Sorry for the short chapter!
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"Claim reward? Why, of course ~"
There was no need to hesitate. Darren simply clicked Yes.
Immediately, a warm sensation flooded his hands, arriving swiftly and vanishing just as quickly.
He flexed his fingers experimentally and felt an unprecedented smoothness, as though every joint now moved at the lightest whim.
With a casual twirl of two fingers, a vivid red rose appeared out of thin air.
A slight flick of his left hand produced a coin that danced between his knuckles.
Neither trick was difficult. Darren had mastered them years ago, but never with such effortless grace.
Delighted, he tossed the rose aside and produced another, then another, accelerating until roses gave way to playing cards that sprayed from his hand like machine-gun fire.
Meanwhile, his left hand kept the coin spinning faster and faster until it blurred into a silver ghost that never slowed.
No matter how hard he pushed, there was no strain at all.
A magician's hands were already nimbler than most. The golden finger made that gap impossible to bridge.
Before long, card flourishes and coin rolls grew boring.
He decided to test raw speed in the crudest way.
He extended his middle finger and began twitching it back and forth.
At first, it managed barely a dozen flicks per second, but with each passing moment, that number multiplied.
At full speed, his finger blurred like an electric toothbrush, vibrating far beyond what the naked eye could follow.
He dipped it into a glass, and the water exploded upward, white spray splashing across the floor.
And even then, Darren felt he was still holding back.
With the golden finger's enhancement, he could take anything from anyone without being noticed, at least not immediately.
"The heist went smoothly, but only because no one knew Kaitou Kid could change his voice and face. I relied on that advantage. Next time won't be so easy…"
After claiming the reward, Darren glanced at the tear of the goddess on the table and replayed the operation in his mind.
A gemstone worth more than ten million dollars lay there like discarded trash, without even a velvet box to hold it.
"And this thing… what should I do with it?"
...
The next day.
Darren got up early.
He hated mornings, but today he had no choice.
Even as Kaitou Kid, some things were unavoidable.
School, for example.
Perfectly reasonable. What else should a seventeen-year-old be doing?
Fortunately, high school life in Gotham carried none of the academic pressure he remembered from his previous life.
There was even the occasional thrill of dodging live fire. Campus life was nothing if not colorful.
The moment he stepped into the classroom, gossip erupted around him.
"Hey, did you hear?"
"Heard what? Did you?"
"Of course. If even he knows, how could I not?"
"So everyone's in the loop?"
"Obviously. Who doesn't know about Kaitou Kid by now?"
It took Darren a full minute to realize they were talking about him.
Since last night, news of Kaitou Kid had saturated the city.
Open any feed, and a dozen headlines leapt out.
"Shock! Priceless gem stolen. Thief calls himself Kaitou Kid!"
"Jim Gordon leads manhunt, outwitted by one 'petty' thief?"
"Warrant 1412 issued. GCPD vows to bring Kaitou Kid to justice."
"GCPD can't handle a burglary? Someone call Batman, stat!"
Unlike ordinary thieves, Kaitou Kid never hid. Flamboyant and elegant, he appeared and vanished like magic under the spotlight.
Crystal-clear photos captured a handsome face that made young women swoon, many vowing to attend his next appearance just to see whether reality matched the images.
And throughout the entire spectacle, there were no explosions, no gunfire, and no blood.
Coupled with the tradition of sending advance notices, the phantom thief quickly became the hottest topic in the city.
Teenagers talked about nothing else.
Darren slipped into his seat by the back window and stayed out of the chatter.
"Hey, Darren, you're late today."
The greeting came the moment he sat down.
"Since when do I ever come early, Tim?"
He turned to the black-haired, blue-eyed boy beside him.
Tim Drake, his classmate and childhood friend.
Their friendship began when their fathers were still alive.
Jack Drake, CEO of Drake Industries, had once hired Darren's father, Phil Greer, to perform at a banquet. Back then, Darren had tagged along as a stage assistant.
Young Tim had been impressed, and the two boys quickly became inseparable.
Not long after, Phil died in an on-stage accident. The Drakes handled the funeral and estate arrangements, sparing no kindness.
Years later, when Darren's own magic career began to take off, he repaid the favor by performing free shows at Drake corporate events.
To his classmates, Tim was the friendly, down-to-earth rich kid, without a trace of arrogance.
Darren, however, knew the truth was far more complicated.
Tim was also Batman's partner, the third Robin.
And not just any Robin. A Robin with parents. A Robin who wore pants.
In Gotham, having both parents alive when joining the Bat-Family was practically a miracle.
Well, Tim's biological mother had since passed away, but Jack remarried a stepmother who genuinely liked him, with no secret half-brother plotting for inheritance.
Close enough to "both parents," Darren figured.
During the heist, although the city had been darkened by the eclipse, it was still daytime. Totality lasted less than ten minutes.
So he hadn't worried about running into Tim or Batman last night.
Future jobs, though, might draw the Bat-Family's attention, especially with the tear of the goddess now missing.
"Tim, have you ever heard of Kaitou Kid?"
Darren asked casually.
With the whole class buzzing, it was the most natural question in the world.