“Keh Keh Keh Keh…”

Takashi stood towering over Nico. The darkness of his haunted eyes seemed to have sucked up all the light in the room, leaving the world outside his toothy grin in darkness. Piper’s hand covered her mouth. Nico sat in shock.

“Admit it, Nico Pinstripe. That button-down is an illegal bootleg. By wearing it, you violate not only the law, but more importantly… company policy. Give it to me. Give me the world’s most powerful fashion statement. Do so, and I won’t turn you in to the executives. Give it to me. Now.”

Nico glared at Takashi. Piper watched him closely, her round eyes wide and nervous. What are you going to do, Nico? You can’t give up the button-down. You can’t give up your dream!

Takashi threw his head back, cackling. Nico touched the right sleeve of the button-down with his left hand. Damn it! What do I do? I don’t even know what the second stripe does yet!

He looked at Takashi’s simple black suit, too big for the lanky man’s body. What powers did that suit hold? He glanced at Piper. Could he afford to challenge Takashi to a fight? Here? Now?

Piper groaned. He’s with Human Resources. He outranks not only Elizabeth, but her boss, the Regional Director, as well. There’s no telling how powerful he might be. Damn!

“Keh Keh Keh Keh Keh!!!” Takashi laughed. He looked down on Nico with eyes full of triumph.

Nico stood. His face was obscured by the shadows of Takashi’s presence, but his posture was defiant. Piper gasped.

“Ah, yes!” Takashi said. “Give it to me, Nico. Give me the pinstripe button-down. Give me the world’s most powerful fashion statement. GIVE! ME! THE POWER! KEH KEH KEH KEH KEH!”

Nico’s eyes flashed.

“PROVE IT!” He shouted, shattering the shadows with his will. “You’ll never get this shirt from me, because you can’t prove a thing! But even if you could, I’ll never give it to you! Because…”

Nico… Piper’s heart pounded.

Nico pointed at Takashi, who recoiled a step from the force of the challenge.

“BECAUSE I’M GOING TO BECOME THE BUSINESS KING! AND THIS SHIRT BELONGS TO ME!” Nico cried.

The two men faced one another. Their eyes clashed, their wills thundered. Takashi recovered his balance and glared at Nico with a maddened fury. Piper smiled. YES!

“C’mon, tell him, Nico!” she cheered.

Takashi sneered. “The Business King? How idiotic. You don’t understand true power, kid. You think the Business King rules this world? You think being the CEO will give you the power you seek? You’re deluded.”

The lanky man threw his hands up with the enthusiasm of an impassioned preacher. “The real power in this world lies in the hands of The Clothiers! They are the ones whose powerful fashion statements dominate this world! The Clothiers are the true power, the ultimate arbiters of fate! You want to become the Business King? That alone shows that you have no right to wear the world’s most powerful fashion statement. You have NO RIGHT! I have the ONLY right to such power! I ALONE am the true heir to The Clothiers’ power!”

With every word Takashi spoke, Nico’s furious glare deepened. He looked at Piper, who nodded.

“You’re wrong. You’re the one who’s deluded, Takashi,” Nico said. His voice was quiet and even, but the words stopped Takashi’s laughter cold.

“How so?” Takashi snarled.

Nico’s determined eyes met Takashi’s haunted ones. “You think I want power? You’re wrong. I don’t want to become the Business King to rule the world. I don’t care if The Clothiers are the true power of this world. I don’t care about power.”

Takashi sneered. “You don’t care about power? What else is there? Power is all that matters in this world!”

Nico’s fists clenched. “I will become the Business King… because the Business King is the one who can make dreams come true!”

The office was utterly still. Nico stood determined. Piper smiled. Takashi’s expression was indecipherable. The moment lasted for what seemed like hours.

Then Takashi burst into a roar of mocking laughter. “Keh Keh Keh! KEH KEH KEH! Dreams come true! Keh Keh Keh! Oh, that’s rich! You really are an idiot! Keh Keh Keh! You believe that schlock?! You think it’s real?! What a fool! KEH KEH KEH!”

