It's a Lucy-themed drabble! Yeah, I'm sure that was hard to predict, what with her major reappearance in the main story and the debut of her origin story by Mind Jack. But there isn't going to be any overlap as this drabble covers a separate period of time only shortly before BtBW.

Even better, you get to see professional thief Lucy Sang actually pulling a heist for once! Hold on to your seats, and your valuables!

Drabble 6: Lucy at the Bat

Savannah Central

Sunrise High-Rise - The Crimson Suite

9: 46 PM

"Now this is the life."

Most bats may have been content to spend their days sleeping from hanging branches or bars, but for Lucy Sang, there was nothing better than a soft, comfortable, and comically oversized bed. Her instincts didn't like that, but she never was one for convention. That was why she lived up here on the surface instead of the dreary Nocturnal District like most of her kind. Maybe it was just what she was used to, but the inherent freedom of the surface world carried with it an undeniable appeal.

Aside from the bed, her current penthouse suite also featured such debaucheries as velvety red carpeting, a bathtub with high-powered jets and an entire shelf of scented soaps, a miniature self-playing piano, and cushioned bars on the ceiling just in case she did feel like hanging upside-down. It was truly the lap of luxury, and not at all the kind of place that the police would be looking for her.

Yes, that was another reason she preferred to stay up here. Being a professional thief could be a risky job, even without taking into account her many hobbies on the side. Sadly, most of the city was only familiar with one or two of those hobbies, and they didn't tend to be appreciative of them. Luckily, the ZPD everywhere seemed to be under the impression that she was nothing more than some petty criminal hiding out in a back alley somewhere. Insulting, but it helped keep them off her back. How like land mammals to never bother looking up.

They would be in for quite a shock when they did though. Lucy dipped a black brush into a bowl of paint, swirling it around a bit to get a good swab of it. She couldn't fit an easel with her luggage, and the hotel staff explicitly said she couldn't paint on the walls, so she sought to improvise. Holding the brush tightly in a prehensile foot, she flew back up to the ceiling to apply it to the surface of her work. It was so nearly finished now. Just a few more rounds and…

"Done!" Lucy announced cheerfully, flying back down and flopping onto the bed to look up at her latest masterpiece. Spread across the entire ceiling of the room was a series of black shapes, stretching up from one end to the other at varying heights. One of them right in the center depicted the very building she was currently staying in, with many more surrounding it, creating a fairly-accurate skyline of Zootopia. Lucy smiled up at a job well done. This was so good, the hotel might actually appreciate her improvement to their bland aesthetics.

Well, they might if she hadn't added the extra touch of depicting the entire city on fire. But she was an artist, and she refused to quiet her artistic vision just because some critics wouldn't approve. She had a statement to make and boy had she made it.

"It is quite an exquisite piece, Miss Sang," a smooth voice said. A mongoose in butler garb approached the foot of her bed. There was a large monocle over his left eye and he held in his paw a silver platter. A fitting reward for her efforts.

"Thank you, Monty. Now what have you got for me today?" Lucy asked, eyeing the platter curiously.

"Refreshment and a potential heist, Miss Sang. In my humble opinion, I believe you will find this one particularly intriguing." He lifted the platter and held out the contents to her.

"Is that so?" she asked, grabbing her drink and sipping at it absentmindedly as she looked down at the newspaper article that had been circled for her. Monty Gosland was only a temp, but he had been pretty good at picking out jobs she would find sufficiently challenging, and this appeared to be no exception.

Priceless Blood Diamond Purchased by Collector in Foxden!

It came with a picture too, of not just the diamond itself, which looked as big and sparkly as expected, but of this suspiciously-unnamed collector's old manor in Foxden. She had never been to the distant town before, but even from just the blurry photo provided, this place looked pretty state-of-the-art. "This could be a fun challenge indeed. And if it's for something with 'blood' in its name, I feel kinda obligated anyway." Finishing up her drink, she chucked the bound and gagged rat into the nearby trashcan and picked up the paper, continuing to read over the article as she paced around on the bed.

