CHAPTER 2

Much later on in the morning, the lobby door at the Chaotix Detective Agency swung open.

An orange echidna girl who appeared to be at the age of eighteen had stood in front of the group of the detectives who were pacing around the room in a hurry due to another busy morning. She greeted them all with a warm and friendly smile. "Good morning, everyone!"

The group of detectives froze for a split second and laid their eyes upon the echidna woman.

Her smile was as wide and bright as her personality. She wore jewelry that looked tribal like. However, her clothes were very modern and business styled. She had on green blazer with a white collared shirt underneath it, a mini skirt to match her blazer, and black high heeled shoes.

A purple cat woman who sat behind a desk glanced around at the other detectives and figured that they were not in the best of mood at the moment. She decided to be the first to greet her. "Good morning, Tikal!" The cat woman had on a red headband that supported her short purple hair that matched her fur. She wore a long sleeve collared shirt, a purple skirt that stopped at her ankles, and brown combat boots.

After when the cat woman had spoke back to her, everyone else decided to speak as well.

A yellow and black bee boy who appeared to be around the age of eighteen, formed a wide smile back at the echidna. "Good morning!" The bee had appeared much younger because of his size and childish personality. He wore an orange sleeveless vest with a black t shirt underneath, blue shorts, and his shoes were orange, yellow, and white. He also wore a black helmet with goggles on top of them.

The echidna looked over at the bee who had sat down on the surface of the cat woman's desk. She also saw a male purple chameleon lean against the opposite side of the desk.

The purple chameleon had on a sleeveless blue vest, blue denim jeans, and wore purple and black shoes.

Tikal decided to approach the group of detectives.

The purple chameleon crossed his arms and smirked towards Tikal. "Welcome to the madhouse."

She couldn't help but to make a small smile from the chameleon's comment. "Another busy morning, Espio?"

The purple cat had answered before Espio did. "It's pretty steady actually. Vector just decided to load everyone up with extra tasks."

Tikal glanced back at the other detectives passing around the room. She saw a black male wolf with red hair that slightly passed his shoulders. He appeared to be in his early thirties. He was talking to someone who appeared to be a human man.

The man who appeared to be a human had snow white skin. His white hair was long enough to just pass his shoulders. He wore a long black cloak, black pants, and black knee high boots. He looked like he was in his early twenties.

Tikal continued to look around the room and saw a white female bat woman and a red male porcupine looking at diagrams of different guns and other strange weapons. She took her eyes away from the other detectives in the room when the bee had spoken.

"Yeah", the bee spoke. "Since we have so much extra help, it won't be like it was back in the day when it was only the six of us busting our asses."

The cat woman gave him a doubtful look. "What are you talking about, Charmy?"

A sweat drop had formed on the side of Espio's head. "There's now nine of us and it looks like we're still busting ass to me."

Charmy gave the two a bitter look. "You guys are such downers." His eyes shifted over to the chameleon. "Especially you, Espio."

Espio gave the bee a look of disbelief. "Wha? I'm not a downer!" He looked over to the cat woman. "Tonya, I'm not a downer…am I?"

The cat woman couldn't make direct eye contact with him when he turned to her for an answer. "Well…um…"

The chameleon grew more and more impatient with getting an answer from her. "Babe?"

Tonya couldn't help but to tease the anxious chameleon. A smile formed on her lips as she remembered how the two first met and she wanted nothing to do with him as a love interest. Just months ago, she finally gave in and began to go out with him.

The group was interrupted when the white bat woman walked over to them.

"Well", she spoke. "You can be sometimes."

Espio frowned at the bat woman, "Who asked you, Rouge?"

The bat woman giggled as she teased Espio. Rouge was a snow white fruit bat. She was the gunswoman of the team and handled all of the weaponry. She wore a purple long sleeve top that revealed her massive cleavage, fitted purple pants, and knee high purple boots.

The annoyed chameleon crossed his arms as Rouge teased him. "You have the nerve, bat girl. I'm nowhere near as depressing as your grumpy boyfriend."

Before Rouge could speak, a calm male voice had spoken up.

"Come on now, guys."

The group turned to their teammate Ker, who took the appearance of a human man but was also a full fledge demon.

Even though there were no humans left on Mobius, Ker was the closest to human any Mobian had ever seen. "Let's not talk bad about Shadow."

The male porcupine had joined the group along with a black wolf by his side. "Ker's right you know? We shouldn't talk behind Shadow's back", he spoke in a sarcastic tone. The red porcupine wore silver goggles with yellow lenses in them on the top of his head. He had extremely long and sharp quills. He wore a sleeveless yellow vest with a blue t shirt underneath, blue denim shorts, and yellow and white shoes. He formed a sly look, "It's best if we talk shit about him to his face."

A nervous sweat drop appeared on the side of the wolf's head. The black wolf had spiked red hair and wore a gray jacket with a dark blue t shirt underneath, black fitted pants, and gray military styled boots. "That doesn't exactly make things better, Appex."

A sly smirk formed on the porcupine's lips, "But what fun would that be huh, Midnight?"

"Speaking of which, I've barely seen the captain all morning", the bee spoke while he glanced around the lobby.

"Well, Rouge?" Espio spoke, "You should know where he's been hiding."

Rouge pointed to herself with a blank expression on her face, "What? Just cause we're dating, it doesn't mean we know where each other are around the clock!"

"Shadow had been in Vector's office for most of the morning", Ker had spoke. "Knowing those two, they're probably sorting through mountains of paperwork."

Appex shook his head slightly, "I swear I see that hedgehog do more paperwork than actual detective work."

