Chapter 9: Triplet-Napped
QUICK NOTE: Duskzilla, thanks for your anti-personality. It was greatly needed.
Dark Misery the Chao brings you this chapter. Also this chapter is sponsored by Mountain Dew and all things sugary. Begin transmission!
The three detectives were back at the agency, studying a map. Random locations were tagged over the piece of paper; where Chaos Emeralds had been found. So far there has been no distinct pattern, and no lead. Scourge had three Emeralds plus the Cyan Emerald stolen from Duskzilla. They—the good guys—had one. That left three undiscovered.
"Notice how the junkyard where Duskzilla was jumped and Breezy's backyard are almost in a straight line." Espio pointed. "That's really all the pattern I can find."
"It's just a coincidence." Vector grumbled.
Meanwhile, Charmy had zoned out when Breezy was mentioned. "Ahhh, when can I see my girlfriend again, guys? I want to see her! She even said I'm cute! And she likes the way my antenna stick up when I thought that was the reason I didn't have a girlfriend!"
"Shut up, Charmy." Vector growled. "I want to see Vanilla too, but now's not the time. We've got a thief and a murderer on the loose."
That was when the door to the agency opened and a hedgehog and white tiger hybrid walked in. He had dark stripes down his back and most of his fur was either white or a light gray. He wore red and black striped shoes and white gloves on his hands. When he caught sight of the three detectives, he asked, "Oh…this isn't McDonalds?"
"No. It's the Chaotix Detective Agency." Espio said.
"Right. Sorry." He walked out.
There was an odd silence that covered the room. "What was that about?" Vector asked.
"No idea. What were we talking about before he came in?" Espio asked. "I think I was on to something."
"No, you were just saying how the junkyard and Breezy's backyard line up."
"Déjà vu!" Charmy exclaimed.
"Oh, right, and then he blabbed on about how he had a girlfriend and all that." Vector rolled his eyes. "These locations don't add up. And we have no way of knowing if Scourge has another Emerald by now."
"Look, if we connect the lines like this," Espio traced from one location to the next closest and so on. "it almost seems to make points on a star."
"That's impossible." Vector sighed.
"Well, it's worth checking out this location here. It's in a field. If I'm right, an Emerald should be around there." Espio said. "And if you're not going, then I am."
"Right now?" Vector asked as Espio grabbed a few ninja stars out of a drawer.
"Of course. This can't afford to wait."
He left shortly after that, leaving the other two. Vector continued to stare at the map. Espio was sort of right…the four locations almost did make a star. With a few missing points, that is. Charmy flew around with a small mirror, staring at his reflection and occasionally bumping into walls.
The door opened again.
"Back already, Espio?" Vector asked without looking up.
"Huh?" said a voice muffled by chewing.
Vector looked up to find the tiger and hedgehog hybrid from earlier, a Big Mac in one hand and a McDonald's bag in the other. "Uh…I see you found your restaurant."
"Yeah. It's like, right down the road." He swallowed. "Right, I actually do need your help with a mystery. My siblings, Dull Twilight and Light Joy, have gone missing."
Dread dropped like a lead ball in Vector's stomach, but he didn't say anything. With every case that came in, he knew he'd be praying that it wouldn't result in murder or theft. Anything that didn't involve Scourge, and yet this mystery seemed a little on the suspicious side.
"Do you have any evidence?"
"Uh…not really, no. They said they'd meet me at my house a day ago…and they never showed up. I went to find them, and they weren't at their houses." The hybrid tossed the McDonald's bag in a nearby trash can. "I'm Dark Misery the Chao, by the way. Call me 'Dark' or 'Misery' or 'Dark Misery' or whatever. Don't let 'the Chao' part fool you, though. I'm a White Tiger and a Hedgehog hybrid."
Vector tried not to sigh. "Right. Do you have any possible leads?"
Dark Misery shook his head. "Not any. But I do have this picture of them. I figured you'd need it for reference."
The photo showed three people, Dark Misery in the middle with his arms around his siblings' shoulders. The one on the left was dark as midnight with red triangles on his arms, and the one on the right was also dark, a bright green stripe down the back of her head.
"The guy's Dull, and the girl's Light." Dark Misery said. "To tell you the truth, I don't want you to find them, but my intuition tells me to do it or else. They are family, I guess. We're triplets."
"All right. Where were they last seen?" Vector prompted.
"Their houses. About noon yesterday, at the latest. I think they were taken when they were coming to my place, possibly. Their houses don't have any sign of forced entry or anything."
"Dull looks a bit like Shadow." Vector said.
