Time will tick

It was pleasantly cooler when he regained consciousness. He could feel the sweat from his fur had either evaporated or dried, his entire body feeling much colder than the last time he remembered being awake. The sand had been tough to trek through and the unbearable sun had been shining down on him without mercy, making him feel lightheaded and dizzy.

The last thing he remembered was that he had been in an area with a ton of sand, and had seen things in the distant, and then he must have passed out or something. So why wasn't his mouth or nose filled with sand?

He realized eyes were sticky with yellow gunk once he opened it, the residue left behind with small grains of sand that hurt once he opened them. He groaned and rubbed his eyes with one hand in an attempt at removing the irritant that sat there, wiping away the sand and the grime that sat there. It wasn't until after he was done getting rid of the substance that sat in his eyes that he realized his hand felt weird, blinked, and looked at his hand.

His eyes widened once he realized that his glove was gone, his silver-colored fur visible. Mild panic started to erupt in his chest, looking at his other hand and saw that his glove was gone there too.

And where was his pack? Had he been robbed?!

He lifted his head from wherever he was laying, only to immediately regret it as a dizziness overwhelmed him, feeling woozy and forced himself to fall back into the pillow with a sigh. Wait – pillow?

He frowned and gently touched the cushion his head was resting on, the fabric soft and bounced back on his finger. He blinked in complete confusion and turned his head to finally look around at where he was.

It was a room. A dark room, the only light that appeared was from a door that had been left ajar. It was small, way smaller than the room he had occupied back at the castle and seemed less majestic as well. There was a dresser by the door, a small table in the corner with a potted plant, the same kind of prickly plant that had grew out in the sand, and he was laying on a bed of sorts.

He looked down at his body, seeing a very thing beige colored blanket draped over him, frowning again as he looked at his feet. His socks were there, but his boots were gone as well. He blinked as he got more and more confused, looking around the room and at the door. Had he been kidnapped? Taken for hostage?

He didn't know what it was like to be either of those things, but he could imagine that it would be worse than this, wouldn't it be? He had no idea, and a part of him wondered if he should be on his way out of here or not, though just moving his head at this point felt like moving a ton of bricks at the same time. It was heavy and if he moved too fast, he would get dizzy.

He let out another sigh, rubbing his forehead with two fingers and looked around the room one more time. A surge of relief passed through him as he caught sight of his sack leaning against the leg of his bed, as well as his gloves and boots sitting on the floor beside it. Just from the sight alone he was starting to believe that he might not have been robbed or kidnapped or something of the sorts – which meant that someone had rescued him. Or found him and left him somewhere, he didn't know.

A part of him wanted to move, figure out where the Chaos he was and what had happened until his head protested again with the thought, letting out another groan and a long and slow sigh, feeling drowsy and like he could fall back to sleep any minute.

That's when he suddenly heard footsteps, turning his head too fast towards the door, making his vision blurry and his head pounding. The door slowly got opened by a careful small hand, the silver hedgehog looking at the whoever had walked in to check on him.

He blinked in confusion, thinking that he must be seeing things again or something since it was a kid looking at him, blinking before suddenly turning around.

"Mighty! He's awake!"

Silver instinctively moved closer against the wall as the yellow mobian suddenly lunged for him, or at least that's what it seemed like, big bright eyes with black irises staring at him, standing by the bed.

"Wow, you're weird looking," the tone of voice told the hedgehog that he was a kid, how old he had no idea since he could only stare back at him, feeling his heart race.

He hadn't interacted with anybody but Blaze before, or rather, he didn't remember talking to anybody else but her. His entire existence had thus far been one room where the princess of Croford had visited now and again, travelling one day in a forest and then ended in the hottest area of sand he had ever visited. He hadn't thought about what he would do if he even met anyone, what he was going to say or what he should say. Compare that to the fact that he had never thought that his first interaction would be with a kid, he was practically stunned to the core, having no idea as to what he should answer the squirrel. It didn't look like they wanted an answer either way, was simply looking at him, small eyes calculating and mouth open.

Another pair of footsteps interrupted his thoughts, looking at the door again where the portal opened even more, another mobian standing in the doorway. He had no idea what species they were, his vision still a bit blurry and therefore the red and black that was on their body almost melted together. They had been looking at him, until they looked at the squirrel that was still staring at the hedgehog, their face morphing into something different.

