As Espio, Vector and Mariko confronted the mastermind; Mighty, Ray and Charmy were exploring the upper levels of the underground base.

"Wow. There sure aren't many guards around here." Charmy exclaimed.

"They're probably all at the place that the others went to." Mighty said. "Hmm. I hope they're doing alright without us…"

Ray was recovering a lot faster now; his pelt was back to its regular, healthy yellow, but the young squirrel was still somewhat dazed and he continued to lean on Mighty as they cascaded the upward path.

Charmy was getting restless from Ray slowing them down. "C'mon guys! You're going too slow!"

Mighty, as usual, simply smiled at the bee's enthusiastic and energetic attitude. "Easy does it Charmy. Remember, we're on a stealth mission, so we're gonna need to take it slow and qui-"

Charmy ignored him "I'll meet you guys ahead!" And he zipped up the path.

"Charmy WAIT!" Mighty called after him, lifting Ray onto his shoulders and giving chase.

"See!" Charmy called down to them. "It says 'Holding Facility'." He read a sign. "I found it guys! Espio and Vector will be so proud!" And with that he buzzed into the room before Mighty & Ray could catch up.

"Charmy wait!" Mighty called out again, only then reaching the hallway Charmy had zoomed into.

When they finally caught up to him, they were surprised as to what they saw. As they reached the end of the tunnel, they saw what appeared to be a large room; Charmy was hovering in the centre, but there was something off. Normally the bee would be darting around, exploring, causing mischief or urging the pair to hurry up; but he was hovering still in one place. There were no guards around as far as they could see, so he couldn't have been caught. What was he doing? What was he staring at? Mighty rushed Ray over to him.

"Charmy?" Mighty asked, a tone of concern in his voice.

Charmy held a horrified expression on his face. He barely moved, he just stared ahead of him.

Mighty turned to see what the bee was looking at. "Oh no…" He said.

It was sick. Cruel and unusual. Something that no-one, especially not of Charmy's age, should ever have to witness. Before them stood a great, acrylic glass wall showcasing a Mobian Bee factory.

The bees were chained to different machines, where they were each forcibly made to create their finest honey, or face an electric jolt. They were also gassed – enough to make them too weak to defend themselves whilst still able to work. In the far end, it appeared that there was a steady supply of even more Mobian Bees. Charmy was mortified.

"What i-i-is th-this?" Charmy said, his eyes becoming watery.

"I'm so sorry Charmy…" Mighty said. "I-It seems that mobian bees from all over North Moratia were captured and turned into…slaves essentially, and I'm all too familiar with this story."

"But w-why?" Ray asked.

"I'm not too sure." Mighty admitted. "But it sure fits in with everything that's been going on; the honey and the food shortage within the U.F."

"Th-The f-f-food shortage t-t-too?"

"Yes. As the Mobian Bee group collects the nectar from their special plants, they help spread the pollen which creates more plants – all bees, Mobians and Primitives, all have a part in producing food for the entire world. If only we could figure out why these guys risked the change of that natural balance? It's not like honey trade is a massive industry…well, at least not worth this!"

Charmy all of a sudden dropped on his knees on the floor and burst into tears.

"Charmy!" Mighty exclaimed. "What's wrong?"

"I-I-It's all my fault!" He cried.

"How is it your fault?"

"I ran away from home! I ran away to go ah-ah-adventuring and now my family's all gone!"

"I don't understand. This isn't your fault."

"But everything that's happened to you's now happening to me! My entire family's gone now!"

Mighty gently rubbed the bee on his head, calming him down before lifting him back to his feet. "Hey buddy, listen…" He said. "This isn't your fault. There's nothing you could've done, in fact, if you weren't here with us, you'd be in the exact same boat as them."

"But…*SNIFF*…but what can we d-d-do for them now Mighty?"

Mighty looked over to the glass and pondered I might have just enough strength to knock it down, but the glass is so thick – imagine the damage it could cause! Then there's that smoke, Ray's barely recovered from the last attack on him, I don't know what THAT could do to him…

"H-H-Hey!" Ray called out. "What about over there!" He pointed at some more tunnels.

"Huh? What do you mean Ray?" Mighty enquired.

"W-Well, there's a lot of machines, so th-th-there must be some place to c-c-control it."

Mighty slapped his face in astonishment at how he could miss out such a detail. "Haha! Of course!" He exclaimed. "Good thinking Ray!"

Charmy quickly dried his eyes and buzzed back up into the air. "The what're we waiting for!" He exclaimed "Let's GO!" and they darted down the next set of tunnels.

Back at the great hall…

"You pathetic creatures." Takehashi spat. He then called out to the other ninjas to attack.

Vector struck first – grabbing hold of Mariko before she could reach the podium. "You miserable snake!" He roared. "I was on to you the whole time!"

"GET OFF ME!" She squirmed as she tried to escape his grip, but he was too strong.

"Why'd you betray your 'so-called' friend?"

Espio drew his sword as the onslaught of Bat-Ninjas approached them. "Guys, lookout!"

The pair turned to see the hundreds of enemy ninjas swarming towards them. "I'm on your side you big, green brute!" Mariko yelled as she attempted to fight out of his grip. "BAKA! You'll get us both killed!"

Espio took a stance in front of them – ready to fight. One thought was worryingly on his mind however; There's too many of them.

All of sudden though, a voice called out from the podium. "Come now, that's no need to treat our guests." The attacking ninjas stopped and turned their heads to the podium.

