AN: Finally done! I'm happy with how this chapter turned out to be. Hope that you enjoy this one! I promise that things might get sillier.

We also reached over 2,000 views, so thank you to everyone who have read and supported the story so far!

Chapter 16

Taking out his device, Willy pressed a couple of buttons. All nearby security cameras faced downwards, offline. The majority of the lights in the hallway turned off, nearly blanketing it in darkness. With security lowered, that would give us enough time to snatch the diamond. Making sure that nobody was watching us, we made our way to get close to the family collection display.

Using the flashlight option on our devices, we found the door that would lead to our target. Willy pulled out the ID card and inserted it into the door's slot. The red light flashed green in approval, allowing the two of us to come in.

Closing the door behind us, Willy decided to turn on the lights in this display room. Since the window was covered by curtains, nobody would notice us coming right in here. However, I was befuddled with the number of artifacts all around.

Boy, Willy was right that Pilot planned to present his family collections. Because he had a lot to show for tonight! Couches, statues, clothes on mannequins and different other gems inside glass display platforms took up the entire room with little space to walk through. All of them looked like they came from a castle due to the curly and fancy aesthetic they have.

Right in the middle of the room was the diamond itself. A lavender gem with shards poking out from the bottom. Protected in a glass case on top of a white platform.

I found myself chuckling in delight. It was right in front of us. I spun around the manager card in my hand, walking forward to the diamond. Willy followed behind me with a huge grin, a black bag in his hands. He even took a few small trophies around, keeping them inside the bag for later. He turned to me with a smirk, taking the image of a hungry dog ready for its food.

There was a card slot glued to the side of the platform. Inserting the card in activated the glass walls to move aside. They opened like the petals of a flower, allowing the light to shine on the lavender diamond. I grinned and my tail wagged. There was a sense of pride that I managed to steal without fail again. It looks like I still have it in me.

"Piece of cake," I said, picking it up.

Those words suddenly added another weight. The diamond in my hands was suddenly heavy and slippery. My fingers were trembling, trying not to drop this priceless gem. But not because I might have to pay. It was at the realization of how I was feeling in this moment. Willy tapped on my shoulder, but it felt more like a cold burn.

I found myself unable to move the diamond at all.

One moment I was feeling confident and now, I felt ashamed. This wasn't what I should be proud of. In fact, this wasn't what I was proud of at all. Seeing the reflection in the diamond, all I saw was the same jackal I thought would be the wrong type of guy to live in the city. It was right in the middle of paying for my crimes and I made sure not to fall into Willy's traps. But it turned out that I fell in my own; one that I didn't even think of before.

And me wearing Molly's fedora and coat, I looked like the city version of a mercenary. Did I even look that good in these clothes? Were these something I would want to wear? Would this be the image I prefer?

A lump formed in my throat. My mind was telling me to place the diamond back where it came from. I could hear the ruby's voice telling me that this wasn't what I want. Even if I couldn't hear the mental message properly from the malfunctioning ruby, I knew that it would be disappointed in me. Willy tapped on my shoulder again and I saw the fear in his eyes.

He wasn't smiling like before. He actually looked afraid. He was pleading, wanting to get out before the two of us were caught. He needs that diamond to start his life all over. I tried to muster up any confidence to tell him that this was wrong, but there was a new fear that he wouldn't be given a proper second chance.

Eventually, I gave in and placed the diamond in the bag.

"Good, good," said Willy. "Now, let's get out of here. Our getaway should be here soon."

"Then let's bounce," I said, my hesitance fading away. "We already got enough here."

BLAM!

I tackled Willy to the ground at the feeling of debris hitting my ears. A shower of bigger broken bricks flew over our heads, hitting the window. The glass didn't break, but there were still scratches left on them. Through the gaps of the artifacts blocking us, there was a large hole in the back wall.

A familiar-looking pigeon came flying through the hole. It cooed and landed right on a nearby couch. And stepping over the leftover bricks were three bandits I never thought to see again.

"Oh no," said Willy. "It's the Weasel Bandits!"

"Not them again!" I groaned, sounding more exasperated than shocked.

"Alright, mateys!" yelled the blue-bandanna-wearing bandit. "Time to get looting with all that booty!"

"We're not pirates!" pointed out the red-bandanna-wearing bandit. "We're bandits!"

"They are practically the same thing," said the yellow-bandanna-wearing bandit. "...why do we have to follow Willy's idea?"

"It's to honor him when this gets published in the news," said the blue-bandanna-wearing bandit. "Now, let's get cracking before the cops arrive!"

