Letters On Our Skin || BangChan

Four Minutes

On April 21st, 2022, the Geaupoullier, a set of Diamond necklaces worth $5 million, arrives at the Louvre Museum in Paris. The next night, a city-wide blackout thrusts Paris into a four minute long darkness. When the power turns back on, the Geaupoullier is gone.

A room in the Louvre, filled with artifacts, statues, paintings.
In the back of the room, a set of necklaces glistens behind a glass vitrine in the pale moonlight. No other light shines, the room is cast in darkness.
Until suddenly, in the still silence, three ropes falls from the roof. On each rope, a slender figure glides down, silent as a cat.
The first to hit the ground is a girl with hair as sleek and dark as the night itself. She's tall, her body clad in dark fabrics to conceal her figure.
Nightshade.
Next to unleash herself from the rope is an equally as beautiful girl, though her long, wavy,  brown hair is pulled into a high ponytail. Her long legs end in heels as sharp as her wit. On her phone she confirms the clock counting down. They have four minutes left.
Velvet.
The last to sink to the ground wears a hood over her short blonde curls, which she pushes off to scan her surroundings. She wears a knife on a harness around her left thigh and a black leather jacket. She looks at her companions and a wicked smile grows on her lips.
Switchblade.

The three of them sneak forward, the diamonds of the necklaces glistening like star light. Switchblade reaches out her hands and opens the glass cube that protects the necklaces from grabby hands like hers and reaches for the  first jewel. Just when her fingers are in reach, another hand intersects.
She looks up and right in the eyes of her nemesis.
Rogue.
Her eyes narrow at the sight of his winning grin and the black leather gloves on his hands reaching for the necklaces. As he snatches it from the pillow it lay on, he winks at Switchblade. Then he reveals his own companions behind him, already reaching for the rest of the necklace set.
Riot, with the sharp jaw and piercing eyes, and Rebel, with the sunlight bright hair and fine smile. All of them clad in black clothing, just like Switchblade and her thieving sisters.
Tik-tok. Tik-tok. Tik-tok.

Velvet reveals the time running, but Switchblade is set on taking the jewels home with her. She will not let Rogue get away with this.
She shares a pointed look with her sisters, who understand and nod. It's the three of them against Rogue and his crew.

A battle begins, bodies moving in sync and rhythm. Switchblade nears Rogue, reaching out for the necklaces, but Rogue swiftly escapes her fingers. He taunts her, moving around her close enough to touch, but too far to reach.
Switchblade and Rogue fall into their movements, circling each other, bending their bodies.
Finally, Switchblade can snatch the necklace from Rogue. But Rogue won't accept defeat, jumping over benches and the red barrier ropes to land in front of Switchblade once again.
Tik-tok. Tik-tok. Tik-tok.

As the two once again share movements that remind more of a dance than a fight, Velvet and Nightshade fight Rebel and Riot, using their exceptional talents. The two pairs clash in an epic serial of sleek movements, encircling each other like dance partners would.
As time runs out, the two groups keep snatching the necklaces from each other, neither of them willing to give up the prize.

Switchblade ducks beneath Rogue's arm, he turns and they are chest to chest. Heavy breathing. Sharp looks from narrowed eyes. Then they are touching hands and the movements of the pair turn softer, more elegant, but nevertheless fiery. This is a battle, after all, and both of them want to win.
Switchblade loosens the knife from her thigh and twirls it around, encircling Rogue until she can hold it to his neck. But he pushes her off, pulling her in and out in a seemingly endless dance.

Velvet calls over to Switchblade.
One minute, thirty seconds.
Rogue and Riot both have the last remaining necklaces.
As the teams regroup, the sides are clear.
Switchblade, Nightshade, and Velvet on one side.
Rogue, Rebel, and Riot on the other side.
The teams now battle in collected forces against each other, moving in units rather than alone. 
It's a battle of dance as much as it is of power, neither of them willing to leave without the remaining necklaces.
Tik-tok. Tik-tok. Tik-tok.

Just when the teams are standing directly in front of each other, breathless and disheveled, a flashlight turns on in the hallway.
A security guard threatens to uncover the whole operation.
Switchblade and Nightshade slip their hands around the necklaces within seconds. They snatch them right out of the enemy's hand, while Rogue, Rebel, and Riot are frozen in fear. They don't even notice that the girls disappear lightning-fast from in front of them.
The three run, jump, and pull themselves up the ropes onto the roof just in time to escape the guard's eyes.

On the roof, Nightshade, Velvet, and Switchblade hold up the necklaces. Each diamond shines brighter than the last. They grin, knowing they've won this round. Velvet's alarm goes off.
Beneath them on the streets, the lights turn back on.
Rogue and his companions are caught by the guard, the glass vitrines empty and the necklaces gone.
Rogue opens his right hand.
Inside, a single, tiny diamond and a note written on a scrap piece of paper.

Until next time...
- S & N & V