Chapter Eleven: Disorganized Crime
It was night. The streets glowed like honey in the rain as a young woman made her way down the street. Suddenly a man in a ski mask reached out from nowhere and scooped her into the alley.
"Don't scream, dear, or it'll be the worse for you," said the man, in a flat voice peppered with a heavy Yorkshire accent. He didn't sound particularly threatening, to be honest. She figured that she'd be released without much trouble if she'd cooperate.
"Come on, like that's gonna scare her," said a second voice, this one unquestionably female, as another figure in a ski-mask stepped out of the darkness.
The girl in the ski mask edged toward the captive, giggling maniacally and sing-songing, "We're gonna kill you, we're gonna kill you-"
"Oh, shut up," said the Yorkshireman, sounding tired of the whole thing.
"Can I go now?" the young woman asked weakly.
"No!" snapped the man. "You're our captive! We're desperate criminals! We're going to do nasty things to you!"
The young woman rolled her eyes. "Look, do you want my money or what?"
The man in the ski mask looked at his companion. "Do we?"
"I don't know!" the female mugger shrieked. "How should I know? I didn't plan this!"
The victim rolled her eyes and tried to get away, but the man held her fast.
"Come on," she wheedled. "I'm only planning to go home and order some Chinese food-"
"I love Chinese food!" said the female mugger.
"You're not going anywhere, missy," the man added, in a rather declamatory voice.
There was a moment of silence.
"I SAID, you're not going anywhere, missy!" the man repeated in a slightly louder voice.
A figure in a flowing cape came swinging down on the walls of the alley. With stunning grace, he threw a weighted fishing net down on the two muggers, released the young woman, and waited on the opposite wall, suspended upside down from a rope.
The young woman approached him, ready to kiss him-
Then she saw his mask, smiled politely, thanked him, and walked away.
As the woman disappeared, Erik spun down to the ground and pulled away the fishing net. Richard and Megan instantly pulled off their ski masks.
"What the hell was that? You were supposed to make her so grateful to see me-"
"What can I say? We're terrible criminals." said Richard.
Erik snarled and stormed away.