"Would you like me to prepare your vehicle for the ride out to Foxden, Miss Sang?" Monty asked.

"My wings could use a bit of a rest," she said, stretching them out a little. "But as soon as we get close, I'll fly from there. It's an unfamiliar neighborhood and I need to remain inconspicuous."

"As you wish."

Reaching the end of the article, Lucy was left more curious than ever. Whoever wrote it was a total slacker because she had barely gleaned anything at all. All she really knew was the location.

But that was all she needed.

Foxden

The Mild Manor

11: 21 PM

The drive to Foxden was long and arduous, but it passed by quickly when there was so little traffic out here in the sticks. Not that most cars would ever come near her ride anyway. It was essentially a civilian-sized Humvee, a civilian around the size of your average rhinoceros, but with controls that allowed it to be driven by a rodent. There was a surprisingly niche market for such vehicles among smaller mammals, despite the rush of power it gave Lucy every time she drove it. She reflected on this as she ran over a sign on the side of the road, grinding it into the dirt.

This was, however, also why she didn't like to bring it to heists. Not wanting to be spotted too close to her target, she drove off the side of the dirt road and put it in park. She gathered the tools she would need for the heist into a small pack, small enough to carry without too much difficulty, then flew out through the sunroof, making sure to arm her security system first. If anyone touched it, the car would emit a sonic pulse powerful enough to scramble their brains and expel enough blood from their orifices to make it worth the trouble.

With her vehicle secured, Lucy flew the rest of the way towards her destination, staying low enough to survey the surroundings, but high enough that she wouldn't be easily spotted. For this purpose, she was equipped with a pair of binoculars that she held up to her eyes with her feet, getting a good glimpse at the town of Foxden from a safe distance above.

What she could see was unsettling even to her. Foxden was like what someone who didn't know any better would call a perfect community. There were rows after rows of houses, all completely identical and without so much as a blade of grass out of place. As expected from the name, the only civilians she could see were foxes, all going about their business with bright, cheerful smiles on their faces. Mowing their lawns, taking out the trash, saying "howdy do!"s to their neighbors. They did it all like clockwork. No one should be this happy. Ever.

Judging by this level of activity, it appeared that Foxden actually ran on a nocturnal schedule, unlike most of Zootopia. Refreshing as that was, it could make things harder for her now that most of her natural advantages of stealing at night were lost. Most of the town was active, and they all had night vision. Deciding that the added challenge would only makes things more interesting, Lucy refocused on the job at hand, searching around with her binoculars for the manor from the paper.

On the bright side, all of these copy-pasted houses made the one that was actually unique stick out all the more. The manor appeared to be smack dab in the center of Foxden, to the point that every other row of houses branched out from it like the spokes of a giant wheel. A collector, huh? This guy's "collected" the entire community! Not bad, hee hee hee.

As she finally started to close in on her target, Lucy descended, not wanting to be caught flying too close. Looking for an opening in the bustle of activity, Lucy settled for a birthday party, landing on the roof of a nearby house just as its fox residents brought in a fox clown to sing a fox song while a bunch of fox kits ate fox cake. She hoped it was actually made of foxes. Ugh, I hate monospecies societies. So boring!

From there, the approach was much easier. Lucy was practiced enough at leaping from roof to roof that she didn't even need to use her wings, and she was small enough that she was sure no one would spot her.

That all changed once she was one hop away from the manor. The picture from the paper hadn't quite done it justice how much security she would have to deal with. The manor itself was of an old-fashioned design and stood three stories tall, surrounded by a big stone wall on each side. That normally wouldn't pose any problem for her except that there were watchtowers on every corner and the distinct glint of cameras pointed up towards the sky. Motion detectors most likely. Flying in would be far too risky, and the ground wasn't looking much better. The only way in she could see was an iron gate right in front, which of course was heavily guarded.

Typical Monday. Alright, let's figure this out. Making sure she was out of sight for a while, Lucy opened her pack and pulled out a pencil and sketchbook. She spent the next several minutes observing the manor closely, idly drawing out a map of the building and its defenses. Guard patrols, cameras, everything she could see from her perch. Once she was satisfied, she stared at the finished drawing for a long while, her calculating mind slowly forming a plan of attack.

