Yes, I know it's been a while since I last updated, and I apologize. Some things came up, like Christmas and Tales of Symphonia. But hopefully you can forgive me as you go on to read this huge update I've given you guys. This chapter is pretty long; in fact, the longest chapter in my original draft was 19 pages long and that was lot farther into the story than we are right now. This chapter you're about to read is 17 pages. And it would have been longer if I hadn't stopped myself from saving some things for the next chapter. Also, a note to those of you who had read the original: this is the first chapter that actaully includes brand-new content, so I suggest you read it. Anyways, I'm babbling, so get to reading!

Blade of Destiny

Chapter 5: The Heist

"Do all of you understand?" Roxanne questioned as she sat down at the head of the conference table. The Team Ultima agents that occupied the other seats nodded, bringing a smile to her face. "Good. You leave in two days. Do not bring any weapons with you; the League Special Forces building can detect any kind of weapon within a twenty foot radius of it. Do not take your time in retrieving this item. Get in, grab it, and get out." She nodded towards the hulking figure that stood in the back of the room, leaning against a nearby wall.

"As added insurance, Doctor Leto has ordered that Director Steadman accompany you. His presence should more than make up for the lack of weapons." The massive man stepped forward from the wall into the light that hung above the conference table, his very steps seeming to sink into the concrete floor. His body was a gargantuan mass of muscles, arms thick as tree trunks; his chest seemed like it was stretched to its limit and was about to burst. Atop a rugged, battle hardened face sat cropped brown hair, the strands ending in black highlights. A long scar adorned his right cheek, obviously a souvenir from battles past. He looked like he could take on a Machamp and defeat it without breaking a sweat.

"Explain to me again why I have to go." Roxanne rolled her eyes.

"Because the Doctor wants to make sure that this sword gets back to us." Steadman scoffed.

"Pfft. Why couldn't James or Jessie go? They're just as qualified as I am," he replied snidely.

"Because Jessie or James haven't been genetically altered and are able to punch through a concrete wall with minimal effort, that's why. Now if you have any objections, I suggest you shut your fucking mouth and get over them," Roxanne snapped back.

Steadman seemed taken aback for a second at Roxanne's outburst; he obviously wasn't used to his authority being challenged. "Who the hell do you think you're talking to? I am co-Director of this base and I will not be chastised in my own goddamn facility!" Steadman roared, his very voice almost causing the table to shake.

"And I work directly for the Board, which means that I have a higher authority than you. In other words, while I am present at this base, I am in charge, not you. If you don't like it, take it to the Board directly. You are all dismissed."

Steadman growled quietly as the other agents got up and quickly filed out of the conference room. "I said you were dismissed, Director Steadman," she said coldly, narrowing her eyes at the hulk of a man. Clenching his fist tightly, he turned and left the room, slamming the door with such force that the walls adjacent to them cracked. She rolled her eyes again.

"Idiot."

"So what's the plan?" Ritchie chimed in as he took another chip out the bag next to him and munched on it loudly. The group had quickly left the city of Cerulean and rendezvoused at the residence of Ritchie and Duplica. Now they were all spread out throughout the living room and the adjacent kitchen, with Pikachu and Sparky in a corner, playing cards. Max and May had already left Ash's house; it would not be long before the LSF would figure out where he lived and raided the place.

Max tapped a few keys on his computer and sighed. "Well, not much, but this is what I come up with in such short notice." He turned his computer screen around to the others and went on explaining. "I was only able to hack into the security cameras for fifteen minutes before the system realized I was an intruder and locked me out completely. Their security measures are insane; it took me two and half hours just to get that far."

"Come on Max, get on with it already," Ash said impatiently as Ritchie tossed him a soda from the fridge.

"Whatever. Anyway, I couldn't look into the records of the LSF and see where they had placed the sword, so I had to go with an educated guess." The screen on the computer lit up, revealing a video that was obviously recorded from a video camera. The camera tracked from side to side, showing a long hallway filled with four armed guards and a large steel door at the end of it.

"Now, while I'm only taking a wild stab in the dark here, I would say it's in that vault. This is obviously where the LSF stores all of its most valuable items at, so I think it's safe to say that the sword's in there. The only problem now is actually getting to it."

Duplica sat up from her seat on the couch and brushed a few stray strands of hair out of her eyes. "So how big is this problem?" Max exhaled deeply and slumped into his chair.

"Humongous. You see, this whole area right here actually runs on a separate power grid; so if for some reason all of the power in the building goes out, this hallway will be still be completely protected by human personnel. Not only that, but the system can actually detect when there's a power outage in the rest of the building and locks down the entire hallway so no one can get in or out while the rest of the building is defenseless." He tapped a few buttons on the computer and revealed a large 3-D model of the building.

"Now, the only way we can hope of even getting in the hallway is if we place someone right next to the hallway at the moment that we shut the power to the hallway and the entire building at the same time. The power grid for the building is located in the lobby, inside a locked room that is guarded. Now I have found a way around it. Pikachu," he ordered while pointing a finger at the yellow rodent in the corner, "you're gonna have to crawl through the ventilation ducts into this room. At the same time, Sparky is going to be in the ducts as well, crawling down the basement where the other power grid is.

