Chapter 1: Inspector Chaotix

Team Chaotix entered the building of Station Square Bank. Police had flooded the scene while broken glass and damaged furniture littering the lobby. Charred, gaping holes in the walls implied explosives were involved. Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon, & Charmy Bee were then approached by a federal agent wearing G.U.N. armor. "This area's off limits to citizens."

Vector then held up a card. "Vector the Crocodile: Chaotix Detective Agency. Your Commander called us in." The agent told them to wait a moment while he contacted the Commander before letting them in to the scene. Micro shards of glass crumbled beneath the Chaotix shoes as they followed the Agent on to the crime scene.

"So, what information have you got so far?" Espio asked.

"Whoever the thieves were, they were well armed and prepared. Took our troops by surprise." The agent said, adjusting his glasses.

"So, what'd they steal?" Charmy said, buzzing backwards in front of the agent casually.

"For starters they raided a solid portion of the treasury. But the worst of it is that they stole the three Chaos Emeralds stored here. The purple, cyan, and gold ones to be precise."

Espio's eyes popped. "Hold on. You mean to tell me that you kept three of the chaos emeralds in one place!? Do you know what these things do!?"

"And in a bank of all places!" Vector added.

The agent continued walking, "First off, Mr. Vector, this is a federal bank, and we keep soldiers stationed here at all times with the tightest security."

"Apparently not tight enough." Charmy smirked widely.

"As for why we kept three emeralds in one place. Well let's just call it more economically convenient."

A sweatdrop formed on Espio as he rolled his eyes. "Humans and their capitalism sometimes."

"Did they catch the identity of the thieves?" Vector asked, pulling out a notebook and pencil as the Chaotix followed the Agent into an office.

"No. They disabled our mechanical security system and then broke in and caught our guards by surprise. But they did leave behind a trace of evidence. Which is the reason the Commander told me he wanted you on the case." The agent took a key to unlock a cabinet with the label 'evidence' on it. His hand emerged with two clear plastic bags. One with green feathers, the other with grey feathers. "We recovered these at the scene. The Commander suspects something more is at stake, hence why he's asked for you."

The Agent handed Vector the bag, Espio looking up at it with curiosity, stroking his chin. "Feathers… I wonder."

"Guess you could say there's some FOUL play afoot, eh?" Charmy grinned.

"Save the dad jokes for when you're older, Charmy." Espio sighed.

"We'll get on this right away!" Vector declared. "But we're gonna need to have a look around the facility. Also, ya wouldn't happen to have a small analysis lab around here would ya?"

"The Guardian Unit of Nations will accommodate you for whatever you need in this operation, Mr. Vector." The Agent smiled.

"Then in that case, I'm gonna need a pack of bubble gum too. Helps me focus on my work." Vector added. "Also, can we get a basketball hoop, some musical instruments, and several packs of sports drinks?"

Charmy cheered, but the agent and Espio sweatdropped, the latter sighing, "I'm going to pretend I don't know you."


While G.U.N. accommodated Vector for the gum, his other requests were met with denial. Nevertheless, the Chaotix got to work, Vector and Charmy analyzing the feathers in their labs. Charmy impatiently began pacing back and forth as Vector scanned the feathers into an analysis computer. "Well!? What's it say, Vector?! I'm on a bed of pins and needles here dying to know!"

"Easy, Charmy! This is a delicate process! Now I suggest you take a chill pill and stop poking around with your pins and needles!"

"But I wanna know! The suspense is killing me!" Charmy said, trying to shove his face closer to the computer screen.

"Hey! Watch it!" Vector shouted, trying to hold the persistent bee back. With the grey feather currently in analysis, Vector grabbed the green feather, tickling Charmy in the nose.

"Heeeyyyy! You know I hate tickles! Ha-… ha… HACHOOO!" Charmy's sneeze sent the grey feather flying from the analysis scanner.

"Look what you did now, Charmy!" Vector scolded.

"Hey! I'm not the one who decided to use the evidence for tickle torture!"

"Yeah, well you didn't force my hand, I could have gotten these feathers done! Now I'm gonna have to start all over ag-…"

"Hey look, it finished just before I sneezed. How convenient." Charmy pointed at the computer, which lit up with information of the examined feather.