I doubted that they would collect everything before security comes over. But what made it worse was that with that huge explosion, it was gonna draw in more attention than we wanted. Besides, these guys were Willy's former teammates, so this was gonna be an awkward one-day anniversary reunion.

Speaking of which, the walrus was seemingly trying to make himself flatter. It actually made me feel bad that I agreed to help him out. This would be a likely case where we run into his old friends again. However, the way he tried to suck in his thick body and press his face against the floor to make him pizza dough looked utterly pathetic.

It just made me more concerned for him.

"You're good, Willy?" I whispered.

"Shush," hissed Willy. "I'm trying to hide here."

"...wouldn't that activate your bomb vest lying on your chest?"

"I'm not taking any chances!"

"Don't worry," I reassured. "We'll find a way out of this. Besides, your getaway driver should be here any second now."

"Who's gonna be here soon?" said the blue-bandanna-wearing bandit, suddenly in my face.

I let out a loud scream, falling on top of Willy. I swear that I was whispering the quietest I could be. Those three bandits didn't make a single noise moving over to where we were hiding at. They were just…there. I really got to question their nature of competence as criminals.

In turn, the three Weasel Bandits were surprised to see their former teammate. "Willy Walrus?!"

The walrus slowly lifted his face, looking literally flattened. He could only grin stupidly, knowing how screwed he was.

"Hiya?" he said. "What are you doing here?"

The Weasel Bandits stared at him in disbelief. They turned to me and back at him. Their expressions slowly changed; eyebrows furrowed in betrayal.

"Wishing that we understood what you meant by going on a 'career retirement'!" yelled the red-bandanna-wearing bandit. "Planning on stealing the diamond that could strike us rich?"

Willy hummed. "Mmm, yes. Which commences now."

"And did you pick up some…stray again?" asked the yellow-bandanna-wearing bandit, pointing at me.

Immediately, Willy pulled me close, trying to act natural. He giggled sheepishly, leaning his head against my shoulder. He was just as uncomfortable as I was with the way he got THIS close. I could feel the sweat drops rolling down his face.

"Oh! This is a handsome fella that I asked out for this date!" he claimed. "Wait a second." He pretended to cough, looking dazed. "Erm…did I drink too much? This is not my bedroom?"

"I'm starting to have mixed feelings about how I'm feeling lately," I could only mutter.

The blue-bandanna-wearing bandit's eyes dilated in a comical, infuriated look, bending down near me and ripping the fake mustache off my face. And boy, it felt like duct tape!

"OWW!" I howled, rubbing my muzzle. "As if getting a scratch above my nose isn't enough!"

"Obsidian?!" said all three bandits.

"Not him again," said the red-bandanna-wearing bandit worriedly. "Abort the mission!"

"Wait for a second," realized the blue-bandanna-wearing bandit. "He is STILL wearing the Blocker Rings! That means we can battle him without needing to worry about his Phantom Ruby powers!"

My stomach did a couple of twists as a couple of bricks sank right in. It wasn't just due to the worry of getting caught by incoming security. It was the reveal that they actually knew about the Phantom Ruby I had the entire time. This would explain the Blocker Rings I was forced to have, so that would mean…

"I'm sorry, what?!" I said, turning to Willy.

The walrus let go of me, whistling in embarrassment. "Oh…I forgot to explain to you about them, right?"

I frowned. I wondered who else knew about this. I thought I had it hidden for so long from everyone else in the city! But how many rumors started? I was growing frustrated that I didn't know about this. However, I chose to swallow that rising anger. We don't need another fight going on.

"I'm guessing that you four figured that out when I whooped those trio's asses," I grunted.

"No, Dave had his ways," reassured the red-bandanna-wearing bandit. "We assumed at first that you're a mutant jackal hiding all of this power. But no matter. We're not stupid enough to give away any ideas. Now that the traitor didn't look like he will release you from those rings, we can finally take you down!"

I simply narrowed my eyes, standing up. "Do you three remember what happened in our last dance?"

At least two of the Weasel Bandits audibly gulped, eyes widening in fear. I could even smell their fear right here. However, their leader wasn't swayed.

"Oh, you had help," sneered the blue-bandanna-wearing bandit, crossing his arms. "And we know Willy better. Did we, old friend?"

