Chapter 2: Early Morning Search
Location: Waktini family residence, Northern District, Freedom City
Date: Saturday, January 3rd
Time: 7:02 A.M.



Kyle's eyes slowly began to open slowly, clouded over due to just waking up. He turned over slightly, staring up at the ceiling as early morning sunlight shined in through his window blind, casting a warm glow all around the room. He slowly pulled his blankets off of himself, sitting up in his bed. He yawned loudly before standing up and shuffling out of the bedroom.

Kyle stood outside his bedroom door, listening for any sounds. He didn't hear anything, so he assumed that the rest of his family was either outside or still asleep. He quietly made his way down the hallway, and then started walking down the stairs as quietly as he possibly could.

As Kyle walked down the stairs, the events from the night before flashed into his head. Who where those people? He didn't get to see what they looked like, so he had no way of knowing who they possibly could have been. He was determined to find out.

Kyle slowly made his way to the kitchen, searching quietly for a notebook and a pin. After a short time of searching, he found what he was looking for. He quickly wrote out a note that said "I went for a walk. I'll be back soon." and left it on the kitchen table. Of course, he also signed his name on the bottom of the note.

Kyle turned and walking into the living room, grabbing his coat and then quietly and slowly exiting the house out the front door. He wasn't really going for a walk; he wanted to see if he could find out more about what had happened last night. Of course, he didn't want to tell his parents that he was going to hunt people he saw in a police chase the night before. That's why he said that he was simply just going for a walk. He also had a few guesses for who one or two of those figures could have been...


A dark purple hedgehog slowly roused from his sleep, hearing a loud, sharp knock on the front door of his black stone castle. He slowly raised up out of his bed, the yellow, green, and blue streaks of hair seemingly glowing under the light from the window. "Who in the name of universe could be at the door at this hour..." He said, slowly looking over at the wall clock. 8:15 A.M. He slowly walked out of the bedroom, walking into a large corridor, which lead to the large metal front door.

"Baneful? Did you invite someone over...?" A dark red sleepy fox asked. He stood in the doorway of a small room about halfway to the front door. He rubbed his eyes sleepily, being careful not to rub over the thick stitches that lined the side of his eye.

The hedgehog stopped, turning to look at the fox. "No, Agony. Not that I remember, at least. I do not remember inviting anyone over... Especially not this early in the morning." The hedgehog slowly shuffled over to the front door, taking hold of the rusty metal handle and slowly pulling it open.

A brief flash of yellow was all the hedgehog saw when he opened the door. Before he knew it, he was slammed up against the back wall of the room, being held there by strong hands. He gasped, struggling to ignore the sharp pain that now shot up and down his thin back.

"I know what you did last night, Baneful! I bet you were part of the police chase outside the grocery store!" The person, who was the one holding the hedgehog, yelled. It was none other than Kyle.

"What are you talking about?! I was here all last night! With Agony!" Baneful screeched, attempting to free himself from Kyle's iron grip. He turned his head slightly, looking over at Agony. He hoped that Agony would agree to that, but the red fox assistant only stared in complete shock of Kyle's sudden entrance.

"I don't believe you! I saw five cloaked people running away from a ton of police cars when I walked out of the grocery store!" Kyle yelled, still holding Baneful against the wall. "You're one of Freedom City's most infamous villains! I stop your evil plans almost on a daily basis! I bet you have something to do with that!"

"How can you say that! You know I haven't been active for a few days now! I've been trying to recover from the last time that you ruined my plans! You destroyed everything and nearly killed me! I haven't been involved in any evil plans for a little while because of that!" Baneful hissed through his clenched teeth, obviously enraged.

Kyle fell silent, not really having anything to say back. Baneful was right. He hadn't been active for quite some time after his last plan had been foiled. Still, Kyle didn't want to let Baneful off of the hook just yet. "How can I believe you? I mean, I know I did take you down pretty badly last time, but how do I know that you didn't get active just last night? How can I believe that one of those guys wasn't you last night?"

Baneful lowered his head. Kyle was right in some ways. There really was no big way that he could prove that one of those figures wasn't him. "...I guess there IS no way that I can get you to believe me or prove that I was here all last night. My only arguement to you now is that YOU have no proof that one of those figures was me, do you?"

