Detectives and Thieves

Article Two: Head Over Heals and Victor's High Heels

Prosper, Bo, Hornet, Riccio, and Mosca were still fast asleep in their new, comfty beds at Ida's house. Well, I guess only Bo, Riccio, and Mosca were still fast asleep. Their snores are such a pain! No wonder why Hornet woke up in the middle of the night to find them snorting like pigs! She got up and noticed that Prosper wasn't in bed. She checked the clock hung up in their bedroom. Tick... Tock... Tick... Tock... It was seven in the morning.

Aww...!!! Why do they have to snore so loudly!!! Hornet thought, and then went to look for her beloved 'Prosper.'

He was sitting on the edge of a nearby bridge, gazing down at the misty waters below. Hornet spotted him and ran up to him, her long braided hair slashing against her back.

There he is! My Prosper... She thought.

Prosper heard her running, but he didn't glance at her, for his mind was too absorbed in Scipio's sudden disappearance.

He shouldn't of have gone far. He thought. Probably, he's still in Venice.

Suddenly, Hornet jumped on him and said, "Oh, Prosper! There you are! I was worried about you!"

"Oh, hi, Hornet," He responded. "What's up?"

"Oh, I'm fine, Prop! Nothing can get any worse than this!" She said, after she got off of him, rubbing the back of her neck, grinning. "Heh.. Heh... Heh..."

Nothing can get any worse than this??? Oh, I'm soooo stupid! She thought, frustrated.

"So... um... What about you, Prop? Anything new?"

"No."

"Oh, well... then... Did you eat breakfast?"

"No."

"Did you get enough sleep last night?"

"No."

"Um... er... How about your... dreams?"

"What about my dreams..."

"Well... um... could you tell me them?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Why should you know..." He walked back to the house, annoyed by Hornet's questions.

"Pros... per?" Hornet said weakly, and she, too, walked away, in the opposite direction. "What... have I done...?"

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"Hey, Prop!" Bo called to his brother, as soon as Prosper walked in. He was at the dining table, chewing his breakfast with Ida, Mosca, and Riccio. "Where've you been?"

"Nowhere."

"Where's Hornet?"

"Don't know." And walked straight to his room. Well, actually, it's also the others' room, too.

"What's up with him?" Riccio questioned.

"He's got that attitude again..." Mosca said.

Something is really, really wrong. Ida thought. And she's right. Something is really, really wrong. Well, with Prosper.

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Noon

Now that Scipio is away, I could truly focus on my case. Victor said, sitting down at a table outside a cafe. He took a sip of coffee and looked around the area.

It was packed with people, near and far. Noise filled the area, as if it was an amusement park! There were many tourists here that Victor can't stand them! Earlier, a kid who was a third of his size came up to him and said that he had hairy legs! And then another kid passed by him and threw her ice-cream cone in his face, which tastes very good, by the way. And two more kids laughed at him and said that he was the ugliest woman they've ever seen! And they were right. Victor was the ugliest woman on the face of this earth!

Next time I'll hire a woman to do this part of the job for me... Victor thought to himself, ice-cream dripping into his dress. Lousy kids...

"Victor???"

He turned around and saw Scipio staring at him, strangely.

"Victor? Is that... you?" Scipio asked the ugly woman, with ice-cream dripping from her face.

"What do you want, Scip..." Victor groaned. "Can't you see I'm busy here?"

"Hm! So you finally got up, huh. Well, then, you should've looked in the mirror before you left your apartment! Man, you're a mess!"

"Yeah, I see that..."

"So, what's up with that dress, man? I mean, look at you! You can't even fit into it! And those shoes! Man, you have big feet!"

Victor glared at him.

"But the hair's nice! Really nice!" Scipio said quickly. "Hey, don't tell me you're wearing a bra, aren't you?"

"Grr..."

"Ok, I'll stop."

"Just look around, Scip. Look at the people. What do you see?" Victor said, forgetting all about how his disquise stunk and continuing his work.

"People."

"What are they doing?"

"Stuff."

"Scipio!"

"What? You told me to look at these darn people!"

"Oh, Scip... Well, do you see anything suspicious around here?"

Scipio looked from side to side. "Those nuns over there." He pointed to a bunch of nuns walking through the crowd.

"What about them?"

"What's with their robes?"

"ARGH!!! Scip!!!" He hit him on the head.

"Hey, ouch! What was that for???" Scipio shouted.

"For acting like an idiot!!!" He hit him on the head again.

"Hey, watch it, fella!"

Scipio saw a little kid walking by and took his ice-cream. Then, he dumped it into Victor's dress and ran.

"Mommy!!!" The kid cried. "That mean ugly lady took my ice-cream!!!" He pointed at Victor.

The mother looked at him and glared.

"You think this is funny???" She yelled. "What kind of person are you???"

She had been insulted, not because Victor had the boy's ice-cream cramped in his dress, but because the mother realized that he wasn't a woman, but a man. And then she beat the crap out of him with her purse! BANG!!! BOOM!!! SMACK!!! And Victor fell to the floor, twitching like mad! The mother, satisfied, took her son's hand and left him, head held high.

"Oh..." Victor groaned. "It burns...!!!"