"Oh, yeah, the hedgehog? Fangirls always mistake him for that guy." Dark Misery pouted. "And then Light's always getting these remarks that she looks like Amy Rose. I never get mistaken for anyone famous."
"Yeah. Amy's been quite popular around here lately…" Vector sighed, hoping that nothing else would happen to the unfortunate, danger magnet of a hedgehog.
"Oh, and payment…I can pay you in electronics and then some cash. I figured people like you would need high-tech stuff. I build things, and I hope you'd take some of it." Dark Misery said.
"Sure. But not now. Only when and if we solve this." Vector said.
XxXxXxXx
Clouds had come over the field, plunging the area in less light. Espio had been searching the field for an hour now, and had found absolutely nothing. Nothing but grass, butterflies and the occasional snail.
And yet, he was certain an Emerald was there somewhere.
Just as he was about to give up and head back, a sound caught his attention. He spun around, invisible, and waited for anything.
A patch of tall grass moved, like someone was moving around in it. A second later there was a shout of, "Ow!"
Espio clutched six ninja stars between his fingers, ready to attack if he had to. The person in the grass stood up, hopping around on their left foot while clutching at their right ankle.
All of Espio's suspicions were confirmed. The Emeralds did form a star-shape, for some unknown reason. For there, not even ten feet in front of him, was Scourge.
"I told you to wait at the base!" Scourge growled in the large patch of grass. Espio couldn't see nor hear who he was talking to, but judging by the violent gestures he was making, the mysterious other was Scourge's accomplice.
Espio began to move slowly forward, stars at the ready. Scourge was holding an Emerald in his hand, the one that had been in the field. Espio held his breath as his foot came down on a stick sharply.
Scourge stared in his direction, red sunglasses catching the light. "Hold on. We're not alone." He muttered.
"But we can't get Sonic yet!" Came another voice that the detective did not recognize.
"I know that! What makes you think that it's him over there?" Scourge growled.
"What are you going to do?"
"Give me that knife."
"What…?"
"Give me that knife!" Scourge retreated for a half-second into the grass, reappearing with a long dagger in one hand, the Emerald in the other. He began to walk directly towards Espio, although he did not know it at the time.
"I know you're there." He hissed. "Come on out. Just try and stop me."
He was close enough so that Espio made out the designs on the knife. They were identical to the ones on the blade that had killed Breezy's Chao. No wonder the detectives hadn't recognized the designs on the blade; it had come from another dimension.
Espio didn't dare to move. If he did, his location would be given away and Scourge would find him. He also couldn't risk attacking, the knife was raised to strike at any time and he couldn't find an opening for a kill strike.
Scourge stopped two feet from Espio, glancing to the right. His eyes traced the tail that Espio had taken to get where he was now. Trampled grass and footprints…just stopping in an unusual place.
"Nice try." Scourge grinned, slashing outwards with the knife.
XxXxXxXx
No one had any information on Dark Misery's kidnapped siblings. The neighbors were no help, the police were no help and just about everything seemed to be getting in their way.
For example: Charmy.
"Vector! Look! Ice cream!" the bee pointed excitedly.
"Not now."
They made their way down the streets, following the possible routes Dark Misery's siblings would have taken to reach his residence. Nothing seemed to jump out at them as a clue.
"Well…maybe they got lost?" Dark Misery sighed. "This is really odd."
"Ooooh, looks! Sunglasses!" Charmy cheered, picking up pink-rimmed, star shaped glasses and putting them on his face. "I'm a rock star!"
"You keep on believing that." Vector growled.
"Hey, someone's wallet!" Dark Misery stooped and grabbed the leather item, opening it and pulling out twenty bucks. "Sweet!"
"Put that back. Who's it belong to?" Vector asked.
"Um…there's no name or anything. Just a picture of Amy Rose with a red heart drawn around it." Dark Misery held up a photo, making an 'Ewww' face.
"All right, that is very not weird…" Charmy said, the star-shaped glasses covering his entire face.
"Look over here! There's a shoe!" Vector pointed. "and now that I notice it, there's a trail of junk leading down the road."
"Let's follow it and collect wallets as we go!" Charmy cheered. "We'll get rich instantly!"
The trail lead off the road after a while, turning back into a forest. Charmy and Dark Misery had collected at least five wallets each, not to mention numerous sunglasses and sets of keys. Vector was beginning to relax; Scourge never left an obvious trail and he didn't seem the type to lure others in by setting a deliberate path.
"We've got fifteen wallets!" Charmy cheered, somehow managing to wear three sets of sunglasses at one time. "This is the best day ever!"
