Another breakfast scene

"Elliot, it's time to eat." I pour some dog food onto a plate and place it on the floor.

Elliot eagerly runs to it.

"Wow... Elliot's really warmed up to you." Nemo says.

"Yes. We sleep together every night." I say.

"I'm jealous! Damn... I should've been born a doggirl! Elliot, you Casanova! Change places with me!" Nemo says. "Hey, what the--"

Elliot runs up to Nemo and starts biting on her.

"Ow! No biting! Ouch!" Nemo says.

"Perhaps she doesn't think it's a fair trade? I'd have to say I agree." Doreen joins in our conversation as she reads the newspaper.

"Do you realise how mean you're being?! Whoa, Elliot, knock it off. Are you trying to rip my clothes to pieces?!" Nemo stands up, and starts flailing and causing a commotion around the table.

Elliot really is ripping Nemo's clothes to pieces with her teeth.

"Haha... Elliot, stop it. Nemo saved your life." Elliot comes back to eat when I call out to her.

Nemo's clothes are completely worn. She is completely naked, apart from some tattered remains that soon fall off. "Hey, that's right. You need to have a little gratitude."

"You're all so noisy. Can't we even have breakfast in peace?" Lupin asks.

"Oh no, it's best when meals are lively. When I eat with you, the foods seems so much more delicious than eating by myself." Doreen says.

Several days have passed since the failed **** mission. Surprisingly, not much has changed around us since then.

Progenitor didn't find out where we are, and we haven't faced any sort of danger.

On the surface, our days are more peacefully than ever.

And yet Pretorius, who helped create me. It seems that she was the person Van Helsing had mentioned before.

Back on the train, Van Helsing killed her. She hasn't told any of us the reason why.

But then we had got reports that Pretorius was still alive somehow and even made a public appearance after her "****".

Lupin sighs. "To think that the information I obtained was the trap itself. It puts my reputation as a master thief to shame..."

"Hmph. What's past is past. Don't keep reliving it." Van Helsing says.

"Van Helsing, you seem oddly calm. The individual acting as Progenitor's leader..." Doreen says. "I heard you hold quite a grudge against this person, Pretorius."

Van Helsing puts her tea down and lets out a deep sigh. "I suppose there's no use hiding it. You're right. That is the truth. My target was none other than Pretorius." Her firm voices echoes in my ears. "I missed the opportunity this time, but it won't happen again. Next time, I'll... I will make sure she dies. That is all."

"Van Helsing..." I say.

Van Helsing looks calm as she speaks... But at the same time, she seems like a string wound so tight it would break with a touch.

That reminds me, Evelyn is definitely a concern, but there is something else I am curious about.

There was a woman named Moran. She seemed to know Van Helsing but she was very much a part of Pretorius' group.

I wonder how they know each other. Every time we spoke about the mission, we tended to focus only on Pretorius.

I couldn't find the right time to tell the others about that woman.

And since Van Helsing doesn't seem to want to mention anything about her...

Maybe I shouldn't bring it up? The feeling of failure the other day starts to wear on us.

Victoria sighs.

I realise that Victoria is clutching her head, with an extremely gloomy look.

"What's the matter? Are you still hung up on the mission?" I ask.

"You guys are all bringing me down! Whatever happened, we're all back safe." Nemo says. "Like Van Helsing said, let's just wait for the next opportunity!"

"Yes, and this isn't just an opinion coming from mere optimism. Now that we know who our enemy is, we have one more trick up our sleeves in order to counter them." Doreen says.

"Oh, that wasn't why I sighed just now..." Victoria says.

"Well, what is it? Speak up. If there's something you want to say, say it so we can all understand." Van Helsing says.

"Yeah... You're right. I'll tell you all this, too. It's not a problem I should be tackling alone." We all stop eating at Victoria's serious tone. "You see... Ugh, should I really be telling you this?"

"Oh, come on! What is it, already? Just spit it out!" Lupin says.

"I have a good idea what this is about." Doreen says.

I have no idea, myself. "Tell us, Victoria."

"Well, you see... I have no more money." Victoria says.

"No money?" I ask.

"Yes. A little while ago, I took it upon myself to take the role of managing all of our finances, right?" Victoria says.

"Yes... We gave you all our money, and you would distribute it depending on what our budget needs were." Lupin says. "Before then, we'd just put everything in a big pile and take what we needed."

"Your financial management skills are atrocious. Really... Just deplorable." Van Helsing says.

