Okay, this time, I own the subjects of the rumors.
I don't own anyone else.

Second Theft

Days passed. Doyle stopped flinching when anyone tried to speak with him. Within the week, he began to smile again, but he still became quiet and withdrawn at odd moments.

Months passed. The purpose of Abbey's theft was yet to be determined, and though Mizuki's notes were backed up, the stolen prototypes were never recovered.

Life slowly returned to what passed as normal for the Secret Scientists.

The Saturdays were just sitting down to breakfast when they received a call.

Komodo looked greedily at the table. Only Doc left the room, though, and Komodo growled in disappointment.

Doyle chuckled at the lizard's behavior, and palmed a couple pieces of food for him. When Drew turned to look, Doyle continued eating with an innocent look on his face that didn't fool her in the slightest.

She opened her mouth, but before she could scold her brother, Doc called for them.

Drew sighed. "Coming, dear." She pinned her brother and Komodo with a look, and then she and Zak stood to follow Doc.

Doyle reached for another handful to palm off to Komodo. "Doyle!" Drew snapped. "Komodo! Get in here!"

Doyle grinned, and tossed one more morsel to the lizard before they obeyed.

"So what kind of cryptid do we have?" Drew asked. She looked up to see Paul on the screen.

"Not sure," Doc said. "According to Paul, nobody's actually seen it, not clearly. We don't have any idea what it is."

"Like I was telling Doc," Paul said, "this...animal has only been roaming around at night. Only a handful of people claim to have seen it, but it's always been in the shadows, so there's never been any reliable detail. The most I've gotten is that they think it's some sort of wolf, but without a good look at even the shape..."

"So why call us?" Zak asked. "I mean, it's kind of hard to know what to look for if nobody's gotten a good look at it. How do we know it's even a cryptid?"

Privately, Doc had to agree with his son. He set the computer to scan for similar encounters, but with so little information, he doubted it would find anything.

Drew gave her son a look. "Is it dangerous?" she asked Paul.

"Not yet," Paul replied. "Nobody's reported being attacked, and nobody missing, either. So far people just think it's stealing livestock. So far. The town that's reported it is mostly farm country, after all."

Doyle straightened up and displayed a bit more interest in the discussion.

"So we need to relocate it, right?" Zak asked.

"Might not be enough," Doyle said. "Domestic animals are easy prey. If this thing's gotten used to stealing livestock, it may not be able to hunt for itself; it might not be able to survive if we move it." He frowned. "It doesn't have to go after people to be dangerous. A lot of farmers depend on their farms to survive. A domestic animal may understand that the herds 'belong' to someone, but a wild animal won't. And a hungry one won't care."

"See, that's actually where it gets weird," Paul said. "There are farms around where the owners' livelihoods depend on their herds, but none of them reported missing animals. And I've had surveyors out; none of them are missing animals. It's the wealthy ones, those who own the farms but hire someone else to work them, that are losing their livestock."

"Could be someone just trying to make trouble for them," Doc mused. "The few who claimed to have seen it, for example."

"Doesn't matter," Doyle replied. "If the wealthier ones are losing animals, that will just make things worse. Maybe they'll blame their employees for the loss, or else accuse the other farmers of making trouble. Those who are genuinely innocent will want to compensate the victims somehow, to make up for those losses. Or to avoid more trouble, before the 'victims' start demanding compensation."

"What?" Doc said. "But if they can't afford to lose their own animals, they couldn't do a thing about—"

"Actually, that sounds exactly like what's been happening," Paul said.

Doc and Drew stared at Paul, then Doyle, in surprise.

Doyle flushed at the sudden attention. "I...made my way as a farmhand a few times growing up," he said.

"Then maybe the wealthier ones are trying to make trouble for the others," Doc muttered. He shook his head. "Still, like Zak said before. We don't know if this is a cryptid. Why call us?"

"Um..." Paul looked around, suddenly nervous. "Well...you see... Well, I'd actually feel a lot more comfortable talking about that...in person."

—

Zak waited, bored stiff, inside the airship while his parents were outside 'discussing' the situation with Paul.

"You think she's what?" Doc said.

"Take it easy," Paul replied, rubbing at his ears. "I'd prefer not to lose my hearing this year. Anyhow, I just said it was another rumor."

"Exactly how much do these people believe in this witchcraft?" Doyle asked.

Paul raised an eyebrow.

