It felt like it took an eternity for the elevator to reach the top floor. When it did, Josef muttered, "Finally." Then he blinked in surprise when it continued to rise further. Apparently, this building had more floors than the ninety buttons in the elevator would have you believe.
When it at last came to a stop on the ninety-first (or was it the ninety-second?) floor and the doors slid open, Flynn was the first one to step out. Josef followed closely behind with Jakob bringing up the rear. Taking in the quiet hallway with its polished, reflective floor and pedestals lining the walls bearing busts and small statues, Jakob asked, "So you just need us to carry some stuff for you?"
"Yup," Flynn said as he strolled leisurely along, leading them past several finely detailed wood carved doors. "It's like I said: easy munny."
Josef's face pinched. "If it's so easy, why can't you handle it by yourself?"
"Simple. Too much for one man to carry. I suppose I could make multiple trips, but really, would you want to take that long elevator ride up and down that many times?" Flynn glanced at them over his shoulder, but the brothers remained silent. "I didn't think so."
He came to a stop in front of one of the doors, which was just as fancy as the others they had passed and had no number or anything else to differentiate it from the rest of the doors. Flynn fished out of his pocket a pair of black gloves that he began to slip on.
Josef eyed him warily. "What are those for?"
"Hm? Oh, these?" Flynn asked absently, waggling his gloved fingers. "Nothing. I'm just a bit of a hypochondriac. Germs, ya know? Don't worry about it." Next he pulled out a blank white card. To the right of the door was a slot that he inserted the card into. It beeped and beneath it, a numbered keypad popped out. He tapped in ten digits, and once again it beeped before a click emitted from the door. Placing his hand on the door and giving it a light push, it swung open without the slightest resistance. With a pleased little smirk, he turned back to them as he made a sweeping gesture with his hand towards the opening. "After you."
They hesitated for a beat, then Jakob entered first, his brother following behind.
The room they entered had lush, expensive-looking carpets and a modest chandelier hanging from the ceiling - if any chandelier could truly be considered modest. A chair and table sat in the center of the room, both made of dark wood with elegant, intricate carvings that matched, making them a set. A large dragon statue stood proudly in one corner, a good few feet taller than the twins, a mixture of beauty and ferocity etched into its design. Many extravagant paintings decorated the room. The wall directly across from the door they had entered through was filled with a grid of drawers. It was tall enough that a ladder was provided to reach the top row.
To their right was a floor-to-ceiling window, lined with heavy silk curtains. The middle of the window was actually a set of glass double doors, leading out to a large balcony that overlooked the city. The sun was setting, bathing the buildings in rich pinks and purples of the evening. Every few seconds, the silence would be disrupted as a soft, long beep issued from somewhere within the room.
Jakob let loose a low whistle as Flynn entered the room, taking up the spot between the brothers. "You own this stuff?"
The man chuckled. "What? Oh, no. This all belongs to my… my client. I'm just here to do a job."
"And what exactly is your job?" Josef asked with a frown.
"I'm a procurer and transporter of priceless artifacts." They gave him a blank stare, and he sighed. "See, it's like this. The wealthy, they like things. Expensive things. And sometimes, those things need to be moved from point A to point B. That's where I come in. Rich folks tend to get paranoid about their things, so I like to put minds at ease, knowing their precious valuables are being kept safe in my very capable hands."
"Woah!" Jakob cried. It seemed he had lost interest in the conversation, as his face was currently pressed up against the window. "You can see for miles from here. This is like the tallest building in the city!"
"Not like the tallest. This, in fact, is the tallest building in the city. Followed closely by that one over there." Flynn pointed at another towering structure a couple blocks over, silhouetted against the dying sunlight. His eyes then scanned the metropolis below and he gave a sigh of contentment. "I could get used to a view like this." A pause. "Yup, I'm used to it. Guys, I want a skyscraper."
Josef rolled his eyes. "Can we just get on with this already?"
With a shrug, Flynn muttered, "Fine, fine." He then opened a satchel he had hung over his shoulder and pulled out two more just like it, tossing one to each of the twins. "Your jobs are simple. Start filling these with whatever you find in those," he pointed to the wall of drawers.
