Seventeenth Heist
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The carriage pulled into the city, as the inhabitants came out. “So this is Manehattan. Feels like a mix of Castelia and Lumiose,” Alice mused.
“Well, Manehattan is known for its nightlife, as well as being one of the most active cities in Equestria,” Toichi said, remembering what he read.
“And they ain’t kidding,” Scep whistled, as the city seemed positively alive with activity despite it already being around 9 at night.
“Seems like a pretty fun town,” Shade mused.
“Yeah, and with LOTS of potential targets for us,” Rascal grinned.
“Easy there, let’s at least get ourselves set up BEFORE we rob anyone,” Alice sighed, holding his head down with her paw.
“Yes, mom,” Rascal said sarcastically.
“Hey, its not like we didn’t get a small fill of that already,” Alice chuckled.
“Correction, YOU got one with how you pretty much scammed that jewel peddler we met,” Shade snorted.
“Hey now, it's not like I swindled him or anything, we paid him the amount we agreed on...not my fault he had no idea how much it was REALLY worth,” Alice defended, before idly looking into the carriage window, at the items that seemed to sparkle inside, and when she did, Scep got a rather excited look in his eyes. “Speaking of which, do you know any jewelers who would accept a job without much fuss?”
“Well, we know of a few,” Storm mused.
“We’ll show you to them later on after we settle in,” Sleight nodded.
“Excellent,” Alice smiled. “So...where shall we be staying during our visit?”
“Oh, a fine establishment that I think we’ll all enjoy,” Storm smiled, catching their attention.
“Ah yes, it has been a while since we’ve stayed at the Moonshine Rose. I do hope their drinks are as good as they’ve always been,” Sleight grinned.
“19. Not old enough to drink,” Alice idly commented.
“Well, the hotel will still make a good base,” Sleight shrugged, before they headed for the hotel.
“Now what do we do?” Howl sighed as he leaned on the table.
“Well, at least this didn’t go to waste,” Jonathan sighed, referring to the fact that investigations were still in work on dealing with the recent Fox incident. “Let’s think. Assuming Fox has already moved on, we need to figure out where she’d likely go next,” he said, laying out the map. “And looking at this, our best bet is likely Manehattan,” he said, considering the city was certainly close enough to the city that moving from one to the other would only take around a few hours to a day at most.
“Fair enough, but…” Echo started.
“How can we tell if she’s there, or if she’s still here, or if she might have taken a completely different route,” Heat finished for her.
“...that I can’t say for sure,” Jonathan sighed. “However, our best bet is to either talk to the local police, and probably get some clues we can use. The best we can hope for is if there are any large...’targets’ for Fox, hopefully in Manehattan. At this point, even rumors would be helpful.”
“Then we’d better get going...I miss being able to just take a chopper or something,” Heat said, before sighing at the end. One thing they all missed about Earth was how much easier it was to chase after Fox.
With a shared nod, the group headed over to the guard station. Fortunately for once, this proved to be easier than expected, as not only were most of the more...high strung officers out on the field, but also, the badge Jonathan had been awarded in Tall Tale turned out to hold quite a lot of weight, if the fact that the remaining officers were more cooperative after they saw it was any indication. So it wasn’t long before they left the station with info that was very good for their current situation.
“Okay, so Fox hasn’t been active at all since the heist, meaning she’s likely moved on. And on top of that, there has been some recent activity about rumors of a drug cartel over in Manehattan,” Jonathan listed out.
“Sounds like the perfect setting for Fox,” Trixie commented, having listened to their planning a few times already in the past.
“Yeah, so all things considered, we can confirm that our best lead would likely be in Manehattan. Also, from the looks of things, we should keep an eye on this mare...Medicine Bits,” Jonathan said, remembering the information they got. Apparently Medicine Bits, while posing as an honest mare owning a pharmaceutical company, also owned an illegal business in the form of a drug manufacturer and a drug smuggling operation and cartel. In fact, she’d already been under scrutiny from the authorities of other cities, but she seems to have likely paid off most of the cops assigned her case, with the ones who probably didn’t give in ‘disappearing’ not long after. In short, a dangerous opponent if they ever saw one.
“This is a tough one,” Jonathan frowned, while his team nodded in agreement.
“Is she? She doesn’t seem all that different from the other criminals that Trixie has seen you take down,” Trixie blinked.
“No, she’s completely different,” Heat said. “Cause she’s got the local police in her back pocket.”
“Yeah, when that happens, we’ve got to be careful. One wrong word heard by the wrong people and we’re toast. The bad part is that the wrong people now include both sides of the law,” Howl nodded in agreement.
