Nuisance at the Bank [OPEN]

[Elenaphant]

Characters: Slade, NPCs [Robbers, Bankers, and Civs]
Setting: Jump City Bank
Previous Threads: None
Plot Summary: Mr.Wilson in his secret identity as a wounded ex-military soldier must keep up pretenses as bank robbers inconvenience his routine.

[Elenaphant]

At the heart of downtown was Jump City Bank in late 1860 architecture with stairways leading up to its pillared entrance. A gentleman in a suit pressed a stained rosewood cane to the steps. As he pushed his body weight up the stone steps his hand quivered at the handle. His body limped on the same side of his black eye-patch, suggesting injury on the entire right side of his body. Yet, when he was offered assistance up the steps he raised his other hand in decline. He was a proud old man, but he did accept the door being opened with a raspy thanks.

It was a busy day as people moved through the large interior toward the gated tellers. He stood waiting in line with a measure of patience. He was in no rush, and using his cane as support held himself steady as his stronger left searched an inner pocket to pull out an envelope. There was a screech outside of a large vehicle, and though other patrons around took no note of it, he slowly put it back in its place.

That was when the doors behind him burst open with a small team of armed, masked robbers flooding into the bank. He glanced over his shoulder only for a moment when the order came for them to get down to the floor. Slade Wilson, the world's greatest mercenary, was looking down the barrel of a gun pointed toward him as a common thief ordered him to press his face against the floor.

Had the man known who he was, he wouldn't have dared. As it was, Slade was not the notorious super-villain, but the wounded ex-soldier he could have been had it not been for an experimental super serum. So he held up his hand and slowly began getting down on his better knee. It wasn't quick enough as the armed man kicked out his cane to the side and Mr.Wilson fell to the floor in a stumble.

Later, he noted to himself, he would endeavour to find the man and pay him a little visit. For now, he was subject to the nuisance of playing victim and waiting for 'help' to arrive.

[Silv]

"Guys, we actually need to use these computers to keep the city safe," the Boy Wonder complained. He stopped a few paces from the consoles, his masked eyes narrowed at his friends, ignoring the World of Fungus blaring on the television screen behind him. "We don't do that by playing Mineralpursuit." He had no problem with playing games in their spare time, but the main computers had more important functions than building a replica of their tower out of cubes in some computer game.

The lights flashed with the alarms, shutting down, then blaring red. Robin didn't even bother to glance up to the screens he knew would now be scrolling pertinent information, instead pulling out his communicator to see the feed he got straight from the emergency services. “Jump City Bank is being robbed!” Robin announced already running for the exit, “Titans go!”

Moments later and a familiar bright red motorcycle was zooming down the streets of Jump City. The lines between lanes blurred together into a solid stream as Robin wove in between traffic at breakneck speeds. The console on his bike easily tracked his location, showing a tiny yellow dot moving rapidly towards the bank icon that was conveniently blinking. "They've taken hostages. We have to be careful," he warned his team over the communicator, as the headset in his helmet was telling him the information. "Disarm the criminals. Get the civilians out of there."

It didn't take very long for the bank to come into view, and he had no trouble recognizing the less than subtle getaway vehicle. He skidded to a stop, his tires screeching from the suddenness, and flipped over the handlebars of his bike as it finished it's automatic lock-down. Robin pulled his helmet off his head, tossing it back at his vehicle, and raced forwards shaking his spikes back into place. Robin didn't wait for the other Titans to arrive, he barreled ahead to the bank entrance.

Robin stopped by the door and paused to appraise the situation. He couldn't see much through the tiny crack in the entrance, but he could see some people on the ground. That meant weapons. But it was nothing he hadn't handled before. The Boy Wonder pulled a few pellets from his belt and a respirator. A few seconds later and the pellets were bouncing through the door like harmless marbles until they weren't.

Noxious smelling smoke suddenly poured from tiny pellets and Robin followed his distraction inside.

[Rig]

Cherufe's day had been going pretty smoothly for the most part. The traffic was pretty intense, but it wasn't much to tick him off. A twisted smile emerged across his face very subtly. The thrill of riding his motorcycle in and out of traffic was quite joyous. People occasionally honked and threw up rude hand gestures as his red hair flowed through the wind. It was laughable that he decided not to stop and cause a little havoc, but he had somewhere to be. His objective was the bank at the heart of Jump City.

He wasn't the type to steal outright. That would require a team of people who knew what they were doing. A carefully planned strategy could go a long way if there was perfect execution. Neither of those things he didn't have, but he did have a key. It was a key given to him by a cultist that was supposed to contain a book of dark magic. The book was very expensive and Cherufe was interested in making some extra money. He would sell the book to the right buyer after he read its glorious pages.