"Katsumi..." Espio snarled. "You murderous traitor! Come down and face us you coward!"

"My, my, aren't we upset?" The voice replied to Espio's remark.

"Cease your attempts at 'hiding' behind your less traditional voice – we know it's you Katsumi!"

"My friend; you do seem to have looked into this well. It almost hurts me to have to prove you wrong here..."

"HA!" Mariko spat. "We are no friends of yours Katsumi – you have discarded all of our respect for you with your crimes." She looked back at Vector "And will you let go of me already?!" Vector was quick to drop her.

"Enough of your games Katsumi. It's not in your character and we have no time for it. For days now I have searched for our master's killer and now we shall bring you to Acrodon Justice!"

The voice chuckled away. "You guys really have no clue do you?" It said. "No friend of yours Mariko? Not in my character Espio?"

It struck them. Espio and Mariko's eyes widened in horror. "It can't be…there's no way…" He dropped his katana into the dirt.

"It's about time." The voice said, fading before them out of his camouflaged state to reveal a blue chameleon wearing a long, black coat. "But I knew you guys would get it eventually."

Mariko still couldn't believe what was happening. "Sh-Sh…Shiro…"

"Hey guys. How's it going?" He said with a smirk.

"But…but…but how can this be?" Espio exclaimed. "The evidence; the glimpse of the DNA model showed an older chameleon and the note - the note detailed that Katsumi was the last person to enter the room before master was killed! What could we have possibly miss-"

Vector cringed and slammed his head into the dirt in frustration.

"Vector?" Espio jumped.

"The sword! The sword! How could I not have thought of the sword?"

"What?" Mariko asked. "What about the sword?"

"We needed as much evidence as possible – we could've scanned the sword for the DNA of whoever wielded it that night!"

Shiro smiled malevolently once again. "Wow Espio. It looks like you really were doing some fair detective work out there, but look where it's gotten you."

Espio drooped his head down in defeat.

Mariko screamed in anger, whipping out her sais and began striking out at Shiro in blind fury – her red-tinted skin literally glowing with her anger.

Espio looked up in fright. "MARIKO!" He called after her.

She ignored him and continued striking forward. Shiro dodged every strike however, and waited until the moment that Mariko stopped. He sent her flying to the floor with a flurry of intense punches. She was barely able to move, and he didn't even need to draw his weapon. Mariko simply laid there, stunned.

"Pathetic." Shiro laughed. "I was always the best fighter. I just had to play it down, to relieve any suspicions."

Mariko tried to get back up. Instead, Shiro kicked her back off the podium.

"Mariko!" Espio rushed over to her aid.

"You two almost remind me of him, but his battle was far more enjoyable. All you have is his arrogance." He signalled some bat ninjas to take the trio to the dungeons. "Show our guests to their rooms and be sure to make them as comfortable as possible. They are my old friends after all."

As the ninjas came to take the trio away, Espio glared back over to Shiro. "Tell me why. Why, Shiro? Why us? Why him?"

"Your questions shall be answered in time." He replied. "And you may be able to reap the fruits that I have worked so hard to create. I'm just giving you time for you two and the alligator to think it over first."

"IT'S CROCODIIIILLLLE!" Vector screamed as they were dragged away.

The trio were dragged to a dungeon deep within the mountain base. Mariko was already in bad shape beforehand, but the brutal beating had left her in very poor condition and wasn't even able to stand.

The trio were thrown into a cell as Shiro stood by with a wicked grin. "Heh, no weak, rusting bars here Espio. You're not gonna be able to break yourself out of this one I'm afraid."

Espio rushed to Mariko's side. "Mariko? Mariko? Are you okay?"

Mariko groaned in response, holding her hands just below her chest. "I…I think he broke some ribs…*Cough-Cough*"

Espio gritted his teeth in rage and threw himself at the cell bars. "SHIRO!" His scales were a vibrant red.

"Hm. I'm right here man." He responded, cool and collected.

"I want answers, now!"

"Fair enough. For old time's sake, eh?"

"Old times?!" Espio gagged. "You mean the ones you spat all over when you framed me?!"

"Oh, the sword?" Shiro shrugged his arms innocently. "Sorry about that pal; it was never actually my intention to frame you. Your sword was just there, I used it, then witnesses started coming in. And if I had to keep taking care of witnesses; there wouldn't be any more of the clan left."

"Katsumi…" Espio gasped.

Shiro chuckled. "Guilty as charged, but he did alert the old master. But killing anyone else wouldn't have helped me towards my plans anyhow."

"Plans? What plans?"

"I would tell you, but I'm not sure if I trust you yet. Haha – funny how that works, eh?" He took a moment to release his laughter. "Oh come on, it's funny! Anyway, I just need to know if you guys are on my side of things. Otherwise, I'll have three more witnesses I need to remove. It's heart-breaking to do this to my two best friends, but it's all for the greater good." Then he and the two bat ninjas made their way back up to the hall from which they came.

"Get BACK here Shiro! What plan? What greater good?" Espio roared after him, shaking the bars in his grasp. "You're delirious! COME BACK!"

Shiro was gone. The three of them were in a dungeon, awaiting their death sentences. Mariko laid on her side against a dirt wall and Vector had himself shamefully curled up in a corner.

Espio sighed, and knocked his fist against the bars in frustration and defeat.

Mariko began coughing hard and gargled what appeared to be blood. "E…E…Es…pio…" She muttered out.