A Masque to Remember

A large building stood in the center of the square of Edinsborough, a small city in Scotland that was planning to showcase an ancient Aztec artifact that was owned by a supposed magician who went by the name of Tacachtilan. It was a golden mask shaped like a monkey's skull with white feathers hanging off the back that made something akin to a mane that traveled down to the shoulders of the wearer. It was rumored that wearing the mask would give it's bearer immense mystical power, but to Wolfé, he couldn't care in the least. After all, it was going to be his by the end of the night, and he was more preoccupied with getting past the laser defenses, the armed guards, and of course, the pressure sensitive podium that the mask gingerly sat upon. The moonlight shined down upon the mask through the massive dome of a window above it, making it the perfect entrance to any amateur thief who only owned half a brain. After all, it would take an almost impossible amount of flexibility to get past all the laser sensors on the way down.

Wolfé had chosen to sneak through the airducts, which were just the perfect size for him as he stealthily crawled through, smiling eagerly to himself as he looked through a small grating and saw the mask sitting there, waiting in it's glass case for his paws to grasp. He just needed to figure out how to get down from the vent that was much to high to take a straight drop from, even for Wolfé.

Chris confidently walked up to a tall building with a guard uniform on. He liked night jobs, despite the fact his white fur made him stick out like a thumb. The cold made him feel alive. He stopped in front of the front door guarded by.. guards. His breath was visible in the crisp air. Without hesitation Chris flashed a fake ID to one of them. "I'll take over from here. Go home early, get some sleep." They murmured thanks and started to leave their post. One stopped and turned around. "Haven't seen you before." Chris gave the guard an understanding shrug. "Don't expect you too. New recruit." He gave a wholehearted salute. "Don't worry, I got this." The guard walked away, waving as he did. "Yeah whatever..." Chris waited for the guards to be out of sight before picking the lock and entering the building. He positioned his hat so it was covering his face. "Step 2, disable lasers and cameras. he patiently timed his movements with the moving videocams. He still wasn't sure what he was suppose to get. A mask or something. Oh well, it didnt really matter as long as he was getting paid. He started down a hallway towards the control room. He grinned. Once he cut off the security, itd be a walk in the park.

Gattino sipped a cup of coffee. He had come to see the guards protecting the mask, knowing all too well there were shadows in the city. Shadows that moved without someone casting them, lurking in nooks and crannies. On roofs and in small spaces. They were everywhere, the sticky-handed thieves taking what they pleased. Gattino would give them credit, they were certainly good in their profession, rarely getting caught much to the annoyance of Interpol. Gattino was now traveling around the world, he had been given permission and a mission to considering what section of Interpol he was part of.

Tonight the tuxedo cat had masked himself as a fox. His ears had been sized up and his tail was fluffed out with different materials to make it similar to that of a fox. His face was flared out, similar to the tufts of fur on the side of many fox's faces. The oddest part of this, was that he was a female, which had completely thrown the guards for a loop. His outfit consisted of a black pair of pants and solid black boots meant for stealth and quick escapes. His top was a lovely red halter top that showed off his "curves" he had convincingly crafted. The final touch being deep eye shadow, eyeliner, and some red lipstick. Altogether Gattino was a very well put together pretty female fox that was going to make friends with whoever tried to steal the mask tonight. He fluttered his eyes at one of the guards, a ram who cringed.

"Oy, don't do that. You really do look like a lady. It's kind of freaky." The ram replied.

Gattino laughed, practicing his French accent. "Darling, that's a point after all." He said while watching the security cameras. "Anyways, I should get going, you know a girl should never be late for a date after all." He said with a wink. "By the way, the name is Aurélie, Aurélie Voleur." He chimed while walking to his destination. The air vents. He had been given a set of blueprints showing how to get around the area, and there was a duct leading straight to the mask, although it had some twists and turns. He stood on a few chairs that he had stacked and pulls the lid off, climbing up into the vents. "Ciao darlings." Gattino said giving the two security guards a wave. They both scrunched up their faces at the cat dressed as a female fox.