Willy slowly stood up, raising one hand in defense. Guys, look, I like to stay and chat, but me and Obsidian have some finishing work to do. H-How about thi-this?" He took out the diamond and broke out one of the shards growing out from the bottom. He presented it into the light to be seen, nearly close to the trio in front of us. "I can give parts of the diamond to you and we can call it even?"

The three Weasel Bandits weren't convinced. The one wearing the red bandanna looked disappointed if not offended by this, especially since they learned about Willy's 'betrayal'. The one wearing the yellow bandanna nearly appeared tempted to take it, but he was also cautious, drawing his shaky hand back. However, the one wearing the blue bandanna was uncaring.

If anything, his shaking pupils revealed anger within. He snatched the broken shard from Willy and pointed it at me.

"Or can we use these to cut the ruby out of Obsidian's chest instead?" he snarled. "At least you do that for a better cause. For us?"

I should have expected this since Molly did let me know the Lightning Bolt Society was beginning to be fine with hurting people and this was the same guy who shouted right in my face about my right to have a second chance. But it was incredibly jarring to see him suddenly so willing to cut my ruby off. Just when I started to like using it…

Even Willy saw the faults in this, raising his voice when the Weasel Bandit began to grin sadistically.

"Whoa! Whoa!" exclaimed Willy, waving his hands. "Won't that hurt him?! We don't know how deep that thing is lodged into his chest!"

This actually caused the blue-bandanna-wearing bandit to lower the shard. His eyes slowly returned to normal, considering the walrus' reasons. There was reluctance as well. He didn't let go of the shard or his guard. I could describe that he must be torn by this.

"I would want it another way…" he said quietly. "...but Dave wouldn't. And the second he hears that you're now on the run with a better criminal who has a shiny coat of paint, he would be more than happy to let you take the fall! And have you thought how the rest of us would feel if you throw us away like we're not your preferred friends? Don't you still want to be a great villain?"

"That last thing you said explains why I'm choosing to leave," muttered Willy quietly. However, it didn't feel like enough for him. He shook his head, slowly becoming mad. "You know what, guys? I'm done doing what Dave wants. This is NOT the reason why we formed the Lightning Bolt Society! I don't know what sick competition Dave wants to get into, but if we end up following what he does, then will anything feel OK at all? In THIS direction?"

The Weasel Bandits were indifferent. They barely reacted at all.

"Well, we're OK with stealing," said the red-bandanna-wearing bandit bluntly. "This is the hard work we have to do in this career."

"Who cares if we're supposed to do hard work?!" shouted Willy, his voice nearly cracking. "This is not the kind of fun we used to do. What really happened?! If we switched places, then you wouldn't hesitate to blow up a school with the students inside. If you're willing to become monsters, then there is no more 'us'! I'm done!"

I flinched. These were nearly the exact things I told Zero. The things I would have told him off from the last time we met. Right to the point where I saw his devastated face before I turned my back on him. However, here, it made me feel somewhat proud of Willy. He's actually gonna change for the better. Maybe it might not be hopeless for criminals to have a second shot at a good life.

The Weasel Bandits, on the other hand, were taken aback by this. They glanced at each other before glaring coldly at their former friend.

"How fun you used to be," snarled the blue-bandanna-wearing bandit, pulling out his pistol. "Well, how about a good old dance for one last memory together?"

Willy sighed in resignation, crestfallen. "If you insist."

I growled through my teeth, spreading my legs out.

The three Weasel Bandits followed suit, whipping out their pistols.

It was a tense standoff between all of us.

And…

"Oh, look, guys!" said Willy suddenly, pointing somewhere. "Nothing!"

"Oh, where?" asked the blue-bandanna-wearing bandit cluelessly.

As an opportunity, Willy punched the bandit right up the chin. So hard that the bandit hit the ceiling and his head went through it! It made a hole a bit wide enough that left his small tail and legs dangling. Realizing what just happened, he began screaming like a girl, kicking his legs around.

"Two on two!" said Willy, throwing both fists in the air. "Looks like it's a tie! You two are going down!"

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" I shouted.

The two remaining Weasel Bandits began shooting. Because I couldn't access to any of my Phantom Ruby powers, I had to drag his heavy body out of the way. Bullets were nearly reaching up to us as I struggled to find a hiding spot. I managed to find the couch, quickly tossing Willy behind it. I jumped over it in the same style of a soldier taking cover.

And then, three bullets hit me.

On my tail.

When I landed, I hissed at the feeling of my tail slapping against the floor. To my shock, it left some small blood spots on it! I curled my tail upwards, inspecting the damage. Three fresh bullet holes on the white tip. Blood was already staining the white fur, slowly spreading throughout. Just trying to move the tip was actually really sore. It stung a lot. It had been a long time since my tail was ever injured by anything.