“You don’t believe it’s real?” Nico said quietly. “That alone shows that you have no right to wear the world’s most powerful fashion statement.”

Takashi leered at Nico. “Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

Takashi smiled his unnervingly toothy smile. “Well it really doesn’t matter what you think, Mr. Pinstripe. Because you’re going to give me that shirt. I outrank you. I am your superior. So if you want to keep your job… hand it over.”

Nico smiled back. “You say I’m lying? You say this shirt is a bootleg? Then prove it. Until you do, I’ll never give you this shirt.”

Takashi’s eyes narrowed, but his toothy smile only widened. “You want me to prove it? Alright, I will.” His spidery fingers tapped against each other as he templed them once again. His haunted eyes were caverns of darkness. They faced one another in a silent standoff.

At last, Takashi turned away, waving a dismissive hand. He walked to the office door. “I’ll be back on Friday,” he said over his shoulder. “That should give you enough time to have the button-down laundered and pressed for me, don’t you think? Clothiers attire may not need cleaning, but why take the chance, after all...”

Nico’s heart panged within him. Friday?!

“See you then, Mr. Pinstripe,” Takashi sneered. Then the door snapped shut behind him, and he was gone.

Nico and Piper looked at one another, anger and fear mingling within them.

“Friday,” Nico breathed.

“The day after tomorrow,” said Piper. “What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know,” Nico murmured, looking down at the stripes on the button-down’s sleeves. “But he’s not going to take this shirt from me.”

“How can we prove it, though? All he has to do is get a Clothiers sensor machine to show that your button down doesn’t have a license tracer. That must be why he didn’t try to prove it right away - those machines take a lot of red tape to acquire.”

“Two days worth of red tape, from the sound of it.”

“Exactly. Which still doesn’t give us much time, Nico.”

“Yeah. I know.”

Piper hopped down from the file cabinet she had been sitting on and began pacing back and forth, deep in thought. Nico leaned onto the desk, frowning.

Think. Think! There’s got to be a way!

“You know, when you think about it, this situation might actually be a good thing, Nico,” Piper said.

“What do you mean?”

“If you’re going to keep climbing the corporate ladder, this was bound to happen eventually, right? After all, The Clothiers do have a monopoly. It just makes sense that someone would put two and two together and discover that your shirt kept gaining stripes.”

Nico raised his eyebrows. “Is this supposed to make me feel better?”

“Oh, shut up,” Piper said impatiently. “Listen! If we can find a solution to this problem now, while you’re still at the bottom, then you don’t have to worry about this later on! After all, if a low-level nobody can get in trouble for wearing bootleg business wear, imagine how much worse it would be for an executive!” She pounded one palm with her opposite fist. “We can do this, Nico! We just need to talk to Gramps.”

Nico nodded thoughtfully, feeling a bit more optimistic. “Yeah, okay. Gramps. He made the shirt, so maybe he’ll have some ideas.”

Piper winked slyly. “This seems like official business to me… maybe we should go on a business trip?” She made air quotes with her fingers.

Nico smiled. “Yeah. Let’s get out of here.”

***

Thompson had watched the HR employee leave with a feeling of self-satisfied smugness. He felt sure that he knew exactly what had happened in the Supervisor’s office. The greasy-haired man had told Nico that he was fired for his poor work performance, that he had to pack his things and leave immediately.

Surely, the lanky man was just leaving the office to go fetch Nico’s replacement. Or, better yet, he was going to contact corporate to get authorization to promote one of the lower level employees to the rank of Supervisor. Thompson felt quite sure about who he thought that employee should be.

A few minutes after the HR employee left, the door to the Supervisor’s office opened. Nico and Piper stepped out, smiling, looking determined. Piper turned to the employees with a smile.

“The Supervisor and I need to go on a… business trip. We’ll be back later!”

“We will?” Nico murmured to her with a chuckle. Piper grinned.

“Nah,” she giggled.

