"Shout out if you see or hear anything, I need to know immediately" Espio told his men, letting them run to the three other hallways shown from the entrance, each cop equipped with a gun, flashlight and a communicator.

What the police are investigating is an abandoned mansion, once owned by a rich couple that passed away for about six or seven years ago. No one else in their family was interested in taking over the huge mansion, so no one else inherited the house. Therefore it has been open to many, even though it is locked with every lock possible- many have managed to sneak inside and take the belongings.

Lately, the police office has gotten messages from near neighbours and passerby's that they have been hearing noises from the mansion, so the cops went to investigate.

Espio and three other men joined him to walk through the main hall, leading to the gigantic dining room. They turned on their flashlights to see around in the room. The electricity in the whole mansion is down, so the only lightsource they have is the flashlights and the little light the moon can give through the windows.

From where they are, they can hear muffled noises. Like people whispering. Espio eyed his men and pointed his head towards the right. He opened the door slowly, hearing the old wooden plate creak. The chameleon peeked both left and right before waving his men over to him. The muffled noises are getting louder.

Espio waved his men over and gestured them to only point their flashlights down, just in case someone would come from the opposite direction. Once they quietly turned a corner, Espio and his men felt a sudden and quick heart attack. Four or five men lies paralyzed and tied up on the ground.

"What the-" Espio whispered out, quickly takes out his gun and gestures his men to check out the mobians. He points his gun to the hallway they came from and where it leads on further down.

"Sir. Two dogs, two cats and one bunny. All of them owns a gun and a phone, but the guns are emptied..." One of his men informed him. "Emptied...?" The chameleon mumbled.

"Someone else is here... Contact three others and tell them to carry these mobians to the cars, you two- come with me" Espio ordered, both nodded and followed Espio deeper down the hallway. As they walked further, they could hear the muffled noises get louder than before. 'So the noises didn't come from the mobians earlier... We and the noises are in the same hallway...'

"Ssh" Espio stopped, so did his men. The noises stopped and everything went silent. Before Espio and his men did anything, he could see a lump of something light in color beneath his feet. Right after, a small object rolled up to him, knocked softly against his shoe before standing still.

"Pull back!" Espio shouted as the item blew up in a thick fog right in front of them. Him and the two other guards jumped backwards, just in time to see a fast moving figure punch into one of his men in the face, then moving over to the other guy. Espio's corporate fired his gun in all places, but he didn't seem to hit the figure.

"Have you heard about aiming old guy?" The figure taunted, moving left, right, ducked and jumped. Just to tease the guy. "Grr! Quit it!"

"All right, if you say so" The figure pointed what looks like a gun on the cop and fired. What got shot wasn't a bullet, but it looks like a spider web of some sort. Even so, the item wrapped itself around the cop and glued him to the wall, making him unable to move.

Espio is left. The figure shot itself towards the chameleon, but with the amount of experience he have with his past training, he easily dodged. Standing in his ninja pose, he got out a star and threw it towards the figure who just landed. If he calculated correct, the star would hit its hoodie and make it stick to the wall. Sadly, that's not what happened. The figure may have anticipated the star's arrival and moved to the left just as its toes touched the ground.

The fog is clearing and Espio can now see the appearance of the figure. It's a male dressed in an assassin clothing of some sort. But something behind him made him stand out. 'No... It can't be...'

"Espio!" One of his men shouted, bringing him back to reality just in time to grab a hold of the male's wrist. Which held a knife. Espio got smashed against the wall by the force from this person. His back now aching from the sudden shove, struggling to hold the knife away from his face. Gritting his teeth from the strength he has to use.

"Espio? Now that name sounds familiar..." The figure in front of him mumbled, but loud enough so that both he and the man glued to the wall, could hear. "Hm, let's see... Espio, trained to be a skilled ninja by young age, previous member of Chaotix, a detective group and now a cop... Am I wrong?"

Espio and the other guy both looked shocked, but now Espio knows who they are facing.

"Miles..." No one can describe what the other cop felt as Espio mentioned the name of a murderer known worldwide. The cop managed to break out of the spider web, slowly grabbing his own brought knife, his expression shaded.

