A Regular Ol' Heist (Closed)

[shibyou]

It was a day like any other day. A Sunday, as a matter of fact. And Shibyou was feeling a bit restless.

He'd just dropped off a thief with the police - after he'd finished with him, of course - and he'd taken a couple of days off to catalog all of his research. As it stood now, however, he needed more funding for his experiments. He decided that it was high time he hit a place up.

He stood around a bit inside the mall, just people watching as he bided his time. He wasn't wearing his costume or a mask today - much as he would love to, that would be stupid. He had not yet learned about all the players in this city, and it was dangerous to assume that he could handle them without any prior knowledge. No, currently he was in his usual 'disguise' - tanned skin and sandy blond hair, thanks to his alchemy. Over his shoulder he carried a canvas messenger bag with a false bottom; it was handy when you wanted to swipe something without being caught, and that was exactly what he planned on doing today.

He raised an arm and checked his watch. Alright, 10 more minutes. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he took off at a leisurely place, pretending to window-shop as he made his way to his actual destination.
A jewelry store. Contrived, yes, but it would suit his purposes for now. At least he wasn't charging into a bank, yelling "This is a stick up!"

He stepped inside and wandered around the counters, looking to anyone else like a man who didn't know what he was looking for. Internally, he kept track of the time - he couldn't afford to be off.

Earlier, before he had entered the mall, he'd snooped around a bit on the roof. He'd found exactly what he'd hoped to find: the ventilation shafts. Lowered into them carefully with a bit of rope were devilishly simple devices he had rigged up. They were technically bombs, although he had no plans on causing any collateral damage. No, when the timers on them expired, they would release their payload of tear gas into the air ducts. And considering that he'd placed 6 of them in different vents, no one would know the target of the heist until it was too late to stop it.

He had to fight off the urge to smile as he considered his plan. It was extremely simple, relatively cheap, and - he hoped - suitably efficient. Instead he looked up at the employee asking if he needed any help. He grinned sheepishly, ruffling his hair as he pretended to gather his thoughts. "Um, yeah, I guess. My little sister's birthday was last week, and I haven't been able to get her a present. But I, uh...I don't really know what she'd like."

The employee smiled and nodded, understanding as he started to suggest different items that might work. Shibyou listened and offered tidbits of fake information that might help the man suggest something better. It was just a matter of stalling until the devices went off.

7 minutes, 39 seconds.

[Kasumi]

Kasumi wandered around through the city and pushed her hand through her hair. She sighed and lowered her hand. she wasn't sure what she wanted to do just yet. She had searched the park and the main parts of town, such as where the police station was and fire station was. She then got an idea, it was going to kill her inside, but she would put up with it. She decided to go to the mall, the most girly, preppy place ever and she was not that type at all, but it was the only place she hadn't explored yet. She liked to hold off the things she didn't like or weren't interested in for last. She made a face and walked in that direction.

Kasumi walked in the automatic doors and breathed in the disgusting scent of many different items and stores, including a bunch of different types of perfumes that made her cough. Walking father inside, she began to sniff something out of the ordinary. It was fortunate at times to have a higher sense of smell. It smelled like, a bomb. she looked near a vent and peered inside, seeing nothing in this one. The smell was getting stronger as she walked on though and turned to face a jewelry store.

As Kasumi faced the store, she made an obvious face of disgust. You, can't, be, serious!!! No way in freakin' hell!! She sighed as she began to get irritated, she knew she couldn't just leave the bomb in there. She clenched her teeth tightly together as she inhaled deeply, and walked in the doors. Her eye twitched a bit as she saw all the sparkly jewelry and felt like falling and dying right then and there. Looking quickly around, she found a vent that was the source near some necklaces. Works for me.. Sort of.. She walked over to the case of necklaces and put her hands back on the vent, seeing an object, knowing it was the bomb. She made it seem as if she was looking, but really was sending a short line of fire straight at it, making it start to melt from the heat.