"Hah! You're one to talk. You're always going to Victoria for a handout." Lupin says.

"Do you lack mental capacity along with common sense? It costs money to acquire ammunition. Even a child understands that." Van Helsing says.

"No common sense at all... Ha, you're really on point with that one. How did we get into this mess?" Victoria asks.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"The thing is... The very day I was put in charge of your books, I came face to face with a shocking truth..." Victoria says. "There was no money to manage to begin with!"

"But what about the £50,000 I got from Jonathan Small? I was saving it for an emergency and this looks like--" I say.

"That money is gone too." Victoria says.

"That's what I thought. I've often seen you sigh every time you opened your wallet." Doreen says.

"This concerns you too, Doreen. We've got nothing, do you understand? Soon we won't have enough for daily meals!" Victoria says.

"Are you serious?! How did we end up like this? Do I smell embezzlement?!" Nemo asks.

"Nemo... Do you remember how much it cost to maintain the Ornithopter?" Victoria asks.

"Oh... Heh. Heheheh..." Nemo says.

"So, you're the problem, Nemo? Unbelievable..." Lupin says.

I grab Nemo's wrist, sit on the nearest and drape her over my knee.

She is already naked thanks to Elliot.

I raise my hand and slap her behind with it.

"Ow!" Nemo's body darts up.

"You spent my money on this without my permission!" I say.

I slap her ass again.

"I'm sorry!" Nemo says.

Everyone stares at us as I spank Nemo, but I don't care.

Nemo screeches at the top of her lungs. Her body darts up.

Hard and fast, I spank her, as she squirms and squeals and begs for mercy. Other than the paddling the other day, this is my first time spanking someone. I enjoy this moment despite my anger at Nemo.

Nemo is bawling as my hand strikes her bare bottom. "No! I'm sorry! I promise I won't do this again!"

I spank her harder. I lose count of the number of slaps I've given Nemo. After I'm done, I stand Nemo up and position her, facing the wall. I have to say, I enjoyed spanking her. The feel of Nemo's ass under my hand. The noise my hand makes as I slap her ass.

The loud moans that Nemo makes.

After spanking her, I take Nemo to the wall and make her face it, giving us all a good view of a red ass.

"And the development of your escape items, Lupin? Those ended up costing three times as much as you originally requested." Victoria says.

"Ah, well... I had some new ideas and couldn't help myself..." Lupin says.

"You mean to take on the nation's top intelligence agency when you can't even keep track your money? This is embarrassing." Van Helsing.

"You too?! Take off your clothes, Lupin!" I say.

"What?! You mean to spank me too?!" Lupin asks.

"Yes." I say.

"Well, if the gentleman wishes to spank me naked..." Lupin strips off her clothes and stands fully naked in front of everyone and lays across my knee, just like Nemo.

I do not hesitate to spank her. It's my first time I've spanked someone other than Nemo. I slap that firm ass.

Lupin takes it well.

I smack her bare ass.

She lets out a yelp.

Once I'm done, I have Lupin stand next to Nemo, facing the same direction.

"And you, Van Helsing... The money you spent on bullets is even greater than what Lupin or even Nemo spent!" Victoria says.

"What... did you say...?" Van Helsing asks. It's her turn to be spanked.

I give her the same instructions as Lupin and she surprisingly obeys me without question. I didn't actually think she would go along with being spanked over my knee like a little girl.

She stands naked before me.

I take in the sight of her toned body.

To think the tough as nails Van Helsing is degrading herself. She positions herself over my knee.

I look at her toned ass. I begin to spank her.

Van Helsing moans loudly.

I think she's enjoying this. I spank her even harder. I stop to feel her bare ass. "Be more response with the money."

"Yes, sir!" Van Helsing says with a strange meekness.

My hand feeling her bare ass feels so good.

Once her ass is bright red, I give it a final pat before ordering her to stand next to Lupin, facing away from us.

"So you didn't use much money for your own research, Victoria?" I ask.

"I... used more than anybody else..." Victoria says.

"What? I didn't hear you. What did you say?" I ask.

"I spent the most..." Victoria says.

"You did?" I ask.

"What?! What nerve do you have to be lecturing us, then?!" Nemo asks.

It's Victoria's turn to be spanked.

I always imagined I would always be the one over her knee. I never imagined I'd ever get to spank her.

"It looks like it's your turn to take a spanking. Take off your clothes and over my knee." I say.

Victoria obeys me. She strips off everything, and stands completely naked in front of me, Doreen and Elliot.

