In the gritty, dark alleyways of Ivrego is where the sickest of criminals could be found. Harsh, labored breathing comes from a street-hardened brute as he hefts his top-heavy body past a cloaked stranger, completely ignoring their presence.
A flick of a gold coin is all it takes to nab the stranger's attention. Instantly, their form winks to life, head tilted up to the brute that had ignored them.
"Ya'got somethin' shiny there, huh? Unusual," a small voice squeaks underneath the cloak.
"If you trust me with that, I can guarantee I'll double, no-- quintuple what you have there. Whaddaya say?"
A proposition-- it seems shady, but it grabs his attention nonetheless. The stranger finally turns to the other, letting out a low, threatening huff. "You're one of those folk," he rumbles low and agitated. "Move along, pipsqueak." He instinctively reaches a massive hand over, batting the eager figure aside with frustration. Nearly a fourth his size, the stranger was easily batted away by the brute easily with a soft yelp. Their hood comes free for just a moment, revealing a pristine, white coat of fur. However, just as quickly as it was shown, the cloak was pulled over their head again to hide it.
Nonetheless, the brute noticed this anyway. His beady eyes contract into a narrow squint, eyes focused on this baby-sized oddball.
"You're clean. Different. You must not be from here, huh?"
With a pearly smile, the miniature smooth-talker dances atop its dainty feet, scaling up across the rusted pipelines of the wall the two stood by.
"Most certainly, my dear," the small one replies with a sing-song in their voice.
The brute's face contorted in contemplation. Clean. pristine. Untouched by the street life. Trustworthy after all, he muses. After a bit of hesitation, he finally agrees.
"Aye. I'll give you my coin-- but I expect exactly quintuple, as you said." He held the coin in thick fingers, revealing the gleaming-yet-dark surface mostly obscured by the size of two of his digits.
The stranger chimed in quickly after, thrilled.
"Awright! I got some good news for you."
They open their cloak, slowly at first-- then suddenly, it flips open, and five similar coins fall forth, each one-third the size of the generous stranger. It was a wonder how they kept them concealed-- but the astonished brute didn't think about that. He was too focused on the riches before him, beady eyes set agleam from the more-than-doubling of his current money. With greedy hands, he scooped them up, leaving a coin for this odd, but seemingly generous stranger.
"You a real savior," he replies with a snaggle-toothed grin. "Gonna have some good pickings tonight."
"It is all my pleasure," the cloaked enigma sang, picking up the coin within small, thick-clawed hands. "With that, I will take my leave. Always a pleasure to see the poor get richer~" With a dainty spring in their step, the enigma danced away, leaving the now-rich street rat alone with his earnings. He paused to admire the sheen of the coins for a moment, running his digits over the shiny surface.
"Real money," he breathed softly, admiring his reflection in each coin. "Real money, hoo boy---!" He began to walk away as joyfully as the generous stranger had, with his riches close in hand.
Things seemed good for a while, until he paused to check his finds again. He watched in disbelief as the color slowly began to dull from each coin, leaving them simply as extravagantly carved wood discs. With an enraged grunt, he tossed them at the watery floor and yelled to the dark rooftops above.
He was duped by the infamous Ace.
---
Ace unfurled their cloak and reclined across the sofa, pleased with their work. After a bit of polishing, their latest, /real/ coin was as pristine as it had been when it was first made. They chuckled, tossing it into the air with a small grin.
"Always a pleasure to see the poor get richer," they repeated to them-self, amused. "Bah-- who woulda thought I would ever say such a thing, let alone mean it?"
The coin rested upon their palm at last, shiny surface mirroring the scammer who had nabbed it.
"Aint nothing better than finding another loser like that."