"Ray! What did I tell you about commenting on other people's looks?" The squirrel turned around towards the other mobian, Silver already concluding that there was some kind of ranking system involved in their relationship. The kid's small ears were pulled into his skull before slowly walking over to the other mobian.

"Not to," the squirrel apologized, though turned around and looked at Silver again, but beside the weird looking mobian instead. It made him feel a bit better, calming down and didn't push himself against the wall anymore, instead looked at the older person who gave him a smile.

"I'm sorry about Ray, he gets excited around new people," he kindly explained, the tone of voice giving away his gender. "I'm Mighty if you didn't catch it. You were lucky we found you out in the desert, you were having quite the heat stroke," he continued, crossing his arms over his chest, was looking at him but didn't have the same stare that the kid still had on him. It seemed more welcoming and relaxed, making him feel less like he had been kidnapped or something.

An awkward silence appeared between them, the squirrel blinking at the silver-colored hedgehog before looking at the other mobian, the older raising a brow at him. Silver blinked, having no idea if he was supposed to say something right now or if the other two were just looking at him like he was looking at them. Though, one question was nagging him in the back of his head, swallowing nothing before hesitantly uttering his first words towards anybody else but Blaze.

"The what?" His voice was so low he had no idea if the others had heard him or not, though the second brow joined the one that was already raised on the other mobian.

"Excuse me?" He asked, a frown finding its place on his forehead, his black eyes darting around Silver.

A part of him wanted to disappear, walk away and not engage in this, feeling uncomfortable and like he was exposed, despite having done nothing. Instead, he supposed that this was, what he initially wanted and therefore continued

"You, uhm. You said some kind of word. 'De-desert' I think. What is that?" He asked again, staring at the taller person rather than the kid.

Though the frown only deepened, before turning his head and locked eyes with the yellow squirrel, the two of them blinking before the older shook his head, letting out a chuckle for reasons unknown to the hedgehog.

"You must have been out there much longer than we expected. Hold on, then I'll get you something," he announced, before turning around in the doorway and disappeared out of it again. The squirrel looked at where the taller one went before turning back to the silver-colored hedgehog, blinking at him.

Silver almost didn't notice him, was instead trying to think what he had said that made the mobian say like he did. He turned his head toward the younger one still staring at him, contemplating on whether or not he should ask him instead, though he refrained from doing it once he noticed that he was looking at him again. It felt somewhat strange, the eyes most specifically plastered onto his quills in the back of his head, and the quills fanning out from his forehead. A part of him wondered if he maybe should explain himself, and then didn't know what he should explain.

"A desert is the big area you were in," Silver looked at him from the sudden comment, the visual examination of his quills being over and instead blinked as their eyes met. "We found you outside, halfway burrowed in sand, what were you doing there?" Ray continued, his head slightly cocking to one side while his hands were placed on his hips, his tail whipping once.

Silver followed the movement with his eyes before his mind caught up to the information he had been told. So, he was in a desert. Or was he still in one? And now he was suddenly asked why he was here in the first place. His mind blanked out for a second, suddenly realizing that he didn't know what to tell him.

Should he tell him? That he came from a single bedroom in a castle in a city called Croford and that he only left because he felt like he had another purpose in life and that he ventured out only to find that something? That he sometimes felt like there was a surge of energy that went through his body and that he could feel that it was important and that he needed to go out and search for it. Would he understand that?

The silence remained for a while, making the squirrel open his mouth to ask the question again, when the older mobian returned, having a glass of water in his hand and something else in the other.

"Here. This should make you feel much better," Mighty walked across the room and over to him, making the silver hedgehog scooch a bit closer to the wall, the other not noticing the action, instead reached out the water and the other thing in his hand. It was oval shaped and completely white, making Silver blink, and look intently at it.

"What is that?"

"A pill. It's something that was invented since the city is situated in the desert so people that come here often gets hyperthermia. It should clear your head and make you feel better in a couple of minutes time," he explained, a smile appearing on his lips as he reached out the water and the pill yet again.

Silver had almost forgotten his state of mind, a whole barrel of information raining down on him at once, the dizziness still present and his head feeling like it weighed more than it should. He hesitated, his eyes looking at the pill in the other hand while swallowing something, the glass of water being tempting to just yank out of the other's hand.

"It's alright. You can swallow it," The mobian ushered and in the moment thrusted the glass of water into the hedgehog's hand, given him no choice but to take it unless he wanted to get wet.

