Act I/Chapter III: A Nack For Weaseling

The Chaotix consisted of four members at this time. They lost a few over the years, but they still held onto the team nonetheless. They were something like brothers, if you took into account that, half of the time, they annoy each other to death.

The first guy was Vector the Crocodile. He counted as the leader of the group… or at least the guy who got the cases for the team. He always had these big noise-cancelling headphones on, as if he didn't want any outside interference to take away the happy place in his mind. He gained some more muscle since the last time he saved the world, which, at the time I'm writing this, was 10 or so years ago. He had more time to weight-lift and run laps, considering detective cases don't come at you nonstop.

The second member was a bit more secluded in peace than the others. His name was Espio the Chameleon. Espio was a ninja to us and a god to his enemies. However, Espio only believed himself to be a "person only making a difference, nothing more". I once was cornered by Badniks with razor blades for eyes and hands, but then Espio swooped in and cut them all in smooth halves. That was the first time I met him. He was like a magician, pulling tricks on his enemies that I still can't figure out.

The third guy, or "kid" I should say, was Charmy Bee. This little guy was taken in by the Chaotix after being freed from one of Robotnik's badniks. He soon became a valuable asset to the team, being their only real flyer and all. I remember the others attempting to fly with Charmy once… I checked on them in the emergency room later that day. But the one thing that lets you know Charmy is around (and he does all the time) is his voice and attitude. He may have been a valuable member of the detective agency, but he always knew how push peoples' buttons. His high-pitched voice, nearly a squeal, and his go-lucky attitude remind me a little of myself as a kid. Well, maybe not the high-pitched voice so much.

The last team player was Mighty the Armadillo, who wasn't with the Chaotix when they came out of the van. Mighty was a good friend of Knuckles, always helping through tough times and acting as his conscience. When Knuckles started the Chaotix, Mighty was its first member. The others joined in, helped defeat Robotnik once again, and then went their separate ways for a year. When they rejoined, Knuckles was off at Angel Island, protecting the Master Emerald. Mighty, Vector, Charmy, and Espio didn't have any real "hero business" to do, so they decided to make a business that would help pass the time until they were needed… which didn't happen (until now).

"Alright, alright," Vector announced obnoxiously, "Stand back! We've got-!"

At this point, Vector realized (again) that no Paparazzi or crowd was present.

"Where is everybody?" Charmy asked.

I stood up straight and answered, "In their houses, away from the sniper's sight."

They all turned to me, but I only got a reaction out of Vector and Charmy. Espio only watched.

"Sonic! What are you doing in Westside?" Vector asked, squeezing me WAY too tight.

"Choking, not breathing," I mustered from my dying lungs.

"Sorry."

After catching my breath, I explained, "I'm here to check out the crime scene near the casino.

"Hey, that's where we're go-!"

"Quiet Charmy!" Vector interrupted.

They certainly were a bunch of characters, weren't they?

"Yeah, uh," Vector attempted to explain, "We were just, uh, going to check the machines at the casino!"

"Vector," I replied, "why are you trying to hide your being a detective? Most people in Westside know you, anyway. Why try to hide from me?"

"Well, it's just, uh-!"

"We're investigating the scene, too." Espio finally said, almost in a monotone voice.

The look on Vector's face was priceless.

"Espio! Why?"

"Has Sonic checking our cases ever stopped us from doing our job or, in your case, getting paid?"

"Well, no… but-!"

"Then what's the harm in letting him see what we're doing?"

I was always impressed with Espio's ability to negotiate. It wasn't anything to write home about, but it was pretty nifty. I always felt he would be good as a boss of a business, cracking deals like no one's business. Of course, he has pretty beast ninja skills, so he'd need a job that would let him do that as well.

"Okay," Vector complied, "Well, come along over to the casino."

Vector was the kind of guy who thought he was important, but didn't want others to think he was important. I think he was always clinging to the thought of being widely hailed as a hero, and really thought he was still a hero. I don't blame him. But if you go on a one year hiatus, you will be less and less known. I thought he'd at least know that.

We crossed the street and stood before the casino, where the shooting took place (or at least where the victim was). As I looked around, I saw the white tape body outline, fresh from all the murder mystery shows on TV. Tails eat that stuff up. He expressed himself in all fields of science, but forensics was one of his favorites. There was something about forensics that Tails thought was interesting. Maybe it was the idea of isolating a fingerprint, scanning it, and find out who they belonged to. Interesting stuff, I say.

