(AN: So, hi.

Now I know what you're thinking, 'OH MY GOD YOURE NOT DEAD'

And yes, I understand the surprise. To say a lot has happened over the last couple of months is an understatement. So, to summerize everything that happens in my usual, 'Why I'm gone for so long AN's', I'm going to go over everything since July in as quick of a fashion!

SOOOOOOOOOOO-

I got done with the last chapter in july, ready to write, only to be thrown in a new area at work that's beyond physically demanding and exhausts me both mentally and physically to where it absolutely wrecks me, like I got thrown into a bad writer's block, couldn't do it at all, went to New York on vacation with the family in late september in hope's that the vacation would be recharging my battery, it didn't, then instead of writing I then played final fantasy 8, then arc the lad 3, then sonic frontiers and other games i had here and there, then work FINALLY slowed down and I stopped getting put in the area i hate after voicing my opposition and FINALLY i could write but OH NOOOOOOOO now our workload increases so it's back to square 1, then I realize I want to at LEAST finish a chapter because it's been six FUCKING months and then told myself to finish by the 24th so here we are.

WHEW.

I won't make any excuses, but what I will say is, it finally feels so good to write again. Maybe perhaps I did need a super long break, since Transfer IS my longest story and eventually, I would face burnout if I didn't take a break. I just hope you understand.

Merry Christmas everyone, I'm so sorry for the wait, but I hope this chapter more than makes up for it as a surprise gift. Thank you everyone who's been waiting patiently. And stay tuned for the end of the chapter for a surprise announcement. Let's begin.)

cw: Homophobia/Transphobia, INCLUDING A SINGLE USE OF THE F SLUR, ableism, CSA mention


A pair of floppy ears swooshed back and forth as heavy footsteps were heard throughout the corridors of West Hall. Back and forth did this person go, seemingly looking for someone or something.

"Froggy? Where are you?..." Big asked. "I've been looking for hours… you can come out now…"

Once again, resident frog-misplacer Big had lost sight of his pet frog, Froggy. Neglecting the fact that he had to go to the assessment center, the large purple cat had spent the last hour looking up and down throughout West Hall for his friend, even knocking on a few doors and asking people if they had seen Froggy, much to their displeasure or annoyance.

"I don't wanna go without you…" Big called out. "You can come out now…"

Just as Big was about to turn the corner on the third floor intersection, the cat felt someone collide into him. Big turned towards the direction of the person who, looking closer, he had never seen before.

"Oh! Are you okay?... Are you hurt?... I'm really sorry… I didn't see you…" the purple cat said.

"Watch where you're going you oaf! Get out of my way!" an annoyed red mobian fly said, pushing Big with his multiple arms.

"I-I said I'm sorry!... I just wanted to know where Froggy is!..." Big twiddled his thumbs.

"I don't give a damn about that! Tell me, and I know he's here, where's the dorm of that damn chameleon?!"

"Wh-what chameleon?! I don't know one!..."

"This is your hall isn't it? Then you know where he is!"

"I don't!... really, I don't know!..."

"Ugh, you're useless! Is this how you always act?!"

"Yo-You're not nice!..." At this point, Big was almost reduced to tears as the red fly in front of his sucked his teeth in.

"You're not only useless, you're pathetic. Crying like that at your age? Gaia, this generation is so fucked if this is what colleges are allowing. Move out of the way, I'll find him MYSELF…"

With that, the fly pushed Big out of the way as he left the purple cat frustrated and upset in the middle of the hall. He looked down at his phone, making sure he had the right place.

"B-103… I know you're here… once I get my hands on you, time to get so many people to meet me here," the fly said to himself, his wings shaking with excitement as thoughts entered his mind, thoughts of dragging that terrorist of a chameleon out of his dorm and making sure he left campus and never came back. He had already been joining Monk's campaign to expose details about those freaks in the LGBT-whatever club online and warn the public about them, but this? This was going to be better than replying to all their posts on Scrambler with, 'OK, groomer'. If he did THIS, then Connery would HAVE to accept him into a higher position into CCOCC!

But before the thoughts of such an event could excite the fly's mind-

"What are you doing here?"

The fly stopped, his smile fading as he heard a voice behind him. He turned around, looking at what was likely the RA of West Hall.

"I'm a student here. Can't I walk along campus?" the fly replied.

"Not when I've been having people come into MY hall, yelling for hours outside someone's dorm for stupid reasons! Don't think I don't know what's going on, you're about to head to B-103, aren't you?"

"What's it to you?!"

"The fact that targeted harassment is against school policy, and that any reports I make regarding it are taken seriously. You aren't the first person to try and pull this shit, and I'm losing my patience. FAST. So if I were you and you don't wanna get written up, I would turn around and get the fuck out."

"Tch, you and what army?"

The female chipmunk marched closer as she got into the fly's face, staring him down.

"You wanna test me, bud? Really? You wanna fucking test me? I've been dealing with shit like this on a regular basis for four-fucking-years. I'll gladly squash you like I would anyone ELSE in this hall if they wanna test me. So please, if you wanna act like you're tough shit, keep doing what you're about to do. But if you think I won't do anything, then you better not even think about stepping foot away from that door."

"So you willingly protect criminals?"

"And you willingly ask bad faith questions to get out of this shit. News flash: doesn't work on me, buddy. Now make like the fly you are and LEAVE. NOW."

The fly scoffed as he turned around, realizing he wasn't going to get near the dorm of the criminal chameleon with this hoosier in the way. He started to walk with his tail in between his legs, only to head left to the intersection to avoid the chipmunk.

"OUT THE DOOR WHERE I CAN SEE YOU! I KNOW YOU'RE TRYING TO HIDE!"

The chipmunk watched as the fly flipped her off as soon as he was in visible view, eyes squinting as she saw the fly open the door and enter the hall. Sally sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"Fuck, Vector ought to be PAYING me for bodyguard duty at this point.." she said. "Who would have thought my RA position now included dorm protection! Oh, not Sally, that's for sure! As if she isn't already studying for finals al-READY and has enough on her plate as is! Gaia, I hope this CCOCC shit ends soon, I think I'll actually explode next time I see one of those people…"

Sally walked away, a sea of stress once again filling her mind as West Hall was once again silent, as Big had walked off and the fly had been told to leave.

It was here in B-103 that from inside, Vector had his ear pressed against the door, listening in to everything that had happened earlier in the hall. From behind him, Espio, Knuckles, Mighty, Jewel, Bow, Thorn, Munch, and the hedgehog triplets all sat around different parts of the dorm, looking at each other as the crocodile pulled away from the dorm.

"We're in the clear!" Vector said, giving a thumbs up. "Sally's pretty much been shooin' away anyone from both CCOCC and off campus people tryin' to come to our dorm to harass us."

"It was hell, that's for sure. Imagine trying to sleep in early, and then at nine at night, someone's yelling outside your dorm to get out, leave, a bunch of protest blah blah stuff. I thought I was having a nightmare," Knuckles replied.

"We told them at first to go away," Mighty said. "But they were just kinda like, 'Screw you! I'll do what I want'. Sally eventually had to get them out."

"It's like you're a celebrity, Espio!" Manic said, getting his vape box out. "Y'know, if people yelled angrily at celebrities. Oh wait, they kinda do, don't they?"

"Manic, be serious! Vector said this was something that was going to involve all of us to hopefully stop all this harassment!" Sonia scolded. "And put that away! How many times have I told you vaping's bad for you?!"

Manic made a face at his sister as he put the box back in his vest pocket.

"How long is this going to take anyway?" asked Sonic. "I still haven't gone on my daily run yet, and I'm aching to get it in!"

"Hold yer horses, Sonic!" Vector scolded. "This is gonna be important and somethin' we can't do in one day. We're gonna have to keep meetin' as long until CCOCC's event to plan meticulously."

"I guess the thing to ask now is… where to begin?" Mighty asked. "There's so much to this that I think we need to accept that we have a giant mountain ahead of us."

"Do we got a beginnin'?" Munch asked, head turned.

"Well… if I had to start…" Vector put his finger on his chin. "I guess the big thing right now is findin' out what our goal is-"

Just then, there was a soft knock at the door. Everyone turned their heads as Bow looked down at the phone he held in his hand.

"Oh! Buck and Alan are back!" he said. "Alan told me he's outside the door now and that he walked by some fly that sneered at 'im. Wonder who that was?"

"Beats me, but lemme let them in," Vector replied, walking to the door and opening it up to reveal the quail and deer. Buck held an ice pack over where his black eye was as Alan stood close by, rubbing his eyes.

"'ello there, did we miss the parade?" Alan asked.

"Yer just in time. We just started discussion 'bout what to do about all this CCOCC nonsense. How yeh two been feelin'?"

"M' black eye has softened a little bit, but it's still very clear. Thankfully, m' checkup went good and I was allowed to come here," Buck replied.

"Whadda 'boutcha, Alan? Rested up better?"

"Oh, very much. Couldn't imagine how tired I was last week…" Alan replied, the quail yawning softly. "Was knocked out like a rock after returnin' to me dorm yesterday…"

"Sounds good, cause we need everyone to be in tip top shape. Even yeh, Buck."

"Well, thankfully, m' medication has been helping quite a bit too," Buck replied. "But enough talk. We're here to help."

"Then come on inside."

Buck and Alan walked inside as Vector closed the door behind them, the two joining their fellow Mercian students.

"So, now that we got Alan and Buck back, time to continue what we were talkin' 'bout, our main agenda-" Vector announced before he was interrupted.

"Stop Connery," Espio seldomly replied.

"Well yeah, that mainly," Vector said. "But it's primarily stopping CCOCC from using their next event to invite more people to harass us, and expose Connery fer usin' the group and its members and supporters as a way to harass Espio. We already know at this point that the university ain't doin' shit to stop them, and it seems like their next event is gonna go on whether we like it or not. Jewel, yeh help out with all the activities and events that go on here. Mind tellin' us what I asked yeh to do?"

The jewel beetle nodded as she fluttered from her chair to the middle of the group of students. "CCOCC's next event is going to be on the third of March at seven on the dot at the Space Theater. Same place as their last conference. From what Harvey told me, it seems like this event has a surprisingly large budget. Not only are several prominent politicians from the House going to be there, including Connery's dad, but media personnel, even apparently… hired bodyguards, likely because there's going to be a major protest of the event."

"His dad?" Bow asked. "What's he gotta do with this?"

"Connery's father is a politician," Knuckles said. "It's not something he brings up often, but we found out about it last year. After looking into him, well… like father like son, I suppose."

"Probably gonna show off to daddy how much of a dick he is," Manic said, lazing on the bottom bed bunk with his hand on his face, smacking his lips.

"Still, the fact that he's hiring bodyguards from outside should be worrying. Not just to protestors but also to us. It means that if you're going to stop this by whatever means, Vector, you're going to have to get past those guards," Jewel continued. 'And if you're caught or Gaia forbid, use violence-"

"Jewel, what did I say about using the Pillar's name in vain…" Buck scolded, leading to the beetle giving the deer another sour look.

"Well, I ain't gonna fight unless it's necessary. Besides, the less damage we do, the more we can cover up our tracks."

"So what's the plan then?" asked Sonia.

"We gotta find a way fer all of us to sneak into the Space Theater while the event is goin' on with no one spottin' us. From there on, I think it should be easier to split up into a group."

"Blend into a crowd, eh?" Munch asked.

"Exactly! Unfortunately, Es and I will very much stand out due to how much shit we've got thrown at us, but people likely wouldn't recognize yeh guys. So ya could just get away with sayin' yeh were curious 'bout the event."

"But Vector, you need tickets to enter. If we're spotted, they'll know we snuck in," Jewel replied.

"Not if yeh don't give them a reason to suspect. That's where stage two of our plan comes in. If we truly wanna crash this event and give Connery a taste of his own medicine, we all gotta do our part in doin' so. That's why…"

Vector walked over to the desk, grabbing a notebook and tearing a page out from it. Placing it atop his notebook, the crocodile grabbed a pen and sat on the floor as Espio followed. The others looked down at the piece of paper.

"I'm gonna assign yeh to different roles! That way, we got our own tasks to do and we minimize the chance of gettin' caught with less amount of people."

"Can we pick?" Thorn asked.

"I think it's easier if I call the shots. But I'll make sure I'm makin' a good team. First, Sonic. Yer known fer runnin' fast and bein' able to outspeed anyone."

"A born natural for this kinda work!" said Sonic, rotating his right arm. "Just spill the beans and I can get it taken care of solo!"

"Actually, I was gonna get yer siblin's to work alongside you."

"What? Really? I mean… I'm not opposed, but if something happened…"

"Relax, bro! We got your back!" Manic fluttered his hand.

"Manic's right!" Sonia added. "Just because you like to do tasks solo doesn't mean we're going to let you do something reckless! We stick by each other no matter what, no matter how much we annoy each other!"

"I guess… but still…"

"Ah ah ah, no buts, mister!"

"Well, mind telling me what I gotta do?"

"I was doin' a bit of thinkin'," Vector began to draw out floor plans. "And I realized that even if we avoid as many of those hired bodyguards as we can, we'd still be makin' a mess and possibly unable to hide our tracks; Unless… someone fast enough is able to clean up the scene and hide the fact that we were there…"

"Ah… I think I'm getting where you're going with this…" Sonic nodded his head.

"And as fer yer brother and sister, while Sonic handles initially cleanin' up the scene, yeh two will handle whatever Sonic cleans up to be thrown out. So yeh three will basically take turns concealing evidence, that way no one can suspect us."

"Won't that be hard, tryin' to see what's been damaged or out of place?" asked Alan.

"That's where you're wrong! See, I got a photographic memory," Sonia replied, tapping the side of her head. "As long as I take a look at the scene before anyone makes a move, it'll be easy to tell what to fix!"

"What about me? Don't I get to knock a few heads in? Would serve 'em right after those dicks made us take down our flyers," Manic added.

"Manic please, you'd gladly smash a drum over their head any day of the week."

"And ruin a perfectly good drum set? Hell no! What are you on?!"

"That aside…" Vector continued. "Jewel, as fer what yer doin'-"

"Hang on, Vector!" the jewel beetle replied, looking down at the floor nervous. "I… I thought I told you I'm not comfortable going all physical or being involved TOO much… you know, if I get in trouble, if we ALL get in trouble…"

"Stickler for the rules as always, huh Jewely?" Manic replied.

"I just… I've never done anything like this before! Breaking so many rules, possibly being kicked out of university if I'm caught and ruining my entire future for something small… I… I don't know if I can do this…!"

"It's good to have a conscience, Jewel," Vector replied. "But people have their negative sides to them. I mean, look at Espio. Dude was grade A quiet and then look, he beat up five guys! And yeh know they probably taught him to be this respectful person in Yurashia!"

