//------------------------------//
// Seventh Heist 
// Story: A New World, A New Stage 
// by tdnpony 
//------------------------------//

Opening theme:


“You want to do WHAT?!” was the very loud cry of surprise that Sleight Hoof and Quick Storm let out. Earlier, after getting things ready for Sleight’s show the following night, they were approached by Alice, asking them about notable sights in Vanhoover. When they told her that one of the sights included a museum filled with valuable and ancient artifacts, she had all but begged them to show her where it was. It was cute really, so they obliged, and showed her the museum while she was under an illusion that made her look like an Earth Pony. 

What they hadn’t expected, was that several hours later AFTER they showed her the museum, she basically told them that she was planning to rob it...and as a contest to settle a disagreement at that. Needless to say, that didn’t go too well with the old couple. “Going after criminals is one thing, but you’re stealing from a museum. A PUBLIC museum for Celestia’s sake!” Storm all but shouted. 

“That’s certainly true,” Alice admitted, but then added, “However, like any other of my heists, I promise that everything will be returned safe and sound after the heist.”

“That’s not the point!” Sleight shouted. “When you helped us, I honestly thought that you were different than a regular thief, since you did what you did to help us only. But this...how could this help anyone?”

Alice sighed, but smiled slightly. “You two are good people, you know. Alright, I’ll explain it a bit. First how are the police standards here in general?”

Sleight and Storm looked at each other and deadpanned, “Terrible. While there are plenty of competent guards, the majority...well...its why there are so many criminals going around under their noses.”

“I see. Now...what would happen if say...a thief who kept pulling out new tricks, forced them to be on their hooves on a regular basis?” she continued.

“What...are you getting at?” Sleight Hoof asked, though he couldn’t help but feel...enthralled by what he was starting to see as an intricate plan. 

“I’m thinking long term, Sleight. Fox is a thief, yes, but her real mission is to help people. Dealing with crime lords is great and all, but my real target is the police. By forcing them to remain on their hooves, over time, as they’ll have to raise the bar, get better training, and generally improving. Now what would happen if guards with those standards dealt with normal criminals?” she questioned further. 

At this point, the old couples’ eyes widened. “They would take them down. The crime rates would drop, society would be safer over time…” At this point, they looked at the Zoroark before them, grinning ear to ear as they pieced her plan together. 

“Damn girl, I can’t believe you turned something bad into something good,” Quick storm couldn’t help but say. “And to think you had planned that far ahead…”

Then both of them grinned. “Alright, you’ve got us. How could we possibly say no to that,” Sleight grinned. “We’ll help ya out how we can.”

Alice smiled and bowed. “Thank you. I promise though, that no matter what happens, I won’t endanger either of you. I promised you that I would give you your lives back, and I intend to keep that promise.”

“Eh, don’t sweat it. Normal went out the window when a God suddenly decides that Equus is a better place for him and his people to live. You’ve already given us everything we wanted, Alice. We’ll always be thankful for that,” Sleight Hoof said as he and his wife smiled warmly. 

The heartwarming moment lasted for a while, until Alice remembered why she was here. “So anyway...about the museum. Any underground info you got?”

The couple chuckled before shaking their heads. “Sorry, as far as we know, the museum’s legit, so nothing here.”

“Oh well, I suppose its better this way. Somehow I get the feeling this heist is gonna be anything but smooth with how those two keep arguing,” Alice shrugged.

“...why does that fill us with dread so much?” Sleight and Storm deadpanned. 





Later that night, atop the roof of the museum, the group of thieves were gather in preparation for the contest of thieves. 

“Alright, so its agreed, this museum will be the spot where we decide which of you two is the better thief,” Shade said, chuckling slightly as she noticed that Scep and Rascal were once again glaring at each other.

“Sound fine to me.”

“Same here.”

Seeing that, Alice also let out an amused chuckle, since it’s been a while since she had seen Rascal this worked up. However, seeing Scep like this reminded her of something that had been bothering her. “Sorry to break up your staring contest, but Scep, could you follow me for a bit? There’s something I would like to say before we start.”

At this, the Sceptile turned to her in surprise. “Now?...Okay then.”

“Great. Follow me,” she said, as she walked to the other side of the roof. Once they were a good distance away, she turned to him. “There’s something I’ve been wondering. You’ve been a thief for...a very long time, right?”

“My whole life,” Scep chuckled. “Mom said even as a babe I couldn’t keep my hands to myself.”

“I see,” Alice nodded. “Pardon me if I sound rude or anything, but may I ask why?”

“For fun,” Scep looked confused. “Why else would I steal?...Of course, then the Commander wanted me to steal to help our cause...It’s still fun though.”

At that, she chuckled slightly. “It is, isn’t it?” she nodded. However, then she frowned slightly. “Alright then, I’ll be honest. Remember how I told you I had a question for you for after we finished our first heist? It has to do with your group. To be honest, even now I don’t know what to think of your group. On one hand, I can understand why you’d want to stand up to the humans, especially considering how horrible some people are, but...I suppose it’s due to your predecessors. First of all, how much do you know about the previous PLA?”

Scep frowned. “I...never asked. Most of the older members, the Commander included, refuse to even talk about it.”

“With good reason. I’ll be blunt. The old PLA, and especially its previous leaders were monsters. While you guys are freedom fighters, the old PLA...they were terrorists, and often time were just as horrible, if not worse, than some of the worst evil gangs to date...if the records are accurate,” she sighed.

“That bad?” Scep worked his jaw. “I mean, I guessed it was something rotten, but the Commander, if its ever brought up to him, says that whatever I heard was an exaggeration….of course...His eyes….The Commander is usually so confident, but...they look so battered when it’s brought up.”

