14. A Change of Identity

Brightman jumped at a sudden voice in the darkness of Wily’s fortress. He turned toward the feminine voice, ready to fight. “Doctor Wily warned me you’d be coming.” The lightbulb bearing master answered, “Trying to steal from my master while I’m on guard duty wasn’t your brightest idea, thief.”

A small chuckle. “Your master keeps many treasures he’s not worthy of.” Phantom Thief countered, “But for now I’m only here for one.”

Brightman growled quietly, trying in vain to see the hidden female. He grinned suddenly, “Master Wily hasn’t told us much about this ‘treasure’ you’re trying to get. Maybe you can shed some light on the situation!” The former Cossack number abruptly activated his weapon with a sharp laugh, both illumination the room and blinding his unwanted guest.

Said thief yelped in surprise, slipping from her perch in the scaffolding above her target and landing with a painful thump. The guard laughed again, the Flash Stopper was flicked off before immediately flicking back on. The Phantom shielded her eyes, blinded once again.

Brightman sent out a silent alarm to a few other Robot Masters. He was confident that he could handle the intruder himself, but Wily had been very clear in his instructions: no robot was to be left alone with her while she ran loose in his fortress.

The Phantom’s optics readjusted to the bright lights within a few seconds and she was on her feet, the black cloak she wore settling around her and hiding her figure, “Not a bad trick.” She begrudgingly complimented, “Underhanded, but it gets the job done I guess.”

The Wily ‘bot smirked. Both robots looked toward the door as it slid open, revealing the robots who had responded to the call; Protoman, Cutman, Gutsman, and Crystalman. Only Protoman did not have to wait to adjust to Brightman’s blinding attack; he strode into the room and fired at the trespasser without hesitation.

She jumped back, narrowly missing the blue energy blast, “Nice to see you too.” Phantom Thief smiled snidely.

Protoman returned the smile, “Same. You left without saying goodbye at our last get-together.”

“Yes, things did get a little crazy, didn’t they?” The fem-bot mused, “And I’m sorry, but I don’t have time to chat tonight either, I’ll just take what I came for and go.”

The red ‘bot leveled his buster at the intruder’s face, “Nah, the doc wants to have a little chat with you. He’s got an offer you won’t be able to refuse.”

The black-clad girl did not notice that the other robots had circled her until now, as she let her eyes wander to plan her escape. They had effectively trapped her. But of course, she was not without her own tricks. “You mean he’ll reprogram me?” She scoffed quietly, “I think I’ll pass, thank you.” She now looked at each robot circling her, each one looked deadly serious but if she could just find the weakest…

Given the company, the thief narrowed her options down to the ‘bot she had first met that night or Cutman. As she recalled from their encounters during the Chatnoir gems escapade, the scissor robot had been very easy to sneak up on. But Brightman had been taken out of the fight as soon as his lightbulb had been smashed.

And Brightman had used Flash Stopper on her and made her fall…

’Brightman it is.’ she decided. Phantom Thief dashed toward her target, she narrowly avoided a shot by Crystalman as she dashed. With a quick jump and a swift kick, the master’s lightbulb shattered, seeming to send Brightman into a dizzy spell and he toppled to the ground.

“Damnit, Brightman!” Protoman cursed, firing at the thief as she exited the circle and darted toward her quarry, “Don’t just stand there!” He shouted at the bewildered henchmen, “Shoot her!”

“Bye bye, boys~” Phantom Thief cooed, snatching her target as she passed and escaped into a connecting hallway.

The robot masters snapped from their shock and fired at the fleeing thief, though she was quickly out of range.

“Get her!” the red robot shouted

Cutman was the first to give chase, “I’ll go cut her off!” he said, laughing at his own pun. The remaining robots followed suit but had to come to an abrupt halt as the door slammed shut, Cutman had narrowly avoided being crushed, whether he realized it or not.

OoOoO

Cutman’s run slowed as he neared the end of the hallway; at its end was an open room. The room itself was empty; just an extra storage area for when Wily’s failed plans and devices filled the other rooms.

Of course, the door was usually closed, just like the others in the hall, so it was not hard to figure out where the black-clad thief had gone.

Cautiously, Cutman looked into the room, it was almost completely dark save for a few dim overhead lights that would occasionally blink out before popping back on. On the far end of the room was Phantom Thief, looking for another way out of the windowless room. She turned to face him as he entered.

Even in the dim light, he could make out the amused smile on her masked face. “Oh, it’s you. I’m glad you were the one to come; I was just telling Brightman about Wily keeping thinks he shouldn’t.” she giggled, her flirty wink barely visible in the dark room “You’re one treasure I’d love to steal~.”

The comment gave the Wily ‘bot a bit of a start. He might have even blushed if he had the ability; flattery and flirty remarks were not things any robot under Wily’s command was used to receiving. “Sh-Shut up…!” he shot back, “If you’re trying to get past me, flattery ain’t gonna cut it!”

He was surprised yet again at a giggle from the thief, “You’re pretty punny.”

