"All over the United States, a total of 381,987 mysterious disappearances have been reported in the past week. And to top it all off, a jewel-ridden thief has caused a crime wave sweeping across the country, stealing jewels of all sorts." Rouge's ears perked up when she heard this. "Diamonds and emeralds seem to be the most common found missing in the sweep. Investigators have evidence to believe that the suspected kidnaps and robberies are tied together. Sources from the FBI say that a majority of the people that have gone missing were owners of very expensive pieces of precious stones." Rouge choked on water she had been drinking when she heard this. She looked down to the lucky charm she wore on her neck. It was the diamond she had stolen from years ago. It had still kept its shine from the first time she saw it. She feared for herself, keeping the thought in the back of her mind that she may be next.

"Is there any information that we could use to start with?" Zara questioned.

"As a matter of fact, we have the latest person to be affected by this tragedy. He is the head of a Tiffany's in Chicago." Knuckles pushed a buzzer on the desk, and an old, weathered man walked through the door. His wrinkles showed him to be at least in his 60's. "This is Joseph Racanelli. He has been manager of Tiffany's for well over 40 years." Rouge choked once more, as she locked eyes with the old man. She recognized those cold, clear eyes. It was the same man from years ago. She grabbed her diamond in an attempt to cover it up. Joseph looked at her as if he too recognized her. Mr. Racanelli smiled to the three girls, still giving a strange look to Rouge, as if to say something but he didn't know how to say it. They all sat there quietly for a few minutes.

"What exactly happened, Mr. Racanelli?" Amy said, saying the right thing to break the silence.

"I remember being in the store with my son, vacuuming the carpet, when our power went out. I thought it was just a problem with the electrical company. We closed early, it was about 9:30 PM. It got really dark, so I felt around to find my flashlight. I heard what sounded like someone laughing to themselves, but I thought it might have been the central air conditioning malfunctioning again. After about 10 minutes, the power went back on, and I had finally found my flashlight. But I turned around, and my son was gone, and every last display was empty. The cases were all still locked. There was no broken glass or anything. The vacuum was exactly where my son was standing before he disappeared. I thought he may have gone home, but after a few days, nobody had heard from him."

"There was absolutely no sort of clue left?" Zara asked. Rouge sat there quietly.

"Unfortunately, there were no clues left at any of the crime scenes, nor at the scenes of the kidnaps." Charmy answered.

"So where are we supposed to start?"

"Heads at the Pentagon refuse to give out have any information. So your first mission is to get through their security somehow and retrieve any information known on the case in their headquarters. They're not getting anywhere with it, so I figure the three of you can. There's a flight to Washington D.C. scheduled to leave at 7:45 tonight, so you need to start packing now. Knuckles, I expect you to go with and provide them with as much help as you can."

Knuckles rolled his eyes and huffed "Fine..."