Midday loomed over Hammer Bay, Genosha's capital city. Nathan Summers and Samuel Guthrie were out on the docks - looking to get robbed. "So let me make sure I have the plan right," said Sam, squinting at the bright overhead sun. "We're trying to get robbed, so we can catch a pickpocket, and make them lead us back to his boss, some master thief named Lebeau, who's going to magnanimously guide you to the Eye of Agamotto, where you'll meet some creepy sorcerer who'll hopefully have a cure to a deadly skrull poison. Am I close?"

            "That was all one sentence, wasn't it Sam?" Nathan replied. "But close. It is actually an Akkabian poison, only the assassin was a skrull. That, and by 'guide me' you actually mean 'guide us'."

            "Well yeah, I mean, what?" Sam did a double-take. "What do you mean us?"

            Nathan laughed and threw his arm over his young friend's shoulder. "You didn't think I was going to go off on some whirlwind adventure and not drag you along to watch my back?"

            Sam considered it for about a second. "Well, it will certainly be nice to get out of the house, Joshua has some unrequited love he's been mourning over, and you know where that will inevitably lead."

The prince shot a knowing glance back. "Ah, yes, another epic Guthrie sonnet; just what Genosha needs. Maybe we should just leave town now?" Sam chuckled.

            "Where's a criminal when we need one?" he asked. Then, as if right on cue, their mark arrived on the scene.

***

            Jubilation Lee hated sunny days. She had no personal grudge against the fiery orb that now hung high in the nearly cloudless sky. It did, however, put her at an occupational disadvantage. Darkness lent itself to one being less conspicuous, and Jubilee preferred stealth over guile while on the hunt. It wasn't that she couldn't play a part if necessary, and it might be, as she was feeling ambitious today. Plus, she was way below her quota for the month.

            She ducked out of the alley she'd been hiding in and immediately identified her prey. "Ahhh, the rich," she murmured contently to herself, "this will be like taking candy from a baby." And the hunt was on.

***

            Nathan and Sam casually strolled down the dockside street, chatting amiably with each other when a young girl came running up to them. She was an olive-skinned peasant, face smudged with ash, black hair chopped short and disheveled, a torn and tattered wicker basket hung from her scrawny left arm. She threw herself at Nathan's feet. "Please sir, my mother is very ill. She caught the black lung in the mines and we cannot afford medicine. My little brother and sister are very hungry, so any charity'd be most gratefully received."

            Nathan pulled the girl to her feet with both of his muscular arms, lifting her clear off the ground. "What's your name?"

            "Angela. Angela Espinosa," she replied. She flashed him a weak but genuine smile, which the prince warmly returned. He reached deep into his pocket and pulled out his change purse. Removing a few gold pieces, Nathan placed them in the peasant girl's dirty hand and closed her palm around them. Angela's smile grew wider. "Oh, thank you kind sir!" She clutched the gold tight in her hand while her eyes seemed to dart back and forth between her basket and Nathan's right hand. She politely bowed, turned, and swiftly jogged back down the street she had come from, and off into a side alley, out of sight.

***

            "Bleeding, bloody hell!" Jubilation cursed loudly. The young thief had not recognized her mark, but had certainly recognized the ring on the rich man's finger - the ruby eye was the seal of the Genoshan Royal Family. "I almost robbed the bloody prince!"

            "If it makes you feel any better, you wouldn't have gotten away," noted a masculine voice from the alley entrance. It was none other than the Crown Prince of Genosha, Nathaniel Summers.

            "Oh, just bloody brilliant! Look, I'm sorry for the con, but a girl's gotta make a living." Any hints of the humble peasant girl had vanished, replaced by a tough and crafty street urchin. "Your majesty gonna turn me in for not robbing you?"

            "You talk an awful lot for a little girl don't you Angela?" challenged Sam.

            "Jubilation," she replied.

            "What?"

            "Jubilation. That's my name."

            "What kind of name is that?" he asked.

            "I dunno," she snapped back. "What kind of name is, is, whatever your name is."

            "It's Sam," he offered.

            "Oh." Jubilation pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I guess that's actually a pretty normal name. Look, if you want your money back, I guess I can give it to you." She pulled two gold coins from her basket. "But only because you're the prince and only if you don't tell anyone this happened. I have an image to uphold."

            Nathan laughed out loud. "First, I gave you three gold coins, not two; and second, keep them." The small thief managed to look relieved, confused, and grumpy all at the same time. "Consider it payment," the prince continued, "we need you to take us to Lebeau."

