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Chapter 10: Problems, Problems, oh, Yeah and Some Trouble
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Rodrick was ignoring the sounds that surrounded him. Captive of his own thoughts, he tried to pretend the TV show he was currently looking at was some of great interest for him. Thankfully Greg was too busy bickering constantly with Rowley to recognize his older brother's condition. His thought kept returning to the new piece of information that didn't fit to his story. He tried to find a logical explanation, but all his solutions seemed absurd. The question stood still, why would a teenage girl need to tape a knife to the bottom of her lamp?

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"I get it you officially moved into here?" Mindy asked Todd when his belongings were blocking her way into safe house number 3.
"I realized anything you might do to me would be better than the crack head land lord I had. Or was it Cannabis? I don't remember which one he said he's growing on the roof" he looked at her with the best pout he could muster in hope she'll let him stay.
"You clean it" she gave up and smiling weakly. She couldn't resist the pout and he knew that. Than thinking she added, "and if you bring a girl over, please don't tell me"
"Sure thing. And for your information, I got you your free pass to the range. So if the cops will come knocking on your door in 3 in the morning asking questions, you could always say the gun powder is from practice"
"I think that if the cops came I wouldn't be worried about powder. More likely I'll be concerned with the" she started counting the things wuth her fingers "illegal cash, weapons, forged documents, hacking, helping a 'murderer'…"
"Yeah, well… The important thing is that I helped. I get credit for helping, right?"
"Sure, why not? With our luck we're going to die the moment we set a foot in his house, so what the hell, right?" Todd didn't have to ask whose house she was speaking of. They were low on time and ways to prepare for the attack –which was named "who let the hounds out" momentarily (only by Todd).
"That's when you're wrong, my luck is just fine. With your luck you'll be hit by a bus on the way home"
"well, as long as I don't have to be back at home…"

He and Mindy didn't have time on their side. In 2 months Frank and Suzan will be meeting with Marcus, two weeks later and they'll be back. The meeting would be the one to ruin their plans. Without it Frank might have done one of the following:
1. realize he missed the action and return to them.
2. Understand they're going anyway and join in an attempt to protect them.
3. Calm down and act like nothing had happened.
4. Pretend like he didn't know anything and let them be.

With the Frank meeting Marcus, the options really were:
1. Frank growing a pair
2. Mindy grounded with shackles to the house.
3. All of her equipment being sold off.
4. Todd being chased with pitchforks by an angry mob consisted with the Heffley family.
5. A nice combination of all of the above with an extra of a t-shirt saying: "my adoptive parents were on a holiday, met my other adoptive father and ruined my shot for bringing justice. And all they brought me is this lame t-shirt".

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Rodrick continued pondering over the knife. Maybe the places she and dad hang out in are dangerous? If it was like that she wouldn't have left it at home… His thoughts were cut short when a dead silence spread through the room. Looking at his brother on the couch next to him, he noticed Greg's attention was to the room entrance.

There stood their father, nursing a black eye with a bag of frozen carrots, smiling crazily. A couple of days earlier his father's car broke down and since than he used the van. "Never again" Frank said in a venomous voice with no one asking.
"What happened to you?" Rodrick inquired worried for the sake of his van.
"I got hit by a guitar when I used the breaks too suddenly"
"and…?"
"I went to the mechanic to fix some things in your car"
Rodrick got up and ran past his father to the garage to see it wasn't damaged or even replaced by his dad. A sense of relief started to wash over him when he saw that from outside it looked the same. He opened the driver's door and immediately felt the difference he turned around for the back seat. In addition to the front seats there was a long seat that replaced the open space, and than a barrier. He walked out in panic to open the baggage door to see it was specious, but not as before. The anger he felt towards his father grew. He hoped for the sake of his father that all of the band's equipment still fit in there.

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"So, let's make a list of the problems" Todd decided and fired up his computer to type.
"Okay, and than we'll find solutions, if there are any. First off, must of the people in there have a button on their wrist that's connected to the main alarm system in the house"
"The alarm is powered by electricity, right? So let's cut it and the alarm system's company won't be alerted"
"It's not the company that's alerted, it's the rest of the people in Hawthorne that are. The phone lines are there too yet with cell phones it doesn't really make a difference. Plus, they have an indoors generator but it has to be started manually. If there's no electricity someone will have to go to it and start it. And not all of them know how- a thing that works in our benefit"
"So how do we stop the Hawthorne from coming?" He asked quizzically.