He received the pill afterwards, looked at it in his hand and moved it with his thumb, visually examining it. He looked up again, but he received an encouraging nod. He bit his lip, a thought in the back of his mind asking why he was trusting them the same moment that he laid the pill on his tongue, remembered that the mobian had asked him to 'swallow' and took a sip of the water. The medication went down easily enough, tasting a lot like salt, though the moment the liquid touched his tongue, he greedily drank the rest of it, feeling his dry throat yearning for the water. He quickly pulled the glass away from his mouth when the tall mobian in front of him chuckled.

"I suppose you were thirsty. You were really warm when we found you," he explained, nodding towards the squirrel standing behind him. "We were out driving with a couple of people we met when we saw your grey fur in the sand. You're lucky that you have that color," he explained, before taking the now empty glass out of Silver's hand, turning around, and reached it towards the squirrel.

"Mind getting some more for him?" Ray looked at the glass only for a second, before taking it out of Mighty's hand and rushed out the door, his fast steps echoing in the rooms. Silver looked after him for a brief moment, before catching on to what the older mobian had said, looking down at his naked hands.

"Is that why you-" he trailed off, biting his lips since he didn't know how to ask. Though the one questioned turned back around towards him, watching as the hedgehog fidgeted with his fingers, looking at them.

"Oh. Yes – I'm sorry, it could have seemed a bit intrusive I suppose. But you were practically on the verge of dying so we had no other choice but to try and cool you down as much as possible," he explained, while scratching the back of his head.

Silver looked up from the explanation, seeing the somewhat sheepish look that he had on his face. He was starting to believe that he hadn't been kidnapped after all. The door opened again as the squirrel came back, reaching out a glass of water to him. The silver-colored hedgehog took it enthusiastically, drinking from the glass and relished in the cold liquid going down his throat. He felt a little bit better already, his head was a bit lighter and the dizziness was starting to disappear as well.

"So, where are you from?" He hadn't expected the sudden question, looked back up at the mobian as he lowered the glass, still having no idea what species he was but felt too timid to ask. He didn't want to be offensive.

The same thoughts reoccurred, wondering if he should tell them anything at all or come up with a blank lie. The latter he would much rather do, but he had no idea how to lie or even come up with something that was believable. He supposed he could tell the truth for now.

"I'm from Croford," he stated, and bit his lip from saying anything else. The mobian smiled and looked at the squirrel who looked back with a grin, the two of them apparently knowing the city.

"We came from there too. Well, actually we came from Kroxburg but we landed in Croford first," the older explained, looking back at the hedgehog. "But how did you end out in the desert? This is pretty far from the city," another set of teeth landed in his lower lip, as Silver had no idea how to answer him.

He could tell him which city he came from, but then go into the rant about being stuck in a bedroom and not remembering who he is or where he came from seemed a bit out of place. Even for him who had never talked to anybody but Blaze, though he knew that he needed to be wary.

"I. I don't want to say," he therefore explained, keeping his gaze onto the mobian, hoping that he would accept the answer. His brow furrowed momentarily, though shrugged his shoulders afterwards.

"That's okay. Though the next time you try and cross the desert with no water I'll suggest being more prepared," he said, in a light tone, closing one eye and let the other stay open towards Silver. The hedgehog blinked in confusion, having no idea what the action meant but instead watched as the older mobian walked away from him, standing in the doorway.

"We actually have some stuff to do. We need to get out and get some money to pay for the room, but you can sit and rest if you want to," he explained. "I'll bring out some food for you but keep drinking water and you'll feel better after another nap as well," Mighty announced before going out the door again.

Silver looked after him for a bit before he once again was left alone with the squirrel in front of him. He looked at him for a bit, the black eyes not looking at him anymore, but at the wall where the bed was pushed up again and glanced at his sack that was beside the bed leg as well.

A thought suddenly struck Silver, lifting his hand, and felt behind his spikes, hoping that the squirrel didn't notice the action too much. He moved around the quills before his fingers landed on something hard and slightly warm, letting out a sigh of relief. They hadn't found the gem – a part of him still didn't understand why it was important to him or why he wanted to keep it so much. He just knew that it would somehow give him the answers he was seeking. Somehow.

"It's okay," Silver immediately moved his hand from the sudden comment, looking at the squirrel with wide eyes. Though he was smiling, seemed inviting and kind. "You're safe here," the promise made his mouth open a little bit, a swarm of surprise going through his body.

