After a few days had gone by, the time for them to pull off the robbery was almost upon them. Weiss was waiting for everyone to reach her apartment, the plan for what they were going to do needed to be said so that everyone knew how it was all going down. As she waited for them to show up, Weiss stood at the window of her apartment living room, staring out at the city's nighttime landscape, the heavy rain that was coming down thundering against the glass where she stood, with the occasional crack of lightning emerging from the dark skies above.
Weiss held a feeling of foreboding as she stared out into the night, a single thought in the back of her brain that told her that this rain was just a prelude to the real storm that was going to come down on top of them. One thing was for certain, tomorrow, when they went to rob that bank, and kill Cinder Fall in the process, Weiss was almost certain that they were going to be put through one of the toughest tests they have ever been through.
Somehow, Weiss didn't think that things were going to end badly for them though, despite all the odds that were stacked against them. There was no room for failure this time, there was no second chance, they either made it, or they didn't, and Weiss was certain that they would get the job done. She trusted her crew to pull their weight, to do what they could in order to make the job a success.
When she heard the sounds of people showing up and heading immediately into the back room, Weiss finally walked away from the window in order to complete their job. She walked into the room, only to find that somehow, everyone was already there waiting for her, Ruby standing up at the front of the crowd speaking with them.
"Hey, I took the liberty of letting everyone in so that we could get started quicker, hope you don't mind," Ruby said as she sat down so Weiss could take the reigns.
"I don't," Weiss replied. "Well, this is it. In less than 24 hours, we're gonna rob the Pacific Standard Bank. I'm sure I don't need to tell you guys this, but this job isn't going to be easy for us. The cops will come running as soon as they hear the news, and we still have to ensure that our target is killed, without anyone knowing that it was the intent the whole time."
"Based on what we had to do in order to just get to this point, I don't think any of us are surprised," Ren cut in. "Speaking of which, everyone managed to get their pieces together?"
"You and I set up the sniper perch and hacking equipment, so we're good," Velvet said.
"Me and Blake got the Thermite Charges ready to go," Nora chimed in next.
"Our getaway vehicle is all ready to go and over at Lester's," Ruby said after.
"And we got the escort vehicles ready to roll," Sun replied.
"What did you guys get for an escort vehicle?" Weiss asked.
"Trust me when I say this, but it's better left as a surprise," Sun mentioned. "If the cops somehow know that you're going to be bringing in something, no matter how large in size it is, then they'll prepare for it, but we need to trick them into thinking we don't have much to go with."
After thinking about what it was that Sun said for a second, Weiss realized the validity in his reason. "Very well then, let's move on to what is actually going to happen."
Up on the wall sat a large map of the city, a circle surrounded the location of the bank itself, while two more circles adorned the map close by. "Ok, so obviously, our main target is right here, the Pacific Standard Bank. Down the street," Weiss said as she pointed to one of the two smaller circles on the map. "Ren and Velvet are going to be waiting with a sniper rifle and our hacking equipment. They'll keep an eye out for our target and let us know when she enters the bank. Sun and Neptune are going to be waiting here in this parking lot with our escort vehicles." Weiss pointed to the other circle that was drawn onto the map as she relayed that piece of information.
"So, now comes the really fun part, who get's to go into the bank itself," Weiss continued. Weiss saw that Yang was sitting with them, having shown that she was capable of at least doing something to help the gang. "Yang, you're going to be driving our getaway vehicle, an Armored Kuruma. It's got bulletproof side panels, glass and tires, so we don't need to worry too much about getting shot at. While we're in this though, we can't really fire back at them, which is where the escort comes in. You're going to wait with them until we're all ready to bail, and then drive over to the front of the bank with them and create a wall that we can use to shield ourselves and get inside the vehicles."
"Well at least it's better than nothing I guess," Yang commented.
"Anyway, that still leaves myself, Ruby, Blake, Nora and Sage. If you couldn't guess it already, we'll be the one's heading inside of the bank itself," Weiss said afterwards. "Nora, you're in charge of breaking the doors down, and there should be enough thermite that can get us through all the doors without a problem. Blake, you're gonna go down with her to grab the cash itself from the vault."
"And what does that leave the rest of us to do?" Sage asked.
"Crowd control, finding Cinder Fall, and then finding a way to take her out without anyone finding it funny," Weiss said.
"Not to be a burden or anything, but we should have Sage out with myself and Sun," Neptune interrupted.
"I have to agree, based on what we did pick up, it'd be better if I was out there, because then when you're exiting the bank, I can provide much better cover to you with the escort than I could from inside," Sage replied.