            Jubilation's eyes grew considerably, and then faked recognition. "Lebeau? Never heard of him."

            "Nice try kid."

            "I'm not a kid!" She put her hands on her hips indignantly. "I'm almost fifteen. And contrary to popular belief, there is some honor among thieves. I turn in Lebeau, I'd be run out of town if not strung up."

            "Look Jubilation, you're going to help us, either willingly or after spending a considerable amount of time thinking about it in a cozy dungeon cell." The thief gulped nervously. "Besides, we just want to talk to him. He owes my family a favor, and I want one in return." Jubilation sighed wistfully, nodded, and beckoned them to follow her. She led the two men down the alley and into a twisting, turning route through back streets Nathan didn't know existed.

            "You know, I thought I knew every inch of Hammer Bay," said Sam, "but I have no idea where we are." Nathan nodded and held his finger to his lips, motioning for silence.

            "I think we're here." They had stopped, and now stood in front of a nondescript, windowless building that had probably been an ore warehouse at one point or another. Jubilation turned at looked at the two men.

            "Alright, you two try and look a little less like you just came from the palace. In fact, stay over the there until I get the door open." She motioned a few feet away, out of door's line of sight. Jubilation drew herself up and rapped loudly on the door three times. A small rectangular slot in the heavy metal door opened with a rusty, creaking sound and a large pair of beady, black eyes peered from within.

            "Whaddaya want?" belted a voice inside, as the eyes looked straight forward, not seeing anyone.

            "It's Jubilation, Henri. I'm down here." The eyes shot south and saw the diminutive pickpocket.

            "What's the password?"

            "There isn't one you drunken fool! I tell you who I am, and then you open the bloody door!" With that, the heavy door creaked open with the same rusty sound and a bald, mustached man poked his head outside.

            "That mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble someday, little girl," Henri snorted. He glanced at Nathan and Sam a few feet away. "Who are your friends?"

            "They aren't my friends, Henri, they're Lebeau's. I'm just the delivery girl."

            "And yet you still haven't delivered your monthly 'dues', child." This was a new voice; low and smooth, and almost hypnotic in its rhythm. The door swung the rest of the way open, and standing just inside was Genosha's master thief.

            "Lebeau! Hi! Going out? I didn't realize you were at the door. Your cut is coming. Slow week. Must be the weather."

            "The weather, eh? Always excuses with you, girl. You'd blame your own mother if she was still alive."

            Sam stepped forward. "Actually, she just used her mother as an excuse a little while ago." Lebeau turned his gaze onto him. Sam flinched under his hard stare. The thief's eyes seemed to glow a dark, smoldering red.

            "You must be one of the 'friends' here to see me. Funny, friend, I've never seen you before." Nathan reached into his coat and pulled out the rolled parchment from Xavier.

            "We come from the palace of King Summers of Genosha." He handed the document to Lebeau, who eyed both it and the prince suspiciously.

            "I said I've never seen you. I never said I didn't know who you were, milord." He glanced once again at the rolled parchment. "Sealed with the Sign of the Phoenix," the master thief noted. "So you come from Lord Xavier, then?"

            "Merely asking for a favor in return for one rendered," Nathan cryptically replied.

            "Easy for you to say, milord. My debt to Xavier is not one easily repaid." He removed a leather glove from his left hand, and as he cracked open the document's seal Nathan could have swore he saw sparks fly. Lebeau unrolled the parchment and read it carefully, his brow creasing more and more with each line of text. Nathan had not actually read the contents of the letter, so wasn't sure just how much Xavier had revealed about the king's condition. The elderly mage had decided to put his trust in the thief, and for Nathan, that was good enough. Anticipation grew in the room as an uncomfortable silence begged to be broken.

            "What is it Lebeau?" asked Henri, unable to take the quiet any longer.

            "Past sins, come back to haunt me after all these years." He rolled the parchment back up, stowing it somewhere in his voluminous jacket. He looked at Nathan. "The ship will be ready at midnight, three docks east of The Hammer's Head." The prince nodded. "Will it be just the two of you?"

            "There will be one other," Nathan replied.

            "Very well. I must take leave then and prepare for the journey. I shall see you both in a few hours." Lebeau turned to reenter the warehouse, but stopped short. "Oh, and your majesty," he said, almost as an afterthought, "tell your mother the king of thieves sends his regards, and that he still remembers Madripoor." And with that he disappeared once more into the safe house, taking both Henri and Jubilation with him, leaving Nathan with much to do, many questions, and not a lot of time.