Three days had passed of nothing going on when Darren contacted them. They had another mission for them. To be more precise a normal heist. A customer of theirs wanted a specific type of art. It was hosted in the museum as one of the newest pieces rediscovered. They didn’t really go into the details and that was fine for trio.
The museum, unlike the factory, was a bit better guarded. Especially because of this new painting. The trio of thieves walked toward the edge of a roof as Phase looked through his mask. On the right side instead of the map was a quick dossier of the mission. He had a plastic tube across his shoulder to carry said painting.
“We’re looking for this. It’s called La Nuit. An old painting of Nyx from the Greek mythos. The goddess of the night.” Phase read aloud. “It’s on the third floor of the museum and sadly we won’t have Daren to help us out this time. So, we’re gonna have to go in and be careful.” He stared at Yumi.
“Come on Phase. Careful’s my middle name.” Yumi said sitting on the edge of the rooftop and looked forward. Her mask was currently looking through the walls and staring at the floors. There were several more guards roaming about this time. At least a four per floor. “So who wants to do what?”
“Well considering we want a painting we can’t get into a fight. At all.” Feint said and folded her arms. Her eyes were closed as she tried to create the plan. “Phase can you hit the alarms again?”
“Sure.” Instantly the dossier dropped away and it was replaced with a floor plan of the museum. How the paintings were arranged along with where water pumps or electrical wirings. Frowning for a moment he tilted his head to the side before it dawned on him.
“The alarm system is integrated into the power. Meaning I won’t be able to shut it down without shutting down the power. Big place like this though, it’ll have at least some kind of back up. And that’ll draw attention. We’ll have a small window to snag anything.”
“So we gotta be in position to grab and go.” Yumi said and then frowned. “If that’s the case then let me take alarms. Phase get the painting.”
“You don’t even like dealing with your phone. How’re you going to work the alarms?” Feint glanced at her. “Let me do it.”
“Or. You can walk me through it once I’m there. It’d be better for you two to be on the floor and active. Once the powers off, that’s where you two come in.” She then pointed a finger at Phase. “Use your powers to pull the painting from its frame and put it into the container. Once that’s done we make a clean get away.”
Both of them stared at her speechless. Yumi’s usual smug smile fell and she was glad for the mask. “There a problem with the plan?”
“No. You made a plan I’d agree with.” Feint said. She didn’t think Yumi had it in her to plan like that. Normally she’d just go in and hit or break things. That or being the center of the distraction. “What am I going to do then?”
“Easy. You’re going to be working the cameras. Get into their command center and keep us updated on every nook and cranny. Once we’re done and the generator restarts we’re gonna need you to be our eyes and ears so we can get out without getting caught.”
“I can do that.” Feint said and Yumi grinned.
“Glad we’re in agreement. So let’s get started huh?”
Phase nodded at each of them. “Let’s make this flawless.”
Yumi stepped forward and then jumped, this time she went down to street level. Instead of touching the ground she landed on a lamppost. Stepping forward she then jumped across the street. A final leap landed her on the wall of the museum. Climbing and shimmying one ledge at time she threw himself onto the roof.
“While she’s doing that we can make our move.” Feint said glancing toward Phase.
“Think we can take the front door?”
“Perhaps the back door.” Feint suggested.
The pair of them dropped to the ground but before coming out of the shadows they took off their masks, which was the hard part. Without them they were for the most part blind. Holding them at their sides the two of them blended into the crowd and moved forward.
They got to the cross walk and glanced upward for a moment. The light switched to red as they looked and Phase made a laugh of annoyance. “Don’t suppose you could fix this?”
With a chuckle Feint put another hand in her pocket. She slid her thumb across her phones screen horizontal back and forth twice before down the middle. She looked up and the red light had already turned green.
“Problem solved.”
“You know sometimes I love you.”
They crossed along with everyone else though their group wasn’t the soberest. A girl reached out and grabbed onto Phase, wrapping her arm around his neck. A brunette girl voice slurred slightly into an accent. Probably Spanish. She couldn’t tell. “Hey isn’t that the museum with all the stuff in it?” the drunk girl asked.