“We can all hear you,” Thompson growled. Surely, all this was just a cover for their having been fired. “So sorry to hear you’ve both been let go!”

Piper frowned quizzically at Thompson, and shook her head. “Oh, no, we’re not fired!” She said brightly. “What gave you that idea? Takashi just gave us a special assignment, that’s all.”

The words struck Thompson like arrows. Not fired?! What?! What the-

“See you all later! Keep doing a good job!” Nico said.

Then, laughing, the two of them left the office.

Thompson stared blankly at his computer screen. His eye twitched involuntarily.

***

Piper and Nico walked down the street, eating bowls of teriyaki rice they had gotten from a street vendor near the office building. The sun was slowly moving toward its zenith. It was a warm but windy day. Nico’s worries about Takashi felt quite far away in the delicious midday weather. They were on their way to Gramps’ workshop, and Nico felt sure that the old man would know what to do. For now though…

He snuck a peek at Piper walking beside him. She had taken off her blazer and tied it around her waist. She was eating her rice thoughtfully. Nico couldn’t help but steal glances at her every few steps.

“I wonder...” she said, shaking Nico from his reverie.

“What?”

Piper frowned. “I wonder if we could take the busted licence tracer out of my blazer and put it into your button-down somehow. Do you think that might work?”

Nico raised an eyebrow. It was an interesting idea. “I don’t know,” he said. “Isn’t each license tracer unique to each piece of business wear?”

Piper grinned. “It is, but if mine is busted, then that doesn’t matter, right? Because there’s no way to tell that it doesn’t match your button-down.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it, dummy! All you need to do is prove to Takashi that your button-down is made by The Clothiers, right? If you have a Clothiers license tracer in the shirt, it shouldn’t matter if it works or not. Just having the tracer should be enough proof on its own, don’t you think?”

Nico pondered this. “I don’t know. That sounds like a good idea to me. We’ll have to ask Gramps.”

He and Piper tossed their empty teriyaki bowls into a garbage can they passed. They were close to Gramps’ workshop now.

“I think it would work,” said Piper confidently. “And I... Whoa…”

Nico looked at Piper. She had stopped in her tracks, staring into the sky. Nico followed her gaze. His eyes widened.

“Whoa...”

High above the city, an enormous aircraft had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The aircraft was long and angular, gleaming silver in the sunlight. Its engines and propellers rumbled. At its rear, the aircraft widened, curving into a massive semicircle, leaving a huge, horizontal hole that was filled with a vast propeller. Windows, platforms, and hatches festooned the outer hull. Emblazoned on the sides of the aircraft was an enormous crimson coat of arms - the logo of The Clothiers. Taken as a whole, the aircraft looked just like...

“A giant needle,” Piper breathed.

Nico stared at the Needle in awe. He had never seen anything like it before. “The Clothiers have an airship?” He wondered aloud.

“I guess so,” said Piper. “But… what’s it doing here?”

The Needle hovered above Central City, ominous but passive. Nico and Piper stared at it for a while longer before Piper shook off the shock. “Come on,” she said, and together they tore their attention from the Needle and headed for the workshop.

***

Tux’s ears twitched as she stirred from her nap. The sun was pleasant against her fur. Her eyes flickered to the giant Needle in the sky, but she paid it no mind. A stretch was in order, a good long stretch. She did so, her head shaking involuntarily as she eased out of the stretch.

Suddenly she felt alert. Something had changed. There was Another here. Tux turned her head toward the source of the Other’s presence. Sure enough, there he was.

It was a cat, a larger cat than Tux herself. His fur was grey, and his whiskers were long. He was observing Tux with obvious distaste. The tabby and the grey locked eyes for a long moment. At last, the grey cat blinked slowly. He meant no hostility, at least. Tux returned the gesture and prowled closer.

“Do you speak?” Tux asked, already knowing the answer.