"Ugh, that cat's got more problems than anything." The ram said.

"Who cares as long as the mask is safe. I need this job." The second guard, a boar replied.

Katie silently padded across the roof of the building, wearing her bow like someone would wear a sash. She reached the glass roof and peered down through it at the golden mask below. Katie took note of the defenses that would try and stop her attempts to steal the artifact. In all honesty, masks weren't really her thing, but it was valuable and if she was going to prove she was a great thief, she needed to make a name for herself. The raccoon blinked before turning away from the glass dome and heading to the edge of the roof. She quickly glanced around, her ringed tail twitching until she spotted a balcony.
The young thief jumped down, landing neatly on the edge of the railing. She crouched and peered inside through the locked, glass doors. She sighed, realizing that the doors would most likely be alarmed too and that she really should have put more preparation into this heist. Another lesson learned for the future, at least.

"Hmm..."
She could always use the air ducts... though that had to be her least favourite way of getting into a building. Or... she could just walk straight through the front door, little did she know, two other thieves were already utilizing these methods to their fullest potential.

Wolfé gagged, pushing open the grating that connected the bathroom to the ventilation shaft. The timber wolf quietly slipped down into one of the stalls, sitting quietly on the bathroom seat as the dull beam of a flashlight waved across the floor. The guard started opening stall after stall, and when he finally got to Wolfé's stall, there was nothing there. However, as he turned to leave, he felt the hard iron of a sword handle collide with the back of his head, knocking him unconscious as Wolfé dropped down from the ceiling.

"Sorry mate, here, let me help you up." Wolfé said, moving the guard's consciousless form to the stall and setting it down, sitting on the louvre. With a wolfy smirk, Wolfé snuck out of the bathroom and looked around, spotting the various security camera's that lined the halls. He chuckled, and pulled a small canister, pulling it's pin and throwing it out onto the floor.

The canister exploded with a small puff, sending a series of tiny, spinning machines the size of a metal shaving, and he couldn't help but chuckle as he saw the security camera's flip out, moving this way and that, showing static on any security screen in the current area. The limber thief sprinted, knowing all to well that it would just be a matter of time before the guards would show up. Of course, they'd have to catch up and find him first. Besides, this compromise would certainly make any other thieves' job harder. After all, he surely wouldn't be the only one trying to steal this beauty.

Chris continued along the corridor as his ears twitched at the sound of commotion coming from somewhere behind him. He silently cursed to himself when he realized he wasn't the only one here tonight. He tilted his head slightly downwards as guards bustled past him towards the site of the noise. He opened the door leading to the security room. TV Screens lined the walls, a few guards were scattered around the room. A few control consoles were being manned. After analyzing them for a minute Chris chose his target. A bear sitting in a corner console that looked bored out of his mind. He walked up to his mark. "Hey, i heard there was a break in on the other side of the building. Thought you might want a piece of the action. I could take over for you." The bear stood up. "Anything to get out this chair. Thanks!" He yelled as he ran out the door. "Just don't mess with anything ok?" Chris gave a toothy smile and another salute. "Ay ay captain." He sat down in the chair and surfed through the camera feeds. "Where is that mask..."

Gattino crawled through the ducts and let out the occasional puff of breath. It was an awkwardly tight space, he didn't get how thieves enjoyed crawling about through small spaces the way they did. He could feel a breeze from the room below as he got closer to it, but something was wrong. His eyes narrowed, of course someone would have beat him there first with all the time he had given them. He brushed one of the hanging pieces of the dark wig he had put on out of his face. The vent leading out to the room with the mask was easy to take off, and Gattino poked his head out through the vent. Interesting, a sudden thief. Cameras jammed? This guy isn't a complete amateur.

Katie glanced around once more before before deciding to pick the lock. After all, what was a heist without a little bit of running?
She chuckled and slipped into he building, keeping to the shadows as she maneuvered through the hallways, cleverly avoiding the security cameras she encountered and making sure not to activate any of laser alarms. The young raccoon was fairly lithe and agile, so dodging the various guards inside whose flashlights turned her way was more than easy.

