Clark looked past Rhone to the door; four men walked through it, one after another. They were wearing all black with matching ski masks. Clark used his X-ray vision and saw concealed guns. What should I do? I can't use my powers; there are people around…
How cliché, Rhone thought to herself with an inner sigh. She watched as each of them pulled out a gun. And I was worried for a minute there, she thought with a strange sense of disappointment.
"Alright everyone, put your hands up!" the man in the front yelled loudly. Rhone silently thanked him for claiming the status of the leader. The shortest of the men locked the door behind them.
If this gets anymore cliché, I might kill them for fun, Rhone thought dryly. She reluctantly put up her hands. She slowly looked back over her shoulder at Clark.
Oh my god, what am I going to do? Clark's eyes were wide and his face was covered with worry and conflict. Everyone will see me if I do something. What good are my abilities if I can't use them to help people?
"Just go with it, Clark," Rhone gave a whisper over her shoulder. She was pleased that everyone had followed the orders of the second-rate thieves. She wondered if one of the tellers had a chance to hit the silent alarm. Well, no matter.
"What?" Clark whispered in shock. Surely she was having the same conflict that he was. Would she use her powers to defuse this situation? No, she was the one who told him to hide his abilities and that before his family, only one other person knew of her powers. So, she wouldn't just use the relic here. Maybe she would just let this thing run its' course. It was the most logical thing to do. Yeah.
The tallest of the perpetrators started going into the back offices and rooting out a few employees. Rhone saw Lex and the man with which he had gone into the back office led out into the lobby with everyone else – at gunpoint. Rhone squinted slightly. She wasn't willing to take the time to analyze her reaction to this treatment of Lex.
Everyone else was being handcuffed behind the back. Rhone made sure not to resist in any way as she was handcuffed in the same fashion and sat down on the floor with everyone else. Just let it happen, Rhone, they aren't worth it, she said to herself. The federal government insures all of this money. No one loses anything.
Lex was the last person handcuffed and sat on the floor next to Clark.
It was a Tuesday, so there were only about a dozen people total in the bank. Rhone didn't hear sirens and the few looks she gave to the glass doors revealed no sign of local law enforcement. She was amazed at the willingness of people to be victims.
Chloe was sitting next to Rhone, obviously very upset at the present situation. The small blonde was shaking. Rhone was surprised that all of her previous situations had not desensitized her to something as simple as this. Rhone leaned to her and whispered, "Relax."
Chloe looked to Rhone and tried to smile. She looked like a deer caught in headlights – petrified. Rhone analyzed the emotion emanating from this girl; she had forgotten the way normal people reacted to such things.
"Let's go," the leader said. Two of the others followed him behind the teller counters, heading for the safe. The short one was left behind with a gun trained on the handcuffed floor dwellers.
I don't believe this is happening, Lex thought to himself. If I weren't a billionaire, I couldn't afford my own insurance premiums. This shit happens to me way too much. He struggled for a moment against his handcuffs. Rhone must be so scared, Lex looked at her across the small circle of people. She was seated next to Chloe, on the outside of the cluster of people, with her back to him.
Lex looked at Clark, who was seated next to him. He was giving Lex a look. "What?" Lex mouthed as he leaned toward Clark.
Clark leaned back a little bit and looked towards Rhone. "Now isn't exactly the best time for that," Lex allowed his voice to rise slightly. Was it because he was being held hostage or because Clark's analysis of his – attachment to Rhone was alarmingly accurate?
"No talking!" the short capturer shouted as he walked over to Lex and pointed his handgun at the bachelor billionaire. He forcefully bumped the side of Lex's head with the barrel of the gun.
Rhone had easily identified Lex's voice and looked back to see that the man appointed to the lesser task of watching them was harassing him. Rhone twitched. "Yeah, they're worried someone might point out how uninspired their bank robbing scheme is," Rhone said dryly.
"Who said that?!?" the man with the gun started circling the hostages, gun pointed down at them.
Lex heard Rhone's voice. It was the same voice that he had heard her use out in the field, the one that she used when she was that cold and detached person he didn't know the origins of. What did she think she was doing?
"Someone who would have coordinated with my bank robbing accomplices a little more so we weren't all wearing the same outfit when we knew we were all going to the same place at the same time. Talk about a fashion faux pas," Rhone remained emotionless.
The man with the gun was standing right in front of her, holding the gun inches from her face.
"Please," she said with disdain and an eye roll.
Everyone was staring at her. They thought that the pressure of the situation had gotten to her and driven her insane. What in the hell was she doing? This was ridiculous, suicide. Sitting handcuffed on the floor with her knees in front of her with a gun pointed at her, and she was taunting the wielder of the gun.
"You don't think I'll do it?!?" he robber shouted the question.
