Breathe in, breathe out. You got this. Breathe in, breathe out. You’re only gonna become an internationally wanted criminal if you get seen. Breathe in, breathe out.

Let’s do this.

I started to run. My destination is only four blocks away. I jump, ignoring the hundred-foot drop into an alleyway. It makes it easier when I have to cross an entire four-lane street.

I honestly could have chosen a better path. But it doesn’t matter now, the adrenaline feels even more potent than it ever has before. And eventually, with one last burst of power in my legs, I’m flying right to the roof of my target.

My heart begins to really beat with the last jump. The building I had just vacated was at least eight stories high. The museum I landed on is only three, the fall should have shattered my bones. Instead, I don’t even make a noise as the pads on my paws touch the roof.

With a burst of mana through my hand, a dim blue circle appears in the air. I quickly added an oval into the center and then crossed the whole thing out. A swipe to my side sends the thing boomeranging around and… I hoped it worked.

It’s a simple obfuscation spell, making it so that cameras and mirrors don’t see you. From there I reach into a pocket I have tied into the inside side of my belt, a weird little green thing that is absolutely amazing.

Despite the pocket only looking like it could barely fit my hand, I managed to pull a two-foot-long metal pole, along with a good length of hemp rope out of it. And after a few moments of attempting to pry open one of the sunroof windows, I rammed the pole into the concrete and tied the rope to it.

And like that, I’m on my way down.

I let out a small laugh as I hit the floor, and another quick recast of the concealment spell let me take stock of the surroundings. My location was in the east wing in one of the intersections with random art and other small things. Directly ahead of me was an exhibit dedicated to the late acting couple “that ruled the stage”, Clyde and Bonnie Ford. And the exhibit was currently holding all fifteen of the various awards that they received at the beginning of their careers…

I turned around and headed the other way, too obvious. It would be good money but the security would be past what I could break through.

The next room I passed forced me to stop and cast the spell again. The museum's piece de resistance, Heather Smith’s “The Golden Cape”. It’s easy to get as well, just behind a bit of glass, and any alarm that could go off wouldn’t give enough of a warning for whatever law enforcement could get here. I would be long gone.

The problem is it would be a pain to offload. Nobody would want to get caught with the original, again.

So, I made my way straight to my actual target while taking in the sights once more.

What? I’m not stupid. I did recon.

I did still consider a few things I saw while I made my way toward the back of the building. Nothing here actually had any kind of bounty on them so whatever I grabbed would have to be worth it.

A sigh escapes my lips as I finally enter the room where the target is. I guess there’s no real payday coming from this.

One more cast of the concealment spell and I take in the understated room. It’s currently home to a ‘traveling’ exhibit that kind of got stuck here a few years ago, when the original owners had to sell everything off. No one has bought anything from this collection yet. So it was stuck here at the Central Museum, and I guess that they saw no reason to not display it.

And what is the exhibit even for? It’s a collection of ‘rare’ (a.k.a. Either counterfeit or really easy to get a hold of) artifacts sourced from South Africa and its neighboring countries. 'Acquired' by a group of people that really shouldn’t have any authority over this kind of stuff. But, by now the one or two pieces that were of actual value have been returned to the original, original owners.

But, fortunately for me, there’s one artifact that holds my interest… If I’m correct.

Near the back, on the wall to my right is a mask, a ceremonial one depicting a greater kudu. Now to see if this is worth it at all.

With a pulse of mana through the tip of my finger, a complex network of intricate runes make themselves known across the entirety of the mask. Too much actually, I quickly pulled any trace of magic that I could out of the artifact and got to work.

I reached into the pocket and pulled out a briefcase I made just for something like this and set it open on the floor. Then I drew a few ‘U’ shapes in the air and grabbed the spellform at the base with a twist. A few seconds later anything keeping it in place was undone. I had to snatch out to keep it from falling.

In one swift movement, I placed the mask into the case, closed it, and stuffed it back into the pocket.

Mission success. Now all I had to do was get out of here.

I put a bit more hustle into my step, no reason to stick around any longer. I also thank whoever made paw pads cause I love not making any noise in this situation…

Shoot.

Standing on the other side of the entrance room was another man. He looked like he was in his late forties and feeling it. He was also wearing a security guard's uniform.

I quickly dashed around a corner to get out of sight, unfortunately, he caught the quick movement out of the corner of his eye. So…

“Hand’s up where I can see them!” His deep voice resounded through the halls.

I sighed and stepped out, hands held high. I also forced myself to lean further forwards onto the tips of my feet. It was just enough to unnerve the guard, and with a wicked smile on my face, the gun in his hands started to shake.

I quickly built power into my legs and burst forth, catching the guard off guard.

Ha.

I reached out with my left hand and smacked the gun out of his. He yelped out in pain for a second before I grabbed at his throat with my other one. My hand easily wrapped around the front of his neck, and with some pressure, he blacked out. I did make sure that he was set gently on the ground, I didn't want to hurt him any more than I had to.

From there I quickly make my way back over to the rope. Now I really didn’t want to stick around.

“STOP!”

I leaned my head back and sighed. Then I rolled my head over to the side to look at the next security guard I didn’t want to deal with… Gods. It's a kid of all things.

Okay, not a kid, probably like… Nineteen or something. Kind of hard to tell beyond the generic uniform and the ball cap on his head.

“Ha.” I finally let out after taking a moment, keeping my voice lax for intimidation purposes. “Sorry there kiddo but I have places to be.”

The kid takes a moment to look between me and the downed guard.

Then he launched himself at me!

I managed a good enough of a reaction time to dodge under, but only just barely. He basically flew right over my head by a few inches, and if he had the power to move like that, I needed out now.

The second I was standing back up I snatched out at the rope and began to climb. I was about halfway up in a few seconds, but the boy wonder was quick as well. He had managed to reorientate himself in the same amount of time and grab onto the rope.

It was just enough weight and force to pull the pole out of the roof.

Fortunately, I have cat-like reflexes and a really long tail, so twisting in the air as I fell wasn’t a real problem. However, there is a superhuman right below me in a place I don’t want to be anymore. I aimed right towards his head, hoping to both bounce off of it and confuse him.

The super, on the other hand, takes the chance to leap at me again, and we collide. I missed and he grabbed my left leg. I took my right one and kicked out at his hand to force him to let go. He does and now we’re both stuck lying on the floor.

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Both of us scrambled to get up and my next move was to grab the rope, still tied to the metal pole, and while, yes, it did come loose it was still on the roof. So the sound of it clattering to the ground distracted the kid for a moment.

Now I had a weapon. Improvised, yes, but still a weapon…

Actually, I didn’t really want to hurt this kid so… time to tie him up and run.

I began to swing the metal pole in a way that made the kid brace for impact. And toss it, forcing the rope to wrap around him a few times. A quick follow-up with the other end of the rope still in my hand and he’s out of my fur.

“Sorry, but you’re really not worth my time right now.” I let out a drawl, hoping to whatever that it was enough to demotivate him from coming after me.

This is why I didn’t want to run into anyone tonight. It ends up with a bunch of disheartened people after they try to stop me.

Now to get out of here. There should be a fire escape on the bottom floor, that should suffice. Leads right into an alleyway that should be enough to cover my escape.

I let out one last deep ‘Ha’ and did my best to walk off calmly, at this point I needed to keep up the persona anyways if I was going to have witnesses. Most likely this was going to be covered up anyways if the museum was going to have anything to say about it.

Don’t want to have an unadvertised or illegal super fight after all.

Now the kid is yelling after me, I could hear him struggling against the rope from a corridor away, and I grimaced. I really don’t want anyone after me down the road.

I made my way toward the front of the museum, where a classic balcony looks over the main entrance. There’s even a giant globe in the center of the floor next to the reception desks…

The super got out of the rope, and it sounded like he was coming at me, fast.