"I guess… b-but…"

"I mean, yer not alone. We've all done bad stuff before, whether it was at home or at school. Heck, I've cheated on tests before, slept durin' class, and that's just the tip of the iceberg!"

The others all looked around, agreeing and talking about what they did.

"We broke into Ms. Nanny's barn when we were kids because we liked to play in her hay pen," Thorn said as she looked at Bow. "Our mum and dad's didn't let us live it down fer days."

"Can't even tell you how many times I snuck off to the woods to smoke a blunt in high school," Manic replied. "Was even caught once too."

"I broke a pretty fancy column in first grade," Sonic added. "I just ran into it and you could like, hear the crash all through the hall."

"See? Everyone's done at least somethin' bad before. 'Course, there are people who have it in them never to act out growin' up. Yeh, or Espio, or Buck-"

"Actually," the deer replied, holding up his free hand. "I… I have… once."

"Whaaaaat?!" Knuckles replied, covering his mouth to hide his smile. "What's this, our local religious man isn't as holy as he says he is?"

Buck looked cross, a rare expression for the deer. "O-Oh, stop it! It… it was a genuine accident! It… it happened while I was an acolyte when I was young. I was foolishly playing atop the chancel with the other altar boys after Mass, and I… I ran into our rood of Solaris. He… crashed to the ground and broke, and I was severely reprimanded by the priest and mum and dad when we got home…"

"Yeh did that?!" Munch replied. "Me story was lettin' the flour in too long in the mill. I never 'eard that before from yeh! No wonder the rood looked different from when I was a lad!"

"Well, Buck excluded…" Vector replied, getting back on topic. "Espio knows what it's like to be this goody two-shoes because he's been in yer shoes. Yer gonna be fine, Jewel. Think of this as… as doin' it for the better good. Besides, didn't yeh make Es's life a livin' hell in yer art class until he upstaged yeh?"

Espio walked up to his insect friend, looking down at her as everyone seemingly waited for a response from her. After looking at the others, her lip trembled as she spoke.

'Oh-okay fine! I'll… I'll go along… I said I would in the hospital the other… but… but you're right. I shouldn't be taking the moral high ground. I'm just… I'm just scared."

"Trust me, we all are. Each of us have been affected by Connery and his little gang. And not just us, others at this university too. Think 'bout how they've made people feel worse than they normally feel, how they go and just post everythin' 'bout who they don't like online so others can rag on 'em, how all they want is everyone they don't like GONE. All that. Yeh know just as much as I do that it's just scratchin' the surface."

The others fell silent as it felt like all eyes fell on Espio, the one the others knew Connery wanted gone more than anyone or anything else from the United Federations.

"I do this for you, Vector," Espio said, looking at his larger lover. "And for you o-all… for my fami… family and k… ku… kulan? It is why I want to do this."

"Hey, if Espio's down to kick some ass, who am I to rain on his fun?" Manic replied. "Besides, cancel my show? You're on my shitlist. For real, man."

"Yeah, if there's anything I hate, it's injustice. I'm not gonna let someone like Connery get away with this!" Sonic added.

"Well, we should be getting busy coming up with our little plans! We know the day of the event and that Connery hired guards thanks to Jewel, and we know we can't sneak inside normally, so how are we going to do this? And what should we do to make sure everything goes as planned? We know Sonic and the others are going to be hiding evidence but-" Knuckles said before getting cut off.

"Okay, yer goin' too far, Knux! One thing at a time," Vector replied. "I think if we gotta expose Connery, we should do it in multiple steps. Not all at once but…"

"If we did it separately!" Mighty suggested. "As we suggested, we all split up to do our own things, but we use that opportunity to set up our own exposès!"

"Sounds loike a plan, mate!" Bow replied. "But, what should we do?"

Vector scratched his chin, thumping his thumb against the desk. He turned to look at his boyfriend. "Es, d'ya got any suggestions? Maybe yer time doin' ninja trainin' might give us a plan of action?"

Espio turned to look at the piece of paper Vector had been writing down suggestions on, reading it slowly. While he didn't fully understand the words on it, he understood the word, plan.

It was taught to him in the past that during times of war, all the ninja and samurai of the Shinobi Clan would gather around the Bride to hear her plan of action, how the ninja can sneak into enemy territory and how the samurai should be formed and what fighting style they should use. This may not have been exactly the same, but Vector was wanting him to plan… he was trusting him to do… this.

So he couldn't mess this up.

"I go aft… after Connery. Just me," Espio said, his brow furrowing. The others looked shocked, with Jewel getting up from where she sat.

"What?!" was the response half the room gave.

"Espio, you… you can't! By yourself, it's-" Sonia said before she trailed off.

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Knuckles asked. "Connery is a strong man, that I won't deny. There's a reason he was one of our best players on the Badniks."

"No way! Absolutely not!" Thorn argued. "Yeh just be hurtin' yourself doin' it!"

Vector masked his concern with a similar face to the one Espio gave. Sighing, he stared into the chameleon's eyes.

"...yer certain on this, are yeh?" the crocodile asked. Espio nodded.

"Let him make the choice then, guys. If Espio wants to go after Connery himself, then we can't say no. But still… we gotta think of a way to plan out yer path to reachin' Connery… knowin' where he's gonna be exactly, how yer gonna sneak there, all of that. And there's still the rest of us too."

"There's somethin' I just thought of," Munch interjected. "While I enjoy meself some R 'n R , d'yeh know yer away 'round this Space Theater place? If we don't, then we'll just end up lost and without a clue of what to do."

"And what about what we need to expose Connery?" Sonic asked. "I suppose you're not gonna just print off flyers and pass then around, right?"

"Nah nah, it needs to be… big! Somethin' no one can ignore!" Vector replied. "But makin' somethin' that people won't just tear up is…"

The others sat still, wondering what they could do. As far as it stood, if they didn't know what materials they could use for their heist, the plan couldn't continue.

That's when Knuckles spoke up.

"Wait a minute, Vector!" he exclaimed. "What about Rotor!"

"What 'bout him?"

"He's majoring in Engineering, no? He would probably best know what we need to make and use for something like this! Don't forget too, he has a dilemma against CCOCC."

"Who's Rotor?" Jewel asked. "Sorry, I don't keep up with all the names of the Badniks."

"Walrus dude, bit more on the chunkier side than the rest of us on the Badniks," Vector replied before shaking his head. "It doesn't matter, Rotor would be a PERFECT choice! But… gettin' him on board would be troublesome…"

"Why's that?" Manic asked.

"Rotor's been kinda AWOL the last week or so. Says he feels afraid just steppin' out of his dorm, and that plenty other people in the LGBTQ League feel the same."

"I suppose there's that… so then, we need to go talk to him now, right?" Mighty asked.

"Well… as much as I'd love to… I actually got somewhere I need to be soon. So we'll have to end today's meetin' early. I think just figurin' out a plan is good fer now. We can't do it all in one day, no?"

"But who's gonna talk to Rotor then?" Sonic asked.

"Espio, are you acquainted with this Rotor fellow by any chance?" Buck asked.

"Ah… yes," Espio replied, nodding. "I talk with him some… ta-times."

"Then perfect! While yer busy with yer thing, Vector, Espio can talk with this Rotor!" Alan added. "Meanwhile, I can see if Manic and I can see more of the Theater. We're the only two out of everyone else 'ere who's seen it more."

"Can yeh do that, Alan?" Bow asked.

"Well, Manic and I are in music programs, we've spent some time there!"

"When should we meet back? I don't want this to interfere with any of my studies or helping out around campus," Jewel asked. "Besides, midterms are coming up soon, and I don't want this to take up all my time. I've been studying since last week."

"How 'bout two days from now. That way, we dun get CCOCC suspicious and we have time to think things over. We dun have long until March anyway," Vector replied.

"So that's it fer today, I imagine?" Thorn added.

"Should be. Make sure yeh guys get back to where ya need to be safe, 'kay? Next time we talk, Rotor should give us some advice 'bout what we can use to continue our exposé."

With that, everyone but Vector and Espio got up, heading out the door as Sonic was the first to open the door and stuck his head out. His blue quills moving as he looked left and right, he turned back to the others and nodded.

"Coast is clear, let's do it to it!" he said as the mobians in the room all began to pile out. With everyone taking their leave one by one, Knuckles and Mighty were the last ones behind everyone else. They turned around and looked at the two reptiles.

"We'll get this to stop, don't worry," Mighty said. "Neither of you deserve this. Nobody does…"

"Mighty, we can talk about it later," the echidna replied. "I just… I want to take my mind off it. I feel like I haven't had a day where I was in a good mood for some time…'

Espio could see Vector frown at this, a sign that whatever Knuckles said had caused the crocodile confliction.

"You're right. Hey, wanna study later at least? I'm gonna need a bit of help on…"

With that, the two walked away as Vector shut the door, leaving him and Espio standing in the silent dorm. The crocodile turned to face his smaller boyfriend.

"I gotta start headin' out now," he said, walking by the fridge and grabbing his backpack. "In the meantime, while I'm gone, try and find Rotor and do everythin' yeh can to convince him to join us. I'm sure he will. And… Es?"

Vector turned back to his boyfriend, crouching down to his height as he grabbed Espio's shoulders, covered in the soft, silky fabric of his haori.

"No matter what happens, I want yeh to know that I love ya so much. And I'm doin' this fer yeh, to get Connery off yer back. Dun worry 'bout me, I can deal with whatever they try to throw at me. But yeh?... I won't let yer time outside yer village be wasted dealin' with this bullshit."

Vector kissed Espio's forehead, which he received without any pushback. But… as Espio held Vector's cheek, something… wasn't right.

He was very glad that Vector and all his friends were coming together to stop CCOCC, stop Connery from destroying his life and the life of his friends and boyfriend…

But…

Why did something feel… off about it?

Why did… HE feel like… something wasn't right about… about this?

Confused and not wanting Vector to worry more than he already had, Espio quickly changed the subject as he spoke.

"Where is Rotor?"

The quarterback's eyes looked up at the ceiling, placing his finger on his lip.

"Uhhhh… y'know, I'm not too sure. If he ain't in his dorm downstairs, check the M buildin'. That's the buildin' where the weldin', engineerin', and all the robotics guys are."

"I do not know…"

"It's right by the ST buildin', yeh know, the one with all the computers?"

"Oh! I go there… bi-before."

"It's the first buildin' yeh pass by leavin' from there. Can't miss it. Anyway, I'm runnin' late, so I really gotta go. And… Es? Dun give up hope, please. If there's anyone who's stronger out of the two of us, it's yeh. I might have big muscles, but it means nothin' compared to ya. That's why I'm givin' this mah all, that, and boyfriends trust and support each other no matter what. If Connery, Monk, and all those dickheads wanna mess with yeh, well then…"

Vector turned around, faced away from Espio.

"Then they'll have to get past me."

He turned around again, smiling his normal toothy grin.

"So ya got nothin' to worry 'bout! Anyway, I'm off now. Love ya, and see ya later!"

With that, Vector finally took his leave as Espio waved goodbye, now alone in the dorm. After a few seconds, he sighed, not sure of what to do or how to feel.

"Who could I even talk to about this?" he said to himself in his native language. "I could never let mother know about this, as she would say I'm interacting with the Outside World."

Plus, how could he even write it to her? That her adult son, the one who was going to take up his late father's leadership, was being bullied and to do something about it? It felt juvenile to even think about, especially knowing the response he'd be getting. Not like it mattered. To the Bride, his crime would be disobeying her word, and to Connery, his crime was existing outside of Gojo.

And yet…

The strange feeling he had felt just moments ago still nagged at Espio, but he knew best to ignore it. Besides, Vector gave him a task to do and by his word, he would do it no matter what.

Unfortunately, it took longer than expected. As usual, Rotor's roommate was of no help, so the chameleon took Vector's suggestion and headed to the M building. But as he left the A building, ignoring a group of CCOCC protestors who had been hurling insults at him since leaving for class this morning outside, Espio was stopped by someone calling his name. With the sea of mobians and Overlanders passing by him, Espio was surprised to hear a voice that WASN'T filled with venom calling out to him.

It was just who it was that came as a surprise to him.

That hedgehog lady, the one Manic called 'Bernie', was making her way towards the chameleon. Dressed in her usual brown beret and blue dress, Bernadette Hedgehog, Dean of the Department of Music, carried a large bundle of papers and folders in her left arm, almost like a mother holding a baby.

"Oh Espio, good afternoon! How was your weekend?" she asked. "I heard your friend was doing much better from Mr. Valdez. It makes me very pleased to hear."

"Ah, yes… he is."

"I'm sorry if you're currently busy right about now, I just wanted to follow up on the offer I made about you joining the upcoming spring concert. Did you perhaps think about it? Actually actually, come with me really quickly. We can discuss it where no noise shall bother us."

The chameleon softly yelped as his hand was grabbed by Bernadette, the blue hedgehog dragging Espio to the building where all his ESOL lessons took place. She turned right on the hallway and continued to glide down the hall, her heels clicking as Espio walked right behind her. As he did, the fuchsia chameleon thought back to Bernadette's request.

Espio had completely forgotten about the discussion he'd had with Manic some days prior. In fact, it felt like months ago especially with what had occured just some days prior. Still, he recalled Manic begging for him to join, and as Bernadette turned into an empty classroom, she shut the door behind them and grasped Espio's hands.

"Here we are, free from interruption. Now, did you think about the spring concert and would you be willing to participate? The deadline is days away," she said. The blue hedgehog lady seemed hopeful standing in front of him too. She had her hands held together, almost as if she was kneeling at a shrine and praying.

But there was still everything going on with CCOCC too. How could he even focus on music if he was still a target for his greatest enemies-

"Espio, is everything alright? You're just staring at me," Bernadette said, causing Espio to shake his head. What would he do? What SHOULD he do? He wasn't good enough at music, not compared to someone like Manic or Alan, and he needed to get out of here quickly so he could find Rotor and convince him to join his and Vector's cause. And if he said no, then he knew Bernadette would fight back-

No, no no no. Not like this. Clear your mind of distracting thoughts, that was one of the foundations of the Shinobi Clan. Espio tried to clear his mind, but everything couldn't go away, and feeling overwhelmed like he never felt before-

"N… ni… y… yes!" he exclaimed, louder than he ever spoke before. He stood up straight, his limbs at a perfect 90 degree angle as if he had just gotten into trouble with the Bride or his sensei. In his mind however, Espio was horrified. Did he actually just say yes to this?!

Bernadette however, failed to notice Espio's plight as she smiled. "Why, that's wonderful, Espio! I knew you would be absolutely honored to showcase the music of your land, especially when this is the music of hundreds of years of history! You'll make Yurashia proud! Now, I actually need you to be at the Space Theater, specifically at Stage 2, tomorrow at 6pm, for there will be a meeting with everyone involved with the concert, involving discussions of what era they want their performance to take place in, and discussions of how they will be in charge of set pieces and such. It'll be more clear then, but I promise I'll run it through you so that you can understand it! I'm very happy with your choice and it'll be an honor having you volunteer. You're the first ever student outside the music program I've ever reached out to for something like this, and I think this will be very beneficial for us all! After all, you saved this concert, Mr. Espio!"