The grey cat tilted his head slightly, looking away - a clear negative answer. Tux eyed him with distaste. This was exactly why she had chosen to leave her people behind, to befriend a human instead. Cats just couldn’t talk in the same way that humans did. And now that Tux held that power as well, she found the Old Ways much too dull to relinquish it.

The grey cat mewed softly. Tux immediately knew what the grey wanted, and she resented it. She resented that this bow tie, this bow tie that had now given her a Name in the way that humans had names, had also given her an understanding of the communications of her people which went beyond the instinctual.

For it was true - despite what Tux had told the human girl Piper, cats could and did communicate with each other, but their language was one of movements, of looks, of twitches and scratches, of meows and hisses. And now that Tux wore the bow tie, that communication took on meaning that went beyond the simple impulses and emotions which ruled others of her kind.

Tabby, does your new master possess food that I might steal? The grey was asking.

Tux hissed, insulted. I have a Name now. I am Tux of Piper’s Hat.

The grey licked his forepaw, eyes locked onto Tux. I see. In that case, Tux, what of your master’s food?

You offer me insult, grey? Tux extended her claws. I have no master.

All those of our kind who have been tamed are slaves, the grey cat insisted.

Tux sank into a threatening crouch. If you think that Tux of Piper’s Hat is tamed, you are gravely mistaken. Flee now before I kill you.

The grey ignored the threat. I bring tidings from the Eastern Alleys. In exchange, I require food.

Tux didn’t move from her crouch, nor did she retract her claws, but she allowed her tail to slump slightly. Her whiskers twitched. What tidings?

The long-hairs and the tabby clan are preparing for war. There are now others like you, Tux.

Tux froze. The grey continued, his flickering eyes and long meows painting a mental picture for the tabby cat.

It seems that certain long-hairs have acquired Human Powers, as you have. They seek to use this power to wage war against your clan.

How many? Tux asked.

Many, the grey replied. I am a grey, my kind do not war. I have come to find you for my own satisfaction, and not on behalf of any other.

After some thought, Tux believed him. The tabby clan would surely never have turned to a grey for assistance.

What would you have me do? Tux asked.

I have found my satisfaction, said the grey. I seek only the food of your new Human.

Then have it, grey. Take it freely. The Elder sleeps now.

The grey cat blinked in confirmation, and Tux accompanied him into the workshop. As the grey stole some food from Mr. Wyatt’s open cupboard, Tux pondered the meaning of this message. The idea that there were others like her, other cats who had ascended above their former peers, was one that filled the tabby cat with a mixture of excitement and concern.

The grey cat left, blinking his thanks to Tux. Tux fixed him with a hard stare as he went. The grey may have proven useful this time, but intrusions upon her territory would not be allowed freely. She looked at the old man, sleeping on his couch, and felt some amusement. These humans had been good friends so far. She felt little need to return to her former people, even if a war was coming. These were her people now.

She settled down to resume her nap in a small slice of sunlight that streamed in from a crack in the shuttered windows.

But then there was a knock at the door.

***

Gramps stirred from his nap and answered the door. He smiled in surprise when he saw Nico and Piper standing outside.

“What are you doing back so soon?” he asked.

Nico sighed. “We have a problem…”

***

“So basically, you have two days to forge evidence that the button-down I made was actually made by The Clothiers,” Gramps summarized.

They were sitting in a loose circle in the workshop. Gramps had poured them all mugs of hot apple cider, and they had been sipping on the delicious drinks while telling him the story about Takashi.

“Yeah,” said Piper. “And I was wondering… Gramps, do you think there’s any way that we could take the broken license tracer from my blazer and put it into the button-down?”

Gramps shook his head. “Won’t work, kiddo.”

“Why not?” Asked Nico. “I thought it was a good idea.”

The old man nodded. “It is a good idea - a clever idea, certainly - but it won’t work. Here, I’ll show you why.”

He stood and walked into the racks of clothing, hunting for something in particular. After a few moments, he returned with a pair of slacks.

