CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
THE PASSIONATE THIEF
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A week went by.
Hundreds of billions in damage. That was how badly their fight with Arkanis had affected the city. No lives had been lost, largely because they’d gotten there quickly enough. But entire city blocks had been leveled and it didn’t help that Dang had left a massive crater behind. There were significant amounts of investigations into what had happened but since they couldn’t exactly announce to the world that a shadow monster was responsible for all the damage, they’d had to concoct a cover-up story, even if no one who resided in California quite believed it themselves.
The cover story was the most cliche one in the book. A gas leak, the news had said. An unprecedented one, and the resulting explosion had been catastrophic.
Tiger and Wombat had been questioned separately by the government about their involvement in the incident. Dang, for obvious reasons, hadn’t been part of the questioning and neither had Dante. The two doppelgangers were content with Tiger and Wombat claiming the credits for beating Arkanis since neither one wanted to have the spotlight on them for a number of reasons.
Wombat had made known to the government authorities that Arkanis had managed to slip away and had provided a proper description of the monster so the right agencies could be on the lookout for him.
“He’s hard to miss,” Wombat had said. “Scrawny little kid with an attitude and ego problem who likes to play with swords and spears made of shadow. You come across him, call this line. The Heroic Heroes will take it from there.”
When Wombat had relayed the events of their meeting to the others, Dante had burst into laughter.
“Wait, seriously, you guys call yourself the Heroic Heroes?” Dante asked.
“Yes,” Daniel frowned, his hands on his waist. “What’s wrong with that? We’re heroic and we’re heroes. It seems good enough.”
“Yeah, sure,” Dante said, still laughing.
Dang noticed that Daedalus was observing him. He frowned at his doppelganger and asked. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” Daedalus shook his head. “It’s just…your energy levels are a little higher than before. They’ve dropped since your Limit Break, but just not back to their usual levels.”
“So, I’m stronger than before?” Dang asked.
“Probably faster too,” Daedalus nodded. “It’s the same with Daniel and Megan. Whatever energy you used in restoring them, it’s given them a tiny boost. Not like yours, but close.”
“Sweet,” Daniel grinned. He held up a finger and summoned a blue flame, letting it dance on his fingertip.
“Anything on Arkanis yet?” Dang asked, gesturing to the computer at the desk. “If he’s still out there, we’re going to want to find him before he can go on another rampage. I’m not quite sure the city’s ready for something like that again. Hell, I’m not sure I’m ready for that again. I’m still sore from the fight.”
“Nothing yet,” Daedalus sighed, turning around in his chair to face the computer. “I’ve conducted scans every day for the past week but there’s been nothing yet. He’s either somehow hopped back to wherever he came from, or he just hasn’t regenerated enough of his energy for the scanners to pick up on him.”
“Or he could be dead,” Megan suggested.
Everyone turned to look at them with a facial expression that portrayed an are you serious? type of look.
Meg pursed their lips together and furrowed their brows. “What?” They shrugged. “Dang did give him a proper beatdown, it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s dead, would it?”
“Keep looking,” Dang instructed Daedalus. Daedalus nodded at him.
“What are the rest of us supposed to do in the meantime?” Daniel folded his arms. “You’re not planning to leave us on the sidelines again, are you? Because I’m pretty sure Meg and I put on a good enough of a fight against Arkanis back there, it should be enough to prove we’re ready.”
“I know,” Dang nodded. “You’re ready. But right now, there really isn’t much to do. I’ve got a new contract to work on that seems fairly straightforward. If it gets complicated, I’ll have you two on speed dial.”
“And me?” Dante asked.
“You should hang back here,” Dang said. “If Daedalus finds Arkanis, it might take the both of you to stop him, especially if he’s been able to recharge his batteries.”
“Right,” Dante nodded. “That works with me. What’s your new contract?”
