The next day in Magnolia, someone was causing a bit of trouble on the rooftops. This person was a 13-year old boy with short, straight dark hair, and was wearing a long, dark sleeveless open jacket with lighter-colored edges with a light sash tied on his left hip, a yellow scarf tied around his neck, green shorts, and black boots. His name was Romeo Conbolt. Earlier, Romeo had stolen a loaf of bread and was getting chased across the rooftops by some guards.
Romeo stopped at the edge of the roof and almost dropped the bread, as he heard a man's voice yell, "Stop, thief!"
Romeo looked back to see a large black-furred cat the size of four panthers with a white muzzle, small red eyes, and a scar running down across his left eye, wearing a suit of armor coming towards him. His name was Panther Lily, the Prime Minister of Magnolia's Captain of the Guards, or Lily for short.
Accompanying Lily are a few other guards; the first is a muscular man with white hair wearing a sleeveless armor and holding a white staff. His name was Byro Cracy.
The second is a man with funky blonde hair and wearing a white 70's disco-styled suit. His name was Sugarboy.
The third is a woman with purple hair with a wide streak of white hair and wearing a dark green sleeveless collared outfit with a red ribbon. Her name was Mary Hughes.
The fourth is a young man with short crimson hair, wearing a silver suit of armor, a shield named Ricochet, and a spear named Habaraki. His name was Dan Straight.
The fifth was a small, anthropomorphous light blue cat dressed in a small priest's outfit, and flying in wings. His name was Samuel.
The last was a short girl with long brown hair braided and tied by a blue bauble, wearing a dress with white tops, white sleeves, and a blue collar. Her name was Coco.
"I'll have your whole body as a punching bag, street rat!" Lily yelled at Romeo.
Romeo looked at the bread and exclaimed, "All this for a loaf of bread?" Then he shrugged, "Oh, well."
He leaped off the building and caught a clothesline strung between two buildings, which he slid down while collecting bits and pieces of clothing on him as he goes. Finally nearing the end of the rope, at a window, when a woman reached out and closed the shutters, Romeo slammed into the wall and landed into the street, the pile of clothes all around him. He pulls off the top layer of clothes and is about to enjoy his bread when…
"There he is!" Sugarboy yelled.
"You won't get away that easily!" Coco shouted.
"You're kidding me," Romeo looked up. "You think that was easy?"
He heard a bunch of people giggling and saw Kagura Mikazuchi, Araña Webb, Beth Vanderwood, Risley Law, and Millianna giggling at him, before Romeo saw Lily and the other guards appear.
"Half of you, over that way!" Lily ordered. "The rest of you, follow me!"
Romeo quickly covered his head with a cloth and walked over to the girls, smirking, "Morning, ladies."
"Well, aren't we just rosy?" Millianna cheered.
"Up to your old tricks again, I see," Araña smirked.
"I bet that's another score from Makarov's Bakery," Beth added.
"But Beth, I've never seen Romeo steal a loaf of bread from the bakery before," Risley interjected. "All I can see whatever Romeo gets away with are cupcakes, croissants, ice cream…"
"You know I have to eat desert after breakfast, lunch, and dinner," Romeo explained. "But still, a score from the bakery is always an easy one!"
"Wait a second, Romeo," Kagura interrupted, crossing her arms with a stern look. "Isn't that a bit too early to get in trouble?"
"Trouble?" Romeo replied. "No way! Everybody knows you're in trouble if you get caught."
Just then, Lily grabbed Romeo by his legs, knocking the sheet off his head. "Got you!" He exclaimed.
"Now I'm in trouble," Romeo gulped.
"And this time…" Lily began, before he suddenly got bonked on the head with a frying pan. The one holding the frying pan was a 6-year old girl with long dark green hair tied to a ponytail at the back wearing a cowboy's hat, a pink shirt, a brown skirt, and a white vest. Her name was Asuka Connell.
"Thanks, Asuka," Romeo smiled. "Perfect timing, as usual."
"Hey, you would've been caught by the bad guys!" Asuka replied.
"Yeah, I wasn't careful back there," Romeo chuckled sheepishly. "Now, come on! Let's get outta here!" And they began to make their escape.
