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As the people of Paris fled from their weekly apocalypse, Espio slunk into the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe, camouflaging with the cream bricks as he released a black blob from the pocket of his jacket.
"Awh, come on! I was enjoying that nap!" the black blob rasped, unraveling from a ball into a tiny black cat-chao, floating before Espio's horn. Espio scowled at him.
"We are always ready to do our duty. Plagg - claws out!"
The powers of destruction and the mischieviousness of the cat flowed into Espio as Plagg encircled him in a swirl of black and green. His face was covered by a loose black hood that descended past his horn to his lip, with two wide mesh slots that showed his eyes spreading green, and two black pointed ears flopping. He was enrobed in a billowing dark trousers and shirt, with Yoroi over his shoulders. Under his clothes his skin was covered in a tight black layer, but one glowing ring on his finger flashed with a cats paw. A belt wound around his waist and twinned with his tail, and as he flicked his fingers his contracted staff materialised.
Espio expanded the staff to an impossible height, and stood atop the monument. No sign of his partner, but there was ample trouble to keep him busy. Under the cat's influence and mask he grinned, and allowed himself to be free of his regiment.
At ground level, somebody's house cleaner had clearly had enough of her poor treatment, and fallen victim to a butterfly's egg. Now, she terrorised the town with an arsenal of un-cleaning weapons, creating as much mess as she could.
"If this is about the scratched furniture, I assure you I'm not sorry. It will happen again." Espio smirked as he landed before her, whipping his tail around her ankle and flinging her into a bin. He saw two wings glaze over her eyes as EggMoth spoke in her mind, and she blasted her vacuum to pull her dumpster over to him in a flash, and soaked him with water and perfume from a heavy spray bottle.
"Bad kitty!" She snarled as he spat soap from his mouth. On instinct, he yowled as his uniform was dampened, and shook it dry into a puff.
Espio ran circles about her, poking and prodding with his staff to find her Akuma. She blocked and guarded most of them, but he managed to fling her into the air and take vicious jabs at her appliances. None yielded a hatching moth like he hoped.
Not that he could deal with that on his own, but the Espio part of him liked to be helpful, efficient and independent.
The Un-Maid growled and surged for him, summoning clouds of dust that coated the ground, but he leapt over her. Unfortunately, the civilian behind her was completely covered, and it proved toxic and cloying: the hedgehog gasped and choked. Espio's heart panged as he realised he knew that hedgehog - his dear friend who he couldn't allow to be hurt.
"Oh, that's fine - as long as you don't make my fur wet!" Espio moaned, and then ran past Silver as she blasted her soapy cannon again. Now he was dripping wet, but the dust was out of his face. Espio picked him up in his tail and ran.
"You have to be careful, kid - things can get messy!" He chuckled, and cast around for somewhere safe to stash him. Un-Maid had screwed up the streets with mud and oil, and the worrier behind the warrior pinged forty different ways his friend could slip and die, or catch fire.
"Oh I'm -" Silver coughed "Fine, thanks, Catana, just put me down here, plea-" He coughed again, hard.
"Where's your asthma pump?" Espio asked seriously, then panicked: "Because... you sound like you need one! I know a lot about sickness, you see, being a hero, and stuff."
Silver shook him away, and went to open the tatty shoulderbag he carried, then stopped.
"Shouldn't you be fighting?"
"I'm sure my lucky partner has it under control, wherever she is!" 'Catana' sighed dreamily at that, before Espio resumed focus: "I need to know you can breathe properly to run away."
Silver sighed, irritated. It stung Espio a little to know his friend didn't like his alter ego, but he supposed the Plagg in him was helping disguise Espio's true identity: Nobody would suspect the straight laced detective-in-training was secretly a ninja expert and secretly a smart-arsed superhero. It was part of the act, so he told himself it was good that Silver didn't trust the 'him' he didn't know.
