"Minor damage to buildings, the occasional piece of shrapnel lingering on the sidewalk...Looks like they did a good job cleaning up the mess from yesterday..."

Sonic jogged down the street, overlooking the place he'd fought Eggman just the day before. The news had done a story on it later that night, but it hadn't been on Eggman himself; his attacks were too frequent for it to be good enough for the newshounds. No, the story was on the multiple accounts of people not even knowing what exactly happened. Eggman was there, they saw him, but then in the literal blink of an eye, he was gone and his robots destroyed.

The reporters had tried to get a comment from Sonic since he'd been seen at the event and they wanted to know what he'd experienced, but he was good at evading the cameras and microphones; especially when everything kept freezing. Wind knew something about this, but he seemed hesitant to share with even his own host.

The blue hedgehog yelped as he suddenly slammed into the back of a delivery truck, bouncing off of it and tumbling backward onto the ground. "Ah...Oww..."

He looked up at the truck, and would have thought it had just stalled, if not for the smoke that plumed out of its smokestack being frozen in place; time had frozen again.

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous." He muttered as he got up and rubbed his aching back, "What's doing this...? Wind, speculation. Now."

Well...Daylight Savings had the ability to shift the passage of time... But I don't have the foggiest idea where he may be at this point, or even if it is him!

"Well, that's a start, at least..."

Sonic limped over to the sidewalk, waiting for time to resume and traffic to move on... But it didn't. Minutes passed, and not even the slightest twitch from anything. The cars, the pedestrians, the flickies circling the tables of a nearby cafe, it was all still.

"...Shouldn't it have started up again?"

Hmm...

Sonic sighed, getting up from his seated position, and was prepared to move on when a flash of green appeared in front of him, and Shadow stepped out of it. "Shadow?"

The black hedgehog looked at the street, his eyebrows furrowing. "...It's not just at HQ, then."

"Uh. No. It's been off and on for days out here on the streets." Sonic crossed his arms, "Kinda odd that the two of us are the only ones not affected..."

"Not really." Shadow looked around, "Thaw says that one of the other Amethysts can control time, but only other Amethysts and the Obsidians are immune."

"How helpful is freezing time if it doesn't even affect the people you're fighting?"

Shadow gave a shrug, but he looked incredibly uncomfortable. It didn't take Sonic much figuring to work out that it wasn't Shadow who was uncomfortable...It was Thaw on the inside. "...So, where should we start looking for this new Amethyst?"

Shadow looked thoughtful for a moment and then nodded. "Thaw says that Daylight can only project the freeze for a few miles, so he has to be in the city somewhere. That narrows our search down a lot."

"Yeah. So I'll do a quick scan of the streets for anybody else that's moving, right?"

"Or..." Shadow pointed behind them, and Sonic turned to see a plume of black weaving through the frozen vehicles away from them. "We can just follow that."

Sonic's eyebrows furrowed, "Right..."

Charmy Bee blinked at the sun filtering through the window, giving a groan and pulling the blanket over his head again. It was too early for this... Wasn't it? He peeked back out from under the blanket, looking at the clock on the wall.

Ten O'Clock already...? Weird. He thought. Still, he needed to get up; detective work waited for no one. He sighed, rolling over and looking away from the window as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. As he swung his legs over the side of the bed, he felt something was off... He looked around the room, but everything seemed in place.

But then he noticed it. Normally at this hour, the phone would be ringing and his mentors' voices would be coming from downstairs as they were fell into the workday. But today, it was incredibly silent.

"Why is it so quiet?" The bee gasped, "Who said that!? No, I'm asking you!"

He then clapped his hands over his mouth, was that his voice? It sounded weird... "...Heh...Hello...?" He murmured, gasping as it came out again.

And then he saw his reflection in the mirror by his dresser.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

The bee staring back at him was taller...older. Charmy reached up, feeling his cheeks and arms, turning to look at his wings; his clothes had changed as well. "I... I'm a teenager! How long was I asleep?" He whipped around and ran for the door, "Vector, Espio? Guys!?"