“Alright, I won’t guarantee if the records are 100% accurate or not, since again, they WERE written by humans who could as well have exaggerated, but I do know one thing. There was an island that to this day remains deserted. According to the reports, the old PLA invaded that island, and slaughtered every man, woman, and child living there, and if the records in the underground are right, they did the same to any Pokemon who disagreed with them,” she sighed. “Now I’m not saying that your PLA is the same. Heck, you guys, as wacky as you are, are absolute saints in comparison. I just...alright, now I’m rambling. I’ll cut to the chase. What is the goal of the PLA? I know that should be pretty clear, but I need to hear it straight from one of its members.”

Scep didn’t say anything for a little bit. He simply looked at his uniform, specifically his badge. “We did that……….” He sighed and shook his head. “I didn’t know…..”

“Understandable, and don’t you give me that look. The ones responsible for that were the old PLA, and they’re dead, and probably paying for it in the afterlife. So don’t go feeling like you should shoulder the burden of something THEY did,” she cut in.

“Right,” Scep nodded. “Now, I’m going to be clear. I’m not the best one to ask this question, since I just work for the Commander because, well, he’s awesome. We wanted….” He scratched his chin. “Give me a moment...oh yeah, Pokemon rights...or supremacy….or national Taco Tuesday...The Commander wasn’t that consistent. Either way, we mostly just fought Team Rocket, Raziel, and the like, while trying to rule/co-exist with the Hoenn Government….again, the Commander mixed it up...That Alakazam really did a number on him.”

Alice winced at that. “...maybe when you find your commander, you should have him schedule an appointment with Arceus. It can’t be healthy having damage like that,” she said, a pang of sympathy in her voice, before smiling slightly. “And thank you for being honest. At the very least, you’ve made one of my worries go away. To be honest, I think my next question would be moot, but I’ll ask anyway. Say you all succeeded in the whole Pokemon liberation. What then? What would have become of the humans and the Pokemon who would have chosen to remain with the humans?”

“Now that’s a good question, dudette.” Scep hummed in thought. “I don’t think the Commander thought that far ahead. He just thought he’d be victorious and then everything would be right in the world. Some of the other generals sometimes bring it up, but honestly….we don’t have a surefire idea. Well, General Char wanted to set up camps and such for ‘heathens’, but General Gard always shot him down. Char’s always been a bit more….exuberant about the liberation thing.” He put a hand to his neck as if protecting it.

“Well...its a good thing he did. Otherwise I think you’d have had to prepare a region or two for those camps, considering how few people believed Arceus was even real, or worse, just a ‘powerful Pokemon’, the number of his heathens would have been....very high,” she sweatdropped. “But...thank you for answering my questions. Now while I have even more...questions about the PLA and their general sanity levels, at the very least I’m happy to know that the old PLA is dead and buried as it should be,” she said. “Alright then, let’s get back, we’ve been here long enough, and I still haven’t explained the rules.”

Once they got back, Alice immediately stepped up and cleared her throat. “Alright now, as we know this will be a contest to settle which of you two is the better thief,” she said. “For that, I have decided to do this in the same style as my training. The goal is simple, both of you will be given a list of targets. You must gather all your targets and bring them to me. The first to do so without tripping any alarms will win and be declared the ‘better’ thief,” she explained as Shade handed each of them a list, a small map of the general layout of the building, and a sack. “You have till the last stroke of midnight, which gives you both...2 hours to get in and get out. Pass that time limit, and you both lose. Any questions?”

Both of them looked at each other, both having noticed a few things, but they decided not to say a word, seeing as they saw that it could benefit them. “None at all,” they both said. 

“Alright then. On your marks, get set...go!”

Both of them ran for the individual entrances on the sides. Jumping down, they immediately went to work with their individual doors, both of them picking their way in. Once inside, they immediately looked at the maps they were given, and went straight for the areas their targets should have been. Naturally, along the way they saw the security in the form of Night Guards, as well as a few of what Sleight and Storm had called ‘alarm charms’. 

On their respective ends, both of them just smirked, before weaving their way through the alarms, with Scep scaling the walls to keep himself out of sight, while Rascal used his small frame and speed to dart from the shadows. 

“You hear something?” one of the guards asked his friend. The two of them checked around, but found nothing. “Must have been my imagination…” and they resumed their patrol.

“Heh, not bad. Guess these ponies have better hearing than humans do,” Rascal mused as he came down from his hiding spot, before turning to the item on his list. “Oh well, time to win this thing.”

Likewise, Scep had been making his way through the museum, easily snagging his targets, whilst avoiding the guards. “Heh, this is easy. Don’t know why the dudette seemed so serious about it,” he chuckled. As he was through half his list, he noticed Rascal also coming up to the center of the museum. At this point he got an idea. 

Ironically, it was the same idea that Rascal was having at the moment. When the two of them passed each other, when they thought the other wasn’t looking, they promptly grabbed items from the other’s sack. Naturally, this wasn’t taken well. 

“Cheater! No, you’re the cheater!” both of them shouted in surprising sync. “Hey, stop copying me!”

“Why you...stupid gecko!” Rascal shouted.

“Rodent!” Scep shouted back as they heard the sound of a bell in the back of their heads, and with that as a cue, they lunged at each other, ending with them rolling on the ground as both Pokemon started clawing and punching each other, before finally breaking away. 

“There is no way I’m letting you win!” Rascal growled.

“Right back at ya!” Scep growled. However, at that moment, one of the guards, an unicorn, walked into the room, having heard the noises. “What the?!” he gasped, before frowning. “Okay you two, hol-” he didn’t get to finish as he was promptly frozen by an Ice Beam from Rascal. 

“Stay out of this!” both of them barked before resuming their glaring at each other. 

Pandemonium soon broke loose, as Scep and Rascal proceeded to gather their targets, while at the same time, sabotaging each other. Soon the whole room was covered in bits of leaves and frozen portions, courtesy of various shots of Leaf Storm and Ice Beam respectively as they moved from room to room as the artifacts soon found themselves ping-ponging between the two thieves, yet by some miracle, all the exhibits and the artifacts were getting through this unscathed, save for getting some dust. Naturally, this of course attracted more guards...all of which ended up frozen within minutes of entering the room. 