The sight of a woman who is sorta my mother naked in front of me, while I remain fully clothed... I haven't forgotten being on the other end of this. Before I was naked and she was fully clothed. Now I am fully clothed and she is naked. I feel strangely excited about this. "Get over my knee."

Victoria lays down over my lap.

My hand comes down, slapping her bare ass.

Victoria screeches at the top of her lungs. Her body darts up, just like Nemo, Lupin and Van Helsing.

My strikes her bare bottom again.

She screams.

I slap her ass again and again, hard and fast. "All those times you told me to be careful, and you go and do this?!"

Victoria begins to cry. She screeches at the top of her lungs. "I'm sorry!" she bawls, as I keep slapping her bare bottom.

I just keep spanking with vigour.

Spanking her is fun.

I lose count of the number of slaps I've given her ass. I let Victoria off my lap and put her next to Van Helsing.

After the spanking, Nemo, Lupin, Van Helsing and Victoria are stood naked, facing the wall. Their bottoms are bright red from my spanking and out on display for me, Doreen and Elliot to watch.

"Ahah, I see. So you couldn't come out and say it, because you were at fault as well." Doreen says.

"I'm very sorry. I just made too many flash bombs for the abduction mission..." Victoria says. "And Lupin had told me not to worry about finances, as long as I was creating something useful, so..."

"Hey! Don't throw me under the trolley!" Lupin says.

"Lupin, you took quite a large sum of money, saying you needed it to gather information." Victoria says.

"That can't be helped. It's a necessary cost. The best way to get people to do what you want is to fork over some cash." Lupin says.

"Nemo came crying to me to create supplementary fuel for the Ornithopter's backup engine." Victoria says.

"Ah... Ahhh... Yes... I may have requested something like that from you..." Nemo says.

"How about you, Van Helsing? Did you ask Victoria for anything?" I ask.

"Well, when she came to me it was more like 'You know what'll happen to you if you don't make me a new type of explosive...'" Victoria says.

"Van Helsing! You shouldn't go around threatening your teammates!" I say.

"Hmph... That explosive saved your life. I've done nothing wrong." Van Helsing says.

"So, basically... Everyone is responsible." Doreen says.

"Are you saying it's so bad that we don't even have enough for food?!" Nemo asks.

"Yeah... We should be able to keep hunger at bay for a while using the preserved food stored here at the mansion..." Victoria says.

"I don't have much ammunition left..." Van Helsing says.

"Maybe you can try hitting people with your gun instead of shooting them?" Victoria asks.

"Fine. The gun is merely a tool. If worse comes to worst, I'll fight empty-handed." Van Helsing says.

"I guess not even Van Helsing is a match for the power of money." Nemo says.

"Nemo, you're forbidden from tinkering with machines." Victoria says.

"What?! Wait a minute! Tinkering is like breathing for me! You're trying to kill me!" Nemo says.

"I'm going to give up my daily research, too. I'd like if you could cooperate." Victoria says.

"This is very, very bad. Food is one thing, but if we can't defend ourselves when Progenitor comes knocking, it's not funny." Lupin says.

"I guess no one is safe from poverty..." I say.

This is becoming a depressing conversation.

"That's right! Oh, Doreen-G...?" Nemo says.

"No can do. I don't want to be part of your unpredictable expenses." Doreen says.

"Don't be like that. If we sold off just... a couple of your antiques, I think we could get a hefty amount." Nemo says.

"I see. You want to involve my art? I don't mind... but I trust you'll be prepared to endure a suitable punishment." What's this? Doreen is smiling her usual smile, but I sense of deep anger underneath.

"Er, Madam Doreen-G? Madam?" Nemo asks.

"Just stop it... Say anything more, and she'll kick you right out of the mansion." Lupin says.

"Never mind, I'll stay put..." Nemo says.

"If man shall not work, he shall not eat." Doreen says. "Those who can work must work hard. Such is the law of society. Why don't you all put some of your talents to use and go make some money?"

"Our..." Victoria says.

"...Talents?" Nemo asks.

"Then Lupin is the best suited. She can steal riches from those who obtain money illegally." Van Helsing says.

"Eh? no way. That would be a crime." Lupin says.

"So what? You're a thief. Theft is a crime." Van Helsing says.

"I may be a thief, but I am a lady thief. I take action not for myself, but for others." Lupin says. "I don't steal for personal gain. That's just my code."

"Then, how did you make your money up until now...?" I ask.

"I would punish bad guys and return their money to the original owner. Minds a small handling fee, of course." Lupin says.