Now Sparky, the basement is going to have guards in it as well, so you're on your own in making it past them to get to the power grid. Not only that but you have a double job. The building has backup generators that restore the power in five minutes. You have to short out the power grid and find some way to stop those generators from coming back on, got it?" Sparky nodded and chirped in agreement. "May and Duplica, both the room Pikachu has to go into and the basement have security cameras that are monitored by two security guards in the lobby. You two will have to distract them, and keep their eyes off of those screens, understand?"

Duplica smirked. "Oh don't worry, it shouldn't be too hard to distract them."

Max nodded. "Good. Now Ash and Ritchie are gonna have to find some way into the building and to the tenth floor, where the hallway is. When the power goes out, get in there and find some way into that vault. Brock will be waiting with me in a close area where you will pass the sword on to him. After that, everyone get the hell out of the building before anyone can catch on to what just happened."

Ritchie smiled. "Cool, I have the perfect way to get us inside the building. So when are we going to do this?"

"Two days. It's a Saturday, so the number of security personnel should be lower than normal. Of course, this is just another educated guess." Max leaned back and rubbed his temples before turning to Ash. "Ash, do you really think this thing is worth all this trouble? I mean, I've still been searching for info on just what kind of sword this thing is, and I can't find a damn thing."

"Well," Ash said as he finished his soda and tossed it in a nearby trash can, "It's obviously important enough for somebody to try and kill us over, that's for sure. I want to see just what's so special about this thing first-hand. Besides, it is worth sixty million bucks. We can always sell it. When we split it, we'll each get ten million apiece. Now does that sound like it's worth it?"

Ritchie chuckled. "It sure as hell sounds worth it to me."

The sunlight streamed in through his open window and fell on his desk. The small room was littered with awards and medals depicting his exemplary service in law enforcement, a fact he was very proud of. The bright fell on an older man who sat his large leather chair, showing the face of a person who had been wizened by his experiences in life. His age and appearance betrayed his true strength and speed, and he could easily take a man half his age in a fight. He was Samuel Azusa, chief of the League Special Forces; and right now, he was very, very pissed off.

Sighing deeply, he ran a hand through his slightly graying black hair and looked at three of his top agents: Misty Waterflower, Gary Oak and Kevin Jenkins. Misty and Gary had joined at about the same time and scored extremely high in combat situations and the written exam. They skyrocketed through the LSF swiftly and secured themselves a 98 success rate in their assignments. While they were pretty good by themselves, they were almost unstoppable as a team, and were two of the key reasons why Team Rocket and its affiliates were finally taken down five years earlier.

Jenkins was a relatively fresh recruit who had risen through the ranks very quickly, eventually securing himself a spot in the one of the highest ranks in the LSF, the Delta Agent, two ranks below Gary and Misty, who held the title Alpha agent; the LSF's second highest level of personnel. Ironically, it was their high skill level that only served to infuriate Chief Azusa even more.

"Now, I'm going to ask this one time, and one time only. I want a straight answer, none of this beating around the bush bullshit, understand?" The three agents who sat in front of him shook their head sheepishly. Instantly, he shot forward and slammed his fist onto the table, causing the random objects sitting atop it to jump and clatter loudly to the floor. "How in the hell do two men escape from our custody in a hospital that was filled with CPD and you three!" he bellowed, his voice seeming to make the walls themselves shudder.

"Not only that, but someone actually managed to get inside and break them out! You three are in the top tier of this agency; only Agents Sketchit and Fields are in the same league as you, and yet two men who were in a goddamn car crash managed to escape with their buddy who broke in!"

"Actually, those two had little to no injuries at all," Jenkins chimed in.

"Oh really!" Azusa exclaimed as he picked up the phone receiver. "Well, let me just dial up CNN and let them know about this breaking news! I ALREADY KNEW THAT SHIT, JENKINS!" he yelled as he hurled the phone at the wall behind them, breaking it on impact. "Unlike you three, I'm actually on top of what I need to know! Since you three obviously can't do this on your own, I've assigned Sketchit and Fields to your case. Get the hell out of my sight," he snapped angrily at them.

"Well, if it helps Chief, we do know who they are," Misty said quietly.

"Well, thank you Misty; now I can just waltz on down to their house and beg them to come into our custody! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE AND GO FIND THEM, NOW!" he hollered as the three left through the door. He glanced at his desk for a moment and walked over to the door, sticking his head out into the hallway.

"Sarah! Bring me a new phone!"

The two small Pikachus snored loudly on the couch as Ash passed them by on his way to the kitchen. He chuckled as he tossed a glance in the direction of the two mice; both of them had gotten him and Ritchie both of some tough jams at times when it seemed like there was no hope of getting away. Pulling open the refrigerator, he grabbed a carton of orange juice and sat it on the counter. "Now, where in the hell does Ritchie keep the glasses again?" he asked himself aloud as he searched through the cupboard for something to pour his drink in.

"They're in the cabinet on the far right," a soft voice said behind him, slightly startling him and causing to whirl around. Duplica stood there, clad in a silk purple nightgown, smiling at him brightly. "He moved them again. He never can keep anything in the same place for very long."

"Jesus, Duplica; you scared the hell out of me," he replied as he found the glasses and poured himself a drink. "What are you doing up this late anyway? It's almost three in the morning." She shrugged and sat next to a nearby table, flipping her hair out of her eyes.

"I never am able to sleep around this time. I usually just stay up and watch TV till I fall asleep, but now I can actually talk to somebody for once. It gets kinda boring in this huge house when I'm all by myself."