As Bernadette grabbed Espio's hand to shake it, the transfer student couldn't help but give an awkward smile, still questioning what he had just done. Bernadette seemed proud to have him as apart of the concert, but this came because Espio needed to get the music dean off his back so he could see Rotor.

Now what was he going to do?


THE NEXT DAY, 8:16 PM

"What's taking Espio so long…?" Knuckles asked as he tapped his fingers rhythmically on Vector's desk, the red echidna resting his head on his elbow. "He should be back right now…"

"Didn't you forget?" Mighty replied. "Espio and some of the others here in this little group are now a part of the spring concert. I was surprised when you told us, Vector. I mean, it's Espio's choice and all that, but I thought he would have said no. He seemed uncertain about it when he talked about it."

Vector couldn't help but agree internally. Espio was good at playing the Appalachian dulcimer, but to play at a concert SPECIFICALLY for those majoring in music? It's like if they made the water boy the quarterback of the Badniks!

Espio explained it last night, saying he just wanted to go see Rotor and that he wanted Mrs. Bernadette to go away, which felt exactly like something the chameleon would have done in his very early months at Mobius U. But it seemed like with no way to back out, Espio NOW had to balance the spring concert into his already hectic life.

"I mean, at the end of the day, it's still Espio's choice. I mean, he's… he's done a lot here already!" Vector said, thinking back to how much his boyfriend accomplished and done during his time at university. "He can handle a concert. Besides, we promised we'd help him out with that concert thingy, didn't we?"

"Perhaps," Knuckles replied, turning around in the chair. "But still, I think what we're doing right now is much more important than a concert. The fact he has to worry about both now…"

"Aw look at you, looking out for Espio. Careful, Vector. Seems like you have some competition!" teased Mighty. Knuckles grit his teeth.

"Oh, so now you want to be next after Connery and Monk to get your teeth knocked in, am I right?!"

"Hey, hey! Ladies! Ladies! I'm sure yeh wanna solve yer marital issues soon, but we gotta save our energy fer when everyone gets here. It looks like the others are still busy with that concert thing, besides Jewel. Probably studyin' her ass off fer midterms."

"Why do you have to remind meeeeeee…" Knuckles complained, groaning. "Jeez, now that I think about it, balancing CCOCC, a concert, AND midterms? Wouldn't wanna be in Espio's shoes, no sir."

"And don't forget that ten page paper you have to write for your Mineralogy class. You said it's worth ten percent of your grade and you had it on the bulletin board for d-"

Just then, there was a knock at the door. The three athletes looked over, staring intently at the door.

"It was a soft knock," Mighty replied. "Here, I'll get it. Raise the volume on the TV if it's a CCOCC person,"

As the crocodile nodded as he grabbed the remote from the nightstand, he turned to see the armadillo walk over to the door and slowly peek his head out, talking in hushed whispers to the individual behind the door. After a couple of seconds, Mighty swung the door wide open, happily revealing who was standing at the doorway.

"Rotz!" Vector exclaimed, happy to see his fellow teammate. "Yeh came! I knew Espio talked with ya yesterday, but I thought yeh'd wanna meet somewhere where someone couldn't harass us!"

Rotor looked shy, rubbing the back of his neck. "Th-thanks, Vec. Yeah, especially with the other guys on the team avoiding you, maybe I am being as brave as I can being here."

Vector couldn't help but sigh at the statement. The walrus was right, some of his fellow Badniks were straight up avoiding him to not put themselves into CCOCC's crossfire. Almost all, if not all of them, had recieved disparaging messages from individuals in both CCOCC's crowd and their supporters, as it had happened to Knuckles when this entire incident began to become out of hand.

"Well, I'm glad yeh manned up," Vector continued, leaving the confines of his mind. "C'mon, take a seat. We're just waitin' fer everyone else to arrive. Just make sure to take yer shoes off first. Ya know Espio wouldn't like it if ya kept them on."

Complying, Rotor did exactly what he was told as he sat by the dresser. The walrus looked around, awkwardly sitting with his fellow athletes and Mighty.

"So… how was class for you guys today?" Rotor asked. "It was… alright for me…"

There seemed to be no attempt to try and bring up small talk, as now Vector put on his serious face.

"Before we wait fer the others to arrive, I wanna ask ya a couple of questions mahself, Rotz. Whatever I can get out of ya will help us all stoppin' all this bullshit," the quarterback said.

"Wow geez, am I in trouble?" Rotor asked, putting his hands up.

"Nah, call it, 'Lettin' Monk get his just desserts'. After all, yeh got a little thing against him fer what he's been doin' to the LGBTQ League, right?"

Rotor's eyes expressed terror, his happy expression falling as he seemed to look pale, the mere mention of the former Running back being enough to strike terror into the walrus.

"I… it's just-"

"What has he been sayin' to ya? Ya know Connery is okay with whatever he and his cronies do. That's why we're gonna crash his little party and show the world his true colors. After all, he thinks it's fine to do it to other people."

"Is… is this why I was called to join you guys?"

"Well, if we want CCOCC to look like the idiots they are, we need to do so in a way no one can ignore. If there's anyone who knows to make contraptions like that, it's you, Rotor," Mighty replied. "Giving us your mechanic expertise is one of the major keys we need."

"Ha-hang on, what does that have to do with me-"

"As Vector said, Monk has been after you. The moment you came out when he outed Vector in the locker room, you became a major enemy. Even before, he was breathing down your neck for simple things. And this likely hasn't stopped since then, right?" Knuckles said.

Rotor bit his lips, his hands shaking.

"Rotz, it's okay to be unsure if ya wanna do this. Jewel's the same way. But we wanna stop CCOCC not just fer Espio, not just fer the Badniks, fer EVERYONE. Everyone's sick and tired of this bullshit, and we can't do this unless we get as much help as we can get. So please, let us know what Monk has been telling you, and tell us what we need and fer yeh to build to put an end to this," Vector added. Rotor looked down at the floor before reaching into his coat pocket, rustling around and pulling out his phone. Vector, Knuckles, and Mighty all watched as the walrus tapped the screen quite a bit before he turned the screen towards them.

"Just scroll down, those are just the private messages. I have screencaps on my phone I can show you next."

The three got closer as they began to read the initial sentences of the messages.

"Keep away from any playground, faggot. We don't need anymore grooming than what your mafia already does"

"GAY IS UNNATURAL!"

"we should be putting your kind on an island where you can die and leave us normal people alone"

"evil. truly to the core with castrating and sexualizing children. despicable!"

"you look like a demonic freak occupied with degeneracy, based on your photos. stop being gay you fucking coomer, we get it, your daddy touched you in the shower-

"Stop it," Vector said, pushing away Rotor's phone. "I think I've seen enough."

He proceeded shook his head. Of course, the words that were said weren't out of character for individuals who support Monk, and they most certainly reminded him of the messages he got attacking him when he put Espio on his shoulders and proudly displayed him holding the crystal football.

But it still shocked Vector to see regardless. Rotor had nothing to DO with Espio, and yet here he was, another victim of Connery's mafia.

"Don't you understand now why it's so scary to go out now? Why all the LGBTQ League meetings have to be virtual now? Don't you get how just… how fu-fucking EXHAUSTING it is to be called a… a groomer of ALL things like, five times a day?! When have I EVER shown signs I'm disgusting like that?! It's… it's so aggressive too, it's like my dad talking to me all over again," Rotor pleaded, his face falling as he put his phone back.

"We knew about all this," Mighty said. "But still… to see it up close like this…"

"And the worst part is, all this is slanderous, and yet every time I try to fight back, I get drowned out by five, ten or so people. So why even bother saying anything if all people are convinced is that I'm some sort of abuser and freak? It feels… it feels futile, and I'm just so… so tired, man. I'd rather let Coach make me do about two hundred suicide squats than go through this…"

The room was silent, Vector staring at his fellow teammate. To hear all of this coming from Rotor's mouth after what Espio had told him, it felt relieving that he could talk about this, even if the look in his eyes expressed sadness, exhaustion, and a desire to return to normalcy.

All things he desired with Espio again. All things he desired in his relationship before the chameleon would eventually return home.

"Rotz, I know it's hard, and ya have all our sympathies. But… ya know what I always say when things get tough on the field, right?" Vector asked.

"Y-yeah… 'When we have a job, yeh know what our motto is, we're gettin' it done no matter how much we sweat!'... like that, right?" Rotor asked.

"I'm not gonna say this whole thing is gonna be easy, but with everyone workin' together, we're gonna fly high-"

"...like a buzz bomber?"

Knuckles snapped his fingers towards the walrus. "Now you're talking, Rotor! You get him now?"

"Yeah… yeah I do. Alright, you guys wanted me to join because of my mechanical skill, then I'll do whatever you need me to build," Rotor said, finally smiling. Just then, at that moment, the door of Vector's dorm knocked again.

"Geez, is everyone finally back?!" Vector complained, the room growing silent as they heard a multitude of different voices outside.

"Yup! It looks like everyone made it safely!" Vector stood up, trying to avoid slapping his tail into Mighty's face as he quickly ran to the door, opening it up to reveal a large pile of people standing outside. There was Sonic and his siblings, the Mercian Transfer Students, Jewel, and of course, his boyfriend.

"Well, yeh all took yer sweet as time! Come on in, Rotor's already here, so we can get started!" Vector said. "And let's try and be fast on gettin' inside. I wouldn't be surprised if another CCOCC guy is on the prowl."

Quickly, everyone began to sit around in a circle, Espio sitting next to Vector as he gave him a quick kiss and a, "We can talk about the concert meetin' later, okay?"

"So, we're all back here again finally!" Vector began. "As ya heard me say, Rotor, who we talked about in our last meetin', has agreed to join us. Here he is right here, so go on and say hi."

The others who weren't familiar with the walrus gave a quick hello, causing the walrus to slowly wave.

"He's majorin' in Mechanical Engineerin', so he knows a lot 'bout buildin' and fixin'!" Vector continued. "And it's with his help that we can continue our plan. Now, we talked 'bout how we wanna sneak into the side of the Space Theater to get ourselves in and to split off doin' our own tasks to set up our…"

And so, the group went over the plan they had so far, starting from trying to blend into the crowd during the event while Vector and Espio sneak in through a back entrance, everyone meeting up and splitting up to all set up Connery's exposè, that, and ruining whatever "fun" CCOCC planned to have with the student body.

"So you want a banner as a part of the display?" Rotor asked. "Well, you'll probably need one of those rollup banners that you can write on, and it needs to stay too… unless you can sneak into the theater super early to hang up the banners and manage to hide the string needed to pull them down, I don't see how you can possibly use a banner unless you manage to… I dunno, shoot it onto the wall with a hook I guess?"

"That sounds incredibly unrealistic!" Jewel exclaimed. "Vector, let's give up on the banner idea. Manic said that he took a video of the Space Theater, so I can draw out the floor plans for where we need to go-"

That's when there was a clap behind Jewel and Bow got up from where he sat.

"I got it!" the sparrow exclaimed. "Yeh can't 'ang it up there without a lot of work, yeah? That means it's impossible, innit?"

"Well…" Rotor mused. "Where are you going with this?"

"What I mean is, if yeh want this banner to be displayed, yer lookin' at four of the best archers to come from the Deerwood Forest!" Bow then grabbed Thorn, Alan, and Munch by their necks, surprising them all.

"Archers?"

"I think I get it. Bow's saying he can hang up the banner with a bow and arrow if he works with his friends to do so. Instead of hanging up a string to pull down out of sight on the ground floor, what if they hid in that top area of the stages where the Drama people mess with the lights!" Manic exclaimed. "It's a pretty big area. And there they can shoot the banner, connected to the arrow, pin it into the wall, and then when the time's right, pull down the string and reveal the banner!"

Sonic and Sonia looked at their brother in surprise.

"Oh. Oh my goodness, Manic is actually making sense. I think the world has come to an end," Sonia said, holding her hands out.

"Tell me about it, I refuse to believe it myself," Jewel replied. "Someone, pinch me."

"Hey! I have good ideas! I just need to be in the right mood to come up with them!" Manic complained.

"If you're going to come up with that, then how are they supposed to attach it to a wall? You can't just use the ones in the I building. They're only meant for the target boards and aren't strong enough to even hurt a person."

"Yeh don't think we didn't know that ourselves?" Thorn replied. "We even tested it out when we first discovered them! Bow, what did yeh call those arrows?"

"Rubbish sticks that are only worthy of the bin," Bow replied. "But it's 'oll we got. We just oughta try our hands at fletchin' arrowheads. I'm pretty good at that meself,"

"Arrowheads?" Rotor asked. "Lemme handle that. We have those molds in the engineering labs since that was some of the earliest stuff we did last year."

"Well, you heard the man!" Sonic said. "But we've been on this topic for too long! C'mon, c'mon! What's next?"

"Well, I was just about to bring it up. Manic, you said you and Alan took a video of exploring the entire Space Theater, right?" Jewel asked.

"Sure did! But… we ran into some issues…" Alan replied.

"What do you mean?" asked Mighty.

"Just… show it, Manic. We can explain later."

Manic climbed off Vector's bunk as he kneeled on the ground, pulling out his phone as he opened up his gallery. Everyone began to surround the green hedgehog as the video began to play.

For several minutes, it showed the two walking around the building, from the main lobby, to each stage, to the backstage areas meant for storing equipment for both the Drama and Music departments, and at one point, there was what seemed like a giant room protruding from the end of each stage. It reminded Espio of the Advanced English Literature lecture hall, except if it had a room that jutted out from the wall. However, in this video, Alan attempted to open the door to no avail.

"What's that?" Munch asked.

"This is where the lights and sound are controlled for each stage," Manic explained. "Not only that, each stage has a projector that's controlled here."

Jewel added on. "And that's where any event held in the Space Theater controls stuff like powerpoint slides and graphics and the like. Including CCOCC's."

"So what yer sayin' is that we can sabotage their little displays?!" Vector exclaimed.

"Well, usually they connect laptops to the projectors so-"

"Then let's break it all!" Knuckles excitedly said, looking at Vector with stars in their eyes. Espio wondered what it was they were so excited about.

"That's the thing, you can't," Manic continued. Everyone looked confused. "All the doors to each control room in every stage are locked. Alan and I went to all of them and we confirmed it ourselves. I asked Bernie about it and she said that only certified technicians such as Drama and Music professors or Drama majors that made the Dean's List for the semester are allowed to have keys to the control booth."

"So… yer sayin' that we're at ANOTHER standstill?!" Vector exclaimed.