“Eheh…eheh…” the orange robot could not help but laugh, the pun had caught him off guard. He quickly composed himself before glaring at the grinning thief. “It’s no use trying to distract me; you’re going to Wily one way or another.” He took a threatening step forward. The other robot did not even flinch.

A conversation he had had with his younger brother sprang to his mind suddenly; after their first encounter with the mysterious thief, they had discussed using her enamorment with the former timber-felling robot to earn Wily’s good graces. Granted, at the time the idea had been a joke, but now…maybe it was not such a bad idea.

After all, of Wily’s three favorite henchmen, he was the only one who was in any real danger of being scrapped; Protoman had been built by Wily himself, no way would he destroy him. And Wily had taken a liking to Gutsman, modeling several lower tech robots after him. Being the thief’s reason for staying could save Cutman as well. She would not even have to deal with whatever issues would arise with reprogramming.

This in mind, the robot master continued his approach at a less threatening clip, even attempting a flirty smile. “You know…we don’t get many girls around here.”

“Yes, I noticed.” Phantom Thief answered, not moving an inch as Wily’s orange henchman approached.

“And…well…you’re sort of cute.”

“…”

The henchman’s smile widened, “And I know how you feel about me.” For the first time, the thief looked away, focusing her attention anywhere but on the orange robot. She shuffled back a few steps, hitting the wall behind her. Cutman did not stop his advance until he was directly in front of her. He rested a hand on the wall next to the thief’s head, the other was clenched at his side; ’One good blow to the head and she’ll be out cold.’ he thought. “Personally, I wouldn’t mind you hanging around. Hell, I’d be the first robot around here with a girlfriend.”

The thief girl’s head snapped back up, her back completely hitting the wall behind her as she once again attempted to move back. “G-girlfriend?!” She yipped in sudden pain as an orange fist made contact with her head; the intention had been to strike the fem-bot’s head while she was looking down. However, her sudden movement forced a change of target. All Cutman had done was knock the Phantom Thief’s mask off and send it skidding across the ground.

It is odd how something as simple as a mask could change one’s look completely; Since their first encounter, Cutman could guess the thief was designed to look like a human, he could clearly see her green eyes behind the mask, her synthetic white skin, platinum blonde hair, there was so little hidden by that unassuming black mask, yet seeing the Phantom Thief’s face without….she seemed different somehow. He and the others under Wily’s command could have seen her thousands of times and possibly never put together who she was.

But even with the mask on, he could have understood she was now angry. The lumberjack took a cautious step back, “U-Um, sorry, I was—” The attention of both was drawn back to the door as a loud Boom! shook the hallway, followed by voices of the other robot masters.

Cutman looked back to the intruder as footsteps made their way toward him, but he found he was the only one in the room; all that remained of the humanoid robot was her mask lying several feet away from him.

The other Masters burst in, ready and willing to fight. However, their enthusiasm quickly fell seeing that only one robot remained in the room. Protoman’s buster retreated to reform his hand, “Where’d she go?” he demanded of the DLN.

He shook his head, “I…I don’t know. I looked away for just a second and she was gone!”

“Damn it!” The red robot snarled, stalking farther into the room, “And I bet she got exactly what she came for too…” A quick glance around confirmed this. He cursed again; he knew he would catch hell from Wily for this; luring the thief there had been his idea. As had been the choice of bait. ’Not that it matters…just a stupid gem anyway.’ the red ‘bot thought to himself. Still, no one liked to be on the receiving end of Wily’s wrath. Past his visor, he suddenly noticed the fallen mask in the darkened room. He picked up the item and held it before his orange brother. “What’s this?” He demanded.

“It’s her mask…” Cutman answered, glancing away, “I tried knocking her out, but ended up knocking off the mask instead…” He was quick to jump to his own defense, “But…but I saw her face! I know exactly what she looks like! We can use that, can’t we? To find her again?”

The older DLN pondered the statement, turning the featureless black mask over in his hands, “Maybe…no doubt she’ll go into hiding for a while after this…but yeah, I think we’ll find some use for it.”

He turned and left the room, off to report what had happened to his master. Sure, the trap had been a bust, but not a total loss; for once Cutman had done something right and could identify her. And they could always keep a sharp eye out for another item that would catch the thief’s interest. He could catch her then…and sure, getting a stealthy ‘bot on their side would do wonders for Wily’s plans, but the red robot had a settle to score with the fem-bot; their first encounter had not ended in Proto’s favor and he was none too happy about it.

OoOoO

The Phantom browsed an assortment of masks in a costume store; in street clothes no one seemed to realize who she was, so had no fear of being discovered. The blonde was still upset about the Wily ‘bot playing with her feelings and stealing her mask, but in a way she was glad she lost the mask; she had been looking for a reason to change her style and a new mask was a good first step.

Then one mask caught her attention; the only one of its kind, set on the face of a head mannequin. It resembled her old mask in respect to style and color, but small black feathers adorned the edges of the mask near its eyes and the molded nose protruded just a touch longer than the rest of the mask, seeming almost like a small beak.

The thief’s mind already being to formulate her newest costume and best of all, she had her new name: “I think…Magpie will be a good name.”