Gah! I'm so sorry this took so long to post, It's just been hectic for a while and I never really got around to finishing up this chapter. But things are slower now, so I should be able to post faster. Also, to people concserned about OC Heroes I'm starting that up again, though it'll take a while to write and post. I've gotta re-write the entire chapter I had been working on before I lost access on my other computer. So yeah, be on the look out for that one too. Anyways, I'm gonna shut now, so enjoy

Chapter 2: And So It Begins

One by one, the people quieted down, seeing the screen that showed what had happened to the goat. A peacock from the team cried out and rushed to a phone. The Chaotix stood in silence with the crowd before regaining their senses and quickly descended the concrete stairway to the first row of seats and effortlessly swinging over the side and getting over to the fallen football player. A tough-looking, grey wolf-dog walked with heavy steps toward the Chaotix.

"Hey!" he growled at the three, "No fans on the field!"

"It's alright, we're detectives." Espio responded coolly showing a badge to the wolf-dog. At the word 'detectives' audience members muttered amongst themselves, the word 'murder' coming up the most among them and the three were admittedly proud to hear a few utters of 'Chaotix' and words of admiration to them among both the humans and mobians. The grey mobian was about to speak again when a brown raccoon in a blue business suit slipped between the players and over to the four. He seemed nervous; his scarlet eyes darted between the Chaotix and the wolf-dog.

"What's going on? What happened?" the raccoon asked in a shaky voice.

Vector looked down to the body of Billy Gruff, the victim, "A player was murdered." He answered. "Who're you?"

"Everyone just calls me 'Coach'. I'm the team's coach and manager." Coach replied. He shook his head in distress, "Murder? But why!? How? By who!?"

"We don't know. But we'll find out." Espio answered.

"And who're you three?" the wolf-dog demanded, glaring at the three. Only Charmy backed down from the glare.

"We're the Chaotix." Vector said, jabbing a thumb proudly to his chest. "And who're you?

"My friends call me Sly." Sly answered crossly.

Charmy looked around and noticed how quickly the seats were emptying while his team spoke with the other mobians. The little bee buzzed over to his older crocodile friend.

"Vector, people are leaving." He said quietly, "Shouldn't we get them to stay?"

Vector shook his head after a moment of thought, "It's fine, Charmy." He assured the bee. Vector turned back to Coach, "Do you mind if we look around for clues?" he asked.

"No, of course not. Go right ahead." The raccoon answered quickly. "The team would be happy to help you in your investigation." The Runners nodded and muttered words of agreement.

"Good. Because we'll have to question everyone." Espio said, crossing his arms coolly.

OoOoO

There were a total of 23 mobians on the team and 12 humans. Making the interviews a long few hours of work. Coach and Sly seemed to be having difficulty remembering where they were and what they had seen, not to mention the opposing team that they also had to interview.

"I dunno what happened, I wasn't watching them celebrate." The bear that had followed Gruff so closely before said in a bitter tone. "Are you saying I killed Billy?"

"Well, you did follow pretty closely." Espio said matter-of-factly. The bear growled at the smaller chameleon. He stood roughly a foot taller, Espio judged. "And you constantly went after Gruff, even when others were covering him."

"So?" The bear growled.

"So, one begins to wonder…given the circumstances." There was a silence before Espio spoke again. "You never told me your name."

"Sunny." He murmured a hint of shame in his voice. Espio blinked and held back the smirk that wanted to show on his muzzle. "It's because I'm a sun bear." Sunny explained quickly.

"Right…Sunny. So, why were you following so closely to Gruff?" Espio asked.

"I dunno I didn't even know the guy until we played this game." He gestured to a green raccoon in a similar jersey. "He does all the checking on other teams. I don't even listen to him most the time."

"Really? Then how did you know Gruff's first name?"

Sunny's eyes widened slightly, he quickly stuttered out an answer. "I-I heard it from…from the guy I was talking about earlier."

"But didn't you just stay you never listened to him?" Sunny growled again and grabbed tightly to the ninja's shoulders and lifted him to eye level. The chameleon only smirked; obviously the player had given a clue without knowing. Before it was too late, anyways. "Well?" he asked expectantly, still dangling a foot off the ground. "How did you know Billy Gruff's first name?"

The sun bear's look faltered, seeing the intimidation didn't work and dropped Espio, who landed softly. "We were friends in high school…and sorta through collage." He admitted, running a hand through his matted down fur.

"Sorta?" Espio encouraged.

"We both joined the team." Sunny explained, "And then we got competitive when we both had the same position. I always matched him, no matter what. But he was always the one on the field while I was stuck on the bench." Espio nodded, signaling the bear to go on. "We both tried to get on the Runners, but only Gruff made it. So I had to settle for the next best."

"I see how that could make one mad." Espio nodded. "We'll need you to stay here, at least until this is all figured out." Espio abruptly turned and started off, listening to Sunny curse Billy Gruff for past events.

OoOoO

Coach's eyes flicked around the field, darting from player to player talking with the police that had arrived only minutes ago.

"Uh, Coach?" Vector's voice brought his attention back to the croc. "Did ya hear me?" he asked in a concerned tone.

"Uh, no, I'm sorry. What was the question?" he said quickly.

Vector resisted the urge to slug the smaller mobian, and repeated his question, "Where were you when Billy was killed?"

"Um…what time was it?" the raccoon countered.

"I dunno…just after the game ended."

"Then I was probably standing by the team. I'm always by them just before the game ends."

"And you didn't see anything suspicious?"

He shook his head furiously. "No, nothing…is…is it okay if I go now?"

"Sure. Go ahead, just don't leave the stadium." Vector nodded, waving a hand toward the raccoon. Just as Coach turned to go, Vector heard a quiet clink from somewhere in Coach's suit. "Uh, Coach?" Vector said again. Coach froze suddenly, "Sounded like you're hidin' something." He said.

Coach turned around to face Vector, he was sweating bullets. "W-Well, I…I do carry a weapon or two with me. But only for protection! I'm a very important people, and more than once I've been attacked." He answered quickly.

"Then you wouldn't mind showing me what you brought with you." Vector answered.

"Of course not." Coach brought out a small dagger for the oldest detective to see.

Anyone think it's Coach? Anyone think I'm just being sneaky and it's someone else? XD Interviewing doesn't stop there, a few more people are gonna be questioned in the next chapter, so keep looking around for the clues! and I'll be updating as much as possible.