"What do you think?"

Espio asked sarcastically, a slight smile played across his face. Mighty looked down upon on what Espio had told him was the entrance to the clan. There was nothing down there, except one of the largest rocks Mighty had ever seen. He glanced from the rock to Espio and then back to the rock.

"That's… it?"

He said, somewhat disappointed by what he saw. After Espio had explained to him what was going on (Even though Mighty had interrupted him countless times to ask pointless questions), they had reached Dragon Kingdom. He hadn't seen any of the beauty that he would expect from what little Espio had talked about it. The ninja sensed his disappointment and laughed at him.

"Of course not. You thought you were going to see the entire Shinobi hanging around outside? Most everything is underground."

Well, that cleared things up. Mighty looked down at the ground and tried to imagine an entire clan of chameleons burrowing through dirt to get to different places. The image was so strange and unrealistic that Mighty accidently let a chuckle escape. Espio hadn't seemed to have heard, he was staring down at the rock with a focused and annoyed stare.

"We're going to have to go the back way."

Mighty followed his stare and only saw rock, rock, and more rock.

"Why? What's the matter?"

Espio made a face at him, and looked back down at the rock.

"I shouldn't have brought you."

He said simply, turning and going back down the hill in the direction they had come in.

"What? What did I do?"

"It's not you. Not really. Most everything about the Clan is hidden and most things are invisible. Every single person within is a chameleon, so you would stick out like a Chaos Emerald among pebbles."

Espio paused at the bottom of the hill.

"There's a guard on watch right now. Going through the main entrance will be impossible. Luckily for us, I know of a secret entrance."

He sat down and was reaching for something on the ground when he realized Mighty was still standing there.

"Close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Do it, or I will do it for you."

Mighty obliged and shut his eyes. He could hear a loud scraping sound and the sound of Epsio pushing something heavy out of the way. A click noise and then silence.

"Okay, walk forward a few feet."

Feeling rather stupid, Mighty walked forward, holding one of his arms out so he wouldn't crash into anything.

"Okay. you're good."

Mighty opened his eyes and found himself in pitch black darkness. They were now underground, as far as he could tell, in some sort of tunnel system. Espio lit a match, drawing Mighty's eyes to the only source of light. Shuffling in the small space, Espio grabbed hold of a lamp and lit it with the match.

"I thought you were claustrophobic."

Mighty pointed out, staring at the small tunnel that led onward into the darkness. Dust covered the stone floor and with the thick dust, footprints.

"I am."

Leaving it at that, Espio led the way, going through the tunnels with a sense of knowledge; indicating that he had been down here before.

"Is this guarded? I mean, I don't think the Shinobi would leave an entire tunnel system completely abandoned."

"You're right. They wouldn't. Only four people know this exists, one of them being me. It should lead right into one of the main corridors of the Clan. From there, we can access my mother's room. She'll have the ability to get us all the way to the area where we keep the aircrafts."

Espio's explanation just gave Mighty a million questions. He decided to ask the one that surprised him the most.

"Wait… Your MOTHER? You have a family? You never mentioned anything like that."

Espio froze, his eyes widening.

"Did I say that? I meant Mentor. My Mentor's room. Sorry."

Mighty wasn't stupid, and it was obvious that Espio had actually meant "mother" the first time around. He was actually kind of upset about it, although he didn't really have much of a reason to be. He had thought that Espio was an orphan, like he was. The Chameleon had never really talked about having a family, and the whole "Espio being part of a clan" thing was actually quite recent. Most of the Chaotix didn't have family, or didn't have the ability to visit them.

They spent the next several minutes in silence. Mighty decided to change the subject and ask the next question he had.

"Who's the other three people who know about the tunnels?"

Apparently, he had struck another nerve, because Espio didn't answer.

"We've reached the end. Stay absolutely silent."

