It was a peaceful day in Corona, but the Royal Guard were hard at work. A cloaked figure dashed through the streets, carrying a bag slung over their shoulder. Two guards followed behind, determined expressions on their faces.
"He went this way!" Stan said as he ran with Pete.
The cloaked man turned into an alleyway, where he was confronted with the path being blocked by the Captain of the Guards and one other. He chuckled and pulled the hood of his cloak off, revealing it to be Eugene. "I'm sorry, were you looking for this?" He asked, holding up his bag.
They shifted, preparing to attack, and he swung his arm and sent the bag flying over their heads, where it was caught by Lance Strongbow, who chuckled before turning and running off, Eugene running another direction.
"Strongbow is a diversion!" The Captain declared. "Get Rider!"
"Huh?" Pete looked back from where he was following Lance, looking confused. Were they...not supposed to get the stolen treasure back?
"Gah! After them! Go! Go! Go!" The Captain ordered, and the guards chased both Lance and Eugene.
The guards met up in front of a painting of Eugene and Lance, panting heavily. "We lost them." Stan said in disbelief.
Lance lowered the painting with an amused expression as Eugene said "Oh, come on! Seriously, guys?!" and tossed the treasure bag to the ground from behind the painting they were obviously hiding behind.
"Man, we were so close this time!" Pete said, looking at the treasure bag.
"Well, if by 'close' you mean 'not even a little', then, yes, I completely agree." Eugene said, then gasped as he was suddenly engulfed in pink smoke. "Varian! I'm in the middle of a lesson!"
"Sorry!" Varian laughed, lowering his alchemy gun. "Figured I'd test it out and prank you at the same time." He walked over and released him and Lance from the goo. "No hard feelings?"
Eugene lightly punched his arm and then looked back at the guards. "Fellas, if you can't catch us when we're going easy on you, how do you expect to catch this 'master thief' that's terrorizing the town?"
"Captain calls him the Silent Striker." Stan said to Eugene in a stage-whisper.
"Yeah, I'm not calling him that." Eugene said in a flat tone, then cleared his throat. "Well, Captain, I believe this exercise in humility has proven that my esteemed colleague, Lance here, is more than qualified to assist me in training your men in the fine art of thief-catching." He leaned against Lance a bit. "So, what do you say? Does he get the job?"
The Captain frowned. "No." He said firmly before they walked away.
"Yeesh, he's as hard-headed and bitter as usual." Varian remarked.
"Eh, I'm not sure how I feel about this whole public servant business, anyway." Lance said, shrugging as he walked off.
–
"The entire Kingdom is in a panic over this Silent Striker," Rapunzel said, setting a golden goblet down, "so, Pascal and I figured we had to do our part to help catch him." She got up and smiled, gesturing to the contraption she rigged up, which was a badly-concealed cage suspended over a golden goblet on a block of wood – an obvious trap.
"...My sister would set it on fire and tell you to start over." Andrew admitted,
"Yikes, harsh critic." Rapunzel cringed and he nodded.
"Uh, Raps, maybe you should leave the bag-guy snatching to the pros." Cassandra said, stepping forward and picking up a broom to knock the goblet off the block. "It's so obvious." She said, then gasped as the cloth under her suddenly wrapped around her from below due to ropes pulling it up and she was lifted into the air. "Whoa!"
"Yeah, uhm...'obvious' was kind of the point." Rapunzel admitted as Andrew looked at the whole trap in surprise.
"...Okay..that she would be impressed by." He smiled and Rapunzel beamed.
"Do you need help getting down?" Rapunzel asked.
"No, no, I'll do it myself, thank you." Cassandra said, grabbing her knife from her boot and slashing at the rope.
"But, I have a safer way to get you—" Rapunzel started.
"Whoa!" Cassandra yelled as she fell, then gasped as she was caught by a gust of wind that slowed her fall and then Andrew walked over to catch her in his arms when the wind left her. "Uh...wow. Thanks."
He chuckled and gently set her down. "Magic can really come in handy ,huh?"
"Yeah." She nodded, blushing, then kissed his cheek. "Uh, thanks." She then stepped away, blushing.
Rapunzel giggled, then looked at her trap. "...Do you think the Royal Guard would use it?"
"Probably not." Andrew shrugged. "They're pretty set in their ways."
–
"I've got it!" Eugene said, grabbing one of the wanted posters of the Silent Striker off the wall. "It's almost laughably simple! We catch this Striker, prove that you're trustworthy and, bam-o," he punched Lance's chest lightly, "the Captain hires you on the spot!"
"I don't know if it'll go quite as you plan, but I am supportive of him turning over a new leaf fully." Varian nodded.
