A Thief's Quarrel: Dapper Thief

By Dr. John Smith

and

PandaMan1234

Dapper was returning from his most recent heist, stealing the Crystal Cogburn; an emerald that he assumed was 5 thousand G. Surly it would be enough to pay for this months rent. He looked at the sky, it was just about between sunset and night time and the plaza was completely empty. Dapper decided he would search through some of his thoughts, "Well with this fine treasure, maybe I could pay for rent and maybe Callie won't keep calling me a thieving cheapskate."

Dapper heard someone call to him, twirling around, he saw a kid. The kids face was etched with uncertainty, Dapper smirked, "And who the hell are you supposed to be?" Dapper asked, a smirk on his face, "Well I guess those creatures weren't lying 'bout extinction now, weren't they?" Dapper viewed the kids face, he was shocked and his face showed as if he was trying to think of a new topic.

"What's in the bag?" He asked.

Dapper snarled, "What's it to you?" Dapper asked, a hint of anger in his voice. There was no way this kid was getting his crystal.

The kid looked like he was a bit nervous, Dapper worked too hard, and staked out the museum for weeks before getting his hands on the Crystal Cogburn. The kid straightened himself out and looked Dapper straight in the eyes. "I said, what's in the bag? You seem to be the only person walking around the plaza besides me, and you are half-concealing it."

Dapper stepped closer, quieting his voice to a threatening whisper. "And if there was something that displeased you, what are you going to do about it?" Dapper gritted his teeth, the nerve of this kid! He tried to resist the urge to knock him out.

The kid simply said, "Stop you."

Dapper grinned widely, "Oh, and why and how would you do that?" The kid glared at him.

"I already know that answer, but I'm going to state the obvious, is that a stolen item?" The kid asked.

"Just a small loan I borrowed to pay for rent... nothing special." Dapper said. The kid received his obvious lie, not it's time for action. The kid narrowed his eyebrows.

"Maybe I should return what you borrowed for you, after all, wouldn't want it getting missed."

Dapper reached his left hand into his coat to grab one of his concealed N-ZAP '89s. He watched as the kid tensed up, but as he began to draw the weapon, the kid snapped his arm out, and enclosed his hand on Dapper's wrist and twisted it hard.

Dapper struggled, the kid wouldn't let go, but despite this, the damn kid increased pressure and a large crack was heard. Dapper dropped the Zapper, looking at the kid with anger and pain, and kicked the kid square in the knee, releasing the grip. The kid looked like he took no damage from the attack.

The kid grumbled, attempting to get Dapper to surrender, "Drop the bag and go back where you came from, and nothing else in your body has to get hurt!" The kid yelled.

"Go to hell!" Dapper yelled back, pulling out one of his pistols. He fired two shots, aimed at the kids legs and... Missed completely. Dapper blinked, even the kid was shocked at how fast he was. The kid dodged bullet after bullet until Dapper only heard the sound of a click. He was outta bullets.

Dapper grumbled in anger and pulled out an ink bomb and threw it at the kid. The kid dropped to his knees and covered his face, being covered in ink. Dapper took this opportunity to grab the Crystal and hide, jumping up to the jumbo screen and hiding behind it. Dapper saw as the kid twirled, checking all directions, and assumed Dapper was gone. He then ran to an alley way to clean off.

Dapper chuckled to himself, "That bloody kid is head strong. Better leave him a message. Dapper wrote something on a piece of paper, slunked quietly to the kid's alley, and left the note on a trash can, before running off to Callie and Marie's to plan the next heist.

Dapper didn't sleep that night. He tossed and turned, but in ways as to not wake the sleeping Marie beside him. He knew he had a long day ahead with a day of pretending to be their bodyguard.

The next day, the studio was the same as ever; sleep deprived Inklings rushing around, and getting the set ready for Callie and Marie. Dapper made sure the area was safe. The cameraman called out, "Alright, we film in 3, 2, 1...!" And the camera begun.

"Hold onto your tentacles!" Callie began.

"It's Inkopolis news time!" Marie finished.

"You may be wondering what has caused our early newscast…" Callie said to the camera.

"And it's a big shocker!" Marie added.

"There is a thief loose in Inkopolis!" Callie said in surprise, causing Dapper to snicker.

"Police believe the string of crimes are related, but who can be sure?" Marie informed.

"Check back later when we reveal the battle stages for today!" Callie said in her usual hype.

"As always," Callie began.

"Stay Fresh!" They said in unison, striking their iconic ending pose.

Dapper was pleased he was making an impression, but he knew the next time he saw that kid, he would have to take him out. For good.

Here it is! That big project I said I was working on. Of course this is the same exact story, but told from two different points of view. My end is Dapper and PandaMan's end is Izzy. If you want to see both sides of the story, read "A Thief's Quarrel: Izzy" over at PandaMan1234's page. This was a cool experience because both of us are two completely different writers with two completely different styles. Anyways, I hope you enjoy and Stay Fresh! I'm using that now. This is also a non-canon crossover between my story "Dapper Thief" and PandaMan1234's "Ballad of the Fallen" read it, it's a great read.