A Perfectly Planned Heist

In the following days, Kaito had made an almost full recovery. In fact, it seemed he was feeling better than before. At least, that’s what he said. Now that Haido had returned they were even closer than ever, which Kaden did not think possible.

He wasn’t sure what had changed between them so suddenly, but he was glad his two friends were okay now. Though he felt a bit guilty for thinking this way, he was also glad Kaito felt better on the exact day of their Thievery test. They would need him in the heist, after all.

After having explained the assignment three times to her, Amene had thought of an exceptional plan. Kaden found she was actually rather smart, when her mind was with them, on earth. The plan revolved around Kaito being able to use his power, however, something he insisted on himself.

“I can be strong too.” He had said. “I want to prove that I can be.”

To which nobody could say no. Especially Haido seemed very encouraging, in contrast to her previous stance on the matter, but a few days ago.

“I believe in you baby brother!” She said loudly, making Kaito slightly reddish, before squeezing him tightly.

Somehow, Kaden was not nervous at all, despite having a significant part in the plan too. He was supposed to be the one to take the sapphire. That is, when Shisu and his team were distracted.

Yet, Kaden didn’t have any worry. He trusted his team to do their part of the plan, and felt more confident in even himself, after having passed the Gym test for “Improving so rapidly”. He had only received 16/30 points, after much discussion from the judges, but that was enough to pass.

Not only that, Kaden had somehow passed every other test so far too, and not just barely either. For the first time in a while, he felt hopeful about his strength.

Yes, nothing could go wrong tonight. He had even thought of what he’d tell his parents already, if they were home.

Kaden imagined the stunned look on Shisu’s face, after grabbing the sapphire, mere seconds before he could. He chuckled a bit at this image.

“Pay attention.” The stern voice of Professor Gradus said, snapping Kaden back to his maths class.

Back at home, Kaden started packing his stuff. He had hidden his villain costume in the small gap under his closet. Ingenious, if he said so himself, since unlike his parent’s, his arms were skinny enough to fit under there. He had hidden the rest of his school supplies in similar places. Hard to reach for people more muscular than him.

He stuffed everything he needed into his backpack, which wasn’t much, to be fair. His villain costume, and various objects he could use to fuel his Negative Bubbles, including rocks, and sauce packets. He didn't even think he would need all of it, if any at all, but he thought it was better to be safe than sorry.

“Where are you going?” Rowena asked, seeing Kaden come down with a full backpack.

“I uhm,” Kaden responded, “I was wondering if I could go to a friend’s.”

Since it wasn’t a complete lie, Kaden felt less guilty when asking this.

Rowena smiled at him happily and nodded.

“And what would you need a backpack for?” Axel said irritably, from the couch he was sitting on.

He was notably still insulted by the fact that Kaden had not simply let him help with his costume.

“I thought I could stay the night…” Kaden explained quietly.

“You’re not going out in the dark.” Axel said decisively.

“Oh Axel, be reasonable.” Rowena said back, annoyed.

He scoffed.

“Be safe, okay?” She whispered to Kaden, before kissing him on the head.

Kaden nodded and headed out the door. Axel grumpily dove into his work notes.

Kaden and his team met up, a few blocks away from the museum. Haido had come along with Kaito, to wish them all, but mostly her brother, good luck. She wasn’t allowed to help them, of course, though the prospect was tempting.

Amene went over the plan again. She seemed much clearer now than usual.

“…and then you, Kaden, take the sapphire.” She instructed, and Kaden nodded.

“Wait, what am I supposed to do here again?” Satoku asked confusedly.

“You run over here.” Amene explained.

Now that they were so close to the time of infiltration, some nerves started creeping up in Kaden. But no, everything was still okay. The plan would go perfectly.

When the clock stroke midnight, they all sneaked up to the back of the museum. Haido whispered,

“Good luck everyone!”

Before she ran off.
Part one of the heist had started. The infiltration.

Kaden looked around. Nobody to be seen, not even Shisu and his team, luckily. He signalled to Amene that the coast was clear, and she flipped her hair to make a geyser up to the window. Carefully, Kaden stepped in and was boosted up.

“I need a gas, please.” He whispered to his hands, the anxiousness catching up to him more. “This has to go right.”

He formed a Negative Bubble and held it to the glass. Where he touched, it instantly vaporised.

“Yes!” He said as silently as he could, though having a hard time containing his excitement.

He made a big enough hole for everyone to fit, and crawled through.

Kaden helped Satoku and Kaito through the hole quietly, and stuck his head out the window to signal to Amene that everything was alright. She, however, was already distracted, by a passing night butterfly. Kaden shook his head, and pulled his head back inside.

Now came the hard part.

The room they were in was large, and decorated with suits of armour, weapons, and shields.

“Does anyone remember where to go from here?” Satoku blurted out in an entirely too loud whispering tone.

Kaito and Kaden shushed him both in unison.

Kaden pulled the map out of his pocket and handed it to Satoku.

“There.” He whispered, pointing at a spot on the map.

“Alright then,” Satoku said in a significantly quieter voice, “see you on the other side.”

He gave a thumbs up and a wink.

“Oh, take the map with you, I think I’ll remember where to go.” Kaden whispered back.

He handed it to Kaito, who seemed quite nervous.

“Will you be–”

“Yes.” Kaito interrupted Kaden.

He stared up with an apparent look of determination in his eyes. They nodded at each other, before Kaito jumped onto Satoku’s back. Satoku sped off. Or at least, he tried to, but he was stopped by an out sticking foot, behind a suit of armour. He and Kaito stumbled forward, and just managed to avoid a glass case filled with ancient, rusted swords.

An all too familiar chuckle came from behind the armour.

“Surprised, Panda?” Shisu said jeeringly, walking into the open.

Gin, Anoyo and Adem Kusho, a dark-skinned kid with a large jaw, came stepping from the shadows. Kaden, Kaito and Satoku were now surrounded by the lot of them.

“Keep your voice down, you’ll alert the guards.” Kaden whispered worriedly.

Shisu chuckled harder, accompanied by the rest of his team.

“The guards?” He mocked.

“We already took care of them.” Gin added, licking his lips menacingly.

For a moment, Kaden had the most gruesome image in his head, but then he remembered that they were thought that phantom thieves don’t kill. Luckily for the guards, Shisu wasn’t the type to get points redacted for something like that, with him wanting to be the best in everything and all.

There was but one second of nothingness. One second of silence and hesitation, before they started. Adem spat out his “Void Breath”, making the room fill with darkness. Kaden could hear running, presumably from Satoku. A shriek from Kaito, whispering from Gin, clicking from Anoyo.

“Monster, now!” Kaden yelled out, desperately.

He saw a glimpse of Kaito, clutching his chest, before it turned pitch black.

Kaden felt a cold feeling gripping him.

“I was wrong!” Kaito cried out, “I can’t do it!”

“Yes you can!” Kaden shouted back.

Shisu’s grip tightened around him, lifting him in the air.

“Haido is out there, cheering for you! She believes in you! I believe in you!”

“We all do, dude!” Satoku added.

Kaden wasn’t sure if he was saying this to just Kaito, or himself too.

“If the monster is a part of you, you can’t hide it. You have to let it out, or it’ll eat you up from the inside!”

After Kaden uttered those words he formed a Negative Bubble around his hand and shot it forward, subconsciously inverting the darkness and lighting everything for a split second. The cold grasp loosened, and he landed back down.

“You can do this!”, Kaden shouted after firing another bubble.

There was a deafening roar, terrified yelps, and clanging metal. Kaden could see large claws and fangs, only occasionally lit up by his bubbles. Shisu got hold of Kaden’s arms, but loosened his grasp, when The Monster hit him with full force. Kaden threw out one last bubble and saw that the way out of the room was free. He sprinted forward, out of the pitch black room, entrusting the rest of the fight to his team.

“Good job, Monster…” He whispered, as he left the room.

Kaden could hear The Monster’s faint growls, as he ran through the gradually more bright hallway.

“Which way again?” He mumbled after ending up on the fossil floor for a second time. “I shouldn’t have given Monster the map.”

Kaden turned corner after corner, getting progressively more panicked. Now that the plan had gone completely wrong, all the nerves had entered his body. But no, they could still do this. He believed that.

Kaden turned another corner and his heart skipped a beat.

Roaming through the hall was a–

“H-hero…” Kaden muttered, quickly diving behind cover after the hero turned her head.

She was joined by two other heroes. Kaden grabbed his chest, afraid that they would hear his heartbeat, with how loud and fast it was getting.
What in the world were heroes doing here?

Kaden peeked around the corner carefully and saw that they had moved on. He let out a silent sigh of relief and let go of his chest. He double-checked a few times, before daring to stand up again. Except, he couldn’t stand up. What held him back was familiar by now.

“Shisu, how?!” He whispered as he saw Shisu turn the corner.

He had a big gash in his arm, that was dripping blood. Presumably from when Kaito hit him.

“You think I didn’t notice you leaving the room?” He explained. “I just had to catch you sitting still.”

“What do you mean–” Kaden started, before remembering there was something more important currently at hand.

“Never mind that, keep your voice down, there are heroes in the museum.” He hushed Shisu.

For a moment, Kaden thought he could see what looked like a hint of panic on Shisu’s face, before it turned into a big evil smile, quickly.

“Heroes you say?” He said jovially, while raising his voice.

“Well it would be a shame if they caught the villain Duplex, wouldn’t it?” He practically yelled.

He started laughing evilly.

Kaden struggled to try and break loose of Shisu’s grasp, when he heard footsteps coming toward them quickly. Even Shisu seemed to have realised that Kaden wasn’t merely trying to scare him.

For a second, Shisu’s eyes narrowed. It looked like he was heavily debating whether to risk getting them both caught or run for it.

It seemed he decided on the latter, because he loosened his grasp on Kaden.

“Over there!” A deep voice said.

It couldn’t be. Things couldn’t be getting worse than they are. Kaden turned his head and saw the hero Inversion, his father, leading a group of heroes and pointing in their direction.

Without a thought Kaden ran for it, and Shisu followed. He could hear the heroes running after them, shouting. Kaden didn’t dare to even look back. If Inversion was leading them, these must be some of the top heroes.

Running wasn’t easy, with Shisu close on his heels. It seems being chased by heroes wasn’t quite enough for Shisu to stop him from figuratively and literally dragging Kaden down.

“Get away from me, Panda!” He yelled.

Kaden pushed him out of the way, and occasionally fired a Negative Bubble at his feet, trying to make him trip.

Then they reached a hallway Kaden recognised. Which indicated to him that the sapphire was close by. It seems Shisu figured it out too, because he tugged on his arm hard, making Kaden fall backwards. Before Shisu could run far, however, Kaden grabbed the tail of his tailcoat and yanked him backwards. Kaden quickly got up and jumped over Shisu.

“Through this door.” He thought, as he slammed the doors open to reveal a big room, in the middle of which was the big, shining King’s Sapphire.

Kaden ran forward, but could hear the footsteps getting closer.

“No time for subtlety anymore.” He said as he aimed one hand at the glass containing the sapphire. The other he reached in his pocket to grab a sauce packet, which he had transferred from his backpack to there beforehand. He shot out a Solid Air Bubble at the glass, and with the other hand, burst the packet and shot a large liquifying bubble at the ground in front of the entrance.

The glass shattered into a million pieces, and the ground turned viscous, right as Shisu ran over it. Shisu gave Kaden a death glare, before sinking through.

Kaden ran toward the sapphire and grabbed it. Before he could run away with it, however, he was intercepted by the hero Cicada-Man, a cicada who was bitten by a radioactive human.

“Where do you think you’re going with that?” He buzzed, throwing a punch at Kaden, who quickly ducked.

“If they stuck to the plan, they must be there.” Kaden thought, trying to avoid another attack from Cicada-Man.

He threw a Flashbang Bubble at the hero, staggering him, and then lobbed the sapphire across the room, towards a dark hallway. The sapphire was quite heavy, and Kaden was happy that the days of training his bubble throw didn’t go to waste after all.

Cicada-Man shook off his daze and flew towards the sapphire.

Like he was an annoying mosquito, a big, hairy claw swatted at Cicada-Man, who flew across the room. Then it caught the sapphire effortlessly and pulled it into the shadows.

Satoku and Kaito stepped forward, Kaito holding the sapphire with difficulty.

“Stick to the plan, I have an idea!” Kaden yelled at them.

Kaito nodded.

“Wait, Duplex!” Satoku yelled.

He gracefully threw a card in the direction of Kaden, who caught it just barely.

“A calling card…” Kaden whispered, looking at the design on it.

A coin, bullet, chain, waterfall, and needle artistically drawn inside a square.

Kaden carefully put the card on the pedestal where the sapphire had stood.

Footsteps came from the direction of the doors. It was Inversion, who carelessly walked over the hole that Kaden had created, making the floor below his feet solid with every step. Kaden nodded in the direction of Satoku and Kaito, and they sped off.

“It’s over!” Inversion called out.

Kaden gulped.

Seeing his father here, made him nervous. Yet, he kept believing in Amene’s plan, and his team.

“Not until you catch me!” Kaden yelled back, putting on a deep voice, quite unlike his own.

He took a deep breath and took another sauce packet to make the floor below him goopy. He saluted Inversion as he slowly sank through. Kaden saw him running angrily towards him, before landing on the floor below.

Kaden looked around hurriedly, knowing his father could come after him at any second now. He would never give up this easily.

“There, the bathrooms!” he thought, running towards them.

Once he was inside he turned on all the sinks.

“Come on, come on.”

He heard footsteps from outside.

“Why won’t you fill faster!” He yelled irritably at a sink.

Then he turned around to a stall, and let out a sigh. He quickly ran in and locked the stall, then yelled into the toilet.

“Hand, I need you!”
No response.

He yelled once more.

“Hand, please! I know you’re there!”

After a second, the water started bubbling.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?!” The hand shouted as it popped out, splashing some water in Kaden’s face.

“You can yell at me later, I need you to take me to my friend Amene.” Kaden quickly said, as he grabbed the hand.

The hand let out a muffled “huh?” when the door slammed open.

“I know you’re in here.” Inversion said menacingly, splashing the water on the floor.

“Her hair is made of water, hurry!” Kaden attempted to whisper.

Then, at the exact same time as Inversion yanked off the door, the hand pulled Kaden under.
A little later, it spat him back out in Amene’s hair stream. Right then, Satoku bumped into Kaden’s back, making Kaito almost drop the sapphire, before Kaden caught it.

As they heard heroes running towards them, they slid down Amene’s waterfall hair. Kaden couldn’t help himself. They did it, they stole the King’s sapphire. He held it high above his head and let out a victorious yell. Satoku and Kaito joined him in doing so.

They all landed gracefully next to Amene, and saw two heroes staring at them from the window they just glided out of. One of them took a picture, much to the annoyance of the other.

All of team Not-So-Bad took a deep, elegant bow, like they had seen Phantleman do in class, before they sped off.