Finally, she returned her supplies to her pack and carefully climbed down from the house using a drainpipe. She then skittered on all fours to the nearest parked car, a black SUV, and hid herself underneath. After watching the guards at the gate for a while, she had noticed a potential weak point, one that she could use to secure a way inside.

That weak point was their apparent supervisor who kept coming out to check on them. "See anything yet?" asked a gothic fox who didn't seem to have any idea what she was doing. She had a purse casually slung over her shoulder, as if she were just coming back from a night of clubbing and not guarding valuable property.

"Nothing, Lady Reynard," answered one of the gate guards, a corsac fox in a black suit, shades, and pointed ears.

"Except for how often you keep asking that," said a similar guard next to him. "You expecting a package from EBray or something?"

"Or something," she answered. "Dad's concerned about that new diamond of his. Apparently, it's very special, ambiguously supernatural even. And before he can figure out what to do with it, he needs us to be on guard so that some shifty lowlife doesn't swipe it. Which kinda sucks when we live in an entire community of them." She started looking around as if expecting to suddenly spot an intruder.

Lucy sneered. Good luck, lady. She didn't need supernatural, but value was value. This diamond sounded like quite the prize, and now she knew just how to get it. Scanning the ground under the vehicle, Lucy quickly spotted a good-sized rock and chucked it as hard as she could at the far side of the wall.

"What was that?!" the grey fox yelled, whirling towards the sound. "Up, Down, go investigate that suspicious noise!"

The corsac fox pair looked at each other uncertainly. "Actually, that sounded a lot like a thrown rock, which probably means that someone's trying to distract us," Down stated.

Up nodded in agreement. "In cases like this, your father advises looking for where the noise came from rather than-"

"I don't care what my father says!" she screeched. "I'm in charge right now and I said investigate!"

"Yes, ma'am!" They both rushed away from their posts immediately.

Lucy crawled out of her hiding place as the vixen sighed, rubbing her temples. "I don't need this tonight. It's bad enough the old bastard is leaving me here, the last thing I need is a lack of vigilance." Vexey turned and headed back through the iron gate, adjusting her purse over her shoulder. Even that felt heavier now.

I'm trying to rob the place and even I'm not carrying this much crap around! Lucy tried to keep as still as she could, which was easy when she barely had room to move in the first place. The combined smell of eyeliner, claw polish, and fur lotion was making her queasy, and there was a big metal sphere of some kind that kept trying to roll over her. She was almost tempted to pocket her cell phone, but she had more important things to steal.

Lucy peeped cautiously through the opening in the purse, giving her a limited view of the garden outside of the manor. The cobblestone path Vexey carried her across was lined by hedges on each side, sprouting with black, orange, and green flowers. It was practically a given that there would be a giant topiary smack dab in the center of it all, depicting what appeared to be a suited fox holding up a cane and grinning at his obvious success. It almost made Lucy retch had she the room to.

Vexey seemed to have a similar opinion as she stopped and glared up at it. "What are you looking at?" She made to keep moving, but stopped again, standing in place for a moment and then sitting down in front of the topiary, sighing. She didn't look like she was about to budge again anytime soon.

No, don't stop here! I don't care about your Daddy issues, lady! Keep moving! But she didn't. In fact...

Is she crying now? Okay, I'm officially done here. Lucy chanced another look around. It was too much to hope for that there would be less security inside the perimeter. There were tons of guards out here, though unlike the rest of the town, not all of them were foxes. She could see a tiger, a rhino, and several other species lurking around out here, linked together only by their shared sense of fashion.

It was a fox that came over first though. He looked much like the two before, but his ears were pointed out to the side, as if his head was making preparations to fly off. "Are you alright, Lady Reynard?"

"I'm fine, Sideways," she snapped, sniffling a little. "Just trying to keep things together."

"You mean the security, or…?"

She glowered at him. "Get back to work."