I let out another growl, annoyed that I didn't move out of the way this time.

"Oh my goodness!" said Willy, inspecting the damage. "You're alright?"

"Not my first time," I grumbled, using one hand to try to gently push it down. "I'll be fine!"

"Oh no, no, no!" said Willy, pulling out a roll of brown bandage wrap. "Let me cover that up real quick!"

The walrus gently held up my tail and wrapped the bandage around it. His arms were a blur, successfully covering up the bullet holes. He smirked, patting the bandage wrap. I slowly moved my tail close to my face, curling it a little bit. Some of the fur were shifting out of place due to the bandage, but it looked alright.

"Thank you, Willy," I said. "We need to get out here, right now!"

"I don't think we can move forwards unless we take all of them out," said Willy. "Even if we get shot in the process."

Strangely, the pesky pigeon was still sitting at the top of the couch. And it was unharmed and unfazed by the bullets surrounding it! How could the Weasel Bandits miss that stupid bird?! Though, they might be more focused on trying to shoot me and Willy, so they dismissed the bird.

At least they weren't that bloodthirsty.

"So what's the plan?" I asked. "They have weapons. I don't see a clear path for us to get through."

Willy smirked. "Oh, don't worry! I'll go melee on them!"

But the 'weapon' he whipped out from his coat was a…

"Is that a toilet brush?" I questioned.

Willy looked too happy to have it. "Yeah!"

"...don't you have knives attached to that vest underneath your shirt?" I snarked.

"In case of emergencies! I'm not going to use a deadly weapon on my friends. That is not what friends do!"

Cue a thousand sharp pieces from a broken vase spraying in front of us after it crashed into the couch.

"BET THAT YOU'LL BE BLEEDING ONCE YOU REALLY SHOW YOUR FACE!" roared the yellow-bandanna-wearing bandit, sounding REALLY unhinged.

"You were saying, wise guy?" I said.

"Do you have any other plans of what to do without severely harming them?" sassed Willy.

And then, I remembered something. Willy had a lot of bombs, grenades, toasters and knives that could be too dangerous to use despite the shooting. They could destroy us all or worse. But then, I remembered that bottle of poisonous liquid that was attached to his vest. I immediately pulled it out underneath his shirt and removed the cork with my mouth.

"When they flee, you go on left," I planned. "I'll take on the right. Just knock them out."

"Got it!" said Willy, giving me the thumbs-up.

I peeked my head, letting the two Weasel Bandits see me. "Hey, fellas! Have a taste of this!"

I threw the bottle right forward at them. Expectedly, they quickly separated before it crashed on the floor. Glass shards and black liquid exploded from the mess. Even a few droplets of the poisonous liquid splashed onto the yellow-bandanna-wearing bandit's mouth area as he hopped to the right.

"AYEEE! IT'S IN MY MOUTH! I THINK I TASTED IT AND-!" He paused his shrieking…before smacking his lips. "Wait, why does it taste…sweet? And bitter?"

Willy smiled. "Oh! It's actually licorice juice."

I whipped my head to him in disbelief. "Are you serious now?!"

The yellow-bandanna-wearing bandit continued smacking his lips. "Now that you mentioned it…it's not sweet anymore."

"Too bad," said the red-bandanna-wearing bandit.

And then, the two bandits continued firing at us. The couch remained our only shelter, but I was starting to fear that it wouldn't be enough. A bit of floof flew on top of my head and I suspected that came from the couch itself.

"At least we got them separated," said Willy. "We just need something else to distract them for long."

"NOW, HERE WE ARE, FOLKS!" rang Pilot's voice out of nowhere.

Oh no.

The curtains covering the windows were beginning to draw back. I couldn't see properly since me and Willy were hiding behind the couch. Peeking around the corner as I dared, I was dismayed to see Pilot and a crowd of people about to witness the donnybrook escalating inside.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" said Pilot hammily. "I present to you the great Diamond heritage-OH, WHAT THE F-!"

It was by then the two Weasel Bandits realized they had a crowd, stopping their shooting. They turned around to face the audience. The visitors stared at them, bugged-eyed. It was silence for a couple of seconds with no one unsure what to do next.

Pilot was horrified. "Oh no! Who…who could have let the animatronics out again? I swear that we did add in the modifications…"

Appropriately, the guests behind him ran away, screaming. I sighed in relief. At least the Weasel Bandits wouldn't accidentally hurt them. Strangely, Pilot didn't run away yet, rubbing his chin at the confusion going on in this room.