Vector and Charmy quickly rushed to look at the information. "As I suspected. An Albatross feather. That can only mean one thing."

"But how can you be sure it's them? And what about the other feather?" Charmy asked.

"How many Albatrosses to you know, Charmy? After this suspicion's been confirmed, we don't need to analyze it! Grey feather, green feather, breaking in to steal the Chaos Emeralds not to mention money? It's obviously the work of the Babylon Rogues."


Espio walked around, speaking to various authorities and witnesses. One of whom, he noticed had a large red spot on his forehead. Espio approached, "Greetings. I'm Espio with Chaotix Detective Agency. Pleased to meet you."

"To you too. My name's Harold. I'm a night guard here."

"Were you at the scene last night?"

"Sure was. Though I'm afraid I can't tell you too much. Those thugs knocked me out cold before I could do anything." The night guard replied.

"So that would explain the bump on your head."

"Honestly, I'm surprised they left me alive. But when I woke up, there were corks all around me. About the same size as the mark it left on my head."

Espio raised a brow, "Corks you say? As in… like for a bottle?"

"Believe me, I'm just as puzzled as you are. My only guess is that they were using a Popgun. But like, what kind of burglar uses a popgun when breaking into a federal building?"

Espio went silent for a moment, folding his arms and closing his eyes in contemplation before re-addressing the guard. "Do you know how many of them there were?"

"By the time they were on top of us, I was already knocked out. But I swear there were at least four to five of em. Maybe more. I'm sorry, I'm afraid that's all I've got right now."

Espio asked if he might collect one of the corks to analyze, to which the guard said he'd have to speak to the agent who led them in earlier. "I see. Thank you for your time." Espio then bid the guard goodbye.

Continuing his investigation, Espio's eyes scanned the area carefully, taking in the details of the broken windows and the charred edges of the damaged walls when his eyes crawled up the walls to the ceiling where long windowpanes were. At first, the Chameleon noticed nothing out of the ordinary when he saw one of the windows unlocked. Going outside and scaling the walls, he knelt down by said window to get a closer look when he noticed a slight glimmer in the sun's reflection.

Espio knelt down, to which he grabbed the reflective source; a tiny clump of light yellow fur. Fur. I wonder. Espio began scanning around on the roof when just barely in the sun, a single strand of the same bleach-blonde fur was found. The chameleon took slow and careful steps in that direction, eyes frantically surveying the surrounding area when he found another single strand. Continuing to follow the loose strands of fur, he came to the edge of the roof where a utility ladder scaled down the side. "So, you went down this way."

Espio slid down, landing with a silent thud. He continued to walk through the grass and into small woods behind the bank for nearly half an hour, continuing to follow the loose strands of fur which had now become more varied with strands of purple and even a feather or two in the mix. Finally, he stopped in a dirt clearing behind a thicket of trees. The dirt in the area had spread out in a wide circular pattern. "It looks like someone took off from here. Like they were in a… HOVER VEHICLE!" Espio gripped the bits of fur he'd found, dashing back towards the bank.


Vector and Charmy were explaining their theory to the G.U.N. agent when the crocodile's heart nearly leapt from his chest. The door to the small lab slammed open, Espio catching his breath. "Take it easy, Espio! What'd you find?"

Espio's breath pounded "Vector! Do you remember that sleek looking hoverbike we found parked behind the Station Square Casino on our way here!?"

"Yeah, was a beauty too, what is it?" Vector asked.

"There's no time, we have to get to that casino, I'll tell you on the way!" Espio cried.

"Now hold on. The Babylon Rogues don't own hoverbikes. They always use those Extreme Gear boards." As Vector stated this, Charmy meddled with the computer, grabbing the green feather, and sticking it in the scanner.

"Babylon-… What makes you so sure it's them!?" Espio exclaimed.

"Uh, hello. Albatross feather. Chaos Emeralds. Duh." Vector said.

"Still, my chameleon senses don't lie! I have a lead! We need to catch them before it's too late! Now come on you two!" Espio suddenly grabbed Charmy and Vector, but not before giving the fur to the G.U.N. Agent.