I whipped around and snatched out at the space in front of me, filling it with mana. An archway that leads out to the balcony is used as an anchor. Then with a flick, I held my hand out flat, and with a flash…

Boy wonder rushed around the corner and slammed into the solid wall he wasn’t expecting. He somehow still managed to shatter it though, so I’m hit with a big wave of backlash. This took the both of us out for a few seconds, the kid has fallen flat on his butt, and I’m blinded for a moment. On reflex, my hand came up to cover my face and I let out a deep growl, my other one gripped the balcony railing. Just so I can remain standing.

“You are quite annoying,” I say the second my sight is back, my eyes drilling into the young super.

“A-and you-” his retort is cut off by a grimace thanks to his fall, “A-are a criminal.”

“Thanks for noticing.” I deadpan, witty banter wasn’t in this kid’s repertoire.

I looked back over to the main entrance, and I noticed the lights that are flashing just outside. Crap, the last thing I need is the police involved. So I have two choices from here. I can escalate things and make this a full-blown fight between me and kid wonder; forcing the police to stay out of this for their own safety, or I can leave…

I jumped up onto the railing and turned back to the guard. “Well this was fun and all, but I need to go.” I gave him the biggest toothiest smile I could muster. “See ya super kid.”

I heard him shout ‘Wait’ as I pushed off of the balcony, practically soaring over the atrium. He then gets a reality check when I landed on my feet and dashed toward the nearest fire escape.

The door that is designed to let people out in emergencies provided little resistance. It did set off an alarm somewhere but I didn’t care anymore.

A little bit of mana is focused through a metal bracelet hidden underneath my body suit. I then focused the spell up to the palm of my hand and snapped, leaving a glowing ball of light floating a few inches above.

With an underhand motion, I tossed it at the wall on the other side of the alleyway and watched as the magic did its work. And not a moment too soon there was a portal set right in front of me.

It only took a few seconds to step through and close it. Now all I have to do is to hope that the anti-tracking stuff on it actually works.

I’m home, thank god.

I find my back against the front door of my house, far away from where my major crime just took place. Wow, the feeling of the adrenalin was starting to fade, and I’m finally fully processing everything.

Yes, I am very powerful, but why the hells was I acting so cocky? This isn’t a game… Can I blame this on drugs even if I don’t take any? Does magic overuse count as a drug? You know what, it doesn't matter. I have the artifact. Which means I won.

I let out a sigh I didn’t know I was holding and took in my house. It’s an… Open floor plan. Which means that the crazy architect in charge of the place didn’t bother with enough walls. But it is my sanctum, and I won’t have it any other way…

After all, I can go from my bed in one corner to my workshop in the other without obstructions getting in the way.

That is if you don’t count the pile of blankets and pillows that I say pass for a couch set in the middle of the room right next to the TV. What? A random pile of comfort is the best place to heal off major injuries.

Anyways, I do have a ‘kitchen’ in the corner to my right, the island is what passes for my table for the odd times I need one. And that’s the room, my bed-living-cooking-working room… Oh, and I do actually have doors. Five of them to be exact.

There’s the door on the front of the house that goes outside, and the one on the back also goes outside as well. Then from there, I have one that goes into a walk-in closet, another that goes into the bathroom, and one that leads into the basement where the ‘chambers’ are.

Pretty nifty setup, to be honest… Hella cheap too.

Oh gods I’m tired.

The crash from the high was starting to really hit me, so I got the case with the kudu mask and set it in my workshop for later. Then a quick trip to the bathroom and…

I saw myself in the mirror. It was the first time I’ve seen myself like this. You see, right now, I’m not human.

I’m a beast-man. A tiger, to be exact. With the classic orange and black fur, paws with pads in my palm, and fingers with claws at the end. To top it all off is the outfit I’m wearing right now.

It’s just a normal black padded suit. The shirt and pants blend into each other so that they look like one piece, and add on that the sleeves loop onto my fingers for the extra emo look, I guess. From there, I have some wraps around my feet and a black mask that covers the top half of my face and the back of my head. The only real stand-out thing is the lime green pocket that sticks out a bit from the inside of my pants. It was in an odd spot and all but I don’t care.

