Just Another Crazy
By TMM (AKA Jacob Kabel)

The thief crept stealthily through the shadows near the museum. The security at this particular museum was fierce, the thief had learned. He had heard tales of numerous automated sentries and had seen the guards Himself. They were like mages; able to communicate telepathically with each other through small, insectoid, animals attached to their heads. They did not carry swords, so the thief assumed that they used a form of magic.

He entered through a service door that one of the workers had forgotten to close. Brightly lit, with not a single extinguishable torch to be found, the museum proved to be quite the challenge. A challenge for a regular thief, perhaps...

Art, gold, rare items abound, all of it in his loot bag. The thief crept, grabbing whatever he could find. One guard after another fell prey to his blackjack. It was beginning to seem too easy. Then, for no apparent reason, the alarms started blaring. Flashing lights, bells and shouts of angered guards. The thief was in trouble.

Large, hulking soldiers, clad in black, which looked like machines were storming the museum. It was only a matter of time until they found him. He decided to make a break for it. There, an air vent. He climbed in, careful to replace the vent cover behind him.

Eventually, he was at the lobby, which he had planned to use as an exit anyway. There were guards pouring into the complex. He exited the vent and dove into the shadows. The guards had stopped coming in and were starting to search. The thief spotted a switch of some sort and let fly with a broadhead. Lights out...

In the now dark lobby, guards were falling to the blackjack one after the other until, at last, all was silent. The doors were open, and the thief stole away into the night. Almost. Just as he was about to reach an alley and certain freedom, until a thunderclap sounded and a fierce sting was felt in his upper arm. Dropping his sword, the thief had only enough time to turn and see a man in blue running towards him before he blacked out.

Lieutenant Frank Sweeney of the New York Police department looked down at the items laid down on the table before him. There was not much to look at. A dress sock filled with pennies, a homemade shortbow bow and some makeshift arrows, an old medieval sword and a bag filled with priceless artifacts, sculptures and jewelry stolen from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was amazing. Except for one street cop outside the perimeter, the thief would surely have gotten away. The man wasn't much to look at, except for the large cast on his arm where a 9mm slug had went through it. He kept raving on and on about "mechanists" and "mages". The pool was already started on how the psychiatric report would read.

23 good men. 10 security guards, 9 SWAT members and 4 uniforms. All knocked out by a raving lunatic with a sock full of pennies. The worst part was, he almost got away with it. The Commissioner and the Museum Administrator were gonna be some pissed.

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