Being the deviant that he was, he parked his motorcycle on the sidewalk. The slightly excited Cherufe unsaddled his ride and removed his key from the ignition. He entered the bank and slowly made his way across the way to the tellers. Winking at the blonde haired woman over his shades, he placed a key with the numbers 1179 on the counter. Before he could say anything, the doors to the bank flew open. Unlike the others in the bank, he stood his ground. Though, that quickly changed when a blow to the back of his knee forced him to hit the ground.

Looking over his shades, he could see that one of the thieves had made off with his deposit box key. His emotions started to swell within him. He swore to himself that when given the chance he would make all of them pay. No one would make him grovel on the ground like a lowlife. His right hand started to become hot. He had to wait for the right time. Next thing he knew, smoke started to fill the air. Though, it wasn't quite the right time. Cherufe decided that he would wait a bit longer to figure out what he would do to get vengeance.

[Elenaphant]

It would be more amusing that Robin was coming to save him, and other bankers, from the big bad robbers, if it didn't mean smoke. His mask usually took care of that, but with his exposed face he had to bury his nose in his elbow. It didn't stop him from coughing up his lungs like an old man, which he was, but it was an indignity he was glad wouldn't be called out by his inferiors. The coughing drew attention of one of the armed robbers, who reached down to grab him. Slade felt the cold press of a gun barrel against his neck. Ah, he was being taken hostage. 

It briefly reminded him of a time he was on the other side, faced with a similar situation but with his son. He had been rather confident in that scenario, and despite his mistake he didn't quite learn to appreciate the danger. Slade could have easily turned this situation around, as a hundred different possibilities ran through his enhanced neural pathways, but in order to play the charade someone else had to come to his rescue. That someone so far was his former apprentice.

If there was anything worthwhile to be gained from this, it was to entertain the thought if the boy knew who he was, he would try and save him? The idea almost made him laugh, but he had more self control than to cave into such an obvious give-away.

"If you come any closer, we'll shoot!" the freaked out assailant yelled into the smoke.  The others were catching on, and more hostages were being taken. 

"Unhand me, you hooligans," Mr.Wilson said gruffly.

[Rig and Silv feel free to NPC the robbers~]

[Silv]

"If you come any closer, we'll shoot!" one of the robbers threatened.

"Not if I take you out first." the teenager replied unnecessarily ominously in a voice trying too hard to sound dangerous. Fortunately, his fists were a lot more effective than his scare-tactics. Not that the sight of a traffic light was usually terror inspiring.

The first robber unlucky enough to come face to face with the Boy Wonder in the smoke got a concussion to show for it. Robin attacked, striking the man under the chin, and catching him before he flopped like a ragdoll to the ground. He lowered the man to the floor in seconds before disengaging to go after the next.

Unfortunately, the bank was well ventilated, and the room was clearing. He could see that some of the robbers had taken hostages, and Robin realized that he probably should have started with a knockout gas, but civilians like the poor old man with the gun to his head could have gotten hurt from the fall. Ah, well. It wasn't like he'd never dealt with a hostage situation before.

Not every one of the robbers had taken a hostage. The one holding the semi-automatic had both hands still on the weapon, and was firing it at a brightly colored red, yellow, and green target. Sparks and bullets danced across the marble tiles the Boy Wonder had been standing on seconds before. Robin leapt into a tumble, landing smoothly on his feet again, with a birdarang in one bright green gloved hand and a grapple gun in the other.

He threw the weapon at the robber at the same time he fired off his grapple. The Boy Wonder was instantly vaulted into the air, as his boomerang spun past and around the man shooting at the space where the teen had been standing. The heavy wood doors were chewed up in the gunfire that ended the moment the boomerang-like weapon Robin had fired smashed into the back of the man's head.

Robin landed, as gravity forces a human to, on the man holding one Mr. Wilson hostage. His heavy boots crashed into the man's shoulders and sent both man and boy to the ground. Another kick to the face later and he wasn't about to be shooting anyone tonight. Probably. The Boy Wonder turned to the old man. "Are you okay, sir?" he asked, masked eyes widening before he quickly ordered, "Get down!" And Robin's green gloved hands moved to shove the grumpy old man closer to the floor as a round of gunfire whizzed over their heads.

The Boy Wonder didn't stay down for longer than necessary, he was already moving, skidding across the floor like a teenaged bowling ball in the direction of the robbers that were threatening the tellers to hurry up so they could get out of here before the rest of the Titans showed up.