"Be quiet! I think I heard something!" Vector growled.
Everyone stood rooted to the spot, trying to listen for any sound at all. Before long, a soft shout was heard deeper in the woods; a shout that sounded oddly like, "OMG WE LOVE YOOOOU!"
"Well, that's very not weird…" Charmy said.
Vector laughed. "Hey, Dark Misery, remember how you said that your siblings looked a bit like Shadow and Amy?"
"Yeah…?" Dark Misery asked, looking confused behind gigantic, green-rimmed sunglasses.
"You know how fangirls and guys are colorblind?"
"Oh, yeah! And Amy mistakes Silver and Shadow and Cream and everyone for Sonic and stuff because she's colourblind! So that means…Dull Twilight and Light Joy were kidnapped by fans!" Dark Misery darted forward. "DON'T WORRY, GUYS! I'LL SAVE YOU!"
"Wait! They could be rabid!" Charmy cried.
Vector picked up the pace a bit, Charmy right behind him. Another shout filled the forest, louder because they were drawing nearer, "OMG! IT'S SILVER!"
"Huh? Oh, yeah! That's me!" Dark Misery said proudly. "Now let Amy and Shadow go!"
Vector and Charmy came crashing through some plants to see a giant group of people, a couple of them holding long sticks at either end. Tied to the sticks were Dull and Light, looking extremely ticked.
"About time you showed up!" Light shouted. She didn't sound anything like Amy.
"Yeah, sorry. Let them go!" Dark Misery said again.
"NOOO WE LOVE THEM!" The rabid fans shouted.
"Hey, we're all here, right? We can use our Chaos Attacks!" Dull said evilly.
"Oh, yeah. You guys might want to step back." Dark Misery said to the two detectives. "When we're all together, we can use Chaos Attacks. Even without an Emerald. But it's pretty explosive and we only pack enough punch to knock people out, which is perfect for this."
"Oh…right." Vector said. "Come on, Charmy. We'll wait for them over here."
As they were walking away, a loud shout of 'Chaos Control' in a slight accent followed them, accompanied by a loud BOOOOOOOM! A tree fell nearby.
"Dang." Charmy whispered.
Dark Misery and his siblings came after them a few seconds later. "Thanks for helping me, guys! That was awesome!" Some of his fur was smoking.
"Yeah, whatever. I'm gone." Light took off running out of the forest.
"Dude, they think you're Silver now." Dull laughed. "That's so dumb!"
"Shut up." Dark Misery said, beaming. "At least I'm awesome!"
"Yeah, whatever. I'm gone too." Dull ran off after Light.
"Well, thanks." Dark Misery said to the two detectives. "Here, I have some money with me right now. I'll get the tech stuff later." He handed them a roll of cash. "And…wait a second…where's that other guy that was with you earlier?"
"Espio?" Vector asked "Oh, he's…"
He trailed off.
"HE'S DEAD!" Charmy screamed. "We forgot about him! Come on! We have to find him!"
"Charmy, wait!" Vector shouted, following the hyper bee as he shot through the trees, Dark Misery following.
XxXxXxXx
"This is the field, right?" Charmy asked.
"Yeah. And I think it'd be somewhere in the middle." Vector walked off into the grass that was about half as tall as him.
"I can barely see." Dark Misery reported. "Ow, thorns!"
Charmy flew into the air, surveying the field."Vector! A lot of the grass in the middle has been flattened… some of it's been cut….and…" He trailed off, diving straight down.
"What? Charmy, what?" Vector started running.
"I found one of Espio's ninja stars!"
"Ok, that's good…but where's Espio?"
Vector and Dark Misery had come to the middle of the field, where most of the grass had been flattened or cut, probably from Espio's weapons. Their client picked up another star, handing it to Vector. "I'm starting to get worried…"
"Don't be."
The group spun around to find Espio, another ninja star in his hand. "I'm fine. Really."
"What happened to you?"
"I was right. The Emeralds do make a star pattern. Scourge was here. He…" Espio trailed off as he stumbled and fell.
"Espio!" Charmy shouted.
Sticking out of the chameleon's back was one of his own weapons, imbedded firmly in his flesh.
TO BE CONTINUED
XxXxXxXx
OH NO ESPIO! NOOO YOU'RE TOO AWESOME TO DIE!
So what will happen? Will they stop Scourge? Will Espio be all right? Will I have a totally epic ending for this story?
Can't guarantee any of that. Although if you review, it helps.
And Tamara, I hope you feel better!
Next is VioletAssassin's story!
Hasta la Vista, Readers!
Lordoftheghostking28