Lil swore under her breath for the next five minutes trying to find a restaurant that actually still served DARK costumers. Stupid discrimination act! Lil felt more evil as she cursed herself for punching a guy's nose in public. At least she had put her jacket on again to preserve her dignity. Then, absentmindedly, she ran straight into-

“OOF!” Lil tripped over the pink hedgehog. “Watch where you're going...Amanda Rose?”

The hedgehog bent over. “Who do you think?” She held out a hand to Lil. “And it's Amy, please.” There was a strange pause. No one spoke for quite sometime. Then, simultaneously, the girls screamed in happiness. They embraced each other, speaking at the same time. “It's so good to see you again!” “OH it's so good to be back!” “How are you?” “Are you doing okay?” “When did you get back in town?” “Yesterday!”

Then, they went apart. “When you went into the Witness Protection Program,” Lil laughed, “I thought I'd never see you again! I'm so glad you're back...Ms. Rose?” She eyed the briefcase that Amy held. “Wow! When did you land that job in fashion? Or is it cosmetics?” The window they stood next to shown their reflections.

“Both!” Amy laughed. “I'm so glad to have my identity back! I wonder who stole it anyway? Have you solved that case yet?” She began to eye a crimson dress and then pulled out a notebook to write down what it was.

“No,” Lil looked down. “The discrimination act went into commission yesterday, so I was fired. I'm looking for a job, but it's no use!” She stamped her foot into the ground. “Mysteries are my life! I can't just find another job unless I magically transform into a white pigeon who loves makeup.” Leaning against the window, she growled to herself. “I don't care for a lot of those girly jobs. I need action, fast-paced work, danger and excitement! I also need to do something where I need to think! Do you know any Private Investigators who are looking for assistants?”

Amy looked at Lil like she had two heads. “Are you sure you want to ask me??” She tut-tutted. “Okay, you're looking desperate. I do know of this one place, but I don't recommend it. They've been needing some help since they've started. And Vector's Obsessive Compulsive.”

“Where is it?” Lil asked, gawking in joy. “I need a job, no matter how bad it is!”

***

“We're lost.” Rouge began to grow bored. Shadow had been staring at the mall's map for over five minutes. “Why can't we just ask someone for directions? Seriously, Shadow. A map isn't going to help us find Lil any sooner.” She tapped her foot loudly.

“I'm trying to think.” Shadow hissed. “Shut up!” This is why I never go to malls, He thought. The theme for My Neighbor Totoro (the song called, “Sampo”) played over the loud speakers. It distracted Shadow even more. Even Rouge's foot tapped to the beat. The overly joyous music clouded Shadow's serious thinking. He curled his hands into fists, trying to focus. No use.

“Let's just split up,” Rouge suggested, “after all, this place is huge!”

“Fine!” Shadow screamed. “Why don't we split up! I'll go to the photo-booth area near the fountain to escape this hideous song!!! Where is it coming from, anyway?” He dashed at the speed of sound to the other side of the mall, and then the bouncy music stopped abruptly. He darted back to find Rouge flabbergasted. “I broke the sound system so I could think.” Shadow explained.

“Okay...” Rouge stepped back, wings open just in case. “I'll go to the clothing area. You go wherever. Rondevu at the food court, correct?” But, Shadow was gone. Rouge glared at where he had been. “I'll take that as a yes.”

***

Shadow dashed around the mall, accidentally crashing into people and knocking over displays. A sense of fear came over him, fear that he hadn't felt since the ARK massacre. He called for Lil, but no reply came. He tried her cellphone. Nothing.

“Hey! Watch where you're going, bub!”

Shadow recognized that voice. “Amy Rose?” He asked, spinning around. “You've been gone for over two years because someone stole your identity.”

“I came back!” Amy pouted. “You ran over my foot and it hurts!” She hit Shadow with the heavy briefcase. “Shame on you!”

“Sorry, but have you seen Lil?” Shadow said, dodging another blow. “I really need to find her!”