Weiss turned to Lester, hoping that he would have some idea of what to do with this. He walked over to Sage, who in turn whispered something into Lester's ear. "Wait, really? That's what you got?!" After seeing a nod from Sage, Lester laughed for a second before speaking to him again. "Go with Sun and Neptune, it'd be better that way."
"You sure about that Lester?" Weiss asked.
"I'm one hundred percent sure of it," He replied.
"Alright then, that just means you and I are going to have to be extra careful, Ruby," Weiss said. "We need to make sure that nothing goes wrong with this job, so everyone needs to stay alert. Once Blake and Nora grab the cash, we'll do a bag swap before we leave the bank itself and hop into separate vehicles to make our escape. From there, Velvet and Ren, just stay out of sight until you can get a clear opportunity to leave, then take it. The rest of us, we'll split up once we've lost some of our tail, then meet back up at Cape Catfish, near the El Gordo Lighthouse, and only once you're sure you've lost the cops."
"Well then, what time do you want us to meet you at and where?" Blake asked.
"Sun, Sage, and Neptune, you guys head to the escort point right away, same with Velvet and Ren," Weiss said. "Ruby, Nora, Yang and yourself will meet with me at Lester's at 9, and I want the rest of you guys to where you're supposed to be at the same time. Cinder's appointment is apparently set for 11, so, I want us to make sure that we are ready to go the moment she gets in there."
"Got it boss," Yang said as she stood up. Everyone else stood as well, knowing that the meeting was over, and getting some rest before their big day tomorrow.
This was it, this was the moment they were going after the bank. It was 10:45 in the morning, not 15 minutes before Cinder was supposed to show up at her appointment. Weiss was in the car with Ruby, Blake and Nora, with Yang behind the wheel. Each of them carried their own weapons, Blake with her Assault SMG, Nora with her Carbine Rifle, Ruby with her Special Carbine, and Weiss herself recently acquiring a Coil Combat PDW to use, just for this heist. All of them were silenced, and most other mods were attached to them in order to make the weapons even deadlier than they normally were.
"Velvet, you see anything yet?" Weiss asked from the back of the car.
"Not yet," Velvet replied, looking through the scope of her Advanced Sniper. "We still got another 15 minutes until her appointment starts, so we should be seeing her hopefully soon."
"Keep an eye out and let us know the second you see her enter that front door," Weiss said. "Everyone have their masks?"
Each of the people in the car pulled out a gas mask that they were going to use to cover their faces. "Got them right here," Blake replied. "We each have a bag that we can use to throw stuff in, and we'll keep our guns in them until we're inside the bank. Once we're in, we pull our guns out, get the crowds attention and get going towards the vault."
"That's pretty much the plan," Weiss mentioned. "We'll put our masks on before we step out of this car, ok?"
"Got it," Ruby said.
"Weiss, we've got movement," Velvet called out over the headset. "Our target just walked into the bank."
"Good," Weiss replied as Yang started to drive over to the front of the building, her mask having already been put on as Velvet spoke. "We're going in once we get there, Ren, start jamming all their signals. Sun, Sage, Neptune, make sure you're ready to go once we call you. Code names from here on out as well, don't forget that." It didn't take much longer after that for the group within the Kuruma to reach the bank, their masks on and their guns ready for a quick withdrawl once they made it inside.
"All signals to and from the Vault are being jammed, aside from ours of course," Ren called out over the headsets. "Starting to work on the bank security, and the vault codes now."
"That's our cue to go in," Weiss said as she climbed out of the car. Once the four were out, Yang sped off down the road to where she would meet up with the escort, while the rest swiftly walked into the front doors of the bank and pulled out their guns.
Nora and Ruby walked through the right way, while Weiss and Blake went left. Upon seeing the guards with their backs to the crew, Blake and Ruby easily knocked the two guards out, while Nora spoke to the crowd in delight.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," Nora said, climbing on top of a desk in order to garner everyone's attention. "Tonight's entertainment is brought to you by random acts of violence, a little bit of chaos, and some terrorizing moments. We're not here to kill you, we just want your money and valuables, so if you would be so kind as to remove any cash, necklaces, rings, engagement and wedding rings excluded since we're not savages, and place all of your valuable jewelry and money into one of the oh so convenient bags that are going around, that will make all of our experience that much more positive. Thank you for your time, and we'll be out of your hair shortly."
Jumping off of the table, Nora immediately ran over to the locked door and pulled out one of the Thermite charges, placing it on the door and igniting the volatile substance. Ruby and Weiss walked around, their bags open to collect any money and valuables that they could from the people who they were aiming at. Blake kept her gun aimed towards the crowd, ensuring that if anyone made any sudden movements, they wouldn't live to wonder if it was the right choice or not.