"...no, it can't be that," he said to himself. "My parents had to shut down animatronic figures with guns since the historical section was becoming too graphic for children to see."

BANG!

Out of annoyance, one of the Weasel Bandits shot at the glass window, leaving a crack in it.

Pilot stared at them, now sporting the appropriate buggy eyes. "...oh! I remember now! I should run." And so, he did. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The yellow-bandanna-wearing bandit sighed. "I hate this place."

I responded by flying in to land a solid kick right in his face. This distraction was long enough to allow me to strike first. The bandit was able to roll on the ground and got back up on his feet.

"Haven't you been weakened by now?" he asked.

"Oh, that time was for practice," I teased. "This is the real deal."

He tried to shoot, but I threw a nearby vase to knock the pistol away. He was caught off-guard and I charged in to try punching him. He seemed to remember his lesson, shielding his arms across his chest. I landed a few blows, switching between hand and feet before jumping upwards to do a downward punch. He only grabbed my fist and used the close proximity of the wall to slam me against it.

I didn't have time to acknowledge the new bruises when slumping to the floor as he tried stomping on me. I rolled around a few times before jumping back up and slapping my fedora over his face. He immediately recognized the trick and held a hand out to defend himself while trying to remove the hat. I charged in, only to slide between his legs and kick him right underneath…between his legs.

The weasel let out a loud howl, lifting his head up as if singing to heaven. With him distracted by this agony, I wrapped my legs around his waist and used them to throw him forward. He crashed against the window, breaking right through it. Once he landed, he didn't come back up, surrounded by shattered glass pieces.

I wasn't sure if he was still breathing. Fortunately, he wasn't severely hurt when the pigeon flew over him…and pecked his face. He let out a loud shout, trying to slap the pigeon away.

At least he was still alive.

Meanwhile, Willy was onto the red-bandanna-wearing bandit, still wielding that stupid toilet brush. But when the bandit tried shooting him, he deflected it with his brush! When he got close enough, he knocked the gun out of the bandit's hand before crushing it.

"Now, I'm giving you two options," threatened Willy. "You can either suck it all up or you can suck the toilet brush!"

"I choose the toilet brush," said the red-bandanna-wearing bandit sarcastically.

This prompted Willy to try whacking the bandit with the toilet brush. It was absurd seeing him fight with this. However, it developed into both sides trying to use a good dose of hand-to-hand combat on each other. Willy presented a nice diverse range of punches and kicks, even spinning upwards when he didn't look like he had the body type to do it.

Fed up, his opponent bounced on the wall and onto one of the platform displays before he landed on Willy. Making sure to sit on his shoulders, he pulled on the walrus' large tusks. Willy let out a cry as he stumbled backward, close to the hole made in the wall. The bandit then leaned back and sent Willy flying right through the hole.

The walrus was able to get back up and punched right at one of the bricks intact from the hole created. Surprisingly, it went flying toward the bandit's face, causing him to stumble back. Taking advantage of this, Willy then plopped the toilet brush into his mouth and swung him around. It ended with Willy letting go of the toilet brush and sending the bandit crashing into a wall.

"Whoo!" I whooped. "Now that's actually a cool way of improvising. Nice use of random objects around you. Reaction timing still needed."

"Oh thanks!" said Willy, bowing down proudly. "Now let's get out of here before we have more people to fight."

I nodded, following after him. The Weasel Bandits made it easier since the security would capture them and they did leave a hole behind. A quick escape for us to go through. It would be hard to find our way out since the room behind the family collection room was connected to a different hallway, but we managed to find the emergency exit.

All I could think of was how intense this heist turned out to be. Who knew that even facing rivals would make this more of a challenge?

We were fortunate that we weren't chased. Security must be dealing with the Weasel Bandits since there would be clear evidence that would make them the culprits. Even give us time to run away before they find out. Once outside the museum and in the dark alley, Willy pulled me over to a dark car waiting nearby, its headlights glowing to a minimum.

The two of us bounced right into the back seat and the driver drove out without further instruction. Once they parked out of the alley, they sped off onto the road. Strangely, I could only sense where they were going. The windows around us were…tinted.

"Good job, my man!" applauded Willy, taking out another shard from the bag. "I knew that I could count on you! This is for you."

