Chameleon means "earth lion" in Greek

tails part 1

(credit to SusieSpeed1348 for coming up with the idea/fact) 

Espio's tail, just like the rest of him was something of extraordinary mystery 

everyone simply believed it was just a tail and just that 

used for balance 

but there was so much more then what meets the eye 

chameleons, such as himself all have prehensile tails

("prehensile" means 'able to grasp') 

this is very important when climbing up walls and branches 

Espio and the chaotixs were once again on the case 

a gang of thugs had stolen valuables from a close little village 

thanks to their amazing detective work they were able to track them down

they were hiding in the middle of a forest, laughing in pride after their latest raid 

little did they know they were being stalked by 3 famous detectives 

"Alright boys, this mission requires stealth, so esp, you're up" vector whispered from behind some bushes 

"But why can't I help?" Charmy asked/whined as Espio was had already left to start the mission

"because your not the stealthiest, your buzz will alert them and from what I've heard, their fast on their feet, no we just need to wait for esp to do his thing" vector explained

"But how? the grounds covered in bear traps, not sure his invisibility will help that much" charmy said as a matter of factly before vector put a finger to his lips (charmy was beginning to get louder once more) 

his other hand pointing above 

that was where they saw Espio slowly but carefully crawl his way to the thugs, walking on the branches 

although they were both awestruck and confident with their teammate 

that didn't stop them from feeling slightly scared 

the branches were quite far away from one another and quite high above the ground

one wrong step and it was game over with run away thugs and one hurt teammate 

but looking closer Espio knew what he was doing, calculating each step with such precision, his tail even curling around some branches as an extra measure of protection.

but it wasn't long until Espio was directly above the villains themselves 

his tail curled around a branch and stayed securely in place and waited for his chance to strike 

like he was eyeing his prey

Espio saw his chance 

each member was oblivious to the ninja above and were drinking merely in a circle 

In an instant espio dropped down into the circle and used his spinning top attack 

causing each member to fall into the air and land on their backs 

Vector and Charmy took this as their signal and came in to help their teammate 

within minutes the thieves were caught and captured 

"great job boys, specially you esp" Vector congratulated, giving a big thumbs up to the chameleon stated 

"yeah! they didn't suspect a thing, they were like "huh? what the?" and then you came down and floored them" charmy shouted excitedly 

espio simply shrugged, and gave a small smile at their praise, to be honest he didn't think it was anything special, simply instincts helping in his climbing 

non the less, it worked and they caught the thieves 

it just happened to be in his domain where he had full advantage 

(these tails allow them to hold onto branches and move from one branch to another, to make their life easier when it is above the ground. their tails give chameleons greater flexibility and stability when climbing up or down trees)