Sideways nodded reluctantly and moved away, not noticing the passenger riding on his back. Lucy knew this was a much riskier hiding place, but she couldn't take the drama anymore. Sideways wasn't taking her into the building either though, returning to a typical patrol path with the other guards. That wasn't good; all it would take was one of them to look too long at his back and realize that there wasn't supposed to be a bat there. She needed to get him inside now.

Lucy slowly climbed up his back, moving with the kind of stealth that let her ancestors creep up on cattle without alerting them, then bit into his neck.

"Yow!" Sideways instinctively slapped a paw over the wound, but Lucy was already back in her original position, licking the blood from her fangs. "I swear, these mosquitoes are getting bigger every year," the fox muttered, looking distastefully at his wet paw. "Why does my blood have to be so delicious?"

Don't flatter yourself. I wouldn't serve this at a strip club. Lucy continued to hold on as Sideways, foregoing his patrol for now, instead headed inside the manor through a pair of fancy doors, bringing her one step closer to her target.

The fox was moving at a quickened pace, so she didn't get much of a look, but what she did see was impressive. It reminded her a bit of the Crimson Suite with all of its red carpeting, extending up the side of a pair of ornate staircases that curved up to the second floor, all guarded of course. A very expensive-looking chandelier hung overhead and Lucy's first thought was what it would be like to drop it on someone. Too noisy to find out sadly. On the wall ahead, between the staircases, was a giant portrait of the same fox the topiary was modeled after. He was sitting on a throne-like chair in front of a black background, one leg crossed over the other, while holding a cane between his paws and smirking devilishly at whoever was painting him. As an artist herself, Lucy had to admit it was a well-made piece, albeit highly narcissistic. What was really impressive was finding someone more full of themselves than her.

She didn't get to examine any of these interesting sights further because her escort made a sharp turn to the right and headed into the nearby bathroom to clean up. It was pretty nice, like something you'd find at a resort, and it wasn't like she'd never been in a male bathroom before. Sideways walked up to the sink and turned the faucet, looking into the wide mirror as he cleaned out the wound on his neck. Lucy climbed slowly down his backside, planning to hop off here and go on her way once he left.

But like all plans that were thought aloud, this one didn't work out like that. Sideways turned around just a little too early to look at the back of his neck, instead catching Lucy hanging out around his tail. It spiked up in alarm.

The fox let out a girly scream and tried to swipe at her, but she had already leapt off, landing atop the sink's faucet. She pulled the pivot rod, plugging the drain of the still-running faucet, then flew around behind Sideways as he grabbed for her again. She landed a flying kick to the back of his head and smashed his shades into the mirror. "That's what you get for wearing sunglasses at night!"

As he pulled himself back up, Lucy came down on top of his head, forcing it into the now partially-filled sink. While he thrashed around in the water, Lucy eyed a toaster plugged into the nearby wall outlet. That'll do. She casually tossed it into the sink with him.

Sideways screamed, a sound mostly muffled by water and the violent convulsions of his own body, then went still. Lucy turned the water off as a courtesy to the other residents, then dragged his limp body, with a good amount of effort, into a bathroom stall, locking it from the inside. With any luck, they'd think he was just really backed up.

A voice suddenly crackled over the intercom. Lucy recognized it as the mopey vixen from outside. "Attention, everyone. We have reason to believe there is an intruder in our midst. Stay on high alert and don't do anything I would do. I mean, don't do anything stupid! I-I mean-!"

Lucy heard a rush of footsteps flooding into the manor from outside. She had no idea how they were on to her already, but she wasn't going to be sneaking past that many guards anytime soon. She looked around the bathroom until she spotted something: an air vent, the best friend of thieves everywhere! Unless you were dumb enough to get lost in them. Lucy flew up to the grating, and with less strength than it took to drag a dead fox around, managed to pull it off, climbing inside.

Normally, she might be a little concerned about the fact that she didn't actually know where her quarry was hidden. But thanks to all the ego that radiated from this place, it was a fair assumption that it would be hidden directly inside this so-called collector's office, probably in a big fancy safe, and on the top floor of the manor. All she had to do was keep going up until she got somewhere that looked important enough.