"Well, I thought of another group that'll attack them when we're attacking, but we don't have enough people… My next suggestion is a bomb, but I'm afraid to hurt people walking in the street next to the building"
"We can tap to the traffic cameras and see what's going on there and not blow up the whole thing so the fire won't spread too much. I can go and place the bombs a floor lower and hope to god I won't get caught"
"Okay, but buy the kind that we can detonate with a computer or something"
"You got it boss, next problem on the list?"
"Well, the neighbors – Rose family- are living the closest house. In the beginning I thought using their house because it has good view to the side of the house, but it leads us to another problem. You remember the huge office window in the second floor? The one that screams 'shot through me' 'shot through me', well, it's bulletproofed"
"So what can we do to a bulletproofed window?"
"Well, the good news. It's just the window that's proofed. The wall that holds it on the other hand is just a plain old wall"
"I know you think what I think - blowing up the wall"

"Okay, so according to this plan, you'll be in the rose's place in a sniper position, while I somehow get to the roof to blow up the wall so you will have a chance, in the meanwhile an invisible man-ghost will shut down the power and make sure Ackerman won't escape. Oh and I almost forgot, there are two police men outside doing absolutely nothing but pretend to watch over the house. And we won't forget the people in the house. From 18 to 60 people that won't be standing in a line for you to shot. And I doubt it will be 18 because it's our luck. Even if I do get to the roof and you'll kill 20 people, I can't take down alone this amount of people."

"Our luck," he said grimly.
They sat there and figured out some of their problems, but the realization stood still, they needed another hand.

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"I like what you did to your car, man" Mac commented that night when Rodrick picked him and Pepper up- he could hear his best friend gritting his teeth at that. "I won't have to use my ninja ducking abilities anymore"
"You know Angie has those? I swear to god she was never hit from a flying instrument. It was freaky…"
"Really?" Pepper noted the information. The group was driving to the city to a club. If Mac was confused about Pepper joining them he said nothing. "Is that the band we're going to hear?" she asked when the stereo started playing a CD.
"Umm, oh, that? Yes, I burnt it from Jake."
"Oh, are you kidding me? That asshole likes them? What a poser" Mac continued his rant about the boy. "I heard he likes Donna"
Pepper snorted, "of course he likes Donna, she is basically a boy"
"You just made a 'Jake is gay' joke! You are officially part of the group" Mac concluded. "We don't have cookies"

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In the club they mostly fit in (all but Pepper who was probably the only girl there with no tattoo or a visible piercing) and spotted Jake in a far corner talking to a crowed of older guys who seemed to not notice his presence at all. "Shit! I knew he'll be here. It's your jinx" Mac shouted pointedly at Rodrick, both from anger and the fact he couldn't really hear himself. They all moved to the side to stay away from him and to get closer to the stage.

After a few songs, Pepper was really into the music; jumping to the beat and getting even closer to the stage. That was the moment Rodrick noticed a big man dragging Jake out of the club to the back entrance. The man was wearing grey t-shirt and some dark jeans.

Taking the advantage of a potential for a hilarious joke, Rodrick pointed the situation to Mac. He pulled out his cell phone and motioned with his head that he's going to follow the happy couple outside to capture it. Mac enthusiastically nodded, smiling broadly at the fantastic idea.

And if it weren't for the song that came on –his own favorite- he would've joined Rodrick.

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He went out the back door of the club, following the two stumbling men. Muffled voices were heard faintly after the heavy door blocked the music from inside. He continued to the dark depths of the alley in the direction it came from. To his surprise, Jake was held onto the wall forcibly, by his throat. He was even more amazed when he finally noticed the large man held a knife at him.

"Where's m' money?!" he yelled at Jake who couldn't answer at his state.
"Hi!" Rodrick heard his own voice come out. The assailant let go of Jake and approached his new target.
"Just walk away kid" he flashed his knife from side to side. Rodrick was more concerned the man will lose his grasp on the handle rather than being stabbed by him on purpose. He felt bravery –or stupidity for that case- coarse through him and stayed at his place. The man started to form a smirk when an idea took place in his head.
"Well, than, I really want this Black Helmets to pay up. So butler boy," he turned to Jake, "pay close attention to this. If you don't give me my money in the next, umm, I don't know," he scratched his chin thinking, "5 minutes, you'll be diced up like soldier dude over there"

He launched his attack on Rodrick. He tried to slash the flesh of his torso but Rodrick narrowly dodged back. Using the movement to hit the man's hand- yet the knife was still tightly at his palm. The man tired again and this time managed to hit his arm with the sharp blade. Jake was on the dirty floor, completely useless and cuddled into a tight ball.

