Chapter 52: The Caper
Bolt whistled when he saw the inside of the van. Snart hadn't been wrong when he said that Amunet had spared no expense for this venture. Even he hadn't known you could install this much-advanced technology in the back of a van.
"I can't even begin to imagine what even a quarter of this stuff is for." Shawna Baez commented beside him, similarly amazed. The setup looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.
"At least we won't have to worry about me screwing up things on this end." Bolt commented, stepping into the back of the van with Shawna following him. "Come on. I need to check to make sure the frequencies are all on point before it's time."
"Ready to go?" Lisa called out from the front of the car.
Bolt gave a thumbs up while Shawna called out a simple "Hit it, Lisa!" Lisa, satisfied with their answers, obliged. Bates, Snart, and Mick had already long since left; Bates in a black SUV, the car Yamashiro had rented for his trip to Central City, according to the records, and Snart and Mick in their own cars. They would circle around the city for a bit so they wouldn't cast suspicion, while the three of them set up shop in a hidden alcove near the A.R.G.U.S. building. Lisa had been careful to disguise the van as something innocuous - a repairman's van for the local cable and dish services.
Silence settled into the van as Lisa drove them out of the warehouse and into the streets. They, like the others, would circle around for a bit before making it to the A.R.G.U.S. building.
After twenty minutes of mindless driving, Bolt finally decided to break the tension. He had already done two quick checkups on the systems in the van and found them to be working, and was already getting bored of the quietness that had blanketed the vehicle. He looked towards the metahuman beside him. She'd do.
"So," he asked slowly, waiting until he had Shawna's attention. "Why are you doing this?"
Shawna blinked a bit. Evidently, she was surprised he was actually bothering to talk to her. Bolt had taken great pains to stay professional this far, as much as his current persona would allow; after all, he was technically the "new guy" for Central's underworld.
The teleporter continued to stare at him for a bit, before sighing, finally cracking. She was sick of the silence too. "My boyfriend. He's in Iron Heights right now."
Bolt raised an eyebrow. He was perfectly aware that she'd be able to easily break said boyfriend out of Iron Heights with her powers.
Reading his mind, Shawna continued with her explanation. "I haven't broken him out yet because he owes money to one of the smaller mob families here in Central - one that's managed to avoid attention from both the police and the Flash. If I get him out now, then we'll just be trading one prison for another. So, I figured I'd use the money from this job to pay off his debt first, then break him out and use whatever's left to get out of Central City and start a new life together."
"Smart." Bolt noted. "I take these guys don't know about your powers yet? Because if they do, you know they'll never let the two of you leave. You'd be too useful."
Shawna nodded. "What about you? Why are you doing this?"
The hacker smirked. "The thrill."
'Maseo Yamashiro' walked into A.R.G.U.S.' Central City base with an assured step. He nodded to people as he greeted them, holding up a hand or two to others, before arriving at the front desk. A slim woman with dark hair was there, typing away on one of the computers. Most likely a receptionist, he thought.
The woman perked up when she saw him, smiling lightly. He quickly spotted the small name tag pinned on her shirt, hoping he didn't screw this up. "Cynthia."
"Sub-director Yamashiro!" She said happily, if confusedly. "I thought you were going to join your family for today."
"I was, but something came up." 'Maseo' answered. Cynthia obliviously nodded along, then directed him to the retina scanner. Once he was checked in, she waved him away, wishing him a good day.
With that obstacle out of the way, 'Maseo' turned to the right, careful to keep a normal and sedate pace so as to not arouse suspicion. He arrived at the door that supposedly held the main terminal and entered. Right before his powers were dampened, he discreetly placed the surveillance canceler on one of the walls, just as his body forcibly turned him back into Hannibal Bates. He waited a moment just to make sure no alarms were sounded, and once he was sure he was safe, started walking around.
Bolt had shown him a picture of where he would have to insert the disk, and the image had been burnt into his mind. That being said, all the complicated technology around him was making his head spin. It was distracting, all the wires and buttons and blinking lights.
Finally, he found what he was looking for. He took out the disk and carefully inserted it into the indicated slot, then stood back and waited. It was all out of his hands now.
"I'm in." Bolt announced. His fingers flew over the keyboard as he entered in command after command, only pausing a moment or two when something new came up. Lisa and Shawna, whose computer expertise amounted to electronic keypad locks and Google, respectively, simply watched. Their eyes almost hurt at how fast the text was scrolling down the screen.
Bolt clicked his teeth as he pushed himself to move even faster. "A.R.G.U.S. doesn't mess around. This level of encryption, I've only ever seen once before, and it was designed by a guy who many considered to be the best hacker in the world."
"Should we be worried?" Lisa asked dryly, slightly concerned.
"No." Bolt smirked. "I've already cracked it." With the final push of a button, the meta-dampeners were powered down.
Shawna frowned. "I thought you said this level of encryption could only be designed by the best hacker in the world?"
"I said many considered him to be the best in the world." Bolt corrected, grinning widely. "I never said he was the best in the world. Oh, make no mistake, he was good, but plenty were better."
Lisa crossed her arms, amused. "I assume you're one of them?" It was more of a statement than a question.
Bolt shrugged. "Considering I'm the one who exposed him in the end, I guess so." He blinked. "Oh, and one last thing."
He pressed enter on the keyboard, and smiled as all the security protocols in the building shut down.
"That's our cue, Mick." Leonard Snart muttered into his earpiece as he powered up his cold gun. "Let's rock and roll."
The first time in… well, ever, A.R.G.U.S.'s Central City base was in complete chaos.