The patrols seemed to flood the area, coming in groups of two or more as they tried to figure out what had happened to the camera's in the chaffed area, all of them big, burly, and probably pretty smelly. Regardless, Wolfé paid them no mind as he carefully jumped from light to light, having used a nearby banner to climb up to the lights in the first place.

The young timberwolf couldn't help but feel estatic, the mask only a yard away as he leapt from light to light, remaining still each time a guard would pass by as each of his jumps would move the lights a little bit each time. After all, avoiding confrontation was a part of a thief's overall motif...then again, Wolfé hadn't adorned the nickname "Battler" for a reason. But that didn't matter now, not when he was so close to his prize...

Chris continued surfing the cameras till he found what he was looking for. There it was. The mask, just sitting there. All he needed to do now was get to it. He pressed buttons on a keyboard making loud tak! tak! tak! sounds. Cameras one, five , six, and nine were now in a loop, playing a feed of an empty hallway. Chris looked over his shoulder to see if anyone noticed, no one did. He chuckled. "Amateurs..." If everyone was this bad at security he could have taken everything in this place and it would have gone on unnoticed. He turned on all the emergency lasers and motion sensors in the rooms he wouldn't be passing through. Just to slow down anyone that thought they would get to the mask before him. He got out of his chair and left the room. He knew his was feeling overconfident. But it was just too easy. He smirked as he turned a corner. "Step 3..." He reminded himself.

Gattino narrowed his eyes. Whoever it was, was certainly on their way to stealing the mask. He had to wait it out, and wait until the perfect time to strike. His claws flexed as he watched and waited, becoming incredibly impatient. Surely things were going to get active sooner or later and Gattino was ready to pounce when it would be time. The mask was an easy task to get to, a few acrobatic jumps and he'd be right next to the mysterious artifact. Hopefully this little thief knows of my sister. Gattino thought, hoping he might finally gain some contact with his family member.

Katie made quick work of heading towards the room where the mask was supposed to be. Laser security was easy enough to get through when you were fairly flexible and you just had to time cameras right. Sometimes these feebly security methods just seemed like a joke.
The raccoon made her way along yet another hallway, but froze as she saw what was at the end of it. She quickly stood against the wall, hiding in the shadows so that the thief in room with the mask wouldn't notice her.
Damn... she thought silently as she watched the timber wolf close in on the night's prize.

The room was dead silent, numerous artifacts casting shadows across the floor due to the lights that Wolfé continued to stand upon, staring down at the mask as it sat in it's pristine glory, as if it were untouched by the passage of time. In all honesty, Wolfé was skeptical about the mask's supposed powers, as he had never seen anything like hoodoo magic or any other sort of witchcraft that his predecessors had supposedly witnessed in their time.

Regardless, if it did have mystic powers, then it was something to be melted down and given to the poor and downtrodden, like with everything else Wolfé "collected". Wolfé chuckled, touching a gloved finger to his ear and whispering, "Alright old man, hit it."

Within seconds, the lights flickered off, leaving only the mask to be seen as it was bathed in moonlight. No one would've expected the whole building to suddenly suffer a blackout, but then again, this wasn't Wolfé's first visit to this particular museum.

Wolfé dropped down into the circle of light, twirling his hooked rapier in his right paw, the right half of his face covered by an opera mask, not that this mattered now that the power grid had been knocked out. With a lightning fast swing, he crashed the glass case open and hooked his rapier on the Mask, the hook itself reaching through the eyehole and resting against the chin.

