As the three mobians walked into the rec-room, Miranda became aware of several eyes on her. Looking around, she waved awkwardly at a curious group of teens. She sighed when they went back to chatting.
"Over the past week, we've been getting these pictures, and cryptic threats with them," the staff member said, handing Mighty the photos and Cynder the letters before leaving them.
"Are they off the same person?" Miranda asked, looking over the armadillo's shoulder.
"Yep, of that cat over there," Mighty whispered, nodding his head towards the creamy yellow cat.
"I'm no pro, but she seems to have had a hard life, perhaps a tragedy in the past few years. Socially, she seems like a loner, preferring to sit alone with her memories. She doesn't seem depressed enough to be suicidal, but instead she seems to come off as emotionless, almost machine like," Miranda whispered back, Mighty simply nodding his agreement.
"Well, these letters are basic threats. Made from newspaper cuttings, no handwriting, though like that guy said, their pretty cryptic," Cynder said, letting the others look.
"Not so much if you look at it right. There's a date on each letter and picture, presumably the day they were sent. Each letter seems related to the corresponding picture," Mighty mumbled before taking a sip of his drink.
"Well I don't really see it, but then I'm still half asleep after Sky Guy woke us. Maybe after I get a decent coffee," Miranda mumbled, letting out a stifled yawn. As she stretched, she ended up staring right into the yellow cat's watery blue eyes. While Mighty and Cynder looked over the letters and pictures, she walked over to where the cat was sitting.
"Hey, you seem....lonely," Miranda said awkwardly, mentally slapping herself.
"Yeah, guess you're right," the cat muttered, not looking away from the window.
"I'm Miranda, one of the most socially awkward people around," Miranda replied, holding out a hand to shake.
"Avril, and same here," Avril said, shaking Miranda's outstretched hand. "I know why you're here. And I think your friends are getting ready to go."
"Well, here's my number in case you want someone to talk to," Miranda sighed, writing her number on some paper from her notepad. She tore it off and handed it to her before following Mighty and Cynder outside.
Despite the cosy atmosphere in agency, there was a tense air between two of its current occupants. Espio was standing, listening to Viola's case, but couldn't draw attention away from the growing resentment between Charmy and Scarlett.
"So all you can tell us is that your attackers were large, extremely powerful and that there were five of them?" Vector asked, reading off his notepad. The black hedgehog simply nodded, Magenta's reassuring arm around her shoulder.
"Don't worry Vi, it should help us more than we think," Skyfire reassured. He and Vector were unaware of the looks Charmy and Scarlett were sending each other. Espio, however, had had enough of it.
"Excuse me miss, but could you please accompany me outside," Espio whispered in the cat's ear, his amber eyes showing this as an order. Scarlett simply grunted, following him outside.
"If you are even thinking I would attack my own sister, you're sadly, and deadly, mistaken!" Scarlett growled, baring her canines.
"I wasn't thinking that. I was more worried you'd attack my associate," Espio said, arms folded and not backing down from Scarlett's hostility.
"In case you haven't noticed, we're complete opposites, so duh, there's going to be some tense relationship between us," Scarlett groaned, her crimson eyes sparkling in annoyance. As Espio sighed, he cried out as Scarlett suddenly tackled him to the ground. A second after, a gunshot echoed.
"You've ticked someone off," Scarlett muttered, getting off the chameleon. Before Espio could comment, four human forms clad entirely in black appeared from nowhere, lunging at the two mobians. While Espio somersaulted away, Scarlett simply caught one in the face with her fist before kicking another in the stomach.
"Where'd you learn to fight?" Espio asked, his ninja instincts kicking in as he dodged each blow.
"Who says I need to learn how to fight? I'm just a riot girl!" Scarlett mumbled, clobbering one in the chest and executing a twirl, her ponytails acting like whips before she kicked them in the face. As she stood over one of the defeated assailants, a second moved silently behind her, grabbing her arms.
"Sorry pal, but I'm no-one's hostage," Scarlett said as she head butted her captor in the chin, kicked the knee and twirling away, her ponytails delivering the knockout blows. In awe, Espio paused on top of the third, not noticing the final attacker sneaking behind him until something struck in a streak of dark blue.
"I know, she's good," Skyfire commented as he swung an electrically charged fist into the attacker's face, causing it to short circuit. Noticing the short circuit, Espio removed the attacker's helmet, revealing a robotic face.
"Ninja robots? Someone must love Sci-fi," Scarlett mumbled, stomping on one of the robots' heads, crushing it under her boot.
"Not as tough or durable as Eggman's, but made more for speed and agility, hence the Metal Sonic like design," Espio commented, studying the robot.
At the local coffee shop, Miranda and Mighty enjoyed a large coffee while Cynder was content with a soda.
"I'd say this is some creepy stalker. Just what we need," Mighty muttered, dark grey eyes glancing at the black echidna in front of him. Unfortunately, she noticed the glance.
"Not like I asked him to kidnap me," Miranda snapped, taking another sip of coffee. Mighty simply shrugged before looking at the pictures again.
"If it is some stalker, it isn't in a romantic way. They seem to be threatening her by threatening a third person, so maybe it's blackmail," Cynder spoke up, emerald eyes glancing over each picture and note. Neither of them noticed the figures clad in black approaching the coffee shop.
"Looks like Skyfire sent me a message," Cynder said, checking her phone. In that instant, Miranda sniffed something. Being half vampire, she could notice the smell of metal and oil that only came from robots.
"He told us to look out for anyone clad entirely in black and that their ninja robots," Cynder said, seeing Miranda tense.
"As in those guys?" Miranda asked pointing at the three advancing figures. When Cynder nodded, Miranda simply muttered "Aw for crying out loud," before melting into a black mist. As Mighty and Cynder looked outside, they saw one of the figures pulled into the mist, its mangled remains flying out again after a few seconds.
"I'm guessing that's why she scares people?" Mighty asked as Miranda shot out of the mist after she'd moved beneath the second figure. The mist created shadowy claws around her knuckles as she rose up, slicing the robot in half.
"Pretty much, yeah," Cynder mumbled as said black echidna held out her hand, shadowy smoke moving around the final figure like serpents, causing the robot to shudder and fall apart until only it's head remained. As Miranda dusted herself down, she cringed at the fluid and oil all over her clothes.
From across the street, Snow peeked out over his sunglasses, moving his huge hat away from his eyes. "Seriously, is this the best you could do?" he grumbled, looking his female companion, also dressed with a similar hat.
"Would you rather sparkle like the morning sunlight over your namesake?" she asked with a sly grin, one of her fangs visible.
"Do you always have to bring that up?" Snow grumbled, watching the black echidna and her two friends leave quickly. His ears perked up as he overheard the purple cat's phone conversation.
"You know we'd want to help with Viola's case. Fine, I'll look out for potential suspects. Just look for five big, strong furry mobians who'd hurt her," was what he overheard, looking to see Winter had overheard as well.
Just to make sure you get it, Skyfire, Cynder and Miranda are members of the Chaotix, Snow and Winter are full vampire vigilantes and Scarlett is, as she said, a riot girl.