"'Fraid so, croc bud."

Vector slapped his hand on his knee, frustrated at what felt like progress being lost. Espio looked over at the crocodile, slowly putting his hand on Vector's elbow as a way to provide comfort.

"So now what?" Mighty asked. "Couldn't you do something, Rotor?"

"I don't know how to lockpick, and unless I have the original key, I can't make a copy of it. I could maybe try and make something that could force it open, but…"

"That would be destruction of campus property! You'd get written up for that!" Jewel exclaimed.

"Aren't we already breaking enough rules as we are?" Sonia asked, causing the jewel beetle to quickly go silent.

"I mean, I know how to lockpick with a hairpin, but I think Ma would be judging me from miles away," Manic added. "Well, her and Jewely anyway,"

"Like the time you and that one friend of yours snuck out of the house and tried to get another one of your friends by busting in only to trip the home alarm?"

Manic jeered at his sister, clearly not wanting to bring back such a memory.

"So that aside… It looks like we need to discuss this next. How can we get into that control booth before anyone else does and sabotage each presentation and find a place to hide too?" Rotor asked, tapping his finger on his chin. The room was silent for a moment before Knuckles gasped.

"Vector, I just realized!" he exclaimed.

"Knuckles havin' a thought? Color me shocked," Vector joked as the echidna looked cross.

"Shut up and listen! This is no time for jokes! You heard what Manic said, those keys are given to people in Drama, right?"

"Right?..."

"What about Brawny? He's majoring in Drama, isn't he?"

Vector's eyes widened. How could he forget! Monk had even mocked the warthog about when he had his massive tantrum in the locker room before the end of football season. "I… I can't believe we didn't think 'bout that! If there's anyone we know who could get us those keys, it's him!"

"Sorry, who?" Alan asked.

"He's another member of the Badniks, he's majorin' in Drama, which means we dun have to bust down that door and blow our covers! He's probably busy about now, but I can try and find him durin' lunch tomorrow!"

Jewel excitedly waved her hand. "Good idea! And I just remembered too, Harvey usually has documents submitted by each club here at Mobius U whenever they put on an on-campus event describing what they're going to be doing, where their events will be located, what they'll be using, a time frame, all that. If I can get Harvey to let me see that, then we know where we can go from here!"

"And I can get started on making you and your friends those arrowheads… err… Bow, was it?" Rotor asked. "It'll need to be sharp, but not sharp enough to leave a mark on the wall. Plus, we can also see what type of banner we can use and how to tie it to each arrow."

"Why, it seems like in spite of our issues, we now are very energized and know how to continue from here," Buck replied, ice pack still over his eye. "Espio, since yeh 'aven't said much today, is there anything yeh'd like to add?"

The chameleon looked surprised, mainly since the others had taken the floor. He pointed at himself, saying, "M-Me?"

"Yeah, you said your role was going after Connery!" Jewel said. "Anything you wanna add to what we talked about?"

It confused Espio why everyone was looking at him as if he was some kind of leader. He still wasn't even ready to be second in command for his mother, and now he was given the last say?

He wasn't sure if his mother would be proud of him, or horrified that he disobeyed her.

"Ah… I… We have to… to contin… tinyou… our u-work. I will still go for Connery," he said.

"Well, you heard him," Knuckles said. "So, right now, Bow and your gang, you're gonna be in charge of setting up the banners in the main stage area where the event is going to take place. Sonic, you and your siblings still are gonna handle clean up, and Espio still says he's going after Connery."

"Actually…" Buck spoke up. "I'm afraid I can't join Bow. I… I don't particularly like holding weapons of any kind."

"Oh roight… Buck doesn't even loike to handle the bows in the gymnasium," Munch replied. "What can he do?"

"Well, we still got a bunch more to plan out," Vector added. "First, we gotta get that key from Brawny, and Jewel said she's gonna try and learn every single thing goin' on at the CCOCC event. Locations, times, all that. Once we got those, we can go from there."

"Don't delete that video, Manic. I still need to draw out the floor plans of the Space Theater!" Jewel scolded.

"Hey, normally I'd ignore you and whatever you want me to do, but this time, I'll play nice, Jewely. So anyway, we're done here? I'm starving…" Manic replied, rubbing his belly.

"Well, until I get that schedule from Harvey and Vector gets that key from his teammate, I imagine so. Once we get those, let's focus on drawing out the floor plans for the Space Theatre. That should be what we need to spread out."

"Oh wait, before I forget! Munch and I aren't gonna be available for the next few days. Our Wrestling championship ends this week so we're gonna be busy with that. Heck, we've been avoiding practice to be here."

"That's roight! And we were gonna go to cheer Munch on too," Bow said. "Sorry, but I think we oughta postpone,"

"Well, I understand. We can't work together without everyone," Vector replied.

"But Vector! We don't have long until the day of the event!" Jewel argued back.

"Look, we still got time. Dun panic!"

"I get where they're coming from, since I've been neglecting studying for midterms, but-"

"Jewel, stop," Espio replied. His voice was enough to get the jewel beetle to calm down.

"But what about Espio? He still has community service, right?"

"Then we gotta power through all this. Right?"

There was a silent agreement amongst everyone in the room.


Soon, with little left to be done, everyone had left the dorm, leaving Vector and Espio behind. The crocodile sighed, he hadn't felt this stressed since December, when he had finals, the Winter Championships, and all the discord between him, Connery, and Monk.

"So, how we feelin'?" Vector asked as he finally sat down at the desk, grabbing the remote sitting upon it and turning the TV on. Espio slowly walked over as the green crocodile rocked his foot back and forth.

"You are very su… su… mm… a… mart…?" Espio said. Vector smiled in response.

"D'aw, yer sweet, Es. Well, welcome to bein' quarterback of the Badniks. Yeh gotta be a team leader fer everyone. How d'ya think we won all our games? Workin' together with coach as well as the other guys. I'm sure yeh can relate. Yer real important in Gojo, I'm sure yer mom or someone had yeh make important decisions."

Espio seemed to almost ponder what the crocodile said, uncertainty on his face.

"Well, enough of that, tell me, how did the whole concert thing go? Yeh know me, Knux, and Mighty are real down to help ya in anyway we can."

"It was good," the chameleon replied. "But I did not understand."

And so, the transfer student tried explaining with the best of his ability what happened. From what Vector got, Mrs. Bernadette was wanting a group of students to perform a different era of music and to create appropriate scenery by dressing up as individuals from the era as a reflection of how music would have been seen by individuals during the set pieces they would be happening.

"Music AND dress up?" Vector asked. "Sounds like a lot fer a concert. Yeh sure ya can do it? Yeh sounded like yeh had no one to partner with."

Espio's face fell for a second before Vector reached out, bringing in the chameleon for a soft headlock, grinning widely.

"Aw, I'm messin' with yeh, Es! Of course ya got this! Yer yeh! Yeh can do so much, man!" Vector exclaimed. "And I ain't gonna see mah boyfriend fail at all. That's why, I'm gonna help ya in any way I can! I might not be able to sing, and all I can really do is play the piano okay-ish, but anythin' else, yeh got me!"

"Thank you, Vector. Bu-But…!" Espio grabbed Vector's forearm, wanting to get out of the headlock. The crocodile let go as he got up, hugging Espio and giving him a forehead kiss, then another on his horn.

"Now, I would say let's fool around like we usually do, but we still got midterms to study for even if we got all this CCOCC bullshit to worry 'bout. C'mon, didn't ya say that yeh were havin' some trouble with ESOL? Dun wanna fail that midterm, do we?"

Espio nodded as he slowly returned the hug, Vector rubbing his back.

"Dun worry, I'll get mah bag in a minute. Just lemme… enjoy this fer a moment."


But as he let Vector hug him, Espio felt… that feeling again.

He was grateful for all the help Vector was providing him with studying, with his promise for the concert, and with Connery, alongside the rest of his friends. After all, his father always gave his support to his mother when it came to important decisions regarding Gojo, so he thought Vector was doing the same as a lover.

But… why? What was this feeling he had? Why did he feel like he was… letting his honor down? Why did he feel like he was drowning in a sea of expectations?

Why did he feel like… like he was doing nothing?


THE NEXT DAY

Closing up his notebook and placing his pen back into his bag, Espio had just finished up another weekly ESOL lesson. It had been a rather uneventful one, mainly since it was primarily studying for next week's midterm. Still, the words he had been learning had become much harder to spell and pronounce, and now he was expected to speak in multiple sentences without stopping to think about what he was trying to say. It surely wasn't going to be an easy examination, he was sure about that.

As many of the other students had begun to leave the class, Espio was surprised when he saw a familiar face enter Professor Longclaw's classroom.

"Ah, Longclaw, I wanted to know if you received that email I sent you yesterday,"

It was Valdez, who had entered the room wearing a surprisingly formal outfit. The owl looked up at the blue chameleon, blinking.

"Ah, yes, I have actually. I fully understand, this is important for us anyway," she replied. "Make sure you keep safe on your trip. Of course, I suppose things shouldn't be too bad when you're doing a research trip, no?"

"Well, I'm just appreciative for the good luck," Valdez then turned around, seeing Espio getting up from his chair. "Ah, Espio-kun," he said, switching to Japanese. "Are you still here? Did you need to talk with Professor Longclaw?"

"N-No… I was going to study until my next class," the fuschia chameleon replied.

"I'm glad to hear that. I'm sure your mother will be very proud of your marks as long as you keep up your studies. How about you walk with me back to my office?"

Espio nodded as he followed behind his superior, the two chameleons leaving the room and walking down the C building hall. The sun from outside shined brightly against the windows, illuminating Espio and Valdez's clothes and the magatama necklace the transfer student wore upon his neck.

"I heard something very interesting from, of all people, Mrs. Bernadette. She says you volunteered to help out for that spring music concert she always puts on every year," Valdez began. "I was very surprised when she told me that. I know you had been playing with Alan, but I didn't think that you were that prepared to do something like that."

The truth was, Valdez was right. He WASN'T prepared because he had been trying to see Rotor at the time and only said yes to make Ms. Bernadette go away. Even now, he still felt like he wasn't sure what to do, especially since he was incredibly lost due to the language barrier. The two continued walking.

"This isn't the first time I've had to do something without any knowledge of what to do," Espio replied. "Only, this is about music instead of language. But… how could I put on something like this? You know that the clan would only listen to the music the villagers would play for us, and I only remember touching father's shamisen when he played it."

"If you're that concerned, Espio-kun, you're allowed to back out. Ms. Bernadette won't be mad if you do so. She isn't like that."

"But! I promised…! I… I said I would do it, even if I have so much to do…"

Valdez raised an eyebrow at this. "What do you mean?"

"I'm still studying for all these exams, and there's still… those people. We-"

Espio stopped himself, realizing that he almost told Valdez about what he, Vector, and their friends had been doing.

"I mean, I want to try and stop what those people are doing to me, to you, to Vector, to everyone."

Valdez sighed at this, looking up ahead.

"It seems you're far busier than I thought, Espio-kun. As I've said before, let the officials take care of CCOCC. I promise they're doing everything they can-"

"But what about what happened to Buck? They didn't do anything for him! They didn't see how hurt Alan and Munch were! The students were the ones to help me against that woman who followed me!" Espio shot back.

"Look, I understand you're upset, Espio-kun, but I promise there are people here trying to reach a middle ground. I too am also talking with members of CCOCC, although… it's going less desirable than I thought."

"Do you see, Valdez-san? That's why… why we have to do something! Think about what would happen if a rival nation did this to Gojo! Would my mother stand up to this kind of dishonor?"

Espio continued. "This is what this is, Valdez-san! Dishonor against myself, and everything the Historic District stands for! We were taught to always retain our honor no matter what, and that's why… why I have to get it back no matter what I do! That's why I'm studying hard, pushing myself, because… because that's what we were taught!"

Valdez stared blankly at the chameleon for a bit before opening his mouth.

"You're far more determined than you realize, Espio-kun, but… that doesn't mean you have to destroy yourself."

"Then what should I do? Those people, Connery and his allies, know my strength-"

"What have we always said, Espio-kun? Never become a tengu. I'm hearing cockiness in your voice. I get that you're determined to prove those who criticize you and attempt to hurt you wrong, but it shouldn't come at your own expense. You shouldn't let these thoughts distract you while you know you have more important things to do, like studying. Or perhaps, as you said, deciding what to do about that concert since you seem conflicted?"

Leave it to Valdez to put him in his place… Espio's held fell down slightly.

"I just… I just feel like I have so much going on. I'm not sure what to do. I have this… feeling I can't describe. Like… like I can't regain my honor with all of this. And I feel like it isn't just me causing this, it feels like those around me have done so…"

"Even Vector?"

Espio paused for a few seconds, before closing his eyes. "Yes…"

"Espio-kun… you've already done so much in your time here, but I can tell you're reaching a breaking point. I knew that you seemed different the other day when we had breakfast in your dorm. Are you… still thinking about Naga-san too?"

"Father still hasn't left my thoughts. I think about what he told me in that dream. Only I know in my heart if he's proud of me… do you think he would be, Valdez-san?"

The blue chameleon turned towards Espio as they had finally reached Valdez's office, looking him in the eyes.

"I can assure you that Naga-san is proud of you no matter what," he replied. "Regardless if your honor is desecrated, he knows that you excel at so much in your life that those who seek to bring you down can't see your success for what it is. But… I must warn you, Espio. Even if you wish to seek your father's approval and praise… don't do anything that would hurt yourself, your friends, or even someone else. You may find that Naga-san would be disappointed in you instead."

There was a bit of silence before Valdez spoke again.

"Well, now that we're here, this is where we have to part. I'll see you next week," he said.

"What do you mean? Where are you going?" Espio asked. "I noticed you seem to be dressed very formally."

"Ah, I have to travel out of town to Route 99 City for a research trip with other language professors from other universities. This was the only time we had to do research during the winter period, so I'll be gone from Mobius U until next Thursday. While I'm gone, please make sure to behave yourself. Just because I'm not here doesn't mean your mother will tolerate you becoming a hooligan. And uh, if something happens, please don't hesitate to call me. I'm actually running a bit late right now, so I have to hurry to my office to get everything I need. I'll see you soon, Espio-kun. And if you want, since your community service is almost over according to Officer Wachowski, I'll treat you to dinner out. How does that sound?"

Espio nodded slowly as Valdez bowed slightly, entering his office and closing the door behind him. Espio stood in the middle of the C building hall, staring at the door.

"He still doesn't know what we're going to do, and he'll be gone," the chameleon thought to himself. "I know you're worried about me, but I'll be alright. I must do this to restore my honor, to ensure that no one will ever get hurt again…"

But there was that feeling again. That feeling he had yesterday…

Valdez didn't really seem to answer his question, and seemed to think because he was doing all of this. Which… felt partially right. After all, not even during his days of training would he have a schedule as busy as this.