Ash swirled his drink around lightly and leaned up against the counter. "I've been meaning to ask you about that," he said before pausing and taking a sip from his juice, "when did you and Ritchie...?"

Duplica chuckled and shook her head. "Nah, it's not like that. I'm just staying here for a little while, that's all. I've got my eyes on somebody else right now." Ash raised his eyebrow and looked from his glass with a smirk.

"Oh really? Would it be anybody I know?" Duplica giggled and twirled her hair around her finger.

"Ah, I'll tell you later. But what about you, Mr. Super Thief? The man who escaped from the League Special Forces not once, but twice! And with barely a scratch on him!" she said with a chuckle.

"Yeah well, I'm just extremely lucky, that's all. I'm surprised I didn't escape with a bullet lodged in my ass," he joked, causing them both to laugh quietly before the room went silent.

"Let me ask you something, Ash," she said, finally breaking the silence.

"Shoot."

"Did you ever think that you would end up being a thief when you were a kid? Could you see yourself going down that road when you were younger?" Ash chuckled to himself quietly.

"Nope," he answered while shaking his head, "I never would have seen myself in this position. When I was a kid, I could see my destiny as the greatest pokemon master who ever lived!" he said with mock enthusiasm, shaking his fist in the air. "Me and Pikachu were unbeatable, and nobody was gonna stop us from accomplishing our goal!" He turned on the faucet and rinsed out his glass before setting it in the sink.

"It's funny how when you shoot for the stars as a kid, only to realize how high they actually are when you get older. But I guess that's the pleasure and torture of a dream; that it's only a fantasy, something you aspire to but never actually reach. I suppose this is my destiny, and all I can do is just sit back and enjoy the ride."

Duplica grinned at him as she rose from her chair. "Well, listen to you, Mr. Plato. I never would have taken you for the philosophizing type," she said, walking up to him and ruffling his black hair. "Good night kiddo," she said as she pecked him on the cheek and left out of the kitchen quietly.

Ash stood there for a moment, holding his cheek before he finally chuckled and reached for the light switch, only to be met with a slight sting of electricity. He jerked his hand back for a moment before cautiously placing it near the light switch again. "Damn static electricity," he said to himself as he clicked the light, leaving the kitchen in darkness.

"God, I'm bored."

Travis turned to his partner, who was slouching in his chair, staring at the TV screens in front of him with a tired look on his face. "What's your problem now?" His colleague rolled his eyes and smacked a random screen with his hand.

"That's the damn problem. Always staring at this damn screen, day in and day out. Never anything different, just the same monotonous crap over and over," he lamented loudly. The lobby around them carried his voice, making it echo a bit in the entrance of the huge League Special Forces building. "I don't even know why they've even hired us. Nobody would ever be stupid enough to try and do anything to this building. This is the freaking Special Forces!"

Travis crossed his arms and tossed a look at his partner. "Nate, come on, man. We go through this almost every week. You start whining about how boring it is around here, and then I tell you shut up and just be glad they're paying us to sit on our asses and do nothing. Then we argue, and we don't talk to each other for the rest of the day."

"But seriously, who would even try something in this building? This place is like a damn fortress; a war could break out in that street right there, and all we have to do is close the door and make a call and we would be completely safe. And even if by some kind of a miracle that they got in, this is the League Special Forces! They'd be mowed down within a matter of minutes!"

Travis shook his head and turned back to the large revolving doors that comprised the entrance to the building as a group of people approached the desk. "Yeah, can I help you guys?" he inquired when they were in earshot. All of them were dressed in white work outfits, but one guy drastically stood from the rest.

The guy was huge; he looked like he could break a guy in half as a warm-up. This guy must have blessed his outfit to keep from ripping apart, Travis thought to himself as one of the men handed over a work order. "Cleaning crew. We were called in for today," he explained as Nate flipped open a small notebook and ran his finger down the list.

"Yeah, we got 'em down right here. Damn, you guys came here exactly on time. It's nice to see that some workmanship isn't dead," Nate commented as he handed back the work order to them.

"We don't leave until the job is done completely. We make sure of that," the big guy commented as he snapped his fingers and pointed towards the doors. "Go get the supplies. I don't want to be here all day." Two of the other nodded and quickly turned to leave, drawing a whistle from Nate.

"Well, elevators back there. Don't forget to come and sign out when you're finished." The big guy nodded and headed towards the large steel doors that housed the elevators as the other two reappeared pushing a cart filled with cleaning supplies past the desk.

Travis tossed a glance at them one more as the doors closed and shook his head. "Jesus, that guy looks like a freaking monster," he commented.

"No kidding. I bet if you cut him, he'll bleed steroids." Travis chuckled loudly before sighing and turning his attention back to the monitors in front of him. He sighed and leaned back in his seat. Nate was right, even thought he hated to admit it; this was boring. But like he had said, there weren't too many jobs that paid you to sit there and do practically nothing all day. But still, he wished he had brought a Game Boy, or at least a deck of cards with him to help pass the time.

After staring at the monitors and the random people passing in and out of the lobby, he finally turned to Nate and tapped his wrist. "What time is it, man?" Nate pulled back his shirt sleeve and glanced at his watch before sighing and turning back to him.

"It's eleven thirty." Travis groaned and slumped into his seat.

