"YAY I WON!" Nave squeals. "Good job." Cash smiles. "Yeah. You're actually really good at this." Cactus says. They play one last round of Four Square before Cactus's mom calls Nave and him back inside. 

      "Oh. We have to go. Dinner." Cactus confirmed. "Oh. After that, can you come back out?" Cash asked. "Sure." Cactus said. He ran inside, Nave fumbling after. Cash decided it would be best if he headed back inside and came back later. He was starting to walk home, when something shimmery caught his eye. 

     "Huh..?" He moves the bush that was hiding it out of the way. There was a pair of golden gloves and stick. He glanced around for anyone who may have owned it. Five minutes go by and nobody had shown up. "What..." he says and touches it. The stick clings to his hand. He gasps and throws it. It returns to his hand. Cash sets it down and puts the gloves on. Curiosity got the best of him, and he  wondered if there was any other golden items.

      His hand shoved the bush out of the way to look for more, when it suddenly got heavier. Cash glanced at it and noticed it turned to gold. "OH NONONONO-" He says, and the golden bush turned back to normal. "...what the.." Cash realized he just willed the bush to turn to gold and back to normal. 

    "This... is so weird..." he says. Cash then notices that the gloves had changed his outfit too. A streak of gold was in his red hair, combed all to a side, and he was wearing a brown jacket with gold and silver patches in the stitching. He also wore a black with gold traces mask. "Woah..I'm like... one of the heroes from Nave's comic books!" Cash said.

     "..I need a name.." he murmurs. "Goldenrod...? I dunno what that is but it sounds cool!" He says. "Now.. there's always some sort of chaos happening at unexpected times..." He muttered. "Time to seek out trouble." Cash decided. 

     "Cash! We're back!" Cactus shouted in the distance. Cash frantically took of the gloves, the disguise disappearing with it, and he stuffed it into the rod, and it turned into a ring. "I didn't know it did that.." Cash said to himself. "Didn't know what did what?" Nave said as the two boys walked up to him. 

    "Oh uh. Nothing. Let's go play." Cash said.

       Two days later, Cash's older sibling, Quinn, takes them to the mall. "Here's some quarters for the arcade. Me and my girlfriend are going to order food." Quinn says to the three of them. "I'm so happy Jo let us come with." Nave said. "Yeah!" Cactus agreed. "It took forever to convince her."

     "Mhm." Cash smiled. Suddenly, everything felt slower. Cash looked out into the mall and noticed that someone was performing on a stage in the middle of the hall. As they kept talking, they pickpocketed strangers. Earrings, wallets, necklaces. Cash could almost feel a presence whispering in the thief's ear. Slowly, the loot started making a pile. The thief was starting to seem less human, and more... Horrific. Like a beast. 

     "I'll be right back." Cash said. "Don't get lost." Quinn said, both oblivious to the monster in the mall and to Cash's intentions.  Cash leans against the outer wall and takes off the ring, and puts on the gloves. He was about to go and try to help, when suddenly, the lights went out. "..what...?" The beast grumbles.

    A figure stood near the ceiling. He walks down to face the beast. His hair is black, and he has a belt with velvet from a curtain. He wore a mask like he belonged at some sort of masquerade.  "Who are you..?" The beast growls, his pile growing larger. "I'm Thespis. At least, that's my pseudonym." The man bows. "And you are..?" "THATS NONE OF YOUR CONCERN. IM MAKING MY NEST." The beast hissed and crawled to the top of the pile.

     "That's nice and all but I am afraid I cannot let that happen." Thespis says. The beast growls and seems heavily frustrated. Thespis smiles, and it seems that the beast because angrier. It seemed less focused on the pile and more focused on trying to kill the pest. People were screaming and running away.

    Cash decided to sneak over and start slowly taking apart the pile. The beast turned as Cash accidentally grabbed a pair of really jingly crystal earrings. "WHO ARE YOU?! HOW DARE YOU TAKE FROM MY PILE." The beast growled and picked Cash up. "SERIOUSLY. WHOS KID IS THIS?!" It growled. Cash instinctively hit the monster with the stick. "TAKE DOWN THE NEST!" Cash shouts to Thespis. 

    Thespis nods and the two repeatedly switch between deteriorating the pile and returning the items, and distracting the beast. It seemed that every time a piece was removed, the beast became weaker.  Somehow, it always seemed angrier when Thespis was around him. The pile was now gone. The former beast was now reduced to an extremely sleep deprived con artist. 

     "...uh.. who are you..?" Thespis asked. The thief's eyes turned from soulless purple to a humble shade of green. They backed up. "Please don't hurt me-" they whimpered. "I might have to if I don't get an explanation." Thespis says. "I-I was just performing and trying to gather enough things to pay off my debt. I also have a very sick sister.. h-honest.." The thief stammered. It seemed he was oblivious to what had just happened. "...Hm.." Thespis said. "That doesn't excuse theft.. as that huge pile was more than enough to pay for.."

     Thespis then looks at Cash, who turned a trash bag into gold. "This should be worth enough to pay off everything. Need can sometimes transpire to greed if corrupted, remember that." Cash says. "T-thank you. I will remember this for the rest of my life.." the man said and shook Cash's hand. "Who do I have the honor to thank..?" He asked. "Oh uh.. you can thank Goldenrod and Thespis." Cash says. The man nods, shakes their hands, and walks out of the mall. Everyone had their belongings back.

    "Woah... not bad, kid." Thespis says. "Honestly, it was my first mission." Cash says. "Oh. Well, you knocked it out of the park. We should team up more often." He smiled. "Okay, but I have a question. Why was it so angry near you? It was irritated obviously, but the more near you, the more it's anger festered." Cash asked. "Oh.. my power is that I can amplify strong emotions by will. He was already angry and desperate for whatever it would take... and I believe we did what we had to in order to change his life." Thespis said. "Good job with helping him rather than hurting." Thespis noted.

     "I probably have to go now though." Cash said. "Thanks for the first mission!" Cash said and walked away. He hid near the men's bathroom, went back to his normal clothes, and walked back into the arcade. "CASH YOU MISSED IT!" Nave said. "Missed what?" Cash asks, pretending to not be aware. "THERE WAS THIS BIG MONSTER THING AND THESE SUPERHERO GUYS CAME IN LIKE POW BOOM POW AND STUFF AND-" Nave said. Quinn ran up to Cash and hugged him. "OH MY GOD IM SO GLAD YOU ARE OKAY-" they said. "Yeah.. it's okay.." Cash smiled. "Maybe next time I'll see it for real." Cash says.