CHAPTER 3

Meanwhile at Tonya's house, Espio was sitting on the sofa in the living room watching tv while Tonya was in the kitchen washing dishes.

"Hey, Ton?" Espio had called without taking his eyes away from the tv.

"Yeah?" She answered without looking away from the sink full of dishes.

"Where's Ker?"

"Oh I sent him out to pick up a few groceries."

"No wonder I haven't seen him all morning."

She arched an eyebrow as she turned her head to him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

A teasing smile had formed on his face, "You know he's indecisive as fuck when you send him to the store. He compares every brand, price, and size to every little thing." He saw her walking into the living room and lean against the back of the sofa he was sitting on.

She arched an eyebrow, "What? He's trying to save a little bit of money. I thought that was a good thing?"

He looked up at her with the same teasing look he had on his face. "I suppose but at this rate, we'll all starve to death by the time he even gets here."

She playfully hit his shoulder. "Oh stop it. You're just mad cause I'm making you cook dinner."

Cooking was his specialty and he never minded always doing it. "I love cooking thank you very much."

She gave him a teasing smile, "That's why I'm making you do it." Her eyes widened when she saw him suddenly pull her body onto his. "Espio!"

While her body sat on top of his, he had his arms wrapped around her waist. "You can do it every once in awhile too you know?"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked into his yellow eyes, "But you're just so much better at it."

"That's not it. I just spoil the hell out of you."

She made a soft giggle, "You kind of do. It's all your fault."

"I can't help it. I just love you so much."

The two leaned closer until their lips had pressed against each other.

His hands caressed her sides as he kissed her lovingly.

She took her lips from his when they both had heard the doorbell ring. "I'll get it." She took her body off of his and began to walk towards the door. "I wonder who that could be." She placed her hand on the doorknob and opened the door. Her eyes shot open in horror when she caught sight of the two figures who was standing in front of her. Her heart raced as she stared at a brown male mongoose with a black coyote woman standing next to him.

The mongoose had a black beanie that covered his black hair. He wore a black hoodie, blue denim jeans, and white sneakers.

The coyote had black hair that barely passed her shoulders. She wore a brown hoodie, blue skinny jeans, and yellow and white skater like shoes. She had a twisted and evil smile on her face, "It's been awhile."

She gasped when she saw her taking out a black handgun from the pocket of her hoodie. Just by the sight of it, she couldn't react quick enough to call out to Espio.

She raised and pointed the gun at her. "Surprise." She pulled the trigger to the gun and had began to fire multiple shots at her.

Espio jumped from the sofa in terror as he heard the loud gunshots. He turned and all he saw was Tonya laying on the floor with blood covering her white collared shirt. His heart sank at the sight. "...Tonya?" While she laid there on the blood stained white carpet, he saw that she wasn't moving and her eyes were closed. "Tonya!" He cried out in panic. His eyes widened in shock as he saw the door fling open and saw two figures stepping into the house. His body froze as he stared at the two. "...Ace? Kuroi?"

The mongoose had a menacing look on his face as he fixed his eyes onto the shocked chameleon, "Long time no see, Espio."

"Good to see you and all but we didn't come here for you", Kuroi had spoke with the gun still in her hand.

"...Then what do you want?" He saw Ace pointing towards the ceiling and turning to Kuroi.

"I don't see any sight of her. Check upstairs", Ace had ordered.

She made a nod towards him, "Right."

When Espio saw her heading towards the stairs, he attempted to stop her until Ace had threw a small acupuncture needle a little pass his face. He turned back to him.

"Sorry Espio, but I won't allow you to interfere with our plans."

He gritted his teeth in anger. "You'll pay! You'll both pay for what you did to Tonya!" He lunged himself at the mongoose and tackled him to the floor. While he had him pinned down, he had punched him hard in the face.

He got out of his grip and threw his body off of him. While he got off of the floor, he had took out a combat knife from the inside of his hoodie.

Before Espio could get off the floor, Ace had pinned him down and prevented him from doing so. His eyes widened when he caught sight of the knife he had. When he saw him trying to stab him in the chest with it, he had caught it and tried to push the point of the knife away from him.

When Kuroi came downstairs, she saw the two on the floor fighting. "Ace!"

Distracted when Kuroi had called out Ace's name, Espio thought it was a great opportunity to knock him off of his body. When he stood to his feet, he attempted to charge at him again until he saw Kuroi aim her gun at him.

Her finger had rested on the trigger of the gun while she pointed it at Espio. "Don't move!"

With her pointing a gun at him and Ace standing right in front of him, they had him cornered. He had no choice but to follow her demands.

When he figured that Kuroi had gained control of the situation, Ace turned to her. "Is she here?"

She looked over to him and shook her head, "No, she's no longer here it seems. She's gotta be in a different location." She turned back to Espio with a cunning look on her face. "Don't worry. I think I know where to find her."

Espio's heart skipped a beat as he heard their conversation. They were trying to find someone. But who? And why? He had then saw them about to turn away and leave. "You're not leaving!" He shouted while he attempted to follow after them. "Not after what you did to Tonya!" He froze when he saw Ace spin around and point the end of the knife at the side of his face.

"What?" He spoke with a smirk. "You want to end up like your girlfriend over there? Dead?"

Espio remained silent and continued to give him a hateful glare.

Kuroi made an annoyed look when she saw him taunting Espio, "Ace, we don't have time for this. We have a job to do."

He pretended like he didn't hear her and continued to stroke the blade of the knife gently across Espio's face. "For once why don't you just stay out of our way."

Kuroi's mouth hung open when she saw him suddenly taking the knife and shoving the end of it into Espio's left eye.

The room was filled with Espio's painful cries.

An evil smirk formed on Ace's lips as he saw the chameleon kneeling to the floor while having his hand over his eye. He watched his blood seep through his hand and dripped onto the floor. He slowly kneeled down in front of him while Espio continued to groan in pain. "Just let this be a warning...to you and the rest of the Chaotix."

While still deeply in pain and kneeled down to the floor, he heard the sound of their footsteps and the door slamming shut.

Meanwhile, Shadow had slowly walked into a small room of a hospital. He closed the door gently behind him and turned to a female pink hedgehog who was laying in a bed.

She slowly turned her head to him and watched as he approached her. She saw him sit in a chair that was next to the bed.

While he sat in the chair, he couldn't help but to heavily sigh in frustration before he had began to speak to her. "I just got done talking with the doctors. They're still waiting on the test results. So they don't know what's going on." He looked over to her with a worried look. "Why didn't you tell anyone you were sick sooner?"

"I didn't know it would get this bad", she spoke weakly. "At first it was a few nasty coughs here and there and then I suddenly find myself coughing and puking up blood."

His eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat when he saw her coughing up some blood. "Anita..."

With some blood seeping on the side of her mouth, she still tried to force a smile to calm him and show that she would be alright. "I really didn't think nothing of it until I passed out and woke up here...and now you're here...with me."

His hand slowly reached over until he had placed his hand gently over hers. "...Yeah with you."

In The Next Chapter...

Espio:...K-Ker?

Ker: Espio? My God! What happened?

Espio: I think they're after Tikal.

Shadow:...Rouge?

Rouge: Shadow! Espio and Tonya are hurt!

Shadow:...The Silver Fangs?