Unbounded

It was almost like old times again, having Knuckles around the office.

The echidna warrior was far from making himself at home. The small building really was too cramped for his liking, especially when he was used to having an entire island to roam. There also weren’t enough rooms for him to have a space all to himself. He found himself mostly staying in the busy living area where everyone came and went from. Everything around the Chaotix agency felt so hectic, what with the weirdo detectives that were always cracking down on some case or running around bickering over silly arguments with each other, that it made Knuckles’ head spin. At least Vector had been kind enough to lend him the couch to rest on.

Charmy Bee had been extremely giggly over his presence there. The kid would buzz about, flying over his head in circles. If he wasn’t pestering him to play games or otherwise give him attention, he would bother him by insinuating, “…It’s gonna be so fun having you back in the Chaotix, Knuckles!”

Knuckles was not in the mood to entertain him, “…Don’t count on me sticking around forever. I’m only working with you guys to solve this one case, since it has to do with an artifact from my island.”

Said artifact was an ancient statue the size of an infant child. Carved from a pale and smooth stone, it had been shaped into a somewhat abstract looking mobian figure. There were many other remnants on Angel Island that matched it in style, meaning that it was likely one of the remaining pieces from the civilization that his ancestors had built. The most curious thing about the artifact, though, was that it had complex markings etched into it’s sides. It resembled a long lost language that Knuckles was somewhat familiar with, since he had examined many other artifacts with the same scribe. But there were still many characters that were indecipherable, given his current understanding of the language.

That stone statue now haphazardly sat upon the short and stubby coffee table in front of the grubby and worn leather couch where Knuckles lay. When the Chaotix had contacted Knuckles, it had taken them a lot of convincing to get him to bring that artifact to their office. It was important to some case they had been investigating regarding an undercover smuggling ring that was embezzling different artworks from across the world. One of the pieces that had been recovered from the group was a tablet covered in inscriptions. Not only did the stone seem to match the same type of slate that was common on Angel Island, but the group had discovered that some of the inscriptions on the tablet were an exact match to those on Knuckles’ old statue.

Knuckles only agreed to let the Chaotix study the artifact if he was allowed to monitor it at all times, since it was an important remnant of his island. Stubborn and focused as always, Knuckles guarded it with a determination that was unmatched by most. The echidna had been so committed to not letting the stone leave his sight, he even had dragged the thing into the bathroom with him.

“…Seems someone doesn’t have much faith in us.” Espio had muttered, narrowing his eyes with exasperation the first time it had happened.

“Ah, give the guy a break.” Vector the crocodile was only half paying attention to the ninja chameleon glaring at the restroom’s door, “Knuckles is just serious…. Maybe a little too serious for his own good, but that’s not a bad thing. He knows how important keeping those artifacts safe is.”

“Perhaps so… But he could at least trust us not to not break something of such importance if he were to turn his back for even a minute.” Espio commented.

Vector seemed to have brushed the whole thing off as unimportant, as he shook his head and went back to carefully examining that rare stone tablet under a magnifying glass.

Charmy didn’t understand why Espio seemed so bothered by Knuckles’ attitude. They were all friends since they had worked together all those years ago, weren’t they? At least the bee was excited for the new help tagging along on various ancient artifact related missions.

They seemed to be making great strides in those escapades. During the first one that Knuckles had accompanied them on, the group was investigating an old ruin site. While Angel Island was suspended high into the sky by the great power of the master emerald, this location was nestled on the ground hundreds of miles below. Despite the far distance apart, the place had large stone carvings and structures that were reminiscent of the architecture found in Knuckles’ birthplace. This was the area that the smuggled stone tablet was said to have originated from.

“Wow… Look at all those big stone statues!” Though Charmy was keeping close to the group for once, he was flying in the air whilst turning his head in every direction to take in the scenery.

Knuckles had marched on ahead. He approached a fallen slate pillar and gently rested his mitts onto it, examining it closely. His voice was hushed, as if in slight awe, “…You really weren’t kidding when you said this might be related to Angel Island… Look at these markings.” He squinted his eyes. The writing carved into the rock was the same ancient language his ancestors had left behind. “This looks like it was taken straight from home.”

“Come on, boys.” Vector walked past the pillar where Knuckles was standing. The croc’s attention was focused on what looked to be a rocky cliff side resting next to the ruins, “…They say that stone tablet was discovered inside of some sort of nearby cave- and I’m willin’ ta bet that it’s over this way.”

“Right.” Charmy and Espio both nodded, following their leader diligently.

Knuckles stared at the three. They seemed so coordinated and used to working as a team. Knuckles was left with an odd feeling, like he was some awkward observer looking into their personal life. He supposed that he was just such a loner, that even while trying to work with a group he was an outsider. That was fine by him.

Regardless, Knuckles walked after the Chaotix. It wasn’t too much of a hike to reach the side of the cliff. The outcropping of rock stretched high above them. It looked like it would be an easy climb for the echidna, with his spiky claws that jutted out from his fists suited for such a thing. But none of them were headed upwards. Vector was instead encouraging them to search around the base of the incline. The woods were a little thick here, and leafy plants with long green vines had climbed over the wall of rock. Every surface was practically covered in the foliage.

Suddenly, Espio piped up, “...Vector. Over here.”

Everyone poked their heads over to see what Espio was doing. The chameleon was crouched low to the ground next to a huge boulder that was three times Vector’s size. His hands were feeling the cliff wall in front of him.

“What’d you find there, bud?” Vector asked.

Espio trailed a finger along the edge of where the rock was pressed up against the overgrown stone wall, “...It’s here. The entrance to the cavern… If you look closely, you can tell there’s space behind this boulder.”

Charmy peered over Espio’s shoulder, “Woah, I wouldn’t have ever noticed that!”

Vector grinned, “Good find, Espio!” Then, the crocodile took a step back. He stretched a little in preparation, before charging forward to shove at the rock with all of his might. Vector started grunting with strained effort, “Now all we… gotta do is… Urgh, get this big ol’ hunk of stone… out of the way….”

Charmy started to cheer, punching the air in excitement, “Wooo! Yeah, you can do it Vector!”

The boulder budged… but only by a few inches. Even when pushed by the largest and most fearsome member of the Chaotix, Vector just couldn’t seem to move it out of the way enough for anyone to fit inside of the cave opening.