She tilted her head, "Didn't your mother teach you to use your inside voice when you're in public?"
Everyone was still staring at her in awkward silence. She was a little too accustomed to that, she realized. They must all think that I'm nuts. She smiled.
The man with the gun didn't know what to do; she was smiling at him. He took a step backwards.
About this time, everyone else had his or her mouth open in shock. Chloe wished that she had been seated next to someone else.
Pete was trying to remember where he had met Rhone before, between bouts of panic. He had forgotten about it since the Talon, but her behavior in this situation was bringing a vague memory to the surface.
Lex wished that he had been seated next to her so he could make her shut up. He didn't know what he would do if she… He felt a tight feeling in his chest and shuddered.
Clark was beginning to feel an eerie calm. She knew what she was doing. She had too much confidence not to. Right?
"I don't think that you understand what's going on here, Lady," said the short gun wielder, trying to be intimidating.
"It's Rhone. -- And I must admit that this is my first domestic hostage situation," Rhone said coolly as she leaned back lazily onto her handcuffed hands, positioning her feet. It was the truth, she herself had never been held hostage in this country. Saving other hostages in this country was another thing.
"Who the fuck do you think you're dealing with!?!" he stepped closer to her again and pressed the barrel of the gun to her forehead.
"Someone who would never pull that trigger," she said, still serene.
In an action that was almost hidden by his ski mask, he furrowed his eyebrows, "Why do you think that?"
"Because you haven't yet," she began, "And besides, you rob banks. You aren't a killer. If you killed me, you would go to pound-me-in-the-ass-prison for a long time." As well as being hunted down like an animal by my allies, she thought.
Still standing over her, the masked man lowered his gun slightly when he thought about what she said.
"Not to mention, you're holding that piece all wrong," she motioned with her head to his gun.
He looked away from her to the hand that held the gun. He turned the gun in his hand so that he could see the side of it and the way he held it.
You have to be kidding, Rhone thought to herself. I thought this was going to be at least a slight challenge. She put all of her weight on her left foot and shoved off as hard as she could, kicking straight up with her right leg. Her Airwalk made powerful contact with his face. He dropped the gun and staggered back.
Rhone didn't see the point in letting him regain composure. She hurried toward him and kicked him in the chest with her left foot. She had practiced fighting everyway possible, without her hands against an obvious amateur was no big deal. She wasn't the least bit put off by her present situation. She could rectify it easily enough, but she wanted some kind of a challenge. …At least the suit she was wearing was kind of confining.
He staggered back even farther, clutching where he felt the impact of her foot. It was happening so fast. She was so strong and really quick. Fortunately, he had forgotten his head was killing him when she kicked him in the chest. He was beginning to think that she broke a rib or something. Why couldn't they have robbed the bank yesterday – when Bruce Lee wasn't going to be here? He had wanted to rob it yesterday, but no.
Clark kept his eyes on Rhone. She never used her abilities on the man in front of her and he had to respect that. He felt a little empty when he realized that she really didn't need any help -- at least not now. He looked to Pete who had only a look of intense thought on his face, like he was trying to look right through the two standing figures.
Chloe wished she had her camera. The young intrepid reporter had reasserted herself, now that the gun was on the floor away from the masked threat. This was going to be such a story -- worthy of The Daily Planet maybe.
Lex had watched the past few seconds as though it were on television. He didn't really believe it. Rhone, his invoice auditing, comic book making, witty beauty was pounding the life out of some criminal that had, until a few moments ago, held a gun to her head – using only her feet. And she had never even flinched. In fact, she never even took him seriously, even taunted him. There was no way that she was acting on adrenaline; those moves were trained. He knew enough about fencing to see that. Every movement she made was completely calculated, practiced to perfection.
Yet, all he could do was watch with a look of dismay. He was a Luthor, and Luthors don't show dismay. But – but – this was just incredible.
This is just boring, Rhone thought to herself. He's not even fighting back or – even blocking. She could tell he was bleeding from the nose and about to fall over after only two hits. Maybe I should let him hit me once so he can keep an ounce of dignity.
The thief looked up, panting heavily to regain the breath that he just noticed was knocked out of him. He checked to see how far away he was from the gun on the floor.
Now why did he have to do that? Rhone wondered with a slight shake of the head. Why did he have to make me think that he has some kind of murderous intent? That he would hurt these people like that?
…Well, whatever gives you your jollies. But in that case, I have that same right, she thought to herself. She gave him a few swift kicks to the face with the sole of her shoe. They weren't kicks that were intended to break bones – odds are his nose was already broken. They were meant to stun him, almost comparable to a slap. She bent her leg at the knee as to not make them full force kicks.