"Oh, and activate the Ventilation Defense System. You know how these things go."

Seconds later, she heard a fan click on. "Wow, that's actually pretty clever," was all Lucy had time to say before she was sucked up and pulled back through the vent, straight towards a scary rotating fan. Panicking, Lucy flapped like mad to keep herself from being pulled in, but was slowly losing ground...air, whatever.

It was only through a stroke of luck that she didn't wind up a vampire purée. As she was sucked backwards, Lucy spotted another grating coming up on her right. She'd only have one shot at this. The bat arched sharply to the left, and then threw herself back to the right, slamming herself against the grate hard enough to bust herself through it.

Lucy emerged in another hallway, not having enough time to regain her bearings and fly before she hit the ground, lying atop the broken grate. "Ow…" Her small body could take a lot of punishment, but she was still sore all over. Better than just being all over.

"I think I heard something on the second floor! Activate the Obligatory Laser Array!"

Lucy had to hand it to them; they really pulled out all the stops to make this feel like a real jewel heist. She took a sharp breath and left the ground again as a grid of red, crisscrossing lasers activated in front of her, so close together that a mammal any larger than her would have found traversing them near-impossible. But Lucy was in her element now. The bat swerved back and forth between the lasers as if they were little more than swimming practice. One of her backstrokes put the edge of her pack a little too close and she heard it sizzle and smoke behind her. Ah, so they're the burny kind of lasers. The fun ones!

Keeping a tight hold of her pack to make sure none of her supplies fell out, Lucy did one last pirouette and made a ten-point landing on the other side, blowing a kiss to an invisible audience.

"Hey, up here! I heard something sexy!" A veritable stampede of footsteps starting storming towards her location.

Guano. With little other option, Lucy darted to the nearest window and pried it open, stepping outside again.

She was on the side of the manor, inside the scope of where the motion sensors might catch her, but she stuck to the walls as close as possible regardless. Not wanting to risk flying, and because she just wanted an excuse to use it, Lucy pulled a grappling hook from her pack and flung it onto the lip of the roof above, the top floor. Hearing the sounds of guards scurrying about the hallway she just left, Lucy climbed swiftly upwards, pulling the rope up with her just as someone got smart enough to look out the window. "Damn it, Theo! I told you nothing sexy ever happens around here!"

On the top floor of the building, Lucy found a large window that looked down into an office below. Staring back up at her was a carpet in the shape of the owner's face, smiling in mirth at its own surroundings. Everything else was thankfully less narcissistic, but still wildly unpredictable. There was a stack of cards on one small table in the corner, with a few of them tacked onto a dartboard above. On the opposite wall was a fish tank, its occupants somehow altered to possess creepy grins, with a sticky note labeled "Patent?" stuck to the surface. A fox-headed cane was leaning against the surface of a desk cluttered with similar oddities, including a folder labeled "HB."

She'd almost be curious enough to check it out, but she could also spy a safe, just like she expected, taking up most of the wall behind it. Lucy rubbed her clawed hands together and giggled in glee. She was so close now, she could practically taste the blood in that blood diamond, even if it was just a name.

She didn't even bother using any of her tools for this, finding her own sharp claws sufficient enough to cut a hole in the surface of the window and pry it out. She wasn't particularly worried about security this high up, figuring that the owner likely thought his own quarters untouchable. She touched down right on top of the carpet's snout, pausing for a second to see if guns popped out of the walls or something. Nothing happened. "Too easy."

A nearby dresser burst open and Vexey sprung out, followed by Up and Down. "Ha! I told you she was after the blood diamond!"

"I don't think anyone was doubting that…" Down muttered.

"So the diamond is up here?" Lucy asked, grinning.

"Yes!" Vexey's face fell. "Shit!"

"Lady Reynard, shall we dispose of this intruder?" Up asked, pushing up the rim of his sunglasses with a claw.

"It's either that or tell Dad so he can take all the credit." They both looked at her. "Meaning yes!"