“Oh well, not much we can do about it. We’ll have to be discreet in this, and if needs be, go about it vigilante-style,” Jonathan sighed. “Its a good thing I asked for a copy of her file just in case. We might be able to find something,” he said as he pulled out said file.
“I can see why you wanted to come here,” Alice mused. The Moonshine Rose hotel was extravagant to say the least, with the decor and the atmosphere of the place just SCREAMING ‘high class’ and ‘5-stars’. A quick visit to the receptionist, and they were given the special family suite, made up of two large rooms connected to each other. After getting the keys, they moved to the rooms, and boy were they impressed.
“They ain’t kidding when they said their suites were royalty class,” Rascal said, his mouth hanging open.
“Feels as though we’re spending a few nights in Parfum Palace,” Shade agreed at the sight of the luxurious rooms.
“They even have a hot tub in here,” Alice deadpanned when she looked into the bathroom.
“Its agreed then?” Shade nodded sagely.
“Yeah, best hotel ever,” Rascal grinned...before they all quickly turned to Scep...who was eyeing a rather nice looking lamp on the table.
“What?” he asked, acting innocent. “I like fancy stuff like this.”
“...just don’t take anything. I think we’d all like to be able to enjoy the hotel without getting kicked out,” Alice sighed.
Once they had already settled all their stuff, they moved on to other sections of the hotel...starting with the bar, at the old couple’s insistence. Turns out, the bar and the restaurant were one and the same, and much like the rest of the hotel, it had a classy, yet comfy feel to it. What they didn’t expect was to run into a certain stallion there too.
“Picture? What are you doing here?” Sleight blinked in surprise upon seeing the photographer at the bar.
Picture Perfect on his part was just in the middle of a drink, and unfortunately, the sudden voice caused his drink to go down wrong. So after a small coughing fit...and a hoof to the chest to straighten it out, he addressed them. “Ah, Sleight and co. Ink told me you’d be coming...though I didn’t expect to run into you all during my break,” he laughed awkwardly at the end.
“Well, neither were we, really,” Storm mused. “But it certainly is convenient. Here, how about you come to our room after this. We can talk more there.”
“That would be good. I’d rather not talk somewhere public really,” Picture Perfect nodded.
Jonathan sighed as they were on the road again. Trixie wasn’t too thrilled about jumping cities so soon, but considering the next city was Manehattan, a city that would probably appreciate/enjoy her shows more, she was a bit more willing to comply. Currently he was sitting at the back of the wagon, while Trixie was inside. Heat and Howl were busy pulling the wagon, while Echo was on the look out in the air.
Normally he’d have been helping them pull the wagon, but right now he was studying the files he had on Medicine Bits. As it was, they were planning on walking into the lion’s den. They needed to be prepared, as much as they can.
“Now before I start, I want you all to understand, that this is by no means a laughing matter. This next one is one tough cookie,” Picture Perfect said as they gathered around the table. After the group had finished touring the hotel, they met up with Picture Perfect in their room as agreed. Once they did, he pulled out a stack of photos, as well as a few files. “This is Medicine Bits,” he started, showing the picture of a Blue Earth Pony mare with a white mane and a cutie mark depicting a medicine capsule. “On paper she’s the owner of Magical Cure pharmacies, one of the top pharmaceutical companies in Manehattan.”
“And who is she underground?” Alice chuckled, already knowing where this is going.
“The owner and operator of a Drug smuggling and cartel business,” Picture Perfect answered matter of factly.
“Ah,” Alice nodded. “So, what’s she selling? I highly doubt she got high on the crime list by selling normal drugs.”
“Give the girl a prize. She’s got it right again,” Picture chuckled. “Yes, lately she’s become one of the main producers and sellers of a drug that’s been popular in the black market. Apparently its gotten really popular thanks to its effects. Its a hallucinogen drug, and in small doses, really helps makes you feel ‘good’, you could say. However, that’s not what makes it really popular to the criminal underworld. When taken in high doses, it makes the user more relaxed and...susceptible to suggestions/commands. Pretty good for negotiations, no?”
“I see, yes, that would be very good in an important business meeting,” Alice nodded.
“So...when can we pick this one apart?” Rascal grinned as he moved to pick up the file, but what he got was a smack from Picture Perfect’s hoof.