The brothers looked at the bags they had been given before slowly approaching the indicated drawers. Josef hesitated before choosing a drawer at random and sliding it open. Contained within was a simple, black drawstring pouch. He took it out and heard its contents clatter. Curious, he pulled it open and gaped. Diamonds. Freaking diamonds. Tiny, but hundreds, maybe thousands, of them.
He pulled the pouch shut again and eyed Flynn. He was currently beside another open drawer, removing from it a… was that a crown? Yes, indeed it was, a gold crown encrusted with rubies, pearls, and diamonds large enough to put the ones in the pouch to shame.
Josef gulped and shook himself. "Are you sure Jake and I should be handling stuff like this?"
Mesmerized by the crown in his hands, Flynn gave an absent-minded "Hm?" He then blinked and broke out of his trance. Placing the crown gingerly in his satchel, he responded, "Oh yes, absolutely. Please, I encourage it. I trust you boys to handle these items with the utmost care."
"I dunno… this all just seems-"
"Hey, Joe. Lookit." Josef turned at the sound of his brother's voice. Several drawers lay open in front of Jakob, and he was now adorned with many rings, bracelets, and necklaces of sapphires, emeralds, amethysts, and other gems. Atop his head was a silver tiara decorated with diamonds and opals. Jakob flashed a coy grin. "I'm a princess. Teehee."
"You look absolutely stunning," Flynn cooed with a laugh.
Josef opened his mouth, but found no words. So instead he snapped it shut, closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. The silence was pierced by another soft beep. "By the way, what the hell is that noise?"
Flynn cocked an eyebrow and listened until it beeped again. He waved a hand dismissively and chuckled, "Oh, that. It's nothing really. Just the alarm going off."
His eyes widened. "Alarm? For what?"
"For bringing the police, silly. What else would it be for?"
"The police?" he choked out. "Why would they come here?"
"Because we're stealing, which is all kinds of illegal."
"Stealing?! But what about all that stuff you said before? I thought you said you were hired to-"
"All I said was that rich people have things, and that I'm someone who moves those things," Flynn interjected as he crossed the room. "I never said I was hired by anyone to move them. I just sort of take the initiative, and the police don't like it when I do that." He checked his watch. "Speaking of, they should be here any-"
A loud bang shook the door they had entered through. "This is the police! We know you're in there!" A gruff voice yelled from the other side. "Come out with your hands up!"
"Ah, right on time. That's my cue." Flynn pushed open the glass doors leading out onto the balcony.
"Wait!" Josef cried, hastily dropping the bag of diamonds back into their compartment. He scowled at his brother, who stood dumbfounded, still resplendent in all his bejeweled finery. "Take those off, you look like a moron," he growled, shouldering past him as he jogged to catch up to Flynn. Night had fallen outside, so the balcony was dark except for a single light source on the wall next to the door. "But you said the guy who owned all this stuff was your client."
"Client, victim… it's all the same really," he smirked, remarkably unconcerned by the predicament they were now in. He reached into his satchel and pulled out what looked to be a large tube with a handle in the middle and grappling hooks sticking out of either end. Unraveling one of the hooks, he latched it onto the wall lamp.
More thunderous banging could be heard from within the room. "You have until the count of ten to surrender yourselves, then we're breaking down the door!" the same voice from earlier bellowed.
Flynn aimed the tube and second hook at a building across the way. It was in fact the building he had pointed out earlier as the second tallest in the city. Pulling a trigger within the handle, he launched the remaining hook off and it propelled in a blur through the night air. It connected with something on the other skyscraper and the line pulled taut, forming a link between the two buildings.
Jakob, now sans jewelry, came running out to join them. Sweating and eyes shifting, he glimpsed the grappling hook line over their heads and asked, "Is that how we're escaping?"
