"So why exactly have we been called out here?" The white hedgehog detective asked his fellow officer as he walked alongside her and his partner as they headed towards the large apartment building. "I thought I already heard that the cause of death seemed to be an overdose from first glance, so I would assume it was either deliberate or accidental, and I highly doubt we would be needed to investigate that."

"I thought that's what it was as well when I first heard it but the officer that got here first is absolutely insisting that it's not an overdose so we were all sent out here," The female owl officer said. "I haven't been in there myself because I was sent out to greet both of you so I personally can't say anything about the person."

"So I take it they think there's been some kind of murder?" The hedgehog asked, which caused the female officer to nod her head.

"That's what the guy who called it in said," The officer replied. "That's why they wanted you to be called out of here instead of the team that normally deals with the drug cases."

"How can they mistake an overdose for a murder?!" The hedgehog's partner, a male ferret, asked as he stuck his tongue out slightly. He flicked the grey lighter that he was holding off and on, which his hedgehog partner was able to read as impatience. "I mean, really. How can you mistake the two?"

"I don't know exactly but apparently they've either been mistaken or we're dealing with an actual murder," The female officer said before looking at the mailbox near the apartment entrances. "The man's name was Dalens. According to this thing his room is up on the fourth floor of the building."

"Then let's head that way, I suppose," The hedgehog said with a deep breath before climbing up the stairs, followed by his male partner and the female officer. The small group of three quickly made their way up to the fourth floor where they were greeted by two more officers who escorted them to the room where the body had been discovered. Before they could step into the room and look around, however, a tall male in white clothing stepped out of the doorway, stopping them.

"Ion," The hedgehog greeted with a nod, which caused the male to nod back in response.

"Detective Trap," Ion greeted back before turning his head towards the hedgehog's partner and the female officer. "Detective Pyro. And of course Officer Daniels."

"Have you figured out anything yet? Is it actually a murder instead of a drug case?"

"Well, the cause of death was most certainly a drug of some kind that has been injected into his body, but it's not a kind of drug I recognize. I would have to run an analysis back at my lab to understand exactly what it is and if it actually caused an overdose kill."

"What makes you question that it might not have been an overdose kill?" Trap asked, raising an eyebrow slightly as he caught the last thing that Ion had said.

"It's just the condition of the body. You can see multiple injection points on the body quite easily."

"I do believe that's something we're supposed to note as the detectives here."

"Yes indeed, but it's not something that takes a lot of search. You can simply glance at the body and notice that it certainly has more than one injection point. Now, I'll leave you to your work, detectives," Ion said as he ended his sentence with a slight bow. He turned and walked out of the doorway, allowing Trap, Pyro, and Officer Daniels to walk inside the room.

"So let's see what stands out so much," Pyro said as he looked around, searching for where exactly the body was in the room. He quickly locked his attention onto the figure of a male hedgehog, noticing that the young adult was lying on the floor with his face down. "Is this the guy?"

"Obviously so," Trap said with a hint of annoyance in his voice before he crouched down next to the male body and turned him over slightly, rolling him over onto his back. Trap almost immediately widened his eyes slightly as he looked over the face of the male hedgehog. "Ninth Street?"

"Ninth Street?" Officer Daniels asked in confusion. "Wait, wait. Isn't that the name of a some local drug dealer that hangs around on ninth street a lot? Where did that name suddenly come from?"

"You've seen a picture of the dealer, right?" Trap asked as he stayed crouched next to the male hedgehog. "Recognize any of the facial features?"

Officer Daniels started to speak out of confusion but instead decided to simply turn her attention towards the male on the floor and started observing his facial features. It didn't take long before she caught on to what Trap was attempting to point out. "This IS the Ninth Street guy, isn't it? But why would he suddenly turn up dead?"

"That's exactly what I was trying to point out. And yes, like you said, it is a mystery why someone like this would turn up dead."

