Nicholas and the Phantom Thieves (MF/M)

[Chris12]

''We interupt this program for breaking news. The sun stone, the crown jewel of the Soleil history museum has been stolen. Reports say that suspicious American tourists were seen on the scene of the crime''

''Well we know one thing. At least it can't have been you, mister Houdini'' I grinned down at the blonde before my feet.

My name is Nicholas. I'm French, fourteen years old and I see people get tied up and gagged a LOT! Mostly my best friend Tyler. He and my cousin haaate each other(or so they claim) so I get to see Ty get tied up by a little kid all the time. I don't mind. He's kind of a cutie and always makes a big scene about it.

''Hrmmmf! Hlmmh mhm! Hlmmmhm!'' Tyler mewled loudly. My friend lay hogtied before the tv in his living room, squirming and moaning pitifully on the carpet. His gag was kinda funny. An apple had been shoved in his mouth and remained pressed in place by two strips of tape that formed an x mark over Tyler's mouth ''Mmmh! Nmlms! Hlmmh mmmmh!'' he moaned louder when seeing me walk over to his feet.

''Coochie coochie coo....who's the ticklish little blondie'' I giggled and since I started tickling his bare feet Tyler was giggling with me.

''Heehemmh! mmmh! ehehemmh! stmmmmh!'' My pall squealed in his typical wimpy way ''MMMH! Nmmh! plmmh ehemmmh! MMMMMMMH!''

''Oh allright.....lets see what you have to say'' With a wide smile on my face I marched back to the front of Tyler and pulled away the tape. Tyler wasted no time spitting out the apple.

''Ah! N-nick! Please!....l-lemme out! B-before he's back! PLEASE!'' Tyler begged which was wise. Jules was a terror to have as a warden. Oh how Tyler cries his eyes out when my cousin had free reign over him for too long.

''What's the magic word?'' I wondered with no small amount of cheek.

''Atomic wedgie!'' Tyler responded in a huff. He liked to think he was the one who wore the pants in this friendship, that he could make me fall in line. This of course meant I had to show the American his place from time to time. As such I moved to put the apple back in this big mouth of his.

''PLEASE! The magic word is please! Just let me gooooooo!'' Tyler started to scream with his eyes nervously darting across the room to see if Jules would return. I considered this an acceptable surrender and started freeing him.

''Urgh...t-thanks Nick'' Tyler mumbled when he was a free man. After rubbing his sore wrist he started flashing a devious grin at me. And then he grabbed me, just like how I grabbed him.

As best friends forever we wasted no time embracing each other and pulled an arm around each other's shoulder.

''Soooo....what happened?'' I asked him. It was quite annoying. Tyler invited me to come over as per usual but I had been ringing the doorbell for minutes without anyone answering. Now I'm somewhat of an adventurous lad so my mind wondered. Where my best friend and his nice mom tied up and gagged in the living room at the mercy of some dastardly villain? Was that why they didn't open the door. Kinda! At least Tyler was tied up, and my Jules makes one heck of a villain! But nothing as interesting as thieves holding my best friend captive and me having to barge in as his knight in shining armor. What a pity. Though the tv says there ARE thieves in the village!

Oh? How did I get into the house if Tyler didn't open the door? Easy! I know where he hides the key! (Oh yeah. I suppose Tyler usually tells these tales doesn't he? Well this time its me telling the story. Don't worry. Tyler's fine. He's just um....tied up at the moment. Hehehe....get it?)

''Jules happened! I defeated him in Super Smash brothers and then that BRAT said I had cheated! A...and everything went black after that!'' Tyler growled. I pushed aside his blonde bangs and I indeed saw the word ''cheater!'' written on his forehead with a marker ''So now you're here....wanna help me get payback? Tyler smiled pleadingly at me. Oh how could I say no when he was like that.

''Only if you're merciful to him. Only tickling as punishment'' I decreed before agreeing. Jules might deserve some discipline but more of a gentle touch than a firm hand. I-is its not like scared of what he'll do to me if I ever got firm or anything! ''Where is our Jman now?''