"Great! Then, let's find us a Striker!" Lance said, looking around.
"Kid, you can use your new invention to help us!" Eugene looked at him.
"Awesome, a target that isn't you!" Varian grinned as Lance laughed.
"Well, I don't see him here." Lance said, gesturing around them, then gasped. "Ohh, let's get kebabs!"
"Oh, forget the kebabs!" Eugene snapped. "We've got detective work to do!"
"But, the kebabs..." Lance said, sadly following them away from the food stand.
–
"As I always do each morning, I placed my best shoes in the display window." Feldspar said with a troubled expression. "While I was doing that, I heard the ring of my shop ringing and looked over, but I didn't see any customers! When I turned back to my counter, well, he took all my money! From the till, from the safe, even my secret shoe stash!" He held up an empty shoe.
"Hummina!" Eugene cringed.
"You didn't see anyone when you looked over?" Varian frowned. "Sounds like they're shorter than the average customer...and very fast." He pulled out his notepad to take notes.
Eugene nodded, then looked over at Lance, who was trying on a boot. "Lance, come on. Really?"
"What? I need new boots!" He insisted, then took the boot off with a sigh. "Bit small for me."
Varian sighed. "Feldspar, can you get him some new boots? I'll pay."
Lance's eyes lit up, as did the eyes of the cobbler that was about to get some money.
–
"It happened during the after-school rush." Monty started. "That's my busiest time. I turned away from the counter to get some candy balls, and when I turned back...my till was open! He cleaned me out!"
"And no one saw him do this?" Varian asked.
"Mm...mm!" Lance said, started to eat some sweets.
"Uh, you know you gotta pay for those, son." Monty said, and Lance froze.
Varian sighed and shook his head. "Should've just gotten the kebabs." He told Eugene, pulling out money to pay for the chocolates Lance grabbed.
"...Right." Eugene said, placing his hand on his face in exasperation.
"So, whoever it was, it had to be someone that no one would find suspicious of poking around a candy store counter." Varian said, looking thoughtful and taking notes on his notepad.
"I wish I could tell you more." Monty shrugged helplessly.
–
"Varian!" The blacksmith greeted. "How nice to see you. I am afraid that I don't really have time to talk today, though. I'm waiting for a Royal Guard to come by so I can give a report of a theft."
"A theft?" Varian frowned. "What happened, Xavier?"
Eugene and Lance looked at each other and they followed the man inside with Varian.
"Whoever did this was bold enough to come into my shop when I and a customer were inside, in broad daylight." He started. "I was walking over to get a customer her change, I turned my back for one second and, suddenly, the whole chest was empty."
"Did you leave it open?" Varian asked.
"Yes, regrettably." Xavier nodded.
"That would be how they got everything so quickly. Especially if it was someone that you wouldn't be concerned about being in your shop." Eugene said, nodding. "I believe we have enough to go on here."
–
"Well, that was a waste of time." Lance said, playing with string.
"Not at all. "Varian said as Eugene paced the floor. "We got a lot of information, actually."
"Yeah, but is it anything we can use?" Lance asked, then held up his string, which he'd formed into a jewel shape. "Heey, look at that!"
"Hm..." Eugene looked at a map of Corona, then gasped. "Hold on a second."
"We hit a dead end." Lance shrugged, then gasped as Eugene took his string. "Hey!"
"What do we really know about this guy, huh?" Eugene asked, starting to do something with the string and the map. "He hits his marks during peak hours, his preferred method of extraction is using sleight of hand, and he's after cash only. Oh, and he's also working through town using a distinct inward spiral pattern, which points us to the exact area he will strike next!"
"There's something else we learned." Varian reminded him. "He is shorter than the average man, nimble, and can be easily overlooked if anyone sees him walking around, which means that it's likely the shopkeepers all saw the attacker, and didn't realize he was suspicious because of his unassuming appearance."
"Meaning?" Lance asked.
"I think that we're dealing with a child criminal." Varian said, nodding firmly. "And if I'm wrong, I'll buy you anything you want from any store."
"Any store?" Lance asked. "What if you're right?"
"Then I get gloating rights." Varian grinned.
"Hm...I'm in!" Lance grinned.
Eugene rolled his eyes. "Guys, come on. We need to set a trap for whoever this is. Varian, you'll probably want a vantage point for an easy shot, just in case the trap fails."
"Yep." Varian nodded, shifting his gun.
"Alright, let's catch us a Striker!" Lance cheered.
--
Varian got up onto the roof with his parkour skills and then positioned himself and his gun to fire when it was time. Eugene and Lance set up a table and Eugene hid under the blanket that covered the table after checking his pocketwatch. Half the "table" was actually a cage – Varian was in case this didn't work.