"Sounds to me like he could have overdosed on his own products," Pyro commented. "So now we're back on the whole this was a drug case and has nothing to do with us thing."

"I don't see how he could have overdosed on his own product," Trap said as he carefully observed the hedgehog's body. "From what I had heard about him, he would sell things that could be smoked, not things that were supposed to be injected."

"Inject- What?" Pyro moved over to Trap and the hedgehog before looking down at the body. Trap silently pointed out quite a few injection points on the man's neck, arms, and hands. "What the- Who in the world would shoot themselves up like that? In the neck? Really?"

"...I can see why it could be thought to have been a murder," Officer Daniels commented, watching as Trap and Pyro continued looking over the body before they stood up to look around the room. "You two are the experts here. What do you think happened? And who would take out a drug dealer?"

"Well, I can see what Ion meant first of all," Trap said as he walked about the room at a slow pace, making sure to look over every little bit of the room that he could. "Now as for who would take him out, I don't know. My guess is we're either dealing with some rival drug dealer who wanted to bump him off of the scene or we're dealing with some vigilante-type who thinks that he's better than the police."

"Which one do you think seems more likely?"

"I can't be entirely sure, but I will admit that this is the first time that I've ever seen anyone using injections as a way to take someone out. I mean, other than executioners in prison. I've never seen a regular murder turning up with injections. I've only heard of injection overdoses, not murder. And because of that, I'm not sure if it's a vigilante who knows what he's doing or a drug dealer that decided to put his injection products to use."

"Maybe it was one of those super assassins you see on movies and stuff!" Pyro said as he held his hands up as if he was holding onto syringes. "You know, with the fancy know-how and the crazy assassinations."

"Pyro, those things are in movies- well, they're not here at least. I've never heard of anything like that before in this area. Plus, even if it was a super assassin basically, they would have been hired to hit the biggest person in town, not a small-time dealer."

"I was just saying. Anyway, do you see anything yet?" Pyro asked as he continued about the room, searching carefully for any signs of clues or anything that might need to be noticed.

"I'm searching," Trap replied as he also continued about the room. He started to step off into a nearby hallway, but he stopped once he heard the sound of something rolling across the floor. He looked down towards his feet, and noticed that he had just hit something with his foot and caused it to roll.

"Did you just kick something?" Pyro asked, having heard the rolling sound as well. He turned towards his hedgehog partner, noticing that he was crouching down to examine what he had found.

Is that a syringe?" Officer Daniels asked as she watched Trap pick up the small plastic syringe, also watching as he began to turn it in his fingers and observe it.

"Yes, that's exactly what it is," Trap replied as he observed the syringe carefully. "However, there's no needle and there's nothing inside it- ...wait."

"Is there something inside it?"

"A piece of paper," Trap replied as he carefully pulled the small roll of paper out of the syringe. He unrolled the roll of paper and began looking over it, noticing that there was something written on it.

"Well, does it say anything or is it just a blank piece of paper?"

"Be brave. Be ready to fight. ...That's what it says," Trap replied.

"What is that supposed to be?" Pyro asked in confusion.

"I don't know exactly. I don't know if it's supposed to be some sort of message or what exactly it's supposed to be."

"Does it say anything else?" Officer Daniels asked.

"No, that's all that it says."

"Have you ever heard that before? Like, on the street, I mean," Pyro said. "Either one of you two heard that from some dealer as a catch phrase or something? Trap, you know a lot about everything it seems and Officer, you spend a lot of time patrolling the streets."

"It doesn't ring a bell," Officer Daniels replied.

"And I don't believe I've heard it either," Trap said as he carefully rolled the paper back up and stuck it back inside the syringe. "Have we found anything else yet?"

"Nope," Pyro responded. "But we haven't searched the whole place just yet have we?"

"No, we haven't. That's why I was asking if anything else had been found in what we've already searched," Trap replied as he stood up. "If there's nothing else to be noted, then let's continue searching the place, alright? Let's get to it," He added as he put the syringe inside his trench coat and continued walking into the hallway that he was originally going to go down.

