Chapter 2

Flashback: 12 years ago

An eight year old Jade West bounced happily on her father's lap, giggling loudly at her father's tale of how he'd accidentally stolen from a party supply store instead of the bank next door. It was the night her father had decided that she was old enough to inherit his cane, and make it her own, as was tradition for thousands and thousands of years. It currently resided propped up against the armchair she and her father were occupying.

"So after the third or fourth time I thought there was a cop dressed as Sonic The Hedgehog, I realized-"

A sharp knock on the front door stopped him mid-sentence.

Her mother looked out from the kitchen, and walked to the door, looking through the peep-hole.

"Jonathan? They're here." She said, unusually calm.

Her father's features changed from joy, to despair, to anger, then to grim determination.

He lifted Jade easily off of his lap, placing her onto the floor. He knelt down in front of her, and stroked her hair.

"Jade. Your mother and I love you very much."

Jade's mother knelt beside him, and hugged her tight.

"So much, baby girl. Don't ever forget that."

The knock continued, louder now.

"We need you to go to the hall closet with your cool new gadget and hide now, okay? Don't come out, no matter what. We want to play a game with some friends, and we need you to be very quiet for this." Her father explained.

Jade nodded. She didn't understand what was happening, but the tension in the air was apparent, even to her young mind.

The knocking grew louder, increasing to a banging. The door rattled on its hinges.

"Never forget who you are. You're a West. And that's something to be proud of." Her father had tears in his eyes, and Jade hugged him, trying to make them go away.

He hugged back tightly, not trying to hurt her at the same time.

Her mother also received a hug, as she was freely crying at this point.

"When will you come back?" Jade asked.

Her father gave her a watery smile.

"Don't worry, Sly" he said as he bopped her nose with his finger, using the nickname he had given her years ago.

"We'll be back before ya know it."

And with that, he and her mother hugged her once again, kissing the top of her head and her cheeks and pushing her lightly into the hall closet, cane in hand.

She opened the door slightly, curious.

Her mother and father were taking down all of their family pictures, and replacing them with ones of just the two of them.

Once that was done, they hugged in the middle of the room.

"Melanie, I love you so much." Her father said, kissing her mother.

"I love you, too, Jonathan." She replied.

She broke away from him, and picked up a lamp from the coffee table.

"Now then, if we're going down, we'd better go down fighting."

!

And went down they did. Jade watched as her parents were brutally beaten to death at the hands of five monstrous murderers, one of them not even human. She then watched as they stole her father's book from the wall safe, her family's namesake for generations.

When the police came, she was sitting next to her parents' bodies, curled up in a ball and begging them to wake up.

They brought her to an orphanage, where she met Andre and Robbie, who's parents left them there as children.

Together, they became each other's family, and thieving companions. Each brought their own set of skills to the table, Jade's dexterity, Robbie's superior intellect, and Andre's large muscles, to form the ultimate band of thieves.

!

Jade always knew that they would help her get her revenge, and today, they were one step closer.

Currently, she sat on an old couch in her bedroom. They had moved into, for the time being at least, and old train station, and put furniture in the cars, linking them together like a giant trailer.

She had taken the binder she wore under her thief outfit off (because boobs get in the way a lot more than you'd think), and was currently clad in a black and red button up, skinny black jeans, and combat boots. Her raven hair was set free of its bun, and was freshly washed and combed. The eye contacts she wore to change her eye color were also taken out, and sat in a saline solution on her bedside table.

Her thieving outfit and cane were locked in a chest in a secret compartment under her bed, and she wore the key (a tiny pair of scissors) around her neck.

It had taken them a while to get back to the U.S., and Jade was ready to go out and unwind before going on another...excursion.

She finished applying her dark makeup, and headed to the living room.

"You know, for being a world class thief, capable of stealing from someone in a matter of seconds, you take way too long to get ready." Andre commented with a smirk. He had on a tight, long sleeved grey shirt, dark jeans, and boots. His dreads were free of their usual ponytail, and hung neatly down to his shoulders.

"And you know, for being 'the brawn' of our gang, you're really letting yourself go." Jade shot back playfully, smacking him in the stomach and heading out.

"Hey! I'm just protecting my muscle with a layer of fat. You wouldn't understand."

"Whatever makes you feel better, buddy." Robbie gave him a consoling pat on the back, following Jade. Robbie wore a green and grey striped button up, khakis, and Toms.

"Everyone's a critic." Andre mumbled under his breath, following his two best friends out.

!