“Well, those two sure are getting at it,” Shade commented from their vantage point. Earlier, after the heist started, Alice and the rest of her team had entered through the roof, and had settled on the rafters. 

“That’s putting it mildly. I’m starting to think I should have included a rule of ‘no sabotaging each other’,” Alice sweatdropped as she saw the seesaw battle where Scep would steal one of Rascal’s targets, only for Rascal to return the favor shortly after. As it was now, it was a miracle they hadn’t triggered any of the alarms. “You know, I wonder if this really counts as ‘not triggering the alarms, considering the guards…”

“They better hurry,” both Spinner and Charlotte commented.

“I bet they forgot the time limit after Rascal turned the guards into Ice Sculptures,” Shade deadpanned, looking at the various pony ice sculptures that now decorated the rooms, as by now Rascal had frozen pretty much all the guards. “I can’t believe they actually managed to miss all the exhibits with how they’re duking it out,” she added with a sweat drop, to which the others nodded in agreement with sweat drops of their own. 

“Well, if they don’t hurry, this will officially be a double loss,” Alice sighed. Until she noticed something outside. “...correct me if I’m wrong, but is that a Hydreigon?”

Turning to where she was pointing, Shade, Charlotte, and Spinner blinked in surprise too. “Yes, yes it is. And a Salamance and a Reuniclus too,” Shade said plainly. “And they look like they’re headed this way.”





Outside, a few minutes earlier

“You need to be more careful next time! I can’t believe you just jumped like that!” Sally said while walking in front of the wet and damp Eric.

He didn’t change his expression, he just stared ahead with gloomy eyes.”I’m always careful. I thought things through and I don’t see any other method.”

Will sighed. “I’m surprised that you actually thought things through. I mean, jumping into the sea to rescue a stallion? That’s a very smart thing to do. Maybe the ones with legs should jump in next time.”

Sally glared at the Reuniclus. “Will, stop the sarcasm for a moment. It’s bad enough that I have to deal with Larry all the time. Now I have to take care of Eric.”

Will shrugged. “That’s a wonderful suggestion, Sally. Oh, wait, I’m wrong. Why should I shut up?”

Sally gave him a deadpan stare. “Your sarcasm is getting infuriating.”

“It’s your lucky day, Sally. I might consider shutting my mouth for once. You know, make everything sunshine again with the silence.”

Eric looked at both his Pokemon.”Just like the good old days.” He didn’t pay attention to both of them, since this is always happening.”Wet…I can’t believe this is happening to me.”

Just as they moved down the road, they passed a big building in silence. Eric took a sideways glance toward the building.”Hmmm?”

He stopped on the spot, turning around fully to face the building. His Pokemon admired him for his level-headedness, but they also admired him about one thing as well. His newly developed perceptiveness after his dark transformation.

Eric didn’t give a single thought about that, the only thing that mattered now was what he saw. Something very peculiar.”....why is the door open in the middle of the night?”

“Huh?”The banter of the two Pokemon was put to a hold when they heard Eric muttering about something. They turned around to see him looking forward like a statue to a building.

Will shook his head, or his entire body, before floating to his trainer, followed by Sally. They stopped in front of him.”Eric, come on. Stop daydreaming and lets go. The cold of the night is inviting and all, but I don’t want to see you get sick.”

“As much as I hate his sarcasm right now, Will’s right. We need to get you dried up!”Sally stated, worried about his health now that Will was soaking wet.

Eric suddenly put an arm up.”Wait…did you two notice anything?”

Sally and Will tilted their heads in confusion.”Notice…what?”

Eric pointed forward.”That….”They turned their heads toward the museum.

After scrutinizing every single detail of the building, she shook her head”I don’t see anything wrong. Why are we doing this? We should get back to Dawn!”

“I said, wait…..the door is wide open. There’s not a single security guard either.”Eric had expected a secure building for a museum would at least have some security at night. Not unless they wanted to be rob blind.”Which means, there are only two answers. Either the guard is incompetent enough to leave the front door opens….or..”

“Or what?”Will urged.

“Or unless…we've got a burglar on our hands.”

Sally groaned. She knew what he was thinking at the moment, and she was not agreeing to it. ”I thought you said you wanted to stop doing those…things. With this being a more peaceful world and all.”

“God Almighty Arceus himself is probably too incompetent when it comes to choosing the world we live in then. It’s not as peaceful as we thought if there’s a burglar running around.”Will quipped.

Eric ignored those two again. His mind is only on doing one thing again.”Maybe we should check it out.”

“What an excellent idea!”Will slapped his arm together.”The worse we can get is probably dying painfully or get accused by the cops. The latter is the best case scenario.”

“Eric….”Sally said in a warning tone. “Don’t…you're wet and hurt. Stop being a hero for once and let’s just go. It’s probably nothing.”

“I’m a part Dragon-type, being wet would hardly affect me. Look, you two can go home if you don’t want to. It’s probably dangerous so I’ll check it out myself.”

“That’s an even worse idea! You can hardly defend yourself!”Sally shouted.

“Uh, correction. He can defend himself with his hand-to-hand combat, or should I say, hand-to-head?.”Will added.

The Salamence turned around and glared at the Reuniclus.”Not helping, Will!”

“Just saying. Our trainer is not as defenseless as you think he is.”

Sally sighed.”Forget it. Eric, let’s-”She turned around to see…..nothing.”Eric!”

Will pointed at the museum.”Have you checked the museum? They say the exhibition is quite lovely to be robbed blind right now.”

Upon the implication, Sally turned her head toward the open door to see Eric now poking his head inside.”Eric!”She practically flew over to his side.

Will sighed while chuckling.”That’s our trainer.”He floated over to join them.

“Eric!”Sally landed by his side, poking him.”Eric, what are you doing!?”