Somebody screamed over his shoulder. Silver puffed, irritated, and extracted an inhaler from his bag, careful not to show the contents, to breathe in the medicine.
"Really, you think I'd steal from you? I mean I could, of course, being fast, and stealthy, and so charming you'd never suspect-"
"And also a terrible hero, so you might as well be a petty thief:" Silver offered, pointing over Espio's shoulder to the people being sucked into a giant vacuum.
"You wound me! Next time maybe I won't help you - you'll have to hope my partner is around!" He sighed in feigned hurt, winked, then scampered after the Un-Maid. Silver darted behind a scaffolding site, and revealed the kwami of creation in his bag.
"Stupid cat, I thought he'd never leave!" Silver sighed to Tikki, and flicked his earrings to engage his powers.
Just as Catana found himself tugging his tail out of the hoover, his scarlet partner appeared. They wore a red and black polkadot skirt so rounded it puffed out and in like a tulip, and a pair of suspenders flush to a red ruffled shirt. They had black sheer wings extending from black covered arms, and a mask over their eyes. Their long white hair was swept into two bunches either side of their head that fluttered as they descended gracefully on their wings, spinning a yo-yo.
"Impressive, Catana. I see you're taking the time to clean yourself up." They spoke in a low almost-whisper, but it rang in Espio's body like the Notre Dame bells. He stared at them, his mind disconnected from everything except his lips, where sat a stupid grin.
"I knew I was a lucky guy!" He said dreamily, as the Scarlet hero launched their yo-yo and spun it around the hose of the hoover, tightening it so he could pull his tail out.
"No akuma in any of the cleaning supplies, m'lady." He offered, and his partner twitched. Ladybug was what the press called them, and they'd never corrected that. They never felt the need to stoop so low, which as someone working adjacent to journalists, Espio respected deeply. But they never even told him - Catana, their partner - what he could call them. Which was difficult, both because they were Paris' new heroes, and because Espio loved his scarlet partner more than he even knew he could love anything before.
They skipped lightly around the UnMaid, who had completely lost Espio's attention. He dusted himself off and jogged after them.
"So I see. Thank you." They said calmly, in their customary whisper. They were winding the Yo-Yo around the Akumatised victim with artful loops, the string glowing red as it wound itself as if by magic. They were so magic, they oozed a glowing radiance that commanded Espio. Everything was magic when they were around.
"You think you've won? Don't forget, I fight dirty!" The Un-Maid snarled. Up close, they could see her uniform had molded into her wooly pelt, and her once tidy hair had burst out of a pin that now hung in her curls. That was all the coccinelle could observe, before their prey kicked a spray of mud in their eyes, that turned from a spray into a tidal wave.
Catana darted in front of his partner, spinning his staff as fast as he could to deflect the mud. This kicked up a wind that flushed wet earth into dirty air, but turned the splash back onto the Un-Maid. However, something caused the ever-composed scarlett hero to loosen their hold on their Yo-Yo, choking softly.
"Are you alright, lovebug?" Espio called jokily, then turned around to see his partner doubled over, white eyes streaming behind their black mask.
"Just- an allergy." They wheezed, waving him away and taking deep ragged breaths.
"Do you need something for it, are you going to be okay, I-" Espio stopped as they placed a hand across his chest.
"No. I'm just warming up, don't worry about me!" They stated in their whisper, their eyes on the troublemaker.
"I know how you feel - you take my breath away!" Espio winked as he patted their back. They rolled their eyes.
"Then how are you still talking?"
They shot off before he could respond, leaping into the air and floating with their black glittery wings, steered by their yo-yo tugging on lampposts. They pulled one long ponytail over their nose and mouth as they approached through the filth.
His scarlet partner fought with the tenacity of a tiger, but stayed graceful, intentional and powerful as they landed hits, dragged possessions and civilians out the grasp of the Un-Maid. Beside them, Catana looked like a bumbling kitten with feet too big for itself, but he did his best to flank his partner, knocking errant hits out their way to let them shine.