“...” Knuckles chuckled to himself, before approaching the obstacle. He pounded his right fist in the palm of his hand, “Step back, Vector… Let me handle this.”

“..Huh?” Vector stopped shoving just long enough to look down at Knuckles, only to let out a startled yelp when the boulder he had been leaning his weight against shattered into pieces from right under him. Knuckles had lunged forward and punched the boulder at full force. Charmy squealed and dodged out of the way when a massive chunk of stray rock went flying through the air and almost struck him.

Knuckles let out an exhale before standing up straight. Now that the stone had been destroyed, in front of him lay a spacious entrance into the side of the cliff. He had a self assured grin on his face when he glanced back over his shoulder at the others.

Vector still seemed a little startled, his eyes wide and jaw open from the sudden attack. But he also seemed impressed, “…That’s one way of getting rid of that rock. Good work, Knuckles!…”

In stark contrast to the happy faces, though, Espio wore an upset expression. He actually started to tell the echidna off, “…Knuckles, that was very reckless.”

So much for helping his friends out. Knuckle’s smile fell. He huffed, “What’s the problem? We had to do something to get that obstacle out of the way.”

Espio gestured back to the ruins behind him, “…We are in an area that’s filled with fragile artifacts! What if one of the shards of rock had hit and broke something important? You nearly took out Charmy with that move.”

Knuckles turned his back on the ninja, shutting his eyes with indignance, “Oh, give me a break. I did something actually useful. You guys weren’t making any progress without me.”

Espio continued to argue, “All of the relics here are related to your island, aren’t they? Shouldn’t you care about protecting the remnants of your home?”

“Okay okay, break it up you two!” Vector stepped in between them, shooting them both stern looks. “Espio, Knuckles was just trying to help us get inside the cave. Without him, it would’ve taken us a lot more time to move that hefty thing…”

“Woahhh, it sure is big in here!” All three of the animals froze when they heard Charmy’s voice drifting out from within the cave.

That seemed to snap Vector back to the present need to deal with the case at hand. He scrambled to follow after the voice, shouting out, “Hey, Charmy! Don’t run off without us!”

“…Hmph.” Espio gave Knuckles a glare, before crossing his arms and walking in the stead of his leader.

Knuckles now had a glour. What was his deal? Espio always had to act so dramatic… Knuckles was starting to remember why he had left these weirdos in the first place.

Knuckles stomped into the cave. He was still sulking over his thoughts, until he stopped to stare at his surroundings.

The room carved from rock was around the size of a small house. Enough light was filtering in from the entrance that it illuminated everything inside. The stone was damp and covered in a strange looking moss. Two pillars with the faces of fierce echidna warriors stood on each side of the cavern, reaching high enough to touch the low hanging ceiling. The walls were covered in ancient drawings… There were depictions of dozens of figures sprawled out in some sort of war battle surrounding a giant emerald… likely Knuckles’ beloved master emerald. Towards the very back there was a shelf seemingly cut into the stone wall itself.

Vector was muttering in amazement, “Look at all of this stuff…”

Espio was already positioned in the back of the room, “…Everyone. Over here…” He indicated towards the raised rock shelf.

When Knuckles approached, he noticed that there were three distinct spaces on top of the stone shelf. On the left and right, large square tablets lay. They looked to be embedded into the rock surface itself. Each one had inscriptions etched into them… They looked identical to the smuggled tablet artifact. In the center between the two tablets, there was a massive, uneven cracked hole. It was a jagged, boxy shape that looked like something had been violently ripped from it’s place in the stone…

Vector was suddenly at his side, “Hey, this must have been where that stone tablet came from! It looks like it could fit right in this space. And that means… That these are the remaining tablets that we needed to put the final pieces together!”

Charmy was zipping around in circles, “Yay! We found what we were lookin’ for!”

“Espio? Can you use that paper we got to take some rubbings of the markings on each of the stones?” Vector asked.

Espio had already gotten out the specialized parchment that the researchers working on the smuggling case had entrusted to them. He nodded once, “On it.” The lizard went about transferring the marks from the stones to the paper in a methodical and careful manner. He took his job as seriously as he ever did.

While Espio worked on preserving the inscriptions in the leftmost tablet, Knuckles was staring at the other one, “…I can read some of what’s written here.”

“Ooh, what’s it say? What’s it say?” Charmy plopped down from the air- landing directly on top of the tablet that he wanted to look at.

“….” Knuckles blinked. Then, he scoffed and picked the kid up, “I can’t read it with you in the way, you goof!”

Charmy giggled, squirming a little in his arms until he was let go.

Once Charmy wasn’t obscuring his view, Knuckles leaned over the rock shelf to examine the words once more, “…It’s describing some kind of tool that could connect people’s powers together, increasing their strength. I can’t read the name of what exactly the tool was called… But apparently, it could be supercharged by a small monument.”

“Supercharged?” Vector tilted his head, “What, like it was some sort of weapon?”

“….I am not sure.” Knuckles admitted. “…This one stone doesn’t have all the information…”

“Well, we don’t need to figure out all the answers in one day. All we really needed to know is the basics of what these tablets say.” Vector explained. “We’re interested in trying to find a connection between all the items that the smuggling group stole, so we can figure out their motives. We just need ta copy everything down and send it to our client to take a look at, then we’ll be done with our part for now.”

“…” Knuckles furrowed his brow, turning to stare back at the inscriptions. Maybe the Chaotix didn’t need to know the intricate mysteries of artifacts directly linked to his homeland. But Knuckles knew the stories of his tribe’s past… In a foolish quest for power and control, they had used destructive weapons to conquer and get their way. It had only ended in disaster. “…If this group is trying to get their hands on a supercharged, ancient weapon, then I’m not going to rest until I put a stop to it.”

“….That’s… a fair point.” A strange look crossed Vector’s face, as if he had only just thought of that.

By now, Espio finished taking the rubbings from the first tablet. He was preparing a second sheet of paper as he approached where Knuckles stood, “…May I?”

“…Oh. Right.” Knuckles stepped back so Espio had the space to finish his work.

Knuckles was hunched over in his seat, turning the mobian statue over in his hands. He had the coffee table scooched so close that it was practically pressed up against the couch. He sighed, before setting the thing back down. Knuckles had examined the relic a countless number of times now, but he still couldn’t figure out exactly how it was correlated with the stone tablets other than the matching symbols.

That was when Vector walked into the room, “Charmy! Knuckles! …..Where’s Espio?”