He didn't know why, other than the fact that he hadn't expected a kid to say that to him. Though, it made him feel a little bit better. He blinked and was about to tell him 'thank you' when the door opened again, the older mobian walking in. The hedgehog heard his own stomach growl from suddenly seeing the pieces of bread with butter smeared on top that was on the plate that Mighty had brought with him.

"Here you go," Mighty announced at the same time that Silver took the plate and placed it in his lap, sitting a bit more upright.

He felt much better already, the wooziness and dizziness practically gone, and his head wasn't feeling as heavy. He looked at the food that was on the plate, the white bread was butter and some meat toppings on the side which he could put on if he wanted to. A faint smile went over his lips, before looking back at the two that had saved him.

"Thank you," he earned a smile from the both of them, the squirrel practically beaming as he turned to look at the older, who crossed his arms over his chest.

"You're welcome," he said, before turning his head to the younger. "C'mon, we gotta go before rush hour is over," the mobian said, turning on his heel to walk out the door.

"Wait, I only have one more question," Silver had picked up a piece of bread and was more than excited to bite into it, though was interrupted as the younger mobian turned back towards him, his grin wide and face morphed into excitement.

"Why does your quills look so weird?"

"Ray!"

Things were going according to plan. Slowly but surely, they were getting to the goal.

They had to lay low for a while since there had been an increase in security with more soldiers walking around the richer parts of the town more frequently. More and more people had reported that things had gotten stolen or robbed for them, meaning that they had no choice but to stay down for a couple of days and not wander around past the bridge. There weren't a lot of loot to collect on the poor side of town, but they needed to take what they could get. In this world you must look out for yourself and your comrades, otherwise you will get nowhere.

This was the position that the city wanted them in – then they were just going to pay for the consequences. To him, the consequences entailed in them getting more and more valuables, jewelry and pieces of important furniture that got traded around the tunnels, the inner market thriving whenever a big operation had been undergoing. The appliances and the metal they had for storage, waiting until it could be traded with the right person. It wasn't something that was easy to acquire, despite a lot of the people on the other side of the bridge earning it and was therefor meaningful goods. And up until now they had been around most of the bigger houses that was nearer the bridge, meaning that they would have to walk closer to castle territory. They were slowly getting to their goal.

He frowned as his eyes lazily scanned over the reports he had received, the paper yellow and crinkly and the handwriting practically unreadable. He needed the thieves and robbers to write down the goods they collected and how much of it could be shared between each other. In all honesty he couldn't care less about the whole ordeal, he just needed to make sure that no one was going to rebel against him because of a huge difference in earnings.

The last thing he needed was a group of thieves that figured out that they were getting less from the hauls than others. He didn't care for the differences, he cared that they would do an uprising. The thieves most likely stashed more than a few things in their own pockets whenever they had done a mission, but practically every robber or thief did it and therefore it didn't matter in the end.

It didn't matter to him – the important thing was that the criminals of this side were on his side, from the thimble riggers to the assassins. He needed them.

"So, am I just here to look pretty or what?" The black hedgehog skimmed over a few more items on the paper before slowly turning his head to his left, looking at the person that was sitting in the chair in front of his desk.

Her black dress reached down to the ankles with the white underdress, the legged crossed over the other while her arms were crossed over her chest. A fierce expression was sent towards the black and red hedgehog as if she were mad at him for some reason. He didn't care either way, instead calmly placed the papers in his hand down on the desk, looking back at his best assassin that he had hired. He noted the scar that was across her eye, the pupil and iris fine and having survived the attack, though he could tell that it had been close.

"You are here because you didn't complete your mission," he calmly said, though the expression on his face told a different story, his eyes narrowed and a ferocious expression plastered onto his face, telling her without words that her failing the mission was unacceptable. She didn't react on it however, like she didn't see him at all, instead shrugged her shoulders and kept the same dangerous stare on him.

"I didn't complete my mission otherwise I would have lost an eye," she explained, leaning back in her chair.

"I managed to find the hedgehog's location by going to Kroxburg and visit someone he had visited while staying there. She told me that he was headed for the mountain region, I didn't stay around to ask her why," she started, her eyes only narrowing slightly.

"I found him and that fox that I met in the sewers a couple of days back. We talked for a bit before I made my strike – I managed to get a good hit on the hedgehog's leg, which should make him unable to walk for a long while. The fox I stabbed in his side, right under the ribs so I don't expect him to survive," the assassin continued, leaning a bit forward in her chair again.

