“Calm down everyone. I’m sure this is just a part of the construction process. Everyone should try to remain calm.” Mr. Polybius commanded.
Danny gave me a shove and I sprung into action. I ran over to one of the tables and hid underneath it. I grabbed my wallet and shoved it into my mouth and bit down hard. I pulled my clothes off bit by bit. It felt really weird stripping down in a room full of people, but I ignored that feeling and pulled out the suit.
I placed the chip in as I pulled it on and the machine whirred to life. I could hear the Ultrabirds moving around above us. They were flying in front of people and scanning their faces. The people looked uncomfortable and scared as their faces were illuminated by the red light. I tried to shake the feeling that I was being watched.
When I finished with the suit I put on the mask. Before it was on completely, the speaker system turned on. I blindly shoved my bag under the nearest couch.
“Good morning ladies and gentlemen.” A woman said over the speaker. The voice sounded faintly familiar. “This is a robbery.” She said. I crawled out from underneath the table and the moment I stood up I was face to face with an Ultrabird. A red light blinded me, then it flew away. “I see that my special guest is here.” She said, excited. “I am so glad you could make it… Oh what are they calling you again? Primate boy? In any case, I cannot have you interfering.”
With my eyes enhanced I could see clearly in the pitch black room. People were gathered together in huddles. College kids were sitting quietly on the couch trying to not to move. The Ultrabirds were flying around scanning everyone. The Ultracops were guarding the elevators. Mr. Polybius was standing entirely still with a smile on his face.
“Everyone get down on the ground!” Alistair hollered in a booming roar. His eyes glowed a bright yellow. He could see too.
Everyone dropped to the ground and huddled with their hands on their heads. The Ultracops charged towards Alistair all at once. Six men in head to toe black armor with massive guns ran forward. The Ultrabirds all swooped down around Alistair and orbited him. He held his hands out and sent them all flying at the walls hard enough to smash them into a million pieces. The cops were lifted off their feet mid run and began orbiting Alistair just like the birds had.
“My name is Alistair Midas. This bank has been entrusted to me by my father. If you can hear me, whoever you are, surrender now or you will die.” Alistair said, enraged. The voice over the speaker just laughed.
“You moron!” She laughed. Her voice sounded distorted through the speaker system. “I’m not afraid of your magic tricks.” She exclaimed.
One of the Ultracops managed to pull the trigger on his gun. It let loose a boom loud enough to hurt, and a shockwave followed that made Alistair drop like a ragdoll. All at once the Ultracops dropped to the ground. The shockwave carried itself through the room. People dropped limp as it reached them. I tried to outrun the shockwave. I headed towards the door, leaping from place to place to try and get there faster. When it finally struck me it struck my back, and knocked to my knees.
I could hear the Ultracops rushing towards me. I glanced behind me and saw Mr. Polybius flat on the ground. A smile slowly crossed my face. It disappeared the moment I saw Danny, Emily, and Mar limp on the floor all in one pile. My memory was stirred back to the nightmare I had on the way here. It caused my tail to flick back and forth erratically.
Then a huge hand gripped my skull. It tossed me across the room hard enough to send me flying into a couch. I looked up and saw five Ultracops marching towards me. I forced myself up as the first one came barreling towards me. The split second that the Ultracop came in reaching for me I jumped straight onto his shoulders and sank my claws in. When he freaked out and reached up at me with both hands, I let go and jumped onto the next Ultracop. I glanced back for a second and saw him stumble.
The Ultracop who I had jumped on grabbed me by the tail and tried to swing me into the nearest wall. I wrapped my tail around his wrist and squeezed. He didn’t react. He and I let go at the same time and I went flying full speed. I landed on the wall with my claws sinking in. The impact shook through me. I didn’t have time to catch my breath before the next Ultracop came barreling towards me. I ran onto the roof. They had to strain their heads in their bulky helmets to follow my movements. I caught one leaning back just a little too far to see me. I pounced on him and smashed his helmet with my hand in the same movement. The glass shattered and he fell backwards with a loud thud.
I didn’t stop moving after. I used the momentum from the collision to jump across the room and land on a couch. My landing caused it to tip over onto its back, allowing me some cover and a few seconds to catch my breath. I tried to sit in the dark and listen. I grabbed the couch and lifted it high over my head. I was holding it in an awkward way so the weight shifted more onto one arm.
All four Ultracops were in different locations spread out around the bank. They were trying to corner me. I chucked the couch at the one closest to me. It collided into him and knocked him to the ground. The couch smashed against a booth across the room. The others charged towards me. I jumped over the top of one. He grabbed my ankle mid air and tried to throw me down. I slipped out of his grip and I landed almost directly behind him.
I turned around the same instant he did. I couldn’t do anything before he slammed his fist into my temple and knocked me to the ground. The hit didn’t hurt all that much, but it was disorienting. I wanted to fight back but couldn’t find the wherewithal to do it. His hands wrapped themselves around my throat. He lifted me off the ground with one hand. All at once I stopped breathing. I gagged on my own throat trying to force air in.
Then I started to panic. I grabbed his wrist with my hands and tried to break it. It was too protected. I swung towards his helmet ineffectually. I did everything within my power to try and get him to break his group. My body was practically spasming. My legs wrapped themselves around his arm and stuck the blades on my feet through his armor, as hard and as fast as I could. He let go instantly and pulled his arm back.
