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It was so...simple.
It started so simple, so how did it turn into this...??!!!
It started as a simple investigation. Their friends had been going missing, and they went to find out what was going on.
There were..few leads, admittedly, but they hadn't heard from Eggman in a while. a concerning while. Something fishy was afoot, and that's why they went to investigate an Eggman lair that seemed abandoned. According to a nice grandma, she thought she saw some sort of activity coming from it, and they decided the lair was their best bet.
Well, credits to that grandma, she was right. They found blueprints, sketches, and notes...but not much else.
...That lair ended up being a trap, anyway.
It was...miraculous, how Charmy didn't fall into it, but Espio.
In the ninja's defense, it was in the name of investigation...and Vector couldn't fit through the vent.
Charmy offered to go with him. Oh boy, did he. Espio refused the offer though, no matter what was said by either of them. In the end, the vent shut behind Espio when he completely entered the room. There was no other way in. There was no other way out.
Espio was, effectively, trapped.
Espio was trapped. And then he was taken. And then so many other different things led up to this.
Vector and Charmy stood together, battered and beat, but no less determined. They finally reached the final floor of Eggman's ridiculous tower in the middle of the amusement park. They beat and freed over a handful of their friends by now, and now those friends were around the park, freeing the others.
Shadow, bless him, gave them a hint to finding Espio. And boy, was his hint golden.
"...Eggman brought Espio to the top of the tower.. I,,, haven't seen him since. So..it's more than likely he's still there."
Vector kicked the door to the final room open without an issue. When he and Charmy stepped into the room, Eggman was waiting for them. And by his side...
Espio.
"You've got some nerve goin' after our own, Eggman..." Vector growled, taking a heavy step forward.
"Yeah!!!! You got some NERVE!!!!" Charmy repeated angrily, sporadically moving around, as bees do.
Espio steps forward when Vector does, positioning himself in front of Eggman. He, like every other friend they freed, wore a choker with that red gem as its center. It was glowing vibrantly, swirling quickly.
"Well, you've got some nerve destroying my hard work!!!!!" retorted the doctor with a snarl. "I won't lose to you!!!! This plan was nearly foolproof!!!!!"
"Forget this!!!!" Vector scoffed. "Charmy! Let's get this show on th' road!"
"You got it, boss! Let's beat this guy and get Espio back!!!!"
As it turns out, Eggman doesn't quite care about his hypnotized henchmen to any degree.
Any attack of his was free game. Though vaguely aimed to hit Vector or Charmy, Espio was not safe from Eggman's attacks.
He, apparently, wasn't able to dodge them either.
It was like fighting someone with tunnel vision. The two Chaotix members, on top of beating Eggman up and trying to free Espio from the hypnotic state he was under, had to protect him too.
They were fine with that though. They'd protect Espio every time if it meant they could all go home by the end of the day. And they did.
Battered, bruised, and injured, Vector and Charmy beat Eggman to the ground and freed Espio from Eggman's hypnosis, all while defending him from the rogue attacks.
It took hours, but every hour spent fighting and defending was well worth it. They could finally go home, mostly safe and mostly sound, knowing that if anything ever happened to any of them, they'd go through a bunch of hoops and more if it meant protecting each other and getting each other back home, safe.
Of course...that was something they already knew.
A reminder every once in a while was nice though.