"And then that blue spiny bastard rolled around or something and almost cut my eye out! I had to get out of there."

"No! You should have finished the job in the first place! That fox wasn't the target, the hedgehog was!"

"He got in my way!" Rouge yelled back, throwing her arms out in frustration. "I was sent out to assassinate the guy and not get killed myself."

"Then you weren't the right one for the job," Shadow calmly threatened, a certain heaviness laced around his words, cold and without remorse. Though the assassin either didn't notice it or didn't care, instead crossed her arms angrily over her chest again, looking briefly at the wall, large white ears flicking.

"I don't understand what's so important about him anyway. He has those gems so what?" She complained, an obvious irritated tone to her voice, which didn't hide the fact that she had been offended.

Shadow didn't care, instead narrowed his eyes at her question, looking away again and into the wall, giving him a moment to think. He felt the emerald in his quills resonate with his inner boiling anger, a part of him wanting to rip the bat's throat out for disrespecting such forces. He could demonstrate it to her, use the purple gem's power as it was intended to be, he could use it and do what he wanted.

And yet, he pulled back from the desire, thinking that she would only get more curious and even try to get more out of it than she was already getting. Her noisy nature was a hindrance enough as it was.

"Those gems, as you put it, is the last remains of what is left of the great powers of Chaos. You are to treat them with respect or find yourself punished by them. The powers which they inherent can bend the forces of nature, make it obey to your command. They will be the only realistic option to restore this world to its rights," he explained, keeping his stare at the wall.

He could feel the emerald against his head, the power, and the forces which it held within, begging him to release it, use and bend it. He let out a long sigh with the desire, not giving in to the sensation. Not yet.

"Intriguing," Shadow turned his head towards her, the good mood restored as she smirked at the black hedgehog. "So, what does all oft his 'bend nature' stuff mean?" The hedgehog narrowed his eyes at her, turning fully towards her, his ice-cold demeanor radiating as he regarded the assassin he had hired.

"I think you should keep your nose where it belongs," he threatened, clenching his hands into fists to prevent demonstrating what he meant. He had done it before, and he wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Despite his menacing nature she frowned at him instead, uncrossing her legs and leaned forward.

"Do I need to remind you that I am the best assassin in the business? You need me," she threatened back, an obvious statement that told him that she would leave if he didn't tell her anymore. Despite it, the hedgehog let out a scoff.

"I beg to differ," he finalized, joining his hands behind his back. "Your next mission is on standby for now. You can rejoin with your fellow colleagues until I give further information. You may leave," she kept his stare as Rouge gasped at him offended, her turquoise eyes blinking at the hedgehog.

A frown then replaced the surprised expression, getting to her feet and stomped out the door, slamming it as it went back into the frame, the bricks around it cracking slightly.

Shadow paid no mind, instead let out a sigh and moved his hand behind his quills. He easily clutched around the purple gem, taking it out of his spike and looked at the crystal exterior.

The purple power was swirling inside of it, like a vortex of force and misery, the hedgehog being well aware what this could do. What he had already done with it. He narrowed his eyes at it, holding it tighter against his palm. He needed them. He needed all the emeralds, needed their power. And he needed that hedgehog dead. No matter the cost.

The night was crisp like a dagger, cold as the harsh winter. The moon was uncovered from the black sky, stars speckled across the dark canvas. The city of Croford was never quiet, people always mumbling and always talking, gossiping, and complaining, keeping the conversation going for the sake of the conversation.

Criminality wasn't a rare occurrence and was rather one of the main problems in the side. The poor area of town had its issues in this regard, multiple people running around the alley ways, hiding behind boxes and barrels alike, huddling together in the abandoned and dilapidated houses, planning their next big plan.

Hitmen were secretive and often kept to themselves, only took favors if people knew who they were and never told anybody about their job. Thimble riggers were asleep at a time like this, considering the fact that they only had food because they kept the entertainment alive on the side of the roads. The pick pocketers were sleeping as well, no people around for them to take from, either working together in groups or by themselves. Robbers and thieves were always awake, always aware of where they could go to make their next coupe, earn something for their hard work.

It was the spiderweb that you were forced to learn once you came here, an invisible set of rules that you had to know otherwise you would get punished for it, one way or another. You had your turf and other criminals their turf, you just had to accept that fact.

It happened both day and night, an immortal practice that people executed to keep their existence alive. People came together, talked in the corners of the city, planned, and shared what they had gotten their hands on, moonshine and sugar alike, different trades happening to the interested.

