5 - Limited Edition//Paxton

Paxton often considered himself one of the more 'normal' people who hung out trying to figure out what old Goidelic war-records meant, but maybe that just meant he was even more delusional than the others.

In search of the Very Great Thing, Paxton and Nora had taken on the monikers of Azure and Verdant Phantom, respectively. Together, the Heist Phantoms would collect the Noiz from their various resting places, usually tightly locked up in a museum or personal collection.

After six months of restless searching, they had finally collected two more Noiz. The one that had arrived today was supposed to be their fifth.

But then this girl had stolen it right out from under them.

Paxton shook his head, trying to maintain his pride as a Heist Phantom. How could the city's #1 Jewel Thieves, frequently reported on by the Lucky Bagley, be bested by some unknown?

He collected the pages of the Mooar Shee and put them back in their protective case; he would try and figure out the effects of Raw Noiz later.

He walked into the living room where Nora was watching the unconscious girl intently. One of the worst things about being a Heist Phantom was never being able to go to the police, so they had to bring her home with them to find out what she knew.

For a moment, Paxton entertained the idea that she was a highly trained assassin sent to destroy them and take back the Noiz, but her clumsy motions as a Raw Noiz Monster told him otherwise.

"This is the first time I've ever seen somebody else use a Noiz," he said, watching Nora out of the corner of his eye. She looked angry, and he was sure some of her ire was reserved for him. He had left the stupid StairS limited edition vinyl box outside the apartment door for over an hour as he browsed through the usual blogs.

He'd even pretended he wasn't home when the delivery guy had arrived, just because the argument he was in on Nocords was getting heated.

"Me too," Nora said, dropping her eyes down to the crude metallic shell that kept her Noiz in place around her necklace.

There were still a lot of things that Nora hadn't told Paxton, and sometimes he preferred things stay that way. For now, collecting the Noiz and reading the Mooar Shee were just for fun.

Fun that had resulted in significant drops in his grades at school, but still just 'fun'.

"I never expected something like this to happen," she said, gesturing to the girl. The Noiz was still deeply embedded in her grip, and every time they reached for it they felt a strange sense of feedback. After scouring the Mooar Shee for a few moments, Paxton had determined that the only way they would get it back is when she woke up and let go of it. "Raw Noiz, I didn't even know such a thing existed."

"That's because it wasn't in a protective casing," Paxton explained. "Every Noiz we've seen before now had already been encased in the protective coating. Only the Warsaw Noiz didn't have one."

"We should have made one," Nora insisted.

"There was no time, remember?" Paxton said, walking over to a cupboard and pulling out two large cups of 99c ramen. He'd been buying vegetable curry flavored ones for the past few months, since Nora was vegetarian.

Neither of them could cook, nor were they in the mood for yet another delivery meal that night. "The German police showed up right before we got into the airport, and we were already late for check in. The vinyl thing was the best place for it."

"The best place for what?" a weak voice asked.