"Ah, so you've heard of me? Oh yeah! You arrived just a few seconds after I killed Big back then!" He realized, chuckling to himself. "How funny I met you here then~"

"I could say the same thi-" Espio stopped in mid-sentence because of the sight behind Miles. The cop have managed to sneak like a mouse, despite him actually being one. The knife was so close on hitting Miles straight in his back, but surprisingly, so did Miles let go of Espio and slap his twin-tails in the cop's stomach, sending him flying to the wall behind them.

Right after the painful impact with the wall, Miles grabbed his knife and shoved it against the mouse's throat. "That wasn't very nice of you, cop. I've made a promise, so I can't really kill you, but I can slice your throat~" Miles chuckled, his hood fell off, revealing his expression. His smile small and eyes thin as a thread, but so frightening that the cop shrinked. "So don't tempt me~" Shoving the knife harder to his throat so that Miles can feel his swallowing.

The cop nodded shortly, making sure that the knife didn't cut him. "Good" Miles removed his knife from the cop's throat before he changed his mind.

'Promise? Did he and Sonic make that?' Espio walked over to the wall to pick off his ninja star, then looked over at Miles. "Miles, why are you here?"

"Did you tie up those men?" The other cop asked, holding onto his throat, sitting on the floor. Espio sighed heavily and sunk his shoulders, not enjoying to be interrupted by his corporate.

"Yes I did actually. They wouldn't stop shooting at me, so I put them to sleep and tied them. No biggie" Miles shrugged as if it's nothing new.

"Alright, can I ask now why you are here?" Espio attempted a second time, getting Miles' attention.

"I heard this neighbourhood talk about noises from this building this morning, so I went to investigate"

"A murderer went to investigate!? Yeah right, you probably lure people in here and murder them when they don't pay attention!" The cop spat, getting up on his feet.

Miles sighed and rubbed the back of his ear, making it budge a few times before he directed his attention to Espio. "Is it possible to talk some sense into that guy?" The fox pointed his thumb back at the mouse. Where Espio only shook his head slowly.

"He have been wanting you dead since the beginning"

The fox snickered. "Who doesn't want me dead?" Making a joke out of it.

"Ah, anyways. Did you cops come here to investigate the noises as well?" He asked, where Espio only nodded, folding his arms. "Great! Then I don't need to look for each and every kid's home in this town" Miles beamed, happy to have someone help him out with this difficult task.

"Wai-wait what? Kids?" Espio asked out of surprise. Making Tails place his index finger and thumb in his mouth, whistling.

"It's safe kids! You can come out now!"

Seconds later, a small bundle of kids who didn't look any older than eight, walked over to Miles, but not any further than between his tails. Scared of the new people in the room. Espio crouched down to their level and looked at them with a friendly look.

"Don't worry, I am a cop and we are here to help you ok?" The chameleon reached out his hand to the one hiding behind Miles' leg, who took it after a little while, slightly smiling.

X

After Espio have gathered his men to take the kids to their cars, he kept Miles hidden in a room on the second floor. Telling his men he needed to investigate the area one more time alone, he walked to where he told Miles to stay, only to find him sneaking around in a bedroom...

"What... are you doing?" Espio asked in confusion, looking at the fox who now noticed the chameleon. "Uuh, looking?"

"In a dead couples' mansion?" Espio raised his eyebrow.

"Yes?"

Espio face palmed and shook his head disappointedly. "What? I am just curious... I'm not gonna take anything..." Miles sighed, shutting the open drawer, holding what looks like an... interesting woman's dress, not really a coverable one though. "Hey Espio, wanna put this on?~"

Espio froze the moment he eyed the dress, disgust covered his entirety. Causing Tails to burst out laughing from the sight. Espio only covered his face in embarrassment, while Miles laughed his ass off.

"How can Sonic bear being with you...?" This however, made Miles stop instantly, even surprising Espio. Silence filled the room, but when Espio looked up from his hands, Miles stood right-in-front of him. Freezing his body in complete shock and his heart jumped from the sudden change in his face.