"Come on, everybody!" Lance said as he set up three shells, one of which had a coin under it. "Fast, fun money, ladies and gents! Just find the coin and win the purse!" He put a purse of gold on the table.
It seemed to be working, people were approaching with interest, and Varian watched for anyone that could be the thief. Whoever it was was short, quick, and unassuming.
"Ah, wrong trail! Who's next? Next up!" Lance called.
Someone ran by in a cloak and Varian shifted his hold on the gun, watching them as they moved closer to the table.
"Ah, wrong trail! Try again!" Lance said cheerfully, seeming to been joying his part, and then he yelped in pain before gabbing the purse away just in time to avoid it being snatched by someone with small hands. The small figure fell into the cage and Eugene shut the lid as the crowd quickly dispersed.
"Haha, gotcha!" He grinned. "Not so silent or strike-y anymore, are you?" He reached down to grab the blanket. "Now, let's get a look at this so-called 'master thief'!" He pulled the blanket away to reveal...
Two little girls glaring up at them.
"Well, dang. The kid was right." Lance said, looking at Eugene as Varian hopped down to join them.
"Huh, the cage worked." Varian nodded. "Good work, Eugene."
Eugene smirked at him, then looked back at the kids. "...Right. Can you cuff them?"
"Right." Varian knelt down and reached in to grab the wrists of one, cuffing her with his powers before doing the same with the other. "Let's get them taken in."
–
"Your Majesty, Captain," Eugene said, as the two men in question stared in silent bewilderment, "may I present the Silent Strikers?" He stepped aside with a flourish of his hand to reveal the two girls still cuffed, Lance and Varian standing nearby with Stan and Pete by the girls looking really awkward about the whole thing.
"They're...children." The Captain said in disbelief.
"Wow, Captain," One of the little girls, a dark-haired one with short hair, said sarcastically as she did a slow clap with her cuffed hands, "figure that out by yourself, or did your ace detectives tip you off?"
Eugene looked annoyed while Lance and Varian seemed amused by her attitude.
The Captain walked over and knelt down to look at them with a soft expression. "What are your names, children?"
"She doesn't talk much," the dark-haired girl said, nodding to her red-haired companion, "but they call us the Bidness sisters. I'm Nonya."
"Well, Nonya Bidness..." The Captain said and seemed to realize what just happened when Lance, Eugene and Varian all laughed with the girls giggling.
"Wow, that's one of the oldest tricks in the book for kids." Varian grinned as Lance and Eugene kept laughing.
"Very funny." The Captain said, standing up with a sigh.
"It was, actually. That was definitely a little funny." Lance chuckled.
King Frederic sighed. "We can't send two children to jail." He placed his hand on his head, looking troubled. "But, we can't just let these two criminals go, either..."
"Yeah, they'll just run off and start stealing again." Lance said casually, then sighed. "Speaking from personal experience, anyway."
King Fredric's eyes lit up. "Yes, you and Eugene too have past experience, don't you? Perhaps the two of you could take these two under your wing for a few days! Varian, I think that you could also help them learn how to be good children, maybe teach them some things that they haven't learned yet."
"Sure, sounds fun." Varian grinned at the girls. "Gives me some more bonding time with Eugene, too."
"Wonderful!" King Frederic stood up. "Then, I trust the three of you to ensure that they straighten up."
"And get them to return what they took." The Captain added.
Eugene internally cringed. He'd wanted to refuse, but it seemed that Varian had already agreed and it'd look bad if he refused at this point. So...babysitting it was.
"If you can manage this, it may ensure your friend here a place as your colleague in teaching the Royal Guard." The Captain added.
"Well, what kind of guys would turn their backs on children in need?" Eugene said, he and Lance both forcing grins on their faces.
"Very good! I will leave them in your hands." King Frederic said cheerfully before he and the Captain left the throne room.
"So, we mentor some cute kids for a day or so, how hard could it be?" Eugene said, turning back to the girls.
They had apparently fled while everyone was looking at the King.
"They won't get far." Varian said casually. "They can't break those cuffs. C'mon, I can track where they are by using the rocks on them." He walked out of the throne room and they exchanged looks before following him out.
–
"I heard they caught the Silent Striker." Cassandra said casually as she, Rapunzel and Andrew headed to the garden together.
"Really?" Rapunzel asked. "Well, guess they didn't need my help after all."
"Well, most of the Royal Guard aren't exactly...well, they would have been replaced with more competent people if they were in Saporia." Andrew chuckled a bit. "Hey, where are Eugene and Varian at today?"