Kasumi then looked away from the case and at the people, seeing a man that seemed like the type that would stick bombs in vents. He has blond hair that was about to his shoulders and was tan, but the look didn't seem to suit him for some reason. He also had a messenger bag with him, which sort of made it more suspicious. Kasumi watched him as he seemed to be fighting the urge to do something. He then talked to an employee and ended up looked at his watch. What is he waiting for..? She stopped shooting fire at the bomb, now that it was melted, and walked away from the vent, ending up in another corner, pretending to look at jewelry but really continued watching the man.

[shibyou]

Shibyou directed as much of his attention as he could spare at the employee helping him out, listening intently to the man's suggestions. In his head, however, he was still counting the seconds until the tear gas bombs went off. For what it's worth, Shibyou considered himself a decent actor - if he hadn't been so consumed with the medical field as a child, he probably would have went into Drama.

Yes, and that wouldn't have turned out well for the world, would it? This is the duty I was born to do. Well, not specifically robbing jewelry stores, really, but finding cures to new and exciting diseases? It was very altruistic, if he did say so himself. He didn't brag about his work often, so modesty wasn't really a problem with him.

The man was a good employee, and he eventually helped Shibyou pick out a pair of white gold hoop earrings. They were within the price range Shibyou had offered, and based off of the information he'd given him, they were something that his 'little sister' would like. The man walked Shibyou over to the register and Shibyou fished out a brown leather wallet from his pocket. While doing so he happened to glance up, and caught a young woman in the corner of his eye. Had she been looking at him? He couldn't really tell; she was standing off to the side in the corner, looking at the jewelry.

Whatever. He couldn't afford to deviate from his plan. No engaging anyone else until his next act was complete. Once he had finished with his acting, then he could decide if he wanted to talk to anyone.

He opened his wallet up to the section that held his cards, and after a few seconds, he narrowed his eyes and sighed heavily. He replaced the wallet in his pocket, evidently embarassed by the situation he was in. "I...I'm sorry, it looks like my friend borrowed my credit card. I'm going to have to go back to my apartment and get it back from him."

The employee winced enthusiastically, trying to empathize with Shibyou. Whether he really felt sorry for him or not, this could be a sale for him.

Shibyou glanced down at his watch, seeming indecisive.

"I'm terribly sorry. Can you just make sure you don't sell those to anyone else? I'll be back in half an hour, I swear."

The man nodded, assuring Shibyou that he would keep the earrings for him. He placed the box back inside the display case, delivering Shibyou his most sincere smile. Shibyou grinned sheepishly back at him, issuing a short "Thanks!" before turning around and leaving the store in a brisk walk.

Once outside, he took a black cellphone out of his messenger bag, flipping it open and dialing a number. He paused next to a bench, his eyes looking furious as his phone rang. Eventually the call connected - not to any actual phone, but rather to the answering machine he had rigged up at his hide-out. It would serve the illusion; there was nothing recorded on it either, so he didn't have to worry about the message playing out of his speaker.

"Hey, Brian. Mind telling me why I don't have my credit card?" A brief pause. "I know, because I just looked in my wallet. No, it didn't 'fall out'." Another pause, and this time Shibyou practically hissed into the phone: "Look, I don't care if you had to buy some stupid little thing off of eBay! I'm already a week late with my sister's present, and I swear to god, if you turn this into two weeks late? I will burn your toy collection." He grit his teeth, returning to a fairly normal volume. "I'm going to swing by real quick and pick it up from you. And do not say you lost it!" There was a loud 'click' as he snapped the phone shut, ending the call, and he placed the phone back in his bag before sighing and rubbing his temples.

He took a few quick breaths before finally regaining his composure, and he set off at a brisk pace, muttering to himself under his breath.

1 minute, 29 seconds, he idly thought to himself. He almost felt bad that no one would appreciate his performance. But alas, that was the drawback to criminal activities; recognition wasn't something you wanted to garner. Not for the most part, at least.