After all the security systems were shut down, the building found itself attacked on two fronts: the front and the side. A man wielding a flamethrowing gun of all things had burst through the glass doors and started laying waste to everything. Over to the side, in the left hall, another man with a gun that spewed some kind of ice cold energy was freezing people left and right. It was a slaughter.
Cynthia, knowing the danger, had rushed to the right hall to warn sub-director Maseo. She ran and ran, but could not find him anywhere. So consumed in her search, she failed to see a young woman suddenly appear into the hall, walking into the direction of a place that very, very few people had the authorization to be in.
Mick Rory laughed loudly as he screamed "BURN!" at everything he could see. So consumed in his pyromania, he failed to see a lone, brave guard rush him from the side and knock him down, loosening his grip on his heat gun and causing it to fall to the ground, giving the building some reprieve.
Just then, the fire alarm sounded, and water sprung from the sprinklers above - apparently, one of the techs inside had finally managed to get the system in something of working order again. Mick growled as his beautiful fire gradually withered away into nothing, and tried to pry the burly guard off him.
"Need a little help, Mick?" A smug voice called out.
Mick looked up to see a smirking Leonard Snart, glasses and all, aiming his cold gun directly at them. Before he could fire, however, he fell to the ground abruptly. As he fell, he revealed that another guard had knocked him out with their club.
"Got the goods." Shawna said as she entered into the van once more, closing the doors behind her. Lisa already had the vehicle started up, and pressed the gas pedal.
"What about Snart and Rory?" Bolt asked.
"Don't worry," Shawna responded as she set the bag of chips down gently next to her. "Bates has got it covered."
"I can't find sub-director Yamashiro anywhere." Cynthia said, almost tearfully, as the remaining guards and personnel congregated into the front lobby. The resulting pandemonium from the attack on the building had destroyed quite a bit, to the point that they were still looking for people and trying to assess the damage.
The two assailants, whoever they were, were tied up next to the front desk, where a lone guard was keeping an eye on them. They would've spared more, but quite honestly, they were spread out right now.
Another guard, the one who had been speaking to Cynthia, frowned. "He must be locked up somewhere." He deduced.
"EVERYONE!" He called out to the remaining people inside the front hall. Everyone turned to look at him. "Find sub-director Yamashiro! We have reason to believe that he's trapped somewhere in the building!"
"Trapped where?"
Silence fell over the crowd, as they turned to see the very man they were planning on searching for, stand before them. Cynthia blinked, noting that he was wearing far different clothes than when he entered the building.
"Sub-director Yamashiro?" She asked, parting her way through the crowd.
"Yes?" Maseo said, confused.
"Did you just arrive?" She asked carefully.
"Yes. I've been out with my family all day. I came back when the alert sounded on my phone." He explained, even more confused.
Everyone stared at him for a long moment, until a sudden moment of clarity hit the head guard. He turned around, sprinting over to where they had tied up the assailants - only to see broken and frayed spools of rope.
"Nice improvisation there, Bates." Snart praised, leaning back into his chair. Behind him, Mick was snacking on a bag of chips, the heist leaving him very hungry.
Beside them, Hannibal Bates, in his true form, grinned. "Well, I couldn't leave you behind, could I? Lisa would kill me, and I don't know enough about Amunet to get the best deal out of her for the goods."
"Smart, too." Snart picked up his phone as it rang, and without having to see who it is, took the call. "Hey, sis. Mission accomplished."
"Okay, the FBI and the ATF have both been informed." Singh said after his last call ended. "They're prepping teams right now, though the number of people who know where they're storming is small. Can't risk any leaks."
"Great." Iris took out a small tablet. "Barry has a tracker on him. When he's near the meeting place, he'll activate it and we'll converge on his position. If all goes well, Amunet Black will be behind bars soon enough."
From beside her, Joe sighed. He had finally been let into the operation after Barry had confirmed the heist had been completed. "Are we sure he hasn't been found out?"
"Positive." Ralph answered for him, smirking. "We've developed a system of codewords and phrases for this. He's safe."
"But how are we going to get him out without tipping off Amunet and Snart that he's on our side?" Eddie asked. It was less for his sake and more for Iris' peace of mind.
Iris and Ralph exchanged looks.
That's a wrap, everyone! Next chapter, we tie up the heist storyline!
Don't forget the contest! It finishes when I post the last chapter of Arc III.
Constructive criticism is welcome! Flames will be ignored! Please update the TV Tropes page!
The Prompt: Draw your favorite scene of To Hell and Back. Any scene. You can have as many entries as you like.
Dates: From the day this chapter is posted to the day the last chapter of this arc (Chapter 63) is posted, you may submit something.
Submission: Submit your drawings to the story's official blog on Tumblr (the link can be found in the first chapter beneath the chapter summary on the AO3 version). If that is not feasible, then simply post it to your preferred image-hosting platform and send me the link via messaging on either AO3 or FFN.
Winning: There are three ways to win.
1. Author's choice. Whatever piece I favor the most.
2. Beta's choice. Whatever piece Kara Smoak, my beta, favors the most.
3. Fan's choice. I will put up a poll (either on FFN or Tumblr) and have all the readers vote via that.
Prizes:
1. For the fan that wins #1 (my choice), your piece will be the cover page for FFN, the first chapter of AO3, and the TV Tropes page!
2. For the fan that wins #2 (beta's choice), your piece will be the background image of the Tumblr blog, which is scarily bare.
3. For the fan that wins #3 (fan's choice), your piece will be inserted into the first chapter of Arc IV.