As far as heists went, driving up to the museum in a van that practically screamed we were up to no good was a first. I mean, we were having a helicopter come pick us up. I thought we’d go for something a little more classy. Apparently, that was thinking too much.

  Obsidio drove around the far side of the museum and parked the van, still in costume. It was already well into the night, and the parking lot was all but abandoned. Well, except for a small homeless camp set up in a spot protected from the wind. “Final checks? And be careful of the van, alright? It’s a rental.”

  My confidence in this group was rapidly declining the longer I stayed with them. Obsidio in particular… how’d he get the blueprint and pay off the guard in the first place? Maybe his incompetence was all an act? He was an Anarch, so surely he couldn’t be entirely incapable.

  Hmm… while the others checked their equipment, I got on my Glass and scrolled through news articles. My equipment was just Ebonshroud, which flowed under my skin. No need to do checks. I could feel it just fine.

  [[Breaking!] 1st Ranked Warden, Solis, receives Bastion’s Purple Shield!]

  [[Breaking!] Arbite Arms under fire? Everything you need to know!]

  [Cathedral VS Ctrl Alt Elite – how will the other three Pentarchs react?]

  [Terrorist attack in Throne? What is our government doing?]

  [Myth//OS and you! Must have Skills for the aspiring Warden.]

  [1,000 tips for new Awakened.]

  [(Exclusive!) Arbiter Jeff’s look into corruption in the Association.]

  [[Breaking!] Showdown in Wrighton leaves dozens dead!]

  [Major Corporate Duel leaves thousands jobless!]

  Most of it was clickbait titles or stuff I wasn’t particularly interested in. I scrolled for a few moments before looking up Obsidio’s name out of idle curiosity. There were a few articles, most of them dating back to a year ago.

  One in particular caught my eye. It seemed to be the first mention of Obsidio anywhere.

  [Mess at the Met.]

  I looked through it, though I quickly stopped reading, pretending I didn't see anything. I dropped my Glass back into my lap. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to look at the leader of our little group in the same light. Poor guy. He deserved better. What a complete and disastrous first showing.

  Well, regardless, this time would be different. It'd been a year already, right? I changed plenty in the year I’d been in Bastion. An Anarch probably changed double so. And Pinky and Bluey seemed like they were… maybe going to be of help? Neither of them looked particularly trained, but still. Bodies were bodies. They could be great meat shields if the worst came to pass.

  Bluey seemed to be more of a tech expert for the group. Or, at least, he was the one with all the heavy equipment. I watched as he finished up his final checks, stashing drills and other equipment in his bag. Pinky was… here? Seemed more of a mascot than anything. The suppressed SMG he pulled out of the back said slightly otherwise.

  And they had me. I could handle the situation if something went wrong. At least, assuming a Warden didn’t pop up to stop us. What were the chances of that? From the plan, it looked like we’d only be up against some basic security guards, though. Should be fine. Probably.

  Obsidio popped open the sliding door of the van, stepping out into the secluded parking lot. “It's go time!”

  Bluey and Pinky followed right behind him, the three stooges standing out particularly sharply in the almost abandoned parking lot. Their attire was already eye-catching, but in a vacuum like this? I’d be more impressed if security didn’t see us coming. Or maybe they would see us and wouldn't care. Lots of people were out and about in wacky clothes. Wardens always did like their exotic attires.

  I stepped out of the van and tucked my unruly hair back into my hood, securing it with a quick band of Ebonshroud. I caught a glance of myself in the van’s mirror. None of my features stood out except for my height. I stuffed my hands into my hoodie pocket and trailed behind the trio.

  “I’m so excited, boss! Been a while since we all went out like this!” Pinky practically shouted and skipped forward like a kid. “Too bad Jaguar Joe isn’t here…”

  Bluey grabbed him by the arm, pulling him back into their little formation. “Quit it, slag. You’re ruining the boss’s image.”