Chris turned another corner. Down the hall was the door that led to the display area. He calmly walked towards it. The mask was as good as his. He was halfway across the hall when all the lights suddenly went off. He tensed as he stood in the darkness. It only took a second for Chris to come to a realization. "No..." He started to sprint, his eyes already adjusting to the lack of light, his guard hat flew off his head. Of all his years of in crime he knew shutting off the lights meant two things. Making an entrance, or a stealthy escape. And it was too late in the game to break in. He grabbed the handle of the door and barged in, he heard glass break and saw a figure reaching into the display case with a hooked sword. Chris lunged for the mask and as the half masked wolf took it out of its glass prison he grabbed the other side of the mask, looping his index finger through the other eye and gripping it tightly. He faced his adversary with a steely gaze and bared teeth.

Gattino sucked in his breath as yet another figure appeared. That's two... He thought as the two faced off over the mask. He waited for a few moments, debating on whether he should wait for the two to fight over it, or for the chance to snatch it from both off them. His claws scraped lightly against the material of the duct, not enough to make a distinct noise though. His brow furrowed further. Why is it they all want this mask? Surely it doesn't have real magical properties...

The young raccoon smiled as the lights suddenly turned off. At least she didn't have to hide in the shadows anymore, as there was now no light at all. She silently sneaked into the room on soft paws, keeping to the walls as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.
Katie heard the tell tale signs of glass breaking, as well as a door swiftly opening and careless footsteps from a seemingly second thief.

She watched the moonlight bathed area with interest. Both of the thieves held part of the mask in their grasp, though the one who held on to it with the hook seemingly had the disadvantage, as the other could easily unhook it and take off.

Despite the situation at hand, Wolfé snickered before grabbing the feathery mane that hanged from the top of the mask. It was rather odd, how pearly white the feathers were compared to the tarnished gold of the mask. Of course, such aspects were lost on Wolfé now that this barbarian in a suit was trying to steal his mask.

"Nice suit ya got on there mate. How long did it take you to come up with your plan, five minutes? Listen, I'd love to have a match of tug o' war anytime, but I honestly don't think the security is going to be so thick as to not check this room immediately. Considering how slow they are, I'd say we have about a minute and a half to get out of here. So, tell you what." Wolfé smirked, unhooking his blade and slicing off the feathery mane of the mask.

"You keep that end, and I'll keep this end. Right, if that's all, cheers!" The timber wolf exclaimed, running off into the darkness and passing by what he thought was a raccoon with...

The thought of a Cooper being here intrigued the wolf, but for now the meeting would have to come to a close, as he had to make his daring escape with one half of the artifact.

The raccoon listened to the conversation and watched as Wolfé sliced the pearly white mane off of the mask. Well it was already a fact that she wasn't going to get any of the mask now. She just needed to find a way to escape before security started teeming into the room.
Not wasting a second after Wolfé ran past her, she swiftly followed his example and made her leave, retracing her steps as she made her way back towards the balcony she had originally entered through.

It all happened so fast. He didn't even get a chance to say anything. The half masked wolf was gone with half of the prize. Without a word he tucked what remained of the mask under his jacket and walked out of the room. He made sure to pick up the hat he dropped and put it on his head as he headed back down the hall. Guards ran past him, occasionally bumping into him as they brushed by. He held a calm face as he turned a corner. "Almost out." He cursed to himself. His handler wouldn't like this. He specifically said. "Make sure its in one piece." about fifty times in their meeting. Well... Its in one piece. He sighed. Just.. in half. No whole mask means no job completion, no job means, no money. He regained his composure and continued down the corridor, making a left, then a right. The front door was a few turns away

Gattino finally made his move, jumping out of the vent and landing on the ground with agile grace of any feline. His eyes ablaze with the fact he was hunting down his 'prey' built up some excitement. Even though he preferred avoiding high chances that could get him into a fight, his feline instincts triggered a desire to chase after the fox who had just left the room. The wolf and raccoon wouldn't have as much interest as the fellow fox who had vanished. And his reactions showed he would definitely be a better choice to catch first. His costume was still in tact and Gattino gave the guards a wave, they knew the drill and who he was for that matter. He was off down the corridor after the other thief.

If I ever see that wolf again.... No I will see him again, I'll make sure of that.