Lucy was pretty confident she could take them, even with the significant size difference, up until they each whipped out an honest-to-goodness katana, holding the blades in easily guessable directions. The two bodyguards were calm, collected, and perfectly in control of the situation.

So Lucy took that control away. "Hey, by any chance, are you two related to that guy I killed in the bathroom?"

They froze, eyes widening behind their shades. "Stylianmichalocolos? He's...dead?" Up asked weakly.

Lucy smirked cruelly. "Despite what they say, not all toasters toast toast."

Up and Down snarled and rushed at her from opposite sides. Down struck first, swinging at the spot Lucy was standing a split-second after she darted out of it, leaving a scar on the cheek of the carpet. Up moved in immediately after and attempted to cut off her escape with an overhead swing. Lucy quickly dropped altitude, but her pack didn't make it this time, tossed aside as the straps were severed.

The brothers relentlessly kept up the assault, and it was the laser grid all over again trying to swoop, dive, and twist around their swings. Lucy hoped one of them would hit the other at some point, but they had clearly practiced together often and were confident that wouldn't happen, even with their blades coming within inches of each other. Attempting to force the issue, Lucy managed to grab onto the blunt edge of one weapon as it swung past, being carried along until it came to an abrupt stop. The other brother, and she couldn't even bother to keep track of which was which right now, acted fast and swung his katana at her prone position.

Lucy let go and dropped to the floor, letting one sword strike the other and making a satisfying clang. Having bought herself a second or two where they weren't swinging at her, Lucy made a dive for her pack on the ground, pulling out the first tool she could find. As Up turned to face her again, a grappling hook wrapped around his neck and pulled Up down to the ground, clocking his head against the floor and knocking him out. Lucy hopped on top of him, and as Down hesitated to attack for fear of harming him, Lucy threw her whole pack into his face, then landed a flying kick to his chin, launching Down up into the air before he landed hard back on the floor. As he started to get back up, Lucy slammed the pack onto his head again and this time Down stayed down.

Feeling pretty good about all of that, Lucy looked back over at Vexey, whose mouth was hanging open in shock. Evidently, she wasn't expecting an eight-inch bat to take out two trained bodyguards with katanas.

She snapped out of it quickly, or maybe she just wasn't savvy enough to see where this was going. "You think you're hot shit do you? Well, let's see how you deal with this!" She reached into her purse, the same one Lucy had used as a makeshift taxi, and pulled out…

"What is it?" Lucy asked. It was the same black sphere that kept bumping into her before, but that didn't really answer her question.

"It is the bringer of your demise!" Still not exactly an answer. Vexey began to toss the ball up and down in her paw, looking unnervingly smug. "Dad always said I should make my own weapon, but how could I ever compete with his all-in-one deal? So I had to get a little creative, and I must say, I really outdid myself. Now you'll see exactly what I'm capable of!"

Indeed she did, for Vexey tossed the ball a little too high and it came down on her head. The goth let out an indignant choking noise and crumpled to the floor.

Lucy needed a second to register that the fight was over before it even started. Not the most graceful of victories, but she rarely questioned good fortune when it smiled upon her. Or bad fortune when it struck down her enemies in hilarious fashion.

In any case, the safe was now unguarded and she wasn't opening it yet. That was the real problem. Lucy was quick to remedy that as she flew up to the steel door and latched onto the lock. She needed no fancy stethoscope, for her big ears did the job just fine. Lucy pressed one against the safe and used her claws to turn the lock, occasionally opening her mouth to let her echolocation pinpoint it even better. It was a pretty hefty combination despite the old-school design, but she soon had it cracked regardless. Lucy flew back as the safe door opened in front of her, already smiling preemptively at the sight of the forthcoming blood diamond.

She didn't see it. At least, not initially. Lucy wasn't sure what to expect from this madmammal's safe, but at the very least, she was expecting treasure, not a truly massive blueberry cake and nothing else. Lucy was trying to decide if she could have the cake and eat it too when she spotted something on top of it. Yes, it may not have been the ideal kind of display, but the blood diamond was sitting right there on top!