“She left the mall at least a half-hour ago for Team Chaotix Radio Station.” Amy shook her head. “I'm telling you, an unemployed Lil is as scary as Eggman on steroids.”

Shadow's jaw dropped. “Team Chaotix! They're numbskulls!” Then, he sped away. “Hopefully I can catch her!”

***

It was Wednesday afternoon and around my 5th snake time. Everything around the station seemed dead as doornails, which are already dead if my mind's not deceiving me. Espio had begun his trances again to “clean his mind” or something among that Ninja crap. Charmy, still in his video games, didn't even remember the time. Like I've said in the past, things are slow at Team Chaotix Radio Station. I would've been perfectly okay to go on like this forever, if she hadn't of walked in.

She smelled of money on a cool autumn afternoon. She wore blue, a certain hedgehog's favorite color. She seemed smart enough, dressed for the cold weather. Her flashy blue jacket covered her up nicely, but a bit of red cammi stuck out from underneath. She wore a miniskirt and didn't look too comfortable in it. She wore long high-heel blue boots that shaped her luscious legs. Her golden eyes caught mine. This was probably a sign of prejudice, since she was DARK. Her white bangs hung low in her face like a veil. Did the dame hide something? She seemed to be a gorgeous babe after all.

“Are you Vector?” She asked with a hint of disgust, probably because I still had a piece of cheesy-cheesy pizza on my desk. She flirtatiously bounced her hair as she spun around, eying the place. “I need your help.”

The stench of money seemed overpowering now. So the damsel wanted Team Chaotix's help! HA! We hadn't had a customer in over four years! She leaned on my desk, flirtatiously flashing her pretty golden eyes. I couldn't resist that face. “Baby,” I chuckled as I inched my way closer to her, “anything you want, Team Chaotix will be on the case. Just name it, sweetheart, we'll get it.” I winked and revealed my pearly whites

She backed up. Maybe I scared her. “I was wondering,” she began, “if I could have a job. Here. I want to work for Team Chaotix.” Then, darkness consumed me like I should've done to my pizza...

***

“VECTOR? HELLO!” Charmy Bee waved his hand over the crocodile's face. “SORRY ABOUT THIS, MA'AM.” He explained to a frozen Lil. “YOU SEE, HE CAN OVERREACT SOMETIMES. BESIDES, YOU'RE THE ONLY GIRL WHO'S ASKED FOR A JOB!”

“He's a sexist?” Lil snapped without thinking.

“Partially, yes.” Espio the Chameleon slowly awoke from his deep trance. “He prefers to think of all women as helpless damsels needing companionship or taskmasters.” He then looked at Lil and smiled. “But, I prefer to think of women as goddesses who need love, affection, possibly a hot man to protect them too.” He gracefully waved his hands over his face.

“Yuck!” Lil gagged. “Okay, you're vain. Vector's a sexist. Charmy's just loud. What next? All I want to do is get a job! Rent's too high to go unemployed! I have a roommate who can't find work either!” She then decided to fake-cry. Girls have a way with men.

“Oh! Now look!” Vector snapped awake. “You can't just go on crying! I'm sure we can let it slide, dame. But you can't be a detective, though, because that's man's work.”

Lil stopped. “Man's work!” She shook her head. “Fine. I'll be a secretary. Maybe clean things up a bit. You need a woman's touch anyway.”

“OH COOL!” Charmy cheered. “DO YOU KNOW HOW TO COOK TOO? I'M TIRED OF EATING JUST PIZZA!”

Lil noted the piles of dirty laundry scattered about the floor. On top of the piles were garbage lining the walls. Crumpled up papers were all around. The stench, like poop mixed with dead cow, almost killed Lil. She gagged. No wonder no girls had asked for a job. This was hell! “Oh gosh.” Lil held her nose, “looks like my work is cut out for me.”

***

Three days later...
“Someone...help...me...” Cassidy, face abnormally warm and body cold, suffered from a fever. Her mind seemed to swirl around in dizzying circles.

“Thanks, Vanilla.” Amy nodded to Cream the Rabbit's mother. “I found her on the side of the road last night.