"God, it's still that early? I was getting my mouth ready for some lunch, too. What the hell?" he said as two more men approached clad in blue work outfits. "Uh, can we help you?"

"We're the cleaning crew." Travis raised an eyebrow. "Uh, we've already got a cleaning crew here. They came in about half an hour ago," he said, drawing a surprised look from the taller one with black hair. The two of them exchanged glances for a second before the brown-haired one turned back to them.

"Well, look at this place, buddy. Do you really think that one crew will be able to clean this gigantic building in a day? Or did you guys want a half-assed cleaned building, cause we can do that too, no problem." he quipped.

Nate flipped open the notebook and skimmed its contents. "I'm not seeing a second cleaning crew scheduled here today. Do you guys have a work order? That should clear everything up." The black haired one patted himself down, before slapping his companion in the shoulder.

"Where'd you put the work order?" The other one shrugged, and pointed at him.

"I thought you had it. Max told me he gave it to you. I thought everything was cool," he snapped back angrily. The black haired one felt through all of his pockets and threw his hands up in the air.

"He didn't give me any work order. He told me you had it. Is there any way you can let us up there without a work order? I need this job man; I'm not doing to well right now and I've got kids to feed, man. Cut us some slack here." Travis shook his head.

"Sorry buddy, we can't let you up there without a previous appointment or proof of your business being here. LSF protocol," he explained shrugging slightly.

"You guys can go on through," Nate said suddenly, causing Travis to jerk his head in his colleague's direction.

"What the hell are you talking about? Are you trying to get us fired or something!" Travis hissed.

"What were just talking about? What can these guys do? This is the League Special Forces headquarters; you'd have to be stupid, insane, or both to try something in this place. I say we let them through." Travis thought for a moment before cursing under his breath and turning back to the other two.

"Fine, go on through. But the next time you guys come here, bring a damn work order. I won't be losing my job over you guys," he said, drawing a smile from the other two. "Elevator's behind us."

The two nodded and left for a moment, only to return with another cart filled with cleaning supplies. The two nodded and smiled as they passed the desk and headed back towards the elevators behind them. Travis grunted and turned back around. "This better not come back to bite me in the ass, Nate, or I will blame everything on you."

Nate rolled his eyes. "How's that different from any other time?"

Its nose crinkled as it paused for a moment, trying to stave on an incoming sneeze. The dust hung in the air of the ventilation shafts like a fog; and it didn't help that Sparky was allergic to it. "Pika!" its companion said impatiently behind it, causing Sparky to toss an annoyed glance at it.

"Ka chu, pika chupi!" it hissed back at the small yellow mouse behind it. If there was a problem Pikachu had, it was the fact that it was way always way impatient, just like its owner, Ash. Pikachu grumbled under its breath quietly as the two of them made their way through the maze of air shafts in the huge building. The dust was unbearable; Sparky's eyes were tearing up and turning red, and every few seconds he had to fight off yet another sneeze.

Sparky scratched its ear, trying to get rid of the annoying earpiece that was lodged in its ear canal by Max. "Chuka!" it called out to its partner behind it, "Kapi pi, chupi ka?" Pikachu shrugged, drawing a sigh from Sparky. A four way intersection sat in front of him, and he had no clue which way to go.

"How's it going in there, Sparky?" Max chimed in its ear, startling it. "Did you come to the intersection yet?"

"Pika!"

"Uhh, I'm gonna take that as a yes. Ok, once you get there, you guys are gonna have to split up. Sparky, you're gonna go to the left and Pikachu's going straight. Pikachu, all you have to do is go straight and there will be a vent that leads into the room. There aren't any guards in there since it's monitored by the security cameras. Now, this whole operation is hinging on perfect timing, and that all starts with you. Once you're in position to shut down the power grid, contact me. You give the signal, and the job's underway," Max explained through the earpiece.

"Pikachu!" it replied as it passed up Sparky and waved a paw before scurrying down the shaft.

"Now, Sparky, your job is a little bit tougher. Once you head left, you'll come to another intersection. Head right; there will be a slight drop, so you're gonna have to jump down. Once you're down, head straight and make another left. There will be a vent that leads into the basement. Now unlike Pikachu, the basement does have guards and security cameras in it, so you'll have to be doubly careful.

Avoid the guards and find the grid that powers the hallway. You need to short it out with a Thundershock or some kind of attack that will overload the grid. Now, the building has backup generators in the basement that restore power to the building in case of a power outage. We need you to find some way to stop those generators from turning on, understand?"

"Pika," Sparky replied as it turned left and began its trek to the basement.

"Alright, then; good luck, and don't get caught," Max quipped before clicking off of the receiver.

Sparky sighed to itself quietly and made its way through the shafts, waving its paw to blow some of the rampant dust out of his eyes. It loved this part of the job; the rush of hastening to its target, ducking behind walls and hiding in spaces to avoid being spotted. It provided a rush similar to the one it used to experience during battles when it was younger. Probably the only thing that he hated about being a thief was the waiting between each job. It hated sitting around and not doing anything. That was why even though it loved its life as a thief, it still yearned for the old days when Ritchie and it used to travel around the world, looking for that next big battle.