He tossed it at the driver and they caught it without looking. That was when I felt that this driver looked familiar. Or it was just me since they were wearing white gloves. They were just wearing a pair of sunglasses, a black tuxedo jacket and a black top hat. However, their purple fur looked familiar….

Willy turned to me, taking out a silver remote device. "And now, the moment of truth."

With the tap of the button, I was rewarded with a slight hiss coming from the Blocker Rings as they unlocked, dropping to my sides. At the same time, I could feel the energy of the Phantom Ruby returning. After needing to push aside its gibberish, it felt like the energy was less messy. It was becoming more clear, warmer and with a stable connection.

When the Phantom Ruby seemed to come to, there was a hum I could hear in my ears. It felt…happy. Like it was happy that it was back to normal. I would have felt concerned, but the newfound feeling was as if celebrating being cured of an illness. I couldn't stop the smile forming on my muzzle. It felt good to have it back.

Even better, I could feel the ruby's powers on my tail. The bullets that would have been stuck there were slowly fading away as if they weren't there in the first place. I assumed that it managed to heal the bullet holes, restoring my tail to normal. There was still blood stains underneath the bandage, but at least my tail was healed. I curled it upwards between my legs, making sure that it was truly healed. Flipping the tip around, it felt less sore.

I sighed, grinning. "Much better. Wait, but Willy. How did Dave know about-?"

"I'll explain later once we reached my hideout," promised Willy, taking something out from his coat. "That's done. And this is yours."

I gasped as he threw my taser weapon back to me. I nearly thought of catching it with my mouth, but I went for using my hand. I couldn't help squealing a little since I got it back

"Yes!" I hissed, pumping a fist in the air. "Finally!"

"You're seemingly a bit obsessed with it," pointed out Willy. "What is it to you anyway?"

"It's just a little something for me," I said, waving my taser around. "I like my own kind of weapon."

Willy smirked. "Sure, sure. Next stop, back at my hideout. As part of our deal again, I'll return to you the charity crate I stole yesterday and this driver will drop you off where your companions should be at."

I nodded, smiling. "Well…thanks."

The walrus guffawed and patted me on the shoulder. "You know, we really make a great team! Maybe next time when we meet up, we should do something bigger like this in the future!"

That got me confused. "Wait, but…I thought this would be your last heist?"

"Huh?"

"I…I did say that you can leave all of this behind once it's done," I said, patting the bag between us. "You already got the money needed to restart your life."

"Yeah," said Willy, raising an eye. "A new life where I can be my own villain instead of fitting in the mold of the Lightning Bolt Society."

Wait, what?! Was he actually going to remain like this?

"You're…not going to stop being a villain?" I asked in concern.

Willy just laughed in disbelief. "Oh, c'mon, Obsidian. You did say it's up to me to search around for better places. Maybe in my own career, I'll find better support! I can find fun in being a criminal again! I can do it both ways; hiding out as a normal civilian while being a criminal at night!"

I felt utterly disappointed, but it wasn't really my choice in the end to tell him. He just broke away from the Lightning Bolt Society and the two of us did rob a museum just now. So any chances that he will lay down his bad habits are going to take longer than how I did.

In my head, the ruby whispered to me that it would be ultimately his decision on continuing being like this or not.

But still, I sighed. "Willy…"

The walrus frowned, dropping his playfulness. "OK, OK. Look, sorry, Obsidian. I'll stop eventually…once I make enough money to retire. It's still a whole world out there. And now that I'm free from Dave's control, I can feel comfortable with what I want to do. Oh, don't worry. I'll just steal from banks and museums and damage the worst buildings."

"Won't you be on the run?" I asked. "Needing to hide in fear from the cops?"

"I'll sort out the new bounties on my head soon," reassured Willy with a confident smile. "You have your own path. I have mine. But I'm confident that I can handle it. Who knows what the future really holds for me?"

"I DO know what your future holds!" yelled the driver.

They suddenly pressed the brakes and the car came to a full stop. They then removed their sunglasses, turned to us and pulled out two guns. One gun pointed at each of us.

"It's jail!" declared Molly, her eyes glowing dangerously. "Hands up!"

"Molly?!" I exclaimed.

"Agent Johnson?!" said Willy, flinching.

Molly chuckled grimly. "You should have checked your driver but guess that disguise really slaps. And Obsidian…"

I gulped, noticing how dangerously close the barrel of her gun was facing me. This time, I doubted that she would move it away. Third time's the charm they say. It made me remember back to the returning feeling of pleasure with stealing again. Now look what provoking that addiction got me here and it looked like I might not get out of this alive.