Speaking of shine, they had filthied the road with muck and soapscum in this fight. It became slippery, and Catana had to grip the tarmac with his tail, and even that was getting harder. But it wouldn't have been a problem, if there weren't still cars trying to drive around them and skidding.
"Just one moment m'lady;" Catana said sweetly, before he slid purposely on the ground into the traffic: "You lot! Get outta the way before you take a stick up the pipe!" he snarled in full cat, shunting them backwards. People started to reverse, except for someone who got out of his car and shouting. Catana scowled at him, then smiled as he leapt over the vehicle.
"I meant it."
He extended his staff to clink into the exhaust pipe, and hefted the car on the end of it like a wobbly lollipop.
"My- my Jag!"
"My Jag now, it'll find you later. Later!"
He plonked the car down on its side with a crash to rest like a barrier. The sight of a car bobbing in the air was enough to turn most of the crowds away.
Coccinelle had devised a careful trap of their yo-yo string, weaving in and out of hits with a feather-duster-Morningstar. They pitied the maid and her plight, but needed her to keep talking to rustle out the Akuma that had wriggled into her heart by an object she cared about, before it had a chance to lay eggs. This was what Catana was best at, as he never shut up, and hadn't ended up with a costume that meant he had to hide his voice, they presumed.
"Whatever you've been promised, it won't help you." They whispered as loud as they could. Un-Maid tore up the grass, and made to run for the shops again. They sighed, and delicately skidded in front of her. Their yo-yo was already occupied, so they prepared to fight fists, but a car slammed down right in between them.
"This is not what I thought the cat would drag in." They muttered, and grabbed Un-Maid by the ankles as she tried to escape.
"What's the matter? More a Mercedes gal? You'll fix it all in the end, I know you will." Catana breezed, but his partner shot him a look.
"This behaviour is why you've got detectives on your tail." They pointed carefully. Catana jumped, tugging his tail in hand, but smiled easily.
"The Chaotix are further from me than you might think." He laughed, and tipped their chin; "But thanks for worrying about me."
His partner rolled their eyes, just as he vaulted over them to be covered in a dustbomb. They covered their face with their lace glove.
"My hero. Stay focussed."
Their dismissal stung, but Catana was growing used to his partner: Their elegance and mystique was how they guarded their plans and moves, but they cared deeply for everything and every one of their opponents.
They gracefully ducked under the toxic spray of cleaning products. Understated, classy, not making a big show of themselves. It was how Espio tried to be in his daily life, but the Plagg in Catana tempted them to flip over the spray coming for him with a bow. Caught between their intentions, they staggered the landing of a flip. His partner's perfect heeled toe caught the back of his head, and they tipped him up next to them. He shorted out for a moment.
"I need her under the arch. Can you lead her that way?" They whispered especially quietly, lips barely moving. If they were any further from him, he'd never have heard, but their cheek was nearly on his. He almost didn't hear, but grinned giddily with excitement.
He looped his tail that tucked into the folds of his belt around the end of her hoover, and ran with it, being pelted with acid as he went. He hissed, but kept running.
"Not like that! I meant-" His partner whispered, and sighed as they weren't heard.
One mighty splash and his tail jumped off the hoover, a tinge of pink revealing as it curled reflexively. Catana howled slightly, ripping around and tackling the woman and pushing her under the arch, then stomped the acid spray-bottle into the ground.
"Care-ful!" His partner called suddenly, their voice breaking on the first as they tried to shout and their throat crackled from the dusty air. Catana sprang from the akumatised victims, his costume half soaked with bleach, soap and dust. His partner stood over his shoulder, coughing slightly, and pulled their trap closed around the victim.
"Your- belt-" They coughed, firmly stood behind him, with their hands on his shoulders. He twitched his tail on confusion, then spotted it was exposed, the colour hidden behind the wings of their cape. Un-Maid hissed and howled, swinging upside down under the arch de triomphe in a Yo-Yo string, but the red hero did not pay her any attention.