I let in a deep breath and charged forward towards the nearest wall. The other Ultracops had seen what I did to their buddy. They weren’t scared exactly, but they didn’t look like they were going to rush forward without thinking either. I ran up the wall and to the ceiling. I ran along it until I got as close as possible to an elevator and I let go of the ceiling with my claws. I fell on my side and landed limp like a ragdoll. By the time I pulled myself up I was cornered. I stepped back and walked into the wall. The three Ultracops took a step closer.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked. The one to my right swung at me in response. I barely had time to jump on the one to the left’s shoulders. The one to the right fell onto the ground after losing his balance. Left tried to grab me, but I was already off his shoulders before he even moved. I turned around to face all three of them. “I thought you guys were supposed to be cops!?” I hollered. They didn’t stop walking towards me.
“Don’t even bother trying to talk to them. They are not in control here.” The female voice said over the loudspeaker. I glanced up at the speaker for a second. “Oh, how rude of me I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Victoria.” She said with a hint of humor.
The Ultracops didn’t stop while she spoke. The one in the middle charged forward. I waited until the last second and moved to the right and let him continue barreling forward. The one to the right, now to the left, had recovered and was inches away from reaching me. I jumped straight up and kicked off his back and sent him stumbling into his buddy.
They crashed into each other with a historic smash. They weren’t going to get up any time soon. I turned to face the sole survivor. I could see his chest move as the person inside breathed. I rolled my shoulders and turned to look up at the speaker.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“I already told you that.” She replied with a chuckle.
“What do you want?” I asked. This time I made my voice deeper.
“Money and entertainment.” She replied.
Then the last Ultracop came charging towards me. I charged forward to face it. We collided near one of the booths. Our hands interlocked as we held each other’s arms and pushed. My claws kept him from being able to push me though I was much lighter than him.
I could feel the massive amount of strength these things output as he pushed against me. I was strong enough to bend metal in my hands and this thing was putting up a pretty good fight.
I prepared my tail. I was going to swipe forward in one motion and knock him off his feet. It would be easy. He couldn’t even see my tail as I readied it. Then a red light flashed in front of me.
She’s been hiding one?
I didn’t even have time to think as a tiny version of the gun the Ultracops used popped out of the Ultrabird’s underside and fired itself in my direction. A wave of pain went out in every direction. Unconscious bodies on the floor writhed as it hit them. It knocked me off my feet and the Ultracop landed directly on top of me. I pushed with everything I had and tossed him off of me.
He got up before I did. He swung at me and again I dodged to the side. It was only a momentary loss of balance this time and he went right back to swinging at me. I jumped off of his shoulders and grabbed the Ultrabird out of the air with my tail. I landed on the wall above a booth and stuck on it. When he came charging towards me, I flung the Ultrabird at him like a baseball with my tail. It smashed into his helmet and shattered it to pieces.
I dropped to the floor without any sort of grace in the movement. Just smashing face first into the carpet. I pulled myself into a sitting position and tried to breathe. I heard a chorus of laughter and what sounded like applause from above.
“That was very entertaining. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.” Victoria said in a very smug voice. “Are you ready for your second trial?” She asked me.
“Why are you doing this?” I yelled at the nearest speaker. The words came out sounding like a growl.
“I have no choice. But you do.” She said in a calm voice. “Agree to his deal and we both get to walk away without a scratch.” She explained.
“So you’re one of his.” I mumbled. I never received an answer.
All at once the lights came on and all of the elevator doors in the room opened up. I sat down and grabbed my knees. I looked around the room at all the fallen cops and civilians, and I knew that whatever she had planned for me was something I didn’t want any part in.
I must have the worst luck in the whole world. Maybe in my past life I was a dictator or something. Or maybe life just sucks.
I stood up and walked over to my fallen friends. I grabbed Danny and shook him hard to try and wake him up. His eyes flicked open for a second before quickly closing again. He let out a mumbled response. I grabbed Mar and gently swatted her hard across the face. She didn’t move at all. I let her continue her sweet dreams. I leaned down and poked Emily’s nose. Her eyes opened instantly.
“Ja-…. M?” She said quietly. I looked around the room and saw that everyone else was still asleep.
“It’s just us.” I said in my own voice.
“What’s going on?” She mumbled. After finishing her sentence, she tried to pull herself up with her hands. She let out a groan immediately and I used my hand to gently push her back down.
“You should rest. Listen, I need you to do something for me, okay?” I asked.
“What is it?” She asked. Her glasses had fallen off her face when she dropped.
“If I die in here: I want you to tell Mom, Dad, Uncle John, my cousins, Danny, and Mar that I loved them. That I’m sorry for being who I am and I wished that I could have spent more time with them. Tell them to never forget me. And that goes for you too, Emily.” I said, still using my voice.
“Jacob.” Emily whispered.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Please don’t go.” She begged.
I thought long and hard about what I was going to do next. The idea of sitting here and waiting for the police to come save me was very tempting. But I knew that Victoria had a mission here and she could find ways to draw me out.
Including sending whatever it is I have to fight next down here with all of the innocent people. I stood up and walked towards the elevator. The elevator that I knew would be taking me somewhere that my life would be in danger. The elevator whose closing doors reminded me of a tomb being sealed.
This sucks. I thought as I felt my stomach drop.
