Good help is hard to find [Open]

Shortly before the incident at The Perez Bank got underway, another heist was just about to get underway. A man clothed in an all white jumpsuit, a bandolier of pouches around his torso looked down through the skylight from the rooftop. It was the infamous jewel thief, Andre Le Blanc. After he slipped away from the prison break, he wasted no time trying to land himself a job that could earn him the wealth and fame he so richly deserved. And the criminal network was abuzz with requests for magical items- jewelry specifically. And if there was anything he was good at, it was stealing jewels. Ignoring the fact that he failed horribly to rob The Perez Bank while the titans were out of town, this was his time to shine! Surely the titans would be too busy trying to locate and apprehend the other escaped villains no?

The only wrinkle was it specified "Magic" items. Not wanting to just rob a local jewlery store and try passing them off as magic (because surely the buyer had a way of telling) Le Blanc had to find himself such a device. After much tireless nights of poking around, he found a lead and had to plan a heist to acquire said item. Sparring you the grueling and convoluted details of said heist, Le Blanc achieved the first step (and secured himself a much needed confidence boost in the process) toward his ultimate goal!

And in his mind, the best place to begin his search was at the local museum where many priceless artifacts were kept. So here he was now, casing the place with his dreams of reaching greater infamy. The familiar nervous adrenaline before each heist would be his only companion tonight. The place had your standard security systems, tripwires, alarms primed to sound if a fly so much as banged it's head against the glass, cameras, and of course guards. All childs' play to the great Le Blanc. Pulling out his tools, Le Blanc set to work circumventing the first obtacle. Getting inside undetected.

After managing to fool the alarm into thinking that nothing was happening to the skylight, Le Blanc slunk in with some special suction cup-like attachments to crawl along the ceiling. He had spent more than enough time watching the cameras to find their blind spots, and made his way over to one such place before pulling out the device he risked capture to get. He had done a test of the device earlier to see how it worked to make sure it didn't make any loud bleeps or sounds- that would've defeated the entire purpose of stealth you see. Fortunately, the fact he did not take into account that a magical item would have been needed for proper testing did not matter. As the device gave off a soft and quiet pulse as it first mapped the area around him.

After mapping out where he needed to go, Le Blanc put the device away and continued his way further into the back of the museum. He soon found himself in an ancient Norse exhibit with some various displays of old pottery, weapons, armor, and of course- jewelry. Waiting for a guard to pass by making his rounds, Le Blanc consulted the magic tracking device again. Based on the display, there was indeed a magical item in this room. And it seemed to be coming from the jewelry display case. Time to get to work- but first, the cameras. He'd have to be quick, as the cameras' rotation did overlap so he'd only have enough time to sabotoge one before the other one would be able to see him. But with alittle patience, and some really strong anti-perspirant, he pulled off step two.

Next up was the next and in his oppinion, easiest step; getting the goods. Making his way down from the wall, he hid himself behind an exhibit as two more guards walked by. "So I told her, 'if you wanna trade places and risk your neck trying to stop super powered freaks from breaking in, be my guest.'" One guard complained to the other.

"I know the feeling. My girl couldn't take the long hours either," the other replied as their voices drifted off into the distance.

Le Blanc could care less about their problems. They were just another obstacle in his way to greatness. Le Blanc briefly consulted the device again to try and narrow down what the item he was looking for was. But unfortunately it didn't offer him any further detail. It simply told him that "there is a magic item right here" in front of him. How annoying. Oh well- there wasn't any harm in grabbing them all on the safe side right? He liked to consider it as hazard pay. Le Blanc pulled out an aerosol can and gave the air around the case a spray, revealing the lazer tripwires. Then like with the glass of the skylight, Le Blanc set about cutting a small hole in the glass in a spot between the tripwires. This was the only nervewracking part about this step. Would he be able to work quietly and quickly enough to get what he was after before the guards came back? Popping a hole through the now cut glass, yes he would.

Le Blanc managed to swipe everything, storing it all in a bag securely tied to his back. He was reaching in for the last item when suddenly, something in the glass' reflection caught his eye. It was somene in a wide grinning mask, and for a brief moment, Le Blanc swore he heard a soft giggle that startled him so much that he- accidentally tripped a wire. And to this even worse, when he spun around to face his adversary- there was no one there! OH WHY DID THIS ALWAYS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO HIM? The alarm was tripped, and the lockdown was initiated. But it would take more than this to stop the great Le Blanc! One of the secured doors slid open as the pair of guards from before burst in, quickly training their pulse rifles on him and firing.

