... Hmm...
Disclaimer: (Turns toward me) Now why aren't YOU say anything?
Me: I'm stumped as to what to say now.
Disclaimer: I thought I'd never see the day where your motor mouth fails to keep up with your brain.
Me: Just say the usual stuff, i'll think of something to type.
Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own Team Chaotix, any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own Illusion, Charcoal and Beacon (yes he's finally making an appearance in this story!)
Chapter Eight
Illusion and Espio found themselves staring through the display cases in the gift store and they were looking at the different things from clothes, notebooks, pens, etc, the list goes on. The duo kept walking around in the store and Espio glanced at the cat. She still seemed nervous, scared even; but she was trying her best to conceal her feelings.
"Um..."
Illusion turned her attention to Espio whose face was pink.
"You know... um... I was wondering..."
"What is it Espio?"
"W-would you mind if I treat y-you f-for d-dinner?"
She blinked and her face turned pink, "dinner? Really?"
Espio nodded and Illusion grinned just like a little kid would and she hugged him. His eyes widened and he smiled as he hugged her back. They released and their faces were still very pink as the duo kept walking through the store, not knowing who was close behind them.
-- Meanwhile with Vector and Vanilla: 20 minutes earlier--
Vector and Vanilla were wandering around the games; Vector wanted to desperately talk but every time he'd try to say anything he wound up being tongue tied and very confused. The duo didn't say anything for a long while until suddenly Vector saw an ice cream parlor.
"W-would you like s-some i-ice cream?" asked Vector quietly, his face turning bright red.
Vanilla smiled as she nodded, "that would be very kind of you," she replied as she followed Vector toward the place.
"Ah, what can I do for you two today?"
"I would like a small vanilla ice cream..."
"Hmm, I guess I'll have the mint chocolate chip ice cream."
The man gave them their ice cream, and he looked at Vector for the money. The alligator sweatdropped, "umm..."
A few rings were placed on the counter, Vanilla had paid for it and the duo walked toward a bench where they saw Espio and Illusion running by them.
"I wonder why they're in such a rush."
"I'm sure they just found an interesting game," explained Vector, he wondered why himself but he'd never admit that. They sat down and they ate in silence. Vanilla and Vector were about to say something but they got tongue tied and they went back to eating in silence.
"Vanilla... I'm sorry you had to pay."
The rabbit looked surprised by that and she looked at Vector and saw that his ice cream was gone; he had been done, he was just waiting for her to finish.
"It was no problem Vector. It was the least I could do for having Illusion bring us here. By the way... she seems like she's out of town. Is she from here?"
"Nah, I'm not really suppose to say this according to Espio, but she's actually from a kingdom far away."
"Really?"
Vector nodded, "she's a princess."
Vanilla looked really surprised by this and she gasped in shock.
"A princess? But she doesn't look like a princess."
"Yeah I had my doubts as well, but she is one. She's just staying with us until we figure out what we're going to do."
"What about her family? Aren't they worried?" questioned Vanilla as she finally finished her ice cream and looked at the alligator with concerned eyes. Vector couldn't lie to those eyes, even if he didn't want to make Illusion look like a poor unfortunate soul; he just couldn't do that to her. He let out a sad sigh.
"... To be honest... she's an orphan. Her family..."
"Died?"
Vector nodded, for once he started to feel guilty. He knew he wasn't suppose to talk about Illusion's past to anyone, but he still did. He waited for Espio to appear and strike him over the head and make him lose his memory of doing that. No one came to knock him unconscious, and he didn't lose his memory.
"She seems nice nonetheless."
Vector grinned, "she is. She cleaned the house while we were out. She even acts like a little kid around Charmy which is really good."
Vanilla's concerned look seemed to vanish as she smiled, "she must be doing very well if she's with you guys."
Vector smiled and he got up along with Vanilla.
"Would you like to play a few games?"
"Sure Vector," quietly replied Vanilla as she followed the alligator. Vector bumped into a honey colored sparrow and he frowned.
"Sorry."
"That's okay."
Vector and Vanilla kept walking past the figure, but the sparrow took a glance back. The alligator seemed familiar; he wasn't about to stop and ask though. He came with a mission, and he was going to make sure he completed that mission. The sparrow looked around, and that's when he saw his targets walk into the gift shop. He smirked as he followed them inside.