Charmy had been playing some sort of board game incorrectly by himself while sprawled out in the middle of the office’s floor. The pieces were spread out all over the place. He looked up at Vector and shrugged, “…I dunno.”

“…He must be off training.” Vector assumed. It wasn’t too uncommon for Espio to slip away for such a session elsewhere. “…Anyways, I’m steppin’ out for a while to talk about these files with our client. Hopefully you all can hold the fort down…” Then he said, “…Knuckles, you’re in charge while I’m gone since you’re the oldest. Make sure Charmy behaves, alright?”

Knuckles hadn’t exactly signed up to be a babysitter. But Vector was off to do something important, so he supposed he could take care of everything at the office in place of the guy for now. After all, he was supposed to have some sort of temporary partnership with the Chaotix.

Once Knuckles had acknowledged the responsibility with a simple “Fine”, Vector was out the door.

Charmy waved brightly as his guardian was leaving, “Byeee!” Then, the moment they heard the click of the front lock, the bee stood on his feet. Charmy was suddenly at Knuckles’ side, giggling with an expectant look, “…So! Now that he’s gone, you wanna play games with me?”

“….Huh?” Knuckles’ face twisted in confusion, “….Uh, no. I have things to do.”

“Really? But it looks like you’re not doing much of anything! You’ve just been lazing on the couch like Vector does on days off.” Charmy pointed out.

Knuckles made a soft sound in annoyance, “…I have to solve the meaning of these artifacts.” He grabbed the statue once more, trying to make himself look busy in case that would get the bee to buzz off.

Charmy stuck out his tongue, “Aw, you’re no fun…” When Knuckles tried ignoring him, he put on a look of feign ignorance and started to rock on his feet, “….I guess I can just do whatever I want then!” With a devious smile, the child suddenly took off.

“…Huh?” Knuckles sat up. He opened his mouth to ask what kind of trouble the kid had meant by such a vague statement, but Charmy had already vanished from the room. “….” Knuckles had half a mind to go look for him, but then he realized that Charmy must have just wanted to goad him into chasing him around. Like Hell if he was gonna do that. Knuckles leaned back into the sofa. He tried to relax, but he could feel some of the couch springs hidden somewhere within the thin cushions poking up against his butt. He didn’t know how he had slept on such an uncomfortable piece of furniture.

It was no more than 3 seconds after Knuckles had picked up the stone artifact to look at it one more time that a loud CRASH erupting from the room above startled him enough to yell and almost drop the fragile thing. Luckily, Knuckles caught the object before it hit the ground.

He stayed completely frozen in that position as the crashing sound was followed by a resounding, BANG! BANG! BANG!

….What on Earth was Charmy doing to the house???

Knuckles leapt to his feet, stone statue still in hand as he raced up the stairs to the upper floor of the Chaotix’s building. As he scurried down the hall, a series of rhythmic repeated bangs helped Knuckles pinpoint exactly which door the little terror was hiding behind. He grabbed the knob to swing it open.

Charmy was in the midst of some sort of office area with lots of cabinets, slamming two wooden sticks hard against a round, blue drum. The second he was caught by Knuckles, he dropped the instrument as if he could get away with acting like he hadn’t been doing anything at all. It clattered loudly onto the floor. Also on the ground, a large crate filled with various assorted items (pieces of evidence from different cases, maybe?) looked like it had been knocked over. It’s contents had spilled out everywhere.

Knuckles narrowed his eyes, “…You… little…!-“

The echidna lunged, trying to snatch the troublemaker out of the air. This appeared to be the exact reaction Charmy had wanted, judging from the way he laughed and then spun adeptly in order to avoid being grabbed. Knuckles instead crashed into one of the shelves, accidentally sending several stacks of documents flying.

Soon, Charmy had zipped out to race up and down the halls, with poor Knuckles trying and failing to chase him down. Every time he made a jump for the kid, Charmy gained just enough air to keep out of his reach. With every maneuver, he seemed to derive more and more joy out of teasing and taunting Knuckles.

Knuckles was not having fun. Charmy was lucky that he was too slow to nab him, with the angry violent thoughts that flooded his mind. Of course, Vector would probably kill Knuckles if he actually hurt his kid. But some sort of punishment was in order, wasn’t it? At the very least, he needed to get the bee to stop wreaking havoc on the house. If he could climb higher up and glide, he may have had a chance at catching the little menace. But something told him the Chaotix wouldn’t appreciate having their walls torn to shreds by his spikes.

By the time Knuckles was huffing and puffing and losing his breath, Charmy didn’t seem to have lost any of his fervor at all. He decided to take a sharp turn down the building’s main hall once more, passing by his and Espio’s rooms while still laughing out of pure delight. However, just as Charmy was about to spin around once more to do another lap of the house, something caught his eye that caused him to come to a complete halt.

“GRAH!” That gave Knuckles the opportunity to finally succeed in leaping for and grabbing him, “Gotcha!!!” Knuckles exhaled heavily in relief. He moved to set the statue that he still had been holding under his arm onto the floor. It was too cumbersome to be carrying both that and a child. Despite everything Knuckles had told himself, he had a satisfied grin on his face. Maybe he had enjoyed getting to play and catch Charmy, just a little. “You have some nerve if you think you can just rile me up and…” His expression fell when he realized Charmy wasn’t even looking at him, his stare caught elsewhere. “Hey, are you listening to me?” Knuckles demanded, “What’s with you?!”

Charmy had a distant look, “...That door…”

“Huh?” Knuckles followed his gaze. The door at the end of the hallway that Charmy was transfixed on looked no different to any of the other room entrances, other than the fact that it was cracked slightly ajar, “...What about it?”

“...It’s open.” He sounded very surprised by the fact. Then Charmy explained, “That’s a very special room. We keep only the most important things in there. Nobody’s allowed in there except for Vector. He usually keeps it locked.”

“...Oh. I see. So then…” Knuckles moved a hand under his chin to think, “...How did it get unlocked?”

Knuckles’ grip had loosened considerably, so Charmy took the liberty of slipping out of his hold. He snuck over to the door to spy inside.

“...Hey, hang on!-” Knuckles followed after the kid, not wanting him to enter some forbidden room by himself. Once he was standing over Charmy, Knuckles peeked into the area himself.