It loved it when he found an opponent that was a challenge; dodging their attacks, then countering with his own. It was like a drug to it; rush, move, attack, dive, roll, shock. Nothing in the world, save for stealing, could even match the feeling of euphoria that it experienced in a battle. Sparky stopped for a moment and peered down the "slight" drop that Max had mentioned. It was at least 7 feet deep, and it certainly wouldn't just jump down; the noise could alert someone below or even worse, it could fall through.

Suddenly, a small grin appeared on Sparky's yellow face as an idea popped into its head. Sparky looked down the drop one more time and jumped, sliding its body down one side of the shaft. After it had fallen a short distance, it quickly jumped to the opposite side of the vent and slid down. Sparky repeated the action of sliding down for a few seconds, leaping to the opposite side, and hopping down between the shaft walls.

Finally, it reached the bottom of the shaft and landed quietly, bringing a smile to the mouse's face as it began walking straight towards its destination. It wished that Ritchie and it would take a trip one day and just travel the world like they used to. Neither of them traveled much anymore; it would just be a short trip to the job, then the process of getting the hell out of there before they were caught.

"Pi?" it said quietly to itself as it thin slits of light penetrated the floor beneath it into its small eyes. It was standing right on top of the vent; if the light hadn't shone into its eyes, it probably would have passed it up completely. Sparky leaned down and peeked through the vent, surveying the basement below him.

It was a dark large room, with rows and rows of pipes strung out all over the place, separating the room into smaller hallway-like passageways. Tons of machinery and such was placed all over the area, creating a constant humming of electricity and turbines spinning loudly. The dim light that was present was provided by small lamp-like light fixtures that hung in scattered spots across the ceiling. It couldn't see the power grid or the generators from the vent; Sparky would have to jump down and search for it manually. The faint human voices of the guards drifted through the air, barely audible over the endless noise of the machines that undoubtedly powered the building.

Slowly, Sparky placed a paw over the vent and quietly slid it back, opening a way into the basement below. It poked its head out for a moment, and quickly tried to find a way that would get him back into the vents after his job was done. About three feet to the left was a row of pipes that rose towards the ceiling; it was the closest and best way to get back into the shaft, but it would require quite a long jump. It was also at an angle, so it would have to find a way to leap and grab the edge of the vent before climbing back up. Quickly, it took one last sweep from its vantage point and leapt down to the cold concrete below without a sound.

A loud whirring above Sparky caused it to glance upwards, spotting a mechanized security camera quickly closing in on its position. In a flash, Sparky dove behind a row of pipes, obscuring itself from the camera's field of vision. Letting out a whoosh of air, it scolded itself for being so careless; he would have to tread lightly, there was no telling how many more cameras were down there. Sparky began creeping through the basement, using the shadows and spaces between the pipes to hide from the automated gaze of the cameras and the occasional guard that would pass.

It poked its head around another corner and smiled. Behind a chain link fence sat a console covered with blinking lights and numerous switches, accompanied by three large steel covered objects sitting right next to it. Sparky grinned and hid itself behind a pipe. Now all it would have to do was wait.

"So you watch sports?" Travis asked as he leaned forward.

"Oh, I love sports! The Electabuzz are my favorite team!" her soft voice giggled as she leaned over the counter. Travis chuckled to himself; it was days like these that made his job worth it. Two beautiful women had walked in and questioned them about the directions to somewhere. Nate had already gone off to lunch, leaving Travis alone at the desk. Naturally, Travis turned up the charm and now the purple-haired one was all over him. Her companion had asked for the bathroom, which he hastily pointed to. It was rare that a cute one happened across the LSF headquarters; the redhead that he had hit on ended badly, with her ending up hitting on him...repeatedly with her fist. And that was before her boyfriend showed up...but that was all in the past now.

Right now, he had a promising prospect in front of him, dangling on the hook. All he had to do was reel her in. "Yeah, I like the Electabuzz too. They're not having too good a season right now. But they did get that manager; the first female in the league, I think. I think her name was Cass or Casey or something like that. She's pretty aggressive; they'll probably recruit some good players during the offseason."

"Yeah, I heard about her," she replied as her long violet hair fell over one of the screens in front of him. He didn't mind though, he had a much better view right where he was. "So, do you play any sports, cutie?" she asked, flicking a hair out of her eyes.

He chuckled and ran hand through his short, spiked hair. "Well, I used to play basketball in college. I never went pro, though." He glanced around his surroundings and flicked his nametag. "Should have at least tried, though," he added with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Aww," she cooed, "Don't give up. You should keep working out; you might be picked up by a team one day. Not to mention it'll keep those big muscles in tone," she added playfully. Travis grinned and folded his arms, leaning back in his chair. Suddenly, the woman tilted her head for a moment as if listening to something, but quickly smiled at him again.

"Come on, Cassandra, let's get out of here. We don't want to be late," a voice said from behind him, causing him to turn around. It was the brunette that had come in with her earlier. Cassandra sighed and pouted slightly, before nodding.

"Ok, I'll meet you out front," she said as her friend passed her up and left through the doors out into the street. "Well cutie, I gotta go. But here," she said as she scribbled something onto a piece of paper and leaned over, sticking it in his shirt pocket. "Don't read it until I leave, ok?" Travis nodded as she pecked him on the cheek and turned to leave before waving at him.

Travis waved back dumbly as she turned and left the lobby through the doors to the streets outside. Suddenly, he remembered the paper she had slipped into his pocket. Quickly, he fumbled through his pockets before finally pulling out the slip of paper and unfolding it. "Lights out," Travis read aloud, puzzled by the words on the paper. "What the hell?"