"Hey, what exactly are we looking for?" Pyro called down the hallway, wondering if Trap would be able to hear him or not.

"What do you think we're looking for? Clues, as always," The hedgehog called back in a rather annoyed tone of voice.

"Is this still even our job? This is starting to lean a bit towards something that the drug team would need to check over or something. I mean, the injections and stuff..."

"It's still our job, Pyro. Homicide is our work. This is a murder. That much should be obvious to you."

"Alright, alright, don't bite my head off about it," Pyro started as he began walking down the hallway towards Trap. "Find anything yet, super detective?"

"You should be searching around as well," Trap replied as he carefully looked over the walls and floor. "Now, a careful investigation is needed to find every little piece."

"I know this, but shouldn't we check in the big places first and then check the small places? It might save us some time."

"You can do that, but I'm going to stick with what I usually do."

"Fine then, I will," Pyro replied before turning his head left to right in search of an area to go to. He noticed that there were three doorways in the hallway, so he decided to go into the one that was closest to him. He peeked inside the room, noticing that he had just opened the door to a bathroom. "Hey, should I check around in here? It looks like a bathroom."

"It doesn't hurt to check. Something could have been hidden in there."

"Alright then, I'll look." Pyro walked into the room, immediately starting to sniff around as soon as he had entered. "Hey, Trap, I can smell something in here. Smells like someone's been smoking a little something."

"I would imagine that our... victim... here was probably doing that," Trap replied as he poked his head into the bathroom and also took a smell. "That's exactly what it is."

"So does that mean we should get the drug team to come look around after we're done? If we find the guy's drugs, I mean."

"We probably should, but for now we need to get back into the realm of our own work," Trap reminded as he moved out of the bathroom and continued down the hall.

"If you say so," Pyro replied as he continued his search around the bathroom. Upon finding nothing that would relate to the case, he decided to leave the room and move on to the next door in the hallway. He slowly opened the door, looking inside to notice that he was walking into a bedroom. This bedroom, however, immediately caught his eye with the condition that it was in. "Hey, uh, Trap? I think I figured out where Ninth Street or whatever his name was got attacked by our killer."

Trap immediately turned his head towards Pyro's voice, looking towards the room that the male ferret was stepping into. "What did you-" The male hedgehog started to speak as he walked towards the room and looked inside, but he immediately stopped himself once he saw what Pyro was seeing. The covers and blankets from the bed had been thrown around the room, lamps were knocked off of tables, furniture was overturned, mud footprints were littered about the room, and the open window was blowing in cold wind.

"So how did the guy wind up in the living room if he was attacked in here? I think it's pretty obvious that someone climbed in through the window since there's footprints all around it.

"My guess is that he was either dragged to the living room or he lived long enough to make it to the living room where he collapsed. I'm personally going to go with the theory of him collapsing. I don't see why someone would have dragged him out into the open."

"So you don't think he would have gotten dragged into the open?"

"No, I don't. If he was going to be dragged around, I would imagine that he would have been stuffed into something or taken and hidden somewhere instead of laid out in the middle of the floor for all of the police to see."

"Okay then, let's just assume the guy got himself in there. Now what? We need to look around this bedroom, right?"

"Yes, that's exactly what we need to do. Be careful not to step in the mud. You might ruin the footprints if you do," Trap added as he began searching around the bedroom.

"Can you see anything right now other than the obvious? Is there anything else left to even find here other than maybe the guy's drugs?"

"We can't know for sure until we search around. I know that somebody is going to have to look over these footprints, though. Maybe someone can match them to a brand."

"If you say so," Pyro said as he began looking around the room along with his hedgehog partner. The two detectives spent quite some time looping about the slightly large bedroom, searching for anything else that would be of interest to them in their investigation. It only took a few more minutes before the hedgehog detective noticed a pair of muddy shoes laying out on the floor next to the window.