  “Right, right. Sorry, boss.” Pinky tried to calm himself as he got back into their formation. His back went ramrod straight, perfectly imitating a soldier.

  ”It’s fine.” Obsidio’s ‘evil’ voice dropped to a normal one for a moment. “Oh, you guys have your insurance cards, right? Just in case.”

  Bluey patted himself down and then stopped. “Shoot! I left my wallet at the apartment…”

  Obsidio’s shoulders dropped. He tapped his mask a few times, then sighed. “How many times have we been over this, Havoc?”

  Oh! Bluey’s name was Havoc! I’ll definitely remember that… maybe? Bluey flinched at the boss’s reprimand. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry, boss.”

  “This is why I come prepared.” The Anarch just sighed and reached into his pocket. He pulled out three cards and passed them out to each of us. “Remember, make sure you have these on you. On the tiny, minuscule chance we get arrested or injured enough for a medic, flash these. Valid for the next week."

  Cool. It was gold-class medical insurance with the Cathedral Guild. Very expensive. And he had several of these? With that many Nytes… why was he even trying to rob a museum? He could probably just straight up buy the book.

  He stepped away, froze, and turned back to hand me something else. "Oh! And take this, Nyx. Forgot to give it to you earlier.”

  I grabbed a small earbud from Obsidio. “…?”

  ”It’s for comms. Teresa-“ He cut himself off, muttering to himself under his breath. “I mean, Overwatch has all our’s linked up.”

  I put in the earbud. "…?"

  “Hello~! Can you hear me, Nyx? This is your woman in the chair! Ter- Overwatch, speaking!” The cheerful voice of Teresa came across the line. She seemed to like that particular title.

  I tucked the card into my pocket. ”Yep.”

  “Then we’re all set! The code has been sent, and the security systems are down! They’re completely blind! You’re good to go, squad!” Teresa continued to cheer us on the entire way to the museum’s doors.

  No way we were going through the front doors, right? That would be insane-

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Obsidio casually pulled out a key and opened them, allowing the rest of us into the lobby. “Can you track the guard’s locations, Overwatch?”

  ”Of course! Um… one second…” The second stretched on while we waited at the entry to the museum. “Okay, got it! They only have ten on staff tonight, so it should be easy! Half of them are in the break room. The other half are scattered about the exhibits on patrol.”

  “I’ll get the right side of the museum.” Obsidio split off from the group, heading toward the exhibit halls.

  ”I call the left side!” Pinky cheerfully skipped ahead full of confidence like a puppy. At complete odds with his behavior, he pulled the suppressed SMG out. I know they said they were using non-lethal rounds, but… it’d probably be fine. They were professionals? I mean, they were professionals.

  Bluey sighed and nodded back to me. He shifted his heavy bag uncomfortably on his shoulder. “Need any help with the break room?”

  I shook my head. This was what they hired me for. “Strong.”

  “You sure? No, no- you’re our muscle. Jaguar Joe is capable of the same stuff. Maybe?” He didn’t sound super convinced. How was he Pinky’s twin? Their personalities were completely different.

  “…”

  ”Right then… I’ll guess I’ll start getting set up. Teresa, which exhibit hall is it again?” Bluey called out to the resident voice in our heads.

  I turned away, heading toward the break room. I saw it on the blueprint earlier, so I already had a good idea where I was headed. Besides, if I got turned around I could always ask Overwatch. I moved into the camera’s blind spot and paused for a moment.

  Out of view, I brought Ebonshroud forth. The ooze emerged over my body and steadily converged into the palm of my hand. Soon enough, a large ball formed. What was I feeling? Sword? Knife? Too lethal… a mace? Oh!

  I grabbed the dark mass with my other hand, splitting it perfectly in half. The two halves elongated, turning into twin batons. They easily shifted into a fractal design reminiscent of Obsidio’s obsidian shards. Usually I kept it as simple as possible when it came to Ebonshroud creations, but the boss did request I match their vibe.

