With the glass finally opened, Darius gingerly pushes at the Grande Verde, trying to gauge its weight. Surprisingly, it nearly tipped over just from the gentle push. “No! No! No!” By the skin of his teeth, he barely managed to keep it from falling.
“Light! Way too light! This thing has got to only weigh 10 lbs, maybe less.” Never removing it from its place in the glass, Darius played with it a bit more. There he discovered that his initial theory to be correct.
“Okay, then instead of the chest piece, both of the arms, no, one of the arms should suffice.” Darius was in awe, this was, well, impossible. Even if the inside of the gem was completely hollow, which it wasn’t, Darius knew it should have weighed much more than it did.
“That’s not my problem, Charles can worry about that all he likes. I just need to worry about how I’m going to get this thing out of here.” For Darius, the weight wasn’t the real problem but the size. There just was no hiding it, and with three minutes to spare, Darius did not have the time to think of something clever.
“I guess I’ll have to do that. My secret technique with a 0% failure rate.” Darius had to resolve himself. This technique was only to be used after nothing else could be done. It required an amount of mental dexterity that no person could realistically ask of another. It was a technique that he had hoped to never have to rely on.
“I’m ready.” Seconds passed, the doors to the vault would open any time now. Darius held the emerald on his back in plain view, his eyes full of determination. After what amounted to an eternity, the doors opened.
“Sir, my eyes may be deceiving me, but is that the-” A guard asked, interrupted as Darius hurriedly walked past him.
“Sorry, no time to speak. Official business, please move out the way!” Yes, the genius secret technique of walking fast and acting like you are supposed to be doing whatever it is you are doing. Darius found that, throughout his journey, people will point out the peculiar, but if you assure them the whatever your doing is perfectly normal, very few will have the will to question you.
“Soldier what are you doing?” Another guard attempted to stop Darius as he walked down the halls. His armor carried the same number of stripes as the unconscious Jones, a First Lieutenant.
“Captain and official business. Sorry I have no time to stop an answer anymore question, please talk to Major Collins for any and all questions,” Darius retorted. He also found that amongst soldiers they’re eve less likely to ask questions, if you introduce the name of a higher ranking official.
“Right, apologies Captain. I’ll do just that.”
“If he spreads the word, this should buy me some time even if they actually go and try to ask the shrimp any questions.”
After that guy Darius was only stopped five more time with varying levels of success. Some gave harsh looks, others didn’t care, one actually asked if he needed help, but none of them attempted to stop him.
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“Looks like I might actually be able to pull this off.”
“Where is Captain McKenzie!” A familiar shrimpy voice yelled.
“You know what, at this point, I’d be more surprised if something awful didn’t happen.”
“McKenzie, McKenzie damn it, it has been way too long, stop hiding.”
“Why is she still looking for McKenzie?” Darius whispered to himself. “I get that she likes the guy, but this is ridiculous. She might actually be crazy; I almost feel bad for him… almost. That was some of my best work.”
“McKenzie, I hear a certain someone has been using my name to get into places they shouldn’t be!”
Darius felt fine, he could hear her voice from pretty far down the hall, and he was nearing the door to the exit, just a couple more hallways. Once he got outside, there was no way for any of those three to catch him.
“Captain, I found you!” Darius could feel a vein pop in his forehead, it was almost as if the universe is doing everything it can to stop him. He turned to see Yeti’s head poke around a corner in the hallway.
“Guess it’s time for my super-secret special final technique,” Darius calmed himself for a moment before he burst forward with newfound energy; only slowed by his armor and the extra weight on his back. “Run for my life!”
“Billy, faster!” Claire pushed.
Willing to take another look behind him, Darius was greeted by an extremely unpleasant sight. Claire surfing atop Yeti, eyes bloodshot with anger, as he barreled down the hallway on all fours with unimaginable speed.
“Sorry no time to speak to you Claire, I have some important business to attend to.” Darius pleaded, but Claire wasn’t having any of it.
“I…Do…Not…Care! Come back here now, and I’ll only break one of your legs.”
Darius weighed his options, there was no way he was going to outrun Yeti, so making the shrimp any angrier would only serve to make their next conversation more unpleasant.
“Stop running away, jeez I don’t remember you being this fast.” Darius realized that he may be acting too unlike McKenzie and Clare was starting to unconsciously realize it. Darius decided to take one last look behind him to be met with Claire unsheathing her sword.
“Yeah… no,” Darius decided he was just better off looking for a crowd to hide in, people were sure to gather wherever a commotion is caused. Except there were no crowds, none of the guards are trying to gather to see just what is going on, in fact, most barely seem to notice.
“Is this a common occurrence, no that can’t be, that’s just crazy, right?” Was Darius’s final thought before he was slammed into a wall.
“Hold him right there, Billy. Good!” The shrimp stood on top of Yeti’s shoulders, smug that she finally caught her target. Billy, in turn, looked miserable. He was probably guilt ridden by the fact that he was the one that caught me. She slammed her foot into the wall next to Darius’s head. He couldn’t help but notice a cracking sound beside him.
“So… you ready to explain yourself McKenzie?” she demanded. “You haven’t been acting like yourself today. Take off your helmet and tell me what’s wrong with you, running away, hiding, using underhanded means to get what you want, this is just not like you!”
“Does she really have to yell everything into my face?” Darius knew he was in trouble here. His face may have fooled a couple of guys McKenzie never met or rarely talked two, but these guys seem like close compatriots.
“Wait!” Before Darius could fully grab his thoughts, Claire attempted to pry McKenzie’s helmet from his head. Darius knew fumbled excuses weren’t going to work here, rather he could use something that not many people would expect from him… the truth.