Ace: Hour Glass

Chapter 6: The Cat Burglar

 Mary Macallan quietly made her way into the American Museum of Natural History through an open window. Mary was an extremely skilled cat burglar, and for this heist, she was employed by the Genovese crime family to find a small sandglass, the glass part of an hourglass, for a reason they were very secretive about. This job was offered to her directly by the Genovese's new leader, Giovanni. Mary adjusted her balaclava, covering her face. She found she was right next to a map of the museum. She inspected the map and soon found an exhibit called "Unknown Artifacts of Lost Civilizations." Mary assumed that was the exhibit the sandglass was being stored. The security that day was especially bad at their job, so Mary had no trouble sneaking to the exhibit. Once she arrived, she began looking through the different displays. There were some ancient tablets written in an unknown language, some weapons, and some pottery, but eventually, she found the sandglass. In front of the sandglass was a plaque that read, "This sandglass is a historical anomaly. It appears to be an hourglass, but hourglasses were invented in the 8th century, and glass was invented in 3500 BC, but this hourglass piece has evidence of being from the pre-ice age period." "Huh." Mary said to herself as she read the plaque, "Neat." Mary carefully removed the display case and snatched the sandglass. She then quickly escaped from the museum and went home for the night.

The following day, the headline in the New York Tribune detailed how the sandglass was stolen. "The press works fast." Mary said to herself with a smirk. Mary then went to The Sonnet, a club in the Lower East Side, where Giovanni agreed to meet her for the exchange. Once Mary arrived at The Sonnet, she was taken to a table near the back of the club and was greeted by Giovanni. "Do you have the Glass of Infinity?" he asked, "If that's what you call it, yes," Mary replied, pulling out the glass, "What do you need it for?" "That's not of your concern. Now give it to me." "Not until you tell me what this thing is."

Just as the two began to grow impatient with each other, The Sonnet's door slammed open, and one of Giovanni's bodyguards was thrown through a table. "They're here." Giovanni said to himself. "DN-110, stop where you are!" Loghi yelled as he and Ace entered the building. The bodyguards began to attack the pair, and DN-110 ran out the back door. Ace and Loghi fought off most of the men except for one who took Mary and held his gun to her head, "Stay back or da lady gets it!" Ace backed up, trying to think of what to do, but Mary grabbed the man's arm and broke it, then she knocked him out. "Now, that's no way to treat a lady." Mary said with a sassy tone. "Are you alright, ma'am?" Loghi asked, a bit flustered. "I'll be fine." Mary then slapped Loghi and tried to slap Ace, but he quickly dodged. "That's for ruining my business deal!" Ace began to think, what business could this lady have with DN-110, she might have something to do with the recent theft of The Glass of Infinity. "Tell us about this deal." Ace said, "Why should I tell you?" Mary asked defiantly, "I don't think you know the true motives of the man you're dealing with." Loghi said, "I don't get paid to ask questions." She replied, "What was your business deal?" Ace asked once again, "I told you I'm not talking." Mary replied, more agitated than before. Ace walked over to a suitcase near the table DN-110 was sitting at and opened it. Inside the case, Ace found counterfeit money. "Was this meant to be your payment?" Ace turned and asked Mary. She inspected the fake banknotes and became enraged, "That little rat!" she yelled in anger. "Alright, since that piece of shit was trying to cheat me, I'll tell you everything." Mary then explained that DN-110, or as he was known to her, Giovanni, hired her to steal The Glass of Infinity from the American Museum of Natural History and told her to meet him at The Sonnet for the trade-off. But, another powerful boss offered her a hefty price for the glass, so she intended to give a fake to DN-110. "Do you know where the original glass is?" Loghi asked as Ace investigated DN-110's table further, "No. Like I said, I don't ask questions." Mary replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Wait, I found something." Ace suddenly said, holding up an envelope addressed to Giovanni. He opened the envelope to find an invitation, "Dear Giovanni," Ace read, "You have been invited to Don Lo Castro's private antique auction. This year will yield a wide selection of antiques and artifacts, including a spoon Queen Victoria used to mix her tea, the boots Napoleon Bonaparte wore during the battle of Waterloo, and a mysterious hourglass bottle of unknown origin. Please dress your best. Sincerely, Don Lo Castro." "Is there anything that says where the auction is?" Loghi asked. Ace unfolded the rest of the letter and found an address, "234 Buckle Street, Brooklyn." "I guess that's where our guy is going." Loghi said, "Bring me with you." Mary said with ambition, "That rat owes me."

