Chương 23: The Stones

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Chapter 23: The Stones

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'I can only hope superman doesn't show up out of nowhere. The guy can see through buildings and even hear the distinct voices of the entire city for christ's sake.

I on other hand am just a normal harmless guy, a bullet can kill me, so death, grace me with your blessing and keep your gates closed... and luck, continue to be the bitch of death... Hmm, not a bad prayer.'

Ian had his eyes closed as he recited his prayer in his mind, a new set of prayer. He then took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

"Are you finally done?" Selina couldn't help but ask, letting out a sigh of relief. His rituals and behavior were certainly strange.

She still had the same costume she always wears, the Catwoman suit. A whip was attached around her belt, and her gloves has extremely sharp claws at their tip, seemingly able to slice anything.

Ian's clothes were simple, just black clothes and gloves. He also had a mask and a belt with a few tools.

"I'm done, let's start," Ian said as he started opening a duffel bag by his side and pulling something from it.

"I honestly don't know why I'm still working with you. It's like you're trying to get me killed every single time," Selina voiced her complaints with a pout.

Ian let out a small laugh as he eyed her, "I know why. It's addicting, the touch of those new fabulous things, the cute little gems.

The flow of easy money and the rush of acquiring something new, and well, I'm a great company."

As he said that, Ian aimed the grapple gun in his hand at his target. In contrast to the one he borrowed from Nightwing, this one was much larger because it functions more like a hook.

He then pulled the trigger sending the hook to the target building, a faraway building and at a lower level than the high building they were on.

He established a path between the museum and the building he's on. He then attached some kind of device on it, "Let's move and don't worry, I've read a lot about this, it works like 1% of the time."

She was utterly speechless, but she didn't have time to respond as he had already hooked the rope to a pillar beside him and fastened the duffel bag to his back.

He pulled Selina by the waist and said, "Hang to me tightly." And she did, she clung to him like she was vying for her dear life... And she is.

He was used to rock climbing and using similar gears, so he wasn't exactly new to this. He just tied the ropes of the device to himself and started sliding into his destination.

Once he was almost there, he activated the device to trigger a brake mechanic, and so he stood on the roof of the museum.

He let go of Selina. collected the device and put it back in his bag, then pulled something else.

"Sometimes I wonder why museums love to have glass for a roof. It's like they're begging us to take what's inside." Selina remarked.

"It's excusable in a city such as Metropolis, but it's certainly weird in Gotham. Perhaps there is a certain design purpose for it? Not sure."

He attached the device to the glass ceiling and started doing his work, forming a large enough hole with the glass cutter.

He took his time, remaining cautious as to not trigger any alarms. He handed Selina the end of a black rope. "It's your turn."

He noticed Selina was still a bit shaken up by the experience, so he asked, "You're still not used to this by now? I thought you'd be used to things like this before we even started working together considering your criminal history, but you're still like this even after all this time."

"Well, in contrast to someone like you, I actually fear for my life. Preparing myself for death is one thing but facing it is another thing altogether."

Ian could not only see that she wasn't speaking the whole truth but also knew it, her fear of death was too obvious, and it wasn't just the normal human reaction, It seemed too deep.

Selina avoided eye contact with him and just took the rope, she then attached it to her belt, "Let's get to work. I swear if you pull some kind of prank, I'll kill you... Don't let me go... Please?"

Her tone went from a threatening one to a soft begging one after seeing his actions.

That confused him because he just glanced at her and shrugged his shoulders. Why would she assume he's planning something just by that... He would never ever do such a thing... Right?

Selina put on a night visor, held onto the rope, and jumped down into the museum. Ian slowly let go of the rope, part by part until she almost reached the ground.

They both had radios in their possession, so they could communicate. Ian couldn't see the insides of the museum clearly due to the darkness, so he just listened and waited for her word.

Everything was already planned for him to drop her in the location closest to the stones, but she couldn't touch the ground.

While the security in this museum is quite lax in comparison to Gotham, that doesn't mean it's gonna be easy.

At night, the museum ground becomes a sensitivity sensor, anything touching it will alert the authorities and perhaps some of the heroes, his chances of getting away thus become Zero.

Ian started the next phase of the plan which is simply shaking the rope left and right while Selina also did the same allowing her to reach her goal.

Her legs were clutching tightly to the rope while she was upside down, making her reach much larger.

To her left and right were two open cases with a few stones in them. Indeed, very few cases in the museum were closed with anti-bullet glass, and the same was for the paintings within.

Selina used her superhuman nimbleness to reach out and take the stones, one by one until she emptied both cases, "I acquired them all." She told Ian through the radio.

"Can you reach the other things or specifically the thing? Use your cat powers or something." Despite Ian once telling Mike to control his greed, he himself doesn't always adhere to that rule... He isn't as mature as most people think him to be.

Of course, if we set aside the fact they were his main goals, the magical stones were also his goal but he desired those things much more, and he won't leave until he gets them.

"I don't have any cat powers but sure, I'll give it a try." A smile surfaced on Selina somewhat enjoying this, "Start shaking the rope in a circle."

And Ian did, using all the strength in his hands after saying, "Be careful with them alright?"

"I'll try my best, but lower your expectations to... about 1% success rate." Her tone was that of a mischievous cat, trying to get back at him.

Her answer made Ian's face twitch this time, he never felt so tense and nervous, "I... I'm actually so nervous I might let the rope slip... I'm not even joking." He wasn't.

"I-I was just joking," Selina somewhat believed him as she should... Then she got to work and acquired the seemingly useless pieces of paper in the case.