He didn’t respond, but he kept his head inside the door. Until he muttered something.”Sally, come here.”

“Huh?”

Now Will joined behind Sally.”Are you going to tell us, Eric? Or are you going to stand there posing your pretty butt to us?”

Eric didn’t say anything. Just motioned the two over.”Just come over here, you two!”

Sally and Will looked at each other before poking their heads inside the door. The scene inside made their eyes wide open.

It was...subtle, but it was clearly the scene of a crime. While most of the museum was somewhat untouched, there were certain spots that had signs of a scuffle, most notable being the parts where things were frozen. And that included a few of what must have been the night guards. Not to mention, several of the exhibit locations were empty as the artifacts had been taken. 

“What the hell happened here?” Sally questioned

“Probably an Ice-type.”Eric muttered.”Ice just don’t appear out of nowhere in this weather.”

“Yeah, and that is assuming ponyland does not have some kind of cryo-weapon or something.”Will added.

The Hydreigon gritted his teeth at the prospect.“There’s a burglar here.”Eric entered the museum proper to witness the chaos.”And the burglar is probably an Ice-type.”

Sally also stepped inside, glancing around to witness the ice.”Doesn’t look like a clean job to me.”

“Yeah, probably an amateur. The God Almighty is more incompetent than I thought. Bringing burglars into the magical land of pony and rainbows. What a fantastic turn of event wouldn’t you two say?”Will added his sarcasm into the conversation.

“Will, stop the sarcasm!”Sally warned.”And there’s a real burglar, keep it down!”

“Oh, now you want to stop the burglary?”Will raised an invisible eyebrow.”I thought you were going to drag Eric by the tail back to Dawn’s house? I’m shocked!”

“That’s different!”

“Ssshh, keep it down, you two!”Eric hissed.”There’s an Ice-type inside which means Sally won’t be a good choice nor will I. Will, I’m going to need you again.”

Will shrugged.“Whatever you say, Eric.”

Eric nodded.”Alright, let’s get to work.”Eric led his two Pokemon inside.

While making their way to the stairs on the other side of the room, they take a good look on the guards who are frozen solid. They couldn’t help, but pity the poor ponies who safeguarded this place from burglar. Their faces almost looked like that of ice sculptures, though strangely enough, many of them had rather...plain expressions, like they didn’t even realize what had happened until it was too late. Even Will is quiet.

But, Eric is undaunted. He kept moving forward or floated. It wasn’t long until they arrived at the bottom of the stairs.”I wish I had the Mega Wristwatch Keystone. It would be helpful now!”Eric muttered.

“Alright, you two should get ready. Sally, prepare to assist with Flamethrower. I want to surprise them.”

“Right behind you.”Sally declared. Flames already licking her lips.

“Let’s get this over with.”Will added.

Eric looked up the stairs.“I’ll go first, you two watch my back.”He floated up the stairs.

Sally and Will quickly went back-to-back just like what they had trained. Sally moved forward while Will floated backward, watching anyone that might ambush them. Since, Will doesn’t have legs, he doesn’t really need to watch where he steps on as he floated up the stairs.

When they’re almost up, Eric watched above the floor from the stairs before ducking and putting an arm head up.”Wait, I think I hear them.”

“The burglar?”Sally questioned. Eric nodded.

“They’re real-life amateurs. Couldn’t keep noise down like a professional would. This thief is either brave or dumb.”Will snickered.”Boy, here we are trying to stop some dumb burglar and he acted like some school kid stealing some cookies. I’m properly amazed, maybe I should give him a proper slap on the back and a clap.”

“Be quiet. And Will, keep watching our six. I don’t want any innocent get caught in the crossfire or anyone entering the building.”

Will gave a sarcastic salute.“Sir, yes, sir.”And he leaned his body down to give the first floor another look over.

However, what they didn’t know, was that someone else was here too. 





“The sad part, I can’t disagree with them,” Shade idly commented as the four of them continued to watch the three Pokemon who had entered the building.

“Yeah…” Alice sighed, face palming as she remembered how quickly this contest had...devolved into an argument between those two. Heck, the only reason why they hadn’t realized that there were others here was likely because they kept arguing. 

“What shall we do?” Spinner asked. 

“Observe for now. If they need help, then we step in. If not, then Scep and Rascal are on their own,” Alice ordered, before smiling slightly. “I don’t know why, but I think tonight just got interesting.”





Back with Eric’s group, they slowly made their way through the old library. 

“I don’t like this.”Eric muttered.”A Salamencite and Keystone would be useful now. It should end things quickly…..Dammit.”

“Where are we? This place is like a maze.”Sally glanced around the old library where they kept stuff from Equestrian past.

“You could say that again.”Will is glancing around behind them. Making sure, that no one would sneak up on them.

When they about turn around the corner, they heard…some conversation. They all stopped even without Eric needing to put up his arm head as a signal.

“You hear that?”Eric asked.

“Yeah, I heard it. Pretty loud, too.”Sally frowned.

“No, all I heard is just school kids arguing over cookies.”Will chuckled.”Of course, I heard it.”

Sally wrinkled her nose.”Someone is smelly.”

“Then that someone doesn’t know the proper code for hygiene.”Will quipped while grinning.”Maybe they should pose in an exhibit and lift their arm so we could smell the glorious smell from their armpit. Hoooray, for the one who wins, we shall give them a kiss.”

Sally sweat dropped.

Eric ignored those two, he peeked around the corner. What he saw made him blink. 

There in the room, was a Sceptile wearing a uniform of some kind, and a Weavile. Both of them had several artifacts inside the bags they carried, but right now it seemed that both were...arguing with each other. 

“Oh no you don’t. You’re not getting in my way THIS time!” the Weavile growled as he landed a kick to the Sceptile’s leg. 

“And you ought to take a chill pill!” the Sceptile growled, as he whacked the Weavile upside the head. 

