A/N: This is a gag chapter. I MIGHT continue for real sometime in the future.

Disclaimer: I don't own the movie The Thief and Cobbler.

She was a genius. No, she was even better than that-she was the smartest person in the entire universe!

She smirked and said in a self-satisfied manner, "This will break him of that nasty little habit."

Erica chuckled, watching in amusement as he fidgeted uncomfortably. They were seated facing each other. In between them lay various objects, arranged in a certain way.

First, there were valuable items. The ring that he gave her, a gold bracelet, diamond earrings, and her silver locket. They were closer to the thief.

Next, a blue ribbon, a plastic snow globe, and a tiny porcelain cat were laid out near her. None of them were very valuable at all. At least, not to the thief.

The girl had already explained the rules of the game to him. If he reached for something of great worth, like the earrings, he got a slap on the wrist. On the contrary, if his hand inched towards an item of lesser value, he would be rewarded with a silver coin. Not as good as a gold one, but the objective was to get him to STOP stealing gold, so it was a sensible reward.

The thief, now known as "Truman" tensed considerably waiting for the signal to begin.

Erica said, "start," letting him know he could began anytime he wanted.

Truman inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to calm his nerves. Every part of his being wanted to seize the bracelet and run with it, but instead, he tried to make his hand grab the cat. It was so close. This game was his. He could do this. He could win. His body stretched the short distance, hand reaching...reaching...retracting, and making a sudden move for the ring.

No longer in control of himself, he gripped it and immediately felt a sharp pain on his hand. The thief dropped the ring as if it had burnt him.

"You really are hopeless." The exasperation in the girl's voice clearly told him he was a failure.

Gritting his teeth, he willed himself not to give up. He focused intently on the ribbon, and pictured it as a cloth made of gold.

Erica shuddered a little at the creepy look in his eyes. It was as if he were seeing the ribbon in a whole new light. His orbs seemed to become gold nuggets, the way a man's eyes would turn into dollar signs at seeing a million dollar bill.

Without further ado, he pounced on the ribbon and grasped it firmly in his hands, as if it was really precious to him.

The young woman clapped her hands nervously, a sweatdrop on the side of her face.

"Bravo! Good job."

She frowned when she saw he was still holding the ribbon.

"Let it go already, geeze. You win, here's the coin."

But the thief backed away from her, eyeing her suspiciously.

'She just wants my gold cloth. Well too bad, cuz its mine now. All mine! She can't have it!'

He started to get a crazed look on his face that made her uneasy. She wanted her ribbon, but didn't want it THAT badly.

"Okay, fine, you win. Keep the stupid ribbon! I'll just keep the coin then."

He didn't seem to hear her, he was too busy stuffing his new treasure in his pocket.

The girl was smart and easily figured out why he wanted her hair accesory so badly. 'He must have imagined it was made of gold in order to make it seem valuable. That idiot. He'll never change.'

Sighing, she resigned herself to the fact that Truman would always be a thief who loved gold. That was who he was, but she had hoped that she could at least kick his habit of stealing.

She amused herself with this one thought, 'maybe from now on, he'll only steal hair ribbons.'