When Appex had walked away to finish his tasks, Rouge couldn't help but to crack a smile from his comment. Even she had to admit to herself that Shadow was a total slave when it came to finishing paperwork.

Meanwhile in Vector's office, a male green crocodile was sitting at his desk trying to sort all of the papers that were scattered all over the desk. The crocodile had headphones set around his neck even though he wasn't listening to any music. He wore an orange sleeveless vest, blue pants, and black and gold shoes. He sighed heavily as he stared at his messy desk. His eyes traveled over to a black and red male hedgehog who was pacing back and forth around the office with a stack of papers in each hand.

The hedgehog wore a long black trench coat with a red t shirt underneath, black pants, and white hover skates as shoes. The hedgehog stopped in his tracks when he noticed the green crocodile had stopped working. "Vector!"

The crocodile lazily replied to the hedgehog, "What?"

"If you keep slacking, you'll fall behind on your work…well…more behind." He muttered bitterly.

The crocodile sighed heavily and rested his back against his brown leather desk chair. "I'm not really feeling it today, Shad."

He felt like he should call it quits as well. He had been trying to motivate Vector to catch up with his work all morning, but nothing seemed to work. An agitated sigh had slipped from him as he placed the stacks of papers he was holding down on the surface of the desk. "You're never feeling it, Vec", he spoke as he saw down in another desk chair that sat across from the one Vector was sitting in. He arched an eyebrow when he heard a chuckle coming from Vector.

"You're way too serious, Shad. I thought I was in charge here?"

The hedgehog couldn't help but to form a sly look. "Without me, you'd lose your tail if it wasn't attached."

Vector made a sarcastic laugh, "You got jokes huh?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I can be a comedian sometimes." He heard more laughter out of Vector and saw him suddenly staring at him. By the way he was looking at him, he thought something was wrong. "…What?"

He shook his head slightly, "…Nothing."

He could still tell by the look on Vector's face that it was a little more than noting. "No tell me."

Vector sighed slightly and formed a small smile on his face as he was about to tell him what was really on his mind. "It's just…I've watched you and everyone else come such a long way over the years. I remember back when it was just Tonya, Charmy, and I. Then you and Espio came along. You guys came and joined the agency and then along came Rouge, Ker, Midnight, Appex…" His smile had widened at the hedgehog. "Shadow, you helped this team…no…this family to become whole. I don't know where I'd be if I didn't meet someone like you."

He bit his lip as he thought that Vector was over thinking how forgiving he really is towards people. "…Vector, I…"

"I know you may not fully understand my reasons for giving people so many chances. It's just… I want to believe that there is goodness inside of every living being. I don't believe people were born out of pure hate and anger. We all breathe the same air and we all share the same planet. We are all good people. There are just others who are misguided and how are we supposed to help them realize that if we don't give them that chance?"

"…Vector…"

"Just look at Ker, Midnight, Appex…they all were in a bad place but now look at them. They're with us and trying to help keep peace and order all around us."

Shadow thought back as Vector mentioned their names.

Ker was influenced by his brothers and sisters who were driven by hate for humans and mobians.

Midnight was created by Hao who had wanted to use him as a weapon to destroy Shadow and the rest of the Chaotix.

Appex was apart of a reckless street gang who never understood the real importance of having friends or a family who cared about them.

Vector had formed a warm smile, "You'll understand this one day, Shadow. I know you will and when you do, you will become a great leader."

Shadow suddenly felt his heart drop. What was Vector trying to say exactly? Did he want him to take over the detective business if something were to happen to him? Shadow couldn't bear to think of Vector leaving him or the team. He knew Vector was getting older but he was still a strong leader. Shadow couldn't see anything happening to him. Perhaps Vector knew something that he didn't. Just thinking about the horrible thoughts made him feel uneasy. He decided to change the subject. "Hey, Vector?"

"Yeah, Shad?"

"…I'm thinking about asking Rouge to marry me."

"You…and Rouge? Marriage?"

He made a small nod. "Do you think it's a good move?"

"…Do you love her?"

"…What?"

He repeated himself, "Do you love her?"

"Of course I do. She means the world to me."

"Then there you have it. If you two care about each other that much, then nothing should stop you two from spending the rest of your lives together."

A gentle smile formed on his lips.

"Shadow, you two have my blessing."

He was relieved that Vector thought it was a good decision for him to ask Rouge to finally take her hand in marriage. After all, the both of them had known each other since Shadow was in his early twenties. He was now a thirty year old man and he felt like he was ready to finally settle down with Rouge. "…Thank you, Vector."

The two were suddenly interrupted when the phone on Vector's desk had rung.

After the first couple of rings, Vector had decided to pick up the phone.

As Shadow heard Vector talking on the phone, he was deciding to leave the room to give him some privacy. Before he got the chance to move, Vector had already finished talking on the phone. He saw the surprised look on Vector's face and thought something was wrong. "What's up?" He saw Vector getting out of his chair and taking his brown trench coat off from the back of his chair.

"That was Mayor Sarah Wish. She wants to see me down at her office right away."

Shadow thought it was strange hat the mayor wanted to see him so suddenly. "Is something wrong? Should I come with you?"

After Vector had put on his coat, he shook his head at the alarmed hedgehog. "She didn't say what was up but she wants to see me alone."

Shadow saw how calm Vector was about the situation, but he had a feeling something was horribly wrong. "…Okay just be careful." He saw Vector opening the door and about to leave the office.

"Keep an eye on things for me will ya?"

He made a small nod, "Sure." He then saw him leave the office and close the door behind him.

In The Next Chapter...

Vector: What's going on?

Kiba: Long time no see...

Tonya: What the hell's going on?

Shadow: ...I don't have a choice do I?