Chapter 13: Confrontation
"Were these the guests you were talking about over the phone, Victor?" Chuck said after a long moment of silence.
"Yeah, but that doesn't answer my question," Victor responded.
"You know these guys?" Miles said looking at Victor, Charles, and Espen in disbelief.
"And what are you doing with those Chaos Emeralds?" Amelia gasped as soon as she realized what she said.
"Chaos Emeralds? Is that what these are called?" Chuck looked down at the two he held in his hands and gave Amelia a suspicious look. "What do you know about them?"
"Leave her alone, Chuck," Sonny said defensively. "I can explain."
"There's no need to," Chuck replied. "You knew about these strange gems the whole time, and you wanted them for Dr. Robotnik to use. That's why you wanted to borrow the one I had, right?"
"No, that's far from the truth. I would never give them to a criminal like Dr. Robotnik."
"Then why did you need it?"
"To keep gems like yours out of Dr. Robotnik's hands. That was why he attacked South Island to begin with."
"But how do you know if you weren't working for Dr. Robotnik?"
"Can we talk about this somewhere a little more private?" Miles asked. "I'm not sure if the Chaotix Detectives want to hear it."
"Well, I do," Espen said. "After all, we helped Chuck find these 'Chaos Emeralds' as you apparently call them, so I think we deserve to know the truth."
"Espen's right," Victor responded. "And will keep your secrets safe. Right, Charles?"
"Uh, yeah, right," Charles said nervously.
"Swear to it!"
Charles responded by standing straight and putting a hand over his heart. Then he said rapidly, "I swear I will never tell a living soul about what is said in this room for as long as I live!"
"Good."
After taking a deep breath, Sonny said, "Do you remember when Miles' and Amelia's houses got attacked by Dr. Robotnik's robots?"
Chuck nodded. "Yeah, everyone at school was talking about them."
"The reason they were attacked is because the robots were looking for the Chaos Emeralds that Miles and Amelia had found by chance. So Miles and I figured that these gems were important, and decided to look for any others before Dr. Robotnik got to them. Then we I saw the red one you had, I figured it had to be a Chaos Emerald, and that's why I wanted to borrow it. I'm sorry I lied to you."
"I see." Chuck walked over to Victor's desk and placed the two Chaos Emeralds on them. Then he asked, "Then how do you know they're called Chaos Emeralds?"
"That's what the robots who attacked Miles and Amelia called them."
"So you were there?"
"Yes, and no."
Chuck raised an eyebrow.
Sonny hesitated, then he said slowly, "I was physically present, but not in control of myself. You see, I have this…other self who occasionally takes over. You might know him as The Blue Blur."
"The Blue Blur?"
"I thought that was just some government conspiracy myth," Victor said. "The G. U. N. soldiers considered it a possible menace and forced everyone in town to stay indoors on the same day Dr. Robotnik was captured."
"He's not a menace," Sonny responded. "In fact, he was the one who stopped Dr. Robotnik from using the Chaos Emeralds' power to take over South Island. Then after G. U. N. took Dr. Robotnik into custody, The Blue Blur hid the Chaos Emeralds throughout the island to prevent people like Dr. Robotnik from misusing them."
Chuck huffed dismissively. "Funny you should say that, because the guy who hired the Chaotix Detectives to help me claims that he wants to stop Dr. Robotnik and needs the Chaos Emeralds."
"But why are you helping him?" Sonny asked. "What do you know about this guy?"
"His name is Nik, and he was willing to trade information in exchange for the Chaos Emeralds. He even gave me the Chaotix Detectives' calling card so that I could meet them in person and figure out an arrangement for finding the Emeralds. Now that I have all of them, I'm going to go see Nik and get my reward."
"Then maybe we should come along," said Victor. "He has yet to pay us for our services."
"Something about this doesn't feel right," Miles abruptly said. "Why would he hire detectives to help Chuck find the Chaos Emeralds when he could've just looked for them himself?"
"Good point," Sonny said. "Do you even know what he looks like?"
"No, he tends to stick to the shadows when we talk," Chuck replied.
"That sounds shady," Amelia responded.
"Say what you will about Nik, but I'm still going whether you like it or not." Chuck then went behind Victor's desk, pulled out a drawer and placed the other five Chaos Emeralds on the desk including his own red one. "Do you have something to carry these things in, Victor?"
"We have an old-style briefcase," Victor said, running up the stairs.
"Victor, the briefcase is down here!" Charles cried, pointing to an old worn-out leather briefcase next to an antique coat-rack.
"Oh, right. I forgot." Victor came back down the stairs with a sheepish grin and picked up the briefcase by the coat-rack.
Chuck took it and removed the flap, revealing the insides of the briefcase to be empty. He then took the Chaos Emeralds one by one and put them into the briefcase. They were all shining unusually bright, which caught the attention of the Chaotix Detectives. Sonny closed his eyes for a minute, and then saw an apparition of Sonic standing in front of him.
"What should I do, Sonic?" Sonny whispered.
"This 'Nik' guy sounds fishy. I would try to keep Chuck from going, or follow if you can't convince him," Sonic answered.
"Okay." After the apparition vanished, Sonny turned to Chuck and asked, "So, Chuck, have you been experiencing anything unusual lately?"
Chuck closed the flap on the briefcase and asked, "Like what?"
"Oh, you know, like lapses in memory or the development of strange powers that can't be explained?"
"I have!" Charles abruptly said. "One time, I grew bee wings and antennae and called myself 'Charmy' the whole time."
"Charles, why did you have to bring that up?" Espen said covering his face with his hand in embarrassment.
"But it's true! Don't you sometimes turn invisible, Espen?"
"Charles, shut up!" Espen snapped.
In response, Charles started crying and wailing.
"Now look what you've done, Espen," Victor said irritably, and knelt down to comfort Charles.
"I don't have time for this," Chuck said, and walked out the front door before anyone could stop him.
"Hey, wait!" Sonny said, following Chuck with Miles and Amelia behind him.
To be continued…