''He said he went to swim in the pool'' Tyler grumbled. So to the garden we went where we indeed found Jules. Dressed in purple swimming trunks and a shirt the little tyke was on a chair, sleeping softly as he enjoyed the summer sun.

''Ha! He's making it rather easy for us, huh Ty?'' just a matter of sneaking up on him and grabbing him while he slept.

Tyler grinned and showed me a role of tape ''You grab him....I'll do the tying! Its payback time!''

We sneaked over to the sleeping boy and lunched over him ''Okay....one....two....THREE!''

''HRMMMH! GRMMMMMMMMH!'' I instantly covered the boy's mouth with my hand and started dragging him off the chair towards the gloating Tyler.

''Ha! Got you, you little brat!'' Tyler cheered ''What's that? No insults now huh? No kick in the groin now? We've GOT you!'' It was true. With my hand over his mouth Jules could only angrily scream and while he had a terrifying amount of ways to get the best of us he was still rather small. Now I had my Jman in a grip he wasn't likely to break out.

''Hmmmmh! Lmmh mmh gmmh! MMMMMMMMH!'' Jules shouted and wildly shook around to try and get out of my grip. I might be rather small too! But at least I can hold a 12 year old!

''Okay Tyler! Tie him. C'mon. Wrap his hand. Tape his mouth shut'' In instructed.

''Oh Jules. Do you have any idea what trouble you're in! I've got so much things I wanna do to you'' Tyler proceeded to gloat. Ugh. He could be such a drama queen.

''Ty! Go tie him'' I repeated and started to become nervous. Jules was a smart lad. Giving him time to think of an escape wasn't a good idea.

''So be a good boy and apologize and I may be merciful. Ehehehe'' Tyler chuckled and started ruffling my cousin's hair. I heard some annoyed muffles come from my cousin and I believed the words ''screw you'' were mumbled.

''Tyler stop goofing off a-eeeeeep!'' Suddenly Jules dug his teeth deep into my hand ''J-jman! Ow! Can you NOT!?'' I peeped and was forced to let go. This hurt! It hurts a lot in fact!''

''Uh-oh'' Tyler had just enough time to see what was coming ''AAAAAAAAAAAAH!'' he screamed out when Jules punched him straight in the groin....again.

''J-jules! What are you...JULES!'' with both me and Tyler stunned Jules shoved Tyler into me and we both fell into the pool together. Jules pointed and laughed before dashing off.

''.......you're terrible, Ty'' I pouted. My clothes were completely soaked!

''......Oh shut it Nick'' Ty pouted straight with me. We had suffered defeat....again.

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'We interrupt this program for breaking news. The thieves of the Soleil sun stone are still at large. Must those damned yanks ruin everything!''

''You know.....you Frenchies are quite rude'' Tyler huffed. After our little bath we were in front of the tv again. Considering my clothes were soaking wet I now had to make due with some of Tyler's clothes. Blue swimming trunks and an equally blue jacket. I was bare chested underneath the jacket. Tyler was a tad bigger so finding clothes that fit was hard!

''Or we're just correct! You do have this weird habit of touching everything when WE go to a museum!'' I reminded the blonde.

''I can't help it!'' Tyler just huffed some more ''Now where's Jules? Ugh when I get my hands on him....''

''He fled into town'' I had seen him run out of Tyler's garden and into the streets. That was half an hour ago ''Kinda concerning if you ask me'' that the little lad ran off was understandable. That he stayed gone was worrying. Normally he just hid so he could jump from a hiding space and nab Tyler when I wasn't looking. But so far that hadn't happened. Jules seemed to really be gone. I found it weird. Yeah we were ''hunting'' him but Jman wouldn't be scared by this. He absolutely didn't fear Tyler and he knew there was nothing to fear from me. I dote on my Jman quite a bit!

More time passed and I became concerned. Why didn't he come back? ''You know what Ty? I'm gonna look for him'' Keeping Jules safe was my duty after all. And keep people safe from Jules was my duty too! chances were that someone had annoyed Jules and that he was doing terrible things to that person now!

