The bell tinkled as they entered the pawn shop, immediately contrasted by the rifle in their face.

"G'evening officers!" the man said hastily, setting his gun down and lifting up his hands peacefully. His grizzled goatee and sideburns gave him an aged, eccentric appearance. "What brings you to the humble Oddz Matoz Emporium?"

"We're looking for a helmet," eX-0281 announced. "Specifically, the one that belongs to my friend."

Plain as day, eX-0704 had his reptilian face exposed. He was missing the sleek, black helmet that sub-dragons always wore.

"Yessir, I can see that. Sorry, but you'll have to go looking somewhere else," the man said curtly. "I'm Mr. Matoz, the owner of this here fine establishment. I don't deal in no stolen goods."

eX-0281 tried to give a kind, understanding gesture with his claws. "Well you see here, this friendly el'vul led us to your shop. So, the helmet must be here."

"Ash!" Mr. Matoz called with open arms. "You naughty girl, there you are!"

Asterope darted away from eX-0281's feet. Without a sound from her padded paws, she landed on the display counter and snuggled her face against Mr. Matoz's chest.

The man hugged her in return, giving her a gentle pet on her fluffy cheek. "I'm sorry my el'vul misled you. They're tricky suckers, but Asterope is very well trained. She's the best el'vul. She brings in customers!" Mr. Matoz said with a wink.

"She zapped my partner and I. Unless you want your pet taken away for assault against Grandesia Power Company officials, I suggest you start cooperating." Aggressively, eX-0281 narrowed his eyes behind the visor. He was not quite sure why he came across so hostile to this civilian; it was probably a force of habit.

With a big sigh, he tried to soften his tone. "We can see the GPS coordinates on the helmet. We know it's in this very building."

Mr. Matoz dropped open his mouth and hesitated.

"It's fine, 281," eX-0704 said. "My helmet is right here!" With all eagerness, he moved towards a pedestal along the wall which had none other than a sub-dragon helmet.

Somehow, they had failed to notice it sooner even though it had been sitting in plain sight.

"You can tell it's mine. It even has my numbers scratched on it—" As eX-0704 reached out for his helmet, it suddenly lunged forward.

The sheeny visor of the helmet morphed into a gaping, black space. Then, the top and bottom of the helmet clamped down on eX-0704's forearm like a vice.

"Ah!" eX-0704 thrashed, but he must not have been able to wrench his claws around inside of the helmet to cut his hand free. "What is this thing?"

Stumbling backwards, eX-0704 bumped into a display which eX-0281 had to frantically catch. Multiple, delicate figurines were balanced in his claws until he managed to restore order to the table.

"Careful!" Mr. Matoz barked. "You break it, you buy it. But my pets are irreplaceable! Please don't hurt him," he begged.

Terrified of the sub-dragons, Mr. Matoz had been dancing around eX-0281. But now, he gathered enough courage to fret over the helmet-like object latched onto eX-0704's arm.

Target: Mindmic

Vitality: 100%

Discrete Parts: Helmet (100%)

Mana Reserves: 385 Mu

Element: Mind

Impressed that this thing was a mutant, eX-0281 felt the need to skim some of its description.

The mindmic is a more effective version of its mimic counterpart. Rather than turning itself into a decoy of generally desirable things such as a treasure chest, the mindmic specifically targets one victim. By reading a person's thoughts and psyche, the mindmic will turn into an irresistible object for that individual.

In this case, eX-0704 had fallen prey to yet another monster.

"This is Gumdrop," Mr. Matoz said with a tone of pride. "Don't worry. He can't hurt you! He's had all his teeth removed."

Target: Gumdrop [Mindmic]

"That's quite the name," eX-0281 said.

A slight movement came from the mindmic in its helmet form as it appeared to suck on eX-0704's hand.

"It feels like he's teething," he said lamely.

"Here we go," Mr. Matoz said, grasping onto the back of the helmet with both hands. "It's always hard to guess where his sensitive spots are after he's changed forms, but Gummy here is ticklish."

The elderly man began moving his thick fingers in a quick motion. "Coochy coochy coo. A coochy coochy coo!"

By extension, eX-0704 started laughing. "Ah! It's tickling me." While Gumdrop tried to resist the tickles, its mouth wavered about and sent eX-0704 into a hopeless disarray of giggles.

Finally, Gumdrop released his arm. A high-pitched, wheezing guffaw came from the helmet.

Mr. Matoz tucked the helmet under one arm and walked it back to the pedestal. "There you are, my little Gumdrop. He never latches onto anybody unless they touch him like that. You just saw the most harm he can cause. His toothless mouth is quite adept at tickling the clientele!"

With the mindmic returned to its proper spot, the shopkeeper said with a tone of pride, "Gummy also helps me sell to customers. Even if we don't have exactly what they're looking for, I can usually scrounge up a close substitute." Mr. Matoz winked.