There was an old glass lamp lit up in the corner, but it was doing a poor job of illuminating every corner. Still, it was light enough for Knuckles to make out piles of objects that were shoved into every crevice. This was like a big storage room, tons of boxes and shelves taking up space. Bulky belongings were piled up high. He didn’t recognize what most of the stuff was.

Charmy quietly gasped, before whispering, “Is that Espio???”

That was when Knuckles spotted him. He was turned away from where the other two were watching, so they could only see the black spines lining his backside and his long curly tail. He was standing in front of an oak shelf. At first glance, the items resting on it seemed insignificant: a few thick leather bound books, a old pair of blue children’s shoes that were worn and outgrown… but, wait, where had Knuckles seen those before?

Charmy recognized what the items were, “...What is he doing messing around with Mighty and Ray’s old stuff?”

Knuckles’ eyes widened at those names. He felt his heart drop, “...Those are Mighty and Ray’s belongings?”

Charmy moved a hand to his own mouth, muffling himself as if he were trying not to laugh too loudly. “...Vector’s gonna be sooo mad…” Then, Charmy silently slipped into the off limits room to sneak up on Espio.

Maybe Knuckles should have tried to stop the kid, but he still had his sight completely locked onto Espio. He had an unreadable expression, a mix of being stunned and upset. Knuckles made sure to grab his precious statue so he could follow Charmy.

Each step was slow and careful, neither Charmy nor Knuckles daring to make a sound. Espio didn’t seem to have noticed their presence. His attention was captured by some large object that he had lifted from the shelf of memorabilia. He held it protectively, gently rubbing his thumb over what looked like smooth metal. Espio sighed softly to himself, a sound of blissful reminiscence.

Until Knuckles spoke out in the most direct and firm tone he could muster, “Stop right there!”

“GAH!” Espio jumped at the sudden shout. His scales instinctively flashed to be invisible for a single moment. But then Espio must’ve realized that was counterintuitive to hiding whatever item he had picked up. He was visible again before they had a chance to see it, standing stiffly and folding his arms behind his back in an attempt to conceal it. There wasn’t much point though, as the object Espio was holding was big. It was something shiny and perfectly round, golden in color. Knuckles and Charmy could see the ring’s sides protruding out from behind Espio. It was a bit like if an elephant was playing hide and seek and chose a spot behind a skinny light pole.

Charmy was cackling, “Oooh, Espio’s busted!”

“Kn-Knuckles! Charmy?” Espio was sputtering, “….What are you doing in here?!”

“What are YOU doing in here?” Knuckles retorted. He stepped forward to glare inches away from Espio’s yellow horn, “…I heard this room was off limits.”

“Nothing, I, er…” Espio frantically searched for an excuse, “…I was simply… Checking to make sure that too much dust wasn’t collecting on the keepsakes in here. We don’t want them getting filthy.”

“…” Knuckles was frozen, eyes caught by the glint of gold held behind Espio’s back, “….Is that… Mighty’s bound ring?”

Espio was horrible at concealing the guilt on his face. His head dipped a bit shamefully, but he was still trying to act as if he had done nothing wrong, “….Maybe it is….” He shifted the ring forward to properly hold it in both hands. The bound ring looked like a standard ring that anyone might find being used as currency, only it was almost the size of Charmy. “…What of it?”

Charmy reached out, trying to touch it, “What’s a bound ring?”

“…Wh…” Knuckles suddenly whipped around to shoot Charmy a look, “Don’t joke like that, you’ve held one before!”

Charmy’s antenna dropped at the shouting. Was this one of those things from back in the day when Mighty worked at the office that everyone somehow expected him to remember, despite how young he had been during it all? “…I have?” A faint memory was coming back to him as he stared at the thing a few seconds more. “….Is that one of those big ring dealies we used to carry?”

Espio rolled his eyes, thrusting the ring protectively out of Charmy’s reach. “…Bound rings are a special tool that we made use of. Two are needed for their powers to work. When two partners hold one ring each, a powerful connection is formed between them using the energy pull inside of the rings. They act as a tether, so that we wouldn’t get separated.”

Knuckles growled, and then attempted to forcefully grab the bound ring from Espio’s hands. “Hand that over-!”

Espio fought back against Knuckles though, shoving him back and extending his arm to keep the ring away from him, “…I doubt you have permission to handle it!”

“Uh. Aren’t YOU not allowed to touch any of the stuff in here?” Charmy asked.

He was ignored by the other two, who were still fighting and only getting more physical. If Espio wasn’t going to hand the ring over nicely, then Knuckles would simply have to overpower him. He yanked hard on the chameleon, “…Of course you think it’s fine to breach people’s trust by going someplace off limits just so you can mope over Mighty’s stuff…”

Espio cried out a little in pain, but was still struggling against the stronger echidna. He kicked at Knuckles to force some distance between the two whilst trying to cover the bound ring with his body like a protective shield. “How dare you!” He seethed. “…Don’t you go around acting like you suddenly care about these sorts of things…”

Knuckles then was climbing on top of Espio, trying to reach underneath the chameleon’s arms to get his paws on it. “What are you… Agh-!” He grunted when he was promptly elbowed in the chest. “….No one cares about Mighty like I do… You Chaotix weren’t even competent enough to- Urgh, solve where they disappeared to! It’s all your guys’ fault they aren’t here!”

Espio’s face had twisted into stone cold anger as he glared at the echidna, his scales red with fury. “…At least we made an effort to keep searching for them!” He shifted his position to strike back at Knuckles in retaliation. “If we were to follow in your lead, I guess there would be nothing wrong with acting recklessly during cases at the risk of others, or to bail on your friends when things get difficult like an unloyal coward!”

Tears started to fall from Charmy’s eyes, “Guys, guys! Stop fighting!” He fluttered into the air, but then hesitated to get any closer in fear of getting hurt in their brawl.

Knuckles clasped his hand firmly around the bound ring before tugging at full strength, successfully snatching it from Espio’s grasp. He stumbled backwards from the amount of force he had exerted. Then, he held his prize high in the air victorious. Espio’s words had left him with a snarl on his face though. If that was what the chameleon had thought, then it was no wonder he had been acting so coldly towards him. “No one calls me a coward. It sounds like you lot are just too scared to face the truth that Mighty and Ray are gone!”

Espio didn’t move to try and retrieve the stolen ring. Instead, he stared bitterly at Knuckles in defeat.