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5 Minutes Earlier

Pepper gave up the attempt to sing along with a metal band. The lyrics were lost on her; she didn't recognize any of the songs, people were shoving at her and head banging wasn't really her thing. She actually liked it when her brain wasn't trying to escape through her ear. So walked to the bar and ordered a coke, wanting to wet her throat. After managing to shout her order to the bartender –not helping the sore throat issue and finishing it she scoured the crowed and spotted Mac talking to some people she recognized from school. She tapped his back and asked where Rodrick disappeared to. All Mac did was to point at the back door.

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"Rodrick?" He heard a concerned voice he recognized as Pepper's from behind him. She hadn't seen them yet and the noise from inside was covering the fight sounds. He turned his head slightly to tell her to run, but she already noticed and was rooted in her place. The man charged again so Rodrick instantly punched his face- giving him a black eye.

The man became mad. Like, really, really mad. He readjusted the knife in his hand- intending to stab rather than slash. -Aiming to his stomach with full force.

He would've hit him, too, but a very peculiar thing happened. His movement stopped suddenly, and a weird spasm crossed his face. His eyes drop to his shirt – where Rodrick could barely make a reflection of light and a growing red stain.

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A Half Hour Ago

After eating dinner each changed their clothes, Mindy to her costume while Todd changed for his sleep-wear.

"Where are you going tonight?" he asked her when she held that special weapon he could never remember the name of. That pointy thing. That deadly pointy thing…
"I'm going after a money collector. -Pissed me off a couple of nights ago." He just looked at her expectedly, knowing she'll understand he wanted further explanation. "He was about to show up to this deal I was, umm, interrupting, but he got sick and bailed. He also goes to Ackerman's pretty often so I thought I'll help balance the odds so there will be between 17 to 59 people in that house. And maybe he'll help us afford all those things we named in our list"
"Well, I'm going to lay down, early shift tomorrow," he sing-songed. She said nothing at this as she strapped her mask. Deciding it was a good time for a joke Todd carried on, "S-L-EE-P! Are you familiar with the concept or do you just charge your spare batteries?" She punched his shoulder at that. "Who says you have to have a sense of humor? Just punch the laughter out. Never mind, wake me up when you come back. If you won't be here in 3 hours I'll follow your GPS signal"
"Suit yourself. And don't let the bed bugs bite…"

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Rodrick looked behind his shoulder to see Pepper cover up her mouth in shock, fear and some other emotions he couldn't really name, or really understand. –He wasn't the only one to think the fight had taken an abnormal twist. Good, no one is crazy on my side! Wait... what was that thing about group hellusenations?
Rodrick looked over at Jake. He was weeping at this point, but wasn't the cause to the abrupt stillness. Suddenly Jake looked up – probably curious to know if he was next in line, figuring the man hurt Rodrick. His eyes widened quickly. For some reason he seemed even more scared than before if it's possible. Rodrick raised his eyes back to the man, he hadn't moved but the shinning in the middle of the stain suddenly jiggled slightly and disappeared as quickly as it came.

It appears the glimmering object was the only thing that kept him standing. The man fell to his knees and then face forward. Rodrick had to take a step back in order not to touch him. Behind the body, stood a young woman in a leather-like costume. She had a purple wig and some cloth hid her face partly. She was half leaning on a boo-staff with blades attached to each end. The one that was on the ground was covered with the same red that was on the man's shirt –due to his state of shock it took Rodrick a second to realize it was blood.

She examined the remaining people in the alley and Rodrick could have sworn he saw a glint pass through those blue eyes. Before she could move or say a thing Jake spurted to his heals and ran past Rodrick, then Pepper and into the main street. As he sprinted Rodrick heard him saying:"Shit, that's Hit Girl!"

Hit Girl considered chasing after him but decided against it so she will not be seen by the police cameras out there. –Every time she accidently got caught on film the police department was up on their feet. She also knew she had to not only run but also jump over the body and simply too lazy at the moment to care.

"Angie?" Pepper finally said when she found her voice.
"Oh, crap."