“Mhmm pretty much bodyguard duty at a museum,” Dang answered. “Looks like there’s been some thief getting busy this past week, probably looking to use the whole Arkanis thing as a smokescreen. Six museums robbed in six days. The Starstone Museum looks to be the next logical target so they’ve reached out to ask that I keep watch at night, see if anyone comes prowling.”
“Seems straightforward enough,” Dante said. “Got any idea who could be the perp?”
“Nope,” Dang shook his head. “Dude’s good at his job. He’s clean. No trails, he doesn’t pop up on the security footage, nothing. Dude’s pretty much a ghost.” He placed his hand on his chin in thought.
“Think he could be an actual ghost?” Daniel asked, his eyes lighting up. “A ghost thief would be cool.”
“No such thing as ghosts,” Dang rolled his eyes and waved the idea off with his hands.
“A week ago, I’d have said the same about shadow monsters but here we are,” Daniel shrugged. “Never say never.”
Dang thought Daniel had a point but he wasn’t quite willing to believe it was an actual ghost robbing museums. What could a dead person possibly want with jewelry?
He headed to get dressed for his newest gig, turning his hair silver and fitting on his sunglasses and whatnot before bidding the others goodbye and setting out.
He trekked for a bit, allowing himself to his thoughts. Daedalus had been right–the energy he’d absorbed from Arkanis had changed him somehow. He’d felt it himself. He wasn’t sure whether he’d say that it’d made him stronger, but it was certainly different. His ‘Resonate’ gave him a different rush now. But it wasn’t the upgrade he received the fight with Arkanis that he was thinking about.
It was the other thing. The one he hadn’t yet mentioned to the others. It’d happened almost every day since the fight with Arkanis, usually when he was on his own.
And sure enough, not very long after he started to run, it happened again. The crawling, cold sensation, and the voice that accompanied it.
“Dang,” the voice whispered to him, seeming to come from all around him and nowhere all at the same time. “They’re coming.”
The first time he’d heard the voice, he’d been sleeping. He hadn’t been able to get any sleep since then.
But that hadn’t stopped the voice. He didn’t think anything ever would.
***
The Starstone Museum didn’t look very glamorous. Sure, it was pretty wide and pretty tall and had fancy Greek-style columns. There was a fountain outside the museum’s entrance, right in the center of a marble-tiled square. Inside the fountain, a statue of Archimedes holding a pen. From the tip of the pen, sparkling water spouted into the fountain.
Trimmed hedges lined the marble square and the path that led to the museum’s entrance. There were two guards stationed at the entrance–clad in tactical gear and helmets with night-vision visors. Both guards were equipped with rifles. Dang observed them from a rooftop, sitting on the edge, his feet dangling carelessly. In his hand, a smoothie that was already half-empty.
He’d gotten a pretty good look at the museum already from all angles. Three different entrances and exits, all of which had guards stationed there. Then there were the windows, all of which were pretty secure–he knew because he’d thrown a pretty good punch at one of the windows and hadn’t been able to leave a crack in it.
Of course, he hadn’t thrown all of his strength into the punch since he was certain that might have shattered every window in the museum. But still, there weren’t a lot of people in the city who would be able to hit as strong as him at half-strength. And if there were any people like that, he failed to see why they’d be hitting up museums. That sort of power, a bank would be the more sensible place to hit.
Anyways, he was here now and he had a job to do. He downed the rest of the smoothie and once it was empty, he shook the container. He let out a long sigh, and then pushed himself off the edge of the rooftop.
He plummeted downward, and landed lightly on his feet, almost as if he weighed nothing at all. With one hand in his pocket and the other holding on to the empty smoothie container, he started toward the museum.
Really, he thought it was ironic that a museum was worried about being robbed, considering the nature of how they’d come into possession of all of the items they had on display.
Stolen story; please report.
However, this was paying a lot so he’d decided against pointing that out. He needed more money so he could contribute to helping out those who’d lost stuff during the battle with Arkanis.