“Oh yeah? Well maybe I’d be more ‘chill’, if you hadn’t cost us the contest!” the Weavile growled. 

“You are one annoying dude, you know that? How did I ‘cost’ us anything?” The Sceptile retorted, anger in his fangs. 

Eric stopped peeking. He looked back at his Pokemon who vigilantly watched his back this whole time like he had ordered them to do.”I was wrong, there are two of them. I should have known when we heard the argument.”

“What? Two?” Sally questioned.

“And if the argument isn’t enough of a sign. Those two aren’t loud enough to wake the entire town, then. Oh wait, maybe they should get a concert together. Name it, ’Argument Between Two Boyfriends.’ That and all gay stuff.”

“Well, they are both males. That much is true.”

“Who are they, then?” Sally tilted her head in question.

“A Sceptile and a Weavile. Sally, I was wrong, you had a type-advantage over the Sceptile.”Eric put his arm head to his chin.”We have to rethink our strategy.”

“Hey, I know what you’re thinking, Eric. Why does Sally have to go against the overgrown tree lizard.”Will complained.

“She has a type-advantage over him. Besides, Grass doesn’t do well against both Dragon and Flying-type.”A new train of thought went into his head.”Unless, the Sceptile knows Dual Chop.”

“What should we do, then?”

“Be quick about it.”Will reminded.”I doubt those two will continue their foreplay forever.”

Eric quickly tried to wrack his brain for the decent strategy when dealing with the burglar. Obviously, those two aren’t going anywhere for the moment. But he had to think fast on a solution. 

It wasn’t long, he already knew a strategy.”I got it. Sally, take the Weavile on. Will, take the Sceptile.”

“What? Eric, I’m a Dragon and Flying-type. I’m at a disadvantage against a Weavile!”

Even Will is surprised at this….strategy he proposed.”Eric, I think you might be deluding from drinking that many sea water. Unless, we wish to see a real-life ice dragon then you better explain this.”

“You should know that whatever I decide always has a hidden meaning to them.”Eric explained.

Sally groaned, that doesn’t help much.”Eric, please say it straight on what you mean? I’m not as smart as you or Helen.”

Eric put his right arm head to his chin again.“We’ll take them by surprise first. If that doesn’t work, we’ll just have to do it the old-fashioned way.”

“Ah, the good old-fashioned way. It’s perfect actually, all we have to do is just charge head on into the fire and get sun tanned? It’s lovely and all, but I prefer to maintain my coloring thank you very much.”

The Hydreigon ignored the sarcasm, he glanced at his loyal Salamence.“Sally, can you do that trick again?”

Said Salamence raised her eyebrow.”You mean, that trick?”Eric nodded.

“It should get you out of jam.”He looked toward the Reuniclus next.”Will, prepare to use Future Sight and Pain Split. It should help as well. You’re a Psychic-type besides your moveset hardly worked against the Weavile. Only Sally’s.”

“Oh, now I see. Perfect plan, the worst I can get is probably get chopped by the overgrown lizard. If not, then we’ll take him down. Oh wait, maybe the Future Sight will fry him and we’ll get to eat a lizard for breakfast.”

“I still think this is a bad idea.”Sally said, head hanging low. Not liking where this is going.

“You’ll both do fine. Remember, watch each others back.”Eric peeked around the corner again, the Weavile and Sceptile still arguing like a husband and wife would.

“Get ready…..”Eric motioned his two Pokemon to follow him again toward the inner exhibit.





“You know, I know we should warn them, but those two clowns need to learn not to get distracted by arguing in a heist…” Alice sighed. Her team on the other hand…

“I bet you 10 Poke dollars that Rascal gets his butt handed to him,” Shade chuckled. 

“No deal. We want to see it too,” the two Spinarak shot back. 

Alice just sweat dropped. “Wow...some team I’ve got,” she face palmed. 

Back in the exhibit, the two thieves had FINALLY decided to stop arguing, and were now looking away from each other defiantly, with their arms crossed and angry looks on their faces, the bags of artifacts all but forgotten on the ground nearby. 

Naturally, this left them ill-prepared for when the attack came. 

“NOW!”A voice shouted.

Both Pokemon had their heads turned toward the source, and they’re eyes widened simultaneously with shock. A Salamence went straight toward the Weavile while the Reuniclus just floated out of the exhibit calmly like he had all the time in the world. A Hydreigon floated out of the exhibit, giving the burglar his dark glare.

The Salamence right forelimb glow a bright purple. Dragon Claw attempting to rip Rascal’s face off. Rascal, acting on quick reflexes, flips over the attack, putting him right in front of the Salamence. “Cute. Now good night!” he growls, before firing an Ice Beam. However, the Salamence seemed to have anticipated this, as she suddenly spun around, her tail glowing with a Dragon Tail, which smashed into him while he was in mid-air, sending his attack off course, and straight to Scep. 

Scep had a moment to look, and a split second to dodge, which he did via an impressive limbo maneuver. “Watch it, dude! You almost turned me into a Scepcicle!” he shouted, before charging at the Salamence, his claws glowing with a Dragon Claw attack. 

“I present to you, who makes his grand entrance.”Will quickly floated sideways and right in the path of the Dragon Claw.”Will!”

Scep didn’t care, as long as his attack hits. The Dragon Claw is brought toward the face of the Reuniclus. Only he felt….lighter for some reason. He soon saw the reason as his eyes found that the Reuniclus body is glowing and so does he.

“Hey! Put me down!”He tried to struggle, but couldn’t. He is in the grip of a Psychic-type now.

“Sorry, what was that?”Will made an exaggerated show of digging his non-existant ear. “Can’t hear you properly with the sound of something of a cat screech here!”

“I said-”

“Oh, wait, I know! You wanted for me to redecorate your face. Uhm, correction, apply make-up to your face!”Scep suddenly found himself flung upward.

