Dedan Fawkes
Prologue: Meet Cherry
It's a dark alley to get through honestly, even on such a sunny day as it is today. It's an empty place. Not a single soul. Not even Trubbish living in the trash cans or some lone vagabond like the old Shiftry that used to live in his hometown, and probably the only witness there ever was during his days as a goon there but no one ever took him seriously because well… most of the stuff he said was crazy, like spotting a pink old man under a truck and whatever.
There's a library there. Not too small, not too big either. It's very bright compared to the rest of the alley. There are very few people that actually go there to read something, like that Watchog whose glasses are surprisingly as big as its eyes, that's been staring at the bookshelves for a while now.
Fawkes is there for a different reason, though. Contrary to said Watchog, he actually knows what book to look for. Second floor, third bookshelf of the cooking section. 'Mind-blowing Dishes' the title says. Literally he thinks with a chuckle. The Braixen makes sure no one is around before sitting on the second table at the other side of the floor and writes on a note between page 54 and 55: 'I already know how to cook.' in his perfect handwriting.
He takes some more minutes to read the book in case someone was watching him, before going back to reception, book in hand.
"Julia, my sweetheart! How are you?" he salutes the young Malamar standing there. "Did you do something to those tentacles? Because, no joke, you look squidtacular!"
"You know? I'm still waiting for you to pay me for that favor from last year." she answers, giving him a narrow gaze.
"Ooh! That'll have to wait, sadly. I have some business to attend to right now." Fawkes says faking his concern. She could notice, though. "But this evening, promise, before the other meetup."
Julia looks at him fairly disappointed. She sighs and puts back her glasses, before taking the book.
"How many editions of this book do you have?" he asks, giving her a friendly wink and a smile.
The Malamar reads the paper that came with the book before continuing his game. "There should be two or three back there. Maybe you'd like to follow me there and see which one you want?" She leans closer to him, changing the tone of her voice to a lower one. "Can you stop doing that?"
"Doing what?"
"The wink! It's too obvious… and you look very stupid doing it too." she clears her throat without waiting for his answer before getting back on the same position she was in. "You don't remember what edition you are looking for? It's fine, you'll probably find what you need back there. Follow me, please." she turns to the Vigoroth slacking off by her side as she starts walking behind the shelves on her back with the Braixen. "Hey, Matt, can you take my place for a bit? I have to do some stuff back there."
"I'm stuff." Fawkes says, earning him a strong hit on his nape.
Julia walks to the storage. She locks the door and before Fawkes tries to say something stupid she opens a small door going in underground. "I'll wait for you here." She says in a lower voice "You do your thing, I'll know when things start going your way."
"What about Matt?" He asks before going to the underground storage.
"He knows." She answers "He didn't see anything."
"Good afternoon, folks!" Fawkes announces after going down the ladder.
"You again?" The tall Toxicroak standing at the other side of a large, wooden table from far away yells in his dry voice. "Was it that Julia girl or the other idiot?"
Fawkes smiles and raises his empty hands, making sure the Simisage by his side realizes he is unarmed. "Matt doesn't know I'm here and I owe Julia too much favors already for her to even let me in here."
The Toxicroak doesn't answer, he just stands with his eyes fixed on Fawkes.
"Come on, Coll! You know me pretty well!" Fawkes adds. "I could pretty much sleep the whole night here and you won't even notice."
"Why are you here? Didn't you have enough beating for a day?"
"Honestly? No." Fawkes answers, taking a seat on a wooden box as close to the table as the Simisage let him. "See, this guy over here… He is strong, but he is still a little bit green[/], y'know? Inexperienced in the whole thing. No offense. What's in this box, by the way? Dynamite? Gravelerocks? Gunpowder? Doesn't matter. You should know why I'm here. I see the hat you stole from me is still on your table."
"You got no business here, Fawkes. Come back to where you came from or else-."
"You'll kick me out? You and your green friend?" he laughs. "I already told you. He is still inexperienced. He won't even be able to handle Cherry."
"Who's Cherry?"
"Oh, nevermind. It's not important." he scratches his ear and takes something out that was hidden between its fur. He then gets up. "You know? You are right, I got nothing to do here. Just wanted to mess a bit with you."
He starts walking back to the ladder, but before climbing up, he ducks and acts as if he is picking something from the floor.
"You should be more cautious about where you leave your toys." he says. "More when someone as dry as yourself doesn't take proper humidity control of the place. See, I almost step on this thing. Here!"
The Braixen flings his cherry bomb at Coll's guard. It explodes instantly, launching him against some boxes behind him.
Coll jumps over the table and pounces at him, extending his red venomous finger, just to be shot back again by Fawkes' Flamethrower.
While he tries to get up, Fawkes walks to the table to get back his hat.
"Aww. It's all dusty now. And you didn't even have it for one day!" he jokes. "Such an awful service and quality. I'm not buying from this place anymore." He puts his hat on his back, and starts walking back again to the ladder. Julia must still be there, waiting for him to get back. On the way, he looks at the Simisage, still knocked out, and points him with his stick. "I told you he couldn't handle Cherry."
He climbs up to the top, and Julia is indeed waiting for him already. He gives her his hat, but he stays on the underground instead, not without telling her to leave the door open until he gets out.
"By the way, do you guys like fireworks?" he asks. "I mean, you two are very beaten up, so it's better for you two to relax a bit with some, and you got plenty of those here." he brandishes his stick and a blue flame comes out of it. It flies around the entire room, litting the explosive's wicks. "I have to go, hope you have fun, though. Don't get too near to them, though."
He rushes up back to the library. The fireworks blow up before he gets to the top, making him rush even more. "Close it, close it, close it!"
"For Arceus! Was that necessary?"
"Relax. They'll be fine. You know Coll, he's a sturdy one and he knows how to pick who he works with." he says, laying on the floor. "Plus, it's his fault. He should take proper care of the place and have better security."
Julia shrugs and sits by his side, still hearing the fireworks coming from the underground.
"Tell Matt to call an ambulance. One that doesn't take them to jail, of course." Julia doesn't answer, and Fawkes doesn't talk either. "It's a good time to go for those drinks I owe you, don't you think?"
"Sure!" she answers immediately, with all her concern leaving completely and gets up. "You owe me a double round for this, though. We'll have to close earlier because of the fireworks, so I got plenty of time to get drunk, so get me whatever you can."
"Same place as usual?" Julia stares and tilts her head lightly, which is enough of an answer for him. "Okay."
"What is so important about that hat, anyways?"
"That's what I want to figure out. But I need the hat for that. I just know it's worth a lot. Coll isn't the first one who expressed interest in it, but he is the first one who managed to steal it."