Romeo: Got to keep
One jump ahead of the breadline!
One swing ahead of the sword,
I steal only what I can't afford!
"And that's everything," Asuka commented.
Samuel appeared in front of Romeo and swung his sword at him. Romeo dodged a couple of swings, and Asuka pulled down Samuel's clothes, revealing his fluffy white chest. Asuka raspberries Samuel, then dodges an attack. Samuel swings at Romeo, but destroys a barrel of fish. As Romeo ran off, Samuel pulled a small fish over his lower body as his temporary clothes (and ate another fish, for everybody knows Exceeds can't resist fish).
One jump ahead of the lawmen
That's all and that's no joke
These guys don't appreciate that I'm broke!
Romeo and Asuka ran into a construction site and scampered up a pile of barrels. Romeo kicked one at Lily, who was following him along with the other guards. The barrel hits Lily in the face and he fell down onto the other guards, knocking them into a pile of other barrels.
Lily: Riff-raff!
Mary Hughes and Dan Straight: Street rat!
Coco: Scoundrel!
Lily: Take that!
Romeo and Asuka climbed up to a wooden platform, just in time to dodge some weapons/tools the guards threw at them.
Romeo: Just a little snack, guys
Weapons were thrown at them again, but the two dodged them behind a pole, before the guards started to shake the platform rhythmically.
Guards: Rip him open, take it back, guys!
Romeo and Asuka leapt off the wooden platform as they jumped onto a hanging beam and into an open window.
Romeo: I can take a hint,
Gotta face the facts,
You're my only friend, Asuka!
The room Romeo landed in had a bunch of girls in it. The girls are Sherria Blendy, Merudy, and Yukino Aguria.
Girls: Who?
Oh, it's sad Romeo's hit the bottom
He's become a one-boy rise in crime
As they sang this, Asuka found a fruit bowl and stuffed some fruit into her mouth like a hungry chipmunk. Romeo suddenly bumped into the girl's den-mother, a nasty-looking old lady named Ooba Babasaama.
Ooba: I'd blame parents, except he hasn't got 'em!
Asuka protested, "Hey! He DOES have parents! He—"
Before Asuka could finish, Ooba swung at Romeo with a broom, but Romeo ducked before he grabbed Asuka and headed toward an open window.
Romeo: Got to eat to live
Got to steal to eat
Tell you all about it when I got the time!
Romeo and Asuka dropped out the window, landing safely on a tarp. Out on the streets, Lily and his squad continued looking for Romeo and passed by Bacchus Groh flexing his muscles. What they didn't know was that Romeo was behind him, copying his moves.
One jump ahead of the slowpokes
One skip ahead of my doom
Romeo suddenly messed up. He and Asuka are quickly discovered and ran away again.
Next time, gonna use a nom de plume
"What's a nom de plume?" Asuka asked herself, puzzled.
Romeo and Asuka ran into a flea market, while the guards struggled to get through the crowd.
One jump ahead of the hit men
One hit ahead of the flock
I think I'll take a stroll around the block
Romeo and Asuka slid down some banisters, the guards doing the same. Once the three reached the bottom, they hurried off, but when Dan Straight was the last to come down, he collided with a shopper holding a lot of bags. Up ahead, Asuka was at a jewelry store, trying on some jewels.
"Gosh, I look like a pretty princess!" Asuka smiled to herself. Her happiness came short when the jewelry store owner, Michello, caught her.
Coco: Stop thief!
Michello: Vandal!
Romeo: Asuka! (He grabbed her and pulled her away)
Belno: Scandal!
The guards had Romeo and Asuka cornered in front of a door.
Romeo: Let's not be too hasty
Suddenly, the door opened, revealing an elderly bald cross-dressing man. He wears a purple spaghetti-strap shirt, a fuchsia hoop necklace, pink and purple shorts, red lipstick, and small white wings. His name was Bob, and he squeezed a surprised Romeo with a hug.
Bob: Still I think he's rather tasty!
Romeo looked a little disgusted before he tumbled away and walked over to Sugarboy and Coco, putting his arms around them, acting like they're all chums.