A meeting such as this took place in one corner of the city as a red bird with a cloak over their head looked around the corner, narrowed his eyes but couldn't see anyone there. He walked around a barrel and stood against the wall of the house, craning his head upwards to see the sign of an old, abandoned inn, the usual meeting place. He crossed his arms over his chest and placed one foot against the wall, letting out a sigh.

Not long after, a wolf came from the nearby corner, the bird alarmed looking towards them before realizing that it was a comrade of his, the yellow wolf having a cloak over them as well.

"Is Gat coming?" the bird nodded to the female wolf's question, the two mobians standing beside each other, the cold air of the night making them shiver under the cloaks.

Soon a rabbit came into view, his fur blue and walked with hasty steps, the cloak fluttering around their feet. The two other thieves looked towards him, the three of them joining together in a group, as the rabbit let out a sigh.

"Sorry, soldiers on my tail."

"You passed the bridge? Tonight? How dumb can you be?"

"Quit it," the bird interrupted in the wolf's complaint, cutting off the communication that had happened between them. He did narrow his eyes at the rabbit, nonetheless, telling the mobian that they ought not to do something the likes again when meeting up with them.

"I got the word. D4 is cleaned and picked, F6 and U1 is the only ones left."

"Did they get anything good out of it?" the bird looked over his shoulder, frowning as he thought he heard a sound before turning back to the noisy female.

"They got the goods as usual. Another operation will take place tomorrow evening. We'll meet with the others at sundown underneath the bridge. The target is M6."

"M6? Do we have enough people for that?" The wolf nodded to the rabbit's question, pulling the cloak tighter against his ears to keep them warm.

"We do. We got the green light we just need to report as normally," he finalized. "We'll meet tomorrow under the bridge," the wolf and rabbit nodded simultaneously, the three of them having narrowed his eyes at each other, their teamwork only valid as long as they kept the operations going.

The wolf nodded one more time, before swiftly turning around on his heel, the cloak following in his steps as dust fluttered around his feet, splattering water around his shoes as he walked over a puddle, disappearing around the corner. The rabbit and wolf looked at each other one more time, before the two of them departed, going in their own direction, away from the old inn.

The concentrated and concealed atmosphere that had appeared slowly disappeared with the departure; the little corner now left alone. A breeze passed by the area, swinging the old sign from side to side and brought dust into the air only to settle down again, an eerie quietness settling in.

A pair of piercing yellow eyes penetrated the dark night, as the owner slowly blurred back into reality. His body was disorientated, waving in different and various colors until his purple scales became visible, a cloak hiding most of his body. Espio narrowed his eyes at where the thieves had been standing previously, looked around himself before he turned around, keeping to the edge of the wall, as he walked back towards their hideout. Something was going on. Something that they didn't know about and something which he didn't like.

Thieves were notorious individuals, usually didn't plan that far ahead and did operations as quickly as possible. If you stood around and waited for too long, then the opening could disappear within minutes. They were spontaneous but quick thinkers – planning on robbing multiple houses at once were unusual. And he knew that the rabbit was in fact a robber and not a thief. Normally those two kept away from each other – if criminals began rooting together then that could become troublesome.

They were trying to root together individuals who hadn't figured out the spider web yet and that would get more and more difficult if more criminals started to huddle together in secrecy. If you interrupted someone at the wrong time in the middle of an important conversation than that might as well be the last words that you heard.

He darted around the corners, pulling his cloak closer to himself as he jumped over a box and leaned against a corner. He leaned out from his position, saw no one in the alley way and therefore sprinted across, a concentrated frown on his forehead. He swirled around a familiar well as he came to their hideout, the perfectly dilapidated house looking abandoned to anyone who passed by.

A thought in the back of his head reminded him to put some boards up against the windows, not wondering why it was chilly at night. He jumped over a sandbag that had been left in front of the door for reasons unknown to the chameleon as he opened the door effortless. Normally he was the one standing guard and if he wasn't there then it was Charmy's job, but he knew that some new criminals had arrived tonight, so the bee was most likely tending to them, while Vector did his things.

He let out a sigh as he closed the door behind him, removing the hood from his head. He turned his head and saw that the hatch was open, the stairs leading down where mumbling could be heard from the new thimble riggers as far as he was aware. He walked over to the open hatch and without looking if the bee was even down there, he called his name.