''Kay. Call me if things get....you know'' Tyler said more seriously ''I'll be there in a Jiffy''

''Thanks mate! Well....be seeing you then!'' I briefly put my cheek against Ty's as a parting gesture before leaving. I had a lil Jman to find!

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Its easy to look for people in Soleil. The village has about ten houses and five citizens so you're done pretty fast! Yet I didn't have such a fast time finding Jules. And he wasn't picking up his phone. That bothered me.

None of my neighbors seemed to know where the little lad was either. That bothered me. Eventually I came across two people. A cute blonde little lady. 17 perhaps? Very petite with innocent blue eyes. And wow! The other one was a cute little lad! Also about 17, not as small as the other one, just as pretty eyes. Kinda made me blush ''H-hello ma'am. Mister. May I ask you something''?

The two proceeded to look at me very confused. A dimwitted little expression as if they didn't have a clue what I was saying ''Oooooh! You're tourists!'' I smiled. On reflection the luggage Trolley the boy was hauling around made that rather clear ''Excuse me very much. I'll speak english. Hello ma'am, mister. May I ask you something?'' I repeated in quite perfect English. What? Surprised a Frenchman knows English? I'm not your ordinary Frenchman. I'm a hip and cultured Frenchman! In fact that's what I told this duo when I saw them looking very surprised.

''Oh! Oh what a polite little man! Heehee!'' The girl started to giggle. I was taller than she was but she seemed nice so I kept that to myself ''Of course! We'll help you if we can, right brother?''

''Y-yeah sis!'' The boy seemed a bit shy and took a step behind his sister. D'aaaw.

''Thanks a lot ma'am! Mister'' I bowed politely to the both of them ''Let me guess...American?'' The way they spoke English wasn't quite the Queen's English. More the Ty's English. Its a tad less refined y'know ''And let me guess again....New York!'' they spoke quite like Tyler.

''Oh what a knowledgeable little man!'' The girl was absolutely delighted by me and started pinching my cheek ''Such a clever lil thing!'' again, I'm bigger than she is but she was into me so.....hey I'll let it slide!

''Impressive...y-yeah' the boy mumbled ''Yeah its true. We're from New York. Now....can we help you?''

''I hope so. Have you seen a boy around? Kinda small? In swimming trunks and with hair that covers his eyes?'' It was a good thing Jules had such a peculiar hairstyle. If one say the boy then they'd be able to recall so. The teens in front of me sure seemed to recall something. The boy gulped and the lady nearly jumped up in shock.

''N-no...not at all'' The girl peeped. Her brother managed to hide it better!

''Yes we did see such a boy. He was running off. To the beach I believe. He said he wanted some alone time'' the boy answered.

''I.....see'' I found the lady's reaction to be odd. And needing alone time? That didn't sound like my Jules. In fact if he got upset then he'd get clingy. It was strange but....its not like these two would do any harm? Well, perhaps the girl would cuddle Jules to death. She seemed on the verge of hugging me at least ''Okay. Thank you very much. I'll look at the beach then and....''

''mmmmh....'' I heard an ever so soft muffle.

''What was that?'' I asked. That sounded like....'

''Oh! S-sorry. I was moaning. J-jetlag and such...'' the boy quickly said

''HRRMMMMMH! NMMMHLMMMH!'' suddenly a very loud scream and some kicks rang into my ears. It came from the luggage trolley! This time both siblings jumped up in shock.

'okay I don't know WHAT is going on here but you'll release my cousin right now!'' I roared. I might be a ''polite little man'' as the lady says it but no one touches my Jman! ''I'll have you know my uncle is the police chief of this town!'' and the only policeman of this town but these clowns didn't need to know that ''So release him NOW! or you'll be in real trouble!''

''Okay. Okay. There's no need to get the police involved. Just clam down and we'll explain'' the boy addressed me calmly.

''Indeed my darling. Just follow us. And don't make a scene'' The girl said at which I just froze. She had managed to sneak behind me while my gaze had been at her brother. And in her hand....was a gun, a gun she shoved into by back ''start walking lil man'' she said while pressing herself close together to me. If anyone saw the two of us my body would obscure the gun! This was bad! bad! bad!

''I...argh you won't....'' I groaned but I had little choice. At her command I started walking after the boy, with his sister making sure I didn't go anywhere. This was bad! bad! BAD! What did these teens even want? And what would they do to Jules and me?

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Fate is a funny thing isn't it? They forced me to walk to their hotel, which was actually a vacation house rented by my uncle. The same uncle who's son and nephew his tenants had now kidnapped. It was also the same vacation home where I first met Tyler. At the time the poor thing had been ambushed, bound and tortured by Jules. Well! At least Ty could appreciate the irony if he saved me here! Which he would. Oh, I didn't doubt that for a second.

''Sit down darling'' The girl ''invited'' me to sit on one of the chairs.

''You're going to tie me up?'' I guessed but still sat down to avoid the wrath of her pistol.

''Clever lad. You are SO clever'' She giggled and pinched my cheeks in a way that might be affectionate if not for the frigin GUN! ''Yes. Yes we are going to tie you, my little man'' Her brother took a coil of rope and looped them around my frame and the chair to tie me to it. Of course my wrists were pulled behind my back and bound first, and my ankles got tied for good measure.

''Now....as for the boy you mentioned'' The girl kicked open the Trolley. Inside was Jules. Now you'd think a boy would not fit inside a Trolly....and you'd be right! My Jules was inside but even for a boy as small as he it was NOT a comfortable fit. I imagined he'd be sore for the next few days. His mouth was sealed with silver duct tape but he didn't seem to be bound. I found this very strange. Jules was no meek prisoner. Even with a gun pressed on his head he'd have tore of his tape gag to shout. And there was this weird look in his eyes. A drowsy expression on his face, exhaustion all over his face and bloodshot eyes. Jules wasn't in a state to remove his gag. He wasn't even in a state to scream! That singular loud scream was all he must have been capable off.

''What have you DONE to him!?'' I roared. This was not normal and if this was permanent I....I...

''Relax sweetie. He's just tired. We kinda had to knock him out with Chloroform'' The girl smiled while stroking my hairs. Another kick and Jules fell out of the Trolley. Along with a beautiful crystal stone. One with a big crack in it. The sunstone!

''Like in the movies.....cool'' I said but less exited than i'd have been if my Jules wasn't the one knocked out ''And that's the sunstone....you stole it. And Jules found out about it, so you abducted him''

''Not so much finding out as blindly running into us'' Said the blonde boy ''And then I um....dropped the stone''

''And THEN he found out!'' The girl giggled ''I mean....at that point we HAD to push a soaky chloroform rag on his mouth! He'd have screamed otherwise. Heck I saw him open that big mouth when I aimed my gun at him! So for all involved it was just better if the lil dear went to sleep''

''hrrm......nnh'' Jules didn't seem to agree but was too tired to say it.

''A stolen treasure....chloroform...a kidnapped boy. Who are you? Y-you're just kids!'' I couldn't believe those two could have done any of this.

''Ehe....ehehehe'' The boy got a wicked smile on his face ''I'm glad you asked. Shall we sister?''

''Oh yes, dear brother'' The girl grinned and took her brother's hand. Jointly they struck a supremely DORKY pose that would make even Tyler blush.

''We are the master thief! The one with thousand plans in the making!'' The girl just beamed with pride.

''We are the master thief! With all the treasure for the taking!'' The previously meek boy didn't seem quite so meek now.

They struck a second, even dorkier pose.

''I'm Arsene!'' the boy declared and impressively seemed to fetch a white top had out of nowehere which he put on his head.

''And I'm Lupin!'' The girl declared with him, now with a monocle on her eye!

''So cool...I mean evil!'' I had to shake my head to get rid of my awestruck eyes and hanging mouth ''Quick question though. If you're a pair of master thieves THEN WHY DON'T YOU KEEP IT TO YOURSELF!!!!!!'' this was exactly the sort of information that made villains ''get rid off you'' for!

