Star-crossed Lovers

Chapter 15 – Chaotic Mission

Espio, Vector, and Charmy walked to the client's home. It wasn't too far from their base, so they didn't have to worry about the distance too much.

As they arrived, Espio did a two soft knocked, followed by three loud ones. They waited for several moments before eventually looking at each other. "Maybe he isn't home," Espio said.

Vector looked around and then pressed his face against the window. "He told me to arrive at this exact time, so he'd better be home. Because if we're the ones being pranked, then we're going to have a problem."

"He seemed fairly serious on the phone, but perhaps my perception was thrown off." He cleared his throat and waited patiently for a few moments until he eventually heard a voice from behind them.

"Hey!" an older hedgehog exclaimed. They turned around and noticed the faded green hedgehog approach them with an irregular walking pattern. He seemed a bit… awkward to them. "I didn't think that you three would show up. Most of my friends just think I'm crazy."

"We take our cases very seriously, Mr…"

"Lenny," he responded as he walked in front of Espio. "Rick Lenny. And I'm glad that I can have someone to rely on. Hopefully you can get this spirit to leave me alone."

"Yes, Mr. Lenny," Espio said. "Though, while Vector and Charmy search your home for spirits, I'm going to look around for things that might be considered unusual. I have reason to believe that you might be getting pranked."

"Why would you say that?"

"Spirits aren't…" Espio tried to think of the right words so that he didn't confuse anyone who was superstitious. "… common in this area, and there are many children who would probably be devious enough to disturb someone of your age. Would there be anyone who would for any reason try to mess with you?"

Rick shook his head. "No, Espio. I live an isolated life. I rarely encounter or speak to many of the locals."

"I see," Espio said. "May we look around your house now?"

"Oh yes, my apologies," Rick said quickly. He unlocked his door and opened it for the detective team. "Come on inside. I don't hold any secrets."

They nodded and slowly entered the house. It was fairly dark since there weren't as many windows as the average house, so Espio turned on a couple of lights.

As Espio did so, Vector leaned into his ear and said, "Oh, yes. You absolutely lost your touch. There is no way that you were anything like you were when we first started this agency."

Espio couldn't help but smirk. "That was just a warm-up."

"Well, don't try to steal my thunder too much," Vector said. "You know how arrogant I can get."

"What if I like your arrogance?" Espio asked.

"Then keep doing what you're doing," Vector replied. "You're bound to get some."

Espio rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help but understand what Vector is doing is endearing. He appreciated him for that. "Thank you." He looked around the house and asked, "Do you want to split up now?"

"Let Charmy look for the 'spirits'. We have more important things to look for," Vector said.

"You're right," Espio said as he looked at the stairs. "Though, he seems to be older than I expected him to be. Perhaps he is just tripping out of a physical disability or just paranoia."

"I'm starting to think that, too," Vector said. He kneeled down, examining each of the steps. "But how would we explain that to him?"

"I don't know," Espio said. "We can't just say that you're getting old and you must be imagining yourself getting tripped. That's something a trained doctor would have to say to him."

"Then send him to a doctor for a second opinion. Either that or a psychiatric ward."

Espio smirked. "We can't do that to him. He would have to do that on his accord." He looked around the stairs some more and said, "There's nothing out of the ordinary. The steps are perfectly stable and there aren't any irregularities that could cause him to trip." He ran his fingers along the wood. Dusty, old… maybe a little rickety, but nothing out of the ordinary.

"Then what do you think we should do?" Vector asked as he scanned the surrounding area. "We aren't experts in ghosts and we have no evidence on what could be causing the voice or the tripping."

"Maybe so," Espio said. "Do you have any ideas on how to subtly tell him he's crazy?"

"None at the moment," Vector said. "The only thing that I can think of is 'You're crazy'."

Espio smirked. "That doesn't help much, but thanks for the thought." He ran his fingers along the wood some more as Vector continued to mumble about ways that he could convince the older hedgehog. He focused in on the smaller details of the stairs. That's when he noticed a small slit that separated one of the vertical pieces to the base of the above step.

"What's this?" Espio whispered to himself. He removed his glove and reached forward to grab on the latch and pulled. The small piece came out almost as if it were a drawer, revealing a hole in the stairs. He was almost excited that he discovered something, but he had to keep it contained. "Vector, I think I found something!"

Vector came over and examined the stairs with the now missing latch. "Hm… so maybe he is being tripped. But do you think it could've come out on its own."

"No, there's no way," Espio said. "You would have to pull the drawer out on your own. It's not just going to pop out."

Vector put a hand on his chin. "Hm… so that puts pranksters back on the table. What's behind the stairs?"

Espio thought for a moment and then went to the side of the stairs. "Mostly, there is a storage closet under the stairs." He looked at the side and noticed no door, and realized that there wasn't one on the other side, either. "But there isn't one here." He knocked on the wall around where the missing stair piece was and noticed a decent amount of echoing. "But the room behind here is definitely hollowed-out."

"Is there another way to get in there?" Vector asked.

"That's what I'm thinking," Espio said. "And it would have to be something that would be easily accessible, or else the pranksters wouldn't be able to sneak around as easily." He put his glove back on and put his left hand on his chin as he thought about the possibilities. Espio then went searching for Rick and asked, "Mr. Lenny, do you have a basement of any kind?"

"Yes," Rick said. "The door to it is outside. I can lead you to it if you want."