As soon as he spoke, the lights flickered at first, and then suddenly died out as the power was seemingly cut off from the building. Agents and personnel in the lobby quickly scrambled around, trying to find the source of the power outage. All Travis could do was stare out at the street beyond and shake his head.

Ash cringed as his squeegee produced a loud squeal from the window. "Jesus, it's taking forever. When did Max say they were going to start?" Ash asked in a hushed tone to his partner. Ritchie shrugged and placed a random bottle in the cart they had been pushing for the past ten minutes, pretending to clean the windows on the seventh floor.

"Don't look at me, man. Max said it all hinged on Pikachu and the girls. We move when they move. It looks like this job is going to be a little easier than we expected, though," Ritchie commented, tossing Ash another bottle.

"What makes you say that?" Ritchie looked around to see if anyone was in earshot and leaned forward over the cart. "Don't you think it's kind of weird that this door hasn't got any guards posted in front of it? I mean, this is supposed to be one of most closely guarded areas of the entire building."

"Because," Ash explained as he pointed to the wall behind Ritchie, "that place is supposed to be a secret. It wouldn't exactly look normal if you had armed guards posted in front of a plain-looking wall."

"Oh, but cleaning the exact same window for the past ten minutes looks completely normal," Ritchie added with a grin.

"Shut up." Ash opened his mouth to say something else, but was cut off, by the slowing whir of the air-conditioning fan above them. Ritchie smirked and glanced around, seeing if anyone was nearby. "Wait until the power goes out completely."

Slowly, the lights above them flickered, and one by one, they blinked out, dimming the hallway. Ash reached into a pocket of his work outfit and tossed a small red object to Ritchie.

"Hurry up!" Ash said hurriedly, taking a sweep around them to try and scout for incoming agents. Ritchie promptly caught it and rushed over to the nearby wall, running his hand across the smooth surface, obviously searching for something. His eyes lit up as his palm slid over a small rise in the wall.

"Ash, I found it!" he said as a small panel of the wall slid open, revealing a small keypad and a green square. Yanking a small wire out of the in his hand, he found a small USB port in the panel and inserted the device into it. "Can Dexter bypass a palm scanner too?" Ritchie asked as he punched a couple of buttons on the miniscule computer.

Ash nodded his head. "Max said that Dexter could break through almost any kind of security device; and if it can't, he can establish a link through it and do it manually. But we don't have the time to do that; if it can't hack through the security systems here, we're gonna have to kill the plan."

"Come on, come on!" Ritchie said impatiently as the computer hummed and worked on the panel. The lights on the panel lit up, and a loud click resonated from the wall, bringing a smile to his face. "Yes!" The wall next to him shuddered slightly as it slid to the side. Quickly, Ash pushed the cart across the hallway into the opening, as Ritchie removed the cord from the port, letting it snap back into Dexter and disappeared into the wall also. Without a sound, the wall slid back to its original position, obscuring any evidence of their presence there.

"Let's hope Sparky took out those generators, or this is gonna be a real short heist," Ash said hopefully. "Damn, I can't even my own hand in front of me. Hang on." The sound of Ash rustling through his work outfit was present in the pitch-black hallway as he searched for something. "Ah, here it is," he said finally, clicking a small flashlight on, illuminating the darkness around them.

"Don't worry; he'll get it done. But what the hell did you bring the cart for?"

"Oh, I'm positive that the League Special Forces won't notice us waltzing out of the front doors of their headquarters carrying a large sword that was stolen from a museum a week ago," Ash said sarcastically as he pulled the cart to a stop. The hallway suddenly turned to the left, prompting Ash and Ritchie to take a glance at each other.

"Ok, I'm sure that those armed guards are down there. You got any ideas on how to get rid of them?"

"Give me the light," he said as he grabbed the flashlight and shined the beam into the cart. Ritchie smiled as he reached into the cart and pulled several long white rods, resembling the glow sticks ravers would use.

"What the hell are those?"

"Liquid flashbangs. Just snap it, shake it up, and you've got five seconds till they go off. It was probably the only thing I could think of that could get past the security screening here. Let's just take a gander to see how many of these we need," he said, pressing his body against the wall and peeking his head past, holding the light above his head.

"Huh."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"There aren't any armed guards. In fact, there's nothing down there but an empty hallway and an open door," he replied with a puzzled tone. "But there is some kind of weird light down there. Come on." Before Ash could stop, Ritchie had already taken off down the hallway. Ash sighed and quickly began to follow him, the both of them slowing down as they neared the door.

Faint voices drifted from past the door. "Kill the light, Rich," Ash advised, and quickly the light went out, leaving them in darkness again. "Shh, I think someone's in there." Both of them inched closer to the open door, the voices inside growing louder and louder.

"What the hell happened? He never said he was cutting the power!"

"Just shut up and keep that torch on the door. I want to grab this thing and get the hell out of here," a rough voice snapped in reply to the first person. "He probably cut the power to kill the cameras in here. Did you honestly think those two guards were all they had protecting this damn sword?"

Ash's eyes widened at the mention of the sword; obviously somebody else was here to procure what he and Ritchie had come to get also. "Ritchie, give me the flashlight," he said quietly, hoping not to alert the others in the room ahead.

"What? What for?"