Once the first door was opened, Ruby and Weiss finished collecting everything in their bags and started to work on crowd control. Nora busted through the first door and ran over to the second, with Blake moving into a position that gave her adequate covering fire in case things went wrong. It was Ruby who noticed some of Cinder Fall's personal guards coming down the stairs, unaware of the current state of affairs. Once they noticed what was going on, it was too late for them, Ruby had already opened fire on them as they reached for their guns.
Blake moved towards their bodies, taking the guns and handing them off to Ruby and Weiss so they could go into the bags. When she got there though, she saw Cinder, attempting to hide in the staircase. Blake reached over and grabbed her arm, throwing her into the crowd down in the main lobby so Ruby and Weiss could keep an eye on her.
Ruby decided to use this opportunity to make a point. "You see what we just did, how quickly we killed those two men? We didn't want to have to do that, we want things to go smoothly so we can all go on with our happy little lives. But the thing is, if you're gonna go and do something like that, try to play hero, well then, you just saw what'll happen to you. So please, don't make this harder on us, or on you."
"Nice speech R, you should consider running for president," Yang said into the comms.
Now that they had their target within their sights, it was only a matter of time until their job was done. Weiss knew exactly what was going to happen once the vault was cracked. Weiss had a pair of handcuffs in her bag that she was going to put on Cinder. The plan was to pretend to kidnap her when in actuality, they were just doing it so they could have an opportunity to put a bullet in her head.
Weiss hearing the second door crack open meant that Blake and Nora were going to head down into the vault. "Any word on the vault's doors?" Blake said into the earpiece while cooperatively taking down two guards in their way with Nora.
"Should be opening in a second," Ren said, waiting for the last number to crack. Once it did,the door started to shudder and move. "Got it, the gate's open."
Nora and Blake ran over to where the last door that stood in their was was, and Nora laid the last charge on it. Time seemed to crawl by as they waited for the Thermite to break through the door, it being the only thing keeping them from the money, and getting out of their alive.
Up in the lobby, Weiss and Ruby were growing impatient, pacing back and forth along the floor keeping their 'new friends' from doing anything that they would regret. They knew that Blake and Nora would be grabbing the money soon, but the two of them really wanted to get out of there, sooner rather than later. Weiss eyed Cinder, making sure that she wouldn't do anything drastic. She wouldn't be surprised if something did happen, but her thoughts kept pushing her into hoping that she didn't have any tricks hidden up her sleeve.
"The final door is cracked!"
Blake's cry drew Weiss attention away from Cinder, the words she wanted to hear so badly at that moment had finally come true. "Good work then B, you and N grab the money and make your way back up to where we are. We'll grab someone to bring with us as a little bit of insurance just in case."
It was that one split second that caused everything to go wrong. With Ruby looking away from Cinder, no one noticed her pull the gun out from between her legs, a simple pistol that would go unnoticed at first glance. As Weiss started to turn around, she noticed Cinder stand up and aim the pistol right at her. Weiss' eyes grew wide once she realized what was going on, but by this point it was too late, she didn't have enough time to react to the shot that was about to be fired at her.
Time seemed to slow down for Weiss, the speed at which she moved crawling to a near halt. She knew what was going to happen, there was just no way around it. With how fast she was moving, she knew that there was just no chance of getting a shot off first when she had just gotten her gun aimed right at her, while she was still moving her barrel towards Cinder. Weiss saw how Cinder's finger started to press on the trigger, beginning to jump start all the mechanics that would cause a bullet to fly right towards her at deadly speeds.
'It was just like I thought, something was bound to go wrong,' Weiss thought to herself before a single gunshot rang throughout the air.
AN: Now that's what I call a cliffhanger. Much like the cliffhanger at the end of this most recent episode of RvB (I was practically screaming at the fact that they left it where they did). Now, there's only one thing left to do with this little story arc, and that is the getaway.
One thing I wanted to mention first, I finally hit my 300th review for this story, so that's awesome. Thank you guys for letting me know what you think of GTR every chance you guys get.
Now onto some important topics that I need to discuss. I'm going to be in Florida for a bit next weekend, and then I pretty much jump right back into another semester of College, so I don't know what is going to happen in terms of writing, but I'll be sure to keep you guys updated on if anything should come to light.
Lastly, there's a reference in here that I hope people will get, but would understand if you guys didn't. Let's see what you can come up with.
Thanks for reading, feel free to follow/fave/review if you wish, and I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter of GTR!