A monumental occasion coming up hopefully! This story may be the one that tops 30 reviews! I'm so excited! I know I had another story that hit 29, which is just like gettin' tackled on the 1 yard line, but I got big hopes for this one! It could possibly set the bar for future stories. Speaking of future…

Raya: I'm desperately tryin' to think of a way to work in something unusual while maintaining some sort of story arc. I'ma get it right, though.

chyp: Time travel sounds like a good idea. Let me think a little on it; I have a good idea about that.

Quillsandbolts: I read and reread your review novel and now that I have 5 stories under my proverbial belt, I feel like anything's possible! So, be on the lookout!

"I don't see them," James said as he, Matthew, and John arrived at Fort Knox. "You think we missed them again?"

"It's a possibility," Matthew said, pointing to a sign. "It says the next tour doesn't start until later this afternoon."

"But this tour just ended," James said, "so they can't have gone far. Where could they be now?"

"Probably in an alley," John said. "You have to think like a criminal does. Alleys are ideal for hiding out."

"We know," Matthew said, recalling in his head all of the alleys he and his brothers had visited since becoming witches. "Works with all the demons we've fought."

"I think we passed an alley on the way here," James said. "If we run, we might catch them."

"I have a quicker way," John said. "This time, just try not to think about it."

"Nice work," Bryan said to Wesley as he and Rich loaded the last of the bags of gold into the trunk of the car.

"Thanks," Wesley said, "now can I go? I've done all of this for y'all and I already said that I won't tell anybody."

"You're starting to piss me off," Rich said. "And I owe you for a little incident we had earlier."

"Take it easy," Mike said. "We don't want to get rid of him just yet."

"Yes, you do," came James' voice. He, Matthew, and John were standing thirty feet away from them.

"Who are you?" Bryan asked. "How did you get here?"

"That's the guy I saw in the garage!" Rich yelled, pointing at James. He grabbed Wesley by the neck and shoved his gun into Wesley's mouth. "I told you I wasn't making stuff up!"

"Wait a minute," Matthew said.

"Whoever you are," Rich shouted, "stay back! I'll shatter his skull if you come any closer!"

"You don't want to add murder to your résumé, do you?" John asked. "Put the gun down. We're not here to start any trouble."

"Don't mess with me!" Rich yelled. He held Wesley's hands behind his back. "Now, get out of here and leave us alone. I got a bomb in your place. You don't want your neighbors to get hurt, do you?"

"He's right," Bryan said. "I don't think you know who you're dealing with, here."

"You don't know who you're dealing with," James replied.

"That's it!" Bryan exclaimed, turning to Mike. "Hit the detonator!"

Mike pulled the small remote detonator from his jacket pocket and pressed the button that would set off the bomb in Wesley and Matthew's dorm room. Both Matthew and James pretended to be devastated, but quickly followed that up with a smile. Bryan and Mike were confused at their reaction, while Rich was still focusing all his attention on Wesley.

"You think a bomb could stop us?" Matthew asked.

"Finding it almost did," James muttered to Matthew.

"Not now!" Matthew replied angrily.

"Enough!" Rich shouted, cocking the trigger of his gun. "I'm giving you three seconds to get out of here."

Nobody moved.

"One…two……three!"

What happened next went by so quickly that no one could really make any sense of it. The moment Rich said 'three,' it set off a chain of events that seemed to happen in slow motion. Both Bryan and Mike pulled out guns at that moment. James waved his hand and Mike was launched high into the air. Matthew gestured and Bryan's gun became transparent, falling harmlessly to the ground. Before anything else happened, Rich pulled the trigger. James and Matthew both exchanged horrified expressions; they both knew that they had no time to react.

Wesley, on the verge of fainting, disappeared from the scene in a sea of blue lights as Rich's bullet passed through them. The bullet, missing Wesley, flew straight towards John, who had only been watching the previous events. At the last minute, he shot his hand forth and the bullet disappeared in a small shower of lights, the same lights that John appeared and disappeared in, reappearing in his hand. James quickly used his power to pull Rich's gun away from him. Wesley appeared in the same spot, oblivious to anything that had happened.

"What the hell was that?" Matthew asked James.

"I don't know," James said. "Hold on, Wesley."

"Jimmy, no!" Wesley yelled, but it was too late.

James waved his arm again and both Rich and Wesley were cast into the air, landing hard on the roof of Bryan's car. The impact caused the front windshield to crack slightly. Mike had recovered and took aim at James, but Matthew grabbed James just before the bulled hit. James became transparent and the bullet passed through him, leaving Mike bewildered. Matthew ran to fend him off, but Bryan had found his gun and shot it, hitting Matthew in the shoulder. James was too shaken up to react; Bryan fired again and James fell to the ground, hit in the stomach.

He turned to Wesley, who was pinned to the roof of the car by Rich's body. Bryan was about to shoot for the third time, but John ran and tackled him, knocking him to the ground. Wesley managed to slide out from under Rich, who had taken most of the impact, and saw his brothers on the ground, bleeding. Rich had started to stir and grunted, getting Wesley's attention. Wesley stepped back, too frightened to take action. Both Rich and Mike advanced on him, until they had him backed up against a wall.

"Freeze them!" John yelled as he tried to keep Bryan occupied. Bryan was younger, bigger, and stronger than John, though, and soon pushed him off, throwing him into the side of the car. John hit the door of the car with his head, knocking him out cold.

Oh God! They've been shot!