For someone that doesn’t like to look at themselves, it was quite the sight.

I took a deep breath in, and with the sigh, I let the little ball of mana held behind my eyes go. And the world shifts, I lose a few inches and my face flattens. The sudden weight of my combat boots makes themselves known as I shift around…

And the mask makes itself real once more.

It’s a labor of love, and I can’t see it any other way. Made of carefully carved wood it depicts the ornate image of the tiger that I just was. Along with the slowly fading glow of the runes that hold it together. I take it off of my face and set it on a peg I have specifically to store my masks.

Then all I’m left with is myself. Twenty-three, normally six feet tall with almost tan skin and brown eyes. Purposefully messy dark hair falls over my face that I tie up when going out as a civilian. Set all that at about two hundred and thirty pounds of what I’m tricking myself into calling muscle and that’s me.

The bodysuit setup isn’t that much different in my human form, sans weird finger loops for some reason. On closer inspection one can tell that this thing is not all that well put together, the padding is literally sewn on by hand. For some reason, though, it's all smoothed out with the transformation.

I still don’t know why the boots disappear though.

I quickly stripped out of the outfit and took a nice long warm shower, which in turn made it that much harder to stay awake. So when I crashed into my bed I was out like a light.

My alarm went off at about seven thirty, and by nine I woke up. A quick breakfast of toaster waffles later and I found myself in front of the TV with my laptop. After all, there has to be some kind of blip on the news about my break-in last night.

The TV flickers on and.

“Super News, coming to you live from the League State Tower with the latest on last night's events from New York City's own Central Museum.”

I immediately panicked and started to look up the website for the news. My case should be a bulletin at best. Heck, the Museum would probably want it covered up. So why is this case going directly to the League?

“-A recent statement from Iron Magnum reports that no extreme damage has occurred-”

Now my panic has started to skyrocket. THE IRON MAGNUM was in on the case! Why is America’s most powerful super looking into a minor cat burglary case?

“-His son is reported to have sustained no major injuries during his first-ever battle, but make no mistake that the criminal in question is still considered extremely dang-”

HIS SON!

The page finally popped up and it was front and center. “SON OF FAMED SUPER IRON MAGNUM FACES FIRST EVER SUPER VILLAIN!”

I can’t help but to feel just how screwed I am if I ever show my face in NYC again, heck probably all of New York.

A few seconds later and I’m reading the live article, um… so… the Super kid is in training… Took the night shift for an internship thing…

Oh, this is gonna talk about me.

Beast-man of unknown origin or clan… No clan has come forward to identify him… Experts are concerned about possible space-related powers… Why the missing artifact was targeted is still under investigation… Considered armed and dangerous, bla bla bla. Nothing too concerning.

… ‘Footage provided by NYCM and Hero Video'?

Why the heck would they release security footage? There shouldn’t be anything of note-

I forgot to keep casting the concealment spell when fighting the kid!

I opened up the viewer and watched with bated breath, it shows the room I entered in, along with the guard pointing his gun at something. Then a giant tiger man appears out of thin air and the video skips, picking back up after the guard is out of frame.

I’m at the rope again, getting ready to climb out when the kid confronts me. There’s no audio but the news site did subtitle it, getting the general gist of what was said.

The fight plays out like I remember, I climb the rope, fall, hit the kid and we’re both on the floor. I tie him up in a cool move and leave. Then the kid breaks out of the rope.

Like… He broke the rope. No undoing anything, he broke it and ran after me.

Then the moment where I looked really weird setting up the barrier. (Magic doesn’t show up on film so all they see is me holding out my hand.) He crashes and I recoil. The video ends with ‘See ya super kid’ and now I’m having a hard time thinking straight.

Everything about last night was being laid bare. Yes, it does help that the general public wouldn't have a hint about magic so what I was doing is being misconstrued as a normal superpower. But still… it was a stealth mission, I can’t have anyone after me. Especially not Iron Magnum.

I’m jolted out of my spiral when a familiar yet angry face pops up on my TV.

“ARCHER BOWEN! Get your BUTT over to the lab! NOW!”