Case 2: Carnival Chaos

It was a beautiful, sunny day in Station Square, and the air was filled with the screams of children as they drifted over to the annual county fair. One child's scream though could be heard above the rest.

"Yeah!" screamed Charmy, pumping his fist in the air " we're going to the carnival, yay!"

Following sluggishly behind the hyperactive bee were Vector and Espio from Team Chaotix. Charmy hadn't stopped bugging the two reptiles for months ever since he heard the carnival was coming to town. To tell the truth, it was three days of non-stop talking, but who were they to judge.

Etheir way, it had brought both Espio and Vector great relief once the carnival had finally arrived in town. The rides looked fun, and the food smelled amazing. There was even going to be a special guest appearence by Wilfred the Warlock.

Vector was especially interested to see the magic show. He heard people say that Wilfred the Warlock was the real deal. Well, he would be the judge of that.

"Hope the guy is as good of magician as he claims," thought Vector.

"Alright, the Ferris Wheel!" yelled Charmy " let's go on it first!"

"I'll join you guys in a minute" said Vector " I need to grab some lunch. I didn't eat anything before we left the office,"

"Okay, we'll meet you back at the food court," said Espio, walking off to keep an eye on Charmy.

Meanwhile, Vector went on search for food.

"Ah!" cried Wilfred the Warlock, outside his magic tent " my show starts in two hours, and the liontamer can't get my lion delievered to me on time. Where am I going to find a ferocious animal to help me in my act?"

"Hey, some cotton candy and a club soda please," said a voice, attracting the warlock's attention.

The magician's eyes widened in surprise when he saw a a gaint, crocodile standing in line at the food court. The reptile's razor-sharp teeth gleamed in the sunlight, and his red eyes shown like fire. He looked absoutely fierce!

"Hmm" thought Wilfred wickedly " this may just work. This croc will make a nice replacement for my lion, once I adjust him a little,"

Vector had finished eating his cotton candy and was washing it down with his club soda when Wilfred walked up to him.

"Greetings my crocodile friend" said Wilfred with a bow " I am the great Wilfred the Warlock, and you are?"

"Vector the Crocodile" said Vector, after gulping down the last of his soda " so you're that fantastic magician everyone is talking about. I've seen better tricks performed by a church choir,"

"Oh, you insult me sir" said Wilfred, looking hurt " let me show you around my tent. I'm sure I can convince you that my magic tricks are very well,"

"Yeah, real fake" Vector thought, but said outloud " ok, let's see what you got,"

With that said Vector followed Wilfred through the back of the magic tent and saw where all the magician's tricks were stored. Vector semi-listened as the magician explianed each trick, and didn't notice when Wilfred picked up a strange, tube-like device.

Just as Vector was about to excuse himself so that he could meet back up with Espio and Charmy, Wilfred made his move, and shot a dart at Vector's backside. The crocodile roared in pain, and glared angrily at Wilfred.

But before Vector could even make a move on the magician, the dart's potion took effect, and soon he was passed out on the floor.

Minutes later, Vector woke up on the cold floor of a large, iron cage, woozy and disoriented. Shaking off his dizziness, Vector reached up to fiddle with his chain, and was surprised to find a collar wrapped around his neck instead.

From first glance, it was pretty obivous that this collar was a high-tech piece of work. Vector tried to pull the collar off with no luck. It was stuck tight. Only way to get it off would be the person responsible turning it off.

"Ah good, you're awake," said Wilfred, approaching the cage that held Vector.

Vector lunged forward in his cage, only to be stopped when the collar on his neck, shot him with a thousand volts of electricity. Wilfred grinned wickedly at the sight of seeing Vector in pain.

"Don't be sad my friend" said Wilfred " you're doing this for a great cause. Once the chemicals I put in your body take effect, you'll be a blood thirsty monster that millions of tourists will come from all over the world to see. And I'll finally be able to get my spot on the Las Vegas strip! See you in an hour,"

With that said, Wilfred left Vector behind. Crying, hoping, that Charmy and Espio would find him soon, before he would be lost to them forever.

Charmy and Espio had rode just about every ride in the carnival when the time came to meet up with Vector in the food court, so they could go to the magic show. However, surprise greeted both of their eyes when they realized that Vector wasn't there.

Worried, Espio got out his cell phone and dailed for Vector, hoping the crocodile would pick up. He was dissapionted when the answering machine picked up the other end.

Vector made sure to always carry his cell phone at all times, just in case Espio and Charmy ever got in trouble or needed help on a case. The croc always answered his phone. Why wasn't he answering now? Had something bad happened? Espio bet that's what it was.

"I'm going to look for Vector" said Espio " if I don't find him in thrity minutes, I'll meet you back here for the magic show,"

"Alright, but be careful Espio," said Charmy, leaving to get his ticket for the show, while Espio stood to think.

"Now where would Vector go after the food court?" he thought.

