Right, the second chapter ... I'm not quite sure when this takes place, but it's after book #5, and it's before Marco and his father moves into the Hork-Bajir valley. And I'd love some reviews ...
***
"All right, and no messing around!" he practically squealed, still pointing at us poor, innocent victims with the gun.
We were standing up against a wall, hands raised. Normally, I wound have been just as terrified as the other customers in the bank. They were shaking, offering to write the robber a big fat check if they'd let him go, offering to get him a juicy government job, offering to be his lawyer ... One of the guys even offered his WIFE to get out of there. Some people are really insane.
But I wasn't as afraid as these. I've seen better reasons to be afraid, I've faced bigger danger and felt more fear. This was nothing to me. I'd figured I couldn't morph in front of these people, so I couldn't be Marco who Saves the Day. I didn't want to blow my cover, after all.
Which made the whole situation rather silly through my eyes. There I was, a kid with a power to become any animal possible, a kid who's knocked countless of the Hork-Bajir to the floor, who's faught Visser Three in person, standing with my hands up against the wall like some normal victim. I had to giggle.
"Why are you laughing, kid?!" yelled the robber. "This is serious!"
"Oh, sorry," I said. "I know, I know. It's serious. I'll stop laughing." I tried, but it was really difficult. I know, he could shoot me at any moment, but I just didn't feel any fear. I'd lived through worse. And besides, I was missing my potential date - no reason for me to behave like a slave for this robber guy, he could be ruining my meeting with Polly and her cool friends.
"Good!" the robber cried. "Or you'll be in trouble!"
"Yeah yeah, I know," I whined. This was just great. Standing up against a wall with my hands raised? I hadn't done that for years. The only time I could recall doing exactly that had been as a kid when I'd played thief and robber with Jake, and he'd caught me and demanded I raised my hands and marched indoors in order to be tied to a chair.
So now, I couldn't help myself but laughing again, just for remembering that moment we were just cute, young boys playing games in Jake's back yard.
The robber stared at me.
"What?" I said, raising my eyebrows.
"You laughed again!" he yelled.
"Sorry," I grinned, trying to keep cool and stop laughing.
"What are you doing, kid?!" the guy next to me in the fancy suit whispered. "You're gonna get us all killed!"
"Nah, relax, it takes more than a hostage situation to kill a man," I whispered back. "I know this. I've seen the shows, I've had the necessarily experience. Trust me."
The guy just rolled his eyes and stared up into the ceiling as if he was praying for his life.
The robber had backed towards the bank door, still pointing the gun towards us. Obviously, he was trying to bargain with the police. "NO!" I heard him yelling. "I will not send one out!"
"We need to know if the hostages are okay," I heard a police man call from outside. "We need proof that they are in there. Bring out a bank employee or a customer to show you have hostages."
"There are no bank employees, they all took off through the back door," the man next to me whispered. "Maybe he'll have to send one of us out there. As proof we're here, alive and well. Maybe he'll let one of us go!"
"Don't count on it," I grinned, taking my hands down while the robber was yelling out through the bank door, minding his own business.
"Fine!" I heard him finish to the police, as he turned back towards us. "Hey!" he yelled at me. "Get your hands back up, kid! D'you think I'm kidding? I'll shoot you!" He was shaking now, even more than the guy next too me, as if it was the ROBBER who was held at gun point.
"Yeah, yeah," I said, raising my hands again.
"All right," the robber said, approaching us. "They want some proof. So I'm gonna let one of you go. Okay? One of you can go out there, I don't need four hostages."
"Oh, pick me, sir!" the guy next to me pleaded. "I have a very bad heart! If you keep me here any longer, I'm sure to die anyway! I'll have a heart attack! I'll die of fear, please use me as proof!"
"The woman," the robber said.
"Tough luck," I whispered to the guy.
"Shut up, you're gonna get us killed."
The robber took the woman with him outside. Meanwhile, I started looking around the bank. Had the bank employees gone out a back door? It was probably inside the workers' restricted areas or something, so it would be difficult for me to just run off there without the robber noticing - he was still standing yelling through the door, pushing the woman outside. He probably wouldn't go far enough out for us to make a runner.
But I seized the opportunity to get a bit more comfortable.
I lowered my arms and took a seat at the nearest chair. It felt good to sit, after wearing out my arms up against that wall. "Aaah," I said pleased.
"Will you get over here?!" the man I'd been next to whined. "We're gonna die!"
"Listen to him, kid, this is dangerous," the other guy said, one that seemed a bit more in control.
"Hey, I've lived through worse," I said. "This robber's ruining my potential date, the least thing I can demand is a bit of comfort."