Catana looked suddenly small and scared, quickly unfirling his tail and wrapping it in the belt, a guilty look across his face as he grimaced apologetically at his partner. They didn't look at him, staring straight ahead.
"Oh, I see why you'd be worried - that pink thing? That's not a tail under my tail! You... caught me on the way to ballet! Under my suit, I'm wearing the prettiest pink skirt, with all these streamers, and-"
"Don't tell me that either." They sighed, vaulting over him to inspect the villain they'd caught.
Under his suit, Espio cringed at himself, watching his partner as they jabbed at the different instruments they shook off Un-Maid, searching for a filthy egg-laying Akuma. He also spotted the dustbunny she was conjuring above them.
"Cover your mouth!" He called as he redrew his staff and pole vaulted into the air to disspell the dust cloud. His partner complied instantly, but Un-Maid spotted it, and started spawning four more dustbunnys as she realised the red hero's weakness was showing.
She kicked dust from her free foot, and as they sheltered she loosened a hand and grabbed her hoover, reversing it to blow dust and sand about.
They tried to keep one arm covering their face, and despite Catana's best efforts started to look blue in the muzzle.
"You need a change of luck?" He offered, and although they tried to hold off for a minute more, started to wheeze, so Catana dashed away from them, skidding slightly in the soapy and dirty ground.
"You can't reach me up here!" he taunted Un-Maid as he ran up the wall. As ever, he was annoying enough to summon all attention, while his partner spun their Yo-yo over their head, weaving a charm into existence. He ducked and dodged, hanging upside-down on the ceiling and being careful to guard his tail.
The red hero on the ground caught a delicate red-and-black pincushion with needle in their hand. They sighed, thumbing the pointed black tip with their gloves. It wouldn't help them breathe, so what could this be used for? They had no time to think, as Catana was knocked off the top of the arch.
"Will you be okay, m'lady?" He asked mid swing for the villain. Under the arch gave him too much advantage, so Un-Maid tried to dart out, but he flicked his staff around to smack her back in.
The red hero assessed their opponent uncritically, with as little expectation as they could. She was - behind the dirt, grime and dust covering her - smartly dressed, with her hair once in a tidy bun, and a knee length dress with an apron. From said apron, she pulled all her weapons, big and small, so if they could just swipe the apron, they were sure they could find something deep in that pocket.
The red hero took their two long pony-tails and wrapped them around their face. The lady in them felt ridiculous, undignified, but the person who's quills they were couldn't care less about appearance.
"I need to get close." They said softly; "Stop her from going far."
As they spoke, Un-Maid attempted another escape from the arch, and Catana growled. He summoned dark energy in one paw that lit his eyes like fireflies and pulled his mouth taut in a terrifying cheshire grin.
"Cataclysm." He muttered, as his staff blocked one exit of the Arch, and he collapsed the other as his claw stroked the brick and it all rotted into rubble. He withdrew his hand before the ceiling above their heads fell down, disspelling the rest of the vicious spell. It kicked up dust and caused his partner to gasp, but he had just one exit to defend
They looped their yo-yo around a carving and twisted it around their ankle, as graceful as an acrobat on silks. They swooped out of the way as Catana distracted them, scampering around and howling dramatically with every hit.
On their first swing, they plucked the pin that rested in her hair as they passed her. She didn't notice, instead blasting Catana.
On their second swing, they deftly unpicked the knot tying her apron up. It dropped, and she grasped the ties, muttering as she sucked up the dust into her lungs, preparing to blast the red hero.
On their third swing, they were pelted with dusty breath, but they brushed right past her pocket, loosening a thread with the hairpin, so the whole contents spilled out.
