Bank Heist
Oh yeah.
This is where the fun begins.
I blew off the doors of the bank with a magnetic blast, ripping them from their very hinges and flinging them across the room, shattering a teller’s protective glass. A woman screamed and patrons scattered as I floated through the doorway, cape fluttering about me, my metal armour humming as I repelled its magnetic field off the floor. Through the V of my visor, I looked down on Metro City’s First National Bank.
“Cower mortals!” I roared, my helmet amplifying my voice with that wonderfully imposing echo, my fists rising at my sides, magnetic power crackling around me like a nimbus of blue energy. “For I, Magneron, have come for you!”
People fled in a rush out the emergency exits and the hole I left. I let them go, of course. Hostages always made things messy, and were unnecessary for a job like this. I drifted over the desks, letting my power lift random objects, sending them floating about me in a halo of junk. People always loved that bit. Ah, and there were the security cameras. Good. Undamaged and rolling. I pretended to ignore them as I made my way towards the vault.
Nice.
It was one of those classic giant metal ones, the door like an iron plug in the wall. Wonderfully ferrous. I loved to see that kind of classic still around. I stretched out my hand towards it and felt the magnetic tug. Oof! Fucker was heavy, but I knew my stuff and started to pull.
Metal groaned and bolts popped. It would have been easier to just disassemble the whole damn thing with a couple of gestures, but that’s not what people wanted to see. They needed some real drama. Something big and impressive. Something that had the look of awe to it.
And I delivered.
With a sound like an explosion, I wrenched the whole damn vault out of the wall and swung it about, letting it float in the air, my hand puppeteering it.
“Hold it there, Magneron!”
Ah, perfect timing.
I turned my head to find Electrica standing in the ruins of the doorway. Her skin-tight yellow and white costume clung to her curves in all the right ways, lifting her impressive bust, the symbol of a lightning bolt on her chest, a window cut in the fabric giving a glimpse of the valley between her breasts. Her blonde hair crackled with the buzzing static of her superpower, sparks fluttering on her tanned arms, her eyes challenging behind her domino mask, her hands planted heroically on her hips.
Excellent. A real professional. And she looked damn good too. I don’t know why superpowers gave people figures like they were sculpted by the gods, but damned if it wasn’t good to look at.
I spotted the crowd through the wall, phones up, cameras recording. Perfect. See, that’s why you made the massive hole in the building. It gave the audience a good view of the fight. Too often super battles took place high up in the sky or in enclosed spaces where no one could see. Fine if beating evil was the objective, but when a hero was trying to build a name for themselves, the more public the fight, the better.
“Well! If it isn’t Electrica!” I said, my voice booming. “Come to try and thwart my scheme once more, eh?”
“I’ll do more than try!” she shouted back.
Hmm. Banter could have used some work, but the lightning she was forming in her hands were solid starters. I swung my arm, magnetic powers lifting a table up by its many metal nails. When she hurled the crackling thunderbolts at me, I swept the table into their path. The explosion when they collided was deafening, blasting splinters and charred chunks of wood everywhere, papers fluttering to the floor like the feathers of an exploding pigeon.
“Not bad, hero!” I shouted, dropping the vault. It hit the ground with a thundering bang and threw up a cloud of dust. I moved my arms to my sides, every scrap of metal in the bank humming as my powers gripped and lifted dozens of objects off the floor. Trashcans, pens, chairs, some lamps, anything metallic and small to medium. “But not good enough!”
I flung a bunch of office junk at her. Electricity erupted around her as she lifted into the air like a reverse lightning bolt. Dammit! Not only did she miss a golden opportunity to show off a big blast of electricity, but she was flying too close to the ceiling! She was right out of sight of the cameras.
I descended to give her more room to maneuver and flung a number of the chairs at her head. In dodging them, she dropped back into sight and pushed her palm out towards me. I recognized the gesture and quickly raised my hands, forming an electromagnetic barrier. A stream of lightning snapped from her, dispersing against my shield and spitting all over the ground around me.
I held the barrier, the air crackling with magnetism around me. It was a good show. Made her look strong.
But if I looked weak, that was no good either. A hero was only as good as their villain, and I was an expert at foe craft.
My hand swung back and I grabbed another massive desk in a magnetic grip. With a gesture I flung the whole thing at her. Electrica failed to see it in time, and the desk slammed into her, throwing her across the room.
“Shit!” I hissed. I’d hoped she was paying more attention.
I heard her groan under the table. Okay. That’s okay. Things could still salvaged. She needed a chance to recover, and there were plenty of ways to let that happen.
Evil monologue time.
“Hahaha!” I thundered, rising once more into the air, gathering a nimbus of crackling magnetic force around me. “Fool! Did you really think your measly spark would be enough to stop me? I am Magneron! Master of magnetism! The very elemental forces obey my commands.”
Cries came from the civvies outside as Electrica grunted, throwing the table off her, staggering to her feet. Ohhhh, she looked pissed. Static rolled off her in licking tongues, but I could see she was barely on her feet. Damn. I’d hoped to milk things a bit more, but I couldn’t risk her collapsing here.
“That may be. But I am the storm!” she shouted, throwing her hands forward.
Yeesh. That was pretty cliché, but whatever. Time to go.
Another blast of blazing thunder flashed from her. Instantly I conjured another magnetic barrier, the clawing lightning breaking around my bubble.
“You still had… this much power in you?” I shouted over the crackling in the air. “No. No! Damn youuuuu!” I shouted, hurling myself backward, letting her lightning carry me straight into the air. My barrier crashed through the ceiling, ripping a hole right through it and sending my hurtling into the sky.
I let the force of her attack carry me a fair distance into the air, out of sight of any lingering eyes, then pushed the magnetic ball out, letting the last of the static dissipate harmlessly around me.
For a moment I floated there, admiring the distant hole in the bank’s ceiling and the milling crowd below, rushing inside to congratulate their heroine.
Well, that was my job done.
I brushed my outfit, pausing when I spotted some singes to my cape. Oh great. That wasn’t coming out in the cleaners. I sighed, but all told, it still went pretty well. I dropped out of the sky, buzzing down into an empty alley a number of blocks away from the bank. As I landed, I used my magnetic powers to pull my ridges of armour back, letting them recede into the bracers around my arms and ankles, the helmet folding back under the collar of the dress shirt I’d worn under the suit. I smoothed the shirt and swept my cape off, folding it over my arm and patting it out. Ouch! Static cling. I tapped a nearby fire escape, letting the buzz dissipate.
Well, that was done. Another day, another dollar.
With a last look around, I slipped out the alley and joined the foot traffic, by all appearances just another schlub among the crowds of Metro City.
Just another day’s work as a villain for hire.