"Vector… how are you doing right now?"


MEANWHILE

Vector moved out of the way of the huge lines in the dining hall, his head turning back and forth.

"C'mon, I know yer 'round here…" he said to himself. The crocodile was becoming antsy, knowing that the second he found Brawny, so much could be done regarding Connery. He just cursed how large the K building was, especially how busy things naturally got around the lunch rush.

After almost crashing into someone walking away with a plate of clucky fingers, Vector decided it would be best to try the second floor lounge area to see if Brawny perhaps appeared there again, as students could be found eating there too. Luckily for the quarterback, his wish was granted.

Sitting at a table by one of the TVs against the wall sat Brawny, next to Thrash, the two silently eating as the warthog seemed to have a blank stare in his eyes. Vector paid no mind to this however, and walked towards the two.

"Yo! Brawny, Thrash! What's up?" Vector said aloud, putting his knuckles on the table and trying to at least start off on a good note. The two however, barely reacted, as Thrash was the only one to really acknowledge Vector.

"Oh… 'sup…" Thrash softly said, seemingly uncomfortable with the conversation. Vector raised a brow at this.

"What's wrong, guys? Why the long face?" he asked. "Hey, Brawny, yeh alright dude?"

Just as Vector reached over to tap the warthog's shoulder, he quickly got up and turned around.

"D-Don't touch me! Ju-just leave, Vector…!" he said.

"Brawny? What's gotten into yeh, dude?! Ya ain't like this!"

The warthog simply took a few steps forward, distancing himself from Vector as he put his hands over his ears.

"I… I can't do this anymore, man! If they see me with you, they're gonna come after my ass next! We already had to deal with people trying to interrupt our practice sessions in the Space Theater! J-Just go! Pretend you didn't see me here!"

Now it made perfect sense to Vector.

In all the things that happened to him, Espio, and their friends, Vector had almost forgotten that the other members of the Badniks were a target for CCOCC and their cronies. With them supporting Espio and Vector over Connery and very likely Monk, it's no wonder why Brawny was acting the way he was. Still, Vector didn't like the warthog's attitude, and so he walked forward to knock some sense into him.

"I-I said just leave!" Brawny yelled.

"Vec, didn't you hear him-" Thrash said before Vector exclaimed,

"Brawny, listen to yerself! D'ya really think that's how a Badnik should talk to their team leader?!"

In trying to channel his inner Coach Augustus, Vector continued.

"I get that yer bein' hurt and yeh didn't even do anythin'. Trust me, it ain't just yeh. Knuckles has gotten shit thrown his way, hell, I bet Thrash has too!"

Pointing at the purple tasmanian devil, he nodded as he looked around.

"S-Sorry… lemme just… I think you two need to talk," Thrash said, getting up and sidling out of the way for the crocodile and warthog.

"Tell me somethin', what do we say before any play?" Vector continued.

"Badniks… attack?"

"That's right. We attack any fuckin' person who tries to bring us down, the ones who make us think that we deserve to taste the ground and never feel any kind of victory! And that doesn't feel right to ya, does it?"

Brawny was silent before Vector walked closer.

"Well? Does it?!" he got louder.

"N-No!"

"Exactly! That's why ya gotta pull yerself together, Brawny!"

"B-But what do you need with me anyway?! Don't you go to that Epio person or whatever his name was when you have a problem and he does it?"

Vector looked around for a bit before reaching his snout closer to Brawny's ear, whispering.

"I think I found a way to finally bring Connery and his cronies down," the crocodile said. "That means there ain't gonna be anyone who messes with the Badniks, or messes with yer drama practices again."

Brawny seemed confused, but a light lit up in his eyes. "Y-You mean it?"

"That's why I need yer help. Yer someone I actually need to do this. I heard that Drama students on the Dean's List get access to a key that opens up doors like the control booths?"

"H-How do you know that?!"

"That ain't important. Yeh made the Dean's List, didn't ya? Then get me that key. It's the only way we can get this to stop."

"Bu-But I need it, Vector! Do you think it just sits in my bag looking pretty?! No! We've been so busy with practice sessions, I need it!"

"Look, all I'm askin' fer is one night. The night of CCOCC's little conference. I promise I dun need it after that. Hell, I got a friend who's willin' to make a copy. Brawny, I know yer a favorite with the Drama professors, but sometimes… ya gotta do the wrong things fer the right reasons."

Vector continued. "And besides, it ain't just that too. I need to know the layout of the Space Theater too and what they use in that control room."

"Another favor?"

"Let's call it even. I'll pay fer yer meals all day tomorrow."

Brawny looked at Vector for a bit before sighing and turning around, walking over to his bag, the gray warthog opened it up and pulled out a shiny key on a lanyard.

"I suppose I can let another one of the guys let me in. But promise me, once you're done with it, I NEED to see this back. Please," Brawny said, allowing Vector to grab the key and look at it.

"And this opens any door in the theatre?"

"Any door. And as for your second request… I gotta head back to class soon, but… if you aren't busy, all my classes are done at ten thirty. Well, actually at nine, but myself and a bunch of the other students stay behind to rehearse. Once I'm done, I'll meet you in the main lobby. And please Vector… I'm so sick of this. Stop Connery and Monk for me, will you?"

The quarterback nodded. "No worries. I'm yer quarterback, Brawny. Yeh know I'll do anythin' fer ya guys."

With that, Brawny finally returned to his table as Vector sighed. Finally, he managed to get the key he and the others needed. It felt relieving that they were one step closer to their goal. Once Jewel got the schedule and they learn the entire layout of the theatre, CCOCC wouldn't know what hit them!

Vector turned around, ready to have a quick lunch before his next class started. Climbing down the steps, he only managed to walk feet away from the bottom step before being stopped.

"So, you still continue this foolishness, huh, Vector?"

The crocodile turned around, not realizing that he had just passed by Axel standing against the wall, arms crossed. Vector's eyes lowered.

"Were ya just waitin' fer me here, dude?" he asked.

"Oh no, I just got done with lunch myself," the water buffalo replied. "It's been very relieving to not be as overly paranoid as Brawny has become."

"Can ya blame the dude? He can't even do anythin' without people yellin' the dumbest shit at him!"

"Or he could actually ignore them and continue what he does, a piece of advice I frankly should be offering you."

Axel continued, his dry face not changing.

"You still continue to get involved in these political feuds, Vector. Don't think I haven't noticed what's been going on. I thought I told you when you had that childish fight with Connery and Monk. Stop all this discord because you'd snap. And you didn't listen. Now look at what you're doing, involving yourself in something so trivial when you know you have more important things in life to focus on. You're going to let your football career die because you need to react to this?"

This was enough to already cause Vector to be mad. "And what? D'ya think I WANT to be some puppet for Connery and Monk and whoever to throw their anger out?! D'ya think I WANNA see Espio be some sorta scapegoat fer people to throw their bigotry?! D'ya think I WANNA see mah teammates get yelled at fer something they never did?! Look at yerself, Axel! I know that yeh've been given hate from CCOCC and their cronies!"

"You're right. I have. But the difference between you and I, Vector, is that I don't pay any mind to that. I turn off my phone, go to class, work out, and go about my business and think about my plans for my future. Something you should have been doing from the very beginning instead of feeling the need to defend someone who can clearly stand on their own."

"And what?! Yer on CCOCC's side now?!"

"I never said that. I told you before, didn't I? I disapprove of Connery and Monk seeming to focus more on political agendas than their own career in football, especially now that Monk has essentially thrown away his football career to pursue this foolishness. Frankly, they're doing the same thing you are, risking their careers to pursue a political feud."

"So what? I just shut up and turn the other way when someone slanders me?"

Axel turned around. "If that's how you see it, then yes. I'm just warning you, if you want to make it to the CMFL like you always said you would in the locker rooms, perhaps you should start focusing on your behavior now."

With that, the water buffalo walked away, Vector watching through angered eyes as he did so.

"The fuck does he know…" he thought to himself. "I ain't gonna let Mr. Fun Killer here try to stop me. I already got as far as I have, I'm gonna do this fer everyone's sake. Fer… fer Es' sake."

He thought of his boyfriend at that moment. How could he even take Axel's advice? Letting Espio fend for himself against what felt like an entire army… It already pained him to see the tiredness on the chameleon's face when he got back to the dorm, the only place he seemed to have any repose anymore.

"We've been datin' fer weeks and yet we haven't even gotten to do anythin' a couple would thanks to Connery and his mooks. But… not anymore… Dun even try to stop me, Axel, yeh dun know it now, but I'd do anythin' for Espio…"


SATURDAY

It had been a rather eventful couple of days for Espio. Of course, with having to go to meetings regarding the Spring Concert and planning out their attack on Connery, it only added to Espio's already busy schedule. Plus, there was still community service to go to. And even though Espio was off campus, the war he saw still wasn't over.

"A lot of the other prisoners have been askin' me about you, kid," Smithy said as he and Espio were standing by a white table serving food today. "They've been keepin' their eyes on the local news about what's going on at Mobius U. Seems like shit still hasn't stopped, has it?"

The lion's eyes went back to the TV, which was in the middle of a breaking news story about the university, and more accurately, the A building. Espio couldn't quite understand what the news was trying to say, but hie eyes widened when he saw blue and red flashing lights, knowing something happened.

From what Vector told him when he got back to the dorm, someone emailed a bomb threat in the classroom where the LGBTQ League had their meetings.

"That's what people on the campus are sayin' on Scrambler anyway. Somethin' 'bout some event that club did last year, think they invited a drag queen. Dunno, I put mah phone down readin' all that, but…" he said. "Fuck… yeh go from sendin' someone to the hospital to bomb threats… That's why, more than ever, we need to stop them, Es."

Smithy said something identical too. Knowing that this would be the last time he would see the lion before next week, when CCOCC's conference would finally go underway, the chameleon confided in the lion about the plan.

"Listen kid," he said. "I told you before, you got friends that'll be there for you no matter what. But this is a war you gotta take in your own hands. The moment where karma is enacted on others that I talked about the other week? It's here. But… make sure you don't end up here. Trust me, I'm nice to you because I know you're not a bad kid, but I know others on Prison Island aren't so friendly. And I won't be there to be your shield, especially since I know you can defend yourself. All I can say is, as someone who's done shit like you have… don't just enact revenge for yourself. Think about others too. Really give yourself a reason to give revenge instead of thinking about petty feuds-"

"Espio…? Espio, are you thereeee?"

The chameleon gasped, realizing he was in deep thought. He looked around to see everyone, from Vector, Knuckles, and Mighty, to the five Mercian Transfer students, to the hedgehog triplets, and Jewel and Rotor all staring at him. Blinking, he realized that Jewel was the one to break him out of his trance.

"Ah… I am sorry," he said.

"You good, man?" Knuckles asked. "You just kinda stared off into space. Besides, now's not the time. Jewel's about to show us the schedule!"

Right. The schedule. The CCOCC schedule. Of course, he knew that.

"Thankfully, Harvey didn't suspect me. He knows I always get a list of student group events and their plans so I can help out with them, although CCOCC's events is, unsurprisingly, the only event I don't help out with. Frankly, I was actually considering asking Harvey if I could volunteer so I can get some of us in easier, but I think Connery would have been suspicious. Anyway, here's the list!"

Everyone all gathered around Jewel as she opened up a piece of paper. Unfolding it, she displayed it for all to see.

"The Clenched Fist of Truth: The fight against Wokeness and how to save our Country from The Invasion.

Organized by: CCOCC and all students involved

CCOCC Student Representative: Connery Horse

Date: Thursday, March 3

Mobius University Space Theatre, 7:00 P.M.

Location: Stage 2

PROGRAM

Preamble - 7:00-7:15 P.M.

Speaker: Connery Horse

Information: Connery, student representative, will begin the event with a speech speaking out against the media attacks on CCOCC. He will then move to defending CCOCC's actions against the left and the media before reiterating his support for closed borders and attacks on harmful 'diversity' rhetoric.

"So it's seven, huh?" Mighty asked. "That means we gotta be in the Theatre by five."

"Two hours to make a mess out of all of this, huh?" Sonia asked. "I wonder if we can do it?"

"Course we can, sis!" Manic replied. "And if we can't, well, I'll at least try to get us all out in style!"

"Now that we know what time it starts, we got a good time frame," Vector added. "Okay, let's move onto the key and what Brawny told me-"

"Oi, mates! Look!" Bow exclaimed, pointing to a line on the paper. The others looked closer to see what the sparrow was pointing at.

"The Death of Men and how Groomers, Feminists, and Degeneracy Embracers are Responsible - 8:30-9:00 P.M

Speaker: Monk Gorilla

Information: CCOCC member Monk, discusses the hatred of men, and pushes back against those who wish to chemically castrate children and themselves, men haters, and soft metrosexuals, and how men can reclaim who they once were as long as they embrace tradition and reject degeneracy by reclaiming masculinity. Also discussed: prevalence of drag queens, pronouns, Overlanders identifying as Mobians, the dangers of SSRI's, and the radical push of the LGBT on sports, among other issues."

Vector and Knuckles looked at each other.

"Of course," they said in unison.

"Yeah, look at these!" Jewel added, moving her finger down. "The Many Benefits of a Robust Supply-Side Capitalist System by Sydney Newt, How the Woke Left is the greatest danger to the United Federation by Timothy Caldwell, How Communist Groomers aspire to make Gaian belief illegal by special guest speaker Katella Huntress, Open Borders and Criminals, The Case against celebrating Mental Illness, Sexual Deviancy and how to stop society's degradation, Examples of Socialism at Mobius U…" the jewel beetle sighed. "Yup. Sounds like CCOCC to me."

"Stop readin' that, that ain't the point!" Vector replied. "The point is that, we now know what time this thing starts and an idea who's gonna be there. Mighty's right, we gotta be there early enough so we can get it but we still gotta go out in the dark too, we can discuss that later, fer now, I got a bit of a surprise fer yeh! Not only did Brawny give me the key, he gave me a pretty useful tip,"

Espio watched as Vector brought out his phone, unlocking it as it went to his background, a picture of him and Espio, before clicking his gallery and tapping on a picture. He put his phone in between the middle where the schedule had been.

"Is that a trap door?" Buck asked.

"Apparently, Brawny let it slip that every single control booth in the Space Theatre are all connected with these underground tunnels, and that they're used fer the Drama students to slip in and out without goin' to intermission. There's more of them than just the booths, they're scattered EVERYWHERE in the buildin'."

"Then if we use them, no one would suspect a thing!" Alan exclaimed.

"Exactly right! Now, Jewel, yeh still got that floor plan sheet ya were drawin' out?"