"What did you do to Sonic...?" Miles eyes represented the devil at that exact moment, both of his arms planted on each side of Espio. 'That escalated quickly!'

Espio held his hands out as he sweatdropped, but kept his calm. "I asked him questions because I am worried for Vector-"

"Vector? The guy who tried to kill Sonikku?~" Miles growled, his eyes shrinked and he clenched his fists, but a smile remained.

"Y-yes. He didn't just go insane for no reason.."

"Therefore you thought I have done it, so you asked Sonic if he knew anything?" Espio nodded to Miles' theory. "Ah, Rotor wants someone else to use his experiments on, so I guess Vector came as a perfect doll" Espio froze.

Miles realized he pulled a sore string and pushed himself away from the wall, sitting down on the king sized bed with his foot relaxing on his knee.

"Wait, someone else?" Espio repeated what Miles previously said, in question. "Oh yeah, me. I am that 'someone else' " Miles gestured with his fingers. "There is a lot you guys don't know about the old walrus~" Miles' eyes darkened, second later he looked up at Espio with a relaxed expression.

"You could say... That he is one of the main reasons to why I act so insanely~" Miles smiled his typical way once more, slightly spooking the chameleon. "And why I don't have control over it" The fox covered the half of his face with his hand, opening his fingers to reveal his other eye, thin as a thread.

"Miles... Can you tell me? I promise not to say anything to the cops" Espio held out his shaking hand, but not so violently. To his surprise, Miles grabbed his hand without hesitation.

"Sure, why not. Besides, if you have already talked to Sonic, you may already know some things... Am I wrong?~" Espio chuckled and sweatdropped. "Are you ever wrong?"

X

Miles doesn't trust the cops just yet, but if Espio is an old friend of Sonic then he trust the guy enough. Therefore, he decided to bring Espio a place at night the next day to talk to him in private.

"Alright, listen well, because I am only going to tell you this once" Espio nodded and proceeded to listen.

"When I was a student at Knothole science school, I stayed close to Rotor and only him, because he was the only one who seemed to listen to me. Clever is he too. But one night, he decided to have a talk to me, in his own lab in the school-"

Past

"Rotor? You wanted to see me?" Miles smiled as he noticed the walrus working with something on his bench in the white walled room.

"Ah, Miles. Yes, come in and take a seat- I am soon finished with this" The purple walrus smiled friendly back at the fox as he kept on working with whatever he worked with. Miles nodded as he closed the door and walked to sit in the only chair that stood out in this room. It has armleans too, something which most chairs in this school doesn't have.

"So Rotor- Why did you call me here? Something bothering you, any projects or homework you need help with?" Miles began asking, leaning his arms on the armleans. These are the usual reasons Rotor calls the fox, but not this time.

"Well, there is one thing that I have been working on for awhile now and I thought that... maybe you could help me with its further development?" Rotor asked ever so kindly. This caught Miles' interest, deciding to help his friend with whatever this experiment was.

"Sure, what do you need help with?" Miles attempted to stand up from the chair, but before he got further: Metal shackles trapped his hands and legs to the chair. "What the-?"

"Sorry Miles, but you just have to sit there, look away if you don't like looking at injections"

"Wo-wow wow, Rotor what? Injections? I thought you said you needed help!" Miles shouted the moment he noticed the syringe filled with an unusual colored liquid.

"Yes, I need help to see if it works. Don't worry-" Rotor sat down on a taller chair beside Miles, grabbing his arm softly and ready to inject. "If something goes wrong, I will be there to help you out, ok?"

"Nngh!" Rotor isn't very experienced when it comes to injections. It felt as if Miles got stabbed with a very small and thin blade in his arm, but he knew he couldn't flex his muscles or it will hurt even more.

Ten seconds felt like ten minutes to the fox, but when Rotor pulled out the syringe tip, the relief washed over him. Sweat drops trickled down his forehead and his breathing increased. As he opened his eyes, they only slid shut again from sleepiness. Afterall, it's three a.m.

