Lord Bafai!

     I've come to steal your treasure!

     If you wish to reclaim your goods,

     they'll be at my lair behind Zirekile

     Falls! Come, if you dare...

                     Â

               \|_|_|/

 

"Revealing his hideout... I'd know his overconfident style anywhere." Stanley continued.
"You'd know, wouldn't you?" Silphy said, grinning.
"Hey. I used to be a Thief. A good Thief knows all about his competition."
"I'm surprised, Stanley." Melissa said, "I hardly believe you were ever a good Thief."
"Watch it. You wouldn't want a certain dagger stabbing you, now would you?"
"I don't suppose you'd want a certain fan hitting you anywhere?"
"...Crap." Stanley knew he was beaten, so he changed the subject. "Anyway, getting back on topic, we're going to need a way to get to Zirekile Falls quickly."
"Well, we can provide a few Chocobos..." Carrot said.
"What!? After all we've agreed to-" Stanley began.
"That should do." Melissa interrupted, covering Stanley's mouth.

--------------------

Zirekile Falls was a ways north of Lionel. Nonetheless, the Chocobos made for an easy ride. They easily bounded over boulders, dashed across streams, and rushed through forests. The same, however, can't be said for the riders, who were bounced around, soaked with water, and hit with various branches.
Eventually; Stanley, Silphy, and Melissa made their way to Zirekile Falls.
"Gah!" Stanley shouted, "I REALLY want to blast something into a bloody pulp right now. That ride was worse than the cart!"
"Please, Stanley." Melissa muttered, "Save it for Zero. It'll be much more useful that way."
"Good point."
With that, the trio passed under the waterfall, into an odd cavern. It seemed sculpted in a manmade sort of way. The primary tip-off was the fact that the top half narrowed as one went deeper into the cave as the bottom half widened. There were torches on the walls at regular intervals. Strangely enough, the torches were in holes in the walls that were just deep enough to render them completely ineffective. There was an inscription below one of the torch-holes, reading "B. S. Johnson & Co., Contractors for hire." Eventually, the hall came to a door. It was not only unlocked, but slightly open as well. As Silphy went to open it, Stanley stopped her.
"Wait, Silphy." Stanley pushed Silphy and Melissa back to a wall. He pulled the door open with his rod.
BOMF
A blast of fire erupted from behind the door. Silphy and Melissa looked at Stanley.
"See? I told you I knew about thieving." Stanley said smugly, "A good thief traps EVERY door, no matter how unused it is."
Silphy started toward the door again and Stanley stopped her. "Wait for it..."
There was a quiet click, followed by five arrows.
"Now we can go."
After a few more of these doors, the trio came to a large, circular chamber. At it's center was a patch of grass. As they entered, the door slammed sut behind them. They turned to the door and Silphy tried to open it.
"Locked, right?" Stanley asked.
"Yep." Silphy muttered.
"That's right, fools! You're trapped!"
Stanley, Silphy, and Melissa turned toward their mystery stater-of-the-obvious. There was a man standing in the center of the room. He was wearing a green, turban-esque hat with a rather huge, white feather. He was also wearing a green, short-sleeved jacket with a white undershirt and off-white knickers. Matching most of his other clothing was a green cloak. His leather boots were slightly grass-stained, probably from the grass he was standing on.
"You're all doomed! You've entered the lair of the GREAT..."
He took hold of his cloak.
"THIEF..."
He flung his cloak off.
"ZEROOOOOOOOoooooo..."
He began to gasp for breath.
"Listen, Zer-" Stanley began.
"-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Zero interrupted.
There was a brief silence.
"Are you done?" Stanley asked.
"I suppose, if you really must ask."
"Anyway, Just give us Bafai's stuff." Stanley re-began. "We REALLY want to hurt you, but we can resist the temptation until we get Bafai's stuff back." Stanley took out his staff and dagger.
Melissa and Silphy followed suit with their weapons.
"An interesting proposition, indeed." Zero said. "However, you won't be able to attack me, if you're pinned to the ground, now will you?" a faint glow arose from the grass beneath Zero's feet. "HELL IVY!"
Suddenly, clusters of vines grew and entangled Stanley, Silphy and Melissa. Their weapons were lost in the ensnaring vines.
"Well, well. Look who has the advantage now." Zero said, walking toward the trio.
"You just LOVE the sound of your own voice, don't you?" Silphy asked, spite adding an edge to her words.
"Oh, my. I'm so hurt." Zero said, his voice ringing with sarcasm. "You're rebellious; you shall be killed." Zero walked over to Stanley. "You seem corruptable; you may be useful." Zero finally came to Melissa. "And YOU. You, my pure flower, my beautiful ray of light; you shall be of a special use." Zero chuckled as he whispered something in Melissa's ear. Her eyes widened after a moment.
"Huh, boy." Stanley said, "Here comes the waterfall."
Good GODS, was Stanley wrong!
Melissa's look of bewilderment slowly contorted into a grimace of pure, unrestricted rage. The vines around her began to explode into clouds of plant matter. The +42 Paper Folding Fan of Grievous Bodily Harm flew to the hand of it's owner. Melissa shook off the vines and walked toward the rather surprised Zero.
"N-now, wait a minute. Let's talk this over." he said, bargaining for his very life.
Stanley and Silphy turned their heads to avoid seeing what was guaranteed to come next*. When they looked again, Melissa was releasing them from their viney prisons.
"Wow. Not bad, Melissa!" Silphy said.
"I didn't know you had it in ya!" Stanley said, retrieving his weapons.
"I can't see why it's so surprising." Melissa said, "I just said to myself, 'SCREW the White Mage's Oath. This guy needs some severe pain.'"
There was a small tinkling noise near the door. A note had somehow attached itself to the door, which was mysteriously unlocked: