Through Hellfire and Back,

Part 9

Disclaimer: X-men Evolution is the property of Marvel and Kids WB. All the characters in this story are the property of Marvel. I've also got a brief set of notes at the bottem of the this chapter regarding season 3 and next update. Read the story, then read'em, okay?

Enjoy!

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All was quite at the Pittsfield bank, as Roger L. Johnston made his rounds. Nothing to do but walk the halls, middle of the floor, flashlight in hand and keep a look out for any trouble. Offhand, he marveled how he'd gotten such a cushy job.

A few evening hours a week guarding a place with a security system so tight he wondered if breaching it was even possible. Alarm beams, finger identification, security cameras, not to mention a few other handy surprises by the main vault itself; the Pittsfield bank may not have been the best ever built, but would-be thieves could be assured it was one tough nut to crack. Then again, considering the wealth that exchanged hands behind it's closed doors every day, it wasn't much of a surprise. Pittsfield may not have had many eager young yuppies or fashionable trendsetters, but more then one noble family admired it's face, and more then one considered it a worthy home for their family millions.

Temptation was practically written across the front steps.

Fortunately for R.L, very few burglars ever tried to collect.

Or did they? His thoughts were interrupted by a small red light, which suddenly fired up on his call beeper. One of the security cameras was off-line.

Not good.

However, none of the other alarms had gone off; malfunction then? Wonderful; he didn't know whether to feel annoyed at the awry camera or thankful that he was just given something else to do. For now he'd have to check out the problem himself, and, assuming it was an internal error, call a repairman first thing. It wouldn't be the first time, lousy short-circuits. That was one of the few problems he had when dealing with electronic devices. They often decided to shut down at times when he didn't want them to.

He started out slowly, when a shiver ran down R.L's spine.

Cold...why did he feel so cold? Was there a window open somewhere?

The security guard heightened his pace.

He ran right for the main vault, arriving just in time to see the north wall camera........ short-circuited, lens low. Perfect; now he'd have to call the repair man- a surly get-outta-my-face-or-else hacker who hated getting up at 2:00 AM for any sort of emergency, save if there was a problem wiring his paycheck. He rolled his eyes and yawned in anticipation.

R.L walked up to the camera for a better glimpse of the damage; pulling out his cell phone and preparing to calling Andy with the wonderful news.... when something else caught his eye.

He dropped the phone.

A hand; a single, slender hand, covered by a black glove, was reaching out of the vault.

The vault door wasn't open.

The hand soon became an arm.... then a shoulder, and a foot.... a leg..... a chest.... a head.... an entire body, clearly feminine in form, flowing through the intense steel alignment as though it didn't exist. The figure stepped past the alarm beams which went right through........ and didn't go off.

His eyebrows raised significantly.

The intruder turned, back to him, to pull something else through the door. Bags- two very large, very heavy looking duffel bags, which were clearly stuffed full to the brim. Didn't take a detective to figure out what was inside. The board of directors wasn't going to like this.

Hefting the sack over her shoulder, the intruder paid him a short glance. He was unable to register the eyes which shone through an elegant black mask. There was no visible air of fear around her; it seemed she was well prepared to simply walk away and leave the security guard to gap at her work.

Well, he was still gaping, and it took a tremendous amount of willpower to close his mouth. Shock was replaced by a sense of duty, even as R.L's hands fumbled at his side, desperately trying to get a grasp on the revolver he carried. He couldn't just let her leave, not with a sack filled with half the vault's contents! He held up his pistol, and cried out as loud as he dared.

"Hold it right there!"

Leveling his firearm directly at the intruders head, he couldn't help but sweat. The intruder ignored him, still holding the bags, and rather then stopping, started to walk right up to him.

"I mean it lady! I don't know what you're doing here, but halt!"

Ignored.

No choice; his aim slipped slightly from target's head to shoulder.

He fired.

Only to waste three bullets, which passed harmlessly through her. R.L's eyes really started to bulge. To her credit, his burglar smirked, going to far as to drop one of the bags and wave to him. After that, she picked up her luggage and fell...... straight through the floor, disappearing from sight.

As he watched her go, offhand the old security guard wondered what he should do.

Protocol stated he should call for backup; have the authorities come in, check the place out, and properly question him for any information he could give. Now, he wasn't certain that would do much good.

After all, who would ever believe that his bank had been robbed by a ghost?

*****

Authors notes

For starters, I just want to once again thank all the wonderful reviewers out there! Seriously guys, when I open up my mail and get a review alert lately, it just makes my day. Thanks!

Now, as for the story itself.....

Well, it's official; nothing in this story follows the regular continuity after the season 2 finale. In fact, if anything does parallel season three it's entirely coincidental- namely because I haven't been able to see a single ep yet! Worse, recently I have heard rumors that Lance and Kitty have split up. NOOOOOOOOOOOO! *pouts* Okay, okay, so it's not that big a shock; I suspected something like that might happen, particularly when they brought Colossus in. Too bad; I like the metal man enough, but he broke comic Kitty's poor heart- twice! Ahhh well, with X-evol who knows? Meantime, I guess for Lance/Kitty fans it's up to writers like us! Hope not to disappoint ;-)

Second notice: I'm afraid ya'll might be in for a bit of a wait next update. Nothing's set in stone, but I'm guessing another month at least before I'll have part 10+. Sorry, but there's not a whole lot I can do on that :-( If you want a full explanation you can check out http://www.roninfur.com/travel.html -otherwise, let's just say I've been *very* busy and I'm never quite certain these days when I can get my laptop online. For me, this update is enough this time around.

But, hey, look at it this way- if I can wait a year before catching X-evol Season 3, certainly ya'll can wait another month or so for the next few chapters ne?

Ciao!