“These are official Clothiers slacks,” he said. “I found them in a dumpster a few months ago. They don’t do anything special - they’re about as low-level as business wear can be. They help the wearer to file paperwork a little quicker. And the license tracer on these is busted, just like the one on your blazer, Piper.”

“Wait, you’ve had these all along?” Nico said. “I thought you told me that none of the stuff you had here did anything?”

Gramps shrugged. “I also told you that second-hand business wear is dangerous, didn’t I? Why would I have thought to give you a used pair of paperwork filing pants? Don’t be stupid, kid. Anyway. Look at this.”

He turned the slacks inside-out and ran one finger along the waistline, searching by feel for a small fold in the fabric. When he found it, he parted the fold, revealing a small black tab that had been concealed there.

“This,” he said, “Is what a license tracer looks like. The nicer the business wear, the smaller and better-concealed the tracers are. The size doesn’t really matter, though - just reduces the chances that the person wearing the attire will be able to feel the tracer. A sensor machine will detect any size of license tracer just fine.”

Then gramps reached into his back pocket and pulled out a utility knife. He clicked it open, and set the blade against the side of the license tracer. “And this,” he said, “is why your idea won’t work, Piper.”

The knife cut into the fabric beneath the tracer. At first, it looked like the tracer would simply pop out unscathed. But then, as it separated from the fabric beneath, the tracer began to emit a loud BEEP BEEP BEEP sound, and it changed color from black to red. Piper gasped as the fabric the license tracer had been attached to began to dissolve as well, leaving a ruined, uneven hole in the slacks. It looked as though they had been eaten away with acid.

The license tracer was still beeping. With a grunt, Gramps tossed it into the trash and smothered it with the ruined slacks. The beeping sound was muffled into near-silence.

Gramps gestured to the trash can. “It’ll keep beeping like that for 36 hours, at least. And you saw how it turned red, right? That’s a failsafe. Now, whether it gets scanned by a sensor machine or just by the human eye, it’s obviously been tampered with. And that is why we can’t just take a license tracer from one piece of business wear and put it onto another.”

Piper sighed. “Yeah, okay. Sorry, it was a dumb idea.”

“No no no, like I said earlier, it was a clever idea. It’s just something The Clothiers amended their designs to account for a long time ago,” said Gramps.

“Okay,” Nico said, standing up and pacing. “So is there any other way to prove that my button-down was made by The Clothiers?”

Gramps stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Not without a license tracer. I could sew a fake tag onto the shirt, but that wouldn’t fool someone as determined as this Takashi guy seems to be. Somehow, we’ve got to get our hands on a license tracer.”

“How do we do that?” said Nico.

The old man sat down on the couch. “I don’t know. To be honest, I didn’t expect this problem to come up so soon. I’ve been thinking it through for a while now, but I just don’t have a solution yet.”

“Well we need to hurry, we only have until Friday,” said Nico.

“Yeah. I’m sorry, kid. I don’t know how to help you. The only people I can think of who might be able to get their hands on a license tracer would be the Six Families. But it’s risky. They might not help us, and they’d probably just try to take the button-down for themselves anyway.”

There was a small meow from the other side of the room. Tux prowled over to join them, curling up in Piper’s lap. The tabby cat looked up at Piper, who Nico now noticed had an odd look on her face.

“Piper, are you alright? You are unusually quiet,” Tux inquired.

“Yeah, you okay Piper?” Nico asked.

“I didn’t mean to make you feel bad, kid,” Gramps said.

Piper’s expression was hard, but she smiled a bit at the three of them. Nico studied her face. He had never seen her like this. She looked…

...Like she’d seen a ghost.

Piper looked up slowly. Her eyes rested on Tux, then on Gramps, then finally on Nico. She let out a long, shaky breath.

“I think I have an idea,” she said.

“What is it?” asked Nico quietly. Whatever this new idea was, he didn’t think he was going to like it.

Piper was silent for a long moment, petting Tux. At last, she said, “I think I know someone who can help us. Someone who can get us a license tracer.”

“Who?” Gramps asked.

“My big sister.”