He rushed down the hall; surely his mentors would have an idea of what was happening, they were the best detectives in the city! He paused in the front office, looking to where Vector was pinning papers to a board. "Vector! Vector, it's me, Charmy! I-" He paused as the reptile didn't even move, didn't even turn to look in his direction. "...Vector? Vector."

He flew over and looked the croc in the eyes, they weren't even twitching like he would if he was focusing on something...he was frozen in place. "Vector, Vector, wake up!" He grabbed his friend's arms, but he still didn't move.

Panic started to settle in, and he took off around the rest of the agency. "Espio! Espio!" He hollered, hoping at least the chameleon wasn't frozen, but he couldn't find him anywhere. Chaos be damned if he was frozen in place and invisible!

The bee stopped, hovering in place and holding his head. "What's happening to me...!? What's happening to them!?" He whimpered, "...I gotta find help!"

He went to the door and opened it to the outside, but then saw dark plumes of smoke forming around the building, and moving closer. He slammed the door shut again, stepping back slowly. "On second thought...Hiding will work just fine!"

He ran back up the stairs, grabbing his blanket and ducking into his closet, hiding under the blanket behind some of his usual toys, toys that in his teenage state might be considered juvenile. "What's happening...!?" He whispered, his antennae twitching about as he heard strange sounds coming from outside...

The trail led to the front door of the Chaotix Detective Agency, and Sonic transformed quickly. "Okay, so what's the plan?"

"Keep them out of the building, obviously." Shadow informed, "Still, a detective would be handy..."

Sonic smirked and then jumped up on top of a car parked on the side of the street. "Lord Dominus sucks!"

"What!?" One of the obsidians turned to look in his direction, "How dare you!"

With their presence exposed, Sonic took off into the air, drawing the soldiers away from the building they'd previously had surrounded.

Shadow broke out of hiding as well, skating forward and using a manhole cover as a shield while firing Chaos spears at their opponents. "An ambush would've worked better!" He argued.

"Where's your sense of fun!?" Sonic teased, blocking a volley of arrows with a blast of air.

He then saw one of them running around the building, preparing for an ambush, no doubt.

"I've got the other one!" He informed, not even seeing Shadow's nod before rushing back after them. He was fully prepared for a fight, but he came to a stop as he saw the obsidian had stopped in the alley, looking at him with a smile as if he'd been expecting him to follow. Was it all a trap?

It was then that Wind took over, his lips breaking into a smile as he lowered his fighting stance and relaxed. "Zircon, mon ami!" He announced, raising his arms as if inviting a hug from their adversary.

The obsidian chuckled, even lowering his blade and lifting his helmet to reveal a coyote inside the armor. "Bonjour, Wind."

Wait... You two are friends!? Sonic asked, Then why are we fighting him!?

It's a long story. Wind answered before returning to the conversation, "Long time no see. How's the Missus? You tired of me and my siblings beating you up lifetime after lifetime yet?"

"How lovely to see you too, my old nemesis. And I believe I bested you last time, so that's one point for me. It's nothing personal, you know, only business."

"Ever thought of retiring?"

Zircon sighed, "If only it were that easy... I'd love to talk further, but I'm tired today, and your companion no doubt needs help, so I won't waste your time..."

Wind sighed as he lifted his sword, "You know I hate doing this, Connie."

"I do..."

The coyote placed his sword down, and then with a quick motion Wind sliced through him, the Obsidian disappearing in a puff of smoke.

So you've made friends, but are still forced to fight? Sonic murmured, Man...That's rough.

You have no idea... Now come on, Daylight needs us.

Wind jumped through the window, ripping the wooden shutters and dropping onto the floor. He searched for any obsidians that may have entered the room, but found none, and relaxed. "...Hello...? Daylight?" He whispered.

He heard a soft whimper come from the closet, and he walked over and then carefully opened the door. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to see, but what he saw was not it. "...Charmy Bee, right?"

The bee appeared older, in his early teens, but no less frightened. He cowered under a blanket, eyes wide and teary.

Sonic's shoulders relaxed, and then he held a hand out towards him. "It's okay... I'm not going to hurt you." He encouraged, "I'm going to get you out of here."

"What do they want from me!?" Charmy whimpered, "I didn't do anything...!"

"I know, I know..."