Meanwhile, Asterope slinked around eX-0281's legs in a rather cat-like manner. Her fluffy fur pressed against his legs as she made figure eights. Once she had his attention, she bounded off into the shop.

Fascinated by Mr. Matoz's pets, eX-0281 followed eagerly. I wonder if he has any other critters in here.

Asterope led him to the next room and jumped onto a table. Her broad tail flicked while she settled herself beneath a black, shiny helmet. It was eX-0704's real helmet.

"704," he called, "here it is!"

eX-0281 reached over Asterope's head and plucked up the helmet. "Thanks, Ash. You really are such a good girl."

Her narrow chest puffed up with pride, seemingly happy that she could lead him to the item they had been looking for.

Examining the helmet, eX-0281 could see how the mindmic had tricked eX-0704 so well. The black paint had been scratched with his numbers across the side. 704. That was something new—something only eX-0704 had known about his helmet.

When eX-0704 came into the room with Mr. Matoz following him, he accepted the helmet eagerly. "Is this really it? Oh! It is! I've missed my helmet so much." Arms and wings alike wrapped around his helmet. eX-0704 twisted his entire body around in the hug.

"Why would you look at that? I guess the helmet did end up in my shop somehow. Ahaha…." Mr. Matoz rubbed his neck sheepishly.

Since he had to shift into his human form to put the helmet on, eX-0704 also appealed to the shopkeeper with his smiling, human face. "How much did you pay for it? We can reimburse you the credits."

"Really?" Mr. Matoz asked. His eyes lit up and he stated the price.

"It's no skin off the power company's books," eX-0704 said. Once he had put on his helmet and shifted again, he was able to handle the transaction.

"Oh, thank you!" Mr. Matoz said. The three of them went around to the front desk where he could see the payment had transferred at the front desk. "I never knew GPC soldiers could be so kind."

Asterope had followed them back to the front of the shop. Standing atop the counter, she rubbed herself up against eX-0704's chest and shoulders incessantly while he petted her. Now that he had been reunited with his helmet, the two of them were able to make up. It was impossible to tell that eX-0704 had ever been mad at the el'vul.

"My little Ash is always the best at drawing in customers," Mr. Matoz said. "She really seems to like you guys."

"Yeah." As much as eX-0281 wanted to let the el'vul distract them again, they needed to hurry up and meet the Disco Menace at the airship hangar. "704, we should go."

"That's right." He had to wrench himself away from Asterope with his tail flicking in annoyance.

"Wait!" Mr. Matoz said, rushing around the counter. "Before you go, maybe I can interest you fellows in another purchase. Several weeks ago, my little lady had kits—that little tramp!" He rummaged around a box and swung around with an armful of tiny fox faces.

"They're vuls!" eX-0281 and eX-0704 gushed in unison.

The triangular faces were topped with massive ears given their size. Their front paws dangled over Mr. Matoz's elbows while the rest of their bodies hung below his chest. The numerous fox tails dangled there and gave the occasional swish. All the vuls were cream-colored.

Target: Vul 1

Target: Vul 2

Target: Vul 3

Identical in appearance, the vuls had the same information associated with them as well.

Vitality: 100%

Discrete Parts: Tail (100%)

Mana Reserves: 5 Mu

Element: None

"Wow!" eX-0704 said, stepping closer to Mr. Matoz. His claws reached out to the first vul and the third vul as if he wanted to snatch them all into his own arms. "Can I really buy them? What do you think, 281?" His friend's attention flashed back to him. Though the dark helmet hid his facial expression, eX-0281 could feel the glimmering hope in his eyes.

"Um…."

eX-0281 wanted to leap on the impulse purchase just like eX-0704. Since he had looked to him for advice, he took a minute to think harder.

Already, he could imagine how the Disco Menace would scream at them, demanding to know exactly where they got those vuls when they were supposed to be heading towards the hangar. Unlike her usual, senseless cruelty, the Disco Menace would kind of have a point on this one.

eX-0281 and eX-0704 could barely take care of themselves, nevermind a pet. How would they even raise the vuls?

The vul is an immature version of its stronger, more magical counterpart, the el'vul. No matter which elements their parents hail from, the vul is born without an elemental alignment. Thus, it has cream-colored fur.

As the vul progresses in mastery towards an element, new streaks of color will decorate its fur. Its coat will become more and more saturated as it learns more. Eventually, a fox stone will crystallize in its body, usually somewhere in the tail. The vul will then have fully matured into an el'vul.

It was not like eX-0281 or eX-0704 knew magic as things stood. We would make terrible vul owners, he feared.

Nevertheless, trained el'vuls sounded useful. Regardless of their usefulness, they were adorable! Josie would probably like them as would Charlotte.

eX-0281 weighed all these considerations, drew in a deep breath, and lifted a claw to answer.