"Arrêtes!" He called out. Slowing down as he caught up with the arctic fox. His agility was a wonderful ability sometimes. "Do you really think ze cops will not be at ze front door waiting?" Gattino, still disguised as a lady fox called out to the arctic fox.

Wolfé frowned slightly, a little sour that he hadn't been able to get the whole mask in one fell swoop like he and his grandfather had planned, and, skidding to a stop, he chuckled as a group of three guards rounded the corner, all of them carrying flashlights and spotting him instantly.

"Alright, time to improvise." The timber wolf replied, turning around and re-entering the main room where the soft glint of hooks caught the wolf's eye. He looked above him and spotted the raccoon trying to escape up through a balcony, which...honestly wasn't that bad of a plan.

"Hope you don't mind if I tag along miss!" Wolfé called up to the raccoon, swiftly climbing up to the balcony via a nearby banner that draped down besides the balcony.

About half way up the banner, Wolfé nearly jumped out of his skin as a bolt of lightning shot through the window above and crashed against the floor below. Standing at the point where the lightning bolt had struck was a young, lithe crocodile with a sort of gypsy like look to her. Her eyes narrowed upon seeing the empty podium, and, turning to spot the wolf climbing up the banner, jumped to the conclusion that he had stolen the mask first.

"Stupid little dog, give to me what does not belong, to your filthy little paws, lest I zap you with the bolts you just saw!"

"You speak in rhyme?! I don't know whether to call that endearing, or downright annoying!" The wolf exclaimed, chuckling up until the point where she shot a blast of voodoo magic at the banner under him, causing the fabric to slowly start to burn under him.

The brown furred raccoon pricked her ears and looked down to see Wolfé climbing the banner. She shrugged, "Sure...."
Wolfé was the thief who had gotten the feathered part of the mask. Luckily for him, she wasn't focused on stealing it anymore.. at least, not right now anyway.

She jumped back slightly at the first bolt of lightning, glancing down at the climbing wolf, concerned for his safety despite the fact that he was technically her rival.
Seeing that he was currently alright, Katie climbed onto the balcony's railing and made to start climbing back up onto the roof.

She felt her fur rise slightly at the sound of a second lightning bolt. It was then that she smelt the smoke coming from the now burning banner. Turning around, she assumed that the bolt had been aimed for Wolfé and decided to help before he got seriously injured by the magic.
Katie reached down and tried to help by pulling part of the banner up onto the balcony, hopefully making it at least a slightly faster climb for Wolfé so that he could avoid getting his fur singed.

Chris stopped midstep when he heard someone call out to him somewhere behind him. He turned around and was surprised to see a pretty fox running towards him. His tail did a quick swish and he scratched his head innocently, looking slightly confused. "The cops ma'am? He pointed to the fake I.D clipped to his officer jacket. "I 'am' one of the guards." He flashed the grin he used so many times earlier. "But what's a lady like you doing in a musty building like this on a fine night?" He gave a casual glance at the door. "Blah..." He thought to himself. "Im almost there..." Suddenly a loud 'crash!' sounded throughout the building. Chris jumped at the sound. 'What the heck was that?" Guards bustled towards its source, lessening the number guarding the entrance. He tried to take this opportunity to leave. Not giving a chance for the girl fox to answer. "Well, i think I'm gonna be off. My shift is over and there's been enough mayhem for me today." He gave another fake smile and turned around, starting for the door again. "I'd love to stay and chat, but." He said pointing to an imaginary watch on his wrist. "I've got plans." He continued down the hall. Chris frowned. Even though he spoke perfectly, he noticed himself shifting his weigh from foot to foot uneasily as he talked to the fox. A few times he patted the right side of the jacket (where the mask was hidden) and he found himself looking at the door a couple times too. He shook his head in disapproval. "Why is it so much harder to con the opposite gender." He grumbled to himself. "Whatever... she probably didn't notice anyways." He stopped and sniffed the air. "Is that....fire?" He said out loud.