They were at a dead end. Espio lifted up the lamp and blew it out. They were once again in darkness. He watched as a crack of light appeared in front of him. Espio grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the crack of light. They both tumbled out of the secret door and hit the ground hard. Espio had landed on his feet, but Mighty hadn't been so lucky. His nose hurt like heck from bashing it against the floor.

Pushing the door closed, Espio looked up and down the hallway they were now in. Mighty stood up and looked around. The door they had come out of was nonexistent now, only a part of the wall. The hallway they were in was much bigger and nicer than the tunnels they had just come out of, brilliantly lit by many torches along the walls. The sound of laughter came from down the hall and footsteps could be heard coming toward them.

"Come on."

Espio whispered, walking in the opposite direction of the people coming toward them. Mighty was entranced by the halls they were walking down.

"How big is your clan?"

He asked, staring in wonder at the endless line of torches that stretched out before them, breaking into multiple pathways, with handcrafted wooden doors along the way.

"Be quiet!"

Espio whispered to him, his gold eyes flashing angrily in the torchlight.

"You want us to get caught? We're in the heart of a ninja clan. You will be tortured and killed if they catch you. No one; I repeat, NO ONE is supposed to know this place exists."

Mighty looked behind him, half expecting a troupe of angry ninjas to jump out at them. Thankfully, nothing like that happened, and they turned and twisted down the hallways; until they reached a large and elegantly carved door with two guards standing watch.

"Let me guess."

Mighty said, eyeing the two chameleons keeping watch warily.

"That's your mentor's room."

Espio nodded, pulling out a couple of his ninja stars.

"Go cause a distraction."

"Me? I thought you just said that I would be killed and tortured! You want me to to just walk out there in front of the guards and wave or something?!"

"Don't worry. I've got your back."

Not feeling any better, Mighty walked in front of them. Both chameleons stared at him with wide open mouths, their eyes almost popping out of their sockets. Apparently the sight of Mighty was an extreme shock to them.

"Can one of you tell me where the bathroom is?"

Mighty said, smiling at the pair of them.

"I think I'm lost."

Both guards snapped out of their shocked stare and immediately pulled out long, slim swords. Mighty back away from them, not wanting to be within slicing distance. Both chameleons shimmered and then vanished. Mighty tensed up, realizing that the other two had the upper advantage on him as long as they stayed invisible.

He heard someone cry out, and then silence. Espio appeared in front of him, scaring the heck out of the poor armadillo. He instinctively lashed out with his fist and punched Espio straight into the wall. Espio hit the wall hard and slid down to the ground.

"Kuso…"

Espio muttered as he lay on the floor. Mighty leaned over him, completely mortified.

"Espio? Are you okay? Espio?"

The chameleon grabbed Mighty's shoulder and pulled himself up, his free hand covering the place where he had gotten stabbed. Mighty looked down at it and in horror saw that it was bleeding again.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I thought you were…."

His words trailed off as he saw Espio's expression. Voices could be heard shouting from down the hall. Espio opened the door that was now unguarded and pushed Mighty in there. The room he ended up in was large and well furnished.

Mighty had never seen any sort of Dragon Kingdom styled home, but he was sure that they were all pretty close to what he saw now. A short table sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by bright green pillows. Paintings hung from the wall, done in thick black ink on thin paper. The room was heavily perfumed, the smell of burning incense clogged the air.

"Espio?"

A woman's voice called out, her voice high and flute like. Mighty watched as another chameleon slowly came to view in front of them. She was as purple as Espio was, with the same color of eye. Instead of one horn though, she had four; two of them were decorated with ornaments. She wore a green silk outfit with a bright red sash around the middle. (A kimono? Mighty wasn't sure)

Beside him, Espio had gotten down to his knees and was bowing to the older chameleon.

"What are you doing here?"

She asked, her voice caught in a tone of panic.

"You're still in danger. Coming back here was the stupidest thing you've ever done."

"I need a ship."

Espio said, slowly getting up from the ground. His wound was no longer bleeding, but it didn't look all that well. The female ninja must have seen it too.