“…Hmph.” Knuckles kept his eyes on Espio. It was burdensome to have both his hands full, so he shifted the bound ring and decided to place it on top of the stone statue artifact that he was still holding under his other arm. It was easier to carry that way.

That was when the bound ring started to glow with a vivid light. It was so bright that everyone had to shield their eyes. The group collectively made a startled sound, attention caught by the ring.

“Woah, what’s happening to it?” Charmy asked.

Knuckles’ eyes were wide with alarm, “…I don’t know, it’s never done that before!” He turned to Espio, “….Has it done that before???”

Espio shook his head. He stood up from the spot where he had fallen. “…Perhaps we should put it back-“ He said, reaching for it.

Knuckles wasn’t keen on sharing, so he grabbed the bound ring at the same time Espio did.

When the two tugged on it in different directions, there was a deafening BOOM. Energy erupted from out of the ring. In an instant, some kind of beam made of light shot out like a laser fired from a gun. The blast struck a nearby wall, decimating the objects in it’s path and leaving a smoldering crackling spot on the room’s interior. Both Knuckles and Espio were knocked to the ground.

Charmy screamed, “Aaaah! Turn it off, turn it off!”

Knuckles groaned, sitting up. His heart was racing, “Agh! I don’t know how!”

Espio felt a little dizzy, so he stayed low on the ground. He looked up at Knuckles though, “What did you even do to make it glow like that in the first place?”

“Nothing!” Knuckles thought back, “…Well. I think nothing? All I did was move it so I could carry it in the same hand as my…”

Knuckles trailed off, gaze landing on the artifact that lay fallen on the wood floor. The artifact with the same exact markings as the ancient stone tablets describing supercharged weapons that connected people together…

“…The monument!” That was it! Knuckles scrambled over to gently scoop the statue up. He brought it over to the still glowing bound ring. He braced himself in case there was another violent reaction, and touched the statue to the ring once more.

After several moments, the ring’s glow began to dissipate. The room slowly returned to it’s former dimly lit state.

The group let out a heavy sigh. All was still for a moment…

Espio’s stomach started to turn when he caught sight of the back wall, though, “….Oh no.”

Charmy hesitantly flew over. The wall was singed black, parts of the plaster having been crushed completely. There were also the boxes of important keepsakes that had been toppled over by the blast’s radius. Some glass and ceramic shards had spilled out onto the floor, indicating something had broken. Charmy cringed as he poked one of the pieces with his shoe, “…It’s completely destroyed in here!…” Then he looked over at Knuckles and Espio, “….I think Vector is going to whup you two’s butts when he sees this-“

“…Are you kidding me?” Knuckles stood and walked over to examine the damage himself. It was somehow worse when viewed up close. “…Vector isn’t gonna beat us. He’s going to actually kill us.” He didn’t know Vector as well as these two did, but he had hung around enough to see the intimidating crocodile yell out in anger over simply being annoyed. Knuckles was starting to lose his usually cool demeanor, “….When Vector finds out-“

“He’s not going to find out.” A strange look had crossed Espio’s face. His pupils were small, a panicked smile dancing on his lips. His voice was oddly high pitched but calm.

Charmy’s eyebrows creased “Huh? But… Espio, when we tell him what happened…”

Espio was finally standing up, now directing the two with utmost seriousness, “He’s not going to find out if we can clean up this mess before he gets home.”

Knuckles blinked, “…How on Earth do you expect us to be able to hide this?” He gestured at the smoldering wall.

“We work diligently and efficiently- together.” Espio stepped forward, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. A plan had already formed in his brain, so he immediately took lead and started to detail what they should do. “I know what most of the stuff that was broken looked like. Therefore, if I have the right materials, I should be able to piece these ceramics back together. Charmy, if you retrieve the supplies we need: glue, paint, brushes… then you can help Knuckles make the wall look undamaged. We put everything back where it goes, lock the door, and everything will be fine.”

“…And then we tell Vector?” Charmy niavely asked.

“No!” both Knuckles and Espio hissed it at him at the same time.

“Charmy…” Espio addressed him fully, speaking slowly and clearly to make sure he understood, “…This is something Vector can never know about. We have to keep this secret, alright?”

Charmy gasped quietly, “So you’re saying… We’re all going to work together on a secret keeping team?” The boy had stars in his eyes, as if this was the most exciting scenario he could ever have been a part of.

Espio shared a confused glance with Knuckles. But then, he looked back at his brother and nodded, “…Yes. Like a secret keeping team.”

Charmy squealed and then flew high up into the air, “Alright! Secret keeping team, let’s do it!”

They didn’t have much time until when Vector was supposed to return, so the three kicked it into high gear. Charmy zipped off to get everything he was told. Espio immediately started on sorting through the sharp shards. When he found two pieces that fit together perfectly, he applied a little glue and sealed it back together as if it were a puzzle. Meanwhile, Knuckles helped to lift all the heavy boxes so they could clean the floor space and get everything organized. The wall was the most tricky aspect of the diy repair. And while it didn’t look amazing by the end of the night, the friends did their best to make it look better than it did before. Knuckles helped Charmy apply some plaster to cracks and holes so that everything looked even. They used scraping tools to wipe the access away.

By the time Espio finished piecing together the broken vases, he joined the other two to help with the wall. “…I don’t believe the plaster will dry in time for us to paint it…”

“Let’s just paint around the plaster, then.” Knuckles suggested. “Vector might not even come in this room anytime soon, right? You could probably turn invisible and sneak in here to finish the job in a few days when he’s not looking.”

Espio nodded. “...Good thinking.” Then, he moved to grab one of the paint buckets that Charmy had fetched earlier, “Let us get it done quickly.”

They all grabbed brushes, loading them thick with paint so they could slather it over the charred color. When Espio noticed Knuckles’ strokes were globby, he said, “No no, you have to use less paint than that. Make sure that each stroke is smooth and clean…” Then Espio gently took Knuckles’ hand to guide him. “...Like this, see?”

“...Woah. That looks way better.” Knuckles said.

Espio had smiled.

With all of their efforts combined, the wall was painted and perfect…. Well, it was actually far from perfect. But it looked okay from a distance. And that was good enough for the time being.

Charmy was buzzing around as he viewed their work, “It looks great, Vector will never know!…” Then, he tilted his head innocently at Knuckles and Espio, “…You guys work together so well…. Why don’t you do that all the time?”