"Helping out the Royal Guard. Eugene is a teacher on how to think like a thief and Varian is making them alchemy to help them out." Rapunzel smiled. "They've been a big help!"
"Let's hope they were enough of help to make sure the Silent Striker doesn't get away again." Cassandra frowned.
–
The girls fled over the rooftops, struggling with their cuffs that would not be removed no matter what they cried. They tried banging on it things, but the things just broke. They had no wriggle room to slip away and there was no keyhole to pick. Whatever they had on them, it wasn't coming off.
They jumped down and ran by an alleyway, gasping as hands grabbed them from behind and yanked them in. Then they found themselves cuffed to Lance and Eugene, who were also wearing the unbreakable cuffs on one hand each.
"Let me GO!" The black-haired girl yelled as she tried to escape.
"Wow, they are stubborn." Varian remarked with a grin.
"Okay!" Eugene said, looking at the black-haired girl. "First rule of not being a thief;" he took a bag off her that she must've managed to take even with cuffed hands. "Don't steal! Pretty obvious!" He tossed the bag and Varian caught it before Lance could. "Second rule; making people chase you for five miles makes them cranky!"
The girl glared at him, looking like she was on the verge of a pout.
The other girl, who had long, red hair with a blue flower in it, was pouting. Lance leaned down to look at her. "Aw! Aren't you a fancy little thief!" He said in a babying tone, and she looked at him uncomfortably.
"Hey, guys?" Varian said, and they looked at him, "Rule one of babysitting; don't make the kids feel like you're a predator. Also, baby-talking gets old when you're no longer a baby."
Lance stood up properly. "Right, well, I'm calling mine 'Red', 'cause she's got—"
"Red hair. Yeah, I get it." Eugene said, looking annoyed. "You can't just—ow! Oh!" He groaned and held his foot that the black-haired girl that stomped on and then fell over. "Okay, I'm calling mine 'Angry'!"
"We don't do nicknames." The dark-haired girl said firmly.
"I see you guys are attending Adira's School of Descriptive Nicknames." Varian rolled his eyes and walked over to the dark-haired girl. "Look, I get it. You've got a hard life, so you're trying to make-do. But, getting in crime doesn't pay off. This guy," he nodded to Eugene, "only escaped death because he saved the Princess. And Lance? Well, he's struggling to earn trust enough to get a decent living because he was a criminal for so long. Trust me, you don't want to be on a wanted poster all the way into your twenties."
She stuck out her tongue at him. "You don't know my life, or me!"
"No, but I want to." He smiled. "I'd like to remove those cuffs, too, but I don't want you to get back into criminal activities."
She glared at him.
"Kid, I don't think the soft approach is going to work." Eugene said, getting up.
"If you don't 'do' nicknames, what's your actual name?" Varian asked, ignoring him. "Because, otherwise, this guy is gonna be calling you 'Angry' all day. Me, I'm gonna call you 'Nonya'."
She couldn't help but crack a smile at his reference to her little stunt earlier.
"You know what? 'Nonya' is fine." She smirked at him.
"Okay...'Nonya'," Eugene rolled his eyes, "I know you don't want to be here, and I don't want to be here, so why don't you just return what you stole and we can all get on with our lives! Besides, he's right, you don't wanna be thieves. I've lived it to my twenties, and it's not a viable long-term career."
"Maybe you were just bad at it." Nonya said, looking away petulantly.
Eugene gasped. "'Bad at it'?! Bad at it?!" He walked over to Lance. "We were the original Strikers, okay?!"
"Mm-hm!" Lance agreed as they struck a pose together.
"We invented techniques that are used by criminals all around the world to this day!" Eugene went on, throwing his arm out.
"All around the world!" Lance chimed in.
"You ever heard of the Drop and Stop?" Eugene asked.
"Mm-hm." Lance grinned in memory.
Th egirls just looked confused and maybe a little offended.
"Seriously? Never?" Eugene asked.
"Kids today." Lance sighed.
"We used to use it all the time to rob caravans back in the day." Eugene explained. "See, one of us would—"
"AHEM." Varian cleared his throat loudly and they looked at him. "Maybe don't teach them a new thief move?" He raised an eyebrow.
"O-Oh, right. Yeah." Eugene nodded, straightening up and picking up Nonya as he did to put her over his shoulder. "My point is, the life of a criminal is hard! You're always on the run. Not to mention the enemies you make."
Lance lifted the other girl onto his shoulder and grinned at her.
Varian looked up at her. "I'm thinking of calling you 'Ness'."
"'Ness'?" Lance asked.
"Yeah." Varian grinned. "From 'Bidness'."
