Pipi was in the living room staring at the parts of his second mockup gun; Shocker B. It fired electric bolts that paralyzed someone for fifteen minutes.

The prototype had a limit of five minutes.

Unfortunately, Don had been the guinea pig in testing both.

Pipi had adjusted his red turban before he spread Shocker's parts on the desk in front of him.

"Hmm."

He pushed the nuts, bolts, and screws to the side, picked them up, and then weighed them on his hand.

"This will do."

He placed them back on the desk.

The smell of coconut perfume covered the living room, making Pipi crunch his nose in disdain. "Pipi doesn't like it when you stare at him from the back," he had said before glancing at Don.

Don looked sideways as if Pipi had talked to someone else. "Don doesn't care," the thief replied, mocking Pipi's way of speaking.

"Then, Don is an idiot."

Don had frowned before he folded his arms. "And Pipi is an idioter."

"That's not a word."

"It is in my vocabulary." Don gloated.

"Your vocabulary is stupid."

"No, you're stupid."

"Stop copying Pipi, Buttface."

"No, you have a butt face, Buttface."

Pipi rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Pipi has work to do."

Don stepped closer and got a better view of what Pipi was repairing. "Is that the Shocker that lasts longer?"

Pipi turned to him, smirking. "Yes. Do you want to see how long it lasts?"

"No." Don backed away. "I will not be your test subject again. Last time I did, you stole five silver coins from me."

"Come on, Don. Pipi said he was sorry. Pipi needed the coins for..." He turned around and continued with his work.

"For what?" Don asked.

A brothel. "Don't dwell in the past, Don. Forgive and forget like Holgate."

"Holgate, the prostitute?" There were deep furrows in Don's brows. Then after a second of thought, he gasped. "Did you spend my money on a prostitute?"

"Hey, hey, Don, that's unnice. Holgate is not a prostitute. She's a... fille de joie." Pipi smiled.

"And what does that mean?" Don raised a brow.

"If you get time away from stealing, find out. But for the meantime, Pipi is making this Shocker so it could help you and him in missions." He scoffed. "Mission is an overstatement for what you do. You're just a thief, a bad one too."

"I am not a bad thief. I always get the job done."

Pipi moved the goggles away from his eyes and let them hang around his neck. He looked at Don. "Really?"

"Yes." Don gave a closed smile.

"All right, Mr. Always Gets The Job Done. Where are the wings? Pipi checked your room when you were asleep–"

"You invaded my privacy?"

"–and he didn't find them or the gauntlets. And Pipi can only assume you lost the gauntlets after failing to get the wings." He turned his chair around and leaned back. "What terrible excuse do you have now?"

"There were dragons." Don shrugged.

"Dragons don't fly in this part of the world." Pipi enjoyed seeing his best friend trying so hard to come up with an excuse.

"Um..." Don bit his upper lip. "Something happened last night." He scratched the back of his head. "I stole the wings because I am that good."

"Right." Pipi didn't believe him.

"But when I was flying back to the apartment–"

"Flying?"

"–ten strong, giant men attacked me. They took the wings and gauntlets and ran away."

"Ten giant men?" Pipi's brow quivered.

"Ten strong, giant men. Aren't you listening?"

Pipi stood and sniffed Don.

Don stepped away from him. "What the heck? That was so weird. What are you doing?"

"Smelling your lies. And they stink." He sat back in the chair. "Tell Pipi what happened."

Don sat on the chair beside Pipi. "You won't believe me if I do."

"You're right. But Pipi would still like to know."

"Fine." Don scratched his face. "I arrived at the auction as planned, dressed in my dazzling suit, looking sexy as always. When I entered the building, the ladies started chanting my name, 'Don! Don! Don!' But you know me, I was like, 'Ladies, calm down. There's a lot of Don to be passed around.'"

"You tried selling yourself?"

"No." Don facepalmed.

"Pipi never knew prostitution was your side business."