  Hmm… it’d been too long since I had a cup of coffee. I could tell because a headache was starting to form. My headache grew worse thanks to the group’s constant chattering. Seriously, it was like we were out on a picnic and not raiding a museum in the middle of the night.

  Occasionally, the sound of muffled gunfire came across from Pinky’s end. He cheerfully announced every single time he knocked out a guard. As if competing, Obsidio started doing the same, all while Bluey kept asking for directions. It was all a little… much?

  I continued on my way, twirling the batons in my hands idly like they were drumsticks. I passed through the halls, eventually arriving at an employee-only sector. It was locked with an ID scanner.

  “Door?” I asked Overwatch.

  ”Oh… one second!” The sound of a keyboard clacking came across the comms. “Done! And Havoc, I’m going to be honest… I can’t even find you anymore. Are you even in the museum?“

  I stopped focusing on their chatter as the ID scanner flashed green. I pulled open the door and peeked into the break room. It was a small enough space with four people scattered around, all in guard uniforms. I thought there were supposed to be five? Cabinets covered the walls, making the place look a bit like a kitchen.

  An old man sat with his back to me, clacking away on a terminal. The man watched camera feeds, though Teresa must’ve already set them to loop since no alarms had been set off. Two other guards sat playing cards on one of the break room's tables. Finally, a rather tall orc woman lay slumped over a table, snoring lightly. Drool dripped from her well-maintained tusks.

  No one noticed me standing at the door. I took the time to quickly throw together a plan of attack. The orc was my biggest threat, probably. Orcs were strong brutes by nature. The two other guards didn’t look particularly dangerous. The old man would be a breeze to knock over.

  I darted toward the two guards playing cards. They were my first targets to eliminate to take care of their numerical advantage. With no one except the man—who was distracted by the feeds, vigilant, it was all too easy to close in. I never was particularly good at stealth, but it hardly mattered in this situation.

  I swung my baton, clocking the first of the two over the head. A hollow thunk rang out and the guy dropped unconscious, his head slamming into the table. He slumped to the ground, head once more bouncing. The rebounding force of the blow was an old friend, and a comforting one at that. All my annoyances and headaches faded under my battle focus.

  The other guard flinched back, going for his waist. ”Intrud-!”

  I slammed my other baton forward, cutting off the other card player with a smack to the head. He collapsed, dropping to the floor like a useless sack of stone. Two down within a second of entry. I was worried I was getting a little rusty as of late, but it seemed that was a needless concern.

  The commotion roused the orc woman. She popped to awareness with a wild look in her eyes. For a moment, the fight-or-flight instinct kicked in. Like most orcs, she of course chose fight. Likewise, on the other side of the room, the old man turned around to see what was going on.

  I kicked a chair, sending it at the orc just as she started standing up. It slammed into her, knocking her back down into her seat. I approached, bringing both Ebonshroud batons forward into a heavy overhead slam.

  “Haah!” The orc showed some combat sense and blocked the hit with her arm, staggering under the blow. I pulled back, giving her a chance to recover. She didn’t waste a moment and shot to her feet. A shock baton whipped out of her utility belt. It crackled with electricity and a slight hum filled the room.

  I gave her a moment longer before feinting forward low to the ground. She swiped at me with the baton, the air practically vibrating with the force of her blow. I pulled back last moment, allowing the shock baton to fly right in front of my mask with out effect. I slammed her arm in passing. I followed up with my other baton to her knee.

  She staggered-

  TZZT!

  I agilely dodged backward as taser leads launched through where I just stood. The old man was up, taser in hand. He called into a walkie-talkie in a gravely voice. “We’re under attack! Alarms have been severed. Anyone read this?”

  ”Oh, I hear you! Muahahahaha!” Teresa replied in a broken, crooked voice. She was a surprisingly capable Cipher, contrary to appearances.