-- Charmy and Cream: 10 minutes later--
"YEAH!" cheered Charmy as he won a game and looked at the prizes. There were dolls, blow up hammers that resembled Amy Rose's piko piko hammer, and other things that made Charmy think hard about what to get. The bee grinned as he pointed to the chao doll.
"You want that ol' thing? Don'tcha want anything different youngester?"
"No sir. Can I have it?"
The old owl that was in charge of that game rolled his eyes as he pushed up his glasses and took the chao doll that looked like it went through a lot. The owl then gave it to Charmy who grinned, "thanks mister!" he said happily.
As he walked away from the game, he wondered where Cream went. She said she wanted to play a different game and he told her that he'd meet up with her but he hadn't seen her in a while. That's when he felt a tap on his shoulders.
"Hey Charmy."
When Charmy turned around he grinned, "hi Tails! What are you doing here?"
"Having fun of course. Sonic and everyone else are here too."
"Really?"
"Yeah, we decided it would be a good time to have fun. So here we are... well I am..."
Charmy nodded and he asked, "you haven't seen Cream around by chance have you?"
Tails grinned, "I did see her. We just finished up talking to each other and she went over toward that tent," he explained as he pointed to the pure white tent with purple and silver designs that would make you think it was mystical.
"Thanks Tails!"
Charmy then flew toward the tent, leaving Tails blinking. The kitsune waved quickly and resumed walking around. As the bee headed toward the tent, he quickly stopped; something was at the back of his mind. He couldn't describe it but it felt almost like fear. He shook his head and opened the tent and walked in to see Cream sitting down on a stool and someone with a crystal ball.
"Charmy the bee I pressume?"
Charmy blinked, "h-how'd ya guess?"
"I see all, I know all. You work for the Chaotix Detective Agency, you're six years old, you love honey and anything that has a sweet flavor to it, and you were looking for Cream to show her your chao doll."
The bee stood there in slight shock, how'd she know so much? Charmy then grinned.
"Wow... you're right!" he exclaimed as he flew onto a stool next to Cream and he looked at Cream to see she was grinning happily. "What else do you know?"
The person holding the crystal ball was a young mongoose, probably no older than nineteen, she had long black hair and eye catching metallic gray eyes. She smiled gently as she looked at the crystal ball with a tranced stare. The kids looked at each other then toward the mongoose.
"I see... a young cat with a chameleon... Espio and Illusion I assume... in a store..."
"Awesome!"
"Wait... something's very wrong."
Charmy and Cream looked at the mongoose interested by what the mongoose was going to say was wrong.
"I see... a sparrow... he has a knife... he's following Illusion and Espio..."
"Are they still in the store?"
"That I cannot say for sure. The crystal ball only shows me what's happening or has already happened. This might've already happened," she replied and she looked at Charmy with a hard stare. "I warn you both. Do not go to the store..."
Charmy nodded and he took Cream's hand and started to take her out, "thank you miss."
"Anytime, come again."
Once the duo were out Cream asked, "what would you like to do now?"
"Want to go to the gift shop?"
"But she told us not to go there."
Charmy nodded, "but if someone's there with a knife and Espio doesn't know it then they're in big trouble!"
Cream thought about it and she frowned, "but... we can't go there."
"Cream... Espio is my friend, pratically my family, if he got hurt then I don't know what I would do. We need to tell him. Please Cream?"
The rabbit frowned and looked like she was thinking. She then nodded, "okay Charmy."
Charmy smiled, his face turning pink as he took her hand and the duo started running toward the gift shop. The duo walked into the store and that's when a scared shriek filled the store. They darted into the store, and that's when a bullet whipped past Charmy and Cream's head.
"You go to help them... in fact... if you move then boy are you going to regret every second."
Charmy's eyes widened as he stopped along with Cream when he heard that voice, he knew who it belonged to; Cream didn't move but she looked like she would freak out at any moment. Behind the duo, holding a pistol pointed at them, was none other than Charcoal the cat.
Okay I can explain the 20 minutes earlier, 10 minutes later deal. The thing with Vector and Vanilla happened 20 minutes before Espio and Illusion walked into the store. Charmy and Cream thing happened 10 minutes after Vector and Vanilla's scene. So yea... just tell me if it's confusing. I'll try to clarify if any of you have questions. There's Chapter eight, I'll have Chapter Nine up shortly.