"That's not what I meant." Don stomped his foot on the floor in frustration, and Pipi smiled. "I hate you so much."

Pipi placed a hand over his heart. "Thank you." He rubbed off a fake tear. "OK, enough with the jokes. What happened?"

"I got to the auction as planned, using the gauntlets. Surprisingly, they worked."

"Skip to the important parts."

"First, I stared at the glass cases. There was this old knife. Very rare. Then, there was this blue masked rich man who I talked to. He was nice. Later on, Stella showed up, and I talked to her too."

"You talked to Stella?" Pipi's eyes widened.

"Yes."

"The most beautiful woman in the world talked to you, a dumb thief?"

"Yes, and she loves me."

Pipi kissed his teeth. "That's preposterous."

"I don't know what that word means, but she said she loved me."

"How?"

"With her mouth."

Pipi frowned. "You know that's not what Pipi meant."

"I know." Don flashed a smile. "Doesn't feel good, does it?"

Pipi narrowed his eyes. "Are you neglecting the fact that you lost the wings? The ones that would bring us a lot of gold?"

Don lowered his head and gazed at the floor. "Maybe," he said in a low tone.

"Pipi is angry and sad right now." He shook his head before giving Don a dirty look. "Pipi isn't pleased, at all."

"What do you want me to say to make you feel better? All right, I'm sorry. Ok? I'm sorry for being dumb. I'm sorry for being sloppy. And most of all, I'm sorry for always being a failure."

Pipi patted Don's head like he was a lost puppy. "Pipi knows you aren't dumb, sloppy, or a failure, on purpose. You were born that way." He smiled at Don as the thief looked up. "You and Pipi always find other ways of getting money. So don't worry about it. Ok?"

"We can still pay rent this month, right?" Don asked.

Pipi nodded.

"I'll be in the kitchen. Do you need anything?"

"No."

"Even scorpion soup? It's your favorite."

"Not now."

"All right." Don flashed Pipi a dull smile before he left.

Truthfully, Pipi was hurt. Stealing the wings would have been the big break they needed. And apart from using the money to move to Modish, he needed it to build the next set of machines and weapons he had in mind. But the required tools to help him do so were expensive.

Part of him had known Don wouldn't be able to complete the mission after his recent disasters. And he had wanted to tell Doctor to have a backup plan in case he was right. But he had trusted Don, and now he was paying for not listening to his intuition.

Doctor said he would call to tell us where to meet him for the delivery. He rubbed his eyes. "We took an advance from him. How would we pay him back?" Before he could continue talking to himself, the doorbell rang.

Groaning, he stood up and went to open the door. Two black women he had never seen before stood in front of him. The one on the left had darker skin and hair, brown eyes, and freckles on her face. She had two guns holstered around her waist and three knives strapped on her thigh.

She's a mercenary. They never hide who they are.

He gazed at the one on the right and gulped. She had light skin, curly hair, and an hourglass figure made her stand out. He couldn't stop looking at her. She wore a red lace-down under-bust corset, mini black skirt, and red furry thigh-high boots. But he couldn't spot any weapons on her.

Is she a mercenary too? She doesn't look like one. Maybe that's part of the illusion.

"Are ya going ta stare at us all day?" the mercenary asked, looking displeased.

Pipi knew the low patience mercenaries had when dealing with people in other fields of work. And not wanting to agitate her, he asked, "What did Don do?"

"Who?"

Pipi gasped, then he placed a hand on his chest. So they are not here for Don? Lucky bastard. "Let Pipi rephrase: How can Pipi help you?"

"Ah am Barbie, and this is ma friend, Sky," the curly-haired woman replied instead. "We spoke on the telephone last night about you fixing our machine, remember?"

Pipi slapped his forehead. "Right." He stepped aside and directed his mechanical arm inside the apartment. "Come in."