"Hey pal!" called a food vendor from nearby, attracting Espio's attention " want some cotton candy? Best treat you'll ever buy!"

"No thanks" said Espio " I'm trying to find my friend. Green skin, big mouth, seen anybody like that?"

"Yeah I've seen him" said the food vendor " came to my stand, munching down cotton candy like you wouldn't believe. Some guy approached him just as he was finishing his meal, and took him into that tent,"

Espio looked to where the vendor pointed, and surprised to see the magic tent, that Charmy had just went inside. Way beyond the point of worry, Espio slipped into sleath mode and sneaked into the back of the tent.

He found himself in the same room Vector had been in. Where all of Wilfred the Warlock's magic tricks were stored. Among all the mismaps of props, Espio spotted three particular items that concerned him greatly.

A long, gold chain necklace, a set of headphones, and a cellphone. It didn't take a PH degree in mathmatics to figure out what these three clues added up to. Wilfred the Warlock had kidnapped Vector!

Now, the only question was, where had the warlock taken him?

Before the chameleon even had a chance to think it over, cheers exploded from inside the tent, meaning the show was about. Leaving Vector's stuff behind to retrieve later, Espio slipped into the shadow of stands to keep an eye on Wilfred as he did his tricks.

Charmy had already taken his seat in the stands, and was munching on popcorn as he watched Wilfred perform his tricks. After a few basic moves, Wilfred finally moved on the Grand Finale.

A gaint, empty iron cage was rolled onto the set, in which, two lovely assistants gladly entered. Covering the cage in a tarp, Wilfred waved his hands and started speaking the magic words.

"Abra Cadabra! Abra Cadabra! Abra Cadabra!" shouted Wilfred, pointing to the cage.

An inhuman roar erupted from the cage, echoeing through the tent, as the tarp came down. Charmy immediately dropped his popcorn and Espio's eyes widened in fright.

Inside the cage was Vector. Growling and trashing around like a wild animal. His personal gloves and shoes lay at the corner of the cage, exposing his deadly claws for everyone to see. His red eyes shown with fury, and his jaws looked ready to snap at anyone who got to close. It sent nearly half the auidence running out of the staduim.

"Vector!" shouted Espio and Charmy, immediately running towards the center of the stage.

"Let my friend go!" yelled Charmy, aiming his stinger at Wilfred.

While Wilfred ran to aviod Charmy's stinger, Espio approached Vector's cage and started working on the code to unlock it. Meanwhile, Wilfred found himself with his back againist and an angry Charmy hovering in front of him.

An idea suddenly went off in the wizard's head, as he pulled out the remote for Vector's collar, and pushed the button. Thousands of volts exploded into Vector's body, making the crocodile fall backward in pain.

Vector's tail slashed through the bars, slapping Espio, and knocking the chameleon unconious. Charmy looked at his two fallen comrads in horror. What was he going to do now?

"Give up child" said Wilfred, looking at Charmy's unconious friends " there's nothing you can do to stop me now,"

"That's where your wrong," shouted a voice from in the stands.

"Knuckles!" shouted Charmy, with joy at seeing the red echidna.

"Rouge, Now!" shouted Knuckles to the cieling.

With that said, Rouge came spiraling down with a drill kick, and knocked the remote right out of Wilfred's hands. Before the magician could even make another grab for it, Knuckles glided down and punched the bad guy off his feet.

Charmy even got the pleasure of delievering a few blows off his own, before Rouge slipped on the handcuffs and dragged Wilfred to his feet.

Pressing another button on the remote, the shock collar around Vector's neck fell off, just as both he and Espio started to recover. Whatever potion Wilfred had used on Vector wore off, and he was back to his normal self again.

"Uh, what happened to me?" said Vector " and where are all my clothes?"

"It's a long story Vector" said Knuckles, approaching the cage " a really, long story,"

A few minutes later, Wilfred was being carried off in a paddy wagon to spend the rest of his magic career in the penhouse. Vector retrieved all of his belongings, and looked like his normal self again.

"Hey guys" Vector said to Knuckles and Rouge " thanks for saving me and everything,"

"Espio and Charmy did most of the work" said Knuckles " we wouldn't even known any of you guys were in trouble, had the people not come screaming out of the tent,"

"What were you guys doing at the carnival anyway?" asked Espio.

"Um...well...uh," said Knuckles nervously, only to be silenced when Rouge plopped a kiss on his cheek, making him blush.

"See you around Knuxie-poo," said Rouge, before flying off.

Vector, Espio, and Charmy looked to Knuckles, amused grins on their faces.

"Uh, well, I gotta go," said Knuckles, running off.

"It's about time those two got together," grinned Vector, as they walked out of the carnival.

"Yeah, took them long enough," said Charmy.

"I'm just glad this case is finally over," said Espio with relief.

"You and me both pal" said Vector " the next time Charmy insists we go anywhere fun, remind me to say 'No',"

"You got it," said Espio.

And with that said, the trio headed back home to the Chaotix Detective Agency.