"Well... Uh... No... I guess I don't..." Kyle admitted, lowering his head in defeat. He hadn't been able to see any of the details on the figures, so he could accuse Baneful all he wanted to, but it wouldn't do any good due to the fact that he had no evidence or proof. He slowly released Baneful, turning away without saying another word. "...I'll see you some other time..."

Baneful just stood there, not really knowing or having anything to say. He watched as Kyle slowly began walking away, going back towards the door.

Kyle slowly continued out the door, but suddenly stopped. He turned his head, looking back at the dark red fox who was still standing in the corridor doorway. "...Nice to see you, Agony. I hope you've been doing well."

Agony nodded his head slowly, recieving a cold stare from Baneful. He slowly turned away, walking back into the doorway and out of sight.

Baneful turned his head back to the doorway, watching Kyle slowly walk out and shut the door behind him. Baneful turned with a sigh, then began walking back into the corridor, going back towards his bedroom.


"Ok... So I can't say that Baneful was one of those figures..." Kyle thought to himself, slowly walking away from Baneful's giant black castle. "Since I can't blame Baneful, it might just be best for me to move on to some other villains I know..." With that said, he started off towards the woods, knowing that he would find another one of Freedom City's most infamous villains there.


A dark red hedgehog-spider hybrid jumped slightly, being snapped awake by the sound of the front door opening and closing. He rubbed his eyes, noticing that he had fallen asleep in his chair yet again. "Hello?"

"It's Kyle, Geminus!" The yellow hedgehog said, walking into the dark red hedgehog's sight. He crossed his arms, staring at Geminus. "I've got a few questions for you."

"A few questions for me...? What could YOU possibly want from me...? Especially this early in the morning...?" Geminus asked, slowly grabbing his black and red scythe out from behind the chair he was sitting in. He leaned over to the side, leaning his head against the scythe, still tired.

"I saw a couple of figures running from the police last night when I came out of the grocery store. I was wondering if one of those people happened to be you," Kyle said, walking a few steps closer to Geminus with his arms crossed.

"No, I've been on a holiday break. I haven't been doing anything recently, nor have I even heard of a police chase happening," Geminus replied with a small yawn, still leaning against the crooked handle of his scythe.

Kyle went to speak, but stopped suddenly. He couldn't really argue that much with Geminus; he was pretty sure that Geminus probably DID take a holiday break. "...Ok..."

"Although, I think I might know who you're talking about..." Geminus added quietly, slowly sitting up in his chair. He watched as Kyle's eyes widened greatly. "Considering your eyes look like they just grew about twice their size, I assume that means that you probably want me to tell you what I know. Ok... Those figures were clothed in thick black robes, correct? About four or five of them?"

Kyle nodded his head, listening intently to what Geminus was saying. "Yes... There was five of them... All dressed in the exact same clothing..."

"Alright. Now, the police honestly don't know that much about these figures yet, but they seem to be some sort of new gang that just sort of rose up over night. They appear to be extremely elusive, and even the police haven't gotten a clear view of them yet. They also seem to be able to turn into black mist and just... well, disappear," Geminus said, leaning back in his chair. He twirled his scythe around in his hand out of boredom.

Kyle closed his eyes, giving a nod of his head. He was making sure to remember every word he heard. "Is that all that you know, Geminus?"

"Not quite. I'm not finished yet, boy." Geminus said, silencing Kyle. "The name of this gang HAS been discovered, though. Apparently they call themselves the 'Dark Horses'. Nobody knows why, but that's what they call themselves. Perhaps it's because of the dark cloaks that they wear. They also seem to disappear close to the middle of the Northern District, so the police are wanting to believe that their hideout could be somewhere near there. Anyway, that's all I have for you. I don't have anything else to say."

Kyle nodded his head slowly, taking note of everything that Geminus had just told him. "Alright... Well, uh... Thanks for the information, Geminus."

"You're welcome... Do you need anything else?" Geminus asked, releasing a small yawn. "Was that all you wanted?"

"Yes... That was all I needed. Thank you." With that, Kyle turned and walked away from Geminus, slowly walking back towards the front door. He slowly walked out of the door, shutting the door behind him. "I can't believe the best information that I have on those figures just came from one of my worst enemies..." He said to himself, walking away from Geminus' house. "Hm... Perhaps I can tell Kagen about what happened last night. Maybe he'll want to go look for those figures... Geminus said that they seem to disappear around the middle of the town." He decided to go to Kagen's house.