Fine, he can keep the cake, but I'm licking all of the icing off of that diamond. Slooooooowly. Lucy took off towards the impromptu decoration, reaching for it hungrily.

Then the entire cake exploded beneath her. "SURPRISE!"

Lucy shrieked, spiraling backwards and almost hitting the floor again. She righted herself just as confetti started to fall, a triumphant fanfare playing over speakers within the safe itself. Beneath all of that, she could see a figure dancing inside of the ruined cake. It was hard to tell because of the icing covering him, but she was pretty sure this was the same whackjob who bought the diamond and owned this surreal property. "Congratulations!" the old fox cheered. "You did it!"

Lucy narrowed her eyes. "Am I being Steer'd? You better get Axton Butcher out here before I frost that cake with your blood."

He stopped dancing, rolling his spectacled eyes as if she was just being a killjoy. "Relax, will ya? The diamond is real. In fact, consider it a down payment on what I have to offer you."

He tossed the icing-coated diamond to Lucy, who caught it in her feet, looking down at the shiny bauble and checking to make sure it was the real deal. It was. "Alright…you have my attention. Now what the heck was this all about?" She was honestly tempted to fly right out of here now that she got what she wanted, but she was far too curious for that. It was all about the journey, not the destination, though she would be more than happy to burn this place to the ground if the destination didn't satisfy.

The fox stepped out of what remained of his cake, kicking some of it off of his pant legs. "First off, allow me to introduce myself."

"No."

He ignored her. "I am Count Reynard, the master of this fine estate. And you are Lucele Sang, correct?" He smiled, noticed the frosting stuck to his teeth, licked them clean, then smiled again.

"It's Lucy."

"I know." He walked past her, out into the main room of the office. If he paid any mind to the three unconscious foxes on the ground, one of whom was his daughter, he didn't show it. "I also knew you wouldn't be able to resist the allure of my blood diamond. It was all a test, you see, to prove if you were truly as talented as the rumors say. And I'm happy to say that you passed with flying colors: black, grey, and green!"

"Yay me," she said dryly. "Though I will admit this was the most creative way anyone has ever hired me. It was actually kinda fun."

"I'm glad you think so, because the job I have in mind is going to be significantly larger." He leaned onto the side of his desk, then recoiled when he realized the mess he was making. "Even larger than my cleaning bill."

"Well, I do like large things. In general." Lucy leaned in closer. "So what do you want me to steal? And more importantly, what's in it for me?"

"I have a certain...ambition," Reynard explained, trying to keep as still as he could. It was making him visibly uncomfortable. "How do you feel about the crime lords of Zootopia?"

She shrugged. "They're a decent source of income, but kinda full of themselves. Wait, are you a crime lord?"

"Guilty as charged. And I aim to be the greatest crime lord of them all, by taking all that they have for myself. You could say it's the biggest heist Zootopia has ever seen."

"Sure, except I'm not the one stealing it," Lucy argued. "That kind of power isn't really my thing anyway. It's too...organized."

"Ah, but that's where your own talents come in. You could get in close, infiltrate their strongholds, and spread your chaos around while I swoop in and pick up the scraps."

She scoffed. "What do you know about chaos?"

Reynard grabbed the cane leaning against his desk and pointed it at the floor. With a click of its ear, he lit a portion of the carpet on fire, then put it out with what appeared to be chocolate milk. "Okay...point made." Lucy wasn't even sure what exactly she just witnessed. "But really, this is a big step above what I'm used to. I'm just a jewel thief."

It was a bold-faced lie and Reynard didn't buy it for a second. "Oh, you are much more than a simple jewel thief, Lucy Sang. You're an artist, a killer, an entertainer." He wasn't even looking at her, casually wiping his cane off with a handkerchief.

For the first time since their conversation began, Lucy was genuinely unnerved. "You...you even know about…?"

"The Belfry? Yes. I won't judge what you do in your free time. In fact, I'll even make it part of your payment. Agree to a long-term partnership with me and you will be given 10% of the financial profits plus plenty of fresh blood for your personal amusement."