"Just give me the damn flashlight!" he hissed. He could hear Ritchie sigh in the darkness for a moment, and felt the jab of the light in his arm. "Follow my lead," he instructed as he inched closer towards the door and stood in its entrance.

In a flash, he clicked the light on and shone it into the room, revealing its occupants. Four men were huddled around a huge steel door in the middle of the room, one carrying a blowtorch, obviously trying to cut through. "Who the hell are you guys!" he demanded loudly, causing all of them to whirl around in surprise.

"Who the hell are we?" one of the men, a giant in size said in a gruff tone, matching the one Ash had heard moments earlier. He was obviously the leader, the way the others were positioned around him. "Who the hell are you?" All of a sudden, Ritchie stepped forward and yanked the flashlight out of Ash's hand.

"To hell with all this twenty questions bullshit," he stated flatly as he rushed the men, tossing the flashlight into the face one of the men standing near the steel vault. The man cried out in pain and grabbed his face as the light skidded across the floor, sending a narrow beam on the floor, barely illuminating the small room.

Within moments, the entire room had broken into a battle royale as all of them men began swinging blindly in the dark, hardly able to even seen their own fists in front of them. Ash struggled around, only to be met in the face with a crushing blow to the jaw that sent him reeling for a few moments.

Even though the dark had robbed him of his sight, his body quickly adapted and the sounds of the room were loud and clear as he heard a slight whoosh of air near his head. Instinctively, he threw his hands out to block and grabbed onto a leg that was meant to meet his face. He yanked backwards with a grunt, feeling a weight move followed by a surprised cry from his attacker followed by a thud as he slammed into the hard ground below. Swiftly, he leapt on top of the man and began slinging his fists into hiss opponent's face before a body smashed into his side, throwing him off of his previous target and landing a new one on top of him.

Blindly, he wrestled with the adversary as the sound of Ritchie's voice echoed throughout the room. "Ash!" he yelled loudly before grunting, "Cover your eyes!" He growled and threw a vicious strike to the man's chin above him, and hurled the body off of himself, hearing a loud thump and a cry of pain as it slammed into a nearby wall. A loud snap was audible through the room, prompting Ash to cover his eyes and ears instantly.

The room was quiet for a moment before exploding into an eruption of light that filled the room, accompanied by an eardrum-splitting crack. Everyone in the room yelled in surprise from the sense assaulting blast that had occurred a few moments earlier. Another snap was heard and Ash braced himself for another explosion, only to hear none. A soft green glow began to fill the room, revealing the condition of the room's occupants.

Ritchie was slowly pulling himself up from the floor, his face covered in bruises along with both of his lips busted open. Blood oozed out from the open cuts on his face, slowly making its way down his chin. His sleeve was ripped halfway off, dangling off his right arm. He glanced to his right; obviously the man he had just thrown had struck his head on the adjacent wall and was lying unconscious. On his right was the man he had tripped to the floor. He too, was unconscious, his face looking as if had run through a meat grinder; a result of Ash's handiwork.

Ash felt his own face and winced slightly as his hand ran roughly across a small bruise on his left cheek. His jaw was slightly sore, but other than that, he was surprisingly unhurt. A loud groan emitted near the steel door that sat in the center of the room, causing him to turn his head to see the source.

The gigantic leader of the other men was staggering at the door, reeling from the flashbang that Ritchie had thrown. "Urggh...you son of a bitch..." he grumbled, shaking his head as he tried to clear its effects. I gotta take him out now while he's still groggy, Ash thought to himself as he picked himself up from the ground.

Quickly, he rushed the leader, yelling loudly as he jumped into the air, launching a flying scissor kick aimed at his temple. Instantly, the man snapped his head in Ash's direction and glared furiously at him. Ash seemed to hang in the air as the leader instantly snatched a hold of Ash's neck.

Ash's eyes opened wide in surprise as the man stared into his eyes, sending a look of hate that almost froze him in his spot. His breathing was heavily labored as the gargantuan hand squeezed his neck, cutting off his air supply and crushing his windpipe. "You're going to pay for what you just did, you son of a bitch," he growled angrily, narrowing his eyes as he clutched Ash's helpless figure in the air like a doll.

With blinding speed, he rushed forward and crashed Ash's body into the wall behind him. The entire room shuddered as the wall collapsed from the force of the impact, cracking the walls adjacent to the point of collision. Stray pieces of drywall and plaster rained down on top of Ash's head as he dangled in the air. Ash's entire frame exploded into pain, sending every nerve in his body into overdrive. Ash opened his mouth to cry out in pain, but the agony forced it to die in his throat.

"Put him down, you son of a bitch!" Ritchie exclaimed frantically as he rushed the leader from behind. The man didn't even glance behind as he merely swatted Ritchie in his chest, sending him flying across the room and careening into a wall on the opposite side of the room.

"Heh, looks like you hit a stud in the wall there, buddy," he said, leaning closer to Ash's face. A spark of realization flickered in his eyes as a grin spread across his face. "Well, what do you know? You're the guy we've been looking for quite some time. Seems you have a knack for getting out of impossible situations, much to our annoyance." All Ash could do was groan in reply, the pain in his body almost paralyzing him. "Well, Ash," he said with a chuckle, "Let's see you get out of this one."

