Chapter Text
Reginald held tight to the airships controls, steering them in the direction of the museum that, according to one of the Toppat spies, was the location of the fabled Romanian Ruby, which was unearthed nearly two months ago. As soon as it was unveiled, Terrence Suave was already planning a raid to steal it. He could clearly remember his words from the meeting earlier this morning.
"Today, we will be stealing the Romanian Ruby. Reginald, you and one of my most skilled executives will be going after the Ruby itself, while me and some others will take the rest of the valuables."
Reginald usually wasn't assigned heists with other people, in fact, since he was just the airship's pilot, he rarely got sent on missions at all. A good thing as well, as those raids tended to be much more trouble than they were worth.
Although he wouldn't say it to his face, Terrence Suave was, by far, one of the worst leaders in Toppat Clan history. He didn't care about the money, the paperwork, or just the clan in general. All he cared about was the thrill of going on heists and being on the run, the constant heists and raids he organized often leaving his own underlings in the crosshairs.
Well, actually, he would gladly say it to his face, however, he would probably have him thrown overboard for it. Terrence didn't take it well when people criticized his inane desisions.
Reginald landed the airship a few miles away from their destination, so that they wouldn't get spotted, and prepared for the following raid.
~
Reginald looked at the museum, a building mostly made of stone with large windows. He then looked back at the man next to him, the man that he would be working with for this heist. He had red orange hair tied up in a ponytail and a matching colored mustache. He had a black hat that was larger than Reginald's, with a wide brim that curved up slightly at the front. He was also wearing a black vest over a long sleeved white button down, cuffed black jeans and grey shoes. He also appeared to be taller than Reginald.
"Alright, so here's the plan." Reginald told him. "We pretend to be window washers, and when no one is looking, we slip in through the window and directly into the room with the Ruby. Then we grab it, go back through the window, and get out of there with our getaway vehicle."
"That's...actually quite brilliant." The other said, in what seemed to be an Australian accent.
"Well, thanks! I made it myself." Reginald was flattered that he liked his plan, although at this point, anything would be better than Terrence's plan, which if he recalled correctly, was something along the lines of 'blow up a hole in the wall and steal all of the shiny things'.
They snuck up to the building, stealing some spare cleaning equipment and getting aboard the boom(the thing that window washers stand on when they're, y'know, washing windows), and beginning to wash the window.
"Why are you doing that?" Reginald asked, slightly confused.
"We 'ave to look convincing." The other reasoned.
"Oh, right." Reginald replied, spraying some cleaning fluid onto the window, before wiping it down. He looked left, and then right, and then unlocked the window, opening it and slipping inside, sticking a somewhat superhero landing.
"There it is!" Reginald said in a hushed whisper, now that the walls could make his voice echo. In the center of the room, there was the Romanian Ruby itself, held on a pedestal, nearly glowing in the pale moonlight. He took a step forward.
"Wait." The other man said, pulling out his spray bottle. He repeatedly sprayed it around, revealing thin red lasers that were surrounding where the ruby was. Of course there were lasers. It could never be that easy.
"Good thinking." Reginald said. He closely analyzed the lasers, looking for a way that he could weave through. After he found one, he adjusted his foot stance, before running straight towards the lasers.
He dived over the first laser, before moving into a roll to dodge the second. He then leapt over two more lasers, before twisting around another. He continued to dance his way through the lasers until he made it to the Ruby, where he turned around and took a bow.
Who's dance classes were a waste of time now, huh? Reginald thought to himself.
"That's 'mpressive n' all, but 'ow 'm I supposed to do that?!" Reginald's partner practically yelled.
"Well, I don't think you have too." He said. He walked over to a small panel on the wall, opening it and taking out a pair of pliers. He snipped one of the wires, and in the blink of an eye, all the lasers were gone.
Reginald and his partner carefully lifted the massive gemstone off of it's pedestal, making their way towards the window to make their escape.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of a muffled explosion from the other room, and flinched as the alarms started blaring. They both made their way out of the window, seeing museum guards rounding the corner.
"Freeze!" One of them yelled, pointing their gun at the two. They didn't, bolting towards their escape vehicle, as they heard gunshots firing at them.
"Ack!" Reginald exclaimed, as he felt a sharp burst of pain in his right ankle. He continued to run, feeling a stab of pain shoot up through his leg every time he felt his foot hit the ground. They made it to the getaway vehicle, Reginald hopping into the back while his partner got in the driver's seat, hotwiring it and driving off.
"You 'aight?" He asked, briefly turning to Reginald before looking back towards the road.
"I'm bleeding! I don't know about you, but I wouldn't say that's 'aight!" Reginald yelled, searching around for a first aid kit. But there wasn't any. In a moment of panic, he tore off the black ribbon wrapped around his gray top hat, taking off his shoe and wrapping the ribbon around the wound. It wasn't the best, but it'll at least stop it from bleeding everywhere.
He ducked as he heard more gunshots, as well as the sound of police sirens. Looking behind him, he saw that we where being chased by a police car, while the Terrence's team was making their getaway.
"We got company!" He yelled, as he pulled out his handgun, firing at their pursuers. He had managed to hit on of their tires, leaving them in the dust while his partner sped up, heading towards the airship.
~
"Those fucking bastards, why couldn't have they waited at least 5 more minutes!" Reginald complained. They had reached the airship's medbay, where Reginald's partner was tending to his injured foot.
"Terrence always has to be reckless when it comes to these heists. You're lucky that you didn't get killed or arrested or something." His partner said, wrapping a proper bandage around Reginald's ankle.
"If I were the leader, things would be so much more different." Reginald complained.
"Actually, that isn't a bad idea." His partner said.
"What?" Reginald said, clearly confused.
"You being the leader. You 'ad a pretty good plan back there, it only went 'rong when Terrence had to burst in. You could be a pretty good leader, or at least better than Terrence." He explained.
"That is true, although you did quite good on the mission as well. The thing with the spray bottle was well thought out. I think I will be looking forward to working with you, Mr...uh..." Reginald blanked. What was this guy's name again?
"Sorry, I don't think I've ever heard your name! I'm Reginald Copperbottom, pilot of the airship. What's your name?" He asked.
His partner grimly looked away. "I'd prefer not to say."
"Oh." He said. Many members of the clan went by nicknames instead of their actual birth names, for various reasons. Some of them prefer the anonymity it gives them, while some of them have had a bad history with their names, and prefer to go by something else, and some of them just like cool nicknames. "I can respect that."
The two stayed in silence as his partner finished up the cast. Reginald continued to think. Reginald Copperbottom, leader of the Toppat Clan. He liked that. It seemed...fitting, in a way. Like it's what he was made to do.
"Say, if I do become leader, would you consider being my Right Hand Man?" Reginald offered.
"Hmmm..." His partner pondered for a bit. "Sure, I'd like that. Right Hand Man. It has a nice ring to it."
"Well then, my Right Hand Man, let's see the spoils from our mission, shall w-" Reginald fell over as he tried to stand back up from the medical bed. Right. His foot was still in a cast. Almost forgot.
"Hey, be careful. Your foot's still broken. I'll go get some crutches." Right said, leaving the room.
He carefully got back up, sitting back on the medical bed. It was going to be pretty difficult, getting used to this.
~
He entered the meeting room, with Right at his side, seeing Terrence seated at the head of the table. Reginald's foot had healed enough to walk properly now, although not without difficulty. One glance at all of the other executives told him than they were all thinking the same thing.
Terrence had to go.