Chapter Text
August sixteenth, twenty-thirteen. Just a couple of weeks ‘til school starts back up again. Senior year. Winslow High.
Yay.
Can you hear the sarcasm?
Here I am thinking about the fact that I haven’t even begun to crack a book on my summer reading list nor shopped for my back-to-school supplies all the while I should be paying attention to what’s going on around me. I mean, really… it’s not every almost senior student’s average Saturday night that involves being a part of a major robbery, is it? Playing Robin Hood by stealing from a local gang to distribute to the poor… namely, us. I don’t count students at Arcadia, by the way. Just me then, huh? And let’s add to the fact that to be a part of said robbery that I had to wear a costume.
‘But, Taylor’ I hear you ask… ‘Capes are supposed to wear costumes.’
Yeah, no.
Tonight I was dressed as Sophitia Alexandra.
No clue who that is? Yeah, me neither before tonight.
My outfit for the night is the reason that it took such a massive amount of willpower to keep to the script and not murder all of the people currently watching me (i.e., ogling – otherwise called ‘undressing me with their eyes’). Me and the other guys were in charge of keeping the hostages quiet and standing watch while the bosses were dealing with the safe in back. Sure, the outfit was every adolescent male’s little wet dream. A barely there white toga style dress (please do not ask about underwear) with heavy boots, blonde hair and carrying a massive sword and shield, but there had to have been better options, right?
Yeah, yeah. I know what you’re thinking…. Shoulda stood up and pled my case better, but what’s an up-and-coming villainess supposed to do, huh? The bosses wanted Soulcaliber (I had no idea which one. Apparently, there are a lot of them!) for this heist… and as the only female in their little coterie of henchpersons, I was nominated for the female character. I chose Miss Alexandra. Have you seen what the game designers have females wear? Besides, I was the only one with the legs to pull the outfit off. We will keep quiet about the, uh hum, current overabundance of my chest area. I can barely see my feet when looking down. I might’ve even not tied my boot laces properly.
How embarrassing.
We’ll keep that our little secret just between us, okay?
Good.
At least I got a weapon this time. Princess Zelda was kinda lame last time. Poofy skirts. Peach, too. What was it with all of the female characters in video games needing rescued? No real stretch in playing the part. Or in those cases where the woman could actually kick ass, the clothes got skimpy? Er? Being a badass is great and all, but I’d prefer not to show all my assets, thank you very much. I longed for the day that Uber and Leet decided to do Tomb Raider. Clothes that somewhat cover everything AND I’d get to kick butt.
“We’re at fifty-three seconds before they realize that the silent alarm update hasn’t kicked in, guys!” Haohmaru, otherwise known as Henchman Number Two, called out from his side of the room. As a higher numbered Henchperson, he officially got to watch the clock.
Me?
I, as lowly Number Three Henchperson, was simply considered eye candy that helped patrol the hostages with Four. Henchpersons Five through Seven were at the doors, front and rear, and various windows watching for cops and slash or Capes. No one wanted Capes here… well, except for those on our side.
In other words… Uber, Leet and me.
You’d think that as the only other Para-Human besides the bosses that I could at least be Henchperson Number One, but I’d lost at Super Mario Kart during the tryouts to Keith and Freddie, now currently referred to as Henchperson One and Two, respectively… and the next game night for the gang’s pecking order was still two weeks away! At least I had won the right for usage of the word Hench PERSONS instead of Hench MEN. No one wanted to admit that they’d nearly lost (Uber had to actually play and beat me) and would have had to refer to themselves as Hench WOMEN. Damn, but the third spot wouldn’t have been so bad if I’d pulled that one off.
The various members of the team talking pulled me back to the present. Everyone acknowledged the time once I’d finally verbally said ‘okay’. I started to think that tonight’s job was going to go off without a hitch, but, as always, just when you started to relax was when things decided to go pear shaped. I could see blue and red lights becoming clearer through the windows as Astaroth (Henchman Number Five for those that are keeping up with it) yelled out “cops” to the room.
Idiot.
The hostages, upon hearing that the police were now here, all seemed to take heart that good was going to triumph over evil – as it should according to the message that Saturday Morning Cartoons tried to impart – and that the end of their ordeal was near. Me and Henchperson Number Four, dressed as Li Long (notably the only one of us that was Oriental and, therefore, looked somewhat the part), made our way around where the hostages were situated.
Me as Sophitia, notwithstanding… but I had a little extra help.
“Quiet.” He barked.
“Settle down.” I added.
Henchperson Number One dressed as Algol (Who comes up with these names?) scrambled out from the back offices, a Tinker style box that supposedly acted like a Bag-of-Holding, meaning bigger inside than the outside suggested, carefully held within his grasp. I assumed that the box held our ill-gotten gains, but with Leet and Uber at the wheel of tonight’s heist, it could be carrying the contents of the breakroom fridge for all I knew. I watched the bosses, dressed as Siegfried and Raphael, came out from the same door. Each of them were laughing and cutting up. Apparently, they thought everything was going swimmingly.