Barbie walked in first. Sky picked up a large sack beside her and took it inside. After Pipi closed the door, Barbie turned to him and asked, "Where's the coat hanger?"

"Right over there?" Pipi pointed to the corner of the room. He then stood and watched her as she took off her long coat and hung it on a hook. She's like a sexy unicorn.

"Hey, over here." Sky snapped her fingers in front of Pipi's face.

"Wha-What?" He got out of his trance and saw Sky staring at him. "Is the machine in the sack?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Can Pipi see it?"

"Sure." Sky pulled the machine out and placed it on the desk. "One of the wings is broken. How long do ya think it will take to repair it?"

"Ah hope it's less than forty-five minutes," Barbie said.

Sky turned to her. "Why? Are ya needed somewhere?"

Barbie didn't reply.

Pipi stared at the wings. This is it!

The appearance matched the description Doctor had given him and Don. Getting a closer look at the intricate design, he knew Virtue City had imported it from another city. There was no way they had the technology to build such beauty. They were years behind compared to other cities.

Is it a weapon in disguise? And if it is, what will Lady Camilla do with it? And how did Doctor know about it? Pipi glanced at Sky and Barbie, who were talking to each other. The two women attacked Don? He chuckled. And he said ten strong, giant men ambushed him.

"Mr. Repairman," Barbie called, catching him admiring the wings. "Beautiful, eh?"

"Very much." Pipi reached for the goggles around his neck and wore them. He grabbed the broken wing and turned it around. Half of it hung as he raised it. "Doesn't look bad. Only a few missing bolts and nuts came off, that's all." He put it down.

"Are ya sure?" Sky asked.

"Positive." The wings had two propellers connected to the metallic box by bolts, screws, and nuts. "It won't take Pipi over twenty minutes to fix it. But it will cost you five extra silver coins."

"Five ex–"

"No problem," Barbie had intervened, before shaking her head at Sky.

Pipi opened his drawer and took out a mechanical set. "So, where did you find such a machine?"

"She stole it from a dumb thief," Barbie replied.

"Barbie!" Sky exclaimed. "Never tell strangers ya business. That's the number one code of Archaic."

Pipi chuckled. Even they know how dumb Don is. Such a tragic demise to his once exceptional thievery skills.

"Don't worry, Sky. I'm sure he won't tell anyone. Isn't that right, Mr. Repairman?" Barbie asked.

"Right," Pipi replied. "Let the thief suffer for his stupidity."

"See." Barbie faced Sky and smiled.

"It's you, the one Old Man Booty told me about." The three of them turned to see Don staring at them. "Give me back my wings, now!" he ordered the mercenary.

Sky had glanced between Don and Pipi before setting her gaze on the latter. "Ya were stalling us this whole time?" She pulled out her guns and pointed at the two men. "Hands up!" she shouted, and the two obeyed. "What did ya think would happen here? Catch us off guard and take away my prize?"

"Your prize?" Don scoffed.

"Yes, for rescuing ya," Sky said.

"Rescuing me? You stole it from me. And Pipi wasn't stalling you. He didn't even know you were the one who stole the wings from me. But since you're here, can I please have them back? I said, please."

"No."

While Don distracted Sky and Barbie with his loud mouth, Pipi walked back to his desk. He put his hand inside the drawer and grabbed Shocker A, but he couldn't pull it out and shoot them. Sky was a trained killer; she would see his attack coming.

It was a good thing he had all kinds of weapons hidden all over the apartment.

"I'm sorry, but we need those wings more than you two," Pipi said, then pressed a button under the desk. A large magnet dropped from the ceiling and attracted everything made of metal.

The pain in Pipi's stump was excruciating as the magnet pulled his mechanical. But he fought through it, standing his ground. Once the guns were out of Sky's hands, he pressed the button again, and the magnet retreated into the ceiling.

Pipi aimed Shocker A at the women and said, "A confession is good for your soul but bad for your career." Then he shot them.