''......good point'' Arsene gulped ''He....um has seen our faces''

''....and knows we've got the stone. Oh dear....'' Lupin winched ''Oh well. We'll be out of this STUPID country soon anyway. Just one more treasure hunt in Lumiere(our neighboring village) and we're out of here''

'''Well....guess you two just have to stay in this cabin until we're done. And hope someone eventually finds you''

''E-eventually! um...um....y-you think I'll sit tight here!'' No way I would sit in this cabin for days! And I knew for a fact that my uncle did't clean these places as much as he should. Meaning we might die of thirst before we were found.

''Yeah. Yeah I think you'll sit tight'' Lupin said and raised the gun ''We can solve this little problem the hard way or....'' She put her gun off safety mode
*gulp!*

''I um....discovered the overwhelming urge to calm down....ehehehe....'' I giggled nervously.

''I know....because you're a smart cookie'' Lupin smiled sweetly at me ''Such a smart cute little lad'' she took out a roll of duct tape.

''Lady! I'm taller than you a-mmmmh!'' I said until a strip of tape was shoved on my mouth. It wasn't put there all too well so I pushed it out with my tongue ''You won't get away with this! My friend's gonna come you know! And he'll MMMMMMH!'' This time Arsene gagged me, much more effectively placing a strip of tape on my mouth and looping the roll around my head until my mouth was sealed by several layers of tape ''Mmmmh! mmmmmh!'' I whined. Next to me I could see a second chair being placed. Jules was put on it and got tied just as I was.

''Don't worry dear. We're not going to hurt you. We're master thieves. Not killers'' Lupin promised and kissed my cheek ''So behave and nothing will happen to you or the little one''

''And if you don't behave a lot will happen to you and the little one'' Arsene added which made me gulp. I just realized I d-didn't like guns very much!

''Sister! Lets go!'' Arsene suddenly decreed

''Yes brother!'' she took his hand ''Another pair of little snoops!'' *insert dorky pose*

''Silenced by!'' Arsene yelled *step, step, twirl*

''The mighty Phantom Thieves!'' The twins cried out and transitioned in a second pose.

''Hmmmh!'' Perhaps the amount of dork in that declaration shot Jules awake because suddenly his eyes widened ''MMMMH! he gasped ''MMMH!'' he looked at me and gasped louder, then at his bonds and gasped again before looking a the thieves ''GRMMMMMMH! LMMH MMH GMMH! HRMMH MMMF MMMMMMMMMMMMH!''

''Oh dear oh dear....''Lupin took out a cloth ''Such a loud one. Not at all like you, little dear'' she smiled at me. Meanwhile Arsene took out a bottle and poured it on the cloth.

''HRRMMH! NOOMMMH! NMMH! HMMMMMMMMMMH!'' Jules went berserk upon seeing the cloth and I couldn't blame him. That cloth surely triggered some unpleasant memories ''HRMMMH! MMMMMH!....mmmmmm!....nommh!.....mh....nmh.....mf.....m.....m....m...........'''' the cloth was pushed on his nose and eventually Jules started to get calmer, and calmer and calmer until he was out cold.

''There! Another problem solved by Arsen Lupin! The Phantom thief!'' The thieves declared with another series of poses.

''Don't worry little man'' Lupin smiled at me and stroke my bare chest. I might have liked it if she wasn't crazy! ''Chloroform isn't lethal....we think''

''YMMH TMMH!'' steam must have come out of my ears when hearing that.

''Shhh.....no loud noises'' Lumin stroke my cheeks and gently put the cloth on my nose ''No sound.....no noise.....just sleep....''

''Mmno! Tlrmmer!'' I recall making one loud scream before I just got so tired. My eyes became heavy, my voice lost all its strength and my body slumped down....

[cj2125]

Nice seeing a story from Nicholas' perspective! And good idea of introducing chloroform! Now I wonder if Tyler will come to the rescue or he'll end trapped with the others?

[harveygasson]

Always love these stories

[Solarbeast]

Please don't forget to gender tag this story.

[FelixSH]

I knew, I had forgotten something. Glad to know, that you are still writing stories for these characters.

So, Nick is just a dork, too. As is seemingly everyone in this story. Well done, I'm always glad when seeing you post something new.