[Kasumi]

Kasumi continued to watch the male. She didn't know if he saw her yet or not, but guessed if he had then he would've said something. The man and the employee continued their conversation. Hmph.. Maybe this guy isn't the culprit and I'm being rude and insane.. She really then began to look at the jewelry, surprisingly. She then sighed. No wolf-like or nature-like jewelry, just diamond crap... She looked to the side and her eyes brightened up with a big grin stretching acorss her face. It was a wolf necklace, surprisingly. It was white with gray diamonds on it and black diamonds for eyes. She fell in love with it instantly, but didn't even think about buying it.

Shaking her thoughts from the necklace, Kasumi looked back towards the guy from earlier and her face went blank, then her jaw dropped open. He's gone!! She then began to turn her head back and forth in a frenzy. Where did her go!?! Looking out the door, she spot him on a bench just now hanging up the phone. A Phone call? Why the hell would he be on the phone while jewelry shopping..? Don't tell me he has a girlfriend and was asking what kind of jewelry she liked... Geez, that'd be really pathetic.. Moving aside from that she walked out the door and turned around the corner his bench was by, standing against the wall. I've noticed he keeps looking at his watch.. I wonder what he is waiting for..

((short, sorry. DX))

[shibyou]

If he had been alone at that moment, he would have had a smile plastered across his face. As far as he could tell, this plan was going to go off without a hitch; if everything went perfectly, he'd be gone before any uppity hero in spandex responded to the call. He half-wished that one of the Titans had been at the mall for this. He wouldn't have made a move against them, as he was still gathering information on them, but it wouldn't hurt to get a feel for their personalities, their quirks, the little things that drove them to do what they did.

At any rate, he cleared that thought from his head. He was no longer internally tracking the time; he had stopped after noting that there was 50 seconds left. While he could train himself to react to the explosion of sound that was undoubtedly about to occur, he knew it would be more believable if he ultimately lost track of when they were set to go off.

He had the nagging feeling that someone was watching him, but he didn't afford himself the luxury of checking to see if it was called for or not.

He was about 15 feet away from the jewelry store when...absolutely nothing happened.

If he wasn't already frowning to keep up the facade of 'pissed off shopper', the corners of his mouth would have surely dropped down in disappointment. No boom, no bang, no hiss of gas settling into the open air.

Somehow, someone figured out what was going to happen. Or maybe someone stumbled onto the bombs. Is there a vigilante with precognition in Jump City? Or a telepath? Pity, it seems that I will have to start making bolder moves no-

He didn't have long to think before the second bomb went off, issuing a loud 'BOOM' and spewing gas into a bookstore. He jumped, pleasantly startled by the explosion, and ducked his head in a reflex that he managed to pantomime exactly. His hands went to cover his head as people started screaming.

The other 4, also on a time-delay, began to go off, one after the other, until 5 venues across the mall were filled with the noxious-looking tear gas. It billowed out into the main area slowly, snaking along the ceiling and drifting up away into the atrium-like ceiling that hung above them.

Someone stumbled across one bomb, then, he thought as he corrected himself, jerking his head around wildly to look at the gas escaping from the different stores. People were now streaming out of the epicenters of the bombs, coughing and covering their mouths as tears spilled down from irritated eyes.

No money today, it seems. His gaze flitted over to a security guard station, where a rent-a-cop was coughing and yelling into a walkie-talkie for backup. To his left someone pulled a woman out of a shop, ignoring her screams that her child was still in there.

No sense in ending the charade early.

He let his messenger bag slide off his shoulder and onto the ground, grabbing his shirt collar and stretching it up and over his mouth and nose. He charged into the store, the tear gas doing little to nothing to his eyes, as he ran to the back of the store in search of the woman's child. He came to a stop in front of a baby stroller, narrowing his eyes as he regarded the squalling baby. You would think that the baby would be one's first priority.