"Not we, boys," Flynn murmured as he gave the rope a tug to test its stability. It held fast. He stepped up onto the railing that closed the balcony in. "Just me. See ya!" He grabbed onto the handle of the tube with one hand and with the other, saluted the twins and gave them a wink. He then stepped off the ledge and the cylinder zipped him down the line to the other building.
"No!" Josef called, whipping a hand out to grab at Flynn, but the thief was already well out of reach. He hissed through his teeth as he watched Flynn's form vanish into the night. A boom followed by another erupted from the room behind them - the door was not going to hold for much longer. He looked up at the rope. "Grab onto the line! We're getting out of here!"
"But we don't have a way to zoom across like he did! We'd have to cross hand over hand, which will take forever!"
"Then you better get a move on. The sooner you start, the sooner it'll be over with." He shoved his brother up onto the rail.
Jakob flailed his arms wildly about before latching them onto the rope. He then looked over the edge, gulped, and shrunk back a little. "That's a long way down."
"Shut up and go already!" A shattering crash tore through the air. The cops had busted through the door and the twins were out of time. Josef snapped, "Go, go, go!"
A sudden click caught their attention and they looked over their shoulders. The grappling hook had dislodged itself from the lamp. The line was now recoiling speedily, dragging the hook off the balcony and towards the other building. The rope practically burned Jakob's hands as it slipped through them and he let go of it with a yelp. As the hook went over the railing, it clipped Jakob's leg before going over the edge and disappearing into the night.
Jakob wobbled as he tried to maintain his balance. Just when he looked like he was about to plummet into the abyss, Josef frantically wrapped his arms around his brother's legs and pulled him back towards safety. The twins collapsed into a heap on the tiled floor of the balcony.
With winces and groans, they disentangled themselves from each other and shakily began to get up.
"Freeze, dirtbags!"
Their heads shot up to find themselves surrounded by at least a dozen very angry looking cops. And each of those very angry looking cops held a very big, very menacing gun in their hands. And each of those very big, very menacing guns were trained directly on the Stabbington Brothers.
Jakob promptly fainted.
"...talk about it later…you bet we'll talk about it."
Rapunzel paced back and forth next to her bed, angrily muttering to herself. She had been doing so for hours now. She hadn't even tried to read or watch tv or paint or any of the million other things her mother had stuffed into her gilded cage in a vain attempt to distract her from the outside world. She had been too furious.
Abruptly, she came to a stop and peered through the near-darkness of her room at her wardrobe, chair still lodged in place and keeping it locked up tight. "Well, Mother… it'll be a lot harder for you to argue with me when I open those doors and that thing comes leaping out at you." She laughed smugly, then started pacing again, anxious for her mother's return.
Another minute passed before she was struck by a realization. She came to a second halt, turning to stare at the wardrobe once more. It had been completely still since she had trapped the creature inside it. The thing was probably just still knocked out, right? It had to be, that would make the most sense, wouldn't it? There was no way that it could have slipped out, not without her having seen it, that would just be impossible.
That is...unless it had, somehow. She began to chew on a few strands of her hair. Boy, it would look real silly if she swung those doors open later to reveal to her mother nothing but a rack of clothes. She had better make sure.
Flipping on a nearby wall switch, the room filled with a warm glow from the faery lights overhead, banishing the gloom of early nightfall. She then began to slowly approach the armoire. "Mr. Pyjama Monster?" she whispered. Silence answered her as she closed the distance. "Hello?"
She pressed an ear to the wooden door and very lightly rapped a knuckle against it. "Are you still in there?" She heard nothing from inside. Swallowing hard, she took a deep breath to steady herself and reached for the chair.
There was a sudden loud crash that nearly gave her a heart attack.
Eyes practically popping out of her head, she spun around and looked towards the window that led out onto the balcony, where the noise had come from.
What was that? It had sounded like a tree had exploded!
She looked out through the glass, but it was too dark outside now to see anything properly from here. She'd have to investigate. Picking up her pan from where she had left it on the vanity, she left the safety of her condo and snuck silently out into her balcony garden.