After about ten minutes, Kyle arrived at Kagen's house. He knocked on the door, hoping that Kagen was awake. "Hey, Kagen? Are you there?" He called through the front door, seeing what looked like a person moving inside one of the windows.

The front door slowly opened, revealing the tired black and red fox. "What are you doing here so early, Kyle...? Did something happen...?"

"Geminus told me some really interesting information about something. Do you want to help me investigate it?" Kyle asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Oh, really?" Kagen's eyes widen slight, fairly shocked that Geminus had told Kyle something that seemed fairly important. "Geminus told you something? What did he tell you?"

"Ok... Well, last night when I went to the grocery store, as I was coming out, I saw these five figures running away from all these cop cars. Geminus told me that they're some kind of new gang," Kyle explained, watching Kagen's grow wider. "Now, I know what you're thinking. You probably think it's one of the villains we know. Well, no, it's not. I already got ahold of Baneful, and I talked to Geminus, but I don't think it's either one of them. I think it's someone entirely different."

Kagen nodded his head, listening to every thing that Kyle was telling him. "Is that all he told you? Or did he have something else to add?"

"There's more," Kyle replied. "Apparently these guys seem to disappear and attack most commonly near the middle of the Northern District. The police think that could be where their hideout is."

"Ah, ok. So, I suppose you want to investigate that? And I suppose that you want me to come with you?" Kagen asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Yeah, I'd like for you to come and help. You don't have to, though... I'd just appreciate the help."

"Alright. Well, give me just a minute to tell my parents that I'm going somewhere. I don't want to just leave and freak them out or something," Kagen said, turning back to the front door. "I'll be back in a bit," He said, walking back into his house and out of Kyle's sight.

Kyle waited patiently for Kagen to return. He turned around, looking out at all the small snow piles still left from the snow day before. Even though the sun was now shining fairly bright, the air and wind still carried a heavy chill. He slowly rolled his eyes to the right, and froze when he saw what he thought was a black cloak. He slowly squinted his eyes, trying to his best to observe the figure that stood in the shadow of a building.

The figure noticed that Kyle was staring, then it quickly turned away, quickly running away from him. It keep running for a short time, then suddenly just vanished into black mist, which quickly disappeared as well.

Kyle watched in shock. Geminus was right; they really could just disappear into mist. But... That mist looked strangely familiar to him... "Could that have been...? No... It couldn't have..."

"Hey, Kyle! My parents said it's fine if I go! Uh... Are you ok?" Kagen asked as he walked out of his house. He wore a look of concern on his face when he noticed that Kyle was staring off into the distance. "Did something happen...?"

Kyle slowly snapped out of his trance like stare, turning to look at Kagen. "No... Nothing happened..." He replied, shaking his head. "So, your parents said it was ok for you to go with me?"

"Yeah, they said it was just fine," Kagen replied, starting down the sidewalk with Kyle. "Are you... Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine, Kagen... I'm fine..." Kyle replied quietly, staring straight ahead as he walked down the sidewalk with Kagen. "I was just thinking about that gang. I really want to know who they are, and weither or not they're a huge threat or not."

"Oh... Ok." Kagen nodded his head slowly. He didn't quite know if he believed Kyle completely or not. "When do you think we could be getting close?"

"I don't know. Maybe we can look for clues or signs or something..." Kyle said, still walking. "Just any kind of sign to say that those figures have been there recently or something."

"Huh... What would be the best thing to look for?" Kagen asked, trying to think of any kind of clue that could be useful to them.

"Oh, it could be anything. Although, the best thing would be actually seeing them, or seeing their gang logo or something... If they have one, that is," Kyle said, continuing to walk along the sidewalk with Kagen.

"Do you think we're even going to find anything...? I doubt that they'd be out in broad daylight, and I doubt that they would leave behind their gang symbol somewhere near their hideout..." Kagen said, looking around slowly as they continued to walk.

"True, but you never know..." Kyle said, quietly, thinking back to when he he saw that figure turn into mist right in front of Kagen's house. "They could be out in daylight if they really can turn into mist and hide..."

"Well... True. I suppose that's a pretty good point," Kagen agreed, suddenly coming to a stop. "Hey, look at that." He said, pointing to a group of police cars a little bit ahead of them. The police seemed to be investigating something.