He tossed the container into a trash can and slid his other hand into his pocket, striding coolly toward the museum entrance, hunched over just a little. The guards stationed at the main entrance exchanged looks once they saw him, they tightened their grips on their rifles.
“I wouldn’t shoot at me if I were you,” he addressed them. “I tend to get pissed when people do that, and trust me, you really don’t want me to get pissed right now.”
“Museum’s closed, buddy,” one of the guards snarled. “Turn around and walk away. Now.”
“Relax,” Dang smiled. “I’m the one who’s here to do your jobs. You’re trying to stop a robbery, right?”
He pulled a card from his pocket and showed it to the guards once he’d reached them. They took the card from him, exchanged looks, nodded at each other, and then stepped aside, granting him access to the museum.
“Thank you,” he smiled at the guards.
He strode into the museum. On the inside, it looked a lot like most museums–filled to the brim with statues, paintings, artifacts and pieces of jewelry that had been pilfered over the centuries from other countries and villages. Much of the items on display had plaques on which information related to them had been transcribed. There were samurai statues from 14th century Japan, ivory statues from 17th century West Africa and a weird soldier hat from 13th century China.
Like he’d said, most things that you’d expect to find in any museum were right there. But from experience, he was certain that museums didn’t always have men clad in lopsided black hats and black trench coats with their hands halfway through a glass case in them. This one did.
He froze at the sight of the intruder. His presence was weird for a number of reasons. First, was that he was standing right in the middle of a laser security system and was positioned in such a way that the alarms should have been triggered, but that clearly hadn’t happened. Second, was that when Dang had said his hand was halfway through a glass case, he’d meant it literally. The intruder’s hand looked to have passed straight through the case, as though it were intangible.
The case in question housed a bracelet with gemstones embedded in it. Dang watched in surprise as the intruder grabbed the bracelet and pulled it right through the case, all without sounding a single alarm.
The intruder then spun around, presumably ready to leave. At the sight of Dang, he froze.
The intruder’s face was masked with a shadow somehow making the mask appear eerie - a result of the hat he wore on his head.
“Who are you?” Dang demanded.
“Evidently, a thief,” the intruder responded and bowed courteously. “I take it you’re here to stop me from getting away with this cute little thing?” He dangled the bracelet for Dang to see. “Really, I wondered when someone would catch on and try to stop me.”
“So, you wanted to be caught then?” Dang asked.
“Caught?” the thief repeated and chuckled. “What makes you think you’ve caught me? Oh my, you don’t think that’s what’s happening here, do you?”
“Listen, why don’t you save us both some time and just come quietly,” Dang sighed. “You’re not going to outmatch me in strength or speed. You’re done.”
“I suppose it’s a good thing then that I’m not dependent on strength or speed, right?” the thief tilted his head to the side, definitely grinning behind his mask.
“I’m not interested in games.”
“Well, I am,” the thief replied. “I’m passionate about games…and stealing. Mostly about stealing, but the game part is true too. Are you going to tell me your name? I figure friends should know each other’s names, right?”
“We’re not friends.”
“Really?” the thief sounded hurt. “That sucks to hear, this is the longest conversation I’ve had with anyone since I wound up here, I thought that sort of qualified us as friends. I suppose I’ll keep my name to myself too, and I’ll have to be leaving now.”
“Wait, what do you mean ‘wound up here’--,” Dang began but before he could finish his query, the thief dashed to the right, running straight for the wall.
Dang wore a puzzled look on his face wondering what the thief’s plan was. His eyes widened when the thief vanished suddenly, and reappeared on the other side.
“Crap,” he cursed under his breath, and charged forward in pursuit at once. He leaped at a window, this time with more strength than he’d used to test out the windows earlier. The window shattered at once and he stumbled onto the street beyond. The museum’s alarms started to blare immediately.
He turned in time to see the thief vanish at a turn at the end of the street and he ran after the crook immediately. Behind him, he heard the museum’s guards yelling frantically, calling in the latest robbery over their comms.
