09 - Bee Suspicious

An anxious atmosphere filled the air within the Chaotix Detective Agency. Just yesterday, Sonic himself entrusted the amateur sleuths with the responsibility of guarding a chaos emerald. With Eggman's robots becoming more advanced and dangerous with every encounter, Sonic made the decision to hide the emeralds far and wide with trusted allies- to lower the risk of the mad doctor getting his hands on them.

"I know you guys will do a great job." Sonic's voice echoed in Vector's mind. "Don't let old Eggface near this thing. I'm counting on you!"

The determined crocodile rose from his old, squeaky chair. "We gotta stay sharp, boys." His deep voice rumbled. "This ain't any old gem we're guarding. There's no telling who might come looking for it."

"You can count on us, boss!" Charmy hollered, saluting with great enthusiasm. "Tell us what to do! Should we take it in turns to guard it?"

"You're full of energy today, Charmy." Espio commented with a quiet chuckle. "As long as the emerald is locked away in our hidden safe, there won't be any need to stand guard."

Charmy giggled. "Of course, you're right!" He chirruped, floating back to the ground. "There's no way anyone's gonna get past us! We're the best!" With that, the little bee buzzed upstairs, humming a silly tune to himself.

Vector laughed to himself. "Boss?" he said with a grin. "That's a new one. He never fails to entertain."

"He does seem extra eager today." Espio added. "Perhaps we should cut down on the sugary cereal."

Later on, Charmy approached Espio as he was meditating. "Hey, Espio!" He said, "I gotta say… uh, I'm a bit worried about the emerald."

Espio opened one eye. "What's troubling you, Charmy?"

"It's just… we've had people break in here before, right? Plus, I don't even know where we keep the safe! How will I know the emerald is secure if I can't even check to see if it's there?"

Espio opened his other eye and looked at his teammate with confusion. "Charmy… you know where the safe is. The hidden compartment beneath the sink. That's where it's always been."

Charmy slammed his hand to his head. "Oh, duh! Of course, I remember now! How could I forget that? I'm so dumb sometimes, heh."

Espio's eyes narrowed slightly. "You do not need to worry. I checked the emerald a short while ago. It's still there, safe and sound."

"That's you all over, Espio! Always thinking one step ahead! There's no way any bad guys will get that emerald while we're around!"

Espio nodded in agreement and then resumed meditating. As Charmy was leaving the room, he passed Vector, who plodded in with a steaming mug of coffee. Charmy looked closer at Vector's mug. It was green in colour, albeit a little faded. 'Croc 'n' Roll' was written on it with shiny gold lettering. "Hehe, cool mug, boss." He said, as he buzzed upstairs.

"Huh- wha?" The crocodile stuttered, turning to look at Espio. "What does he mean, 'cool mug'?"

Espio stood up and folded his arms. "Precisely. He was the one who bought you that mug, no? For your birthday."

"Exactly!" Vector exclaimed. "I've had this mug for two stinkin' years! He's acting like this is the first time he's seen it."

"This is not the only thing our friend has seemingly forgotten." Espio muttered. "Just a moment ago, he asked me where the safe was located."

"Wha- where the safe is? What're you talkin' about?" Vector swung his arms in confusion, nearly spilling his coffee everywhere. "He was with us yesterday when we locked the emerald in there. Has he developed a five-second memory or something?"

"Either that… or our faithful friend is not who he appears to be." Espio said ominously.

At that moment, the front door opened, and a figure floated in from outside. Vector and Espio were stunned into silence. It was Charmy.

"Hey guys." The little bee said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "I'm really sorry, but I couldn't find any purple daffodils. I dunno if I ever saw one that wasn't yellow."

"Ch-Charmy?" Vector stuttered in surprise. "How the… What's going on?"

Charmy raised an eyebrow. "Uh, you alright Vector? I got your message." He held up a small piece of paper. "Like I said, I tried my best, please don't be mad."

The bemused crocodile snatched the paper and read it:

Charmy, I got a lead on this new case and I need your help. Please search Green Hill for a purple daffodil. It's the key to unlocking this case. Don't come back until you find one! Vector.

"What is this nonsense? I didn't write this!" Vector said, dumbfounded.

"Huh? You slipped it under my door this morning. It sounded really urgent, so I went right away."

Just then, it happened. An identical Charmy flew down the stairs, the one who they had just been talking to a minute ago, entering the room with seemingly boundless energy.

"Guys, I'm bored! Maybe we should check on the emerald! You know, just to make sure-" He stopped in his tracks when he spotted the 'other' Charmy, who was floating in the doorway, wide-eyed with astonishment. Only a few seconds passed, but it felt so much longer.

"What the… You look just like me!" The Charmy at the front door exclaimed, pointing at his double.