“No no no no!”His head banged on the ceiling. Bang, bang, and bang again.

Sally flinched each time when the Sceptile’s head is banged.”That’s gotta hurt.”

“Waaah!”Now he found himself flung toward the ground at high-velocity. He closed his eyes at the last second.

All seemed silence, silence, and silence. That’s when Scep decided to open his eyes. He find himself sighing in relief. His snout is just an inch off the floor. His hope is dashed when the light weighted feeling is lifted and he found his face made acquaintance with the tile.

“And there you go! Thank you for your patience! I hope you come back to Will Make-up Saloon soon!”

From their vantage point, Alice and her team winced. “That HAD to hurt. That’s it, we’re stepping in,” she said simply, as she gestured to Shade, who nodded and quickly fetched her cape and hat.

Back below, Rascal growled in annoyance, and gritted his teeth when he saw Scep groaning on the ground as he shakily got up. These two were good. But he wasn’t about to lose yet. 

“Tough guys eh? Dark Pulse!” he growled, before firing the attack in a wide range, aiming for the Reuniclus first. 

Sally glanced at the Weavile. Seeing the Dark Pulse heading straight toward her friend, she shoved him out of the way before diving to the left herself. 

“Gotcha!” Rascal grinned evilly, before cutting off the Dark Pulse, switching to an Ice Beam aimed straight for the Salamence as she was in mid-dodge. 

What he didn’t expect was Sally suddenly putting her wings out and doing a sideway spiral. Dodging the Ice Beam as it hit the wall. Sally quickly halted and stabilized herself.

As she did that, she saw Scep immediately lunge for her, another Dragon Claw ready, while the Sceptile looked pissed as hell.  

“I will be your opponent, lizard!”Will put himself in Dragon Claw´s path again. This time, he didn’t do a thing. Letting the Dragon Claw slash him.

“Are you crazy, dude?!” Scep couldn’t help but gawk, even if he didn’t mind the fact that his attack had hit. He jumped back quickly in fear of retaliation.

“Maybe, maybe not! Why don’t you try tasting this!”His body glowed blue again. Scep braced himself for another Psychic attack, only that….it didn’t come.

Scep gave a deadpan stare.”Was that supposed to do something?”

“You blind? Maybe you’re lacking brain cells to process information. No, wait, I get it. Maybe you’re too dumb to recognize an attack when you see one?”Will gave off a clap.”Congratulations, my lizard, you just won the first prize. Where you get to pose there as I kick your butt.”

Scep growled. A grunt caused him to turn his head toward the source. “Eat this!”Rascal fired another Ice Beam toward the Salamence.

The Salamence took a deep breath and countered with a hot red Flamethrower. The beams collided in the center. Both fighters grunted as each tried to gain dominance over the other. Not one could gain ground over the other which in turn caused the beams to explode dead center. Dust kicking up all over.

Both Pokemon quickly stepped back. The Salamence flew backward toward the Reuniclus while Rascal jumped back toward Scep’s side.

“These guys ain’t half bad,” Rascal grinned. “So...where’s your trainer? He too chicken to show his face?”

“You can tell?” Scep commented. 

“Yeah, these two are way too strong and coordinated to be some random wild Pokemon, and there’s no way they’re related, so that means they’ve got a trainer directing them. Again, where is he? Or is he just a big pansy?” Rascal taunted.

Eric didn’t react at the insult, just giving off a gloomy stare.

The Salamence and the Reuniclus looked at them with eyes full of determination. Until Will started another conversation.“Look at them, Sally. Like two guys on their first date. My, my, they’re already getting along quite well.”

Up on their vantage point, Alice nearly dropped the cape she was putting on, while Shade had to physically restrain herself from laughing to avoid drawing attention. Despite that, they managed to quickly get their heads straight again, and quickly moved into position. They wanted to help, but like always, they needed to be prepared before they could really be effective.

While that was happening, both thieves snapped their head sharply toward the snarky Reuniclus.”What did you say?”Both said at the same time while growling.

“I said, you’re both are doing quite well with your foreplay. Of course, I said you two are on a date. Am I missing something here?”

Both thieves gave a deadpan stare which said  that they’re not amused at all.”You’re a very sarcastic mon, aren’t you?” Scep stated.

Will gave off a clap.”Congrats, congrats, for figuring out until now that I’m pretty sarcastic. Then, I should assume you guys are lacking brain cells to comprehend my sarcasm.”

The Multiplying Pokemon turned around to face Eric who all this time just glared at the opponent.”Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the two most gay and dumbest Pokemon on the planet. Here, we are now presenting two dating male Pokemons with the lowest IQ who have somehow managed the feat of figuring out that I’m a sarcastic idiot. Give them an applause.”

The two thieves’ eyes twitched, before they looked at each other. “Hey Scep, truce?” Rascal offered with a wicked grin. 

“Until we tear trash mouth over there in half? Deal, dude,” Scep matched the grin, before they both glared death at the Reuniclus.

Sally, despite not really agreeing with Will’s sarcastic attitude at this time couldn’t help, but snicker. Even the gloomy Hydreigon is let out a small chuckle which is a rare thing for him to do.

Up on their spot where they moved across the roof, Fox couldn’t help but snicker. “What do you know, they actually got Scep and Rascal to agree. Guess miracles do happen,” she commented, while her team couldn’t help but nod in agreement, especially after what they had been seeing all night. 

“The cards are already falling.”Eric muttered.

“Sally, deal with the Weavile! Will, do what you have been doing!”The Hydreigon took a deep breath before he unleashed the command.”Act on your own!”

“Got it!”Sally quickly charged toward the Weavile again. Dragon Claw in tow.

“Time to apply some more make-up! Courtesy of Will!”He charged toward the Sceptile, ready to catch him in his power again.

However, as the combatants were fighting, nobody noticed the soft sound of the simple count down. Nobody but Eric, as he was not directly in the fight. 

“10...9...8…” the voice murmured. 