Sonic turned back towards the window as he heard Shadow call out, "I'll be back, okay? I just need to go help Shadow for a second."

He then took off back out the window and circled back around to the front. Shadow was surrounded, but with a quick gust, Sonic knocked them back.

"Where's number three?" Shadow asked.

"He's just a kid. I don't think he'll calm down until these guys are all gone."

Shadow's eyes flickered to green, and his usual angry scowl shifted to a calm demeanor. "Very well..."

He then lifted his hands, and with a sudden clench of his fists, Sonic watched as the Obsidians' armor turned red-hot. They all screamed in agony and then disappeared like they always did.

"Whoa..." Sonic whispered as with a blink, Thaw vanished and Shadow returned. "...No wonder they made you leader, Thaw. That's... Kinda awesome."

Shadow sighed, "He doesn't seem to think so... He thinks he's failed them all."

Wind threw himself into control, "What do you mean you failed us!?" he cried, "I'm the one who made so many false alarms you couldn't trust me! I'm the one who...Who made you doubt."

"No..." Thaw murmured, "You didn't do anything wrong, Wind... I should have listened even if it was nothing... And now-"

"Hey!"

They both looked up, seeing Charmy peeking out of the front window at them. His eyes were now a bright purple, and a grin on his face. "Why are you guys actin' like we lost the war and not just one battle!? We've got this! Both of you lead, both of you guide us back to victory!"

Thaw and Wind looked at one another and then nodded. "He's right." Thaw decided, "Enough about the past."

Good plan. Sonic agreed, and then both amethysts slipped back into dormancy, letting their hosts regain control.

There was an awkward silence for a moment, and then Shadow cleared his throat. "Well, now that that's been settled."

"Right..."

"Good." Daylight looked around outside, "Now...Let's see about hitting that play button..."

Espio wandered up the sidewalk towards home, two sacks of groceries in each hand. Vector had been hard at work when he left, and with any luck, Charmy was finally up. He'd been sleeping in quite a bit lately, but then again, he was a growing child.

As he reached the parking lot of the Detective Agency, his nose caught a whiff of something. Smoke, but the kind of fire it was coming from, he couldn't determine; hopefully, nobody was burning their garbage again. He shrugged it off and proceeded to the door, opening it and finding Vector sitting at his desk, and Charmy bouncing up and down on the couch. "I'm back." He announced, catching the croc's attention.

"Great." Vector answered, "Now it's your turn to deal with Mr. Energetic here." He pointed to the bouncing six-year-old, "He's been chattering and buzzing around non-stop since he got up."

"Espio!" Charmy flew over to the chameleon's face, "Guess what!? You'll never guess in a million, billion years!"

"If I'll never guess in a million, billion years, then why ask me to guess at all?"

Charmy leaned closer, his grin never wavering. "I'm a host...!" He hissed.

Espio blinked, and then pushed the bee out of his face. "If you've got worms, Charmy, then we shouldn't be happy about it."

"No no no no no!" Charmy shook his head, "I woke up, and I was a teenager! It was so crazy! And then these guys in black showed up and Sonic the Hedgehog broke my window upstairs and then he was all Wham! Bap! He beat those guys up like it was nothing and then he told me that I-"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Vector cut the kid off, "...What was that about the window?"

"Sonic broke the window upstairs?"

"What!?" Vector stood up and marched up the stairs. There was a brief moment of silence, and then the sound of Vector shouting. "I just replaced that window! Charmy!"

Espio looked back at the bee, "Charmy, are you trying to tell me that there's another mind in your head?"

"Uh-huh! His name's Daylight!"

"Okay." Espio patted the bee's head, "That's nice. But let's not go around telling everybody about this, they might not think it's a good thing."

The bee nodded, "Okay, Espio... But you should've seen it, Espio! I was so tall and muscular! I looked awesome!"

"I'm sure you did."

The chameleon walked past him, walking over and opening the door to the kitchen. His smile then faded as he started putting the groceries away, pausing to look at one of the cans. ...What do you think? He thought, wondering if his own second voice would answer; sometimes it didn't, after all.

But then he heard a soft whisper, barely audible.

Interesting...