And so, the next couple of minutes were spent following along to the video Manic and Alan shot, alongside the pictures Vector took, with Espio helping out Jewel draw. Meanwhile, Rotor was at the side taking notes for who would do what, with Vector, Knuckles, Mighty, himself, Jewel, and Buck's positions being blank.

"I was thinking," Sonia suggested. "We suggested using a USB drive to set up a fake presentation, but what if we did more than that? What if we… if we made like a virus that destroyed the computer when it was plugged in! That way, NO one can use it!"

"I don't think that's how it works though…" Rotor replied, brow raised.

"You're an engineer, aren't you, dude? You should know about that!" Manic complained.

"Co-Computer engineering is completely different than what I do! I don't know much about computer building and programming!"

"So should we only do the USB idea? It sounds like too little to me!" Knuckles added. "We need something else we can do with a computer, something that not even CCOCC would expect-"

And then, there was a knock.

Everyone froze as a few people got up. Espio turned around, staring intensely at the door.

"Espio, don't. They didn't say who it was," Mighty whispered.

"If it was CCOCC or someone like them, they wouldda yelled outside our door now," Vector whispered back. "They aren't the type to wait patiently."

"Are yeh tellin' 'im to go?!" Thorn almost whisper-yelled.

"Shh! Quiet! We can discuss this later. Es… d'ya wanna open it?"

But without replying, the chameleon had already slowly begun to walk to the door. He could feel everyone behind him being shocked at the lack of noise he was making, not even the sound of his breathing could be heard. He passed by the giant pile of shoes by the front door, pressing his head against it. His eyes darted all over, remembering one of the more advanced things from his ninja training; enemies will always start to panic when they are hidden but know you're close. He closed his eyes, trying to hear.

But instead, he heard… nothing.

And that was all he needed. Espio grabbed the door handle, unlocked it first, and opened the door. He knew his judgment wasn't wrong, and as it turned out, he was right.

Although, who he DID see on the other side of his door caused his eyes to widen.

Standing in front of the door frame, an expression on his face that Espio had NEVER seen before, Mark stood, posture as high as he's ever seen the tapir been.

"Espio… hi…" he said in that oh-so familiar nasally voice of his. How long had it been since the chameleon had seen Mark in person? It felt like forever when the tapir seemed to almost retreat from life after what happened to his cards. In fact, THAT felt like it was forever ago too, and yet that was earlier this month.

"Ma… Mark… what… what happ-" Espio said before he was stopped.

"I know you have questions, but… now's not the time. I…" he wiped his face. "I'm tired of being useless, Espio. I heard Vector and some guy argue the other day about that Connery guy. And that's when… I reazlied that I need to help you stop CCOCC."

There was a shuffling behind him as the chameleon turned around, Mark looking past his shoulder. They could see the others in the dorm room staring blankly at them.

"...so, you too?" Knuckles asked.


Mark marched across the small dorm, going back and forth as he had loaded up a powerpoint of his own on Vector's laptop. With the title, 'HOW TO PUNCH A FASCIST 100% GUILT FREE!', the tapir began.

"Since you guys have caught me up on everything that's been going on, I think now more than ever we need to have this talk. Since CCOCC have become the overlords of this campus, I realize now more than ever that the pushback they need no longer can come from words," he said. He clicked to the next slide. "Fascists don't care about being proven wrong, they know that they're being hypocritical, and they frankly don't care. Whatever allows their movement to grow and and expand into the minds of people is all that matters to them."

Mark then crouched over, clicking the right arrow key a few times. "Now, I asked a few of my friends from OOTS about what I should do since a lot of them are following what's going on at Mobius U…"

"OOTS?..." Rotor asked himself.

"...and besides the talk about logging in onto Warriors and Wizards: Duelist Simulator to test his Skelesoldier Squadron deck, and the complaints I had towards the new Gate of Mystery deck, a lot of them gave me advice on what we should do."

"Like beat them up?" Sonia asked.

"Well, that's just one PART of it-"

"Hey! I thought I said I wasn't going to do any sort of fighting or… or anything like that!" Jewel complained. "And you all said you'd respect it! And suddenly NOW we're changing that?! Besides, fascist is WAY too strong a word!"

"I hate to break it to you… uh… Jewel, was it? But as I said, you can't fight fascists with words alone. Protesting is good, yeah, but what do you do when you get to the point where someone emails in a BOMB threat?! They can't be called conservatives at this point anymore, ESPECIALLY when I have to read Scrambler posts where CCOCC almost ENCOURAGES this. They wanna stoop to violence? Fine, then so will we. They think we're gonna hide behind poster boards and pop music? Not anymore will we, or anyone else in this university should."

"Can't we just let the police handle them at the very least? We already know that they're gonna try something bad! We don't need to get our hands dirty!"

"And what, you think NOW they're gonna do something? Officer Wachowski hasn't even ONCE turned an eye at CCOCC and yet he's ready for when Espio even does so much as take a step! They're just as much guilty, enabling this!"

"All I'm saying is that you're going too far!"

"Violence is the only language they speak. From what you guys told me, you should know this by now. It's exactly what a fascist does, and if they don't wanna listen to reason, then let's speak their language loud and clear."

"But violence only brings about more violence!"

Mark stared at Jewel for a bit.

"...Jewel, I can already tell that you are in DESPERATE need of reading socialist theory," he said.

He coughed as the jewel beetle sulked. "Moving on, there's a few factors we can take into place to recognize the ways in which CCOCC retaliates against the student body, against whoever they don't like, and… against… against you, Espio."

Espio blinked. "Me?" he asked.

"Among the posts we found on CCOCC's Scrambler page, there were quite a few directed at you. When called out, people would try to frame it as a joke to play schrodinger's douchebag, but I could tell what kind of dogwhistles they were using. Hiding behind memes and all that, that's why it's more important than ever we should stop what's going on. And that's where my Plan A comes in. Someone suggested I disrupt the system on CCOCC's Scrambler page where they get a react, and how they do so? Set up an account, and then set up a bot."

"A bot?" Vector asked.

"You mean, like those accounts that aren't controlled by people but computers instead?" Rotor added.

"Exactly! Whoever's running the CCOCC account is having a hell of a time responding to its critics, posting dumb memes, and calling everything they don't like communism, and they're getting a lot of interaction from other 'like-minded' people. But what if we disrupt that? What if we make it where NO ONE can have an interaction with them thanks to their pages being flooded? That way, WE control their narrative and take the mic away from them, and give people the confidence to start making fun of them!"

"So we're gonna hack into their page?!" Vector said, almost seeming giddy at this. Mark's glasses shined.

"Even better."


Vector frowned as everyone watched Mark groan out of frustration, bringing up a search engine and copy and pasting another line of code into it.

"Y'know, Mark, when ya said that yeh were gonna program the bot yerself, I had this idea in mah head that yeh were gonna be on a black screen, typing furious with those green letters," Vector said, disappointed.

"That's in the movies, Vector! That's completely unrealistic!" the tapir shot back, softly slamming his hands on the keyboard. "What do you MEAN 'boolean array required here'?! There's already one there-"

Seeing as how Mark was going to be busy, and how Jewel was busy with the others continuing to draw out the floor plans of the Space Theatre, Espio couldn't help but reflect at that moment where he sat. It felt like everyone else around him was doing all the work, and he didn't even know what he should do. He thought about asking Vector what he could do, because as he learned from his mother, there's nothing worse than a leader who doesn't serve their people.

There it was again. That feeling. Was it… was it stronger this time? He thought about everything that was going on, he thought about how next week was CCOCC's event and how they weren't even done with a finalized plan, how he still had the Spring concert to plan out which was due to Ms. Bernadette by TUESDAY, how there was midterms next week and the need to study, and all those people who kept avoiding Sally just to get their fist on the door and yell out of their system, it-

Caused the door to knock again.

Everyone stopped and silenced once again like they had earlier, Manic quickly turning the music he had playing on his phone down. Espio was confused too. ANOTHER person? But… who could need him now? Valdez had already left Central City, so… who was it?

This time, however, Vector tried to stop the chameleon. He put his hand gently on his wrist.

"Es… I dun trust it this time," he whispered. "Let them think we're not here."

But that's when a voice called out.

"Espio? T-This is your dorm right? I heard music playing… are you in there?"

That voice… why did it sound familiar?

In fact, it wasn't just Espio who recognized it.

"Wait a second…" Buck said. "I've heard that voice! Espio, let them in!"

The chameleon nodded as he passed by the others, passed by the giant pile of shoes, and opened the door. Who he saw confirmed his suspicions, but also surprised him considering WHO it was.

With his large glasses and red fur, Gadget stood outside, twiddling his thumbs with his hands close to his chest.

"O-Oh! Oh thank goodness that chipmunk lady was right! This is your dorm!" Gadget said. "S-Sorry, she almost yelled at me when I told her I was looking for you."

"How are you?" Espio asked. Gadget's face fell considerably.

"Well… it's… it's the reason I'm here," the wolf put his hand on his arm. "Earlier today, after we left Public Speaking, I heard you and Buck walking on the way to your next classes. I know it seems bad on my part, but… but I heard something that piqued my curiosity. So… so I followed you guys so I could listen."

Buck then walked up next to the chameleon. "The whole thing?"

"Yeah. How you were gonna meet up after your classes finished and talk about the plan, and how you mused about what CCOCC was going to do next, Buck… all of it. When I heard it, I realized this meant that you were doing something to stop what's going on around campus."

"...and what if we are?" Vector asked, seemingly wary of the wolf.

"Then… then let me help too!" Gadget replied as he barged himself into the room. "I… I… I had a run in with a guy from there. And he…"

"What?" Espio replied, realizing that yet ANOTHER person he knew was being hurt by CCOCC.

"How can we trust you?" Sonia asked.

"Hey, I don't think we should be so wary," Sonic replied. "Let's hear him out, see what he has to say,"

"I know him too," Jewel added. "He was in Espio and I's art class. He's very honest so… don't dismiss him, Vector!"

The crocodile sighed. "Sorry, just… bein' cautious. So… ya had a run in with CCOCC, huh? What happened? Go on, take a seat."

The wolf sighed as Espio tapped him on the shoulder, pointing at the pile of shoes by the door. After doing what he was asked, the red lupine sat in front of the entire group on the floor.

"W-Well…" Gadget began. "I actually have begun to start a petition here to make the university supply more accommodations for disabled people around campus, for all kinds of disabilities too-"

"You have?!" Mighty replied, running up to the wolf. "Why wasn't I aware of this?! Tell me more, please!"

"H-Hey, guy! I'd be happy to tell you but… this is kind of important…!"

"S-Sorry… stuff like that is important to me. Yeah, go on, go on."

"What's with the reaction?" Bow asked, confused. However, Vector and Knuckles turned towards each other.

"Ray and 'Tilly, no doubt," Knuckles said, bringing up the armadillo's siblings.

"So what does this have to do with CCOCC?" Sonia asked.

"So, I've actually been standing in front of the campus by the fountain collecting signatures for the last couple of days…"


"Thanks for your signature, ladies!" Gadget said as he was handed back his pen. "It really means a lot to hear you're willing to let your voice be heard! Have a good day!"

The wolf smiled as he hummed to himself, happy to have another set of signatures. Just another… fifty-two more before the university would HAVE to hear him out about his proposition!"

Just then, he heard his backpack getting kicked. The wolf's eyes opened wide as he grabbed it, seeing a shoemark on the bright beige portion of his cheeseburger backpack.

"That's in my way, get it out of there and stop frolicking like a freak," a rather sharp voice said. Gadget looked up to see a rather tall, intimidating looking purple gorilla with a large muscular structure. Judging from his face, he very much was NOT in the mood.

"S-Sorry! I didn't mean to…!" Gadget replied, grabbing the backpack and placing the straps on. "Sorry, sorry-"

"What kind of… who on earth uses a CHEESEBURGER as a backpack on a college campus? With… oh Gaia," he snarled, looking at all the different pins and clip-ons he had on the zippers of the backpack from the different fandoms he was apart of. "Don't tell me, I already know what you are. You're one of those sickening betas who still watch cartoons and buy toys as an adult, right?"

Gadget looked up at the gorilla, brow raised at him as he was very put off by how rude the gorilla had become in a matter of seconds.

"...you gotta problem with cartoons?" the wolf asked, holding the straps of his backpack tightly.

"Men once upon a time ago actually fought wars with spears and toppled kingdoms, NOT whatever I see in front of me!" the gorilla snarled. "The fact you even STILL care about that shit past ten tells me that you aren't a real man, and I wouldn't be surprised if in ten years, you haven't put the childish garbage away as you rot away like the obese and unloved consumer you'll absolutely become."

Gadget already felt his legs become weak. He hated being yelled at more than anything in the world, and the fact that some stranger felt the need to comment when he heard it enough in his life… I mean, cartoons gave him so much peace and joy, an instant comfort whenever his anxiety got the best of him!

"S-Shut up! Go away, I don't care what you think!" Gadget yelled. "You're incredibly rude, sir!"

"You think you scare me?" the gorilla got up close to the wolf's face. "What are you gonna do? Cry?" he began to smirk. "I feel like you're a master of that, and frankly, maybe I need a good laugh."

He was starting to shake, but he couldn't cry here. But it was that smirk, the one he recognized for so many years, one that wanted to bask in cruelty. He had never seen this person before, but just seconds into seeing him and it was like every bully he had in his life, plus members of his family, all wrapped into one person.

That's when he dropped the clipboard containing the petition has doing. As it crashed to the ground, the gorilla turned towards it.

"What's that?" he asked, reaching down.

'No! Don't-"

But it was too late. The gorilla's reflexes were too much. He read it as Gadget tried to jump up to grab it, only for the gorilla to put it above his head. He tried kicking his shin, but it did nothing. That's when Monk's scowl grew deeper before twisting into a smile.

"This is… ha… ha ha ha! THIS is what you're standing outside out here for?!" he yelled. "For a bunch of fucking natural born failures and re-"


Gadget stopped himself mid-sentence.

"What's wrong, mate?" Munch asked.

"Actually… I'd rather not say what he told me…" he said softly. "But it was bad. Anyway-"


He took a step back onto to feel the back of his legs hit the side of the fountain. His tablet was in his bag, he should have gotten it out and used his TTS app to say anything now that his selective mutism was coming out. He tried to yell at him to stop, but nothing came out.

"Don't you look at me like that!" the gorilla yelled. "This tells everything about you! You're just another one of those freaks who thinks they can be NORMAL!"

And in a flash, he brought the clipboard up to his knee and slammed it against it, shattering it and tearing the paper in half. Gadget only let out a gasp and held up his hand as Monk threw the remains of the clipboard and the paper into the fountain behind Gadget.

"Well here's your news flash, this is the real world. You still going to be into this shit once you get out, or are you gonna care about these kiddy things when you're out picking cans from the garbage? Maybe think about it for once in your life. Fucking grab your balls and be a man."