"You're hurt."

She said, worry crossing her features.

"The least I can do is cause a distraction. I'll call a meeting together to discuss a few pointless things. That will give you completely clear hallways at the least. The hangar will be well guarded however, so be careful."

It was then that she realized that Espio was not alone.

"You brought someone down here?!"

Mighty flinched away from her infuriated gaze. There was no doubt about it, she was definitely Espio's mother. Only someone related to Espio could replicate that angry glare.

"He's not a threat. This is Mighty, one of the Chaotix members."

She still didn't look happy, but she was no longer glaring in Mighty's direction.

"I hope you plan on explaining every single event that's happened to you when you get back."

Espio nodded and did a short bow.

"Of course."

A loud knock came from the door.

"My Bride, are you okay in there?"

Mighty glanced at the door. Someone must have found the unconscious guards outside. Espio pointed toward the screen in the corner, and they both squeezed back behind it. They knelt down on the ground and waited, hoping not to be found.

Espio closed his eyes and listened. His mother opened the door in her usual way, which meant that the person outside probably had to jump back in fear of being struck by the door.

"I'm fine. Why? Has something happened?"

"Your guards were found unconscious. Is someone in your room right now?"

"No."

She answered innocently, sounding genuinely surprised that her own guards had been hurt.

"Have they woken up yet?"

"No, my Bride."

"Take me to them."

She walked out the door and then came back in a second later.

"Let me grab my shoes first."

She approached the back of the room and picked up her shoes.

"Three minutes."

She whispered, and then she was gone. The door closed behind her with a final click. Mighty got up from behind the screen and went into the larger part of the room. Espio followed, scanning the room and double checking that they were alone.

"Three minutes until what?"

Mighty asked, oblivious. Espio forgot how little he knew about the clan. He had never had to explain anything to an outsider before and now found himself fumbling for words. He didn't want to say something that would tell too much of his clan life.

"Until she calls a meeting."

He finally said. Three minutes; three minutes until they would be found and killed. Well, Mighty would be killed. Espio wasn't sure what would happen to him.

"Let's go."

He opened the door again and looked out. The hallways were empty, as he knew they would be. Three minutes, and then they would be full of ninjas, both young and old as the training for the day ended. He went out, closely followed by Mighty. Together, they went down the halls; going a fast enough pace to cause the torches' flames to wiggle as they passed by.

"Why are we going so fast?"

How many questions did that armadillo have? It seemed that everything he had to say so far was a question.

"So we can get there faster."

Two minutes. Espio quickened his pace, rushing past all the rooms he had grown up in. The Fighting room, the weapons room, the calligraphy room, etc. It all passed by in a blur as they went left, and then right, and then left again. He felt a pang of sadness as he ran, his eyes seeing his life and his passion; from an outsiders point of view. he was going to stop Valdez, and prove his innocence, just so he could return home.

He wondered what Liza would think of the clan if she were here. It had grown dramatically in size over the years to fit their growing number of ninjas and need of materials and weapons. It would be very different from the clan she had grown up in.

One minute. Espio screeched to a halt next to the door he wanted, causing Mighty to stumble as he tried to stop too. His chest felt like it was on fire. He looked down and saw fresh blood, again. Great, that was just what he needed. Running all that distance had not done him any good and now he was paying for it. He coughed, his throat clogging up.

"Are you okay?"

Mighty asked, watching his friend with worried blue eyes. He continued to cough until the stuff in throat finally came up.

"You're coughing up blood."

Mighty said slowly, his eyes wide with panic. Espio put a hand on his wound and felt it again. He wasn't quite sure what had been hit, but something was seriously wrong. A loud shout rang from behind them. They were out of time. Espio turned and saw a good ten ninjas running toward them, their weapons at the ready.

"Through the door!"