TAG: Rig

[Rig]

After hearing the shots being fired, it figured that it was a good time as any to retaliate. The thief that knocked him on the ground stood a ways off. Cherufe rushed the robber from behind to lift him into the air and slammed the thief head first into the floor. A shot fired from the thief's gun as he hit the ground. The young villain picked up the gun and the heat from his hands made the metal bendable. He shaped the barrel of the gun upward making it useless and threw it on the ground. A twisted smile spread across his face, as the thieves would now feel the wrath of the Cherufe.

It wasn't every day that he was able to get into a fight. This would also be a good time to hone his skills. His actions didn't go unnoticed as the smoke began to clear. One of the robbers that had his back turned, turned around just in time to see Cherufe's glowing eyes. The robber's hands began to shake as he screamed out, "MONSTER!!!" The robber struggled to lift up his weapon in fear to aim it at the redhead.

Cherufe's right hand already cocked back with a volleyball sized fireball and launched it the robber. Though, this wasn't just any ordinary fireball. It was a concussive fireball that had the ability to knock an average sized adult off of their feet. The blast that connected with his opponent had forced the robber back into one of his cohorts knocking both of them down.

Today was very interesting. It was the first time that he had seen any of the Titans up close. The leader of the Titans had some impressive moves, but Cherufe didn't think they were a match for his strength or flames. He noticed that the fearless leader started to move toward the tellers. "I can't let you have all of the fun Bird Breath!" he yelled out.

Cherufe summoned twin fireballs in both of his hands and threw one after the other at toward the tellers. One of the fireballs hit a robber in the back and the flames began to spread. The robber dropped his weapon as he attempted to pat the flames out on his back. The second fireball managed to bypass the other robber and hit the gate of the tellers. One of the tellers almost got hit as the remnants of the fireball passed through the gate. The second fireball's remnants caused a bag of money to catch fire and the heat singed the other robber's mask.

Cherufe was enjoying this a little too much for his own good, but it was worth it. It had been a long time since he had this much fun. The chaos had just begun.

[Elenaphant]

Mr.Wilson was knocked down unceremoniously with his captor, while Robin made quick work of the latter. Then, ever the hero, he asked if the poor old man was alright. "Not bad," he said gruffly, "for a child."

Shots were being fired and he felt himself being pushed further down toward the ground. He allowed it, for this rare bit of playing pretend, and stayed down long enough for Robin to get up into action. Mr.Wilson adjusted himself to sit back behind one of the lounge chairs, looking far too casual for a shoot out. No one was paying attention to him as they screamed for their lives. The man decided if he must be inconvenienced, at least he could enjoy the show.

What a show it was, and it was starting to get hot when a wild-card in the form of a flame-bearing meta came into play. There was a recklessness to the young man. He didn't seem at all concerned when one of the workers nearly got hit. Though Slade had no plans requiring recruitment as of yet, he studied the face all the same in case he needed it for reference later.

[Silv]

Robin had almost made it to the poor harassed tellers when there was an explosion of fire. The Boy Wonder skidded to a stop and turned instantly, his masked eyes wide as he took in Cherufe, before his expression settled into something more of a smirk. Already coming up with insults and they hadn't even met yet. That sounded promising, but first he had to round up these idiots and put out the blaze.

He reached for his belt, three disks slipping between his green gloved fingers, and threw his payload at the fires...and the people that were on fire. The disks exploded in small showers of fire-retardant that foamed out in white bursts that obscured the tellers and made the robbers look like they were covered in cheap fake-snow. But, really, it was probably better than still being on fire.

With the revelation that there was a flaming metahuman there the remaining robbers sounded a retreat. A sort of high pitched scream. Because, apparently, fighting a brightly colored teenager who could Batman them in the face wasn't nearly as scary as being set on fire. Robin didn't have time to take the retreating robbers out, secure the ones that were down, and make sure the civilians were okay, but that didn't mean he was going to let them get away that easy. He whirled, pulling a tracking device from his belt, before flinging the little blinking thing at the retreating robbers. The Teenage Thunderbolt had terrifying accuracy, and the device hit one man's back, attaching as the blinking red light flashed green and shut off.

But while Robin was distracted by that one of the robbers that had been caught in the fire and subsequent fire-retardant explosions had decided to try one last-ditch effort to escape. The getaway van was already screeching away by the time the man made it to the door smoke still hanging off his singed clothing. Running out of options, and knowing he couldn't outrun the Titans, he did the most sensible thing: he took another hostage.

