An adventure destined to spawn way more problems than it was planned to fix.
Maple Tremblay and Enoki Ramirez have had just about enough of magic school and hit the road. They're not sure where they're going, but with Maple's fire magic and Enoki's...
"You know," pointed out Mr. Lefebvre, "Someday, they might encode police phone calls. I don't have a staff anymore, but until then, I'll have just a good a chance as anyone at figuring these things out."
"Y-You had a staff?" asked Felix, trying to keep the conversation up. The silence was literally killing him.
"That's where you met mom, oui?"
"Yes, I did! Now, we're coming up on the main shopping center in Montbéliard – keep your eye out for the license plate we heard on the radio, and I'll remind you if you forget, Felix."
They pulled the car into the lot, cruising along at five kilometers an hour. The three had their noses right next to the glass, scanning for the license plate of the stolen vehicle. Much to their shock, it was only about five minutes before it came up.
"DAD! DAAAD, LOOK!"
"Hmm?"
"THERE IT IS! On... a minivan?"
"Beggars can't be choosers when you're a car thief. Let's park and take a look."
They found a nearby spot and parked the car. Climbing out, they walked over and began to inspect the vehicle. It didn't look like it was stolen – all the windows were intact, the doors were locked, nothing was out of the ordinary on the inside.
"Are you sure we heard the plate right?" suggested Felix.
"Felix, Felix, Felix..." sighed Mr. Lefebvre. "I don't forget things like this. I never let myself forget things like this. This is correct. You could bet your everlasting soul on it."
"E-Everlasting soul?"
"We're Tieflings," laughed Coralie, "We like to say funny things like that."
"F-Funny things, sure, right, yes."
"Can I help you?" asked a very shaggy orc, stepping up to the vehicle with his family not far behind.
"Yes," began Mr. Lefebvre. "Is this car stolen?"
"No!" he answered, "What do you mean?"
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive."
Mr. Lefebvre used his interrogation face.
The orc stepped back. "I promise!!"
"Alright. Is this your license plate?"
He stared at it. "I... No, no it isn't. We're from the Illinois. That says Carolina. I can prove it, I have my driver's license-"
"No need," interrupted Mr. Lefebvre. "We have reason to believe that a stolen car was here, and that the owners swapped out your license plates. You are going to want to inform the police before they pull you over and give you a ticket."
"Oh... Thank you, sir."
He stared into his eyes like, well, a demon. "What was your previous license plate number?"
"That's confidential information."
"I need it."
"Uh- ...like heck you need it, you're not the police. Thank you for helping, but I'm not going to just give my personal information to-"
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The orc shivered. "Bon! Fine! My license plate number was... uh... UIL-6...59, I think."
"Good. Don't tell the police."
"Why not?"
He grinned again. "They'll find it out eventually, but we want a head start."
The orc got his family in the car as fast as was possible, and the three had to step out of the way to avoid being hit as he bolted out of the parking lot.
"Excellent. We'll run your plate to be sure." Then, he looked to Felix and Coralie. "Our work is done. Let's go get a snack. I'll call in a favor from some old friends and we'll get this new plate tracked."
Coralie lightly hit Felix on the shoulder, squealing. "Isn't my dad so heckin' cool?"