Romeo: Gotta eat to live
Gotta steal to eat
Otherwise, we'd get along
"Right," Sugarboy and Coco blushed stupidly.
"WRONG!" Lily, Byro, Hughes, Dan, and Samuel yelled, before they pounced on Romeo and Asuka.
When the dust cleared, they found they were only beating each other up. They saw Romeo and Asuka trying to sneak out of the flea market.
"Get them!" Hughes screamed, and Romeo and Asuka made a run for it.
Romeo and Asuka leapt across a field of burning coals, while Lily, Byro, Hughes, Dan, Sugarboy, and Coco ran across the coal, screaming in pain hopping up and down, except for Samuel, who was flying in wings. Romeo and Asuka ran past a sword swallower, but then Asuka came back and yanked the sword out of his mouth, before she advanced on the guards who retreated in fear.
"She's got a sword!" Byro yelped.
"Nobody move!" Asuka cried as she swung the sword. "I ain't afraid to use it!"
"You idiots!" Lily growled. "We've all got weapons!"
The seven guards pulled out their weapons (Dan with his spear, Byro with his staff, and Lily with his trademark Buster Marm).
"YEAH!" All the guards exclaimed.
"Uh-oh," Asuka said nervously as she sets the sword down gently. "Bye-bye!" She ran off to rejoin Romeo.
Once again, Romeo and Asuka were surrounded, with guards coming from left and right. The two kids jumped up and climbed a rope trick being done on the street, causing all the guards to crash into each other.
Romeo: One jump ahead of the hoof beats
Guards: (coming down one street) Vandal!
Romeo: (runs another way) One hop ahead of the hump!
Guards: (coming down another street) Street rat!
Romeo: (runs up a staircase) One trick ahead of disaster
Guards: (follow him) Scoundrel!
Romeo: They're quick, but I'm much faster
Guards: (appearing in front of Romeo on the stairs) Take that!
Asuka screamed and Romeo quickly pulled her out of the way, as they jumped into a room of an abandoned warehouse. Romeo grabbed a carpet and headed towards an open window.
Romeo: Here goes, better throw my hand in
Wish me happy landin'
All I gotta do is JUMP!
Romeo jumped out the window along with Asuka, using the carpet for temporary flight, as he and Asuka smiled and looked back. The guards leapt out after Romeo, but fell to the ground instantly, screaming and landing in a pile of smelly manure.
"Well, at least it can't get any worse, right?" Coco shrugged.
Lily and his squad are quick to realize they landed in a pile of manure to be sold by Grandpa Rob in a store called "Grandpa Rob's Discount Fertilizer."
"It just got worse," Samuel groaned.
Meanwhile, Romeo used the carpet to parachute down into an alley with Asuka, and once they landed, the two high-fived each other.
"Hooray! We did it!" Asuka cheered.
"Alright!" Romeo cried with excitement.
"I gotta tell you, Romeo, this is the best score in the bakery we've ever had!" Asuka remarked.
"No, all credit goes to you this time, Asuka. You came up with that idea to 'borrow' the rarest and most delicious bread in town," Romeo smiled. "I can't believe that crazy idea of yours worked! Even though we're almost caught by Lily and his cronies…"
"As long as we're having fun, isn't that all that matters?" Asuka said as she sat against a wall, Romeo following suit.
"You got that right," Romeo laughed. "And now, Asuka, my esteemed cowgirl friend, we feast!"
"Yay!" Asuka squealed with joy. "Lunch time!"
Romeo splits the bread in two and gives half to Asuka. But, just as they were about to eat, they noticed two homeless cats named Lector and Frosch rummaging through the trash, trying to find something to eat.
"Is there any food, Lector? I'm hungry," Frosch groaned, holding his stomach in hunger.
"Man, another day for us stray Exceeds," Lector sighed, before noticing Romeo and Asuka. "Hey, what are you looking at?"
Romeo sighed and turned to Asuka, who instantly knew what they were thinking.
"Oh no, you don't!" Asuka frowned. "If you think I'm giving up my bread, just forget it." She quickly took a bite out of her bread piece, and continued with her mouth full, "It's mine!"
Lector and Frosch stared at them, before Romeo made up his mind, stood up, and walked over to the two little cats and held out his bread half.