Later that night, the auction was about to take place. DN-110 arrived at the auction followed by two guards, "Invitation, please." the bouncer said, "Ah, lighten up, Alberto," A potbellied man in a checkered suit smoking a cigar said as he walked up to DN-110, "It's uh pleasah ta meet ya, Mista Giovanni!" The man was Don Lo Castro. "You know, your preduhcessuh was a good friend of mine. It's a shame he's no longuh wit us." "Indeed." DN-110 said, shaking the don's hand, "What's wit duh glove?" DN-110 wore gloves to conceal his reptilian skin, "I don't like germs." DN-110 replied coldly. On a nearby building, Ace, Loghi, and Mary observed the scene. "Here's the plan," Ace said, "I have the invitation we found at The Sonnet. I'm going to pretend to be a guest, and you two are my security. Once we get inside, we need to find a way to get the glass back." Mary and Loghi nodded, and after a little while, the trio approached the entrance. "Invitations, please." the bouncer said. Ace handed the man the invitation, "Don't worry about these two," Ace said, pointing at Loghi and Mary, "they're with me." The room the auction was being held in was a large, beautifully decorated space with hardwood floors. At the front of the room, they were auctioning off a painting created by Picasso. Ace, Loghi, and Mary sat down and watched the auction. Soon, The Glass of Infinity was put up for auction. Most of the guests started to chuckle, thinking it was a useless piece of glass, but DN-110 immediately made a bid. Ace then bid against him, and soon a bidding war between the two began. This war went on for a long time because neither of them actually intended to pay for the item. Don Lo Castro finally noticed how long the glass was staying up there and realized that he never invited Ace. "Wait uh minute!" the Don yelled, "Dat goi's an intrudah!" The trio knew they would have to fight. Guards began to rush Ace, Loghi, and Mary. Ace kicked one in the stomach three times, Loghi countered a guard's punch and took out his knee, and Mary easily fended off two guards by scratching them with her claw-like nails. The glass was quickly carted off to the back, and DN-110 quietly slipped out to steal it. Loghi noticed DN-110's escape and alerted Ace, then the two rushed off to the auction house's backroom while Mary held off the guards.

"We can't let him get another piece." Loghi said as he and Ace ran after DN-110. Ace nodded in agreeance, "There he is!" The pair observed DN-110 as he snatched the glass and began to set his Traveller's Watch. DN-110 revealed his scaly red face, smirked at Ace and Loghi, and was absorbed by the yellow beam of light. Loghi punched a table in frustration, "We were so close!" "There's no use in crying over spilled milk," Ace said, putting his hand on Loghi's shoulder, "if he could become a godfather in that little of a time frame between now and back in Redmonton, who knows what he'll be able to do next." "He was able to do it because some timelines move slower or faster than others," Loghi explained, pulling out his TT 870, "That's why we're technically in the present for this timeline which stops us from creating any anomalies." The TT 870 began to make frequent and annoying beeps, "Looks like DN-110 is in an uncharted timeline. It won't take long for it to be analyzed and added to the database though." "Well, in the meantime, could you tell me more about that magic stuff you did back in Redmonton?" Ace asked, eager to learn about this new phenomenon. "Well, most people need conduits to do magic, but there are some exceptions. These people are called natural magic users, and they are scarce. King Lucitanya is actually a natural magic user, but I've noticed that his power has dramatically diminished in the past 18 years." Loghi explained. "When I fought Lucitanya back in 2030, he mentioned something about an old vessel of his being purged of him or something along those lines. Could that be why he's weaker?" Ace asked. "Possibly," Loghi answered, "Some of that natural power could still be in that vessel. The way vessels work is basically you transfer your consciousness into the mind of another being, and that wipes out their existence. A partial transfer could leave that vessel with a part of Lucitanya in it." "Are there any signs?" Ace asked, "Could they have some of Lucitanya's physical traits, a tail, sharp teeth, red eyes," "Red eyes?" Ace asked, thinking about Elizabeth, "Yeah." Suddenly, Loghi noticed that the timeline DN-110 was in was safe to travel to. "It's ready; we should get moving." Loghi said; Ace nodded, and the two were absorbed by the bright yellow light beam.