Pawn Shop / Thief's Home, No Questions Asked

[Thief]

[I know, triple post. I just want to try and get something going here. :P Anyway, to the next day...]

It was a bright and sunny day outside, and Thief was tending to the pawn shop by himself. He had a sign in the front window saying "Help Wanted; Apply Within", as he was taking Cat's advice and looking for someone who could travel around and spread the word about the shop. Though no one had come in hoping to get the job yet, he did get a modest number of customers so far, and a few of them had mentioned that some of the prices that he put on certain items were too high. Since Thief was still relatively new to the business, he went ahead and lowered prices to more reasonable levels after Kupek went out and verified such prices at a couple other shops.

At this time, Kupek was out taking care of some personal business, and there were no customers there at the moment, so Thief was alone in the shop. With the radio on, he was reading the newspaper to pass the time. It seemed like another typical day.

But suddenly, someone came storming into the shop. Thief looked over, put the paper down, and stood up, wondering what this was about. This person had mostly black clothing, was wearing black gloves, and had a mask on to hide his face. And as he stormed towards the counter, he pulled out a gun and aimed it right at the elf.

"Alright, give me all your money!" the stranger said. "Open that register and hand over the money! And don't try any funny stuff, or I swear, I'll put a bullet in your head!"

Thief froze. This was the first time he ever had to deal with being robbed, and he had only been here for a couple of weeks! He wasn't sure what he should do, especially since the robber had that gun pointed right at him. He couldn't reach for his weapons, since they were under the counter. He considered using a spell, but if the robber saw his hand glowing, he'd likely shoot before the spell would hit. It was becoming apparent to Thief that he should have been more prepared for something like this.

"Well?" the robber said. "Don't just stand there! Open the register and give me all your cash!"

[Sephiroth]

The door opened again, the bell releasing a subdued jingle. Another man in black entered the shop. Unlike the first, however, he had no mask; instead favouring long silver hair that framed his face and swayed behind him like a cape. As soon as he saw the situation at the counter, he raised his left hand. A long -- a very long -- one-edged, curved sword materialised there.

"Hmph ... It's been a long time ... since I played the hero." His voice was cool and undisturbed, as if he'd just walked into a garden party and was commenting on the weather. "But I can't let such stupidity go."

[Thief]

The robber looked behind him when he heard the voice, while keeping the gun aimed at Thief. He was surprised to see a silver-haired man apparently wielding a rather long sword. He was seriously freaked out by this, but he also became concerned that if he were to focus his attention on this guy, the shop owner could try something himself. Being outnumbered, the masked criminal thought quickly.

I gotta do something... Okay, not much time, better improvise.

"You wanna be a hero?" the robber asked. "Then save this!"

With that, in a seemingly desperate move, he quickly looked back at Thief, aimed the gun at his left thigh, pulled the trigger, then turned back around and pointed his weapon at the silver-haired man.

---

Thief remained still as someone else came in. He wasn't sure what to think at first, since this person also wore black, and had somehow made one long sword appear in his hand. But when the man mentioned playing the hero, the elf became relieved. He was glad to see that someone seemed to notice the situation and decided to do something about it.

But the relief didn't last long. With one blast of the robber's gun, Thief suddenly felt a whole world of pain as the bullet entered his left thigh. He let out an "AGH!", and the shot caused him to collapse to the ground. Thief was now clutching his thigh, laying behind the counter in pain. As he laid there, unable to see what was happening now, he hoped that the silver-haired man would be able to handle the situation, and maybe get some help for him afterwards.

[Sephiroth]

Sephiroth stepped forward as the robber looked back at the clerk for an instant. He charged a Bolt spell from the materia in Masamune's hilt, and when the criminal looked back, the hilt shimmered with electricity.

"He had better not be dead," the silver-haired man commented, as he released the spell. The blue-white arc shot out, targeted at the gun and the hand that held it. "There are some things I need to buy."

[Thief]

Though the silver-haired man already looked dangerous enough, the robber didn't quite expect electricity to be shot out at him. The arc struck his hand, giving him quite the shock. It also sent his gun flying from his hand, and it landed behind the counter, though it landed outside of Thief's reach. The robber held his shocked hand with his other hand, slumping down onto his knees as he was feeling really shaken up by the attack.

"You... You..."

The robber couldn't believe that his plan to rob the store was being foiled like this. And this was making him so angry, that it became hard for him to think straight. As such, he got the idea to try and tackle the silver-haired man. So, the robber pushed himself up and dove at the man's midsection, attempting to take him down.