With that, the gorilla left, leaving Gadget to slump onto the floor. Although he could see a few people surrounding him, the fact they did nothing, the fact that in just a flash, his petition was gone…

Nothing really changed, did it?


"And that's what happened. I asked around with some of the people who came up to see if I was okay and they told me that the gorilla guy was this CCOCC member who's been stirring a lot of trouble. They said he was the one responsible for putting a student in the hospital. Was that you, Buck?" Gadget asked. The deer nodded silently. The entire room was silent at first before Mark turned around in his seat.

"Of course… of COURSE!" he yelled. "Of course it's that Monk guy again! The fact I haven't even MET him and I'm hearing all this stuff sure says a LOT about his character!" He scoffed as he went back to the laptop, adjusting his glasses. "What, next you're gonna tell me he throws CHAO eggs at the wall to force them to hatch and laughs when they get upset?!"

"Y-You know him?!"

Vector spoke up next. "Trust me, EVERYONE in this room is VERY familiar with him. I dun think we even need to explain our history. But still… the fact that he STILL ain't done with this… the fact that he's STILL out there, hurtin' people and actin' all smug about it!"

The crocodile's teeth were grit as he turned towards Jewel. "I just know that Monk is very much helpin' Connery out with CCOCC's next event. After all, he's the only one with a thirty minute timeslot on that schedule, right?"

The jewel beetle brought back up the schedule and opened it up, reading through it, a minute later, she nodded.

"I haven't been sure what I'd do fer this stakeout, but I realized it now," Vector continued. "Jewel, I'm goin' after Monk. Leave him to me."

Knuckles got up as soon as he said this.

"You're WHAT?! By yourself?!" he yelled.

"I know what I'm doin', Knux. And frankly, it's about high time he's learned a lesson," Vector proceeded to crack his knuckles."Besides, I haven't done him the honors of kickin' his ass like I did Connery in the showers."

Espio also reacted to this. He grabbed Vector's upper arm, shaking his head.

"No! He is sh… shtrong!" he said.

"Didn't you forget? You told us that Monk's taken up MMA now that he left the Badniks," Mighty added. "If anything, he's gotten even stronger than he has when he was just playing football."

"Look, I get that! It's just… Monk is absolutely Connery's right hand man here. If we bring him down, then it's a huge negative on Connery's side. He loses the sole person who could protect him. Dun forget, I've still been workin' out on mah own time too."

But Espio wasn't convinced. "Vector, no. I will-"

"Es, please. I know yeh think ya can take him on, and honestly, I think if yeh two got into a fight, yeh'd kick Monk's ass. But this is somethin' we're all doin' together. I ain't gonna let him hurt yeh like he's hurt so many others…"

There was silence for a moment before Knuckles spoke up.

"...very well, then if it's your decision… I'll join too," he said.

"Knux!"

"You know I'm your shield, Vec. Like I am with football. I'm not gonna sit there and watch you get beat up, we'll take him on, together. Then he'll never know what hit him. Let's watch him try to take on two guys at once."

"Don't think it's just you two," Mighty said. "I'd do anything for you guys, man. You're like… my best buds! And if we're gonna take Monk down, or if we all get our ass kicked, there's no one I'd wanna do it more than you two. Count me in too."

Espio's mouth was wide open. What were they DOING?! Were they all just going to get themselves hurt… no, possibly KILLED against such a strong man?! And the others semed okay with this? In fact, he could watch Jewel writing down, "Vector, Knuckles, Mighty ~ Take on Monk, stop his presentation".

"But what happens if he does beat yeh all?" Bow asked. Vector scratched his chin before turning to where the sparrow sat.

"Change of plans fer yeh and yer friends. Bow, yeh and Thorn hold up the banners yeh guys are gonna bring down. Alan, Munch, once yeh get yer banners set up, hand them to Bow and Thorn and… give us some backup on Monk, okay? I think we can win, but I know we're gonna get roughed up pretty bad. And if we can't fight… try the best yeh can. Can I trust yeh two?"

And now MORE of his friends were being told to do something so dangerous?! And even though he could start to hear ringing in his ears, he could hear a faint yes.

He put his hand to his chest, feeling his heart beat in a way it hadn't before. He felt like he could collapse, his breathing becoming hitched. Mark was the first to notice this.

"Espio? What's wrong?" he asked. Vector quickly turned to his boyfriend.

"Es? Es, are ya alright?!" the crocodile said in a panic. "What's goin' on?"

Through his hitched heavy and fast breathing, he grabbed the side of the bed frame and closed his eyes.

"No…" Espio said.

"No? Whatever do you mean?" Thorn asked.

"I do this… I go for Connery… and Mo… Monk."

"What are yeh sayin'? Yeh can't take the two of them at the same time!" Vector added. "I get that they're the most important people to this event, but I told ya that we're doin' this fer so many people, but fer me… I'm doin' this fer ya!"

But even though Vector was offering his support, it… it didn't matter. It wasn't about just trying to stop what CCOCC was doing anymore…

"Yeah, that's also why I'm helping out! Not just for the safety of the campus and students, not just for myself, but for you too! You're my friend, Espio! I always told you how much you meant to me when I landed in the hospital…" Jewel said. The others were in unison, as Gadget turned to the chameleon.

"That's why I came to you, Espio! If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have told you what happened-" he said before Espio got up. His teeth grit, and he turned away from the others.

"No! I must do this… ja-just me!" he yelled. The entire room quieted down as the chameleon realized what he did. Everything that he felt, everything that had been boiling from how overwhelming things had become in his life had finally boiled over.

"By yourself?! Are you hearing yourself?" Knuckles questioned. "We're not going to let you, Espio! We're working together so-"

"It is hon… honar!" he said.

"Honor?" asked Manic.

"Connery ruin my honar. He deshhtroy my honar. I ma-must get it back myself. My fu-friends must not get ha-hurt."

"I mean, wouldn't you get hurt too? What happens if you get badly hurt, or arrested if something goes wrong? That's why we're making sure this goes smooth, Espio!" Mighty replied.

"I do not want you to get hurt. I will not like myself if you do. I must purotect you. And if I die to purotect you o-all,"

He then turned around to stare at everyone. "Then so be it."

The entire room was silent as Vector's face fell alongside everyone's face of surprise or horror. He held up his hand. "E-Es… n-no… no, yer wrong."

"I do not ke-care, Vector, I la-learn this in Gojo. To purotect my pi-people, I ma-must want to die for them."

"D-Don't you think you're going a bit far, dude?" Sonic asked. "I mean, it's nice to know you're looking out for us, but the fact you wanna DIE for us is-"

"What Espio was taught in his home. In Yurashian culture, honor is very important," Mark explained. "Putting others above yourself is seen as tradition. It's no wonder Espio feels like he does. We all come from a world that's so different from his, we don't understand it. Why do you think they have so many different beliefs on death than we do in this zone?"

"Es… how long were ya thinkin' this?" Vector asked. He walked forward. "How long did ya keep this from me?"

The transfer student turned away. "I am sorry, Vector… I hurt you…" Espio replied. The crocodile frowned in response.

"...can yeh guys see?" he asked the others. "Can ya see what he's become? He can't enjoy a normal life here because he's so worried 'bout everyone around him! He wouldn't be like this if it wasn't fer Connery!"

"Why do you think I suggested what I suggested? We can't reason with that guy anymore, we HAVE to fight back-" Mark said before he was interrupted.

"Whaddya know, Mark?! Ya didn't even come to us until TODAY!"

"Vector, what are you doing?!" Mighty questioned as Vector walked around the small dorm, the others getting out of the way.

"Dontcha see! He had so much on his plate, and we kept takin' the one opportunity fer himself! He ain't just doin' this to stop it, he's doin' this fer his honor, he's doin' this fer-"

The crocodile stopped himself, but Espio knew what he was seconds away from saying, 'his father'.

"D'ya think I WANNA keep bein' some… some fuckin' political puppet fer Connery?! I'm tired of it! I'm tired of bein' thrown into politics by people I dunno cause someone has a bone to pick with mah boyfriend! This is why I never gave a shit 'bout it! And now look where we are now… I can't even enjoy bein' a couple with Es cause of all this. People get their first date, their first time goin' out as a couple… why can't we? It… it isn't fair! I just want life to go back to what it was before all this! Is that too much to ask fer?!"

He breathed heavily, Espio's eyes widened as he realized just how serious the crocodile was. Was… was he hiding something too like he did?

"So? What's your suggestion since you don't wanna play political?" Mark asked with a sharp tone.

"Whatever it takes just to get this to stop. Think 'bout it, Espio leaves at the end of May. D'ya really want him to go back to Yurashia with THIS bein' the memory he goes home with? How a bunch of people tried to run him outta the zone?!"

It seemed that Vector's plea had reached everyone's minds. They all remembered their limited time with the chameleon, the look on his pained face as he now finally broke too.

Vector sighed. "Mark… I'm… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten on yer ass like that. It ain't yer fault. I guess I'm… I'm just-"

Mark too, sighed. "I get it. If anything, I think you have it rougher. I'm… sorry too."

There was silence in the room before an unsuspecting voice spoke up.

"What's 'oll this now, mates?!" Bow questioned. "C'mon, I thought yeh all said actin' loike this was what they wanted?"

"What's with the cheeriness?" Rotor asked.

"We Mercians always smile in the face of hardship, because it's the best way one can accomplish adversity, that's what we say! Keep a stiff upper lip, y'know!"

The sparrow's friends all nodded as he continued. "Yer all talented in yer own ways, yeh can help out Espio out, but do so where he reclaims the honor he wants!"

"Bow?" asked Espio.

"Y'know, Espio, yeh remind me a lot of Sir Rob o' the Hedge 'imself! Always escapin' imprisonment, and doin' what he can to save the day, and does so in a way where his deeds are hated by those who oppose him, but loved by any rational person!"

"Who?"

Bow almost gawked at this. "Yeh mean ya don't know?!"

"Espio probably had different legends told from us!" Jewel exclaimed. "He wouldn't even recognize Cinderella and Rumplestilskin or whatever we were told!"

It was true, he didn't recognize those names. Who was this 'Sir Rob 'o the Hedge'? Was this another friend of Bow's?

"Seems loike I need a bit of help motivatin' yeh! Oi, Alan! C'mon, get over here, it's time we tell Espio 'bout that lad from the Deerwood Forest!"

"No need to call me, already on the ready!" Alan replied as he got his signature lute out. "Time fer 'oll of yeh to get the motivation we need!"

"I rather like Bow's rendition of this song," Buck said. "I'm excited to hear it again."

"Sorry… what's going on?" Manic scratched his head as the quail began to strum a few notes. Bow got up next to Alan, tapping his hand on the lute as he began to sing.

"Merry ones 'n jolly ones,

livin' all happy,

In the great forests

Of Snottingham"

There was a pause before Bow continued.

"But trouble found its way

Through a schemin' snake,

O', though the hills and dale,

We'll make off from the jail!"

Soon, Alan joined in on the singing.

"Bad ol' Mordred Hood,

Thinkin' he was king,

Sent the poor villagers away!

As they all cried,

'Oh someone please save us!",

a hero came up to arise!

Espio could see that Gadget, Sonic, and Munch, Thorn, and Buck had all definitely gotten absorbed into the song. He could even see Vector tapping his fingers on his thigh.

A hero… a hero like Setsu… could that be him?

"From the Deerwood Forest,

Came a brave study lad,

His eye keen,

Sharp and mad!

By the name of Rob O',

He swore on his bow,

O', though the hills and dale,

We'll make off from the jail!"

Now Espio had gotten absorbed too. This Rob sir seemed like the true definition of someone who would regain their honor. He wanted to fight to free his land from those who wish to oppress it…

With his lovely lady,

Mari-An the elegant,

And his Woodland Kingsmen!

Jumped across the forest,

And striked with grace,

As the people cheered in a chorus!

Merry ones 'n jolly ones,

livin' all happy,

In the great forests

Of Snottingham

As that Modred Hood,

Ran away like he should,

The Kingsmen all danced,

And pranced!

As the people all,

shouted out with joy,

Rob O', O' Rob O',

hip hip hooray!

Never was a fool,

In his cloak wove from wool,

O', though the hills and dale,

We learn shant not to fail!

O', though the hills and dale,

We learn shant not to fail…"

There was a stream of claps coming from the others as Espio looked around, both sparrow and quail bowing as their performance was done.

"So… I'm confused," Sonia asked. "How IS a song supposed to help us?"

"Not US, Espio!" Alan said. "We learn shant not to fail like Rob O' taught all the people livin' in Snottingham, that means yeh shant not learn to fail too, Espio! Yeh gotta take the moment and be a real hero loike he was!"

"Hi… hiro… hero…" Espio said to himself. Was that what someone who did good for others was called? A hero? Come to think of it, it… it was just what Setsu called himself!

If he worked together with others, if he took down Connery, would he be a hero? Would he be a hero to the village, to the Shinobi Clan and mother, to… to his father? Could he even restore his honor too?!

"Yer thinkin' 'bout it, aintcha, Es?" Vector asked. "Did it help?"

"I… I must be… be a hiiro. Yes… I help other people… I am a hiiro to… to you all. I… I must then be a… a amazingly ultra hot hero!"

The entire room went silent as everyone stared at Espio in confusion.

"...a what?" Jewel asked.

"Ah… it is what Setsu calls himself-"

"Who's Setsu?" Gadget asked. Vector then got next to his boyfriend, grabbing his arm with both hands and tugging it slightly.

"Oh, nothin' nothin'! I think Espio got it the first time!" he said, smiling out of embarrassment. "Still though… are ya feelin' better, Es? I know that yeh wanna apply what ya learned in Gojo fer all these years, and we dun blame ya. But… a hero inspires others to fight fer him, no?"

"Not just a hero, a leader!" Mighty added.

"Oh that's right, we never did kinda have someone who'd be in charge of this whole thing," Sonic said. "Don't ask me, I'm not the leading type."

"Then I shall be the leader!" Bow said, putting his hand to his chest.

"Hey, who said you could call yourself the leader like that!" Jewel argued back."We would need a vote clearly, and an opponent! Which is why I wanna challenge you for the title of leader! I'm a natural born one!"

"Guys, guys!" Mark said, trying to stop the ongoing feud. "Isn't it obvious WHO our leader should be?"

The others looked confused as the tapir pointed at the chameleon.

"If there's anyone here who would have any kind of genuine military experience of the sort, it's Espio! All his life he spent learning and training for stuff like this!"

"Are you saying that to make him feel better?" Gadget asked.

"No, I'm serious! I really think so!"

The others talked amongst each other, with the voices Espio heard seeming in agreement to the proposition. Soon, the others gave their approval.

"Look at yeh, Es! Yer the official leader now! I'm so proud of yeh!" Vector said, smiling as he hugged his boyfriend. It came to a complete shock, and while it didn't erase the stress of all the things going on in his life, the chameleon let it properly sink in.