Un-Maid squeaked, and tried to grasp the sprays, cloths, duster, hoover and water tank, but with burning lungs the red hero swung back, and swiped the only thing she should have been looking for: a slip of paper with her name on it. It glowed with dark purple energy, and the name on it had been scribbled out.
Un-Maid screamed and launched for her with more dusty breath, but Catana got there first, and smacked the other side of the Arch with the rest of his cataclysm, collapsing it around the two of them, as his partner was flung away on their wings.
"Catana!" They gasped, and that knocked the air out of them. They heaved in breaths as they landed on the rubble and started to dig, but the brickpile shifted slightly, groaning, and they refocussed.
They ripped the paper in two, and out unfurled a cursed butterfly with a bubbly stomach full of eggs. They shook it into the air, then caught it in their Yo-Yo, that opened with a snapper mouth and swallowed it. They swung it back to their hands, head spinning for lack of oxygen, but when they opened the Yo-Yo a pure white butterfly flittered out and away.
"Bye bye, butterfly..." They wheezed, inspecting the paper in their hand, then rushed to the rubble.
They threw stones away where they could see a black paw clawing out.
"Catana, what have you done..." They huffed, and their eyes sparked with tears from the pain in their throat. Catana's ring beeped as they pulled his arm, and they tapped their own earrings to feel for the bumps of beads in their earrings: 2/5, they had two minutes before they transformed back.
"But you can fix it, m'lady." He muttered, scratching at his head as he dragged himself out of the collapse. They sighed in relief and rolled their eyes.
"Be careful, would you?" They sighed, and scampered over the rubble to Un-Maid, who had been protected, they discovered, by Catana's staff that now held a large chunk of bricks over her head.
She snivelled and cried, no longer magical, but just an ordinary sheep woman in a broken Maids uniform.
The red hero knelt down to her, and took their needle and thread.
"I'm sorry for that." They whispered, and deftly stitched up her pocket; "I didn't mean to take away your dignity."
The maid sniffed and whimpered: "What have I done? I've ruined my life."
"No, you aren't to blame. I would be insulted too." They whispered, handing back her paycheck, docked so heavily that she would owe her employer money for missing one dusty corner and leaving a cloth on the side of the bath.
She snivelled and laughed softly, and the red hero smiled, still wheezing as they finished off the sewn edge.
As they stood their body shivered for lack of air, and Catana was at their shoulder to support them. The maid shuffled out of the way of the Arch, as the red hero threw their pincushion to the sky, where it dissolved into red ladybirds who descended to make the world right.
Where the monument was rebuilt, the two heroes found themselves atop of it, hidden from the world by the edges of the Arch.
Catana watched carefully as his partner held their chest and breathed deeply, leant forward to minimise pain.
"My friend has asthma. You should carry a pump." He said simply, leaning down too to check their face. They turned away.
"I do not. It's... my suit. The hero it embodies must share this problem."
"... Whatever you say m'lady. That was nice work. Always a pleasure to watch you in action!"
"... Good job Catana. See you soon, no doubt."
"Wait - but how did you use your charm?"
His partner squinted at the Maid being hounded by TV reporters who had sprung from the woodwork now that damage was not a risk.
"It was to let her feel dignified. If I couldn't give her some pride back, she would be at risk of re-akumatisation."
"So it was a Lucky Charm after all."
"They all are."
"Not exactly-" Catana started to say, but his ring beeped. "I just wanted to say; it's not luck. You're skilled. Nobody else thinks like you." He hurried up his words, as they tapped their heeled toe.
"So you say. The creator of this charm was an exceptional woman."
"M'lady, you're an exceptional woman."
"I am not an exceptional woman!" They barked suddenly, their voice gravelly and squeaky. For a moment, they didn't sound soft and dignified, but raspy and young, their throat crackly. Catana blinked, his heart thumping, as they regained their composure; "What I mean is, you don't know. We mustn't know our identities, it would make us vulnerable."