At that moment the robber returned to us after having freed the woman. Naturally, his eyes twitched when he saw me sitting comfortably in a chair. "What?!" he squealed, the arm with the gun shaking and apparently dripping with sweat. "What do you think you're doing? I'll shoot you!"
"You wouldn't shoot a kid with no mother?" I said.
"Oh, wouldn't I?" he replied, staring nervously at me, as though he was hesitating.
"What's your name, sonny?" I said to him, smiling.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he screamed. "I'm holding a gun at you, kid! I'll kill you! You'll die! This is a real gun, and you'll die!" It sounded as though he was convincing himself, not me. Well, if it WAS me, he did a pretty bad job.
"That's a funny name," I said, grinning.
He hesitated again. "Uh ... Shut up! You're dead!"
"No, no," I said, basically treating him as a mental patient. He was really kind of funny, in a scary dangerous sort of way. "I'm alive. Can't you tell?"
"Shut up! I know what you're trying to do," he whispered, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "You're trying to distract me. You've probably been watching NYPD Blue or Pacific Blue or something like that, and now you think you can use your psycho-methods on me. Well, it won't work."
"Fine, it won't work," I said, relaxing in the chair. "That's okay. I just asked for your name. What's your name, Mr. Robber?"
He was shaking even more by now, but he still held me at gun point. "My name? My name is GENE, God damnit! Now get up against that wall!"
I had to laugh again. GENE? A tough bank robber with a gun named GENE? That had to be a joke. No cool bank robber is called Gene. It's a violation to the rules of the criminals. Gene is not a cool name, ergo no bank robber or gangster can use that as a professional name.
"GENE?" I repeated, ignoring his demand. "Your name is GENE? Who names their son Gene? And what son named Gene turns out as a bank robber? You should be a real estate agent or something, not a robber! Let me tell you something, if a guy named GENE decides to become a robber, he changes his name, okay? Or at least uses some nickname. What's your full name?"
"Gene Richard Bullet," he said, shaking, at now his eyes were twitching like crazy. "Get! Up! Against! The wall!"
"Now this is interesting," I said, scratching my ear. "Your name is Gene Bullet. In a bank robbery that YOU commit, you introduce yourself as GENE when someone asks you what your name is. And yet, your last name is BULLET. Why don't you just introduce yourself as Bullet? 'My name is Bullet the Bank Robber.' That is so much cooler, and so much more realistic."
Gene the Bank Robber stared at me.
I think I may have insulted him.
***
Right, things are happening. Don't know how this chapter actually turned out, but we'll see soon enough. Please review, I'd appreciate it ...
***
"All right, and no messing around!" he practically squealed, still pointing at us poor, innocent victims with the gun.
We were standing up against a wall, hands raised. Normally, I wound have been just as terrified as the other customers in the bank. They were shaking, offering to write the robber a big fat check if they'd let him go, offering to get him a juicy government job, offering to be his lawyer ... One of the guys even offered his WIFE to get out of there. Some people are really insane.
But I wasn't as afraid as these. I've seen better reasons to be afraid, I've faced bigger danger and felt more fear. This was nothing to me. I'd figured I couldn't morph in front of these people, so I couldn't be Marco who Saves the Day. I didn't want to blow my cover, after all.
Which made the whole situation rather silly through my eyes. There I was, a kid with a power to become any animal possible, a kid who's knocked countless of the Hork-Bajir to the floor, who's faught Visser Three in person, standing with my hands up against the wall like some normal victim. I had to giggle.
"Why are you laughing, kid?!" yelled the robber. "This is serious!"
"Oh, sorry," I said. "I know, I know. It's serious. I'll stop laughing." I tried, but it was really difficult. I know, he could shoot me at any moment, but I just didn't feel any fear. I'd lived through worse. And besides, I was missing my potential date - no reason for me to behave like a slave for this robber guy, he could be ruining my meeting with Polly and her cool friends.
"Good!" the robber cried. "Or you'll be in trouble!"
"Yeah yeah, I know," I whined. This was just great. Standing up against a wall with my hands raised? I hadn't done that for years. The only time I could recall doing exactly that had been as a kid when I'd played thief and robber with Jake, and he'd caught me and demanded I raised my hands and marched indoors in order to be tied to a chair.
So now, I couldn't help myself but laughing again, just for remembering that moment we were just cute, young boys playing games in Jake's back yard.
The robber stared at me.
"What?" I said, raising my eyebrows.
"You laughed again!" he yelled.
"Sorry," I grinned, trying to keep cool and stop laughing.
"What are you doing, kid?!" the guy next to me in the fancy suit whispered. "You're gonna get us all killed!"
"Nah, relax, it takes more than a hostage situation to kill a man," I whispered back. "I know this. I've seen the shows, I've had the necessarily experience. Trust me."
The guy just rolled his eyes and stared up into the ceiling as if he was praying for his life.