The grumpy old man Robin had helped earlier had another gun to his head. Because, really, the only hostage that the down-on-his-luck robber could manage would be a crippled one hiding behind a chair. "No closer!" the robber screamed, his voice panicked and rough from the smoke. "You're gunna let us walk out of here. Got that, old man? Get on your feet. Now."

TAG: Rig

[Rig]

Cherufe raised an eyebrow as the single Titan had dispersed his flames from consuming the "poor" robber. He made a mental note that those disk may cause for a problem if Cherufe and Robin were to go head to head in combat. He chuckled a little as the thought of going against the head of the Titans was thrilling. Cherufe figured that if he started a fight now, other Titans would probably show up anytime. That would really be an inconvenience if he had to take on multiple opponents. Though, in his head he really wanted to take Robin down.

He cracked his neck as the robbers screamed in fear. Cherufe gave out a hardy laugh when the robbers abandoned some of their fallen teammates for capture. The flaming teenager thought to himself, Is this all they could muster? These guys suck! The thing he didn't expect to happen was one of the remaining robbers to take a hostage. Cherufe smiled evilly at the act. He could care less about the hostage and take both of them out, but he decided on a different tactic.

He walked over to the robber he took down earlier and sat them in a chair opposite of that from the robber with the old man. Cherufe stripped the mask off of the barely conscious robber revealing a man's face. The man seemed to have numerous scars on his scalp and a clean shaven head. Cherufe stood behind the chair and kept a twisted smile on his face.

"Now, I have a hostage too. This man already has enough scars. How about we add some more? If you let the old man go, I may leave this man's body alone. He's already barely able to stay conscious as is. Though, I could also kidnap you later on and make you watch everyone you care about suffer in intense flames. Then, you could rot in prison with their lives you gave up because of a hostage you killed. Those options sound good to me. So, what's it going to be?," threatened Cherufe while putting his hand on top of his own hostage's scalp.

[Elenaphant]

The charade was almost pushing it when he was taken a second time; after he had gone out of his way to find a nice spot to relax too. The elderly gentleman had a deep set scowl, looking more angry than afraid, as the barrel of the gun was put to his head with the demand to get up. It had been a long time since he followed orders, and he had certainly grown accustomed to giving them. "Should have picked someone younger if you wanted them to hurry," he grumbled and pushed himself to his feet with his cane.

The fiery wild-card proposed sparing the partner in crime for him. Mr.Wilson's 'fate' rested on the man behind him actually caring about the people he worked with, rather than considering the elimination as an opportunity to get a bigger cut of the sum. Not a smart tactic, but the threat of pain even to someone else was a distraction at the very least. He had faith that his would-be protege would capitalize on the opportunity created. If not, then he'd have to make use of the sword in his cane. Precious seconds ticked, and ever so slowly the handle was pulled from the sheath to reveal the barest sliver of metal. In a twist, it was not the hostage that was to be saved. The armed assailant's life rested on Robin's competence.

[Silv]

If he had the time Robin would have facepalmed.

Because everything seemed to be going wrong to a ridiculous degree. He couldn't let the hotheaded metahuman hurt the robber, just like he couldn't let the robber harm the old man. The robber holding Mr. Wilson seemed too flabbergasted to manage a response, but Robin had one for him. His masked eyes narrowed on Cherufe as his hand went to his belt. "Neither." he said and threw down the flash-bang in his green gloved hand.

Light seared everywhere in a roaring instant. Robin's mask shielded his eyes enough, but he'd also known it was coming, and in that blinding second the Boy Wonder wasted no time. The brightly clad teenager went after the robber holding the innocent first. He pulled out his bostaff and extended it with a click that barely registered in his still ringing ears. The metal staff smashed into the gun, forcing the man's hand back in an unnatural way that pulled a scream from his throat as the bullet shot over Slade's head, but Robin didn't have time for kindness as he followed that attack off with a blow to the head.

A glinting caught his attention as Robin spun around to face Cherufe, but he didn't have time to register the oddity that was the cane's metallic core, as he moved protectively between Mr. WIlson and the unpredictable Cherufe. His cape whirled with the motion, and he twirled his bostaff back around behind him, as his masked gaze caught on the other teenager and narrowed. "I don't want to fight you," the Teenage Thunderbolt warned his would-be flaming rival. "But I can't let you hurt them. That's vengeance, not justice." he said making it clear that he would intervene if Cherufe decided to harm anyone else, be they criminal or innocent civilian.