Kyle stopped beside Kagen, observing the police. "...They look like they're looking for something... I wonder what..."

"...We're in the middle of the Northern District, right? Or at least close to it?" Kagen said, turning to look at Kyle. "Maybe they saw those figures that you're looking for..."

"Oh, you're right, Kagen!" Kyle said, sounding almost excited. "Maybe we could ask them what happened...? To see if they did see that gang?"

"Sure, we can ask them. Hopefully they won't think WE did something wrong..." Kagen said, slowly walking towards the police with Kyle.

"I highly doubt it..." Kyle replied, walking up the a police officer. "Um... Excuse me, sir?"

"Yes? What is it?" The police officer asked, turning to face Kyle and Kagen. "We're very busy, so please make it as quick as you can..."

"I'll try my best," Kyle replied. "Um... What exactly happened here? Are you looking for something or someone?"

"We're looking for a cloaked person... They destroyed a bunch of property, then a witness said that they saw the person run this way. We tried to track them, but so far we haven't seen them anywhere," The police officer replied. The police officer slowly narrowed his eyes at Kyle. "Wait just a second... Haven't I seen you before...?"

Kyle tilted his head to the side, confused. "Well, I do fight against the two villains named Baneful and Geminus... Maybe that's how you've seen me or heard of me. Otherwise, I have no idea how you would know me..."

"I... thought I saw you last night when I drove past the grocery store... We were chasing five of those cloaked people then..." The police officer said, watching as Kyle's eyes lit up slightly in surprise. "...I don't think you were involved with them, though..."

"No, no, I wasn't. I was only getting groceries for my mother. I honestly say that's all I was doing," Kyle assured, raising his hands slightly.

"I believe him... I've known him for years, and he's never been involved with villains and gangs," Kagen added, looking up at the police officer.

"...Alright, then... I'll choose to believe you for now, at least." The officer said, turning to look at the other police officers. "Are we done here yet?"

"Yes... I'd say that we're pretty much done. The trail seems to have gone cold... I doubt that they're anywhere near here anymore. I'm sure that they've mostly likely ran away to somewhere else..." The police chief replied, slowly walking back to his police car. "I'd say we're done for now until they attack again..."

Kyle and Kagen stood back and watched as all of the police officers climbed into the cars and soon drove off. Kyle turned to look at Kagen. "...Shall we investigate where they were investigating...?"

"Why should we...? They just said that they didn't find anything..." Kagen pointed out, confused. He watched as Kyle began walking towards the alley the police had just been in.

"Just because they didn't see anything doesn't mean that we won't be able to see something... " Kyle replied, walking into the alley. Kagen followed slowly behind him.

"I don't really see anything, Kyle..." Kagen said, looking around as he walked further into the alley with Kyle.

"I still want to look around just a bit more... I've seen all kinds of hidden doors and stuff like that while exploring Baneful's castle, so... If these gang people are smart enough and have the technology, there could be a hidden entrance to their hideout or something..." Kyle replied, slowly rubbing his hand over the brick wall as he walked. He kept walking, until his hand rubbed over a small brick that seemed to stick out more than the others did. "Uh... Kagen...? I think I found something...?"

"Yeah...? What is it...?" Kagen asked, walking over to Kyle.

"This brick feels like it's sticking out of the wall a bit more than the others... Do you think it could be something...? Like a button or some kind of trigger to open something...?" Kyle asked, moving his hand so Kagen could feel of the brick.

"...Well... I don't know if it could be anything... But I can definitely tell that this certain brick does stand out more than the others..." Kagen said, rubbing his hand over the brick. "...Now, if you really want to know if it does anything, maybe we should just push on it and see if anything DOES happen... That would be the best way to check..." His eyes suddenly grew wide, and he collapsed to the ground.

"KAGEN!" Kyle quickly kneeled down to his friend, trying to figure out what had just happened. He looked at Kagen's back, noticing that he had a large black dart sticking right in the center of his back. "Is that... a tranquil dart...?"

"Indeed, it is. Good observation, hero." A woman's voice spoke behind Kyle. Kyle whirled around, just in time to get a tranquil dart shot into his shoulder. Kyle collapsed to the ground, his vision quickly beginning to go blurry and dark. He squinted, struggling to see who shot him with the dart before he passed out. He was able to see three cloaked figures and the face of the shooter, which seemed to be a hedgehog, then everything went dark...