"Am I in trouble?" I asked, trying to appear sheepish.

Molly narrowed her eyes.

Thankfully, she moved away her gun from me without a second thought.

"One, no. We knew that you would be blackmailed over deciding this idiot's fate. And two…" Her eyes drifted to the fedora I was wearing. "I want my hat back."

I was about to take it off when she had a change of heart.

"Actually, leave it back on," she said, her ears wiggling. "It presses down your distracting tall ears."

I snorted. "My ears aren't that tall."

Willy was only afraid for a few seconds. "Wait, why should we be afraid of her? Isn't she still a starter?"

There was a knock on the window from his side. He opened it, greeted by the same guy he bumped into. However, the human pulled off his face mask and fedora to reveal himself as Agent Stone the entire time!

"Actually, we got the full band here today!" he announced. "Welcome home, Willy Wonka!"

From above, several spotlights shone over the car. Through the opened windows, I could see several G.U.N vehicles and agents surrounding us, pointing their guns right at Willy. Boy, they really did come prepared for us!

"They have you surrounded," warned Molly sternly. "Step out of the car or I'll put a bullet in your temporal lobe."

Willy laughed sarcastically. "Oh, I'm sorry, but…YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!"

My heart skipped a beat when he pulled out the bomb remote.

"WILLY! DON'T!" I cried.

Too late. Before I could use my power to snatch the remote out of his hands, he pressed the button. But it didn't explode. That was what I realized when I ended up flopping onto the floor, right on his feet. Even the walrus was dumbfounded with a frozen smile. He slowly looked down at his chest before ripping the white shirt away, revealing the intact bomb west.

"What? Oh, c'mon!" he grunted, pressing the button several times. "Wait…it should do this blinky thing and…" To my horror, a red light started flashing on his shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, it should go like that, you know-"

POOF!

The bombs attached to his vest didn't explode at all. Instead, the bombs, grenades and toasters attached emitted a puff of black gunpowder, showering everywhere. It reminded me of throwing colorful power everywhere. Except that it was gray ash without needing to burn the body.

And Willy was left stunned, covered head to toe in gray ash. "Why did I go with electrical bombs?"

Stone giggled, opening the door without needing to unlock it. "I just want to point out that trying to wear around a suicide vest to get what you want; it's a classic epic fail for a criminal."

Willy's face was turning a different color I had never seen before. "How did you even…? This shouldn't happen!"

"Oh, glad you asked," said Stone proudly. "Molly DID find the opened vent tunnels where you went to. But you see, her coat taken along is filled with a lot of things. Like a LOT. She actually left her phone right in there, so we tracked it down to find you."

"Wait, she actually had a tracker on me the entire time?" I asked. "If so, then what took you long?"

"We saw the whole deal you made with Willy," explained Molly. "By coming in immediately, he would have immediately activated that vest anymore. Not to mention that it could kill you as well since your Phantom Ruby was turned off."

Willy's eyes were bugging out in dismay. "The whole time you actually followed along?!"

"With a few twists," said Stone with a big grin. "First, we need to neutralize YOU. And that suicide vest is the only thing standing in our way. So, I implanted this device to deactivate all explosives there."

He pointed at a shiny piece on Willy's vest that stood out from the others. It was coated in green and had the G.U.N symbol on it. Got to say, this military technology is crazy! That was really awesome of Stone since he would need more time to place this device underneath Willy's shirt properly.

"It's a good thing you chose electronic bombs; easier to control and hack into," said Stone teasingly.

"I then managed to cut off your getaway," said Molly. "This called for the big guns."

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked worriedly.

"I had to dance to convince the driver to get lost."

"What?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she said with a look inciting flashbacks in her mind.

"Though, it couldn't be possible that we would be able to hijack your getaway since we noticed that he hid his car really well," said Stone. "So, we decided to distract you two for long to deal with him once he arrived; we actually left a tip for the Weasel Bandits about Willy planning to steal the diamond."

"You did what?!" I screamed in shock.

"So that's why they came here tonight!" gasped Willy. "H-How did you get to them?"

"Never underestimate black-ops agents!" said Stone with a twinkle in his eye.

"And what else did you plan to do with them?"

"Oh, they are already in the truck."

He stepped out of the way and we could see one of the G.U.N vehicles…shaking around. With that pesky pigeon sitting on top of the truck. Guessed that G.U.N came in time to arrest the Weasel Bandits.

And I could hear the recognizable Australian voice of the blue-bandanna-wearing bandit.