"Well, it looks like whoever was here ditched their shoes," Pyro noted, which caused Trap to place a frown on his face.

"What do you know, we're actually dealing with someone smart for a change. I don't usually see people leave their shoes behind because they're in such a hurry to get away after their crime has been committed, or they don't have time to leave their shoes behind before the police sirens are already blaring and heading their way. I'll have to applaud this guy for a halfway decent move when we bust him," Trap said as he bent over and picked up one of the shoes. He held the shoe over the muddy footprints, observing carefully before looking at the bottom of the shoes. "Yep, these are the same exact shoes. The size matches and the design along the bottom matches as well."

"What kind of shoes are they? I mean, are they men or women's?"

"They look like a man's shoes. They look too large for them to be a woman's pair of shoes," Trap noted as he carefully set the shoes back down. "We'll need someone to take that back to Ion."

"Can't take it back to him?"

"We're busy right now, Pyro. We still have work to do. We haven't searched the entire place just yet so we still have work," The hedgehog added as he brought himself to his feet and looked around the room once more before walking out into the hallway, being followed by Pyro.

"So, last room?"

"Last room," Trap replied as he walked to the last door in the hallway and opened it up, noticing that they had just walked into a room stuffed with furniture and general junk lying about. "Store room? Room being used for storage?"

"That's what it looks like. Why don't you go ask him if you're curious?" Pyro said as he walked into the room and began looking around.

"Do you have to make a joke like that? The guy is dead, drug dealer or not. Show him at least a little bit of respect."

"Trap, you know I'm just trying to lighten the mood. Don't get your coat in a twist."

Trap started to speak to Pyro, but instead decided to just release a sigh and let it go as he attempted to put his focus on the room around him. The two detective partners searched through the entire room, but they found themselves unable to find anything else of interest. Upon realizing that they had searched through the entire house as thoroughly as they felt they could, they decided that it was perhaps the best time to head back to their station. They picked up what evidence that they needed to take back to the station before heading towards the door of the building to leave. Trap, however, did stop for a brief moment to speak again with Officer Daniels.

"Can you call the drug team and ask them to come over?" The hedgehog asked the female. "Pyro and I both caught a smell of some smoking drugs while we were in the bathroom. Plus, our victim here was a drug dealer. Perhaps they can come in here and find the guy's stash or at least where he makes- made- the stuff, if he made the stuff himself and didn't buy it from some higher-up dealer."

"Alright, I'll give them a call," Officer Daniels replied with a nod. "Be careful on your drive home, Trap."

"We'll be careful, don't worry," Trap replied with a nod before continuing out the door with Pyro. The two detectives heading out into the apartment hallway and headed down the stairs before walking outside into the slightly cool night air. The two partners walked over to their car before getting inside, which is when Trap started the engine and began to back the car out of the parking lot.

"So what do you suggest we do now?" Pyro asked as he attempted to hold in a yawn. "It's really late and I'm getting tired."

"Well, first of all we obviously need to head over to the station long enough to give what we found to Ion so he can check over everything. Plus, if he has anything to tell us, we need to head over there and hear what he has to say," Trap replied as he drove the car out onto the road and began heading towards their police station on the other side of town.

"Alright then. So what happens if I fall asleep on the drive over there?"

"Then I'll wake you up when we get there."

"And what happens if I still don't wake up or refuse to get up?" Pyro asked as a slight grin started to grow on his face. Trap paused for a moment, thinking over what he was going to say, before putting a slight grin on his face as well.

"Then I'll drag your tail inside of there and prop you up with a board if I have to so you'll be standing up and looking professional. Taping your eyes open is optional."

"And then what? Are you going to tell Ion that I fell asleep in the car if he asks?"

"No, I'll tell him that you and I hit the bar on the way back to the station and that you got so drunk that you were flying higher than a plane before passing out."