But as Espio dragged his team out, the G.U.N. Agent then tried to get Vector's attention. "Mr. Vector! Mr. Vector, this other feather, The green one! It's not a hawk feather it's a-… duck feather."


As the Chaotix ran down the street, Vector attempted to process things. "So let me get this straight. You followed the yellow fur strands and then cleared the area of dirt and fur by farting?"

"Wha-… How do you even come to that conclusion!?" Espio exclaimed. "No, the dirt was already cleared! I'm saying that that hoverbike we saw parked outside is likely our target! And you don't see many hoverbikes in Station Square."

"But the Babylon Rogues use hoverboards, not bikes." Charmy remarked.

"And how are you so sure it's them?" Espio said, the team entering the Casino's parking lot.

"Albatross feather. Duh. Not to mention the other feather was green. Who else could it be?" Vector said, taking a moment to catch his breath.

"Then explain the corks or the yellow fur."

"Maybe they plugged the night guard's watchdog?" Charmy shrugged as he landed on the ground.

The automatic doors to Casinopolis slid open as the Chaotix were greeted to the melody of upbeat jazz, the rolling ka-ching of the slots machines and the chatter of people having a good time all gently floated into their ears. Blue and purple and green and gold lights dazzled the checkered red carpet of the casino while waiters and waitresses brought drinks to gambling customers. Vector cleared his throat, "We'll argue about the details later. But if our targets are still around here, we'll need to keep a low profile. Espio, think you can sneak out back and check if the incriminating car is still there?"

"You got it." Espio said, scales turning transparent as he walked off.

"What about us, Vector?" Charmy asked.

Vector winked. "Let's be on the lookout and… have a good time."

"OH BOY!" Charmy's eyes lit up for a second when Vector put his hand on the little bee's shoulder.

"Not too much of a good time, though."

"Aaawww." Charmy puffed his cheeks, folding his arms with a huff, slowly buzzing around the casino. I hate that old Croc's code speech sometimes. Good time. What's such a good time about scanning a crowd for troublemakers? Charmy slowly buzzed across several rows of slot machines, the people too engrossed in their own gambling to notice the little bee. But one particularly excited customer caught Charmy's eye.

While the slot player's ecstatic jumping and excited whooping would have normally only made Charmy glance over, assuming the fellow had won the lottery, but the customer in question was covered in green feathers. So green that Charmy immediately took note of his curved, yellow beak and standout, red bandana. The bird pounded his red and white shoes which were attached to skinny, yellow legs. His tufts of hair, curling forward in the front, wiggled up and down in his excitement as he shouted "COME ON, BABY! Let's go! Gimme some more of them good shinies!"

Charmy flew down beside the fellow, whom he alleged as a duck, watching as the reel spun wildly, the duck not noticing him. The first reel lined up with a ring, after a few more spins, the second reel lined up with another ring. "Come on! Come on! Yes, yes, yes, yes!" the duck began chanting, to which Charmy began chanting with him. The final reel began slowing down, Charmy and the duck looking on with anticipation. But the hype broke as the final reel slowed to a crawl before resting on a logo that said 'SEGA'. Charmy and the duck both expressing disappointment before the latter finally noticed the bee. "I swear they rig these things all the time!"

"I know!" Charmy exclaimed. "You almost had it, too!"

"Totally! You come here often?"

"All the time!" Charmy lied. "I'm Charmy Bee by the way."

"You may call me Bean." The duck said. "So, I suppose you know a couple secrets around this here casino. Perhaps you might indulge me, friend."

"I'm afraid not, my winning streak is AWFUL." Charmy chuckled.

Just then, Vector's voice rang out. "Charmy! Hey Charmy! There's something I gotta inform you abou-… UGH!" Vector practically bolted from around one of the slot machines, slamming straight into Bean, the two colliders falling on their butts. But as Bean yelled at Vector to watch it, Charmy noticed a glimmering yellow emerald falling off the duck's person.

"Chaos Emerald!" Charmy shouted.

