So... This Wasn't That Bad...

    The clumsy thief had managed to get herself chased up a tree by a few mutts. It had only been the intimidating growl of the mutant, Badger, that had scared them off.  Weakened and disoriented, the kitsune fell from the thin branches and landed face-first onto the damp grass.

    "You're really pathetic sometimes, Toshi, " Badger muttered, helping the girl to her feet.

    "Hey! I at least I got the money, didn't I?" she replied, stumbling as she discovered her ankle was now sprained. "Uh... a little help?"

    "You've got to kidding me," he groaned, placing her into arms. "The police are going to be coming any second. And now I have to carry you back?"

    "You are such a buzzkill. I've got it covered," she said, waving a dismissive hand.

    With a bit of her regained energy, Toshi called forth a few leaves. As they became embued with her illusion spell, the two no longer resembled a fox-girl and a mutant but only a young couple.  A few curious officers walked by the pair in the now darkened park, but the foolish humans were none the wiser.

    Once alone, Toshi tested out her fox-fire and was glad to see it was now working again. It was always frightening to have her powers taken away by the presence of those disgusting canines everyone seemed to have in NYC.

    As the cool night air whipped around them, Toshi was suddenly more aware of the warmth from her partner's body. Grinning shyly she placed a pale hand near his scruffy face. "So... This wasn't that bad... right?"  

    Rolling his yellow eyes, Badger simply began walking back towards their base in silence. It was just another night of things going (almost) horribly wrong.

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Sorry about the hiatus guys! It's been a crazy few months with work and graduate school o_0. I definitely plan on doing more revamps of my characters and some fan art! I even have a few watercolor pencil dabbles I may submit. ^-^

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Backstory (here we go):

    In Japan Toshiko's family has a tradition; as a rite of passage a fox of the age of 50 must go out on their own and prove their worth and their birthright. At this point a kitsune is capable of shapeshifting and has trained adequately enough in trickery to make their way. However, Toshiko was never really concerned with such things and stayed for a few more years. She was finally kicked out by her parents and forced to go her own way and prove herself. Outraged, she decided to travel as far away from Japan as possible - and she had heard a lot about how great New York City was...

    Taking on the guise of a random Japanese girl, Toshiko took off and finally arrived. For a while everything was fine until it got dark and the realization of her predicament finally set in. Alone, hungry and tired she wandered around thinking of where to sleep. Out of nowhere several stray dogs began to chase her. Toshiko eventually lost them in an alley, but by that time she was very weak. She was then jumped by several passing gang members. She is struck hard with a piece of iron pipe and blacks out. She awakens in a condemned building surrounded by several children who are obviously runaways. They are headed by a boy in his late teens who calls himself the Badger. 

    While annoyed with her at first - another mouth to feed, Toshiko gains Badger's trust by showing off her skills as a superb thief. For months she and her "trainees" steal things intermittently, doing their best to evade Shield and the young Avengers. Fury, upset with the unsolved thefts, tells one of them to go undercover as a runaway and try to infiltrate The Fox's (aka Toshiko's) suspected group. Spiderman is voted by a landslide, and is ordered to go. Unfortunately, Toshi's predisposition to helping others leads her to readily accept him in - much to Badger's great disapproval.