Pyro started to speak, but he instead found himself bursting into laughter at Trap's sarcastic reply, which caused Trap to start chuckling as well at what he had said. "Now this is why you're my best friend. Your sarcasm comes in so handy when it's time to make a joke."

"Enjoy it while you can. I don't let it loose often," Trap replied through his chuckling, keeping his eyes firmly locked on the road as he continued driving.

"And when you do it just makes everything funnier," Pyro replied through his own chuckling. "Alright, let's head over to the station so we can go home and crash. I'm tired and I'm ready to hit the hay."

"I'm driving, I'm driving. Don't worry," Trap said as he started to calm down in his laughter until he was able to stop and wear a simple smile on his face. "You know that place is across town from the station. It shouldn't take too long to get there, though. I don't imagine that traffic would be bad at this late of night."

"If you say so," Pyro said with a shrug as he looked out the windshield and began watching other cars and signs as they moved by the car they were riding in. "Hey, can you I turn on the radio? You know I'm not one that's big on silence."


The two detectives continued on their drive across the city, listening to the radio as Trap continued driving and Pyro continued looking out the window just for something to do on the drive. It didn't take too much longer before Trap drove the car up into the parking lot of their police station, noticing that quite a few of the lights were still on inside the building.

"Well then, I suppose everyone's working late on this case," Trap commented as he parked the car and removed the keys. He started to get out of the car, but the sight of Pyro leaning back in his chair caught the hedgehog's eye. "Hey, Pyro? Are you awake?"

The male ferret didn't respond and stayed perfectly still, which allowed Trap to look at his face and notice that his eyes were indeed closed. The hedgehog decided to go ahead and get out of the car before closing the door and walking around to Pyro's side of the vehicle. He opened the door, noticing that the ferret was still in the same position. "Alright then, where's that board that I need?" The hedgehog began, watching as a slight grin began to grow on the ferret's face. "Get yourself up and let's go inside. I can tell that you're awake," He added with a smile on his own face.

"Aw, no extra joke to go along with that?" Pyro asked as he got out of the car and closed the door behind him. He walked alongside his hedgehog partner as they both headed into the station building, continuing their conversation.

"I used up my humor earlier with the joke in the car," Trap responded as he walked through the hallways with Pyro. "Now, let's put on our professional attitudes, alright? I doubt Ion would want to watch us goofing and joking around in his work place."

"Oh, he already knows how everyone acts around here. He even gets involved in the silliness half of the time. But I suppose we could be serious since we're actually working and he's actually working."

"Exactly my point," Trap said as he opened the grey door to a very large and quiet lab area where only a single man was moving about and working inside. "Ion! We've finished our investigation and we brought you some things that you might want to look over as the forensics guy."

"I'm sorry to apologize that I don't have anything ready for you as of this current moment," Ion replied as he focused his attention on a microscope that he was looking through.

"It's alright. I understand that it's late and that it's going to be hard to work at full attention," Trap said as he came over to Ion and the table that was behind the male.

"Hey, Ion. Where's the extra arms at? I'm so used to coming in here and being freaked out by those when you're using them to multitask on a bunch of different things," Pyro commented as he walked over to the table as well.

"Freaked out? Surely you've seen them enough to be used to them," Ion said as he turned his attention away from the microscope and turned to look at Trap and Pyro. The ferret and the hedgehog were both able to note that they could see the side of Ion's large jacket shifting as if something was underneath it.

"Yeah, I've seen them a lot but it's still that initial surprise when I see them, you know? I don't see them every day and I'm not the one who has them so I'm not as used to them as you are."

"Indeed. Can we move back onto our topic please? I can tell just by looking at the both of you that you're tired and I need to get back to work."

"Yes, I would prefer that we move back on topic as well," Trap said as he set the things that he had collected down on the table, which included the syringe and the pair of muddy shoes.

"A syringe and a pair of mud covered shoes. That's all that you found?" Ion asked as he looked at the items with a slight look of confusion. "Is that a note inside the syringe?"

"That's exactly what it is," Trap said with a slight nod of his head. "And yes, those are the only things that we found aside from the body and some muddy footprints that were found with the shoes. And yes, before you ask, I did match the shoes to the footprints."

"Do you know who the shoes belong to? Do they belong to the victim?"

"I looked at the body closely enough to determine that the shoes do not. I mean, these shoes are men's, yes, but they're noticeably larger than the feet of the victim."

"Noticeable? Alright, considering I looked at the body myself I'm going to take your word for that and agree with you as I'm standing here and looking at the shoes you brought. Now, have either of you touched that syringe? And if you did, were you wearing gloves to avoid getting your own fingerprints on it?"

"I'm the only one that touched it and yes I was wearing gloves, as I usually do."

"Alright then, that's good. Now, like I already said, I don't happen to have anything for you yet. Are you both done here or do you have something else to show me?"

"That's all we have for you. Well, right now at least. We'll obviously have more as the investigation continues further."

"Alright then, thank you, detective," Ion said with a nod before turning his attention back to the microscope that he was looking in before. "Now I would suggest that both of you head home and get a bit of rest. I can tell by looking at the both of you and listening to you that you're both growing tired."

"That can be done. Do you want us to come over in the morning if we don't get called out to investigate more in the field?" Trap asked as he began walking to the exit along with Pyro.

"I'll either give you a call or leave you a message if I have results before the night is over," Ion called after them. "You can come over when you get the chance and I'll tell you what I found."

"Alright, that sounds good enough to me. We'll see you tomorrow, Ion," Trap said before departing the area along with Pyro. The two detectives left the station after leaving Ion's work place and walked back out to their car before climbing in and getting back on the road.

"So can you drop me off at my house? I was thinking that you would do that and that you would just drive the car back to your place," Pyro said as he turned his head to look at the hedgehog driving.

"You should know that I was going to do that. We do that every time I'm the one driving."

"Yeah, I know, but I was just saying. Are you going to be ready to get back to work tomorrow? Looks like we might actually have someone who knows what they're doing playing the strings right now instead of someone who's going to get caught by the other guys and girls while we're sleeping for a few hours."

"Exactly. Maybe this person will actually be somewhat entertaining to try to track down. I'm getting sick and tired of the moments where we investigate the scene, find a ton of evidence, and then have the person tracked down in less than a few hours."

"But that's our job, Trap."

"Yes, I know this, but it doesn't mean that I don't like when that happens. It takes all of the excitement out of working this job when it's the same thing over and over again. I miss the old days when I was still fairly new to the job and everything was a big adrenaline rush."

"You like that rush, don't you?"

"Who doesn't like it in this kind of work? It just makes the hunt that more entertaining."

"Ha, now you're sounding like a bloodthirsty hound hunting his juicy piece of dinner."

"Well? You can't blame me for liking that part of the job," Trap said before deciding to fall silent as he was out of ways to continue the conversation, plus he was beginning to get more sleepy and it was becoming a bit difficult to listen and talk to his partner while trying to focus and drive. Pyro also decided to be quiet, realizing that it probably was getting to be a bit difficult for his hedgehog partner to drive and speak at the same time.

The two detectives didn't speak anymore to each other except for a few little sentences here and there throughout the rest of the drive. They soon arrived at Pyro's medium-sized one-story house where the male ferret climbed out of the car before saying goodnight to his partner and heading inside of his home. Trap left the driveway quickly after that and was back on the road, driving a few blocks away to head to his own house of two stories. He drove his car up into the driveway of his home before getting out and heading inside of the building. Upon quickly changing clothes into something that he was going to sleep in, he was quick to put himself to bed in his room. Before he fell asleep, however, he let his mind start to wander into different thoughts about the case that he was going to be working soon.

"This is going to be an interesting person to track down... Someone who uses needles to kill someone..." The white hedgehog muttered to himself as a slight smirk grew on his face before he began to drift off into his sleep.