He was… a leader. He would be commanding everyone like his mother commanded the Shinobi clan and villagers of Gojo.

If she could see him now, he didn't know if she would finally be proud of him, or horrified that he had been interacting with the Outside World.


"...and moving on from sports, to other on campus news. With the next event organized by the Central City Organization of College Conservatives happening in just three days, all eyes are being put on the student group as Mobius U students and local activists plan another protest against the group."

It was currently around the lunch hour on Monday when Vector, Espio, Knuckles, Mighty, Mark, Rotor, Gadget, Sonia, Alan, and Bow all sat around the desk in the two reptiles' dorm, listening to the student-run radio station on campus. As the sound of food being crunched and chewed could be heard, the host continued.

"With student opinion on CCOCC falling to major lows due to a series of incidents over the past week, intense pressure is being put on the group as they continue their activities as well as a planned rebrand to improve their image after what student representative Connery Horse calls, 'an organized smear of lies of his group by the media and immature college leftists'..."

"Yeah sure," Vector sucked his teeth in. "THEY'RE the ones ruinin' yer 'image'... "

From outside the dorm, Jewel and Munch hurriedly scuttled down the hall, both carrying their lunches in their hands as the rat knocked on the door. Being let inside, attention was taken away from the radio as planning out continued. With only three days left, the group of mobians had to use every moment they had downtime to work on the plan, even with it being the start of midterms week and with Espio having to submit his final plans for the Spring Concert.

Everyone found themselves doing different tasks throughout the hours. Gadget was busy painting the banners planned to be used by Bow and his friends, with help from Espio and Jewel. Mark continued to consult his friends from OOTS, monitoring the CCOCC Scrambler page, Rotor helped type up the faux powerpoints, and everyone else had drawn over the floor plans, with different color lines representing where each party would go as it was decided that with the underground tunnels Brawny informed them about, it was decided for everyone to split up to different parts of the building.

Through all of this, Espio was consulted through and through about advice and what steps so and so should take to do such and such. It reminded him of how his mother would give commands to the guards of the Dojo and those guarding the village at night. He even had a memory of his mother sitting in front of a giant scroll, directing each guard to certain spots.

"Espio, when you direct people, you must consider every possible engagement and outcome. From the weather, terrain, your own leadership and management, and these are just the basics. In time, I will explain to you more of what you consider, but what you must learn above anything else is that deviation from your strategy will lead to failure. War is a grave state for any land, and should not be commenced without due diligence. To prevent mass causality and the fall of our lands, you have to calculate your chance of victory by applying everything you see me do and what you will learn soon," his mother explained several years back. Espio thought back to this as he directed his friends, coming up with the remaining groups and what they would do.

"The easier way would be to actually pass through the lobby," Jewel said, guiding her finger to the side of the lobby. "That's the closest place with a door to Stage 2's control booth, but… a lot of people already recognize me because of my protesting last time. If they see me…"

"Connery is gonna be there, right? That means he'll recognize me too!" Mark added.

"Will he though?"

"Naw, Connery has brought up Mark a few times," Vector replied. "He absolutely will."

"So how are we going to get there without going the long way?" Jewel questioned before Espio spoke up.

"Haide," he said.

"Hide?"

"Mark and Jewel haide, and the a-others haide you."

The 'others', as it turned out, was Buck, Gadget, and Rotor, the former two making up the least likely to fight alongside Jewel and Mark, and Rotor going as a sort of bodyguard for the four.

"Hide them? Like, we head out to the lobby while under cover or something?" Gadget asked. "Do we need a disguise? I think I still have my Halloween costume in my dorm SOMEWHERE."

"No, I'm thinking maybe all three of us shield Mark and Jewel! Sure, Connery and Monk would recognize me, but I'm thinking they'd probably be getting their presentations ready. Everyone else wouldn't even recognize us!"

"And that way we can reach the door, roight?" Buck asked.

"I just really hope you guys make a good formation. If any one of us are caught before we stop this, I hope you are very much aware that we are very likely going to get kicked out of university," Jewel warned.

"I know! Why d'ya think Es is in charge? He wouldn't mess somethin' like this up if his life depended on it!" Vector replied.

With time passing, more and more ideas were thought up, shot down, or agreed upon, and every meeting always started with an update as well as a reminder of what each person would be doing, as well as any updates on CCOCC in general.

"OOTS found us a list of special guests invited and what organizations they're from and you won't be shocked about this," Mark said that evening on the laptop. "I see anti-abortion, anti-gay and trans, anti-immigration, and anti-whatever-fascists-hate activists apart of this thing. What do they think this is, the Studiopolis Awardy Awards? They invited everyone but the kitchen sink."

"Bad news!" Jewel suddenly said on her phone. "The bot account you made is gone, Mark! It's suspended, and it looks like the CCOCC account is bragging about it. What are we going to do now?"

Mark was silent for a bit.

"Didn't you check it earlier?" Rotor asked.

That's when Mark began to chuckle.

"What's wrong?" Sonic asked. "You okay?"

"Oh… that's what they think… they think ONE account is gone…"

Everyone was confused until Mark turned his phone around.

"If only those fools knew that I made SEVENTY ALTERNATIVE ACCOUNTS!"

Stunned silence. And then,

"Dude, holy shit," Manic said softly before taking a swig of his vape box.

One such thing that stood out to Espio however, was during Tuesday Evening, when Vector asked Mark to head out of the room real quick and that he only needed him. Turning his head to the door and watching his boyfriend and good friend close the door, Espio couldn't help but get up and go towards the door, pressing the side of his head against it. He tried to hear as best as he could, but only some words came out through the muffle.

"'Bout the plan ya suggested…" Vector no doubt said. There were words that he couldn't quite understand before Mark yelled out,

"WHAT?!"

"I know it's not yer… but it's what we need…"

"B-But… but I can't! I'm not…"

"Look, I know yer scared… it'll hurt… but think… Espio."

"But why me?"

"I know how… that's what we…"

"How do you know… I'm not brave…"

"You are. More than… Think 'bout it. We can plan…"

"Oh, you mean… airdrop?... Can do that… passwords though…"

What on Mobius were the two talking about? Espio couldn't make sense of it, but he scrambled away from the door when he felt it open, pretending like he didn't hear a thing.

But he thought about it as he turned away… What were they planning? A new method? But… why didn't they want to tell anyone else and kept it among themselves?


It was Wednesday evening when Vector marched around the dorm as everyone lined up, Espio next to him looking more serious than he ever had.

"We finally have our final plan detailed out and in the order things need to happen, so, let's go over it one more time! We're gonna scout the Space Theater and enter through the back. Connery should have private bodyguards hired like we know, so we'll either distract them or sneak by. Thankfully, there are very few cameras in that G buildin', especially where we're gonna be. So, if we get unlucky and they spot us, try to be quick 'bout takin' them all down. We CAN'T let ANYONE recognize us asides from Connery and Monk,"

"Aren't you worried that they'll tell?" Rotor asked. "You know Connery is a total narc."

"Oh I know, Rotz, but I think Es has it in control. And as fer Monk, once that dude has his ego bruised, he's nothin'. But that ain't the point. So, we sneak by the guards, traverse the very back of the G buildin' until we get to the door that leads to the backstage halls. That's when we'll all split up. Bow, what're yeh and yer friends doin'?"

Pointing at the sparrow, Bow put his hand to his chest. "Alan, Munch, Thorn, and m'self are off to Stage 2's upper area and shootin' our arrows to set off the banner! We need to cut the strings wrapped around them, and when the time's roight, let 'em go! Thankfully, I tested the arrows and bow I fletched and they work like a charm! Especially with those arrowheads, a beauty they are!"

"Least I could do…" Rotor replied, embarrassed.

"And once we're done, Alan and me are headin' to provide yeh backup against that minger of a gorilla," Munch added.

"Jewel's team, what are yeh up to?" Vector continued.

"Heading off to the lobby and sneaking to reach the tunnel door by the left exit! That has the tunnel leading to the Stage 2 control room! Then, as I told you, Connery has a USB drive containing all the different speeches' PowerPoints connected to a laptop that's hooked to the stage projector. So we nab that and replace it with ours, and set it up on presentation mode so no one would suspect a thing! Then we bolt it out of there and help out Sonic and his brother and sister!" Jewel said, unsurprisingly remembering everything. "Rotor being our bodyguard and the others providing support, like Mark setting up the PowerPoint and… bringing a borrowed laptop…"

Mark however, seemed to want to speak up, but only Espio noticed this. He tried to even ask the tapir before he left, but he was incredibly vague.

"On that note, Sonic, yeh?" Vector asked, not noticing Mark's plight.

"Know it more than any of you! Cleaning up the scenes and making sure that we don't leave any evidence!" Sonic said. "And don't worry if we get caught, Manic prepared us janitor costumes."

"Hey, let's just say I'm friendly with the Drama guys!" Manic replied, still on the bed.

"Just try not to fool around and pretend to throw dirt on me," Sonia replied. "I'd rather NOT like to play jokes!"

"You're just saying that cause Little Miss Princess doesn't wanna get her hands a little dusty!"

As Sonia sulked, Vector continued. "Then as we know, myself, Knux, and Mighty's takin' on Monk. And Es… doin' the same with Connery."

The two reptiles nodded at each other.

"Es, got somethin' to add?" Vector added. The chameleon turned towards his friends, looking at them all intently.

"You are my ahr… mi," he said. "Follow me, and we win. I will purotect you all. And then, no more hurt. Ever."

There was agreement with the others.

"I ch… trust you all. Do not get hurt."

"Yes sir!"

It really felt like a loud "Hai!" that the guards would yell when the Bride made an order. It reminded Espio of his status at leader of this army, an army that would be going on its first battle with a brand new commander; Espio, son of Bride of the Constant Vigil and Naga, member of the Shinobi Clan fighting for the sake of his honor, for his boyfriend, his friends, and… and a school he grew more attached to then he expected.

And then, the next day finally arrived.


MARCH 3rd, THURSDAY EVENING

"Good afternoon, Espio-kun. I'm here at a gas station sending you this voice message. I'll be back in Central City around sundown, so I'll see you then. Keep at it with the studying, I know today is your ESOL Midterm, so I hope you've been studying for it. Remember that I will be showing your marks to the Bride, and you know what she will and won't accept. Anyway, I have to get back on the road, call me if you need anything."

With the end of the message Valdez sent earlier, the chameleon looked out the window to see the blue sky growing darker outside.

Tonight was finally the night… overcoming his ESOL midterm was going to be nothing like this. He had even been returning back to training with what he had in the dorm to prepare himself for both the fight and mission ahead.

He wasn't alone in preparing. As he turned back to his friends, all of them were preparing in their own way.

He saw Gadget open a small orange bottle and placing a small white pill into his hand before putting it into his mouth and taking a sip of water. He could hear and see Buck, the deer holding his rosary of Solaris and murmuring to himself, "Holy Solaris who lies in the sun, thy saintly name be hallow, come to lead us, and make thy home here on Mobius as with the sun…"

There were others too, Alan tuned his lute, Mark looked over the laptop he had one more time as the screen illuminated his tired face, Manic was beating his drum sticks against the desk and throwing them in the air to catch, Sonia was busy calling her friends from the sorority house, saying, "Sorry girls, I HAVE to skip tonight's meeting, it's... family related!" And Knuckles cracked his… well, knuckles.

"Es… once we get this started, we can't go back," a voice said. Espio turned around to see Vector standing before him. "We spent so long plannin' this, we can't let this chance be ruined. Everyone's dependin' on yeh, I'M dependin' on ya."

He crouched down to Espio's height, and without hesitation, kissed his boyfriend.

"I want yeh to know," he said when he parted from the kiss. "I love ya, Es. Don't forget that once we part. I promise I'll take on Monk, and when I do, I'll come fer ya. I'll do anythin' I can to help ya take on Connery, as long as it restores yer honor."

"Thank you… Vector…" Espio replied. "I… I… lo… love you… too."

Vector smiled. "Look at yeh. Weeks ago, ya didn't want to admit that to yerself, then when we dated, ya weren't the type to be all hands on with the romance. But now lookatcha. I bet yer dad is real proud of ya now."

Espio felt his heart flutter. His father… yes. He was devoting this battle to him. There was no one else he could think of. He wondered how his father was seeing everything in Yomi, especially when he had prayed to him the previous night with the magatama necklace.

"It is ta-time," Espio said aloud, causing the room to grow silent. He turned towards the dresser, knowing that what lay in it at the bottom was the only thing he hadn't worn in the Outside World. The chameleon walked towards it and opened it up, pushing kimono, hakama, haori, and other clothes he was gifted as he finally spotted what he needed: his nighttime yoroi. A black leather zukin with just a slit for his eyes for his head, leather katabira for his body and shin and thigh guards which also covered his legs down to his feet, all black too. With gloved gauntlets much different than the normal cuffs he wore, all his yoroi was donned in lightweight chainmail to prevent injury, the perfect attire for night time espionage when dressing as ordinary people didn't fool the enemy and which the Bride had perfected with the village's best armorers. One couldn't even see someone approach as they wore this until they saw the whites of the ninjas eyes as they lay dying, a kunai stabbed through his heart.

"I must go. Then we leave," Espio said, grabbing all his yoroi and heading out of the dorm. Closing the door behind him, he looked around and realized that the coast was clear.

It was now finally time.

As he unsashed his kimono, Espio thought of his mission ahead, and fully reflected on everything that had happened. Everything that happened to him, to Valdez, to Vector, to his friends, to so many others. He thought about what Valdez and Smithy had told him as advice on what to do.

Taking destiny into his hands… being a hero…

With each piece of clothing taken off, and another piece of his yoroi put on, his mind flashed back to so many images. He thought about the fight Vector had with Connery, he thought about the look on Valdez's face when he let Espio listen to the messages on his answering machine, he thought about how Jewel burst into tears in the library, how Mark's cards were destroyed right in front of him by a CCOCC members, the look on the other Badniks' faces as they all checked their phones, hassled over something they never did. He thought back to Buck in the hospital bed and the ensuing fight Alan and Munch had, the look on Gadget's face as Monk destroyed something so important to him.

Even though he had been changing into his yoroi now, his mind focused on their faces. Their faces of pain, sorrow, anger, despair.

All started by him. Connery.

His face had become more hardened as he put on his gauntlets, knowing that he was ready. Ready to topple an enemy greater than he faced before, ready to fight for the honor of the Shinobi clan, ready to restore justice, and ready… ready to let his father's restless soul in Yomi be pleased finally seeing his son surpass him.

The chameleon raised his head as he put on his head armor, allowing his horn through as his entire head was covered, sans his eyes and horn. Dressed in chainmail from head to toe, the chameleon stared at the wall ahead.

It was time…


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