Le Blanc ducked down and rolled some smoke bombs their way before pulling out a grappling hook. The smoke bombs went off, briefly distracting the guards as Le Blanc used the grappling hook and used it to leap over their heads and escape through the now opened door. THE FOOLS! THE FOOLISH FOOLS! More guards burst in as if they wanted him to escape. This one was abit trickier, he had to slide between them as they opened fire before getting back itno a sprint. Le Blanc dropped a little present behind him, a flash bang. All that was between him and freedom was a steel barred door. He'd need a moment for some thermite to make short work of them... and he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched. But he dismissed the feeling as adrenaline induced hallucinations.

Red X rode quickly towards Midtown in Jump City. Word through the grapevine was that there was a buyer looking for magic gems from the Museum, and there was going to be a high payout for every gem that a respectable thief could get their hands on. Naturally, one of the best resources a thief could have was a reliable network, and Red X had it in spades. Red X made sure to stop a few blocks away and keep the X-Cycle in a nearby alley for a clean getaway if it was needed.

It almost always was.

The rest of the way to the Museum was made quickly across the rooftops. Upon arrival, it could be clearly seen that the Museum's alarms were going off. Who the hell got here and messed everything up? The thought was quickly pushed to the back of the mind, and Red X darted forward into the Museum. One thing that was wonderful when another thief had messed up big; there wasn't really any more alarms or systems that you could set off. Red X disabled the security cameras along the way, throwing enough X shuriken to make sure that they would have to painfully be reinstalled entirely.

The sound of a flash bang going off. So they were used to this kind of treatment. A thief with a bad record? Red X came across a steel barred door with Le Blanc on the other side of it. It prompted an eye roll for the thief. Practically an amateur. Plans crunched in Red X's head. How to salvage this?

If the guards caught him...Red X liked the chances of a fight with the guards. It would actually be relatively easy to get the jewels off of Le Blanch with him incapacitated.

But he could die.

Red X groaned. I hate having to play the hero.

"Come on, Le Blanc! You're giving thieves like us a bad name!" Red X threw an X Portal onto the bars, allowing quick and easy exit for Le Blanc. Red X had a feeling that Le Blanc was going to make it easy to regret this, but dealt with it for now. The jewels were the top priority. Red X offered Le Blanc a hand, aiming to taser Le Blanc if he took it and make it quick so he could snag the bag and run. Unless, of course, something unexpected happened.

To say Le Blanc was happy to see X would be... completely untrue. Surprised? Yes. He only knew X by reputation and knew enough to know that X wasn't among the people battling the titans on the side of The Brotherhood. So he was naturally suspicious of his intentions. "Even the greatest of us have a run of bad luck, no?" Le Blanc commented in an attempt to save face. This was to be HIS heist, HIS victory. And X was just going to try and take that from him? Unfortunately for him, the guards he had temporarily distracted would be on him very soon and a literal window of escape had just appeared before him. He would rather not be in jail again, and so accepted X's hand just as yet another obstacle appeared. Surely that would be enough to distract X and NOT do what he had been planning to do right?

Le Blanc had no idea who this girl was. But she was in his way of being scot free. "Qu'est-ce que c'est? You think that you can stop us?" Le Blanc challenged Isabel, still totally banking on the fact that X was actually here to- well, alright he wasn't gullible enough to believe X was there just to save him. There would be no more jobs if he was behind bars and just this once, he would have to swallow his pride and accept the hand that had been dealt to him.

Le Blanc defended that even the greatest had a run of bad luck every now and then. Red X ignored the comment; it wasn't going to do any good to bust his balls over it. It wasn't like Red X entirely cared, either; all that mattered was getting the jewels Le Blanc stole.

But Isabel was distracting enough- not even in all the bad ways- that Red X was momentarily distracted from tasering Le Blanc to get out clean. Red X peered at Isabel as she said that one of them should at least sit out or give the stolen stuff back. Red X chuckled as she covered the exit with an X in chains. That was an interesting ability.

"Looks like you got my calling card, cutie. Maybe one of us should sit out. Before the guards with assault rifles get here?" The X Portal closed as soon as Le Blanc came through and deactivated, decaying in the air in front of their very eyes. Red X, during the pause, looked at Le Blanc. "Right? Le Blanc? Assault rifles? Swiss cheese?" Red X hoped that would be indication enough that Le Blanc needed to make a break for it. The suit Red X wore didn't have nearly enough armor to keep the use safe from assault weapons, and so Red X turned around and fired an adhesive restraint at Isabel. It would wrap her up in very sticky, gluey red liquid that should do well to restrain her. Red X then made a break for the exit, running and appearing to jump directly at the X of chains she had set. But before touching them, would flicker momentarily and appear ten feet further down the hallway before continuing to sprint after Le Blanc.

He thinks I'm cute? How flattering. If only he wasn't trying to steal things that I needed, right? Back on track, the guy was moving and I readied myself to respond... but he shot this YUCKY looking red goo at me! Did that come from his body? Ewwwww. I do a cartwheel, a perfect one if I say so myself, to dodge as he jumps towards the chains.