"Haha... " Miles chuckled tiredly, still strapped to the chair. Rotor cleaned off the liquid from the syringe and placed everything back in cabinets. Miles opened his eyes once more and looked at Rotor's back. Rotor however, could see Miles from a small mirror he have on one of the cabinets. The moment he closed that one, he could see Miles.

With a look that scared him down to the core. His eyes have shrunk in size and his inner pupils are thin as ice, but what scared him even more- is his smile. It's small but shaped in a smirk. "Peek-a-boo~ Can you see me in that mirror Rotor?~" Miles chuckled, widening his smile.

The walrus looked back at Miles in person and saw his consciousness slowly fading away. His head fell down, now peacefully sleeping.

Present

"The day after, I woke up feeling completely fine. Just a bit tipsy, but nothing unusual. Two or three day went by, but nothing seemed to happen, so Rotor gave up on the experiment. Little did we know..." Miles took a small break, lied down on the grass and looked up, before continuing.

"The fourth day arrived like a bullet train. All of a sudden, I started having murderistic thoughts. I began to think what would happen if I messed up my experiment on purpose... Which I did. I took the wrong liquid, also known as liquid nitrogen, and poured it into the experiment with other liquids combined. The teacher screamed out my name in the last second, and I faked my expression as surprised and terrified"

Espio took some time to take this all in. This must have been difficult for the fox, because his face is emotionless. "And you didn't know why you suddenly began to think this way?" Miles nodded.

"The worst part... is that there exist no cure. All of the experiments inside of that school got taken away by the police and G.U.N to be disposed... " It's like a sharp object struck Espio's chest. 'Miles will be like this his whole life...'

"But hey, It's not so bad anymore now though" Miles eyed the chameleon with a soft look. "Sonic... He helps me by just... being there" The fox smiled. "Heck, just the thought of him makes me smile~ Butterflies flutters around inside my tummy and my heart won't stop beating~"

Espio realized the change in Miles attitude. He appears to be more... happy. For once, the cop can see a smile on the fox's face free from insanity. The way he hugs himself from the thoughts is a little cute, but also disturbing...

'Maybe it's for the best that Miles and Sonic are together...' Espio sighed with a smile. 'That's why Sonic didn't want me to tell anyone else about Miles and him... Because Sonic wants to help Miles, to protect him. Because he actually cures the fox. Not with medicine, nor toxins or drugs, but with love'

"Hey Espio..." The chameleon looked towards Miles, who sits on a log, still hugging himself with his twin-tails as well. "I am sorry, but I know no cure when it comes to Vector... but what I do know- If Vector got injected with the same liquid that Rotor gave me, then he might have a cure. It's only a theory, so don't get too excited"

Espio's face lit up slightly with an ounce of hope. "You might be right though Miles... Do you know something about Rotor's whereabouts?" To his disappointment, Miles shook his head. "But-"

Espio rose his head.

"I know something else"

X

Miles and Espio sneaked around a classic old house in the middle of night, built up with logs stacked upon each other. "And you think Rotor lives here?" Espio whispered once he got closer to Miles, his senses on high alert.

"Rotor always wanted to keep a low profile. Which surprised me when he said he wanted to become like me... Funny though, Rotor is the reason to why I am like this" Miles chuckled silently, standing slowly up and looking through the window above them for any people. No one is present at the time.

Miles gestured with his hand to Espio to follow him, which he did. The fox moved closer to the door and up to a security code box. He typed in a few numbers before he heard a noise from it, causing the door to open with a 'click'.

As they both entered inside the house, the lights flickered on without them touching anything to make them turn on. Espio froze and glanced around him with his senses on high alert, until Miles told him that there were just the light sensors, so he calmed down afterwards.

"Look wherever you want, but be quick. I am going to look in the bedroom over here" Miles mentioned as he opened a door to their left.

Espio takes this as his chance to look through Rotor's stuff. Starting by looking through the bathroom, living room and last- the kitchen.

Drawing out drawers and opening cabinets, he didn't find anything of what he had in mind. Espio reached for the last drawer to the bottom right and opened it. A small pile of papers.

Funny how you always find something interesting in the kitchen as if it's the most obvious place to look...