Lucy had to think about that for a moment. True, this was far above her usual MO, but it did have a certain scale to it that she generally lacked. And honestly, she was sick of just grabbing Joe Schmoes off the street. Most of them didn't even survive one challenge. "Make it 30% and you have a deal."

He chuckled. "15."

"25."

"20."

"Deal!"

"Excellent." Reynard didn't appear bothered at all by the haggling. If anything, he probably would've been disappointed if she hadn't. "Care to shake on it?" He licked one of his fingers clean of cake and held it out to her.

A little grossed out, Lucy flew up and shook it regardless. "...You should probably know I killed one of your guys on the way up here."

"Really? How?"

"The toaster in the bathroom."

He started laughing. "The Litmus Toast! I installed that thing just waiting to see if anyone would be dumb enough to kill themselves with it, but I didn't think it would actually happen! That's great!"

Truly, this was a mammal she could relate to.

"Dad, what the hell!"

They looked over mid-shake to see that Vexey was back on her feet, and very, very pissed off. "You're telling me this whole thing was just a farce?!"

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure everyone in my organization deserved to be here. At least I didn't install one in the ladies' room."

"I'm not talking about the damn toaster!" she snapped. "I meant this entire robbery!"

"Oooooooh, yeah, it was. What about it?"

"You could've told me!" she hissed, glaring more at him than Lucy. The bat slowly let go and landed back on the ground, content to just watch this play itself out.

"It needed to feel authentic! The test would've been compromised if she figured it out too early!"

"What, so you think that I would've just blurted it out randomly?!"

"Well...your subtlety could use some work, sweetie."

"I don't need to hear about subtlety from someone covered head to toe in cake!"

"It was all part of the plan! Surely, you must've wondered what the giant cake was for?"

"I thought it was for my birthday, you pompous asshole!" She was on the verge of tears again.

Reynard stiffened. "Was...that today?"

"It was last week! I thought you were trying to make it up to me!"

"Oh. Well, uh…" He looked back inside the vault, at the exploded cake staining the walls and floor. "I don't need it anymore...so you can have it, if you want."

"I don't even like blueberry!"

He pursed his lips. "How do you not like blueberry? What is wrong with you?"

"Oh my god, you are the shittiest father! I hope your dear 'Nicholas' thinks so too!"

"Young lady, you are getting way out of line! I…" He looked down, as if suddenly remembering he still had a guest. "This could go on for a while. You should probably just head out. Don't call me, I'll call you."

"Sure," Lucy said, trying to hide how disappointed she was. She was just thinking she could use some popcorn.

Reynard and Vexey headed out of the room, stepping on top of the still-unconscious Up and Down in the process, with their argument trailing out behind them.

"Look, it's not like it was even a real birthday! Even you don't know when that was!"

"You just had to bring that up again, didn't you?!"

"I'm just saying, you didn't get this attitude problem from me! Hopefully, you'll be through your goth phase by the time I get back!"

"It's not a phase, Dad! You just don't understand me!"

Despite Reynard's suggestion, Lucy hung around for some time, until even her ears couldn't hear them anymore. Seeing Up and Down finally start to get their act together again, that was when she decided to leave, flying back up through the window she came in from.

Tonight had been even better than expected. Not only did she have a shiny new trophy to add to her collection, now the prospect of many more riches had been placed in her lap, both material and immaterial. And she couldn't wait to sink her teeth into all of them. All it took was a little deal with the devil.

She couldn't help but wonder which of them was the devil.

So Lucy was expected, but I bet you didn't think you'd be seeing Vexey again so soon. Technically this isn't a part of the Vexey arc, so what we said before still stands, but it did give us the opportunity to explore Foxden and the Mild Manor, Reynard's old hideout, a little bit. Needless to say, this was only a sneak peek at what's to come and there are still more secrets to be uncovered in the future.

Not the near future of Drabble 7 though, which is coming soon. Sooner than you think because it's actually like 90% written already. We'll explain why when the time comes.

Sideways belongs to me. Don't make toast in the bathroom, kids. This has been a public service announcement.