"I gotcha now!"

I make the chains close around him, capturing the X guy in - wait was he behind me now? I spin on my heel in time to see Red X running further down the hall. What the heck kind of bull**** power was that?! I'm not normally this unlucky. I keep my eye on the guy carrying the jewels. He's not as fast as the X Man and if I had to let one of them get away it'd be the one without the loot.

"Listen, man, we can work this out. I don't really care about that X dude. Just give back what you took, right?"

As I talked, the old chains would disappear and new ones would form around me. If Le Blanc tried to take off, I'd lash them out at him and take him down. Hopefully. Unless he had powers like the X.

Le Blanc was already eyeing an alternative escape route once he saw the main exist blocked off. He also did not appreciate being talked down to like he was stupid. He had already explained that it was just bad luck that he was even in this situation, and excluding that, he already knew that he should be as far away from here as possible. But there was the girl with powers (of course she had powers) that could prove to be quite the obstacle. While she was busy exchanging "witty" banter with X, he was already attempting to sneak off toward the opposite hallway.

And then she addressed him directly, prompting him to briefly stop. "You take Le Blanc for a fool? You won't catch me that easily!" And with that he quickly lobbed another flash banging over his shoulder before breaking into a full on sprint after X. True, he didn't have a fancy tech suit to make up for his apparent lack of ability. But he was not quite the bumbling buffoon that he was being accused of being... though if there were any less super powered brats, he wouldn't be complaining.

Isabel's attitude was...pretty amusing, to say the least. Red X ran alongside Le Blanc, keeping with him. As chance may have it they may have to work together until they could get free of all these people. Le Blanc tossed a flashbang back towards Isabel. Good, that should slow her down a little bit. And they had also trapped the guards behind a bunch of iron bars. They just had to away from Isabel and this would be clean.

Red X made a few X explosives and tossed them behind in the hallway as well. Red X would detonate them as soon as possible without risk of hurting Isabel. Red X was definitely a thief but he was no murderer. There was no inherent desire to hurt people, just to look out for number one.

Of course, if she was keeping up fairly well, there wouldn't be a real chance to set them off or collapse the hallway behind them.

The tattered cape billowed behind as Red X addressed Le Blanc. "I think I've helped out enough. You're a quick thinker. I take back some of what I said." A closer look, when Red X could afford it. "But still, I don't wanna leave empty-handed. Half sound fair to you?"

Downright philanthropy, by Red X's standards.

Hearing the other thief's response made me frown. I moved the chains to grab him, but what was that he threw? Suddenly everything was white and my ears were ringing. What the ****?! I'd try to chase, remembering the hallway mostly... but then BOOM! Someone was trying to blow me up! These guys were crazy! Not the fun type of crazy, either. Wait! Idea! Since I couldn't see with one eye, I quickly took off my eye patch so I could see with my other.

"Now... they've made me reveal my true powers... their funeral."

That sounded so badass! I took off in a sprint, the explosions seemed to be set off far away that they wouldn't hurt me much if I were dodging... but I didn't bother. Some debris hit me, cutting my cheek a bit and ripping my shirt in a few spots. Didn't matter, really. Now that I unleashed my true powers I felt unstoppable.

Not that I really had any upgrade from taking the eye patch off, but it was nice to see again.

I spotted them ahead, running. I used my powers to summon a large black rock in front of the final door to freedom, effectively cutting off that route of retreat. I struck a pose at the opposite end of the hall, covering my eye that was still suffering from the flash bang.

"You two have proven to be powerful. I can't afford to hold back, now."

So cool!

Le Blanc hadn't even bothered looking behind him, so confident was he in his own abilities (as minor to these two as they were) and X's assistance that he'd assume that'd be the end of it for Isabel. He was less than happy with X's proposal, more out of the fact that only one of the items he was carrying were magical. Sure what he had would catch a nice price, the magical item alone probably matched the price of many of the other items combined. Unfortunately, he had no way of telling- even with his device, he only knew that he had an item with magic but that was it. "Oui... I am not foolish enough to try my luck against you mon ami. And never let it be said that Le Blanc is not grateful," Le Blanc rattled off before a big black rock appeared at the exit, which was followed by that infernal girl. Le Blanc grumbled something in french as his eyes quickly darted out. Hopefully X would distract her for a moment if not just use his special suit to get them out of this.

The Skylight was now covered by metal shutters from the lockdown, which was not a major issue for a well thrown pipe bomb. The same could be said of the windows on either side of the door- knowing his luck tonight, the rock was probably indestructible or some other kind of "unfair advantage" that he always had to face. Besides, he may need it later and if X could just "magic" an exit for them- why bother? 

Oh and the guards from before? Well they could be heard on the otherside of the now blocked hallway, their voices and feet doubling back the other way. So there was always THAT threat to worry about.