Catana gazed at them with eyes as wide as saucers. The hope they had that he hadn't noticed died, and they sighed, ready to swing away.
"Your secrets are always safe with me. I'd die before I betrayed you. And I know you'd never betray me." He said quickly, hand on their shoulder. Their white eyes in white irises hovered on his tail for a moment, and they nodded.
"I... know. Until next time, Catana."
"Goodbye... Have you settled on a name yet? I know you don't like Ladybug..." He emphasised the lady as he thought, his mind racing behind his eyes. They rolled their eyes, and returned to a whisper.
"No. I haven't. There's no need for anyone to refer to me."
"But how will I send my love letters to you? I'm sure they're just getting lost in the post, that's why you haven't replied!" He winked as he regained his pep. His partner rolled their eyes.
"Ladybug, Coccinelle, Red heroine. Any of those names the press gives me are fine for you, too." They sniffed slightly, and swung away.
"I wouldn't care if you weren't always ladylike." Catana called, but he didn't think they'd heard. His mind raced as he released his transformation and rebecame Espio. Back as a chameleon blended into the mended arch as he climbed down.
"She's not a lady? All this time, oh my god I've been driving her- him, them - to frustration!" He growled at the kwami who shot out of his ring, sniffing in his bag for cheese.
"What? No, you're wrong! She obviously just meant she's not fancy! The holder of the Ladybug Miraculous has always been a girl!" He rasped, and it reminded Espio of a new voice in his mind, and his heart ached.
"If you say so. It still doesn't matter." He said quietly to his knees, a small and tempered smile on his face.
"Sure it does! They seem all grumpy about it!"
Espio hummed quietly, and opened his bag.
"Can you eat while I walk: I agreed to meet Silver."
Plagg wolfed a wheel of cheese that had been carefully stashed in an airtight tupperware.
The grande and beautiful heroine of Paris launched herself into a bin faster than anyone could see, and out climbed a scruffy teenage hedgehog boy with greyish quills and a hacking cough. Silver opened his bag for his inhaler, and the red kwami of creation nestled in to eat biscuits.
"It'll be alright." She said softly in a voice as delicate as blossom. Silver puffed his inhaler and groaned.
"He's never gonna forget that." He wheezed. He clocked the odd stares he received and hurried on, chest still heaving.
"Slow down, Silver, no need to rush."
"Every need to rush! Espio said he'd be here, I hope he's okay! I didn't see him, but he's never late- oh shoot! I said I'd grab smoothies!" He floundered, but then spotted a pink figure studying the crowd of press around the arch, and squealed slightly.
"We have to go! I smell like a dustbin and I forgot what we came here for, and-"
"With respect, Silver, he's 'literally just a guy'. You're so much more than that."
Silver laughed to himself, attracting strange looks. Tikki, despite her fine graces and regality as the spirit of a fine heroine, had done her best to learn contemporary phrases to speak to Silver, who was already perpetually out of step with his time, too. He supposed they both compromised: day to day, Tikki tried to be a teenage boy's best friend, and when transformed he tried to be a classy genius queen, and walked in heels with the help of his weird telepathy quirk.
He stopped laughing and clasped his bag shut as Espio's eyes caught his, and he looked him up and down. His breath caught again.
"I'm sorry - I was gonna get the-"
"There was an Akuma attack here. I hope you stayed in cover." Espio said sharply, darting his eyes to the press. Silver nodded, his chest tight again.
"Yeah, talk about bad luck!"
"Not at all. The hero known as ladybug is always good luck." He sighed a little as he said it, his cheeks slightly pink, before he cast that thought aside; "Are you quite alright? We should go, it is quite dusty here."
Silver choked slightly, tugging his inhaler out his bag again. His throat stung, but his heart stung too seeing Espio excited by Ladybug. She was by any standards a beautiful woman, and the opposite of Silver, so he wished Espio didn't like her.