"Then go find some rich people who have been stolen from, and collect some more of these 'handling fees'." Van Helsing says.

"Again, that would be acting for my own gain. The moment I start acting for myself, I'd no longer be a lady thief." Lupin says.

"This Lupin's a little complicated." Nemo says.

"I think she's very cool, though." Everyone turns to me. "That's just what I think." I shammer out an excuse, but Lupin smiles and thanks me.

"If we can't count on Lupin, we have to find some sort of work." Victoria says. "But, we can't focus all our efforts on making money. If only there was one big job that paid a lot in a short time..."

"Why don't we go back to the casino and make some money there?" Nemo asks.

"Do you remember how we won an insane amount last time? We've been blacklisted from entering any casino for a while." Lupin says.

"We won that much?" I asked.

"Yes... If only we still had our winnings, we wouldn't be worried about money now." Victoria says.

"That's right, but it still went to waste when somebody started shooting up the place." Nemo says.

Van Helsing's eyes narrow as she reads the newspaper in front of her. "There's a good job." She lays the newspaper down on the table and gestures at the page. "Look at Page Three here."

"'Help wanted, looking for teacher to teach at the Rosa Coote Institute'..." I say.

"Rosa Coote Institute...? That's an all-girls school! Let's do it!" Nemo says.

"You'll never make it past the interview." Victoria says.

"Her motives are impure." Doreen says.

"You're going to teach, Van Helsing...?" I ask.

"No, I was pointing to an ad below it." Van Helsing says.

"Umm... 'Reward posted'?" I ask. "'The Cromwell & Griff's auction house has received a note informing them of the intent to rob the year's annual outdoor auction'..."

"The Cromwell and Griff. Isn't that the public front for the Moriarty Family?" Victoria asks.

"Oh-ho. How bold of the thief to send a notice to such a place." Doreen says.

"'The thief is after a pendant called the Crimson Stone'." I say. "'The thief was repeatedly committed crimes by appearing suddenly out of darkness. A detailed description is unavailable, as witnesses are knocked out with one blow'."

"Sounds a lot like you, Lupin." Van Helsing says.

"I don't resort to vulgar ****. It's that thief who's been troubling London, making the rest of our kind look bad." Lupin says.

"Yes, we wouldn't want people to think thieves are bad guys or anything." Victoria says.

I recall that Lupin had mentioned something like this before. "'A spokesman for the auction house says, "Our firm will not yield to such threats"'."

"Are you sure it's not you?" Victoria asks.

"I said it isn't!" Lupin says.

"'We have decided to place a bounty on this thief'." I say. "'The reward is £10 million. We await the attendance of bounty hunters who are confident in their skills'."

"Ten million?! If we get that , I can have all the parts and devices I'll ever want!" Nemo says.

"Don't count money we haven't earned yet. But... that isn't a bad deal." Lupin says.

"If this thief appears at the auctions announced, capturing him will be simple." Van Helsing says. "We greet him there, and just grab him. Then over money troubles will be over."

"But, that will put us in contact with an organised crime ring. The earnings are huge, but it might be too risky." Victoria says.

"We're already up against one notorious group. I don't like this idea, considering how much trouble it could turn into." Doreen says.

"Hmm... I don't really care what we do, as long as we get some money." Nemo says.

"If you are all against it, I can go apprehend the thief on my own. Caleb, what do you think?" Van Helsing asks.

"I think it's a good idea." I say. "Like Victoria said, we can't spend too much time worrying about trying to find money. If we need a lot of money, and soon, then I think it's necessary to put ourselves in a risky situation."

"You're right and the fact of the matter is that we really do need the money." Lupin says.

"Then it's settled. We go rid the streets of the lowly cutpurse." Van Helsing says.

"I think I sense some hostility here..." Lupin says.

After we talk some more.

"We'll go the location and check it out. We'll make our decision there based on what we see. Is that fine with you?" Van Helsing asks.

"Yes, I think it's a good plan." I say.

"No savage wannabe-bandit is a match for Lupin, the lady thief." Lupin says.

"As the saying goes, 'Set a thief to catch a thief', eh?" Doreen says.

Van Helsing stares at the newspaper. "The Crimson Stone, hm..."

"What's the matter?" I ask.

"It's nothing. I was just remarking on what a beautiful pendant it is." Van Helsing says.

The article does have a photograph of the pendant. But the printing if grainy and hard to see.

Van Helsing seems broody as she stares at the picture.