Me?
Well… here’s a hoping. I was ready to get out of this outfit and into something comfy, like, say, my Miss Militia pajamas with a large bowl of pistachio ice cream and my Beta tape of ‘My Girl Friday’ on the television.
A girl could dream, right?
I discreetly checked my own watch. Four twenty-nine. Calculating backwards… round the fifty-three seconds to one minute. It took two minutes to get into place. Thirty-four minute drive here. Eight minutes getting into character at the hideout. Forty-five minutes total, so far. I had fifteen minutes or so left. If we got past the cops according to the plan, barring any Cape interference… I was golden.
Has anyone ever mentioned how so many of the Para-Human powers out there seem to be based around math? Like, really. Yeah, your teachers were right. You will need math to succeed in life.
“How we looking?”
I glanced over towards Uber. He was looking at me. “Me? Fifteen, give or take a minute or so.”
His lips twisted into a grimace. “You got back up?”
I scoffed at the question. He knew better. Hell, he was there when Leet had handed me the duffel bag with my other options for tonight’s little adventure. That what I was wearing currently had been the best of the bunch meant that there was no telling how bad the alternatives would be if I had to use one of them. Goddess forbid if I needed more than one. “Course I do.”
My alternative was to allow the persona I was wearing to dissolve into foam and leave me as naked as the day I was born for the world to gander at. Yeah. That’s a whole world of ‘no.’
Definitely not the statement I wanted to make before setting off on my own. The internet was forever. Al I needed was for a single photo of me naked to ruin any chance at being considered legit.
Apparently, my statement of a secondary choice was enough for him to end the conversation, not that it had been very titillating or useful. He turned to where his partner-in-crime was watching us both.
Uber and Leet high-fived before turning back to the rest of the room. Leet made a big production of brushing back the blonde hair that Siegfried had over his shoulder and setting the tip of the massive sword to the carpeted floor. “Well, ladies and germs, it’s been real…”
Uber swept Raphael’s massive hat from his head and gave the room a courtly bow. “And it’s been fun.”
Together, they put their arms around one another’s shoulder and together stated, “But not real fun.”
Uber offered a smirk. “Not yet, anyway.”
Leet punched him in the shoulder, his gauntleted hand clanging against the other’s armor. “It is sadly time for us to go. Please remember to watch our YouTube channel and give us a positive rating for tonight’s fun Your continued support means the world to us.”
“Your money, too.” Henchman One interjected.
“Bye.” Uber waved before he gave each of us the signal. We waited as the bosses were first out of the room.
“Everyone sit tight.” I raised my voice so that all of the hostages could hear me. “Your ordeal is almost over. Be good and this will all be a story you can tell your family and friends about later. Okay?”
If they survived the night. Poor souls that were actually working for the local Merchant gang, laundering money. It was a tossup at how bad their leadership would handle tonight’s losses. Oh, well…
We had a practiced and very well prepared escape plan worked out beforehand. I watched as Five, Six and Seven moved quickly towards the door leading to the stairwell leading to the basement. Four nodded to me before he chased after them. It was my turn. Two and One would follow me. I moved towards the doorway where I had stashed the duffel bag with a potential costume changes while checking the time.
Thirty-six after. We were definitely cutting it close. I tried to ignore the sweat that began beading along my spine.
Henchperson Eight was right where he was supposed to be. The hole in the floor led into the sewers, which had the happy coincidence to lead directly to a manhole cover three blocks outside of standard operating procedure for the police in setting up a barricade when hostages were involved, which also happened to be where the getaway vehicles were stashed.
Look at that. Maybe tonight was going to be an easy win.
I tried to hold in a sigh when I felt the armlet on my left bicep begin to lose cohesion. A quick look and, yep, I watched as it began to dissolve into some weird type of foam-like stuff before it eventually faded away.
Just a few more steps and there was the ladder leading to our escape.
I reached into the bag and grabbed what I hoped was a long tee shirt. I hadn’t been able to wear any underwear for the Sophitia portrayal… and my own clothes that allowed me to revert back to Taylor were safely in my locker back at the base. This was going to be embarrassing if I couldn’t make a quick change here soon.
Really, really soon.
I hated being left in my natural Stranger slash Breaker state that my powers had turned me into. There needed to be a spot for a change here soon, otherwise the longer I went without a character to become, I was in for a world of hurt. My original state as Taylor Anne Hebert was the only one so far that I could hold for longer than an hour.
Damn it!
The sword and shield were on the ground, the bubbles making a slight hiss as the foam began to fade away. I pulled a vintage tee that had a picture of Pac-Man on the front out of the bag just as I felt the toga fall from my shoulders. I ignored the faded beige white that my hair had become. I knew the rest of me would soon follow.
Fuck.
Well, at least it was dark down here in the sewers. I better well be getting a bonus for the free show.
And I didn’t have to fight against another Cape this time.
Yay.