“Yeah the art stuff.” A girl confirmed and laughed. She had the smooth black hair and was trying to get to the girl but couldn’t walk a straight line.
Phase scowled and was close to shoving both of them into the street.
A boy came in and thankfully he wasn’t stumbling around. Good, he wasn’t drunk. He had black hair that was loose and a wry smile on his face and sun brushed skin. “It’s a painting of Nyx you guys. If you weren’t so damn drunk you could find out that it’s a pretty cool painting. And just this side of rare. Now get yourselves out of the way. Come on get off the nice man.”
Pulling on the girl it took some doing but she was separated from Phase. He stumbled backwards slightly dropping his mask in the process. “Sorry about my friends.” The boy said.
Going down he stepped forward and touched his mask but he snatched it away instantly. Their eyes met for only a moment.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.” His face was blank as he spoke and eyes lingered. Feint noticed that.
The pair of thieves walked around the museum and Feint was looking at Phase with suspicion. “You see that guys face?”
“No.” Phase said simply and glared. “Think he recognized the mask?”
“Hopefully not.”
Putting their masks back on, Phase walked toward the service entrance. There was a ramp that led up to automated chain door. Beside it was a keypad and a regular door. “Alright, Mask. Let’s start the hacking process.”
“Mine way is faster.” Feint said pulling out her phone. Pulling up an app she let it do its thing and in about thirty seconds she was given a green screen. Copying the pattern that popped up she entered and the door clicked open.
The pair of them walked through and Phase pulled up the thermal vision. The museum’s lights were off with a few of the mandatory emergency lights still giving illumination.
“Alright on this floor we’ve got three guards nearby.” He said and pointed through the walls. “One on our right and two directly across. The right most one is stationary while the other two are making back and forth rounds.”
“We time this then. There’re sculptures on this floor. And the stairs are in the center of the room.” Feint said as she pressed a hand to the door. “You ready?”
“Always.”
Pushing the door open they crouched low and scuttled across the floor. Phase pressed his back against a display case while Feint stood against a pillar. The pair of them were watching another’s backs. Phase glanced up to Feint who nodded. Peeking around the case he moved forward to hide behind another, this one a little thinner.
Feint swept forward her mask in thermal to keep track of their guards. One was moving toward them at a lazy pace. What were these guys getting paid? While she watched she pulled up their information. Arnold Johnson. He was not getting pennies for this job or for dealing with them tonight.
“Ok Mask. Reminder. Give the guards a little extra. A bonus from the boss.” Feint said softly and then dipped around the pillar.
“Really? You want to compensate them?”
“It’s not their fault they’re working tonight.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s our problem.”
“Come on leader, have a heart,” Yumi chimed in. “I think it’s a great thing to do.”
The guard passed the pillar and then went left. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small metal ball and tossed it down the hall. Starting the guard started toward it. He watched him like a hawk before pressing his mouth to the mask. “Get moving Feint. You’ve got a free pass down this aisle. Just be careful and be quick.”
“Please, I’m not Yumi..” Standing she rushed forward sticking to the shadows. There was beautiful art here. She could admit to that and she hated art. It was all pots and urns and paintings. But in this instance, she looked at murals and sculptures. Things that actually looked cool and had meaning to them. Better appreciated during the day. “We should come back here during the day.”
“Sure sure.” Looking up he jumped and grabbed the railing to the stairs. They were made of stone and carpeted. It looked old, regal even. However, it was worn. The stone railing had signs of handprints and stains over the years. This museum was the good kind of old. Rounding to the second floor he pressed himself against the wall.
“I’m up here. Painting should be around, right?”
“That’s right.” Feint said running down a hallway on the first floor. The door initially had read employee’s only so she assumed employees only go back there. Reading the floor plans from her right eye she followed the path to the security room. Looking through her left eye she saw that there was someone manning the booth. Which was expected.
Crouching beside the door she slid a lock pick into the keyhole. She maneuvered it around slowly, since discretion was key and she’d rather not break the pick. She had the tech to hack most alarms and electronic locks but when it came to a deadbolt locked door she was reduced to this. The old fashioned way sucked.