"She's just lucky too." He wheezed; "Lucky she gets to disappear off the scene while we get a crowd!" He laughed, following Espio with a slight skip. He couldn't believe his own luck that someone in the class above, who was also a detective apprentice, and secretly a ninja - if Silver had found the right anonymous blog - had made any time to see him at all. Silver didn't deserve to be his friend. It was greedy that he wanted to be more.
Espio looked around the recently mended pavements and hummed.
"No, they are incredible. Just think what they could do without all the trouble that comes with them." He gestured to the Arch and the earth. Silver grumbled something into his hoodie, then blushed as Espio fixed an eye on him.
"I beg your pardon?"
"I just said they're... she, I mean, she's really lucky she has Catana to do her dirty work. I mean, he gets all the flack for breaking stuff, but he wouldn't have to if she did her job right. And if he didn't take the blame for stuff, she'd be getting hounded like he is. Not like you guys would get that." He huffed.
Espio snorted. The investigation into the heroes true identity was certainly pointed more to Catana: he was considered far more dangerous and less controlled, and that worried his superiors immensely. It was also largely Espio's doing, as he was on the investigation team, and by focussing on Catana, he could be sure they were always on the wrong track. This way, he could protect his lady - or not-lady, as they preferred - from afar. They'd never know, of course. That was fine.
"What are you smilin' about?" Silver asked nervously, and Espio returned to the present: they were in the queue for smoothies, and Silver looked nervous for some reason. A lick of Plagg possessed him to tease.
"Are you infatuated with Catana?"
"What? Excuse me?"
"That isn't a no."
"Oh my god, no!" Silver squeaked indignantly, but Espio just took that as more evidence, so he had to dig further; "No, I just think she's overhyped!"
"Keep your treasonous thoughts to yourself."
"It's true! He seems like a cool and nice guy! But-not-like-that! Besides, he's a guy!"
"I'd have thought you of all people wouldn't hold that as important. You're always so progressive you're practically from the future."
Silver grinned slightly at that, but shook his head: "That's not what I meant! Let's not talk about Catana, he's just a cool guy. Besides... he likes ladybug."
Espio inclined his head, strangely tickled at what he thought he realised: "So I've heard. That would be a shame for anyone who liked him."
"... you guys wouldn't use that against him, would you? Try and get him to talk?" Silver hummed quietly. Espio grimaced: he knew Silver was one of the vocal objectors who hated the harrassing search for the heroes' true identities. He would tell anyone and everyone that it was feeding into Eggmoth's treachery, would put people in danger, distracted from the real enemy. Once again, he was at the bleeding edge, but Espio knew he was uncannily right. Still, it was awkward that his work seemed to be coming between their friendship.
He started to form an answer, but his phone rang.
"Espio! Lunch break is over, we've got a break for cracking Catana! Eye witness reports a curly tail!" Vector barked down the phone, just when they were one person away from the front of the queue.
"Apologies, I need to go." He mouthed to Silver. Silver opened and closed his mouth, swallowed, and spoke loudly enough for the chief detective to hear:
"I saw Catana there! He helped me get away from the dust! I saw his tail, I'll come with you!"
His heart pounded as he cringed at his own raspy voice. He assured himself he was doing it to protect Catana, but in his heart he knew it was to spend more time with Espio.
The chief on the end of the phone sighed.
"Is that your whackjob friend? Well, I guess you better bring him."
The line moved forward, and Silver ordered a smoothie as Espio hung up.
"Since I'm waiting for mine, you might as well order one too."
"I suppose I have no choice. You won't give mistruths to the state's investigation, will you Silver? Don't be political here, it may be held against you."
Silver sucked his teeth, then his straw: "Why would I lie? Not to protect Catana, that's for sure! And I totally saw it, his tail was... blue, and twisty, like a snake. Or it might have been black, cause ladybug's wings were in the way. It could have been a second belt, actually." He started rabbitting on, and Espio sighed in relief.