Chapter Eight:

An Inktastic Pawn Shop Deal


"Man, that was a good lunch." Swagmaster said as he wiped his mouth.

"The only problem is that you hoovered my leftovers." Chris told him.

Swag laughed, "What can I say, Chris? I'm a growing boi."

"Hey! What happened here?!"

The two guards stopped walking as they entered the vault room and their eyes widened. The door was open and, on top of that, the vault's contents were missing. When they last checked, the place had been secure and the Kaira Star Crystal was still there. Someone had taken it and right under there nose.

"Yo, Chris. Isn't the boss coming to inspect the vault and check on the artifact?" Swag asked.

Chris gasped. "CRAP!" He exclaimed, "We are going to be in so much trouble when he finds out. He's gonna be here in an hour. Crap! Crap! Crap! Our jobs are at stake again! Our jobs are at stake again! Our jobs are at stake again!"

"Well, well. What seems to be the trouble?"

Swag and Chris wheeled around and snapped to attention. The lean Inkling in the suit, formerly a human, known as Kingpin Wilson Fisk, entered the room and studied the two guards with a sly smile. And then, he walked to the vault, frowning as he took in the sight of the door open, and let out a shriek of fury a second later.

"WHERE DID THE GEM GO?!" Kingpin shouted.

"How should I know?" Swag asked, "Chris and I heard the lunch alarm and we didn't know someone was gonna get smart and break into this vault. And y'know what's funny, boss? The alarms didn't go off."

Kingpin looked around the vault, trying to find anything. He emerged moments later and slammed the vault shut, glaring angrily at Swag and Chris. "I GAVE YOU IDIOTS ONE JOB, ONE JOB!" He raged, "AND THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"

"Someone's gonna pay." Swag shook his fist.

"You idiot, we're in big trouble!" Chris told him.

"One of us didn't even steal it."

"Not helping, Swag!"

"WHY DID I HIRE YOU TWO IF YOU'RE GOING TO SLACK OFF AND HAVE LUNCH?!" The Kingpin ranted, "WHAT KIND OF GUARDS DON'T DO THEIR JOB, EVEN IF IT WAS LUNCHTIME FOR YOU TWO!? I GAVE YOU THE ONE SIMPLE TASK OF GUARDING THAT SPACE GEM BEFORE IT WAS TIME FOR THE AUCTION AND YOU F-A-I-L-E-D!

"AND WHEN I FIND OUT WHO IT WAS WHO STOLE IT, THEY WILL BE IN BIG TROUBLE! ON A RELATED NOTE, HOW DID THE INTRUDER GET IN..."

"I'll tell you how they got in. Through an intruder window." Swag quipped.

Kingpin didn't hear him. "...AND WHO LEAVES A VAULT DOOR OPEN SO ONE CAN KNOW WHO WAS HERE?! I'LL MAKE THEM PAY FOR WHAT THEY DID. NOW I'LL HAVE TO CANCEL THE AUCTION AND THERE WILL BE KELP TO PAY FOR SURE! PEOPLE SHALL SUFFER, AND YOU TWO ARE THE FIRST..."


After landing safely back in Inkopolis, Makerboy wasted no time in heading right to the Inkopolis Pawn Shop, located west of Inkopolis Plaza. The Kaira Star Crystal was secure in his possession, and he was ready to sell it for the money he needed to get that charm for Saiko. Luck was on his side, nobody was coming after him for his stint at the vault.

The confident green-haired Inkling was heading down 10th Seaweed Avenue, and passing the nearest Ink Nugget Diner, when a black-clad figure with a cat mask stepped out from behind a truck with a gemstone in hand.

"Excuse me? Do you have time?" The figure asked in a tender female voice.

"Whisk?!" Makerboy stopped, he recognized that voice.

"Shh, we're out in the open and I have to be on the move."

"Okay, what's up?"

"Do you have a... Kaira Star Crystal?" Whisk whispered.

"Yes." Makerboy nodded.

"And where were you going with it?"

"To a pawn shop, to sell it."

Whisk held out the gemstone, which was colored orange, and Makerboy was reminded of the Sol Emeralds. "Sell this too..." The cat burglar whispered, "Its from another world, but I don't know much about its purpose. A source tells me its worth hundreds if sold at a pawn shop."

Makerboy took the gem and shook Whisk's hand, even as a couple Inklings gave them a funny look. Whisk then looked around and said, "I better get going. My face is everywhere, and a bounty was set up a few days ago."

The cat burglar held up her wrist, allowing Makerboy to glimpse a device that reminded him of a Vortex Manipulator from Doctor Who. Whisk tapped some buttons on the teleporter and vanished in a brief flash of light, leaving Makerboy alone with the emerald, which he put in his inventory, and it joined the Kaira Star Crystal.

He got moving again, racing through the street as fast as he could. Makerboy knew that Bob, Hal Monitor, and SMG4 Mario, as well as Melony, were fine and were eager to see how things went.

Makerboy made another turn on a street corner, and arrived at the front door of the Inkopolis Pawn Shop. He closed his eyes and breathed slowly, then he walked through the door and the green Inkling was greeted by a surprise waiting for him at the counter, taking the form of a face he never thought he'd bump into today.

"Ya. (How's it going today?)"

Inkredible. Big Man of Deep Cut fame was running a pawn shop. Makerboy didn't ask questions, he knew it was likely that Big Man had volunteered to run the place while one of the shop's other owner was out. Then again, wasn't Big Man supposed to be with Shiver and Frye in Splatsville?

"Yo, Big Man." Makerboy walked towards the counter with a grin as the door closed, "What's shakin'?"

"Ya. (Nothing much, bud. You wanna buy or do you wanna sell?)"

"I'm sellin..." Makerboy brought out the Kaira Star Crystal and the orange diamond that Whisk gave him.

"Ya. (No way!)" Big Man exclaimed with wide fins, "Ya. (You actually got the Kaira Star Crystal and one of the Sol Emeralds? Those are worth thousands of dollars!) Ya. (I'll pay you 1,000 for that orange gem and I'll pay you 99,000 for the Kaira Star Crystal, but don't expect to get rich though.)"

Makerboy's eyes widened. "Combine that and you get a hundred thousand dollars!" He said with amazement. 'That's more than enough money to get the charm.'

He handed over the Kaira Star Crystal and the gemstone that was a Sol Emerald. At this point, Makerboy was hoping that Blaze the Cat didn't get too ticked that one of her world's gemstones had been sold at a pawn shop. After all, the princess of the Sol Dimension was capable of getting it back.

"Ya. (Here's your money, friend.)" Big Man said as he gave Makerboy a couple checks. The green-haired squid whooped, then he thanked the friendly manta ray, and departed the pawn shop, running into Bob outside.

"I gUeSs It WeNt PrEtTy WeLl In ThErE." The ex-rapper remarked.

"It sure did." Makerboy punched the air, "And I can feel that charm in my hand. Saiko's curse is gonna be lifted."

"LeTs Go GeT iT aNd SaVe YoUr GiRlFrIeNd FrOm An EtErNiTy Of BeInG sTuCk In An OcToPuS's bOdY."

Makerboy was tempted to high-five Bob, but he saw how sharp his blade hand was, he just pat the cloaked hobo on the shoulder and began to depart the area. However, when Makerboy turned to see if Bob was following, he caught a glimpse of Bob and Big Man waving to each other. Bob then joined Makerboy, and they headed off to the jewelry store...