“…” Knuckles and Espio both had proud expressions written across their faces, but their grins fell when Charmy said that. A faint trace of red brushed their cheeks as their eyes darted sheepishly.

Everyone snuck out of the room. Espio locked the door. Charmy remembered to hop into the office room upstairs so that he could help clean up the mess he had made earlier when he had been crying out for Knuckles’ attention. The chameleon followed the bee, assisting him in getting everything put properly back into place.

Knuckles set the stone statue back onto the coffee table, just as it had been before Vector had left. Charmy and Espio barely had enough time to join Knuckles at the couch when they heard the front lock coming undone.

When Vector opened the door and stepped into the Chaotix detective agency, a tired look was swept across his face. “Whew. What a drive…” His expression brightened when his gaze fell on Knuckles, Espio and Charmy, “Hey there guys.”

“Hello, Vector.” Espio spoke with a sense of calmness. If you hadn’t witnessed the past hour, you would have never guessed that he was hiding anything.

“I see you’re back from training.” Vector said, walking around so he could stand in front of the coffee table. “Did that go well?”

“....Yes. I was training.” Espio repeated Vector’s assumption.

“That’s good.” Then, Vector grinned at Knuckles, “Thanks for watchin’ the place while I was gone. Hey, have you three made dinner yet?”

“You know, I don’t think we have.” Knuckles didn’t think he was as good at lying as Espio was, but he was happy to go along with pretending like nothing was wrong.

“What are we waiting for, then?” Vector started to amble towards the kitchen, “I’m gonna see if we have any more of those udon bowls you made the other day, Espio.”

Several days had passed since the incident. Everything seemed to have gone over without fault. If Vector had gone into the off limits room in the time since the boys had destroyed it’s interior, he must not have noticed the damage, seeing as he hadn’t said anything. The kids were off the hook.

Well, mostly. Knuckles had been agonizing over the relic smuggling operation. The group had discovered that the ancient weapons described in those tablets were the bound rings. There wasn’t any other way that the events that had occurred made sense. Vector should be told about it… shouldn’t he? The Chaotix leader had been encouraging Knuckles to keep investigating the artifacts in case the information surrounding the weapons revealed a new lead in the case. But if Knuckles admitted to knowing what those weapons were, Vector would ask how he had deduced that fact. Or maybe the crocodile would run straight down the hall into the locked door to retrieve the bound ring, only to then notice what they had done to the place. Either way, it would mean trouble for him and Espio.

That didn’t mean the lie wasn’t weighing down on his subconscious. It felt dishonorable to be hiding their actions in fear of repercussion when the truth of what they had discovered really was important. If it meant helping the case, then should they accept whatever punishment Vector threw their way with dignity? Maybe it would be best for Knuckles to leave. If he didn’t go back immediately to protecting the master emerald, he could try and look into that devious thieving group by himself. There were more bound rings out there besides the ones currently in the Chaotix’s possession, after all. It would be wise to gather and guard them from any ne-er-do-wells who sought to use them for evil. Of course, Knuckles wasn’t exactly sure how to investigate a group like that on his own.

Charmy had been of no help at all, only interrupting Knuckles’ thought process by continually pestering the echidna. He had already chased the kid around once, did he really have to keep persisting?

It came to a head when they were all outside under the morning sun. There was a space next to the crooked agency building that was perfectly suited for training. Since the group was soon to leave on another potentially dangerous outing, Knuckles and Espio had taken the initiative to prepare for fighting foes by practicing their techniques a day prior to the mission.

Charmy wasn’t one for serious training sessions, but he still watched the two as they showed off what they were made of. Espio was throwing his weapons precisely at each hand painted target he had made. Knuckles was punching through large rocks that he had gathered, creating a small mess of rubble. Neither of the two were actually training together. Rather, they stood in completely separate areas, not acknowledging the other’s presence.

Charmy looked over at Knuckles, then to Espio, and back to Knuckles again. He spoke up loudly enough for both of them to hear, “…Hey, I have an idea you guys!”

Knuckles tossed the heavy stone he had lifted and then stopped to turn towards the bee, an eyebrow creased. Espio didn’t do much to acknowledge Charmy’s voice, but he did halt his throwing and glance over his way.

Charmy grinned now that he had both of their attention. Things had been getting so boring. He had noticed that for multiple days now, Knuckles and Espio had been pretty much refusing to say a word to each other. They definitely needed something exciting to brighten up their spirits. “…Why don’t you move your training inside?” He suggested.

“…” Espio shared a confused look in Knuckles’ direction for a brief moment. Then, he turned his head back towards Charmy, “….You propose that we throw weapons and boulders… inside the house?”

“Yeah!” Charmy said it nonchalantly, as if it were a completely reasonable idea. “Vector’s out shopping right now, right? So when one of you two accidentally breaks something from training too hard, then we can get the secret keeping team back together!” He laughed, “You guys can rush to fix it before he comes back home again!”

Immediately, both Knuckles’ and Espio’s moods fell. There were exasperated sighs and several grumbles. Knuckles groaned, “Charmy, the secret keeping team is done. We aren’t doing it any longer.”

Espio resumed the throwing of his kunai, striking a target in the center with skilled accuracy. He shut his eyes, but a particularly annoyed grimace was on his lips, “…I don’t seem to recall ever being on any sort of…. ‘secret keeping team’…” he claimed, feigning ignorance.

Charmy expression then turned dejected, “Awww, what?” His shoulders drooped and he plopped down to sit on the dirt, “But we were having so much fun!”

“Charmy.” Espio spat the name out sternly, “None of that was about ‘having fun’. We only acted the way we did to fix the damage caused by our misgivings.”

Knuckles nodded, crossing his arms, “Yeah, knock it off already. Not everything is some sort of game.”

Charmy huffed up his cheeks. Bitterness crept into his voice, “…I just wanted you two to get along again… You were doing so good at working together! And now you guys are just acting like a couple of grumpy pants.”

Knuckles growled. He hefted a large rock into his hands, before chucking it with great strength. For some reason, he was exerting way more aggressive effort into his training now than he had prior, “…For the record, I don’t need anyone else to get by. I’m not interested in working together with that sentimental fop if all he’s gonna do is hold a grudge against every little thing I do.”

A resounding THUNK struck Espio’s target. It shuttered slightly from the impact. Espio’s volume raised, “That’s perfectly fine by me, as I am not interested in working with some hard headed, emotionless dullard, either.”