"Charmy! Get up here we have something to discuss," without waiting for an answer Espio stepped away, only knocked once on the door to the office and walked inside without getting a 'come in'.

The crocodile jumped once the chameleon had made it inside, a green tail spinning so fast around that it almost knocked the chair down onto the floor, eyes wide and stared at the pick pocketer.

"Wait until I say come in!"

"We have more important matters to discuss," Espio interrupted easily enough, having interrupted the croc in managing the last reports on their latest mission, helping an old lady acquire some food.

Before Vector had time to discuss a buzzing could be heard from the other room, the hyperactive bee flying inside before turning around and closed the door.

"What's the rush Espie?" The chameleon rolled his eyes into the ceiling from the nickname, though he looked back at both of his friends with a serious expression.

"I observed a meeting between two thieves and a robber. They're planning on robbing the Marson's estate."

"Marson's? What do they want in there?" Vector asked immediately, crossing his arms over his chest. The pick pocketer shook his head since he didn't know, looking back at the bee.

"Has the new criminals said anything about these kinds of meetings?" The bee blinked at his friend, putting a hand to his chin in thought, letting out a childish hum.

"They did say that they had seen some activity among the thieves but that they hadn't robbed anything. They say that they seem to be everywhere!" He emphasized by throwing out his arms, doing a backflip in the air, the wings flapping and going into overload. Espio narrowed his eyes at the information, looking down at the floor in thought.

"Then my suspicion is right. The thieves and robbers are planning something, and I don't like it," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Something rotten is going on. Something right under our feet," he explained, while the bee blinked in perplexity, flying closer to the chameleon.

"You mean the inner market?" Espio lifted his head to meet the bee's eyes, curious yellow orbs fastened onto the chameleon's. Despite only being six years old, Charmy didn't let anything go past him.

"I'm not sure. But the only people who can make that big of an operation is the inner market. They seem to be expanding, but in a far quicker pace than comfortable," he continued. "We should be more careful. Gather up more criminals and let them know about this advancement. I would hate to have spilled blood on hour hands."

"The inner market is none of our concern," Espio whirled his head towards the crocodile, having listened to the conversation as it unfolded, the leader still having his arms crossed.

"We cannot control the inner market. If anything happens to anybody out there then it's out of our hands."

"Vector, we are taking care of new people. It is pure hypocrisy against our own rules if we do not warn them!"

"We can warn them, but we can't protect them," The crocodile continued, leaning a bit forward. "I want to make sure that as many people make it through this damn city as much as you do. But we cannot help everyone," Espio let out a long sigh, rubbing a hand against his forehead while putting one hand on his hip.

He was aware of that fact. He knew that they couldn't gather up every single unfortunate soul but Chaosdammit did he want to.

"What's going to happen is that we tell the new criminals and the ones in training that they need to be careful and stay away from the usual meeting places. If they want to meet with someone on their own, they can do it here until the fire has calmed down," the crocodile finalized, a thick layer of authority covering his words, making the chameleon unable to retort. He didn't answer the croc instead bit his lip and looked into the floor again letting out a deep sigh.

A heartbeat of silence appeared between the three of them, thick and tangible, before Charmy flew a bit closer to the door, his wings buzzing.

"I'll let the new guys know," he announced, ultimately leaving the discussion as well as he opened the door, and gently closed it again once he was on the other side.

The chameleon was aware that he merely did his duty but also that the little bee hated when they were in disagreements. He hated it too. All they could do right now was wait until the thieves either made it to their territory so they could teach them a lesson or until they found what they were searching for. He frowned at the latter thought, shaking his head.

"I'm still worried. Something's wrong. I can feel it," he said, frowning at the wall. Vector let out a deep sigh at the same time, slumping down into his chair as he rubbed a hand against his forehead. It was rare that the crocodile showed exhaustion like that, though the chameleon couldn't blame him.

"We can't be sure, but I can't disagree," he agreed. "I'm glad that the squirt made it out before all of this."

Espio frowned, being well aware who the nickname was addressed to. He let out a sigh of his own, haven't even thought about the kid ever since he had helped him out of here. It had been for the better nonetheless, having no doubt that whatever was going on in the outside world and what he was experiencing couldn't be worse than this.

Nothing could be worse than what was going on right now. He knew that Croford was changing, for the worse – a rotting egg only getting more and more foul the more time that passed, making him believe that something big was going to happen. Something beyond their control.

"I hope he's okay," Espio thought out loud, biting his lip.