He picked the baby up out of the stroller, taking it's blanket with it and wrapping it around the baby to prevent any more gas from getting to it's face. With the baby craddled in his arm, he let the collar of his shirt drop down, inhaling a deep breath through his mouth. His technique worked; the tear gas had relatively little adverse effects on him, but all the gasses he used irritated his throat if he was exposed to a large dose. He hunched over the baby and erupted into a fit of coughing, barreling out of the store.

The woman took the baby from him and thanked him, and Shibyou slumped against the wall as he tried to cover his mouth, tears caused by the raw feeling in his throat welling up in his eyes. He was watching everyone else, trying to get his breathing under control as he heard sirens in the distance.

I would suck so badly as an average hero...

[Kasumi]

Kasumi stood there, still at the wall and hadn't heard the man move at all. She sighed. I am going insane.. whoever did set the bomb's obviously wasn't him. But if it wasn't, then who did it? There are too many damn scents around here to pick out which one smells like a bomb. Plus, whoever it was could've washed the scent off.. Ugh! Where are the freaking security cameras when you need them?! Even so, why the hell aren't they using them?! I'm seriously growing a bone to pick with the security here.. She slouched down and groaned silently.

Looking up, Kasumi ignored the stares she was receiving from some people, not to mention the whispers. This is annoying.. I can't smell any others.. I wonder how many they set. It more than likely was more than one, so where are th- She then jumped and hit the flower pot next to her as she heard a big "BOOM!.". What the hell!?" I knew it wasn't the only one in this damn store! She then got up and looked around. The place began to fill with smoke and she started to cough as her eyes started to fill with tears. This is not a normal bomb! What did they use?! She clenched her teeth and growled.

People began to exit quickly out the stores as the coughed and their eyes also began to well up with tears. Bombs continued to go off and Kasumi counted five of them. She looked around desperately, even though it was beginning to get hard for her to see with all the tears in her eyes, but she managed to spot an emergency exit. Running over there, she opened the door, made sure it was really outside, then ran back inside and grabbed a few security guards. "Stay close to me and grab the people around you. Instruct them to do the same." She ordered one, then grabbed the other. "I want you to go and wait by the door and hold it open for them." Looking towards the third security guard, she grabbed him b the cuff of the shit and threw him close to the door. "The first security guard that is collecting people will hand them to you and I* want you to help them reach the door." The men nodded, continuing to cough. Her plan worked, the people were getting out safely.

Kasumi looked over though as she heard a woman being to yell about her child still being in the store. Before she could react, the man from before had the shirt over his face and went inside. Her mouth dropped open. What is he doing?! He's in freaking danger! Before she could react again, the man came out, coughing with the child and the mother took it from him and left, walking out the door.

The place was empty now besides her and the man. Walking over, she saw he was leaning against the wall of the store, trying to keep his breathing even, but she could hear it perfectly. She looked at the man and outstretched her hand. "C'mon, let's get out of here. It wouldn't be wise to stay in here, not with the gas going off like this. You can get whatever you were after in the store later, when it's clear."

[shibyou]

Shibyou stood still against the wall, waiting for his coughing fit to subside before he took another step. Another short fit racked him, and he listened to the people screaming and yelling in confusion grow quieter and farther way. He glanced around, and caught sight of the girl from the jewelry store at one of the emergency exits. Besides him, she seemed to be the only one still left in the mall. He coughed again and frowned slightly at the droplets of red coating his hand. He wiped it off on his shirt, happy that he'd worn a dark red/maroon color, before clearing his throat.

Inhaled a little too much. Didn't expect people to clear out this quickly; if I'd thought to bring my gas mask with me, I probably could have still hit the jewelry store. Damn.

"C'mon, let's get out of here. It wouldn't be wise to stay in here, not with the gas going off like this. You can get whatever you were after in the store later, when it's clear."

Whatever he was after in the store? That could be taken one of two ways; either she believed in his act and was referred to the earrings, or she'd figured him out and was referring to his planned robbery. He decided to go with the first one; no sense in admitting guilt to someone who might not expect it.

He looked at her extended hand and he waved it away, covering his mouth as a couple of small coughs escaped him. He caught the strap of his bag with a foot and dragged it over, stooping over to pick it up and slip it back over a shoulder.

"Guess that makes sense. Lead the way, miss."

He offered her a smile, but inside, he was furious with himself. His plan had failed because he had overlooked something, he had miscalculated, hadn't taken everything into account. It was a complete failure.

[Kasumi]

Kasumi stood there and waited for the man to take her hand. She began to get a bit worried since she smelled blood. "You alright? This gas is getting to you, isn't it?" She asked as she bent down to face the man, giving him a concerned look. The man is coughing up blood, that's definitely is not a good sign, especially since the gas is still running through here. I hope he'll be okay.. It wasn't natural for Kasumi to worry about others, but in cases like this, she couldn't help it. She had seen death and knows what it is like to lose others and she didn't want anyone else to know what that was like even though it was inevitable.

Kasumi stood back up straight and her hand was about to continue to be outstretched before the guy shoved it away and grabbed his bag, standing up. As he slipped it back on, he began to cough again and she swallowed to stop fom doing the same.

"Guess that makes sense. Lead the way, miss."[/u]

Kasumi ignored the little pissed off feeling she had when he shoved her hand away, but ignored it and turned around. "If you can see, then follow me, if not. I'll either grab you by the clothing or carry you myself. Either is fine and to me it does not matter what your opinion is. Currently my job is to get everyone out and I plan to do that at whatever cost. So, even if you have objections they will be ignored. Understand?" She asked, looking at him over her shoulder. Okay, so maybe she didn't ignore that pissed off feeling completely, but it wasn't as bad as it could've been. She then began to walk off. When she was far enough away, she turned to see if he was there and not seeing him, she put her hands on her hips and waited for him to catch up.

[shibyou]

"You alright? This gas is getting to you, isn't it?"

"A little. Nothing I can't handle."

"If you can see, then follow me, if not, I'll either grab you by the clothing or carry you myself. Either is fine and to me it does not matter what your opinion is. Currently my job is to get everyone out and I plan to do that at whatever cost. So even if you have objections they will be ignored. Understand?"

She turned around and looked over her shoulder at him, and Shibyou could tell from both her look and her tone that she was angry at him for something he did. Probably waving her hand away, although he hadn't meant to offend her with that. She looked ahead and started walking, and Shibyou allowed himself to show through as he narrowed his eyes, clearly irked. It rubbed him the wrong way when people acted like they spoke for everyone, when they barked orders and expected everyone to follow. It was probably the reason why he'd developed a personality like that when in costume, although he was sure it wasn't because he wanted to butt heads with others of the same type.

He banished the thoughts from his mind as the girl started to walk towards the exit, knowing that she was the kind to make good on her promise to drag him out. Sure enough, she turned her head to look at him again, and he watched her settle her hands on her hips as he pushed off from the wall and started walking in her direction.

Away from one of the stores spewing gas, he breathed slightly easier. He wondered if she would remain silent until they were out of the exit, and decided to test it: "You said job, right? You don't look like a security officer. Are you a Teen Titan, or just a concerned citizen?"

[Kasumi]

"A little. Nothing I can't handle."[/u]

Kasumi nodded, glad to hear this information. "Good."

Kasumi looked around at the gas filling everywhere. Who the hell could've done this? This really makes me mad for some reason, despite the fact the I hate malls and all that girly crap but still, innocent people are still here. Whoever did this was probably doing it for kicks, I don't see anyone else and I can't smell anything because of the damn gas.. she began to infuriate herself by simple thoughts or someone doing stuff like this for fun, but knew that people were out there that were like that. She began to tap her foot impatiently, not at the man, but waiting for someone just to come out of the shadows and be the culprit.

The man then finally left the wall and walked towards her direction and when he was close enough, she began to walk again. The exit then came into view.

"You said job, right? You don't look like a security officer. Are you a Teen Titan, or just a concerned citizen?"[/u]

Kasumi laughed slightly at his comment. "I'm not either three. Not an officer and I'm not a Titan. I guess you could consider me a citizen, in a way. I'm probably not that though, not everyday a normal citizen has powers." She, kind of biting her tongue on the last part. She then looked behind her a bit, waiting to see what the man would do.

[shibyou]

"I'm not either three. Not an officer and I'm not a Titan. I guess you could consider me a citizen, in a way. I'm probably not that though, not everyday a normal citizen has powers."

Ah. His eyes lit up at this, coming to an understanding about what had just happened. So she has powers. Something useful, it seems; I didn't even notice her disable the first bomb, if that was her doing.

He wasn't entirely engrossed in his failure now; sure, it nestled itself in the back of his mind, but now he was much more interested in this girl. After all, he'd made it a goal of his to learn about all the pieces on the chess board of Jump: it didn't matter if she was a white piece, or a black, or a color off the board entirely.

"Well you don't look like a villain either, all those guys are too showy and dramatic. Bad costumes, too. Guess I've got nothing to worry about."

She'd never asked him how he felt about that last tidbit of information, and it didn't even seem open to discussion, but he let that comment slip by.
He looked ahead and saw the exit, hearing the bustle and commotion past it. The sirens had stopped, and Shibyou knew that outside, there would be a half-ring of ambulances and police cruisers, some people overreacting about how badly the gas had affected them and a lone baby crying.

"My name is Ren, by the way."

[Kasumi]

"Well you don't look like a villain either, all those guys are too showy and dramatic. Bad costumes, too. Guess I've got nothing to worry about."[/u]

"Heh, I wouldn't say I'm a bad guy, but I'm probably a bit closer to that than I am a good guy.." Kasumi said as she walked out the door and breathed in some fresh air. Much better.. It would be even better without all the sirens![/i] She began to get aggravated again as she lifted her hands to her ears and covered them, making an obvious face that meant she didn't like the sound. The noise soon began to give her a headache. Ugh! Sometimes I really hate heightened senses! I can't stand the sound! She then began to walk off, walking around the jabbering people.

"My name is Ren, by the way."[/u]

Kasumi stopped then and turned around back to the man. "Nice to meet ya', Ren. I'm Kasumi. Perhaps we'll meet again sometime." She said as she turned back around and made a little movement with her hand as she walked away. Pretty much she waved at him. I feel kinda bad after practically saving him and then just leaving.. Isn't the hero supposed to, I don't know, stay longer? See, this is one of the reasons why I'm not a full time hero. I don't know how to be one! Psssh, I'd probably bring down the whole city if I did try anyway! I wonder why he all of a sudden introduced himself.. If he had wanted to know my name sooner, wouldn't he have introduced himself sooner? And was it just me, or did his eyes seem to have a bit more shine to them when I told him I had powers? Hm.. I', probably just going insane.. Yeah, insane..

[shibyou]

"Heh, I wouldn't say I'm a bad guy, but I'm probably a bit closer to that than I am a good guy."

Interesting. I'll have to make note of that.

As they emerged from the mall, Shibyou turned his head to watch Kasumi as he waited for a response. He didn't really expect much; that being said, if she did divulge her name, that was one less bit of information that he'd have to search for. She covered her ears and grimaced, apparently not liking the commotion caused by the sirens and crowd. Just like the statement hinting towards her moral standing, he filed this away for later as well.

"Nice to meet ya', Ren. I'm Kasumi. Perhaps we'll meet again sometime."

He stood there as she walked away, his mind churning out thoughts faster than he could address them. He briefly wished that he could just pull out his notepad and start taking down notes, but he knew that would be suspicious, and the officers might detain him for it. No, right now he wanted to get back to his lab. He would raise funds another day.

He waved away people trying to herd him to the back of an ambulance, and deftly slipped by a group of police trying to collect statements from everybody. Outside of the area, he took one look behind him before shoving his hands into his pockets, walking out towards the edge of the city.

Perhaps we shall, Kasumi. Perhaps we shall...

((I guess this thread is done.))