With a few more tries she heard the pleasant click and pulled the door open. The guard at his chair was turning around to investigate the sound. Feint swept forward and grabbed him around the neck. Squeezing tightly, she constricted his breathing and brought him down. He stopped struggling after a few seconds and she pulled him against the wall.
Sliding into the chair she pulled out her phone. Hooking it up to the computer she started typing and glanced at the numerous screens to get the full lay of the land. “Alright, cameras are under my control. I’m watching you on the second floor. You ready?”
He nodded and then laughed. “Yeah. Which way.”
Feint glanced at the monitors and started typing. Five screens appeared with the middle screen’s image was constantly shifting around. The layout of the area was an open middle ground. A large wall in the center of the room that had simpler art pieces on it. There were four wings in each of the corners of the room where the other cameras went.
This was where the good things were. There was a sculpture of some Greek Adonis looking guy. In the other, which he appreciated more, were glass sculptures. Each of them was actually quite beautiful and colored. There were lights above, which he assumed would shine on them during demonstrations.
“We really should come back during the day. As tourist.” Phase said as he looked at the pieces.
“Maybe leave Yumi at home.”
“Gee mom and dad, why can’t I come out with you guys.” Yumi said indignantly.
The third room was boring to him but the fourth room had their painting. There was only a single light set up to illuminate the Nyx painting. Most likely to make it a little gaudier and atmospheric.
“Alright, I can see you. Go about five feet forward and then take an immediate right.”
Phase did as he was told and then started following the directions. He stayed crouched and moved swiftly forward ducking under a table. Though he couldn’t easily see where the guards were he trusted Feint to guide him.
Staying low he could see a pair of legs stroll past him. With a silent chuckle he watched them go past. Breaking from cover he turned around and went forward again. Stepping into the dark wing that he was in he glanced around and then shook his head. The painting was so simple. In fact he wasn’t impressed with it. Just a woman wearing all black on a dark background.
“Alright I’m in position. Yumi you ready?”
“I’ve been ready for the past ten minutes.” She yawned into the mic on purpose.
“Alright guys. Here we go. Phase when the lights go out you’re going to have to be fast.” Feint then turned to Yumi’s channel. “You’re looking at the box right?”
She’d long since snapped the lock and stared at the power box. Several switches, a few dials and dozens of wires. “This is a mess of shit.”
“You need to break the blue and green wires and then flip the fourth switch.” Feint said. “Think you can handle that?”
She’d been tracing out the instructions as she’d been given them. “It was my plan. I think I know what I’m doing.” She rolled her eyes.
“Alright. Remember, blue, green, fourth switch. Here we go. 3, 2, 1. Hit it.”
She tore the wires and flipped the switches as she was told. Nothing happened except for small sparks of electricity. “I’m assuming it worked right?”
Phase looked around as she was suddenly plunged into darkness. His mask kicked in, illuminating the area in its green night vision. He went to the painting next. Taking his gloves off his hand fizzled and he reached toward theframe. His fingers brushed it and slowly he made the frame no longer solid. It descended in a heap and he worked fast.
Rolling the painting up carefully he slipped it into the container and sealed it up. Standing up he whirled around wondering where the guards on the floor were. They were blind but they might start looking for him so he had to split.
“I got the painting Feint. Where’s my exit?”
“Best exit is going to be the roof. Yumi get the skylight open.”
With a nod Yumi ran toward the hexagon shaped dome of a skylight. Laying her hand flat against the grass she pressed on it hard. The pane slipped forward and her hand shot forward, grabbing it before it would fall.
“Feint can I run? This sneaking around thing might back fire now.”
Feint thought about it as she started to shut down their camera system and erase the fact that she was even in her system. “Go and go fast.” She told him before turning around.
Phase nodded again and started moving. Turning around he dashed into the center of the room. He saw the stairs and sprinted toward them. However, from one of the wings, came a guard. On reaction he jumped, grabbing the man by the head and slamming him into the stairs. At the last second he held back to avoid hitting the man’s neck into the side.
Grabbing the edge of the railing he jumped onto the steps, taking them two at a time. For some reason the stairs from the second floor to the third were much longer. He made it to the top when the lights suddenly came to life. They were far dimmer than they used to be but they illuminated his position.