“Hey, don’t say mean things about each other!” Charmy had gotten up off the ground again, slightly distressed by the continuous arguing, “...What about our team?”

Knuckles stormed over to where the bee stood, “You wanna know what I think of our team?” He glared in Espio’s direction, “…I think that I never wanna be on a team with Espio again!”

Espio finally stopped what he was doing so he could look their way. After a few moments, he decided he would also march over so he could direct his next statement in Knuckles’ face, “…I don’t want to work on a team with you either!”

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

With that, the two turned their backs on each other and stomped off in opposite directions. Charmy was left frantically glancing back and forth between the two. Espio quickly disappeared, and Knuckles was walking who knows where.

Great, now they were even more mad at each other than before! Charmy groaned, moving to pull on his antenna, chastising himself in his head. Eventually, he sighed and headed back towards the house.

He didn’t get why it was so difficult for Espio and Knuckles to get along. Were they still upset over their fight about Mighty and Ray? Charmy thought back to it… He wished that he understood the context surrounding the argument a little better. He just remembered being frightened by the two yelling and getting violent.

When Charmy stepped inside the house, he decided to walk towards the couch and plop down on it, tired. He stared up at the ceiling, watching the fan spin at a low speed as he ruminated on his thoughts.

The bell above the door cheerfully rang when Vector entered the establishment. He scanned the room. Rows of tables were laid out in the main area where customers laughed and chatted. A long line was forming at the front counter, where a few employees were scooping ice cream into cones for people. A pop song was playing on the radio overhead. Vector’s eyes landed on his kid. Charmy was situated at a table at the very back of the room, fiddling with his hands as he waited.

Vector made his way over to join him. He had asked Vector to meet him here, but he had done it in the oddest way. Charmy had gently but urgently tugged on Vector’s arm that morning. The bee had glanced around the office to make sure no one else was listening. Then, he whispered his request into his ear with the utmost secrecy. For some reason he had stressed that he only wanted to see Vector alone here, not Espio or Knuckles.

When Vector pulled a chair out to sit across from him, Charmy sat up. “Vector!” Then, he seemed to have remembered that he wanted to play the whole encounter covertly. His attitude changed to act as if he were completely calm and cool, though the way he fidgeted made it clear he still had something tugging at his mind.

Vector had no idea what the kid was up to. But if Charmy had something bothering him, then the best way to get him to spill the tea was to go along with it. Vector started to match Charmy’s demeanor. He put on a serious face, looking around the room momentarily as if checking that the coast was clear. Then Vector leaned forward and dropped his voice, “…Lay down the skinny, Charmy.”

Charmy was frowning. He looked a lot more grave than was usual for the kid. He studied Vector… before sighing, “…I have something that I have to tell you…”

“…Is that so?…” Vector was still keeping his professional tone, but he gave Charmy a sly smile, “…I thought that ya wanted to call me here on a secret ice cream op, just you and your favorite crocodile… You don’t want anything to snack on?”

“….” Charmy bit the inside of his lips. His eyes darted away, before he said, “….Well. If you were going to buy us ice cream….”

… … … … …

Vector stirred his spoon in the glass cup, mixing together the chocolate syrup with the melting dairy.

He listened very intently to Charmy as he ranted, “…And even though they worked really well together to hide the damage from you, they still aren’t getting along! Yesterday they were arguing again about it. Nothing I say to them is helping!” His face was messy with ice cream. He huffed, and then took another lick from his cone topped with sprinkles.

“I see…” Vector murmured. He popped the spoon in his mouth, humming to himself in thought. Then, he said, “…And now you’re trying to do the right thing by telling me about it?”

“….Uh, not really.” Charmy admitted, “I just wanna keep playing secret keeping team with them.”

“Hm…” Vector leaned back in his seat. He had noticed the tension between Espio and Knuckles, but he hadn’t suspected that they had actually fought about it. He was quiet for several minutes… Then, he set his spoon down with a toothy grin, “…I have a plan.”

Charmy had licked up most of his ice cream by now and had gotten to the part where he could crunch down on the cake cone. He looked up when Vector spoke, “…You do?”

Vector nodded. “…Charmy, I’m assigning you a special mission. We’re gonna form our own secret keeping team.”

Instantly, Charmy lit up. He gasped with excitement, wings fluttering as a broad smile crossed his face.

Then Vector started to fill him in on the rest of his idea, “Here’s what we’re gonna do…”

Their hearts were racing wildly. The office air was thick with tension. Espio and Knuckles stood stiffly, having sternly been called into the room by the boss of the agency himself. He seemed beyond furious about something. As the two awaited the fierce crocodile to return, they nervously glanced at each other. It was a bit like school children having been called to the principal’s office.

Then, they heard stomping on the stairway and Vector climbed down holding a squirming and protesting bee under one arm.

Charmy was unceremoniously tossed onto the couch. When Vector approached the front of his desk so he could address the room, Knuckles asked, “…What’s this about, Vector?”

Vector took just a moment to lean over and pull something out from one of the desk drawers behind him. Then, he held out a large and glowing ring, “…I know all about the bound ring being activated!”

Everyone froze. Their faces had stretched into grimaces, eyes wide with alarm.

Charmy got up, moving to stand on the cushiony leather of the couch itself. He made a soft and sad little whine, “It…It was me! I did it, I was the one who went into the off limits room!”

A beat passed. Knuckles and Espio were still a little stunned at the events unfolding before them. “Charmy!” Espio hesitated over his words, like he was weighing possible decisions in his mind. Then, his voice dropped, “... I… cannot believe you would do such a thing…”

Knuckles blinked, turning to stare at him. He guessed the ninja was much colder than he had realized, if he was willing to throw Charmy under the bus like that. But then again, it wasn’t like he was going to risk his own hide by offering up his own crimes. He coughed awkwardly, before holding his tongue.

Vector shut his eyes, shaking his head in exaggerated disappointment. “Shame on you, Charmy…” Then, he gave Knuckles and Espio a very direct glare, “...And I suppose everyone else is innocent? Nobody else went into that room with him?”

“....” No one spoke a word. Both teens stared at the floor, avoiding eye contact.

“...” Vector let out a heavy sigh. His voice dropped to a mutter, “If that’s how it’s going to be…” He turned and marched over to the couch, “Charmy. I’m going to have to punish you.”

Charmy let out a very convincing wail. His features twisted up as if he were about to cry, “Nooo! Anything but punishment!”

Vector made like he was about to lift Charmy up from the couch. He moved the glowing ring to one hand. But then, a loud CRASH erupted out and enveloped the room in thick smoke.

“Gah!” Espio and Knuckles flinched at the sudden explosion before them… Then, Espio frantically leapt forward, “V-Vector!”

A loud THUD shuddered across the wooden floor from the impact the giant crocodile made as he fell, hard. Everything was difficult to see from the excess smoke blinding their eyes.

Charmy was the first one to Vector’s side, hovering over his body with worry, “...Oh no! Guys, he’s hurt!!!”

Espio fell to his knees next to him, trying to examine his superior. Vector’s eyes were squeezed shut. The only thing moving was his slow heaving chest. Espio gently shook him, trying to see if he was awake, “...Vector?!”

Knuckles was trying to bat away the smoke to no avail. Then, he started trying to search around the floor to see where the bound ring had fallen. He growled, “That idiot!... Why did he turn that dangerous thing back on?” First shooting dangerous laser beams, now explosions…

“...He was trying to make a point.” Espio’s voice was starting to waver… He rarely lost his cool, always trying to stay calm and collected under any circumstance just as a ninja would. But harm coming to his closest friends and family was one of the things that could shatter that persona. “...This is all my fault. If I hadn’t been foolish enough to sneak around that room…” Espio moved a hand to cover his face. “...If I hadn’t been so sentimental….”

Knuckles stopped searching around and looked over at Espio. His eyebrows creased, “… Come on man, you can’t focus on that now.” Not while the guy’s leader was knocked unconscious on the floor.

Espio’s tail curled itself tight. His hands fell to try and feel the big crocodile for any injuries. But he continued, “…You were right, Knuckles. We were never able to find Mighty and Ray… It’s our fault they aren’t here. I don’t know why I’m incapable of letting go of the past…”

Knuckles was still. Then, he groaned and shook his head, overwhelmed by it all, “...No, Espio… The bound ring only activated because of my statue… I was the reason that any of this happened.” He sighed, before his hands clenched into angry fists, “...And then I was too much of a coward to say anything about it… like how I was too scared to stick around after….” He trailed off. That was the first time that Knuckles turned to look at Espio fully. He had a defeated, guilty expression. “…You were right about me just bailing on you guys. I could have been helping you guys look for them, as a team, I just…” He seemed unable to complete the sentence.

“…” Espio mulled that over. Even if he still felt furious over the guy abandoning them when they needed him most, Espio did understand how Knuckles felt. It had been unbearable how little progress they had made in that investigation. It was like being stuck in some horrible dream they couldn’t awake from. Eventually, Espio said, “…I’m sorry… I know I pushed you away and acted irrationally.”

“…” Heat came to Knuckles’ face. He had just about as much pride as Espio did, so apologizing could be difficult for him. But the words still came to his mouth naturally, “…I’m sorry too… I know I didn’t make anything better. I shouldn’t have just put all of the blame on you… Let’s work together to get Vector some help, alright?”

The smoke was starting to clear at this point. It was as if those words were a spell that warded it away. As their surroundings became more visible, that was the moment that Vector decided to suddenly sit up. He reached underneath himself for the ring that he had fallen on top of. There was a soft clicking sound when he flipped an unnoticeable switch hidden on the ring, and it’s glow suddenly disappeared.

Espio and Knuckles gawked at the gator, blinking in disbelief, “…V-Vector!” Espio stood, “…You’re okay?”

Knuckles was staring at the ring in his hands, slowly realizing that the thing was some kind of cheap looking LED filled plastic replica of the actual bound ring, “…What the… That thing’s a fake?”

A stifled snicker snuck out from the corner that Charmy had settled into. He was sitting next to Vector’s boombox….. Which may or may not have been the source of the alarming crashing sound. Espio also quickly noticed several familiar empty shells littered on the floor, “…Are those my smoke bombs?”

Vector didn’t acknowledge their surprise. Instead, he crossed his arms and scowled at them, “…So you two can’t work together unless you think I’m gonna hurt you.”

“…” The echidna and chameleon didn’t answer. Their mouths hung open slightly.

The crocodile sighed. His tone dropped to be less angry, yet still firm. “I get it, it ain’t always easy to get along. You kids are still torn up about everything that happened a few years ago. But I don’t want you fighting. Mighty wouldn’t want that. And I don’t want you sneaking around begrudgingly helpin’ each other out just cuz you're scared of me. We shouldn’t be working against each other on any secret little teams. We should be working together. Because we’re all on the same team- and that’s Team Chaotix.” Vector held a hand out.

A moment passed. But eventually, Espio nodded with a short affirming sound. He held his hand out to place it on top of Vector’s. Then, Charmy giddily flew over to rest his tiny hand on the pile too. It was small enough that it was around the same size as just one of Vector’s gloved fingers.

Then, the three detectives looked in Knuckles’ direction, waiting. Knuckles was hesitant. Did they want him to join in? Even if he wasn’t an ‘official’ member of the group anymore? He felt like he had caused them so much trouble…

Knuckles relented and joined in by placing his mitt with the others’ hands. After a short count, everyone raised their hands in a unified shout, “TEAM CHAOTIX!”

When the group broke away, there were a lot more smiles being shared between them. Charmy giggled and picked up the fake bound ring, offering that “I’ll help get this stuff cleaned up!” before dashing off to stash the toy away somewhere.

“So, wait. You really aren’t going to beat our asses for sneaking into that room?” Knuckles asked.

Vector made a face, “No! Honestly, where did you even get that idea from?”

Espio thought back, “… I supposed we derived it from Charmy’s suggestion that that would be the case….”

Vector rolled his eyes, “…That boy’s imagination is overactive.” His face brightened as he moved on though, “…Now, you guys have gotta tell me everything you know about that bound ring’s power! You were really holding out on the investigation by hiding that! Who knew that those old rings could shoot beams of light?”

“Oh, right.” Knuckles supposed that he really should tell Vector everything he knew about it. He walked over to grab the stone monument from it’s spot on the coffee table, “…Well, I think I’ve narrowed down that this symbol represents the bound rings…”

As Charmy zipped back in the room, they crowded onto the couch so they could finally make headway in their case by being honest about the information they had deduced.

Who would have guessed that keeping secrets from your friends would only complicate matters? Perhaps it was time to have a little more trust in each other, as a team.