But I noticed something peculiar about the outline. It looked backside of the head was pulled backwards and pulled down the back of the victim. Its ears seemed like stretched out loops, in terms of height. A blood splatter, only a several inches in area, stood only a foot from the outline.

"Looks like someone forgot to clean up all of the blood," Espio noted, kneeling next to me.

I agreed, but then I noticed Charmy still with the team.

I asked Vector, who was standing on the other side of the outline, "Isn't this a little bit much for the guy? Taking him to a murder scene?"

"Sonic," Vector responded, "do you remember anything about us? Charmy isn't really phased by looking at the crime scenes. Maybe if an actual death took place right in front of him, but looking at the crime scene only doesn't phase him."

I understood his reasoning and digressed from that subject. I still was focused on that blood splatter near the outline. But I had an idea. I asked them,

"Can I make a call?"

Vector said, "Of course!"

"Make it brief." Espio added.

I accessed my communicator and called up Tails.

"Hello?" Tails greeted.

"Tails, it's Sonic," I replied, "Listen, did you put the forensics unit in the communicator yet?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Perfect! Where's the button for it?"

"Should be the closest to your pinky."

"Thank you."

"Who was that?" Espio asked as I shut off the call.

"That was Tails."

"Oh, yeah!" Vector exclaimed. "I remember that little guy. Is he still making planes and stuff like that?"

"Uh… well, I kinda wrecked his last one."

"Oh. Sorry."

I forgave him, even though he didn't need forgiveness in reality, and looked for the forensics button. Once I pushed it in, this holographic forensic scanner sprang up from the wrist communicator's center piece. I saw a list of individuals on right side. It had everyone's name: Me, Tails, Amy, Vector, Espio, and a bunch more. The actual scanner part was on the left side of the holographic screen.

"Whoa." Espio said astonished, "Now that's cool."

"Why don't we have gadgets like that, Vector!" Charmy yelled from behind me, "Why not!"

Vector looked overwhelmed and explained, "Because no one on this team is good with technology except for-!"

"Mighty." I interrupted.

"What?" They all asked.

While they had their three-second quarrel, I had scanned the blood stain. Only one name popped up, and that's when I interrupted, reading the victim to which the blood belonged to.

"This blood… is Mighty's." I explained, "Mighty was the victim here."

They all looked at me with these shocked expressions. Then they looked depressed. You had to feel sorry for them. To lose someone that'd been with the team since its beginnings… it hurt to see how much they cared about Mighty at this point.

"R-r-really?" Charmy sobbed, asking through tears soon to be shed.

I didn't say a word. I just nodded… to everyone.

Vector looked devastated by this event. He always respected Mighty's ability to think of strategies and technologies used to aid the mission's success. Charmy was bawling. You could tell that Mighty had cared for him since they found him. Of course, all of them cared for Charmy, but it seemed Mighty was the one mostly concerned with him, almost like a father. I admit, Mighty was pretty cool. I only met him once or twice, but he was still a nice guy to around. But the only one not fazed by Mighty's death was Espio. He only had his eyes closed, knelling on one knee, and not even shedding a tear.

"Espio?" I asked, "What's wrong?"

With his eyes closed, he answered, "I've seen people die before. It's gruesome… but it happens. No matter how people die, why they die, and what they died for, they still die. I did feel something when people died before, but now I know the truth: life is short, but death is inevitable."

"How can you know that one of your friend's is dead and not mourn for the loss?"

"Like I said, death will come no matter what. Even if it's someone special to you, they will die eventually."

"Wow, you're beginning to remind me of Shadow."

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but Shadow is dead. Only a few years ago, we had gone to the old Space Colony Ark to investigate Dr. Gerald Robotnik. It all ended with a fight with the bio-lizard, the "first" ultimate life form. Shadow sacrificed himself to save us by making the Ark be transported into a new orbit and to also refrain from moving. When we had teleported away, I was still outside the Ark. I searched for Shadow, but I only found emptiness. Then I found his wrist-ring. This was the last existing evidence that proved Shadow had once existed. I then wore this ring around my right wrist. I have remembered Shadow with this souvenir ever since.

I also recall another friend's death. Her name was Sally. Sally Acorn. You guys would have loved her. She was beautiful, thoughtful, and a one of a kind girl. However, that ended a decade before any of this happened. She had simply gone out for a stroll, but reports came later on in the night about a young girl being shot. Police say a gunman came out and shot her straight in the face. An accomplice may have also helped him. I believed... 'till later.