The night vision was actually causing him a hindrance now. Shutting his eyes quickly and reaching out to grab a wall he steadied. “Mask. Night vision. Off. Now.” He commanded and when he opened his eyes again, thankfully the mask understood and his vision was back to normal.
With another stumble he tried not to fall over as he looked toward the roof. He could see three skylights. And right now, he couldn’t tell which one was his. “Hey! What’re you doing here?”
He whipped his head to the side and stared at a security guard. He was reaching for something at his hip and Phase swore. His arm shot out to grab something, anything solid, and his fingers curled around what he thought might have been an urn. Perfect.
“Hope this isn’t expensive.” He threw it at the guard and then shot off in the other direction. He heard the crash as the urn broke across the guard’s face. Rounding a corner and looking for his skylight another guard spotted him.
“For fucks sake.” He grumbled and ran straight at him. He was thinking of easy ways to bring him down but the painting was priority. Hopping forward Phase jumped and stepped on the guards face. Turning mid step he jumped toward the wall. Pressing both hands and feet against it he pushed off and went toward the skylight. Phasing through the glass he rolled once and winced at the pain.
“Fuck that was close.”
“Do you have the painting?” Yumi asked as she darted toward him. “Also you missed the window I opened.”
“Yeah I have the painting. If I didn’t have the painting I’d be beyond pissed.” He said getting to the edge of the museum rooftop. “Feint you make it out in one piece?”
“On the streets right now. Regroup at home guys.”
“Not home. We need to drop this off as soon as possible.” Phase said and pulled out his phone. “Meet on the roof of the Walgreens and then follow me.”
They were silent on the run over. Once atop the Walgreens Phase started running deeper into the city but not toward the buildings. He was running toward a residential area and the further they ran the more rundown it was getting. The sidewalk had plants and greenery doing its best to escape and the roads were full of potholes.
Most of the apartments had broken windows or vines scaling the sides. Yet people still lived in them. Well to be exact people lived in both the broken apartments but also on the streets around them. People wrapped in shoddy blankets, sleeping with bottles around them or eyes wide open afraid to sleep.
Jumping off an apartment ledge Phase landed on neatly. He was standing on the roof of an old gas station. “The drop zone is around here. Darren usually sends usually collects it themselves during the day.”
“Uh, we might have a problem.” Yumi looked back staring into an alleyway.
A group of about a dozen guys were coming toward them. None of them were joking around or even smiling. When Yumi looked closely she could spot weapons from chains to knives to bats. Most of them were either black or Hispanic with only a few white guys in the bunch. “I don’t think they’re here to get the painting.”
“Neither are they.” Phase mumbled pointing in the opposite direction. Several black European cars were pulling up to the gas station. Suited men and women got out, faces stern and unmoving. They converged on the center car and an older man stepped out. He had greying hair and the beginnings of wrinkles. He scowled as his thin eyes observed the area. Feint could see the bulges in their suit jackets and knew a gun when she saw one. There was one more, larger van in the back that no one had stepped out of yet.
“What have we walked in on?” Yumi asked and Phase shook his head.
“We should get out of here. Now.” Feint was saying and was already trying to find their last jumping point.
“Wait,” Phase said holding out her hand. “I want to see where this goes.”
“What’re you talking about?” Feint asked and Phase simply put a finger to the mouth of his mask and pointed.
The two groups were coming forward and stopped just a few dozen feet away from each other. “You got some nerve showing your faces on our turf again.” One of the alleyway guys said coming forward. One of his eyes was milky white. Most likely blind.
“Whatever do you mean? This turf as you put it belongs to the King. You riff raff don’t have a purpose here. What claim do you have for this area other than to being abandoned here by your deadbeat parents?” The old man stated.
“You assholes think you’re hot shit. Your money and cars don’t mean shit out here. You don’t know the streets. You just wanna own em and run us out. News flash we ain’t gonna let you do that.” There was a chorus of agreement from the rag tag gang and a bit of weapon waving.