“Ah ah ah, not so fast. Bits might not SEEM all that dangerous, but she’s scarily efficient in her operations. It may not look it, but she’s more or less got the local guards in her back pocket. She’s already paid off many of the officers assigned her case...and even a few not assigned her case, while the ones who wouldn’t accept her...’generosity’, have been known to go missing,” he explained.
“I see, so leading the police on won’t do us much good then,” Alice nodded. “That’s definitely going to complicate things.”
“But we have a counter for that, don’t we?” Shade smirked.
“Of course. We simply have to cripple the business, while ousting everyone in cahoots with her. If we cripple the business, then she won’t have her money to bail her out, and if we oust all the officers in cahoots with her, she won’t be able to hide from the law. If needs be, we have to be ready to send what we know to Fillydelphia and any other city we can,” Alice nodded.
“So...are we going to steal some proof from them or what?” Scep asked, getting a little impatient.
“No, we can’t act recklessly,” Alice stated firmly. “As it is now, she has the field advantage,” she said, moving over to a nearby table with a chess board on it, and placing not just the black pieces, but most of the white pieces too on one side. “If we charge in recklessly, we’re only inviting disaster. On top of that, we need to be careful where and when we make plans. The authorities are part of her field too, so if the wrong person hears about this...its over,” she frowned. “Alright, here’s the plan. We’ll have to take this slowly. We’ll spend the next few days gathering all the info we can, be it locations, guard schedules, assets, anything. We need to finish this in one flawless move, or the counter attack will finish us for sure,” she ordered. “But before that, Picture, please tell us everything you know. Any info might just mean the difference between us getting through this or not.”
“Of course, that’s what I’m here for,” Picture Perfect nodded.
The next few days went by with a noticeably tense atmosphere around them as they gathered what info they could. First was of course finding where they were going to rob, which was easy enough, since the factory that was located around the outskirts...pretty hard to miss. The hard part however, would be getting inside information. Fortunately, they had a way to do it. Spinner and Charlotte were sent to infiltrate the factory, the two small Pokemon having gotten in relatively easily, since frankly, they looked like a pair of large spiders. An odd sight, but ultimately not particularly suspicious to the guards, a fact they made full use of when they swiped a copy of the guard schedule from one of the guard posts. However, as they couldn’t go too deep into the compound without arousing suspicion, the best they could do was leave a few recording crystals near any offices they could, before making their escape.
The next step of their planning involved one of the most crucial points...what they were gonna steal. Fortunately, Picture Perfect provided them with a good target.
“Yeah, this statue is a sorta lucky charm for Medicine Bits. Cause frankly, the first time anyone saw it was shortly before her business really took off,” he explained.
“I see. I’m guessing that statue has a little secret of some kind. Shall we take a closer look?” Alice grinned.
“Oh, I definitely recommend it,” Picture Perfect nodded.
...now came the hard part. After gathering the data, they need to put it to use...and send their notice.
Meanwhile, Jonathan and co were...oddly enough, not in Manehattan. At least not yet. Seeing as they might be in for a hard fight, they had agreed to take an extra 2 days to train out in the wild. Currently, they were training in pairs, with Echo and Howl sparring against each other, while Jonathan and Heat were working on combined moves.
Jonathan smiled inwardly as he felt himself slowly but surely gain control of his new powers, but he knew he still had a way to go, as he still had moments of lost control...especially when he was angry.
“Well, you’re definitely getting better at using physical moves,” Heat nodded...though he didn’t say anything about special moves. Those were still beyond Jonathan for some reason.
“Yeah, well, at least this strength has its good uses. I quite like being able to support you guys more directly in a fight now,” Jonathan nodded. “Speaking of which, let’s try this again. Rocket Uppercut,” he said, eyeing a nearby cliffside.
“You got it. I’m gonna break the cliff off this time,” Heat grinned, before they got into position. Jonathan took a calming breath as Heat stepped on his paws. During his training, he’d found that when he imagined a ‘river’ of sorts, and when he imagined to flow going to a particular part of his body, he noticed that that part often had more of a ‘kick’ to it whenever he struck or used it in any way. With that in mind, he focused the ‘flow’ into his paws as strongly as he could. Snapping his eyes open, he launched Heat into the air. However, to their surprise, the Combusken was launched up MUCH faster than normal...which made it a very good thing Heat already had his Sky Uppercut ready, cause when he rammed into the cliff side, it didn’t just break, no, it practically exploded from the force.
“Wow...you two did that?” Howl asked, his jaw hanging open, a look that was mirrored by Echo and Trixie as well.