Red X ran alongside Le Blanc. They were almost at the home stretch, and Le Blanc had just agreed to not test Red X's patience tonight. Good. Provided there were no further interruptions, they would be getting away scot free.

...so of course, as most plot thickenings tended to do, they were interrupted yet again by Isabel. Red X turned around to gaze at her in a form of surprise, the eyes on the mask mirroring the expression of that underneath. Red X saw that Isabel had been hurt in the explosion. That was far from the intention, obviously, but there was the smallest bit of guilt at the revelation. Isabel struck a fantastic pose, and said that she couldn't afford to hold back against them.

She was being very anime right now. Red X pondered for a moment, before turning and throwing an explosive X at the rock. It fizzled and glowed in embers before dissipating into the corrosive magic. That tore it. Red X turned around back to Isabel. "Nani?" Red X demonstrated shock before striking a pose. Hopefully Le Blanc would go along with the plan and do what was expected of him. Red X chose a fabulous pose, arms crossed and leg up on an invisible platform. "JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?"

Of course that guy had something for her magic. He was the prepared type. I wasn't deterred. His corrosion was slow, and I started walking towards them. I'd get to them before they got through my rock that was for sure, and with how scared they must be of me would throw them off. The cut on my cheek would close, showing off my healing ability as chains formed around my wrists.

"This is it-"

Wait, he interrupted me. I hesitated for a moment as he struck a pose of his own. This man was confident! Powerful!

He was handsome, I could tell even though he was in that suit that was not very flattering. This was a twist! He understood how these types of things work. The other guy was a fool, clearly, she had no interest in him or his lack of true showmanship. This X gentleman. He was something of a different breed, though.

"You might be a powerful for, but you must know that you are outclassed by me. I'm a 7th level mage, X! Unstoppable! Surrender now, give me the items and be on your way. In respect to your power, I won't chase you."

Based on his limited understanding of what X's suit did, of what this girl's power- magic? Sure, magic, let's go with that. Based on his lack of understanding of how both of those things worked in conjunction with eachother, it looked like the rock would be out of the way. Probably. And they started to exchange banter again, striking poses. What was even going on now? Was X trying to add insult to injury by trying to outstage him? Le Blanc would be having none of that! "Oh ho! You are powerful indeed! But it will still take a lot more than that to stop us," Le Blanc quipped, trying to strike his own dramatic pose which given any other circumstances would have just been silly. But we've already passed the point of seriousness haven't we? He still had no idea what was actually going on and was just equally trying to distract isabel long enough for the rock to completely dissolve. He could try to make a run for it now but he did not trust that he'd get through it safely.


And then the building shook, just slightly with what sounded suspiciously like an explosion from somewhere in the museum. Also muffled shouts, some pew pews and then nothing. That was probably not a good sign but hopefully distracted everyone long enough for the rock to be dissolved enough for Le Blanc to make a dash for the door. Would he actually get out the door? Tune in next time to the next exciting episode of Princess Is-A-Bel Air X!

Red X blinked at Le Blanc. It was just the opposite. Red X was just trying to give Le Blanc enough time to find a way out. It wouldn't do any good to discourage him from distracting her as well, but why exactly was Le Blanch participating? Despite all Red X's quips, Le Blanc was a pretty smart guy. Couldn't he see that they needed an exit strategy? Red X looked back a bit.

Oh.

For some reason, the rock was fizzling, red liquid coming out. Was...was the Xenothium charge doing something to it after all? Red X would just accept the good omen.

Red X turned back to the opponent with Le Blanc, getting back into anime mode. She spouted something about being a level 7 mage, and unstoppable. Red X scoffed, "Tch! A level 7?"

Red X dramatically pointed at Isabel. "Not so fast! You might be a 7th level mage, but I...we can't lose here! I've gotten where I am now because I'm the number one unpredictable ninja! Even if you are strong...I can't lose now! One day, I will be the Hokage, dattebayo!"

This was too fun. Red X almost didn't even want it to stop.

The X man would need my full attention. He was serious business if the things that he claimed were true. The number one ninja in the world? The world was so big. That was so many people. I think he was the ringleader, but the other had the goods. I had to handle both at once. The building shook though. No idea what that was, but it distracted me just long enough for LeBlanc to make a break for it.

"Ah crap! I always do this!"

Posture too much and the bad guys get a lead! Stupid, Isabel! Stupid!
As LeBlanc went through the melted parts of the rock, he'd find himself slowed a bit if he touched it. His vitality being drained, as my magic did. I sent a mental command, and a hand reached out of the rock to grab at something that looked important. It wasn't the jewels, but it looked magic! Some kind of radar? Hopefully the construct could get it. Then I looked to The X dude.

"Let's settle this, Hokage-san!"

I'd run forward, my chains throwing themselves towards him to try and grab him!