"Aw, crap!" Bean exclaimed nose diving into the floor to grab the emerald.

"That's our target, Vector!" Charmy yelled.

"Don't just stand there! Apprehend him!" Vector cried, still getting to his feet.

Charmy held out the end of his stinger, "Alright, pal! Back away from the emerald or else!"

Bean chuckled. "That's cute! Whatcha gonna do if I… Don't!" the duck smirked, snatching up the yellow emerald. Charmy's wings beat rapidly, thrusting his stinger like a lance at the duck when as he was doing this, Bean placed a shiny, black, short-fused bomb where the emerald once sat, Bean himself jumping back. Charmy's eyes shrunk down as he heard Vector calling out his name in a dramatic slow motion.

Vector leapt back as Charmy was tossed across the room and into a slot machine. But the crocodile was still thrown for a loop, as the blast sent him slightly upwards. People screamed, fleeing the scene. With ringing ears, Vector called out to his comrade, witnessing Charmy crumple off the slot machine, the little bee knocked out cold, turning angry eyes towards Bean. "You'll pay for that, you foul fowl!"

"Oh, you want payment? Why don't ya try one of the slot machines here, I'm sure you'll have a BLAST playing it!" Bean tossed another fuse bomb into the air, ready to serve it like a tennis ball when a flying cork knocked it away, the bomb exploding harmlessly in midair. Vector then looked over only to receive a cork to the face, knocking him down.

A purple jerboa sporting a brown Stetson hat, with matching-colored boots, gloves, and belt, glared at the duck, scolding him in a gruff voice and showing his teeth; a single overgrown canine tooth sticking out from the left side of his face. "Bean! What the hell are ya doin!? I told everyone to lay low for this operation and here you go, going coocoo for kabooms!"

"I had no choice, Fang! I dropped the emerald and got caught! I had to defend myself!" Bean exclaimed.

The jerboa grabbed Bean by his bandana, pulling the duck's face up against his. "And just WHY did you think it was a good idea to lackadaisically take one of the emeralds FOR A JOY RIDE!?"

"I can't help it! Wherever there be shinies, rest assured, Bean the Dynamite Duck will have his hands on at least ONE OF THEM!" Bean grinned robustly, making his partner facepalm.

Vector rubbed his head where he'd been hit when his eyes widened at the sight of the jerboa. "Nack?! Is that you?"

The jerboa looked his way, raising a brow. "Vector!? Never expected to see you again. Well, this is an odd little coincidence."

"Wait, boss. You two know each other?" Bean's eyes glanced between Vector and Fang.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, Nack! Why are you stealing the Chaos Emeralds?!"

The jerboa smirked, "First of all, I no longer go by that alias. Got too infamous. You may refer to me as Fang. Secondly, I'm here on behalf of Nunya."

"Nunya?" Vector scratched his head.

"Nun ya business!" Fang growled. "I hate to cut this little reunion short, but we've a tight schedule." Fang then turned to Bean, "Which you've set back ya little terrorist!" Fang aimed his popgun, taking several shots at Vector and forcing the croc to duck for cover. "Now come on! Let's not keep our partners waiting."

Vector got up with a grunt, quickly running towards his friend, cradling him in his arms. "Charmy! Hey, come on buddy, you'll be alright! Wake up!"

Charmy groaned, slowly opening his eyes. "Stupid… duck."

"Vector, what happened here!? I heard explosions and this place is a wreck!" came the deep voice of Espio.

"Charmy tried to intercept our target who had the yellow emerald when the target set off an explosive!" Vector exclaimed.

"Are you alright, Charmy?" Espio asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just need a little honey, ya know." Charmy groaned, turning to Vector with a chuckle. "Though this was still all your fault, Vector."

Vector was silent for a moment, "Yeah. I'm sorry, Charmy. If I hadn't told you to attack."

"Easy, boss. I was just funning ya. No need for the gloomy stuff, right? I'll be fine, promise." Charmy smiled.

"In that case, I've some news for you both." Espio said.