“I...guess we did,” Jonathan replied, his eyes wide. However, when he looked at his paws, his eyes grew wider as he noticed that his paws were practically ablaze with what looked like blue fire, but somehow he instinctively knew what it really was. Aura. “Is this...my aura? How? I can barely use an Aura Sphere...unless… his train of thought was interrupted when Heat finally landed, the Combusken’s eyes swirly, yet he looked pretty damn proud of himself.
“Booyah, take that cliff…” he mumbled, much to his friends’ amusement.
Jonathan was about to go help him, when something caught his attention. Something was glowing up on the remains of the cliff, and a few remaining pebbles fell, knocking it, or rather them, loose. Acting quickly, Jonathan dove for the items, catching them before they hit the ground. When he got a good look at them, his eyes widened considerably, while his team followed him.
“What did you…?” the words died in Echo’s throat when she saw the items...before a grin crossed all of their faces, and when Heat, who had quickly recovered and followed them saw it, his grin threatened to split his face in half. “Jackpot,” was all he could say, and frankly, nobody could think of a better way to describe it either.
A few days had passed, and the Fox gang had gathered about as much info as they could. “So tomorrow is the time, huh?” Shade asked as she sat on her haunches.
“Yeah, we’ve prepared all we can, and I’ve already sent to notice,” Alice nodded as she sank back into the hot bath. Earlier that night, she had put all the info they had gathered to good use, and did the final step in preparing the heist. She infiltrated the factory. The information, all of it that they had gathered proved to be worth it and more, since she was able to locate several good entrances, as well as keep out of sight of the guards...though her fur got covered in dust from the air vent she had to crawl through. Finding their target took a while, as it turned out it was kept in a deeper section of the factory, albeit one used as a study/office of all things. Once she had found the target, she was about to leave her notice...but stopped. This was an important heist they were about to do. If she left the notice this deep in, Medicine Bits would realize she made it this far, and no doubt make entering harder. With her mind made up, she quickly retreated, leaving the notice on the glass of the Guard Post instead.
“So yeah, too late to turn back now,” Alice sighed. “Oh well, at least we got to enjoy a bit of luxury again before risking our lives,” she commented. Now she was by no means a spoiled girl who couldn’t live without the luxuries her money could buy, but after suddenly finding herself poor, she certainly wasn’t about to say no to a chance to enjoy the ‘good life’ again.
“Heh, can’t argue there,” Shade laughed. She enjoyed sleeping on the nice fluffy pillows the hotel had that’s for sure. And she could tell Rascal and the Spinarak twins were enjoying it too. Scep...was an odd case though, since they had to keep stopping him from taking anything.
Interestingly enough, another group was planning something similar, over in a motel across town. “Alright, we’ve spent time finding what we can about Medicine Bits...without arousing suspicion as best as we can,” Jonathan started.
“Yeah, and so far, no sign of Fox either...at least not yet,” Howl nodded.
“Hm…” Jonathan sighed. “A target like this should be irresistible to Fox. But…”
“She’s no idiot,” Echo nodded. “She’d probably be taking her time to plan out her heist.”
“Yes, and as much as I’d like to use Medicine Bits as bait, our duty to the people come first. We’ve scouted out as much info as we could, so there’s no point in delaying any further,” Jonathan nodded. “As we know, the main facility that Medicine Bits operates from is her factory, but thanks to that rumor we heard the other day, it seems she has another facility around the docks. Most likely it's a secondary facility, and less guarded than the factory. Therefore, we’ll raid the secondary facility first tomorrow night.”
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Yeah, Scep has sticky fingers. He's going to try and steal as much stuff as he can, when he can. Even if he's ordered not to, he'd do it. Actually, just to add to the 'order' defilement, he'd probably steal from the others too just to irk them on occasion. The only one he doesn't steal from is Sev, since he respects him too much, and on that note, Joy and Lia. {Joy, in the human world, would have shot him dead if he stole from her little girl.}
Great chapter.
Can't wait for more.
Hmmm, how many members did she have back on Earth again? I can't remember if what she has now is more or less than that.
6101744
She used plenty of Pokemon borrowed from the ranches her family owned, but her main team was always Shade, Rascal, Spinner, and Charlotte (they're the only Pokemon that officially belong to her)
"Whatcha talking about girl? I'm younger than yer, and ah can drink em as strong as ah like em."
This is actually an issue no one seems to have given a thought yet.
What are the age limitations in Equestria for things like drinking, driving and smoking?
6101101 small problem with ur assumption. yeah, Scep respects Sev...but he still takes the snakes stuff on occasion...
6108962 ...he created Scep, so it's no assumption.