“She wouldn't have lasted if you hadn't of brought her here, Amy!” Cream smiled. Cheese, her chao, agreed. “You're the nicest person I know! I'm glad you're back!”

***

What Lil would've liked to say was that her job was awesome and her boss treated her like a goddess, but, Lil being Lil tended to be more frank about the matter. “This sucks!” She hissed at herself. By her third afternoon, her hair was full of cheese, she always smelt of the dead cow even after she spent two hours in her shower, and she kept on finding fleas in her coat.

But, the strangest was yet to come. Today, she had planned on scrubbing the carpet, since she'd organized almost half of the junk yesterday. She came in with a bucket full of steaming hot water with soap suds floating in it. She growled as she thudded in. When she came to a great spot to start, she dropped to the floor. She plugged her iPod into her ears and set it to, “No Limits” by 2-Unlimited. Gracefully, she dipped her cloth in. Espio stood in the doorway, watching her as she pulled it out again. She began to scrub. Her elbow went back and forth as she pressed down on the stinky carpet.

“Just look at her work,” Espio said. Lil glanced up from the floor. “She's probably a fighter too. Already, her sexiness is cleaning the carpet.” He continued. Lil took out the ear-buds and gawked at Espio. Her jaw almost hit the floor. “Oh my! She's staring at me!” His mouth wasn't moving at all when he said this. “Hopefully there's nothing in my teeth, my horn is shiny, and my muscles are pumped. Oh yeah! Let her see what she's getting if she likes me!” He began to pose like he didn't notice her, although what he had said told Lil differently.

Horrified, Lil plugged the iPod's ear-buds back into her ears and went back to her work. Something was up. How could Espio talk without moving his mouth? He wasn't a ventriloquist. Plus his voice sounded a little echoey. She began to think, pouring her wrath into the carpet. In the movies, if someone was sharing telepathy -or talking to a different person through your minds- you'd end up with an echo-sound effect. Lil suddenly stopped. A terrifying thought formed in her head. I can hear Espio's thoughts, She gasped.

Espio at that moment began to think about how attractive he must have been. “Shut up!” Lil screamed at him. “Seriously, quit thinking for the moment! You're distracting me!” This seemed to catch him off guard. His turn to gawk, he stared at Lil, wondering what she meant. Lil smiled, victorious. Maybe having a gift of mind-reading wasn't that bad after all. Annoying, but not awful.

Suddenly a pounding noise came from outside. “Must be that darn landlord again,” Vector thought. Lil began to loathe her gift. The landlord?? “Whatta ya want?” Vector yelled at the suited man outside the door. “What the &%@# is that sign ya posted on our lawn!”

“That is an eviction notice.” The suited man nodded. “You haven't paid your rent in over a month. Not only that, but this lousy business hasn't had any cases in over four years. This proves that I must have to close down Team Chaotix-”

“NOT on my watch, bub!” Lil shoved aside Vector and stood up to the suited man. She glared at him. You're not thinking anything! She almost gasped. I can't read your mind! Maybe it only works when I'm not focusing on it so hard. “Listen,” Lil spoke through her teeth, “give us a chance. Let's make a deal, if chances don't sway you any. How about this: if Team Chaotix solves three whole cases in under twenty-four hours, you pay all the debt on this building. If we fail, we leave. Understand?”

“You drive a hard bargain, miss.” the suited man nodded. “But, very well, I shall take that bet. I'll see you later, then.” Then, he turned around and left.

“He's gone...” Vector's jaw-dropped. “What- how?”

Lil spun around to unleash her wrath on Vector. “You call this a Detective Agency, correct?” She yelled, jamming her index finger into his chest. “I call it junk! You think I'd just walk up and solve all your problems if I didn't care? Listen, if we're gonna save Team Chaotix, I demand discipline! I demand organization! I demand you thinking outside of the box! I also demand that you listen to me, because I know more about this than you!” She stormed back into the house. “My name is Lil, the ex-Chief Inspector, and I'm going to turn this place into the best Detective Agency there ever was!”