“Hmmm?”Eric glanced around at the voice in order to find the source.”.....I must be imagining things.”

“7...6...5...4...:” the voice continued, just as Sally was going full speed at the Weavile with a Dragon Claw, while Will is getting beaten up by the Sceptile using multiple Leaf Blades. 

“What!?”The Sceptile went to his knees. His entire being suddenly felt pain all over, while Will was glowing blue

“Oh, does that hurt?”Will grinned as the glow went away.

The Sceptile was now breathing heavily.”W-what did you...do to me?”

“Pain Split! That’s what!” Will grinned as he winked.”Now, say goodbye to the waking world of magical ponyland with a smile! I promise that I’ll apply my best make-over so here it is!”He gave off another exaggerated bow, just as he saw Sally miss the first swipe, only to nail the Weavile with the second swipe of already prepared Brick Break with her left forelimb across the face, sending him tumbling back. 

“Checkmate….”Eric muttered as Sally charged again with Brick Break. Intending to end this.

Out of nowhere, a crackle of lightning is heard. Scep glanced above him as a blue heavenly lightning bolt was about to strike down upon his being.

“I present to you, overgrown lizard barbeque! We’ll be having that for breakfast!”
 
However, at that moment, the voice returned. “3...2...1...show time!”

The two attacks hit...only for the Weavile and the Sceptile to suddenly burst into what appeared to be multiple Pidgeys which flew into so many directions, they practically covered the room. 

Eric glanced wildly around the room. His vision obscured with the Pidgey flying and let loose feathers.”What the….Pidgeys?”

The Dragon Pokemon meanwhile tried to bat the birds away. Somehow they reminded her of a certain bird. “What the hell? Ah, get away!” Sally tried to bat the Pidgeys in vain. “You’re ruining my move. Stupid birds!”

As the Pidgeys fluttered around, finding various exits in the form of open windows, they soon parted, revealing someone else now in the center of the room. It was a Zoroark. A shiny Zoroark, and one that was dressed in a black cape and a black cavalier’s hat. The Zoroark smirked slightly, before bowing slightly, much like how an actor would on stage. 

“.....you!” Eric gaped while pointing at the Zoroark.”The cape, the ridiculous cap…..I should have known….”

“Oh? Now isn’t this a surprise. Do refresh my memory, as I don’t recall ever meeting you before, though I suppose that’s not saying much in this situation,” the Zoroark chuckled in amusement. 

Will made another move toward a conversation. “Well, isn’t this a surprise. An unexpected guest. A cape? Seriously, what are you? The Queen of Parfum Palace? That would be nice if you put a crown on your head.”

“Nobody that important,” the Zoroark chuckled in amusement at his comment. “Just someone who’s come out to play for a little.”

“And I’m the Champion Diantha.” Will quipped. “You hear that, Sally? She said play a little. That means we have to give a proper spank to her butt for playing this late at night. Bad children. Don’t worry, just a minor turn of event. We shall rectify that.”

The Zoroark didn’t respond. Instead, she seemed to tremble a bit, before the trembling revealed to be full blown laughter. “Guess I was right. You all ARE an interesting bunch. Guess good things do happen when you go out for a little exercise,” she said as she reigned in her laughter. “As for a punishment, we’ll see who punishes who on account of what you did to my friends earlier,” she smirked. “But we’re getting off topic. I do believe I asked you who you were before. It’s quite rude to ignore a lady.”

“You’re no lady.” Eric replied with neutral face. “You’re a thief.”

Sally quickly flew back to her trainer side. “Eric, you know her?”

“Yeah, I know who she is. She’s the Phantom Thief Fox. But to me, just another thief who stole just for the fun of it.” This in turn caused Sally to snarl.

“Awww, really? Nobody ever does understand our grace and class,” Fox chuckled, feigning hurt. “Why does everyone lump us in with the common thieves when we’re so much more than that?” she said dramatically in mock hurt, before chuckling to herself.

“Grace and class?” Will began racking his brain for more conversation material. ”Let’s see, here we are with the Phantom Thief Fox. A guy…or a lady who said that she had such grace and class that’s somehow the reason she always escapes from the law. I’m not going to full and all with the detail, but here it is. A Phantom Thief Fox ended up in magical ponyland, we ended up encountering her, and about to fight her. God Almighty Arceus, your act is so full with pure incompetence that our brains had no choice, but to process the sheer aweness of this situation. Fantastic, isn’t it?”

At this, everyone sweat dropped. Everyone except Eric. “...friendly advice. Don’t bring him anywhere near the ‘Hall of Legends’ that Arceus is currently living in. Not unless you want to be short one team member,” Fox blinked, honestly not sure what else to say for once.

“I didn’t expect this to happen. That Key Stone would’ve been really useful now. Dammit.” Eric muttered. “No matter.”

“Sally, Will! Be careful, who knows what this thief will do next!” Eric tensed his arm. Preparing to fight her if necessary as well.

Fox just smiled, as she tipped her hat over, not once moving from her spot. “Well then, shall we begin the show?” she chuckled. 

Eric glanced at Will who glanced back in return. Eric nodded to him. For once, Will didn’t reply with sarcasm, just a simple nod as well.

“I can’t let her escape. No choice, then.”Eric pointed an arm head toward the smirking Zoroark. ”Sally! Use Outrage!” He didn’t want to risk her escaping. At the command, Sally’s eyes glowed a murderous blood red.

“Outrage? Are you sure you want to have a berserk dragon in this museum?” Fox chuckled in amusement, seemingly not caring about the dragon charging at her. However, just as Sally was about to reach her, Fox shifted slightly, easily sidestepping her frenzied attacks, before tossing a small ball at her face, which exploded, coating her face in a web-like substance. “You see?” she chuckled. 

“Sally!” The Dragon Pokemon growled while clawing at her face to get rid of the sticky substance.

