Nico's P.O.V.
I dropped Percy off at home after we left the cafe and began to walk to Bianca's place. I breath out into the frigid night. It's quite cold for Spring. In fact, the past few weeks have been much more chilly than normal. Although, it probably has something to do with the fact that there has been a giant hunk of ice in central park for the past month.
Apparently, some super villain thought it would be a grand idea to freeze Central Park. Khione, her name was, I think. Of course, Flames Mcsizzle Man fought her, yelling about how she needed to unfreeze Central Park for a while, before defeating her and making his exit, leaving the police to deal with the ice, and the fire department to deal with the fires he started. Flames Mcsizzle Man isn't his actual name, of course, but it seems to fit him much better than Inferno.
Honestly, those hero types can be so arrogant. It gets on my nerves, how they can be so cocky and uncaring of how their actions may effect the population at large. Just look at the Avengers. It took two years to completely repair all the damage caused in their fight with those alien invaders. They didn't do any thing to help rebuild, even though they had access to a sorcerer that could repair everything in two days. The only thing they did to help at all, was Stark paying three million dollars to the state for repairs, which didn't even cover half of the cost. And not only did they ignore the mess they made, they continued to reck New York!
I shiver slightly, and pull my coat tighter around me. I'm glad that I had the forethought to grab a coat before I left the apartment, though I do regret not grabbing a warmer one.
I shove my hands in the pockets of my jacket, and stalk down the cracked pavement.
Today hasn't been a good day. Actually, that's a huge understatement. My day has been crappy. Terrible. Horrible. So awful that I might as well shrivel up and die from how absolutely bad my day has been.
First my first period teacher gave me a B- on the essay on Molecular bonding just because I "used too many big words" and it was "too long." Then some asshole snatched my bag during lunch and threw it up onto the roof, and by the time I managed to get it down, I was late for class.
And then, to top it all off, I just had to run into Captain-freaking-America. At one of my favorite cafes, no less! Now I can't there anymore on the off chance that he might be there the same time that I'm there, recognize me, and then begin a shit storm of epic proportion that I honestly do not feel very up to dealing with.
Ugh.
All I want to do now, is to get to Bianca's, complain, eat, gossip, and then hopefully have her drive me home, maybe not in that specific order.
Suddenly I'm yanked out of my thoughts and into an alley. There's trash everywhere, overfilling dumpsters providing a stench of rotting fish and sulfur. My feet almost slip in sewage as I thrash out of the strong hold on my jacket. I shake off my attacker, and raise my fists to defend myself. My eyes adjust to the darkness then. I recognize my opponent, and lower my fists.
"Bianca? What the hell are you-" I end my sentence abruptly as I notice what she's wearing.
"No way."
Bianca stands there in a Black Spandex-Kevlar suit, covered in a thin layer of opal. Her black lacy mask barely covers the top half of her face, swirling down and ending in the middle of her cheek.
"Nico," she whines, "We haven't done this together in forever!"
"We did actually. Just last week."
"That's not the point. The point is, I haven't seen my baby brother in a week,"
"You're three minutes older," I object.
"And I want to spend quality time with him doing what we do best," she finishes as if she hadn't been interrupted.
"Bianca, Percy's expecting me back in a few hours. I can't."
"Come on, Nico, don't be such a pistol," Bianca begged. "I've got my eye on this amazing little place downtown. It'll be pennies from heaven, and we'll only take an hour and a half, tops."
I rub my temple and sigh.
"Fine."
Bianca squeals and hugs me tightly.
"But only one!"
Bianca just giggles and steps back as I summon my suit. I shake my head at her antics. My suit covers me from head to toe in darkness, with occasional wisps of shadow emitting from it. I shift around, getting comfortable before nodding to Bianca.
"Well, lets get a move on. I want to be back before the sun rises."
Bianca rolls her eyes and sticks her tongue out at me. I respond likewise. She snickers and scales the rusty fire escape to her left. I follow quickly behind, and we race across the rooftops, leaping as our hearts pound to the beat of our foot fall.
Finally, Bianca slows before coming to a complete stop, and crouches down, signaling that we've arrived. I bend down as well, and survey our entertainment for tonight.
"Really, a museum? You want to break into a museum? There's nothin' to do but whistle dixie here, unless you want to take me up on that offer on that T-rex ride."
"Shut up! Honestly, what is with your obsession with those old bones?"
"Bianca. Bones are my passion. I love bones. I've told you this," I smirked.
"I feel like that was an innuendo. It probably was an innuendo. I don't want to know," Bianca huffed and shook her head as I chuckled.
"Anyway, we're here cause there's a new exhibit, the Jewels of Tausret. I visited the exhibit the other day, and boy, that necklace is somethin' else. The way they shine in the sunlight is just," she sighed longingly,"Nine pieces of eleven carot black opal inlaid in rose gold with a fifteen carot red diamond centerpiece. It's a master piece, and worth a pretty penny too."
"Ah. We're here to fuel your obsession." I observed as she drooled over the mere thought of possessing the necklace.
"Shut up," she snaps, and surges onto the roof opposite of us. I follow more warily, arriving near Bianca just as she cracks open a skylight. We slip through the opening, and land lightly on our feet. It is silent, not a single sound but our muffled footsteps is heard. The silence is not to be mistaken for safety, with the police station being less than four minutes away, and cops that are no doubt already closing in.
"We have maybe three minutes, if we're lucky, before the black and whites turn up, so hurry it up," I whisper as Bianca prowls over to the exhibit stand. She pulls her obsidian knife and silently slides it into the glass, creating a hole just large enough for the necklace to fit through. Bianca pulls it out gently, and holds it like a newborn.
Suddenly, the skylight behind us shatters as a dark shape falls through. The figure straightens, revealing probably one of the most annoying people in this city.
Selkie.
To be fair, the other heroes are arrogant, loud, obnoxious, and generally just awful. Selkie is so annoying cause he's not at all. He is one of the kindest heroes I have met, and it seems that he truly believes that he can 'help' every villain he comes across. It really grinds my gears to see how selfless he is at times.
He is my nemesis, so of course I dislike him. In the beginning, when we were both just starting out, he foiled every my every attempt at villainy, until I realized monologuing was old hat and changed it up. Now, I'm one of the most notorious cat-burglars around, along with my sister Bianca. We haven't been caught in a long time, and I'm not about to let Selkie ruin our winning streak.
"Put the jewels back, Black Opal, and then we can all just-"
One of my throwing knives whizzes past him as he dodges it, ending his speech before it begins. I summon it back to my hand before it even touches the wall, and Selkie draws his sword. We circle each other for a moment before I stop near a large window. Out of the corner of my eye I can see the cops closing in on the building.
"Well, as much as I would like to duel to the death with you, I'm afraid I have to get going," I state, smiling sardonically.
"You wouldn't leave your partner behind Morte, and Black Opal doesn't have an easy out like you do," he scoffs as he adjusts his grip on Riptide, an adamantium sword almost as famous as he is.
"Well, it's a good thing she's long gone by now, it's it."
Selkie's head whips around and searches the room for Bianca. I take advantage of his distraction to throw a knife at the window, shattering it. He immediately turns back to face me at the loud sound, his eyes widening as he realizes what I'm about to do. He starts toward me, but a little too late. I give a sarcastic salute and smile, and promptly fall out the window.