"Besides," Espio responded, "Only two real problems remain. One: where was the shot taken, and two: where does the killer live?"

These two questions puzzled me now. While I still felt sorry for Mighty, I knew that I had to find his killer. At this point, I turned around to find that the sun was setting and night was falling. But I realized that the sun was setting in the west. I looked back at the stain and saw that it splattered eastward. Looking back at the sun, I saw a building overlapping it a little. I then realized the big truth.

"Guys," I stated, "I think I know where the shot came from."

They all seemed surprised at my answer.

"You se, if the sun sets in the west and the blood splattered to the east, then the shot would've been taken… from that building across the street."

Vector's face was priceless again.

I then noticed that Charmy hadn't said a word since I mentioned Mighty's passing. You had to feel sorry for him. Vector seemed to be depressed by it, Espio didn't exactly care too much for it, but Mighty's death seemed to affect Charmy most of all. I began to walk over to him.

"Charmy, how're you feeling?"

He only sniffed up his tears. His antennae were hanging quite low. I took a seat on the ground next to him.

"Listen, I know Mighty is someone you cared about. I really do. Frankly, I'm in the same boat as you. But think of it this way: an individual in this world didn't like him, but he's in a better place now, where the good guys are."

"R-R-Really?" he sobbed.

God, his raspy voice was enough to make you shed a few tears.

"Of course he is. Right now, Mighty is having much fun as he did on this world. You'd want him to have fun all the time, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

Charmy, still sniffing tears, started to stand up. As he stood, I noticed a slight smile on his face. It wasn't a smile that he usually had, but just a smile mustered to let everyone know he was okay. Something about that made me smile too.

After talking to Charmy, I returned to Vector and Espio.

"Well," Espio stated, "now all that's left is determining who and where the killer is."

"Here's an idea," Vector said. "Why don't we look for possible hideouts while Sonic checks the building across the street?"

"First of all," I explained, "we don't know where he could be. Secondly, when I did I become the detective instead of you guys?"

"Well, it helps to cross out the many possibilities while we can. Besides, you have the evidence-scanning… thing."

"Alright, fine. But if your search doesn't bring any results, this will be my last favor for you guys. No joke."

We all agreed. The Chaotix, now a group of three, ran off to their van, kicking it into high gear and racing off down the road. I chuckled a little. Even after this terrifying discovery of Mighty's death, they still stick together. Now that's true friendship, maybe even family.

Anyway, I decided to head to the building's roof across the street. If any evidence of the killer's identity or whereabouts were to exist, they'd be up there. I sped across the asphalt and jumped onto the building's wall. Keeping my momentum, I sprinted up the side in only a couple seconds. Once I was got close to the roof's edge, I grabbed onto it and pulled myself up.

When I looked at the scene, something caught my attention right off the bat. There were TWO sets of footprints! Using my forensic scanner, I inspected both prints. They both were of the same shoe. One set, walking to and from the edge, were only several hours old. The other set, walking across those earlier ones, were one or two hours old. Mighty peculiar, if you asked me.

Suddenly, I heard something from behind. It sounded like… a laugh? I turned my head slowly 'till I saw a silhouette against the night sky. He had a long nose and a hat of some sort, most likely one treasure hunters use. The sad part is… I knew this guy.

"So," he said, chuckling under his words, "we meet again, Sonic. I honestly thought you'd have found me before all this happened, but right now works too."

"I don't have time for this," I declared. "Why'd you kill Mighty?"

He chuckled some more.

"You'll find out soon enough."

He pulled out a gun, or at least I thought it was a gun. When he shot, I wasn't thinking straight. I only just came face-to-face with him, so my mind was overwhelmed with thoughts of "why he did it". Fortunately, it wasn't an actual bullet. It was a tranquilizer. How do I know this? Well, I felt sleepy and faint when I got shot.

Before I fell into sleep, I remember lying on the ground, slowly falling asleep. The figure was walking towards me, chuckling to himself still. That was really getting annoying. I remember asking him,

"Why do you still do this, Nack? Why?"

He finally stopped his laughter.

"Why?" he repeated, knelling down into the light from below. It was Nack, alright. Still with his tan hat, gloves & boots, purple fur, and his cocky grin. "Because if you're good at something, why make it go to waste? Oh, and my name ain't Nack no more. It's Fang now. Fang the Sniper."

Then I lost consciousness.