"LET ME OUT OF HEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRREEE!"

"You know what they say; you got to fight fire with fire," said Molly with a smirk. "Guess that our fire is stronger than yours."

What can I say? I'm grateful that they won't be punishing this since they understood my dilemma. But them pulling this trick off? I thought that as a military, they would jump right in without needing to blend into their environment. This took a huge step far from what I thought. A complete scheme to outsmart me and Willy.

And I was the one who came up with the plan for the heist as well.

"That's…actually really good, you two!" I applauded. "I'm impressed!"

Stone grinned. "Thanks, buddy. Don't mention."

A reddish-pink color crept over Molly's cheeks. "Don't make me blush. Seriously. Don't."

Willy began to laugh nervously, looking around to find a way out. "Oh geez…I guess there is no way out of this one, right? Can't we settle this with a nice fight with whoever wins getting to leave scot-free?"

Stone rolled his eyes. "After you blackmailed Agent Obsidian, robbed a whole bunch of people, steal our weapons AND threatened to blow yourself up with others nearby? No way!"

"Fortunately for you," continued Molly. "We know your breaking and entering specialty. So we will be providing you with a nice, special cell for you and the rest of the weasels. Oh, also, we are already planning to allocate you four in a delinquent therapy program."

The walrus' eyes widened in absolute terror. "No, no, NO! Anything but that! Anything!"

I sighed, deciding to try to comfort him. "Sorry, Willy. Well, if they do not throw you in a dirty cell like what you did with the rest of the 'mutts'..." I actually paused to glare at both Molly and Stone to ensure that they won't treat Willy miserably in jail. The former looked confused while the latter rolled his eyes. Once they got the hint, I turned back to Willy. "...maybe you should take a time out. You'll have a lot of time and reflection to figure out what you want to do. Perhaps you might find a better way with having a better life. I can come over to this therapy program to talk with you. Or I can convince the Commander to help me out on community service."

When it was clear that I couldn't help Willy out of this the way he wanted, the walrus let out a low and long sigh. So long that appeared like he just rehearsed for a play.

"So this is how it feels like to go to hell," he said, sounding really sad.

Strangely, he grabbed the bag and slammed it to the floor in front of him. Remember, the diamond was still in there. Without checking the damage, he then stomped on it a couple of times. Before going for using two feet to angrily stomp on the diamond. By the time he could confirm that the diamond was thoroughly crunched and the bag was flat as a pancake, the walrus was still sulking.

"We'll be adding that to your sentence for breaking a 100 billion dollar diamond," said Stone flatly.

Willy growled to himself, angered that he was caught so easily. When he looked back at me, I gave him a disappointed yet sympathetic look. Not only I felt sorry for him, but I felt like I understand. This would be hard for him, but it could be seen as impossible for him to do in his eyes. Much like how I found it difficult with redeeming myself. I really wish that he'll be OK.

The walrus' look softened, dropping the glare. He eventually nodded, closing his eyes in resignation and acceptance. Without pulling a last-minute plan, he stepped out of the car and turned his back to Stone, allowing the human to handcuff him.

As the agents took Willy away, Molly was already outside of the car and opened the door for me.

"You know that I can crawl to the other side, right?" I pointed out.

Molly sniffed. "Man, you don't smell good. You should get cleaned up back at G.U.N HQ. My squadron is actually having a special gathering and they suggested me to bring you over. So you should get yourself clean. You looked like you were fighting the mafia."

"That's because I was," I joked, slowly feeling relieved that this whole heist was over. "I should give you back your hat and coat."

The purple cat scanned me from top to bottom. "Actually…you can still wear this for the night. You kind of look nice."

I laughed, taking off the fedora. "It feels kind of weird. And I'm not a pants guy. Besides, the hat and coat fit you more."

AN: It feels kind of random trying to squeeze the pesky pigeon back into the story after a while of not using it. Also feels random with Obsidian's tail getting shot. Though, his small focus on it and concentration on the fight without worrying about getting it injured showcase his resilience in a fight. Comes to highlight that he's still a capable fighter without the Phantom Ruby.

And of course, Willy's suicide bomb vest doesn't work. You think I'm actually going to kill him off with this dark weapon?

Thank you for reading this chapter! If you enjoy this story, be sure to follow or favorite this story, so you can get updates about this story. If there is any honest feedback or constructive criticism you want to share, let me know in your review. Any spam, flames or threats will be questioned and I'm not kidding.

Until next time, keep on rocking!