Fang and Bean rushed about the back alley of Casinopolis, loading the loot into a sleek blue hoverbike. Among them, a tall, bulky polar bear with off-yellow fur, a green scarf, and a red toque hat was helping them load up. "Quickly!" Fang barked, "We need to catch up with our allies and fast! Not only will those pesky detectives be on our tail, but I don't trust those Babylonian birds as far as I could throw em!"

Suddenly a shuriken flew by Fang's face and stuck into his bike. "Hold it right there, Nack!" Vector exclaimed.

"Hooligans, assemble! We got company!" Fang shouted, his allies rushing up beside him. "And I told ya, Vector. It's Fang. Fang the Sniper! You're all gonna pay for scratching up my bike like that!"

"So, didn't get enough of what I gave you earlier, did ya little butterfly!?" Bean smirked at Charmy.

"I am SO GOING TO STING YOUR REAR!" Charmy steamed, a vein popping on his head.

"On behalf of the Guardian Unit of Nations and the Chaotix Detective Agency, you're all under arrest." Espio declared.

Fang let out a slow, sinister chuckle. "Over my dead body!"

The Chaotix scattered as Fang took several shots, But Espio soon found himself in Fang's sights as a wave of corks flew his direction no matter where he jumped. Espio leapt behind a dumpster quickly peeking out and tossing some shurikens at Fang, who bounced backwards on his strong tail, taking further shots at Espio.

Vector attempted to grab Fang from behind when the big yellow polar bear blocked his way. "Outta the way, bud!" Vector demanded, but the polar bear sent a balled fist his direction. Vector began backing up, feeling the wind from the polar bear's savage blows, one of which dented a metal barrel in the alley. "You're awful quiet, Pal. So, what's your deal?"

"I let my actions speak for me." The Polar Bear said, rushing towards Vector, almost crashing into a pile of crates.

"Well then maybe I should call you clumsy. You got a name?" Vector remarked.

The polar bear turned around. "I am Bark. That is all you need know."

Charmy rapidly flew around the alley as explosions kept his bee fuzz on end. "I appreciate you trying to help me with my target practice but my god are you annoying to hit!" Bean yelled in frustration.

"Maybe you just need to get good! NYEEE!" Charmy stuck his tongue out at the duck.

"Oh, I got you good earlier! And I'll get you again, dweeb!" Bean tossed another, larger bomb at Charmy. Knowing he couldn't escape in time, Charmy used his body to batter the bomb back at it's owner. Bean's eyes popped, leaping out of the way of the bomb which ended up throwing Vector and Bark off balance.

Seeing an opportunity, Fang took a shot, knocking Vector down from behind before climbing into his bike, which had side carts attached for his allies. "Bark! Come on! We need to move! You too Bean! And let go of the bug!"

Bean fell headfirst into the side cart of Fang's hoverbike, wrestling Charmy on his back. "I'm trying to, but he won't let go!"

Just then, Espio jumped up on Fang's bike, ready to attack Fang when he was forced to block a strike from Bark. Fang's bike, the Marvelous Queen, began wiggling rapidly from the weight imbalance. "AGH! Watch my bike, ya loonies! You're throwin off the weight distribution!"

Bark shoved Espio off the bike, who held on to the edge while Charmy grabbed Bean's hair tufts, yanking on them. "AAAH! That is the last straw! Take this, butterfly!" Bean yanked a lit bomb out of his pockets, everyone's eyes bulging. Charmy and Espio quickly jumped off the bike in retreat.

"BEAN NOOO!" Fang tried to drive off, forcing Bean to drop the bomb, but the blast radius still caught the Marvelous Queen in its wake, making it bounce as it left a trail of smoke as the Hooligans took off.

"That's for bending up my wings, duck brain!" Charmy shouted after. Espio ran up to Vector, asking if he was alright. But the big croc simply stood staring into the direction of Team Hooligan with a vacant expression.

"Nack…" Vector closed his eyes, scratching his chin.

Espio waved his hand in front of his boss. "Vector! Hey, Earth to Vector. If the Hooligans are working with the Babylon Rogues, we're going to need some help."

"Oh yeah. Sorry." Vector commented. "I agree. If what you've told us is true, Espio, we're gonna need some assistance. Someone who knows those Babylon birds more personally than we."