September 14th, Time: God Knows

Espio's Room, Chaotix HQ

(Mood Music - Nightfall ~ Yuzo Koshiro)

Espio couldn't sleep that night.

There really wasn't any need to beat around the bush with that fact. No need for tense anticipation leading up to the dramatic revelation. No need in using ridiculously over-the-top language made to try give the impression that Stephen Fry was reading it out to prolong things any further. It was as simple as that.

Espio couldn't sleep that night.

As he lied in his bed, staring up at the ceiling in the vain hope that the pale blue lunar rays stretching across it would finally tire him out, the young chameleon wondered why he couldn't sleep. There wasn't much else to wonder about; what else could he really do at this point but wait for the Sandman to get past whatever blasted traffic jam was holding him at bay? And even then, he didn't really feel like doing anything else. After all that had happened that day, crazy trials and all, he just wanted to get some rest.

The chirping of nocturnal Flickies from outside kept Espio sane in what was otherwise a very dull and very irritating eternity of silence. Turning his head slowly to gaze out at the moon, hiding itself behind many trees that towered behind the department store he considered home, the ninja detective thought to himself how strange it was. The first night that he couldn't sleep in quite some time also happened to be the first night in which Mighty wasn't around since he'd arrived.

Was it really as simple as that? Did Espio simply miss having his self-proclaimed partner around?

While it felt far too clichéd and cheesy to be true, he had to admit that it was at least a possibility. But it wasn't just his friend's absence that was keeping him awake; the circumstances surrounding Mighty's imprisonment played a large part as well. Apparently, the armadillo 'attorney' had been found out to be false thanks to an anonymous call that claimed he wasn't marked as a proper defense attorney. It didn't surprise Espio; he had warned Mighty that he would likely be found out; but the anonymous call bothered him.

How did that fact get leaked? It seemed obvious that someone would've checked to see whether or not Mighty really was a defense attorney, but the nature of which it was revealed seemed to…suspicious. It wouldn't shocked the young detective honestly. He knew firsthand that especially in the legal world, outside manipulation was a very powerful tool that could be used to imprison or acquit anyone. The memories behind this experience briefly flashed through his mind at that moment…


"I'm sorry young lad, but there is very little evidence to support your claims."

"But he killed them! I saw him do it! Why don't you believe me?!"

"I would believe you, but unfortunately there isn't any real proof that Mr Veras did the deed. As such, I'll have to end the trial here…"

"No…you can't be serious!"

"And so, I declare the defendant, Mr Veras…NOT GUILTY"


Espio shuddered at the memory; it had been a long time, yes, but sometimes, the pain can never really go away. He tossed and turned in his bed as he tried once more to get to sleep, pushing that horrible day at court out of his mind once more, but unfortunately, he just couldn't get any blasted rest. Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes as he wondered what else about today's trial that had bothered him. Maybe he really did miss Mighty and he didn't want to admit that to anyone, even himself, but something still seemed off. And that's when he realized: the defendant's story was a complete blank.

As far as he was concerned, there was no doubt that Ray the Squirrel hadn't killed the victim, not after the disturbing security footage he had stumbled upon during the investigation, but nothing was said about what the young defendant had been up to. The most that had been explained was that Ray had called the witness, Colin somethingorothertodowithaterriblepunaboutwitnesses, down to the park for an unknown reason involving himself and Tiara, not to mention that there was some sort of implied scuffle between the two before the disgusting murder took place. Why was nothing said?

If Ray knew he didn't do it, why did he refuse to at least profess that fact? This troubled Espio immensely; it was far too important to be simply dismissed and it seemed far too suspicious to be nothing more than a forgettable event. What did it mean?

As he scratched his chin, he made it a mental note to try and investigate matters privately when he got the chance. It would have to take less precedence over trying to raise enough money to bail money out for Mighty at the moment, but he vowed to himself that he would figure out just what Ray was planning before things got out of hand. Not just for his sake, but maybe also his partner's…It didn't seem to involved him, yes, but it was still worth considering nonetheless…

Finally, he plopped his head back down onto his pillow and stared at the moon once more as he tried to deal with the problem that had been bothering him all night. It may have helped him sort out one or two things but it was still the most irritating thing in the universe next to Vector's desperate attempts to get laid.

Espio couldn't sleep that night.

The End…

Message from the Author - 23/Feb/2014

(Sodding biscuit-cakes! 2 chapters within 2 days?! My God, that's quite the achievement…or at least it is by my usually lazy standards these days. But still, hurray on that mark! Since it was that time for another Intermission, I thought it would be a good idea to at least make a plan of sorts for next time… In other words, Episode 09's story will be a direct continuation of what happened in Episode 08, making this the first (pseudo) two-partner that I've ever written! I'll say this much; it's pretty bloody exciting!

And don't worry, I've already got a plan sorted out for what's generally going to happen in Episode 09 (though as usual, I'll figure out the specific details when I get there!) so it hopefully won't take as long to write as 08 did…hopefully being the key word there. Still, while I won't give anything away as to what's going to happen, I'm pretty sure that at least one aspect of the story is going to be me murdered! I can't say why but I just have this feeling… Still, if someone's passionate enough to kill me over enraging them, I must've done something right!

Anyhow, I'll be off there as usual. As well as getting Episode 09 into gear, I also have to put up with going back to school after the mid-term break (AAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!) and one or two other things that I've got to take of, so my schedule might be a bit inconsistent. Still, I'll do what I can to give you guys more awesome Chaotix escapades! As usual, tell me what you think of this chapter, the fanfic so far and what improvements I could make to my writing style; any and all helpful comments are greatly appreciated! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and until we meet again, have a great day y'all! - FrDougal9000)