"Guys, w-what's going on? Why is there another me here?" The other Charmy said, sounding just as surprised. Espio and Vector glanced back and forth in shock, both unsure what to do. Suddenly, the Charmy who had just entered the room started to shout. "He's an imposter, guys! Don't trust him! I'll bet he's here to steal the emerald!"

The Charmy at the front door furrowed his brow. "Are you kidding? You're the one who's been tricking my friends!" In a burst of anger, he dashed at the other bee, knocking them both to the floor. They scuffled on the ground, hitting and clawing at each other. They tumbled clumsily, grunting and yelping in pain.

"That's enough of that!" Vector boomed, grabbing each Charmy by the back of their jacket. Holding them aloft in either hand, Vector studied their faces. There was no denying it, both bees were completely identical in appearance. "What do you think Espio?" He said, unable to distinguish the two.

Both Charmys struggled and flailed in Vectors grip. "Put me down! I'm not the bad guy!" One of them said.

"Guys, come on! He's clearly the imposter!" The other Charmy said.

"Enough." Espio commanded, silencing both bees. "Vector. This calls for an interrogation. If we ask the right questions, we should be able to determine which Charmy is ours."

Keeping a firm hold on them, Vector spoke first. "What was our most recent case?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Easy!" The left Charmy yelled. "We helped Professor Pickle find his missing cucumber sandwich! He was sat on it the whole time, remember?"

The right Charmy looked worried. "That's what I was about to say…"

Espio was the next to fire a question. "What is our company policy?"

Once again, the left Charmy piped up immediately before the other one could open his mouth. "We never turn down work that pays! That's our policy!"

"I-I knew that too!" The right Charmy insisted, his voice starting to shake. "Please guys, it's me. I'm not the bad guy…"

Vector looked a little worried, still unconvinced as to which Charmy was real. Espio grunted in frustration. He thought deeply as he looked at the two bees in Vector's grasp. He needed a different sort of question. A question that only the real Charmy would be able to answer correctly.

Suddenly, he got an idea. From behind his back, Espio revealed to them a small, metal object with sharp, pointed blades. It was one of his signature weapons. He had lost count of the sheer amount of them he had thrown at his foes.

"Tell me, what is the name of this object, that I hold in my hand?" He asked bluntly.

Once again, the left Charmy shouted before the other had a chance. "Easy! That's a shuriken! You always throw them at bad guys!"

"Indeed, I do." Espio declared, walking towards the bee who had just answered him. "And I believe you are my next target."

"Wh-What do you mean, Espio?" The left Charmy spluttered. "That's a shuriken- it's a Japanese throwing weapon! I-I'm right… aren't I?"

"Technically." Espio said coldly. "Yet the Charmy I know would never refer to this weapon as a shuriken."

The right Charmy smiled warmly as Espio turned to face him.

"What is this, Charmy?" Espio repeated gently, holding the weapon up to him.

"It's one of your awesome ninja stars!" He beamed. "And I'm not allowed to play with it- ever."

Vector laughed and let the correct Charmy buzz free from his grip. "Good to have you back, buddy!" He said, giving the little guy a fist-bump.

"How utterly repulsive!" shouted the bee still firmly in Vector's grip. As he spoke, Charmy's form and features seemed to shimmer and dissolve away, like a projection shutting down, revealing a sleek, robotic wasp with glowing red eyes. His voice, though still mimicking Charmy, crackled with static. "Enough games! My objective was to secure the chaos emerald, and that's what I intend to do!" The wasp broke free from Vector's grip and flew high into the air. His hands transformed into sharp, metal claws. The menacing robot then dived headlong towards Charmy.

"We'll see about that!" Vector growled. With amazing strength, he grabbed a nearby filing cabinet and launched it at the rapidly advancing robot. The severe force of the collision smashed the wasp into pieces, as well as scattering important documents all over the room. Broken metal limbs and servos sparked and fizzed on the floor.

"Hmph. Guess he was all talk." Vector remarked, dusting his hands. He looked at the absolute mess of paper on the floor and turned to his buddies with a sheepish grin. "Well, looks like we got five years' worth of paperwork to sort out. Hope you guys didn't have any plans."

"Plans?" Charmy giggled, overjoyed to be recognised by his friends again. "I've been looking for a purple daffodil all morning! You think I've got plans? C'mon, teamwork makes the dream work! Let's pick up these papers!" He enthusiastically started picking up documents and putting them into neat piles.

Vector looked at Espio with a raised eyebrow. "You sure we still got the right Charmy?" He joked.

***** END *****

(I know this is a cliché "Who is the real one?" situation, but I've always wanted to write the Chaotix crew encountering this kind of scenario, hopefully it makes sense to read haha!)