The robber had backed towards the bank door, still pointing the gun towards us. Obviously, he was trying to bargain with the police. "NO!" I heard him yelling. "I will not send one out!"
"We need to know if the hostages are okay," I heard a police man call from outside. "We need proof that they are in there. Bring out a bank employee or a customer to show you have hostages."
"There are no bank employees, they all took off through the back door," the man next to me whispered. "Maybe he'll have to send one of us out there. As proof we're here, alive and well. Maybe he'll let one of us go!"
"Don't count on it," I grinned, taking my hands down while the robber was yelling out through the bank door, minding his own business.
"Fine!" I heard him finish to the police, as he turned back towards us. "Hey!" he yelled at me. "Get your hands back up, kid! D'you think I'm kidding? I'll shoot you!" He was shaking now, even more than the guy next too me, as if it was the ROBBER who was held at gun point.
"Yeah, yeah," I said, raising my hands again.
"All right," the robber said, approaching us. "They want some proof. So I'm gonna let one of you go. Okay? One of you can go out there, I don't need four hostages."
"Oh, pick me, sir!" the guy next to me pleaded. "I have a very bad heart! If you keep me here any longer, I'm sure to die anyway! I'll have a heart attack! I'll die of fear, please use me as proof!"
"The woman," the robber said.
"Tough luck," I whispered to the guy.
"Shut up, you're gonna get us killed."
The robber took the woman with him outside. Meanwhile, I started looking around the bank. Had the bank employees gone out a back door? It was probably inside the workers' restricted areas or something, so it would be difficult for me to just run off there without the robber noticing - he was still standing yelling through the door, pushing the woman outside. He probably wouldn't go far enough out for us to make a runner.
But I seized the opportunity to get a bit more comfortable.
I lowered my arms and took a seat at the nearest chair. It felt good to sit, after wearing out my arms up against that wall. "Aaah," I said pleased.
"Will you get over here?!" the man I'd been next to whined. "We're gonna die!"
"Listen to him, kid, this is dangerous," the other guy said, one that seemed a bit more in control.
"Hey, I've lived through worse," I said. "This robber's ruining my potential date, the least thing I can demand is a bit of comfort."
At that moment the robber returned to us after having freed the woman. Naturally, his eyes twitched when he saw me sitting comfortably in a chair. "What?!" he squealed, the arm with the gun shaking and apparently dripping with sweat. "What do you think you're doing? I'll shoot you!"
"You wouldn't shoot a kid with no mother?" I said.
"Oh, wouldn't I?" he replied, staring nervously at me, as though he was hesitating.
"What's your name, sonny?" I said to him, smiling.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he screamed. "I'm holding a gun at you, kid! I'll kill you! You'll die! This is a real gun, and you'll die!" It sounded as though he was convincing himself, not me. Well, if it WAS me, he did a pretty bad job.
"That's a funny name," I said, grinning.
He hesitated again. "Uh ... Shut up! You're dead!"
"No, no," I said, basically treating him as a mental patient. He was really kind of funny, in a scary dangerous sort of way. "I'm alive. Can't you tell?"
"Shut up! I know what you're trying to do," he whispered, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "You're trying to distract me. You've probably been watching NYPD Blue or Pacific Blue or something like that, and now you think you can use your psycho-methods on me. Well, it won't work."
"Fine, it won't work," I said, relaxing in the chair. "That's okay. I just asked for your name. What's your name, Mr. Robber?"
He was shaking even more by now, but he still held me at gun point. "My name? My name is GENE, God damnit! Now get up against that wall!"
I had to laugh again. GENE? A tough bank robber with a gun named GENE? That had to be a joke. No cool bank robber is called Gene. It's a violation to the rules of the criminals. Gene is not a cool name, ergo no bank robber or gangster can use that as a professional name.
"GENE?" I repeated, ignoring his demand. "Your name is GENE? Who names their son Gene? And what son named Gene turns out as a bank robber? You should be a real estate agent or something, not a robber! Let me tell you something, if a guy named GENE decides to become a robber, he changes his name, okay? Or at least uses some nickname. What's your full name?"
"Gene Richard Bullet," he said, shaking, at now his eyes were twitching like crazy. "Get! Up! Against! The wall!"
"Now this is interesting," I said, scratching my ear. "Your name is Gene Bullet. In a bank robbery that YOU commit, you introduce yourself as GENE when someone asks you what your name is. And yet, your last name is BULLET. Why don't you just introduce yourself as Bullet? 'My name is Bullet the Bank Robber.' That is so much cooler, and so much more realistic."
Gene the Bank Robber stared at me.
I think I may have insulted him.
***
Right, things are happening. Don't know how this chapter actually turned out, but we'll see soon enough. Please review, I'd appreciate it ...