Dang called Daedalus.
“What’s going on?”
“I think the thief’s an anomaly!” he said at once, running after the criminal who continued to pop in and out of sight. “The reports were right. He’s like a ghost.”
“Wait. Daniel was right?” Daedalus sounded surprised. “A ghost?”
“I mean, I don’t think he’s dead or a real ghost. But he’s like, teleporting and all. It makes sense why they haven’t been able to get this guy. Send in Tiger and Wombat, I might need their help on this.”
“Alright,” Daedalus nodded. After a few seconds, he said: “Just sent them the message. They’re on their way to you. Dang, are you absolutely sure he’s an anomaly. I’m running the scans again and–,”
Daedalus’ voice trailed.
“What’s that?”
“That’s weird,” Daedalus murmured. “It’s…the scanners detect him but not for long. It’s like he’s popping up and vanishing and reappearing immediately.”
“Because he’s literally doing that,” Dang stated. “He’s teleporting, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen teleportation like this. It’s too quick, and I don’t think he even requires a cool down.”
“That shouldn’t be possible, his molecules should require some stabilizing between teleports, he can’t just displace himself like that,” Daedalus said.
“Well, that’s exactly what he’s doing. You think it might be something else?”
“You’re going to have to ask him when you catch him,” Daedalus replied. “If you need me or Dante to swoop in, just let me know.”
“Nah, Daniel and Megan should be enough to catch this guy,” Dang said. “Look, I’ve gotta go now.”
“Alright.”
The thief vanished and reappeared at the top of an apartment building. He stared down at Dang and waved, grinning mischievously.
Dang growled in annoyance, upped the pace of his sprint and with all of his strength, he pushed off from the ground, launching himself into the air. Behind his mask, the thief’s eyes widened as Dang shot upward, sailing higher than the rooftop itself.
“Whoa,” the thief murmured.
Dang landed on the rooftop, rolled and by the time he was back on his feet, the thief was back on the move. He tore after the thief with gritted teeth, determined not to let him slip away.
They leapt across rooftop after rooftop and Dang was grateful for his nimbleness and parkour skills, without which he would have stood no chance of keeping up with the thief. Their pursuit cut across much of the city. The thief went straight through bars and coffee shops and whatnot, startling onlookers who struggled to process what they’d just witnessed.
He’d led Dang through a frustrating chase in a construction site when Tiger and Wombat suddenly arrived.
They’d been on the third floor of the under-construction building, with the thief running right at an opening, ready to make a jump onto the rooftop. Only when he was about ten feet away from making the jump, Wombat appeared, descending from above, flames flying from his hands and feet.
He cracked a smile. “Going somewhere?”
Tiger flew in from a side opening and launched a blast of wind at the thief without warning. The thief went flying, slamming into a pillar hard before dropping to the ground with a groan.
Tiger levitated the stolen bracelet with the wind, sending it straight at Dang who caught the bracelet. He examined the piece of jewelry and gave Tiger a nod before stashing the bracelet in the inside of his jacket.
“Damn,” the thief groaned as he slowly pushed himself back onto his feet. His hat had been blown off with Tiger’s wind attack and his brown hair had been revealed, although his mask still hid his face.
He dusted himself off and stooped to pick his hat up. He fixed his hat back on his head and then regarded all three of Dang, Wombat, and Tiger with a smile on his face. “Oh wow, three new friends,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting tonight to be a social night.”
“You’ve got nowhere left to run, buddy,” Dang stepped toward the thief. “You’re coming with us.”
“Woah, relax, dude,” the thief held up both hands. “We just met and you’re already trying to invite me to a sleepover? I’m sorry but I’m just not into that kind of stuff, man.”
Wombat pointed at the criminal, a look of disbelief on his face. “Wait, is this guy serious right now?”
Tiger cocked their head lightly to the side. “Looks pretty serious.”