"That would be good, thank you," Espio said. "Charmy, we'll be down in the basement! Keep doing what you're doing but be careful!"

"I'm always careful! Also, did you know that Mr. Lenny owns a bunch of Master Flyer's cards? He owns at least 3 Jet the Hawks!"

Espio rolled his eyes. "Sorry about him."

"Don't worry about those cards," Rick said. "I learned they're cheap knock-offs, anyways."

Espio nodded and was led out by Rick.

Vector leaned in to his ear and asked, "What are you thinking?"

"If we can't access the room from inside the house, then maybe we can do it from below," Espio said, crossing his arms. "Also, anyone would easily be able to go to the basement if it's on the outside and it's not locked."

Vector chuckled. "Why are you so smart?"

Espio smiled. "I've been doing this awhile."

"So have I, but all I seem to be able to do is find the computer room and do the paperwork."

"I don't think you give yourself enough credit," Espio whispered. He then looked at Rick for a moment. As soon as he was sure that he wasn't looking, Espio quickly planted a kiss on Vector's cheek before going back to walking.

Vector couldn't help but blush a bit. "Smooth."

"I am a ninja, after all," Espio said with a slight smirk. "It's what I do best."

They continued to follow Rick until eventually he brought them to the doors in the ground that led to the basement. "Here, it is," he said, opening the doors.

"Mr. Lenny, have these doors ever been locked?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't store anything important in this basement and I never go in it anyways. Why, is that a problem?"

Espio shook his head. "We don't know for sure, but this could be the main reason why you've been experiencing strange things. Anyone would be able to easily access your basement and mess with you from the inside."

"That's an… interesting theory. Do you have any proof?"

"I think I'm about to get my proof," Espio said. He walked downstairs and Vector followed him down. As they entered the basement and turned on the light, they could see that Rick was telling the truth. It was nearly empty except for a propped-up ladder and a couple of boxes in the corner.

Espio trailed up the ladder with his eyes and looked at the top where he saw a source of light coming from the ceiling. Natural light. That's when he made the connection. He pointed to the top and said, "See that light. That is where your stairs are."

"There's a hole in my stairs?" Rick asked. "How can that be? I checked them."

"A piece of your stairs pulls out like a drawer," Espio explained. He grabbed the drawer from Vector and presented it to Rick. "Someone would be able to easily go down here, climb that ladder, and do a number of things through that hole. Whispering things or reaching out their hand to trip you. All they would have to do is replace the drawer, and you would never suspect."

Rick was left a bit aghast. "I… I can't believe it. But who would go around doing pranks to me? I thought I hadn't upset anyone, but I must be wrong."

Vector thought for a moment and came up with a solution. "We suggest that you set up cameras either right outside or inside your basement. Team Chaotix offers a special camera installation for a fee."

"We do?" Espio asked.

"Yes, we do," Vector said. "What do you say? This will be the only way that you could catch the culprit without having to wait in the basement."

"I guess if that's what I have to do, then I can't say no to that," Rick said. "How much do I owe you?"

"We can discuss costs when we get around to the installation."

"Also, after you find out who it is, I suggest you get a lock for your basement," Espio said. "Although you may not hold very many things in your basement, people can still effectively sneak into your house through the basement."

"That sounds smart," Rick said. "Well, how can I thank you enough, Team Chaotix? You've done a great service for me. Now I can actually sleep well."

"Recommend us to your friends," Espio said. "Tell them about your amazing and quick service today."

"I will surely do that," Rick said. "And I will make sure that you get paid handsomely for doing this. It might have been a small job, but it has definitely helped me get some assurance."

Espio and Vector looked at each other and smiled. Vector then turned back to Rick and said, "Thank you for your business."

Shortly after their business with Rick Lenny, Team Chaotix went to a local café to celebrate.

Vector raised his glass and said, "Here is to the renewal of Team Chaotix. Hopefully we will have many new cases to come."

Charmy and Espio clicked their glasses with Vector's before taking a sip of their beverages. Beer for Vector, Tea for Espio, and a soda for Charmy. "I was just so disappointed that we didn't get to see any ghosts today. Only having pranksters be the culprit is such a lame ending."

"I think it turned out to be an eventful day," Espio said. "An easy case, but we figured out what we needed to do. And you were a great help, Charmy. Rick thanked us for organizing all of his Master Flyer's cards."

"They were out of order!" Charmy exclaimed. "Who puts a Donnie Klicker card next to a Cedric Ilken card?!"

Vector and Espio looked at each other before letting out a small laugh. "Well, in the end, we got the business and we got paid for it," Vector said.

"Actually, in the end," Espio started, "we got back together as a team and we are doing good for this place."

"Yeah, that too," Vector said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Espio leaned up and kissed Vector on the cheek. "I guess I'll have to keep reminding you of the moral idea behind this team."

"Blech, stop with that!" Charmy exclaimed. "That's so gross."

Espio looked away then back at Charmy. "I'm sorry, Charmy. Did you want a kiss, too?"

"No, way!" Charmy exclaimed as he got rid of the thought.

Espio and Vector laughed. Espio didn't normally like to play around with Charmy like that, but he enjoyed it when he did. "I'm just glad that everything is mostly back to normal," Espio said.

"Life before new Team Chaotix was boooring," Vector said.

"Yeah, it was."

"Cheers to us," Espio said, lifting his glass once again.

Everyone clinked their glasses. "To us."