It was a dark and rainy night in Gotham. It wasn’t a huge surprise; it always seemed to be portrayed that way, and what other sort of climate would attract such a population of Supers? The Bat Family seemed to thrive on darkness, and it was always a lot easier to evade people in the rain, either due to it reducing visibility or due to the traffic putting anyone off a motorised pursuit.

All in all, this seemed to be pretty good timing.

Normally, Gotham seemed to have enough villains to get any job done. Jian was inclined to agree with that. It still hadn’t stopped someone from contacting him and asking him to steal from Gotham’s Crest Hill Art Museum. His client had sent him an image of a sort of figurine, in contemporary style so that Jian really wasn’t sure what it was meant to be. It was just as likely to be a person as a mutant bird looking at it.

He had no idea why his client wanted it, but it wasn’t his job to ask questions. And if it were, he’d quit and find something more interesting to do. Even sitting on a roof, making a plan for how to get in in the pouring rain, was more interesting.

Jian couldn’t think up a satisfactory explanation over why he had been hired and not anybody local; the closest he had was that any Bats were unlikely to be tracking him over the many other criminals in town. Maybe the Gothamites just had such a low sense of honour that none of them trusted the local mercenaries. Ultimately, it only mattered to Jian if it made the difference between his success or not.

He was very sure he was going to be hitting a confrontation.

It seemed like there was some special exhibit going on, as his tasked piece was part of this, so there was a good chance of there being someone else targeting the building, or of their being some sort of hero trying to stop anything happening to it.

Still no trouble.

Just avoid them, cause some sort of distraction, continue.

He started with an old tactic; cause panic somewhere fairly nearby. He’d used his power to trigger the alarm system of a bank a few blocks away. Hopefully any guards would assume that was where any criminals in the area had been headed, and hopefully the police would be there, instead of here. Hopefully he’d be out before they got here.

It was a risk he was willing to take.

He didn’t wait for any sirens, but using the claws on his gloves and the edge of the roof, he dropped down onto a window ledge on the top floor, at the back of the building, precariously balanced. He dug the claws on his left hand into the brickwork, while he used his right hand to cut through the glass of the window. Once a large enough hole had been cut, he slipped in through the narrow gap in the glass, and rolled forwards to minimise the force of the impact.

Jian came up from his roll in a room full of modern art pieces, none of which were remotely interesting. But then, he didn’t have much taste in art, or much patience for it either. Especially modern art, as it really just seemed like an excuse for those with little creative talent to get their names to be famous, in Jian’s eyes.

Jian took his glasses out of his pocket, and looked around the room. He could see a panel with a map of the museum at the other side of the room, and scanning around to see if he could spot any security measures, started slowly walking over. He couldn’t see any particularly sophisticated alarm systems here. That either meant that there genuinely weren’t any, or they were well hidden and he had no idea what he had to be avoiding. He could have even triggered an alarm already, on top of the deliberate one earlier.

This was getting far more interesting.

As he came up to the board he spotted a slight issue. The map on it had the names of galleries, but not exhibits. He had learned the exhibit name; something to do with .

It was pretty much certain he was going to have some unwanted attention before he found what he was looking for now. That was a good reason to get on with it, and after having seen that the whole upper floor was modern paintings and that any sculptures had to be on lower floors, he headed down the staircase to start searching there.

The so-called anonymous benefactor who wanted the statues was none other than Maximus. Well, Max on behalf of Clan Akkaba. But Max was more interested in something other than a niche little statue some coked up starving artist had thrown together. Well, it wasn't just a simple statue but Max would get to that later. He also had been watching Jian for some time now. Ever since he got a 10 he was in need of a Jack. Yes there had been a handful of other potential Jack's but Jian had something more. There was a certain finesse and a certain thing that intrigued him. He was more than just your average thief but needed the bump up to the next level. Plus considering what was coming Jian would need allies, if he was as smart as Max thought he was, he'd take the chance for it.

Max however had the night off and had taken up the mantle of the King of Hearts, since this was considered a Royal Flush matter. He flew high over head, sticking to the shadows and watching Jian's movements. He was smart, creating a distraction for the police while he did his work. However he hadn't researched the statue well enough, he needed work. Of course that was primarily what a Jack was for. Jack would be his apprentice, his heir when Max decided to move on with his Izzy.

He watched through the skylights as Jian took the stairs. Then with a smirk he teleported in in front of Jian, still on his Flying Card and nodded his head.

"Sorry Kitty, but this is my score. Your benefactor had no faith in your skills and asked for a real master."

He gave a small two finger mock salute farewell before flying down the stairs and heading towards the statues. Sure he was fine getting it himself and once he tracked it down he could've gotten it in seconds. But he decided to opt for a two birds one stone method. Keep the Clan happy and also find a new Jack, and potential King later on down the road.

"It's alright, losing to a King is no shame."

He called over his shoulder as he drew his sword, slicing through a few doors on his way. The alarms were triggered and now he would see what Jian was made of. Max had offered him a lot of money, easily four times what the highest black market buyer would pay for it. Would he go for it and try to complete the deal, or would he do it to save face and try to up the price to Max? He hoped he would try to up the price, provided he got it that is.

He stepped off his card and approach the case around the statue. Some of the strongest glass there is, well past the best bullet proof glass. Max had already tuned out the alarms, not caring about the noise. He knew he could take care of any cop that came to him and he would face harsher punishment from the Clan if he failed anyways.

Jian reflexively braced himself upon seeing the man suddenly appear in front of him. The man might have been attacked right then and there had Jian not been somewhat thrown off by the suit itself- and the giant card that was being used as transport. For someone who liked to work subtly, it was a shock to the system. Enough of a shock to stun him momentarily.

Stopping dead still on the stairs with someone suddenly in front of you is always going to be hard to recover quickly from, anyway. He’d use that excuse if anyone asked, not that they were likely to catch him for long enough to make it.

”Kitty? I’m not a kitty, and I make the cat puns here. I swear, no one who’s even heard of me doubts my skills on the job.” If he hadn’t insulted his skills, and had merely said the benefactor had wanted two on the job, Jian would, firstly, not have called him into question for lying immediately, and secondly, wanted to strike up a deal. A deal where at the end he took the artwork for himself and left him winded and possibly kicked in a few more sensitive areas for good measure, then took the prize to the benefactor, but that was beside the point.

”It is if my country’s ruled by a Queen, Roi.” Jian’s tone was lightly mocking of the title. ”And losing to anyone is a dishonour.” Jian called done the staircase, as he started moving.

Jian dove over the first set of railings and down the rest of the steps to follow. He kept his footsteps silent, weaving through the slashed doors as he went.

The alarms wailed in Jian’s earpiece as they went off. He mentally cursed- multilingually- as the noise made it fell like someone was jamming a knife down his ear. He pulled out the device, jabbed the “off” button, and tucked it away, knowing he was unlikely to use it again with the sirens still blaring. He only momentarily slowed, and finally stopped a few steps back from the card

”And how were you planning to break that open, Roi des Couers?” He could see he had somewhat underestimated the glass at least. He’d been thinking his cyber bullets would probably be enough, in conjunction with a target for them to actually impact- he’d brought a small piece of cloth in one pocket, specifically for that.

Why on Earth this needed such good protection given what it looked like, Jian really wasn’t sure.

”I’m assuming you’re not much of one for arts yourself,” Jian said, looking the man over. ”So how much were you offered to get it?” Maybe the new comer could be persuaded to help liberate it, and then, hopefully, somehow, Jian was going to take it first. And, of course, saying he was going to offer money had worked on him, so Jian was betting it could work again. It should be quicker at least than a fight (with someone who seemed to be able to appear at will), and with the alarms going off, they both needed speed.

The guy was startled, but at the same time he was doing his best to hide it. Of course Max was ignoring him for the most part. He wanted to see how the guy would react to everything and so far he was doing well. He was impressed though. He didn't seem to care about money or anything else, it was the principle of the matter. As he approached the case he glanced over his shoulder.

"I was offered enough money, that's all you need to know. As for statue, I don't know why they want this piece of crap, but the commas on the piece of paper was all I cared about."

He sighed and shook his head. He placed his hand on the case and let his adamantium nails come out, piercing the case. He began to chant and mumble in Latin before the case got wavy and turned into sand.

"It's easier to get rid of the case then go through it."

He said grabbing the statue. He smirked and turned towards Jian. He stepped off his card and it flew away, seemingly on its on.

"Time for some cat and mouse..."

He said with a laugh before he created a duplicate, splitting off from himself and they both ran in opposite directions. He was testing Jian's intelligence and planning. The museum had several exits but with the police and security seconds away there was one obvious exit, but Max wasn't entirely sure if he'd go for the obvious exit. He wanted drag this along, see how interested Jian really was in stopping him.

Jian was moving in closer, trying to get in a sensible range- far enough away that he could avoid any strikes, while close enough, hopefully, to make it to the statue in time.

”I had quite a few commas too. Maybe if we worked tog-“ He would have continued, but his train of thought was interrupted by a few other lines of thought, mostly revolving around how the guy’s Italian seemed to be really archaic, and then about the magic. The cat imagery tended to work better when it was him who was being seen as the mystical one.

”Neat little trick there. Don’t suppose you can turn police handcuffs into sand too?” This guy seemed far too powerful to have been hired as a second bet for him- and far less subtle. What lack of judgement this supposed employer must have had.

”I told you, I make the cat puns.” He huffed a little, realising this was probably out of his league (most people would say definitely. Jian was hoping that being split in half would weaken each half), but knowing he’d regret turning down the challenge.

By the time he’d comprehended what was about to happen, he wouldn’t have had enough time to get out a tracker, even if he’d pinched one recently. He knew that the man could seem to get through walls, so there was no point just charging for an exit; in addition, he could leave in a similar manner to how he had arrived, so if he could avoid anywhere the police would be arriving from, that would be best.

In a snap decision, he picked the figure heading more in the direction they’d just come from (if the worst came to the worse he was closer to the hole he’d made to enter then). He picked out his head piece again, and turned it down near as low as he could, before putting it in again. Hopefully he’d be able to hear if any cops were coming near and have advance warning as to when to just leave. The siren volume was still far too loud, though.

He focused on subtlety as much as speed. He had no reason to suspect the heightened senses anyway. If he weren’t noticed, there was still a chance that he could do a sneak attack, and a 50/50 chance he’d be able to get the prize from that.

Meanwhile, the police were far less mastered in subtlety. He could hear the pounding of their feet outside, seemingly still a little ways away.

"I heard you, I just don't care!"

Both duplicates called over their shoulders at the same time as they ran. Of course one was simply an illusion. Yes he looked real and solid enough but if he stayed in one spot long enough one could notice a waveyness to him. He learned early on to keep the illusion moving to make it harder to spot. Unless he was nearby and could focus the illusion would fade. That was something Jian was soon to find out. Max had chosen the further exit for a variety of reasons. Mainly to see how Jian would react to the police presence and to see if he would try and stop him, by any means necessary.

As they ran up the stairs the Max he was chasing began to get wavey and eventually fade. Max felt his own energy return as he no longer had to focus on it anymore. He tucked the statue in a bag on his hip and drew his sword. As he ran he began slicing anything he could. Pillars, statues, paintings, just causing chaos. He'd never been one for art anyways. They were expensive, challenging to steal and nearly impossible to sell unless you already had a buyer lined up. That was not his style however. Sure if it was particularly nice or challenging he might keep it for himself, but he didn't make money that way.

One security guard spun around the corner, gun drawn only to be sliced cleanly in half at the waist by Max who kept running. As the top half went down the gun went off, deflecting off his back armor. Max could keep that much kinetic energy in check since it was only a .38. But he couldn't take too many more of those shots before detonating. He could hear the police nearby and knew it was only a matter of time before they came in. The helicopters meant that they'd be dropping SWAT down onto the roof. Max just hoped the Bats were too busy. Cops were nothing but the Bats would be...difficult. Of course the cowl would look nice in his trophy case.