"And that's about it. Any questions?"
The seagull asked.
"Uh...nope!"
The slender calico cat exclaimed.
"But..." She continued, "I stopped listening half way through so I'm gonna need you to say it all again..."
The seagull put a wing over his face and sighed.
"I'm sorry, Percy..."
The cat said, her ears flattening against her head and her eyes moving down the the pavement.
"But there was this reeeaally pretty butterfly and it kinda stole your thunder."
The seagull took his wing away from his face.
"It's fine, Maggie, but this is the last time I'm explaining it so pay attention."
"You got it, boss!"
She said in a happy but serious tone.
"Oh boy..."
Percy mumbled before clearing his throat.
Percy had only just recently met Maggie after searching nearly the whole city for a cat willing to help him. Already he was beginning to think she might not be up for the task ahead of them.
"Ok! This is our target."
He pointed to a small grey rectangle on the map between them.
"What is it?"
Maggie asked, her eyes glued to the paper.
"The humans call it a...'bank', I think."
"What do they use it for?"
"No idea, but it's full of this green paper that they use for everything. And that's what we're after."
Percy picked up a slightly damp dollar bill in his beak and awkwardly tossed it to his feline companion.
"It looks like that."
Maggie stared at the bill in amazement.
"It's so green. I like it!"
She said, a smile on her face.
However, the smile vanished shortly after appearing, being replaced by confusion.
"But, why do we need it? You never really told me why we're doing this."
A sly smile formed on Percy's face and he reached for a small folded piece of magazine next to him. He grabbed a corner with his beak and jerked his head towards Maggie, unfolding the paper. As soon as he did, Maggie's eyes widened and she gasped.
"Oh. My. Gosh!"
She stammered.
On the piece of paper was a picture of fish. Tons of it. Some were large, some were small, some were cut up and some were whole. No matter what shape or size, they were all laid out on tables with humans gathered around them.
"What is this magical place!?"
Maggie screamed.
"It's called a fish market."
Percy calmly replied, the smile still on his face.
"Well what are we doing here!?"
Maggie shouted, excitement visible in her eyes.
"We should be robbing that place!"
Percy's smile suddenly disappeared.
"We gotta get. That. Fish, my man- er...bird!"
She finally finished.
Percy just silently looked at her before quietly saying, "I already tried...", before turning his head to the left revealing a badly scarred, milky white eye.
"Oh..."
Maggie said, her enthusiasm fading.
"I thought that was a birthmark..."
Percy gave her an 'are you serious?' face before continuing.
"But if we pull this off we won't need to steal. Humans will give you anything for that green stuff!"
"Awesome!"
Maggie squealed,
"So how we gonna get it?"
Percy cleared his throat.
"Ok, so once a month this big truck pulls up behind the bank and gives them tons of the green stuff. Now, we don't need to steal all of it, probably just a mouthful will do."
Maggie just stared at him, nodding her head every once in a while.
"Now here's where you come in."
Her eyes lit up.
"Through some amazing recon by yours truly, I found out that the driver looooves cats. So all you have to do is wait till she opens the back doors, distract her, and I'll grab the goods."
Maggie rapidly nodded her head.
"Got it!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Is this good!?"
Maggie yelled.
"Yes, that's perfect!"
Percy squawked back.
Maggie had hidden herself behind a few trash cans next to the back wall of the bank while Percy flew high above on lookout.
Eventually, Maggie's ears perked up as she heard Percy squawk three times.
She peaked through a gap between the cans and saw a large black armored truck slowly backing up to the bank. As it finally came to a stop one of the doors opened and a thin woman with long red hair stepped out. She made her way to the back of the truck and opened the doors. Inside, Maggie saw that there were what looked like hundreds of sacks almost bursting with the green stuff. The woman took one in each hand and began to make her way to the back entrance of the bank.
Maggie's eyes narrowed.
"Showtime..."
She whispered before meowing from behind the trash cans.
The woman stopped dead in her tracks and immediately looked in Maggie's direction. She quickly seized her opportunity and walked out from her hiding place, purring. The woman dropped the bags, which hit the ground with a solid thud, spilling their contents onto the ground, and cupped her hands of her mouth.
Maggie circled around her legs and rubbed against them. While she was doing this she saw Percy land about ten feet away and begin to hop in their direction. She was about to wink at him but before she could she was picked up by the woman.
"Oh my goodness!"
She yelled.
"You are the cutest thing in the world!"
She cradled Maggie in her arms talking to her like a baby. It was annoying and Maggie didn't like it but she kept up her act nonetheless.
Meanwhile, Percy had finally reached the bags and was carefully trying to pick out the greenest bundle. Finally finding one, he picked it up with his mouth and turned to fly away. Suddenly, however, he heard the woman yell and felt something grab him by the neck. It was the woman, and try as he might to escape, he found it impossible.
"Maggie, the jig is up!"
He squawked as he was pushed against the pavement.
"Not yet, buddy!"
Her claws popped out of her paws and she began to hiss and claw at the woman's face. The woman screamed in pain and let go of Percy who quickly got back onto his feet. As Maggie clung to the woman's face, biting and clawing her, Percy grabbed the green stuff and flew away. Seeing this, Maggie jumped off the woman and ran after him. The woman didn't try to follow them, instead she just sat there cradling her bloody face.
~~~~~~~~~
Percy landed on top of a garbage can and set the green stuff next to him.
After a few seconds, Maggie entered the alley, panting.
"We did it!"
She said as she nearly collapsed to the ground, exhausted.
"We?"
Percy questioned.
"I barely did anything, you're the real star here."
Maggie's eyes widened with excitement and a proud smile formed on her face.
"Really!?"
She almost screamed.
Percy simply nodded and kicked her her share of the green stuff.
"You know what, Maggie? I think this is the beginning of a beautiful partnership..."