Normally the hangar was locked, but on this occasion it wasn't. Espio supposed he had his mother to thank for that. They rushed through it and both fell face first down the flight of stairs that Espio had forgotten about. They tumbled downward and landed hard on the ground. A ninja star flew past Espio's face and hit the ground, creating a few sparks. They both got to their feet and began to run again as various weapons went flying through the air at them.

"Ow!"

Espio looked back to make sure Mighty was okay. A dagger had scratched his face, leaving a thin trail of blood. He turned back and kept running, going through the maze of aircrafts and planes, trying not to get hit.

"Espio?"

He stopped and looked back. Mighty was staring in a completely random direction, holding his hands out in front of him.

"I can't see."

The dagger must have had some sort of poison on it. It would be a good twenty minutes before Mighty's eyes would work properly. By that time, they were surrounded. Espio pulled out one of his swords and counted the number of ninjas. There were fifteen and all were capable fighters. He could take on at least five at a time, but he was pretty sure they were going to all just attack at once. He also still had that injury, making his chances of survival less than twenty percent.

Beside him, Mighty fell over, having tripped over a fuel canister that had rolled out in front of him. He shot his arms out like windmills to prevent the fall, but it was too late. He crashed into one of the planes sitting there, a Falcon Blazer. The plane rocked backwards and tipped on it's side, fuel spilling all over the floor. There was no way that it would ever fly again. The surrounding ninja's took that opportunity to lunge at Espio, prepared to take them both out. Espio threw a group of ninja stars back in defence, sparks shooting off as the metal clashed mid-air.

Somehow, one of those sparks must have touched the fuel on the ground, for a giant fireball exploded, knocking everyone in the surrounding area off their feet. The entire ground rumbled with the force, leaving Espio to wonder if the clan was collapsing. He sat up and saw a complete disaster zone. Three other aircrafts had caught fire and at least five of his clanmates were lying on the ground, fire swelling up around them.

He found Mighty pretty close to the plane he had fallen on, still rubbing his eyes to try to see. Espio pulled him up by his arm and raced away from the explosion. The plane he wanted was near the end of the line, a sleek and fast black aircraft, fittingly named Tiger Strike. The entire clan would be alerted to their presence now and there was nothing he could do about it.

Without looking back, he jumped into the pilot's seat, his fingers running across the buttons to turn it on.

"A little help please?"

Espio looked down to see Mighty squinting to try and see the plane.

"I can kinda see it now."

"It's not permanent."

Espio helped Mighty into the co-pilot's seat, and then turned back to the control panel. He flipped several switches and then put a headset on.

"Wait a minute."

Mighty said suddenly, his hand gripping the armrest as tightly as he could without breaking it.

"If we're underground, then how are we going to fly…?"

In response, Espio turned the last crank forward and the aircraft shot forward, throwing the two back into their seats. This whole hangar was a new concept to the Shinobi, an effort to get with the times and have more advanced technology to use in case of extreme emergencies. the major problem with stuff like this was that it made it easier for outside forces to locate the clan. As a result, a six hundred mile long tunnel was built so that aircrafts that came from the Shinobi would be coming out the other end of the tunnel; leading others to believe the clan was nearby. The only major problem with it seemed to be that as the planes traveled underground, minor earthquakes would happen above.

They were traveling through that tunnel now, and would be for the next thirty minutes.

"How often do you fly?"

Mighty asked, still squinting a little from the after effects of the poison.

"Rarely."

Espio admitted.

"Okay… So are you able to fly this thing well enough to get us to Robotropolis?"

It was a good question, one that Espio didn't have much of a positive answer for. So he switched topics.

"You ask too many questions."

Mighty smiled at that, looking rather embarrassed.

"Sorry bout that. I'm just curious, that's all. I like traveling to different places, remember? Sorry if I'm poking too much into top secret information or whatever."

"You're fine."

Espio said, somewhat surprised by his apology. The aircraft continued to fly, leaving the clan he loved so dearly behind. He knew that no matter what happened, he would find a way, some way to return.