“Hearing you prattle over this waste of space is touching but embarrassing.” He shook his head slowly and raised his hand. He snapped his fingers and turned around. The van shook slightly as the two people in the driver’s seat got out. They walked around the back and opened the doors.
A burly man stepped out, wearing a suit probably tailored for him. He was easily over seven feet tall, almost eight. His arms and body were thick from constant gym visits. He wasn’t like a bodybuilder though, more like a strongman. He had mass to go with the muscle. A mountain of flesh. His arms were shaking as he glanced at the older gentleman. The gentleman looked at him and then nodded. “Rip them apart.”
“Understood. Sir.” The large man said and his shaking seemed to calm down. Raising his hands he cracked his knuckles one at a time. Then he started to run and god was he fast.
The gang’s eyes widened and instantly some of them pulled out guns. They started firing and the bullets did hit home but the man didn’t slow down. When he came into contact, he slammed into them throwing people backwards.
The gang tried to scatter but the guy was too fast. His fist flew forward and slammed into one guys chest and it exploded outwards, sending guts and blood everywhere. The burly man stamped forward, stepping on a head with a meaty crunch. Some of them had managed to get a few hits off with their bats and chains but they broke against his skin or bounced away.
The massacre, because that was the only word for it, was over quickly. The screams ended abruptly Most of the gang was in bloody pieces on the ground and the big guy was covered in them. He was sporting more than a few wounds of his own and his heaving chest showed the strain he’d gone over.
“And that’s how we do proper business.” The older man said and walked through the mess on the ground. He kicked away a bloody pair of shoes and patted the large man’s shoulder. “You did well out there. How does it feel?”
“Enhance is amazing sir. Like I’m invulnerable. I didn’t feel a single hit and my strength.” He made a fist and sighed in pleasure. “Thank you for this.”
“Keep up this good work and there’ll be plenty more where that came from. You’re going to need to be cleaned up.” With that simple sentence he turned and walked back to his own car. One of the suits walked with him and opened the door before closing it after him.
The car started and pulled out before heading down the street. The rest of the suits got into their cars as well and soon the area was empty. Phase, Feint, and Yumi were speechless for the most part.
Yumi took off her mask and looked away. The smell of dead bodies and blood was starting to clog her nose and she coughed into her arm. She felt sick to the point where she thought about throwing up.
Feint was remembering everything that she had seen and shook her head slowly. “We’ve done things like that.”
“What are you talking about?” Yumi grumbled.
“The strength that guy had. It’s on par with ours. Back at the facility. I’ve torn dummies apart like that. Granted he’s a bit more durable than us but overall he’s almost exactly like us.” Both Yumi and Phase had to think about it but they agreed.
“So it really does turn people into us?” Phase asked.
“Seems so.”
She needed to get her hand on Enhance. She could find people to analyze it for her. There was no way this was just a ‘take it and pray type of drug’. There had to be more to it. And it had to be relatively simple to make if it’s on the streets.
She took off her mask with frustration coating her voice. “Phase where’s the drop off place.”
Standing and getting his bearings. Phase glanced around. “Right here.” He said and stepped off the edge of the gas station. He his shoes splashed in the remains of someone’s arm and he kicked it away.
Walking inside the station and the bell still dinged. The inside was completely cleaned out and there was nothing but shelves, non-working refrigerator units, and a counter.
Walking toward the refrigerator units, he went the third unit. Pulling open the door and then tapping on the bottom of the unit he popped out a tile. There was a small whirring sound followed by a click as a panel popped opened. It was like a space to put a time capsule. He slid the container down into the compartment and closed it.
“That’s that.” He said and dusted off his hands.
“So this is what you’ve been doing once a week before?” Yumi asked.
“More or less.”
They were silent for a moment before they turned back toward Feint. “Home now?”
Feint nodded and she put her mask back on. “Yeah. I’d like that. Do you know when Darren is going to have the money ready for us?”
“Give it about three days. They’ve been pretty consistent with this stuff.” Phase said already moving toward the door.
“Good because I’ve got some shoes I’ve been looking at. Might be better for the running and climbing.” Yumi said and glanced at her own worn pair. She put her mask on and glanced at them. “These are definitely needing an upgrade.”
The Harlequin Library 