOoOo

Knuckles' face began to twitch as he let out a soft groan. Slowly but surely, he was regaining his consciousness. Once he had finally awoken completely and gathered his bearings, he began thrashing around on Vector's shoulder. "Hey! What's going on? Put me down!"

"Chill out!" Vector struggled with the still-thrashing Knuckles, trying his hardest not to drop him onto the stone floor. "We've got Marauders and robots on our tails, so just hang on!"

"Yeah, Knuckles! Don't worry! We're saving you… just like true Sonic Heroes!" Charmy beamed and struck a cheesy pose, all while flying in midair.

"I don't need saving! Just put me down so I can recover the Master Emerald!" Knuckles snarled.

"Well, too bad, buddy! This is our job, and we're getting paid to do this! Now just—AAAAAAAAAH!" Vector suddenly ceased his complaining and screamed at the sight before them.

A small army of Marauders had appeared right in front of them. "Resistance is… totally pointless!" they chanted over and over again as they steadily advanced.

Knuckles got over his shock as lot faster than Vector. "You're both idiots! Now put me down!" he cried and began to thrash around again. This time, however, Vector was too stunned to offer any resistance, and as a result, Knuckles plummeted straight down to the floor. And unfortunately, due to crashing face-first against the stone floor, the echidna was once again knocked out cold.

"Wow, Knuckles is even dumber than I thought…" Charmy remarked.

"Who cares? How are we gonna get outta this?"

"Beats me… You're the boss, remember?"

"Hey… that's right, Charmy!" Vector's chest swelled with a newfound pride. "I'm the leader of the most powerful and cunning team in the whole entire world! I can do anything!"

With that in mind, the crocodile blasted forth an array of pink bubbles, the direct result of chewing bubblegum all day and all night long.

When the bubbles approached the guards, however, they did not burst into massive fiery explosions like Vector had intended. No, instead, they merely… popped.

"You bought the cheap kind again, didn't you?" Charmy asked, slapping a hand to his forehead.

At a genuine loss of words now, Vector merely nodded glumly. They were practically broke, after all. How could he afford to buy the fancy and deadly gum when they could barely keep cereal on the table?

Totally out of options now, Charmy and Vector just decided to yell and scream. With Marauders both before them and coming at them from behind, there was nowhere to run.

oOoOoOo

So, not surprisingly, both the crocodile and bee were thrown out of the building. A ritual all too familiar to the two hapless detectives by now…

"Oh no! Espio!" Charmy cried at the sight of Espio lying on the ground nearby.

"Aah! Wake up, buddy!" Vector yelled as he rolled his comrade over and began slapping his face repeatedly.

"Uuugh… … For God's sake… Vector… stop… slapping me...!"

"Geez, Vector…" Charmy hung his head. "It looks like… we totally failed… again…"

"No! Team Chaotix NEVER fails!" Vector barked.

"Yeah, sure Vector…" the little bee sighed, rolling his eyes. "Whatever you say…"

"I mean it, Charmy! We'll never give up! We're going to save Knuckles even if it takes us all year!"

"Really? So after a year, we can finally quit?"

"CHARMY!"