Out of the blue, Ash's chest erupted into agony as the man sent a fist flying into his ribs. "GYAAAAH!" Ash screamed in anguish, his chest now feeling as if somebody had covered it with gasoline and ignited it, setting his whole midsection aflame. If his body hadn't let him scream before, it forced him to do it nonstop now as his cries echoed loudly off of the walls. The man chuckled and dropped his now limp body to the floor, landing crumpled on the ground below.

"Hang on a sec, I'll be right back. I got some business to take care of," he said smugly, walking over to the steel door before stopping at the bodies of one of his fallen comrades. "Tsk, tsk, tsk; I can't leave you guys here to tell on me, now can I?" Ash strained to raise his head, barely able to keep it up. His chest still felt like it was on fire; at least two of his ribs were broken already. Every time he sucked in another gulp of air, his midsection felt as if someone had run him through with a sword. Still, he labored to keep his eyes on the man as he picked up one of the men on the ground and placed a thumb on his neck, obviously feeling for a pulse.

"Oh, you're still alive?" he said incredulously. With a flick of his wrist, a sickening crack resonated through the room. The body suddenly went limp in his hands and the man tossed the body to the floor. "I'll get to the rest of you guys in a sec." Slowly, he strolled over to the large steel door of the vault and held his ear against it, knocking against it lightly with his fist.

Stepping back, he curled both of his hands together in a big fist and brought his arm back, swinging it into the metal frame of the vault's doors. A loud clang reverberated throughout the room as it met the door, sinking the metal into itself as if were putty. He swung again, releasing another clang and bending the door even more. With a loud cry, he swung one last time, the walls around them shaking from the sheer force of the impact.

The door wobbled for a moment, and fell backwards into the vault, smashing into the floor, shaking the room with the collision. "There we go," the man commented as he stepped into the vault. He disappeared for a moment behind the wall, before re-emerging again with the crystalline weapon clutched in his hands. Ash's vision began to blur and darken, showing only a formless blob in his eyes walking towards him. "Now for you guys," he said, his voice becoming slightly warped in his ears.

It seemed as if he was going into shock; his body was growing cold and his vision blurred even more, making it impossible to make out anything from the swirl of colors he now called his eyesight.

Suddenly, the weapon began to pulsate and glow in the man's hands, filling the room with a low hum that increasingly grew louder. It began to vibrate violently, almost to the point where he could barely hang on to it. "What the fu-," he said before feeling a tugging on his leg. He glanced down, his eyes falling on a battered Ritchie, carrying a small silver disk in his hands.

"Happy landings, you son of a bitch," he growled angrily as he slapped it onto the ground between his legs, causing it to beep loudly, blending with the ever growing hum of the sword. Swiftly, Ritchie grabbed Ash's body and tugged it towards him, the beeping and humming growing louder and faster.

"What the-," he yelled as he was cut of by a blinding flash and a loud beep that filled the room. An explosion rocked the room to its very core as the floor beneath them shuddered and gave way, sending them flying to the level below. The leader careened into the ground below before the utter power of the impact caused it to quake and yield to the bodies that were plummeting downwards. Level after level, they fell, the leader smashing into the ground first and creating a new path to the floor below, allowing Ash and Ritchie to follow. Debris was flung into the air; drywall, plaster and wood various other objects rained through the air as the group went through floor after floor.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, they struck solid ground, and the debris fell on top of them, burying them completely in the rubble. Ritchie struggled to stay conscious, barely able to see through the wreckage. With a loud thunk, the sword fell mere inches from his face, embedded in the floor below. With a groan, he strained to move his arm and ran his arm over the hilt of the weapon before his body finally gave out and he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

"Keep digging!"

Nate and Travis stood dumbstruck, at the pile of rubble that lay before them. Only twenty minutes earlier, a huge explosion had struck the building, followed by a roar so loud, he could have sworn a horde of Arcanines were bearing their way down the building. Someone, somehow, had used the power outage as a cover and broken their way into a top secret vault on the seventh floor. Then some kind of explosive had gone off, the entire steel vault hurtling downwards seven floors, before it finally came to a halt on the ground floor, near some kind of emergency exit in the back of the building.

Now a mass of LSF agents were clawing through the rubble, searching for the bodies of the perpetrators, along with the items that were placed in the vault. "Well? Where are the damn bodies?" Chief Azusa roared at the men who were digging through the remains.

"We can't find any, Chief!" a young agent replied from the ruins.

"Uh, Chief! You might wanna take a look at this!" a voice from behind the rubble called out. Quickly, the mass of agents scampered to the source of the voice; a young woman staring into the vault that lay sideways on the ground.

"What is it, McBride?" the Chief questioned, not wanting to hear anymore bad news.

"Well, everything's in here," she said, bringing a sigh of relief from the Chief. "Well, everything except that sword."

"What?" the Chief exclaimed loudly, before cursing out loud.

"But I don't think that's what we should be worried about," she said quietly.

"Oh really! So what should we be worried about then?" he demanded. Agent McBride hesitated for a moment then pointed towards a large steel slab on the ground, sitting lopsided on the ground. The Chief and the other agents huddled around the door, before gasping in disbelief.

Someone had punched had punched their way through a two and a half foot thick steel door.

"Travis?" Nate said sheepishly.

"Yeah, Nate?" Nate turned his towards Travis, his eyes wide open with incredulity.

"If I ever say this job is boring again, punch me." Travis nodded and turned back to the door lying on the ground before them.

"Sure thing."