He felt another blow to the face and then just pain. Everything went black, but he had the feeling that he was still standing. He knew he was about to pass out – and that dizzy feeling…
Rhone purposefully closed the distance between them. He was wavering even more severely and his eyes were out of focus – looking in every which direction. She got within inches of his face and, for a moment, watched him in his daze. The only look she had on her face was one of mild disgust. She hadn't fought one so -- weak in a very long time.
Never taking her eyes off of him, she leaned forward to butt him with her forehead, but not forcefully. By no means was it a full-fledged head butt, far from it. It was just a flamboyant way to prove that one of the captors had been easily beaten. In most cases, she normally didn't bother with an arrogant finishing blow. But she was also slightly angry that it had been so easy – a waste of her time.
…And the image of him mildly abusing Lex was still at the forefront of her memory. She didn't want to admit to herself how heavily that little detail played into her reaction.
Everyone sitting on the floor was still gaping at what they had witnessed. The unconscious body of the bank robber hit the floor with a thud. All eyes watched it fall as if it were in slow motion.
In that instant, Pete remembered Rhone Chade. He had never met her before; he just knew her name. He knew of her. He silently thanked one of his brothers; it was because of him that Pete had the slightest idea of who stood in front of them.
Still looking at the unconscious body of the thief, Rhone began turning her right arm so her elbow was turned inward. Then she bent her elbow, while bringing her arms up and over her head so her hands were now in front of her.
Chloe winced when she saw this feat of flexibility. She had to have rolled that shoulder out of socket to do that – or she was double jointed… Ouch… It didn't seem to bother Rhone at all though, like she performed feats of contortion for amusement.
Rhone wasted no time, these people had to get out of here. She brought her hands back up to her head and removed the invisible accessory that held up her hair. She used it to unlock the handcuffs in a matter of seconds. She removed them from her wrists as a twist of hair fell to the base of her neck.
She swiftly moved to the man that had led Lex into the back office. She leaned over him from the front and, just as swiftly, removed his handcuffs upside down. He was breathing heavily and perspiring. She leaned down and looked him in the eyes, "Stay right here, just as you are. When I tell you to, unlock the door," she heard someone coming and looked up, "and everyone get the hell out of here and call the police."
Lex watched her turn and run to a small area of desks. When she reached the first one, she jumped over it. She never touched it – just cleared it like it was a small puddle. Instantly, she was behind it and he was unable to see her. What was that? What sort of invoice auditor perpetrates vigilante justice? Where were all of these – skills coming from?
Again, Lex ran through the contents of her file in his head. She was in the reserves, but they didn't train you like this. They taught you hand-to-hand combat, but nothing on the level that she was doing. He saw another one of the bank robbers come out of the back, interrupting his thoughts.
When he could not see his accomplice guarding the hostages, the bank robber hurried out from behind the teller counter. He saw his accomplice on the floor and went over to him, kneeled to check him with his gun trained on the cluster of people on the floor. He looked at the hostages, "What the hell happened?!?"
Satisfied that his friend was alive, he got up and walked over to the group. He was aiming his gun at them menacingly.
No one spoke. They didn't know if they could explain what had just happened. One minute they were all hostages and the next minute one of them was Jackie Chan or something. They could all tell that their silence was making masked man even angrier.
"He started to look faint and the next minute, he just fell over," a voice said.
All of the hostages and the thief looked for the source. It was -- Pete? "Maybe he's really sick," Pete offered. No one could believe the source of this – fabrication. …Pete?
The bandit turned and slowly walked back towards his fallen partner, keeping the gun loosely trained in the direction of the hostages – that was impossible, his partner had blood on his face... When he was halfway there, he stopped abruptly and started to bring his gun around to his front.
The hostages all saw him move back as if some great force had hit him. They saw the head of Rhone Chade come up over his head and continue to rise. Then they noticed her left foot slam into his right shoulder. At was as if time stood still when she visibly pushed off of that foot and brought her right foot to kick him solidly in the head. She had such momentum that she went over his head and landed on the floor behind him as he fell. He didn't move.
She looked at the man that she had taken the handcuffs off of. "Now," she said firmly. He just looked at her, he didn't move. Maybe he didn't hear her – she had given him such a simple set of instructions.
Lex gazed at her. Her recent actions had caused her hair to fall well past her shoulders. But it was wavy – untamed. It was feral, totally contrasting the way it looked when she had it pulled up. He wondered how she got it to all stay up with only one pin looking thing. But then, what would he know about doing hair anyway? Maybe he could ask Chloe or Lana or -- anyone that had hair. …She is so exotic – so striking.
Pete stood and nudged the man without handcuffs, "Come on, Man."
Rhone leaned over the man she had just attacked. She was feeling for a pulse, she hit him harder than she meant to – too much momentum. Uh-oh… …Oh, there it is. She reached for the handgun that was lying beside him and checked the clip. Well, at least it was loaded.