She crept from one rose bush to another, keeping a vigilant eye out as she moved. Where was it? Where was the thing that had made that noise? And more importantly, what was it? Was it another pyjama monster? More than one… could it be an infestation? She idly wondered if there was a fumigation treatment that could deal with that.
Rapunzel came to an abrupt halt when a thick hedge she had been passing suddenly quivered. Then on the other side of it, something fell with a thud! That something grunted. Using the giant pot that the hedge was rooted in as cover, she squinted as she peeked between the leaves. All she could make out was a dark figure that was moving.
"Seriously?" she heard a voice grumble. "What kind of tree-hugging commune keeps a whole frigging forest on the rooftop of a skyscraper?"
So, this pyjama monster could talk! Maybe this one was special? Or could all pyjama monsters speak? If so, why hadn't the first one said anything to her? She had certainly given it enough chances. Unless… maybe it had been a mute and had lost its ability to speak?
Poor pyjama monster…
But she did not have time to worry about that right now! She heard footsteps on the other side of the hedge, and they sounded like they were coming towards her. Holding her skillet in clenched fists, she crouched low. Muscles tensed and eyes squeezed shut, she held her breath.
"Now, how the heck do I get out of-"
CLANG!
She had sprung from her hiding spot, swinging wildly and blindly, and apparently had found her mark. She heard her victim fall like a sack of potatoes. She hesitated before reluctantly opening one eye as she looked down. The other snapped open and she blinked a couple times. Lying unconscious at her feet was definitely no pyjama monster.
It… was a person!
A man, in fact, by the look of it. He had a lean, muscled build. His brown hair looked soft and was just long enough to cascade over his closed eyes. He had a small, scruffy goatee on his chin. He was… kind of pretty… in a Colin O'Donoghue sort of way...
Wait a minute… that was not the thing to be thinking about right now!
"What is up with today?!" Rapunzel shouted up at the night sky. "First the pyjama monster, now this guy! What next, a dragon?"
A brief pause.
"...actually… a dragon would be kind of cool…"
Focus, Rapunzel, focus!
Okay, this was getting pretty serious. Maybe it was time to call in Pascal. But then… that would be kind of like admitting that Mother was right and she couldn't take care of herself, wouldn't it? No, she wasn't ready to throw in the towel just yet.
Looking back down at the man, she wondered who he was and how he had gotten onto her terrace. More importantly, what did he want? Did he know what her hair could do? Was he planning on kidnapping her? Was he working with the pyjama monster? Shifting her gaze, she spotted a bag next to him. He had probably brought it with him. Maybe it contained a clue as to his intentions or identity? It lay partially open, and from within it, something was glinting. Intrigued, she bent over and reached into the bag, pulling the item out.
"Okay… this is just getting weirder and weirder by the second," she muttered, eyeing the crown she now held in her hands. Why did he have this? Was he some sort of prince?
...prince of the pyjama monsters…
Alright, that sounded ludicrous, even to her. Returning the crown to where she had found it, she regarded the unconscious man. She needed answers, and he was the best way to get them. But first, she was going to have to detain him. Her wardrobe was already occupied, so she'd have to go with the only other logical solution.
She'd have to tie him up with her hair.
Author's Note: Poor Stabbington brothers xD Yah, they're kind of douche nozzles that had it coming, but they got played so hard by Flynn and did not have the slightest clue until it was far too late. And Punzie now has one Flynn Rider in her care - the Tangled story can really start to unfold!
AND HEY! I STARTED POSTING A NEW STORY STARRING MY FAVE COUPLE, TOLD THROUGH THE EYES OF A CERTAIN SASSY FIRE STARTER WE ALL KNOW AND LOVE! xD It's a modern mutant school AU - think X-Men with KH and Disney characters! You'll find it on my profile, it's called Svarog. Please go check it out and give it some love by leaving a review, pretty pretty please with a gumdrop on top! :D
Special thanks and much love to SoraKairiRikuNamine, Amarxlen, and Miss PandaManga for reviewing, as well as to everyone else who have shown support for my quirky little story! Thank you all for reading, hoped you liked it, please leave a review and let me know what you think! Until next week, ciao!