TAG:Rig

[Rig]

The young redhead flinched as the ringing in his ears nearly caused him to go deaf. Though, his shades took on most of the light to not effective as much as it could have. He shook his head to clear the ringing as it quickly ceased. Cherufe raised an eyebrow under his shades and chuckled. His eyes began to glow from under his black shades. The fight with the Boy Wonder would be an interesting one. Though, the young adult felt like he should just hop back on his bike and begin to ride. He thought to himself that it maybe a quick bout, but he wasn't sure what to expect. All he knew, any of the Titans could show up and stop him get in the way of their fight.



Massaging the man's head aggressively, he raised his free left hand and it became engulfed in swirling black flames. Cherufe slung his hand backward toward old tapestry and brass vases that decorated the bank. The tapestry became engulfed and the brass started to melt slowly. " ...Fine, that's all for today. I care not for this man's life. Neither do I want to go to prison.That's if you could even stop me to begin with," he stated as he began to walk toward the exit, "Delay in vengeance deals a heavier blow."



Before reaching the exit he turned around and pointed a finger toward Robin with a giant smile. "In the way of my former cult, we used vandalism to declare war. I've been in the shadows for too long. I'm declaring war on the Titans! You will one day fall to the flames of the mighty Cherufe!" he stated boisterously. He then crossed his arms and stood still waiting to see what Robin would do next. Any reaction was worth waiting for.

[Elenaphant]

Slade could feel the air as the bullet dodged his head and hit the rafter. Aside from closing his eye as the sound banged in his one, unfortunate ear, the man remained calmer than anyone else on the scene. Robin had done well, and the sword was safely back in its cane as he pressed it against the floor. He took slow, limping steps away as the hostages around him scrambled like rats on their hands and knees. He straightened his tie and dusted the front of his jacket.

Mr.Wilson glanced over his shoulder as the 'mighty Cherufe' made his dramatic exit. Yet another enemy for the Titans; how intriguing. One of the downsides of being on the low-down was that he couldn't assert his role as their number one enemy. All in good time.

The police had caught up, predictably just when most of the work was already done. They barged in, all impressive with their armoured suits and pointed guns. The last of the hostages were apprehended, and a wave of relief washed over the bank. He watched passively as others came to the young boy to thank him profusely for his work. He wondered if that was one of the reasons why Robin held to his morals--the teary-eyed gratitude.

[Silv]

Robin kept his eyes on Cherufe, who was still holding onto his hostage, even though the infinitely scarier villain was actually behind him. He wasn't sure what the other teen was doing to the robber's head, but he slowly pulled one more extinguishing disk out of his belt, ready for another human to go up in flames.

Luckily the fire powered metahuman seemed to know when to back down. Sort of. The fireball that Robin had assumed would be the robber's head instead shot off to destroy a rather pretentious bank tapestry. And some vases. He flung the disk at the fire, but kept his eyes on Cherufe even as the disk exploded and replaced melting metal with creamy chemical-smelling foam. Robin watched the other teen head towards the exit. This wasn't anything he hadn't heard before, and the teen couldn't do much more than blow air into his cheeks in exasperation. What was with random powered people deciding, for no apparent reason, that the Titans were their new mortal enemy?

Wait, cult?

Their experience with cults had, so far, been relegated to one creepy dude who had a thing for Cyborg. A brainwash the rest of them, make himself into a cyborg like Cyborg, and then try to destroy them all thing for Cyborg. Robin wasn't sure how to feel about this new development, but he didn't have much time to ponder it, because that was when Jump City's finest arrived on the scene followed by the fire department and the paramedics and took up Robin's attention. They took the robbers into custody, and began questioning some of the witnesses, as the firemen made sure the fires were out and no longer a threat, and the paramedics rushed people off to the hospital.

The Boy Wonder pulled out his communicator to track the getaway vehicle now that the bank situation was handled, but it was hard to do that when people kept thanking him. Robin smiled patiently, telling them that he was glad they were okay, and that he was just doing his job, He managed to send the coordinates to the rest of his team, trying not to seem too rude with his nose in his communicator, as he disengaged from grateful fans.

He headed towards the door but paused for a moment to try to catch the older gentleman who had been a remarkably good sport about being pushed around so much. A gentle green gloved hand reached to catch Mr. Wilson's attention. "Sir," Robin said far more respectfully than he ever would have if he'd known who the man was. "Please give the paramedics the opportunity to make sure you're okay. I'm sorry I had to set off the flashbang so close to you. You did really well." the Boy Wonder said with a soft smile. He felt kind of guilty that a civilian had been caught in the crossfire, but he hadn't had too many options. "Let me know if you need anything."

TAG: Rig