She giggled a bit and then gasped, covering her mouth.
"We once tried to double-cross this guy called The Baron, he hasn't stopped hunting us since." Eugene went on as they left the alleyway together.
"Wait, he's hunting you?" Varian asked. "You never told me this!"
"I didn't think it was important." Eugene shrugged.
"You could have made Adira a target!" Varian snapped.
"Okay, I'm sorry! Yes, he's hunting us. He's very mad, at me especially." Eugene nodded.
"Yeah, it doesn't help matters that Eugene stole his prize stallion." Lance remarked.
Eugene jolted and elbowed him.
"...'Stallion' as in the horse, or Andrew's friend in Vardaros?" Varian looked at Eugene as he set Nonya down and straightened up.
"...The latter." He muttered. "By 'stole', he means that I 'stole her heart'."
"Ah." Varian nodded.
Eugene cleared his throat and spoke in a normal voice. "And the worst part is the guilt you have to live with." He reached into his vest and pulled out a comb. "You see this? First thing I ever stole." He looked at it. "It's a shameful reminder of my criminal past." He looked at the inscribed "Flynn Rider" on it.
She frowned, shifting her bound hands. "Why'd you steal something so worthless?"
"'Worth' is in the eye of the beholder." Varian said casually, seeing Eugene about to explode with rage.
"Exactly!" Eugene nodded firmly. "It's not worthless, it has sentimental—"
"It's worthless." Lance spoke up.
"Yes, like your opinion just now. Shut up." Varian said coolly and Lance frowned.
"Well, thieving tip number—YAI!" Lance jumped back as a black rock shot out of the ground and stopped at his nose.
"No. Tips." Varian said, his eyes glowing dangerously as he lowered his hand.
Lance watched as the rock retracted into the ground and the girls also watched it with surprise and awe.
"We've gotta make them better people, not better thieves." Eugene reminded him.
"Thieves are people, too." Lance insisted.
"Let's just get them back to the castle." Varian rolled his eyes.
"Wait, what if we scared them straight?" Lance asked. "Take them to some real tough-looking guys?"
"Like the prison!" Varian said cheerfully. "Give them a little tour, see everyone behind bars. Lady Caine is still there, I bet they'd love to see how she turned out!"
"...You know, that's not a bad idea." Eugene said thoughtfully.
"Wait...are we really doing this?" Lance asked.
–
"Who's Lady Caine?" Nonya asked as they were walked into the prison, still cuffed.
"Lady Caine is a woman that started out as a child criminal just like you kids." Eugene explained. "Her father, a petty thief, was arrested and sent away to prison mines and never returned. She was orphaned and on her own, and she was forced to survive by stealing. She managed to stay under the radar for the most part, but she decided to get her revenge and crashed Princess Rapunzel's Coronation. Now she's in prison."
"And there's a lot of others in this place that got into crime and were arrested." Varian said as they walked further inside. "The only reason you're not in here now is because of your age. How old are you, kids?"
"Eight." Nonya frowned.
"So...you got until you're fifteen years old to avoid being put in prison...and then everything you do will come back to put you behind bars. Your entire rap sheet is read to you at trial from when you started to when you were caught, and your sentence is made longer and longer and longer based on your criminal activities." Varian looked at her. "Do you really want to take that chance? Hm?"
Nonya frowned and stopped short. "...You...aren't kidding, huh?"
"Yeah." Eugene nodded. "Heck, if you're bad enough, you don't get a trial. I never got one." He admitted.
Ness leaned into her sister, whimpering a bit.
Nonya sighed. "Okay...you win. We'll give up crime."
"Really?" Lance asked with surprise.
"I guess...we thought that, being kids, nothing we do can actually affect us later. Or that no one could actually do to us." Nonya admitted. "...Hey, I'm kinda' hungry."
"Well, then let's get out of here." Varian said, placing his hands on their wrists and focusing. The cuffs came apart and shrank into bracelets, which he left on. "A little gift." He smiled at them.
They looked at the bracelets in surprise. "...How did you do that?" Nonya asked. "The whole...rock thing?"
"I can do magic." Varian grinned. "Cool, huh?" He looked at Eugene and Lance, then removed the cuffs on their own wrists, since they didn't need them anymore. "Let's get these girls some food, I bet they're starving."
"Yes! Let's get kebabs!" Lance cheered, picking them up and carrying them out of the prison.
Eugene walked with Varian, leaning in a bit. "...Didn't you say you can track those rocks?" He whispered.
"They 'reformed' way too quickly for my liking, but I want to know what they're thinking." Varian whispered back. "Besides, they could use a little help."