“Is that all? I really need to work on Weavile’s training if he let her beat him. Speaking of which...Blizzard,” Fox simply said as she backed away, before Sally found herself in the way of a gale force blizzard.

“Flamethrower!” Fox’s eyes widened slightly as flame burst out of the web-covered mouth and went straight for her. Cutting straight through the blizzard.

“Not bad,” she mused, as the Flamethrower hit. However, what fell out of the flames was not a Zoroark, but a faceless dummy. “Needs some work before they can get the right shock and awe,” she idly commented as she stepped out behind Sally. “Back to the drawing board with you,” she said, before another Blizzard was launched, this time from a different direction. The Salamence grunted as the shards of ice hit her for four times the damage.

“Oh, really?” A voice sounded behind her. “Pretty lady, let me apply makeup to your face!” 

“You’re really annoying, you know that?” Fox deadpanned, before she threw a small ball at him. The only move she could currently use: Shadow Ball, and a small one at that. 

Will being cumbersome, couldn’t dodge fast enough. “Uh-oh.” The ball hit dead on, making it super-effective, even despite it being a watered down version due to lack of practice.

Then out of nowhere, a wave of pain hit the Zoroark. “Pain Split,” she winced. “Not bad. But not good enough,” she said, and before he could react, Fox had chucked a few more balls, which covered his face with webbing...right before he was blasted by a Hyper Beam from the rafters.

“Will!” Eric floated toward the Reuniclus. Sally, meanwhile struggled to get up.

Fox just sighed. “I think that’s all for today. The artifacts are all in the bag over by the side over there,” she said, gesturing to where she had stashed the artifacts that Rascal and Scep had stolen. “Unfortunately, I was unable to prepare a fitting finale, so I must regretfully bid you, adieu,” she smiled, before moving to jump out the window.

Before she could do such a thing, she felt another rising temperature heading toward her back. Glancing behind quickly, another Flamethrower was heading toward her. “Oh?” she mused in mild surprise, before easily sidestepping. “You’re pretty sturdy. Normally a Pokemon like you should not be able to stand after taking two Blizzards head on.”

Sally gave the Zoroark a death glare while breathing heavily. “Not like someone like you would understand me.” Somehow, through pure strength and will, she remained standing out of loyalty toward her trainer. That and coupled with her being the strongest of Eric’s team, she’s the jack-of-all trades of the team.

“Oh? I see, so she’s your trump card then? I’ll bet she’s even your starter,” Fox chuckled. “Alright then, I’ll answer that one. Liepard, if you will?” she said, before a Liepard jumped down from the rafters, standing between Fox and Sally. 

“Sally!” Eric was getting worried about Sally. Getting hit by two Blizzard like that and to remain standing is not an easy feat. He bet that she’s struggling to keep her eyes open right now. “...... can you still...?”

She turned her head toward her trainer. “Don’t worry…..still can.” She strained out the words.

Seeing this, Fox sighed. “Really now, just stop. I take no pleasure in ordering my Pokemon to fight weakened opponents. Shall we call this night a draw and leave it at that?”

“Over my dead body, thief! It’s scum like you that made the world destroy itself.” The Salamence shouted, then she remembered her deepest memory of that ‘day’. “Scum, like you that made my life the way it is.” Flames already licking her lips again.

“Sally!” Eric shouted, getting increasingly worried. 

Fox just sighed at seeing her like this. “Very well...if that’s how you want it. Know that I refuse to take any blame for what might happen next. Sucker Punch,” she ordered, to which the Liepard shot forward, and well...sucker punched Sally before she could react with the building Flamethrower in her mouth. “Play Rough.”

“Headbutt!” The Liepard head snapped backward at being suddenly headbutted before it could unleash the attack, however, she easily righted herself, landing on her feet.

Eric knew he couldn’t let this continue any longer. They had to end this now! “Let’s end this game! Sally…..use Giga Impact!”

“Toxic, then Hyper Beam. Sneak combo!” Fox ordered. In response to that, the Liepard fired the glob of poison at the charging dragon, the poison affecting her immediately, but not stopping the attack. However, when the attack was about to hit, Fox’s cape suddenly wrapped around her and the Liepard, before the both of them vanished, leaving Sally to crash into the ground, right before they reappeared not far away, with the Liepard already charging up a Hyper Beam.

Sally could only get a glimpse of what’s going to hit her. “I’m sorry, Eric.” And the beam hit.

“Sally!” Eric floated as quickly as possible toward the smoke where his Salamence lay. It wasn’t long before he held the Salamence unconscious head in his arm. “No…”

“That’s enough, Liepard,” Fox ordered, stopping the Liepard from charging another Hyper Beam. “We’ve already won.”

Eric gritted his teeth. “Dammit it all!” 

Fox just sighed, not finding any enjoyment, nor fulfillment from this win. “Let’s go. We’re done here,” she sighed as she turned to walk away, but not before adding, “I’d better not find anymore ‘surprise’ attacks. Don’t push your luck.”

Eric ignored her. He just held his loyal Salamence head in his arm. “.........”

Seeing as he wasn’t going to say a word, Fox simply leaped out of the museum, disappearing into the night. 

“......why does a thief like her have to exist!” Eric gritted his teeth. “I can’t believe this. Why does she deserve to be sent here?!”

He knew he couldn’t find the answer to that right now. There were more pressing matters at hand. The Eric glanced at Sally before looking over to Will. He sighed, he knew that his heroics got them into this situation and he’s going to take full responsibility for it.  He took a deep breath to regain his cool before adding.“I’m going to get you both home.”

The Hydreigon had no choice but to carry Sally piggyback and Will bride style. Leaving just enough room for his wings so he could float. As he did so, his mind wandered back to the fight, wondering how he could have lost to a thief like her. After a while of thinking it through, he realized something. “If only Alexander was here…..he should be able to handle her.”

“Next time…..Fox, you won’t be going anywhere but to prison.” 

Ending theme: