[center][h1][color=ed1c24]SCARLET SHADOW
红色阴影[/color][/h1][/center]

[center][i]Showtime.[/i][/center]

Scarlet Shadow sat hunkered in the bushes just outside of the museum front doors, where she had been squatting for just short of thirty minutes as she reviewed her plan in her head. During the day she had visited the museum disguised as a simple tourist and sized up the museum in person. She had spent the evening studying over the plans of the grand building which she had acquired through a bribed clerk at city hall. Now she rose from the bushes, clad in black, cowled, and fully equipped for the heist she had been plotting for a week. 

She kept low as she slunk from her hiding place and scrambled around beside the building. She looked in either direction quickly to make sure there was no approaching before pulling a grappling claw from her belt. She quickly attached it with a [i]click[/i] to a sixty foot cable she had stored away in a pouch at her back she had took a moment to uncoil. Taking another quick glance in both directions, she stepped back and using her unnatural speed sent the cable into a whirring spin over her head before flinging her arm upward and sending the grappling hook hurtling vertically. 

The claw gripped onto the edge of the rooftop and caught firmly. Scarlet Shadow gave four hard tugs to make sure the cable was secure before taking hold and scurrying up it with inhuman quickness and vaulting over the edge smoothly. She pulled the cable up behind her and detached the claw and rolled up the cable, returning them to their places at her belt and pack. 

She pulled a drill from her back and knelt down, it took her a minute to take the screws loose from the grating of the vent she had chosen. She sat the grating aside and slipped down inside the vent and set her memory to work, recalling on the plans she had spent all evening memorizing. She cursed herself as she allowed herself to get turned around twice, wasting nearly thirty minutes crawling around in the vents. Her goal was the security room. She would put down any occupying guards and shut off security. At that point it was all about avoiding the guards and making her way to the right storage room, which she had gotten from the odd note left for her. Was it a trap? Probably. But Scarlet Shadow had faced such before and she knew the diadem was here. She would swipe it and maybe snag a bonus prize or two and deal with whatever else came as she went.

She finally found herself peeking through the right vent into the security room. The lone occupant asleep on the job. The vent where she hid was above and back from him by several feet. Chewing at her lip, she had to ponder a moment. She couldn’t fit her drill through the grating, besides dropping it would be an immediate give away. The man was sound asleep and even startled awake he wouldn’t be fully cognitive and coherent. So Scarlet Shadow decided to use a dumb and heavy handed approach. 

She slammed her fist down and employed all her strength and added what abnormal  speed she could in such a cramped position. The grate broke loose, the screws hitting the carpeted floor first followed by the hollowed crash of the metal great. The guard jolted upright, Scarlet Shadow already tumbling out of the vent and hitting the floor. The guard had leapt up, knocking his chair over, Scarlet Shadow upright and crouched. His mouth parted involuntarily to shout but a sudden uppercutted  and unavoidable fist to the chin shattered his teeth and rattled his eyeballs. The thief gave a hard blow to his midsection and when he buckled forward she delivered another fas and hard blow to the back of his skull, knocking him down and out. She zipped across the room and hid in a dark corner immediately after, preparing to jump anyone who burst into the room after hearing the commotion. For two minutes she waited and when no one came she swiped the master keys, turned off the security cameras, and disabled the silent alarm with ease.

The next ten minutes of the heist were perhaps the easiest so far. Using her super speed, quick thinking, and strategic maneuvering Scarlet Shadow zipped in a near invisible black blur towards her destination. Ducking behind exhibits, seating, and ornamental plants and fixtures as she avoided the blue uniformed guards. Not once did she arouse suspicion, years of training and experience alike had made her leagues above the common dull security guard. 

Making her way up to the third floor, she finally found her target. A single guard hanging around outside of the target room was the only deterrent. A blitzing flurry of fists quickly disabled him. Using the master key she opened the director’s office and locked the unconscious guard inside. Not wanting any further delay, Scarlet Shadow unlocked the storage room in question and stepped inside, closing the door behind her with a soft [b]click[/b]. 

The green lasers immediately caught her eyes. [i]Seriously? Come on...[/i]
A quick flurry of contortions and acrobatics saw the master thief dancing between the lasers, arching and dancing in aversion with a final forward roll through the maze of lights. As she looked up towards the safe where the prize was to be, she felt a familiar grimness and fear alike wash through her as she saw the figure perched on the safe she was after.

[i]Oh... no.[/i]