“Of course I’m serious,” the thief laughed. “They call me the passionate thief for a reason I’m serious about everything!” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh, and by the way, you’re right. I’ve got nowhere left to run. But you do realize I haven’t been running this entire time, right? Running usually means you’re afraid. Do I seem like the scaredy type to you?”
“It’s one against three, man,” Wombat’s flames burned brighter. “And we’ve got two more just waiting to drop in if that’s not enough. You should be scared.”
“Right, right,” the thief nodded. “But then again, none of you guys can do this.”
He grinned and held up two fingers, flashing them the peace sign. Immediately, he vanished, right out of sight.
“No!” Dang had scrambled forward when he’d realized what the thief was about to do but he wasn’t nearly quick enough to get to him before he’d vanished.
From somewhere deep below, they heard him cackling like a lunatic. “Don’t worry, you haven’t seen the last of me! Till we meet again, friends!”
“No, no, no!” Dang hissed and broke into a sprint. He leaped out of the building and dropped downward, landing both feet gently on the ground. Wombat and Tiger joined him and together, all three of them scanned for signs of the thief. There was nothing. The thief had vanished and was no doubt long gone.
“Y’all saw how he got away, right?” Wombat asked once they’d all but given up on their frantic search for the thief. “I’ve seen people teleport before but not like that. People don’t just do that, right? Not people who are alive, at least.”
“He’s not a ghost!” Dang growled, before Wombat could run with his conspiracy theory. “Ghosts aren’t real!” he declared.
“You sure?” Wombat asked. “One moment, we’re after dealing with a thief like him. What happens when we start experiencing body possessions or maybe we start hearing voices? Ghosts could be real, dude.”
At the mention of hearing voices, Dang’s face darkened. He paused for a moment, letting his mind linger on that thought. He must have paused for too long since Tiger tapped his shoulder.
“Hey, are you okay?” They asked him.
He glanced at them and nodded slowly, biting his lips. “Yeah, I’m good,” he forced a smile. “Never better. Uh, look, I’ve got to go return the bracelet to the museum and let them know we’re looking for a different kind of thief, and then I’ll be heading to the observatory to get some rest. Thanks for coming out to help, guys.”
“Sorry we couldn’t catch him,” Wombat shrugged, looking a little disappointed. “But next time, right?”
“Sure,” Dang nodded. “Good night, guys.”
“Night,” Tiger waved at him.
Dang turned around and started to walk away. After a while, he leaped off the ground and sailed through the air, quickly vanishing behind a series of buildings, leaving Tiger and Wombat on their own.
Tiger glanced at Wombat who had somewhat of a concerned expression on his face. “Something tells me you’re thinking the same thing I’m thinking,” they said, eyeing Wombat with some suspicion. “Go on, spill.”
“Nah,” Wombat shook his head, waving off the question. “It’s probably nothing. I’m probably just thinking too much into it.”
“Something’s wrong with him,” Tiger said, glancing in the direction Dang had gone off in. “He called for help pretty quickly today. That’s unlike him.”
“And did you see how irritated he seemed when I mentioned ghosts and hearing voices?” Wombat asked. “I mean, sure, he gets irritated at a lot of things I say a lot of the time. But he seemed extra irritated just then.”
“I don’t think he was irritated,” Tiger shook their head. “I think he was scared.”
“Scared?” Wombat repeated as though the mere notion was ludicrous. “Yeah, no, that doesn’t sound right. What would he be scared of? We just kicked ass a week ago and I’m still on top of the world.”
“Dunno,” Tiger shrugged. “But I heard Dante mention Dang’s not been getting any sleep recently.”
“Oh,” Wombat murmured. “You don’t think it’s to do with the energy he absorbed, do you? Daedalus said he was different; you think he might be different in more ways than one?”
“I don’t know,” Tiger shook their head. “All I know is, for now, we need to be careful around him. At least, until we figure out what’s wrong with him.”