"Here," Romeo smiled. "Go on, take it."
"R-Really?" Frosch asked in surprise.
"Sure. You need it more than I do. I'm not hungry, anyway," Romeo nodded.
The two cats' eyes widened in joy, before they eagerly took Romeo's bread. The latter walked off, satisfied for his good deed. Asuka looked on before she starts feeling the same guilt. As Lector and Frosch were eating, Asuka reluctantly held out her bread half.
"Okay, I'm done. I'm not hungry, too. Here," Asuka sighed.
"Thanks," Lector smiled, taking the bread half happily. A laughing Frosch begins to tickle Asuka.
"Can I play with you?" Frosch asked.
"Hey! Stop that!" Asuka giggled, feeling ticklish.
Just then, the sound of a fanfare was heard, interrupting Frosch's tickling.
"Sorry, little kitties. I have to go," Asuka said to Frosch and Lector, before she rejoined Romeo. "See ya."
"Aww…" Frosch pouted. "I want to have some fun…"
Romeo and Asuka looked out of the alley to see what was going on. From a crowd gathered outside, they saw a muscular man with long spiky black hair dressed in a black sleeveless tunic with studded edges, brown pants, black boots, gloves, a distinctive wing-like ornament, and a black scarf surrounding his neck. His most notable feature was the metal dots surrounding his eyebrows and forearms. The man riding the horse was named Gajeel Redfox.
"Heh. Must be on his way to the palace," Wally Buchanan said. "Ain't that dandy?"
"Another suitor for Princess Wendy," Shô commented. "She'd probably turn him down like the rest."
Suddenly, Frosch ran out onto the street laughing and Lector followed, trying to catch him. "Frosch! Wait up!" Lector cried, as he and Frosch stood in front of Gajeel's horse, which reared in fright.
"You stupid cats! Get outta my way!" Gajeel growled.
He pull out a whip and was about to smack the cats with it, but Romeo caught the whip with his arm. He smirked, "Hey, if I were as rich as you, I could afford some manners!"
"Oh, I'll teach you some manners, alright…" Gajeel smirked back, "…right there!" He kicked Romeo to fall into a mud puddle, and his laughter of amusement is followed by the crowd.
Romeo frowned, "Look at that, Asuka! It's not every day you see a horse with two HEAVY-METAL rear ends!"
"Yeah! As metal as that ugly man's face!" Asuka joked, as she began to laugh with Romeo. Both Gajeel and his horse looked back in annoyance.
"Oh, yeah?" Gajeel sneered. "Well, you're nothin' but a worthless street rat. You're born a street rat, you'll die a street rat, and besides your cowgirl crybaby friend, only your fleas can give a eulogy in your funeral!"
This made Romeo furious. He clenched his fists and ran towards the snobby prince, but the palace gates closed right in his face.
Romeo glared at the gates and shouted, "I'm not worthless! And I don't have fleas!" Before he could prove his point, however, he scratched his head continuously.
"Did you take a bath this morning?" Asuka asked, looking at Romeo curiously.
"Yeah, but for some reason, my hair feels itchy again," Romeo replied. "For like, the third time this week?"
"Must have something to do with the shampoo we got back at Jenny Realight's Spa," Asuka suggested.
"Good point," Romeo agreed. "But we're still getting off topic here."
"Yeah, well, if I were as big as that bully over there, I'll teach him a thing or two!" Asuka frowned, raising her fists in the air and swinging them to make her point. "Nobody makes fun of my best friend like that and gets away with it!"
Before Romeo could agree with Asuka, his face fell and sighed, "No, Asuka. There's nothing we can do now. Come on, let's go home."
Later that night, the two kids began their way back home.
Romeo: Riff-raff, street rat
I don't buy that
If only they'd look closer,
Would they see a poor boy?
No, sirree
Romeo and Asuka made the climb to their home. Asuka went over to her bed and fell asleep, and Romeo tucked her in.
They'd find out
There's so much more to me
Romeo opened a curtain, revealing a view of a beautiful palace.
"Someday, Asuka, things are gonna change," Romeo smiled. "We'll be rich, live in a palace, and never have any problems at all."
To Be Continued...