"Should we worry about history repeating itself?" Doyle clarified. "Trials and the like? Do we just need to watch our step around this woman, or do we need to keep an eye out for the locals?"

"Hard to say," Paul replied, though he was relieved that someone had asked. "Still just rumors, but some of these people are superstitious."

Drew nodded. "You said she keeps to herself. With this creature roaming around, that may be all that's needed to get people talking."

"But none of them have been willing to act on it," Paul replied. "Not that I've heard. The town's pretty split on what they really think about her. About half of them think she called this beast, and the others say she's the reason it hasn't done more. Either way, none of them wants her mad at them. But the way they talk when she's not around...and these attacks are getting everyone riled up..." He shrugged. "My own team has had our work sabotaged, and my people refuse to go into town alone; some of them won't go in at all. Nothing serious, but I don't see it staying that way for long."

"So there's someone willing to cause trouble at the first chance," Doc interpreted, "whether we catch this thing or not." He scowled. "Nice," he added sarcastically.

"I guess I see why you wanted us," Drew said. "Cryptid or not, this doesn't sound like something the local authority is up to." She nodded. "Can I assume you've warned this woman, let her know what we're up to? It's only fair that she knows to keep an eye out for trouble."

Paul shook his head. "There's hunters around that go to consult her before they go out, but I think it's a game to most of them. Otherwise, the word is you don't find her. She finds you."

"This just keeps getting better every minute," Doc muttered. "Zak!"

"Yeah?" Zak came out of the airship. "We ready to go?"

"We're ready to go," Doc replied. "You and the cryptids are staying on the airship."

"What? But why can't—"

The cryptid pets started protesting.

"You heard what Paul told us, didn't you?" Drew asked.

Zak hesitated. The whole reason he was on the airship while they talked was so he wouldn't overhear. "Um...yes..."

"Then you know why," Drew replied. "Once we get all we can from the locals and find this thing, then you can help. If this thing's a cryptid, we'll catch it and bring it back so you can talk to it. If not...we'll figure something out."

"But, mom, why can't I help now? Maybe I can't control cryptids anymore, but I can still talk to them! I can still sense them. If it's a cryptid, I could find it for you; you wouldn't even have to bother with the town. And if it isn't..." He shrugged. "It's not like I'd be wasting time trying." He looked around at the family. "Come on, Uncle Doyle, help me out."

Doyle shook his head. "Sorry, mini-man, I'm with your mom on this one."

"But...okay, suppose this thing's dangerous. You're the big hunting expert. I know you could get me out of there, if something went wrong."

"If this thing is dangerous," Doc replied, "Doyle will be too busy trying to catch it."

"Oh, thanks," Doyle said in mock sarcasm.

"Well, you do have more experience hunting than anyone," Paul said.

Doc winced. He recalled what Zander had said about why Doyle had so much experience.

"Sorry," Paul said.

Doc sighed, then shook his head. "Don't be." He looked at Doyle. "It's just something we're all going to have to learn to deal with."

"Sorry for what?" Doyle asked. "For saying I'm better than Doc at something?" He forced a smile. "Anyway, mini-man, it's not the creature I'm worried about. If you try to use your powers, and someone happens to see you at it..." He frowned. "Might not be a big deal if they weren't superstitious, but it's just not worth the risk. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"They wouldn't hurt me for that," Zak insisted. "Just because they're superstitious doesn't make them bad guys."

"But it makes them afraid," Doyle replied. "It's different, it's something they don't understand, and that makes them afraid of you. And to a lot of people, that makes you the enemy." He rubbed at his wrist. "For some people, that's reason enough to hurt you."

"People aren't like that," Zak protested.

"Believe me," Doyle replied quietly, "they are."

Doc groaned. The one thing that could hurt Doyle the most, and the younger man had to use it to protect Zak. It showed strength on Doyle's part, but did not bode well for the mission.

So what is this mystery predator? And is it so selective of its prey?

And who is this so-called witch?

Answers to these and more to be seen in future chapters of Ultimate Heist.

It should be said that this arc is where I first began this story, and only afterwards decided to do the "seemingly unrelated incidents" thing and add that bit with Mizuki in the first arc.
The unfortunate result being that even this chapter resembles nothing of the original version...

Also, I'd originally planned for the "witch" to show up in this chapter...and the chapter got longer than I expected.
I don't see why she shouldn't show up in the next chapter, though.