  “Damnit, they have our comms!”

  “Bit busy!” The orc screamed at the old man. She lashed out with the baton. She was the type of fighter who let her sheer strength speak for her, lacking in actual skill. It wasn’t a bad thing, at least until someone either outclassed in strength or vastly outclassed in skill.

  It was all too easy to get into her guard, especially with an injured knee and slowed arm. I hit it again, sending her sprawling to the floor once it fully gave out. ”You bitch-!”

  I stomped on her head, ruthlessly cutting her words off. Her skull snapped against the ground, bouncing with the force of the blow. I followed it up with two more, ensuring she was down and out. She slobbered all over her tusks once more.

  The old man attempted to tase me again, though he found just as little success as the last time. His eyes sparked with rage. “Damn it all!”

  I stepped back, eyeing the guy. Where I was from, we were taught to respect our elders. Of course, I was probably much older than this guy, but he still had that elderly vibe to him I couldn’t just ignore.

  “Dirty thief! Come on, fight me!” He eyed me suspiciously when I stopped attacking.

  A sigh left me as I thought of my old home. I was feeling melancholic recently, yep? “Surrender.”

  ”Never!” The guy’s beard twitched and he pulled a shock baton out just the same as the orc. A warrior’s spirit through and through. Even old age didn’t diminish it. I felt a kindred spark with the old man.

  He was easy to defeat. Even easier than the two-card players, though I pulled my strikes a bit more against him. Old people weren’t known for their physical capabilities, after all. No way I’d seriously harm a man with such spirit. It was rare in this day and age.

  I looked around the break room covered in collapsed guards. Easy. And good pay. It’d been a long time since I had a job like this. Recently it’d just been go here fetch this or boring guard jobs. Pursius truly was the best fixer. I’d have to get him some catnip or fish on my way back.

  I moved about, using their own handcuffs to tie them together. I confiscated anything that might be used to free themselves. Three of them were bleeding lightly, though their injuries wouldn’t be life-threatening. The old man was the least injured of the bunch.

  I stared at the downed guards. A scent flooded my senses—warm, coppery, alive. My slow heart picked up speed. Not from fear- from purpose. The rhythm echoed down my limbs and my muscles went taut.

  The world narrowed and I crouched down over my prey. I inched forward, silent. Shadows seemed to thicken at the edges of my vision. A rushing wind tempted me. Or maybe it was just the blood in my ears? It was impossible to tell.

  My breath came in shallow, controlled. Eyes locked on the orc woman. She seemed so small down on the ground. So helpless. The Ebonshroud beneath my skin seemed to writhe. I could almost taste it-

  I roughly shook my head, clearing out the violent thoughts. My instincts roared in protest when I backed away. The seductive whispers and mad laughter in the back of my head slowly faded away with each step back. My heart went back to its usual slow pace. Ugh- for it to already be to this stage? I should’ve asked Pursius for a dose back when I was at his place… the cleanup though…

  Thankfully, the symptoms weren’t too bad yet. I’d have to ask him once I got out of here, before the sickening laughter became even more seductive. I refocused on the mission. “Clear. Four?”

  Teresa immediately spoke up cheerfully. “Woah! That was so quick! Um… one guard left. He must’ve just gotten out of there. Where- oh! He’s outside taking a smoke break near you, Mayhem.”

  ”I’m on it!” Pinky called out. A minute later, I heard the sound of gunfire from his side. “All taken care of!”

  Obsidio laughed maniacally. “Good! The plan is all coming together! Everyone, convene in the exhibit hall! Our devious plan is working flawlessly!”

  I looked around the break room one last time, pocketing one of the guards’ shock batons. It looked fun when they were using them. I also looted a couple of Meal Chips and even a Utility Chip the orc had on her. I was running low on those.

  I stashed my loot in my pocket and headed toward the tome’s exhibit hall. It should be smooth sailing from here on out, right?