CHAPTER EIGHT: A New Partner In Crime
As Emily opened her mouth to scream, Beca ran over immediately and covered her hand over the Legacy's mouth. "Keep quiet, Emily! You'll wake everybody up!" Jessica demanded. When Emily nodded her head in understanding, Beca took her hand off the girl's mouth. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" Emily said, in a hushed voice. "Jessica, who the Hell is this person? And why is she wearing a Halloween costume?" She continued, questioning Beca and Jessica.
Beca sighed, pulled off her hood and mask, and revealed herself to a shocked Emily. "Beca?! Why are you dressed like that?" She questioned. "Surprise, kid. Well, I guess there's no use lying about it: Legacy, I'm the girl with the hoodie who's been taking names and kicking ass for the past couple of weeks. I'm Thunderbird, and this is my new costume, courtesy of Jessica, who was formerly the only one who knew what I was doing when I left the house. Now, you know, too." Beca said.
"Sooo, you don't have a job at Residual Heat?" Emily questioned. "No, I do have a job at Residual Heat. The part about me being there all those times I was out was a lie." Beca stated. "But, how do you do the stuff you do? Flying, getting shot at and not getting hurt, how do you do it?" Emily questioned, to which Beca told Emily her story, and she also told her about her other powers, such as super strength and slowing down time.
After Beca was done, Emily's eyes were wider than Fat Amy's hunger. "Jesus. So, for the past couple of weeks, I was living with a superhero?" Beca nodded her head. "Yep. I was just about to go get breakfast. You guys wanna come with?" She asked. Jessica and Emily nodded their heads in rapid succession, making Beca laugh and grin. "Then get dressed, get your butts into gear, and get into the car within ten minutes!"
Ten minutes later, the three girls drove in Chloe's van to the McDonald's nearby. They entered the place, went up to the counter, and looked over the menu. "I think I'll get two bacon, egg, and cheese McMuffins with hashbrowns and a chocolate milkshake." Beca said. "Isn't that terrible for your health?" Jessica asked. "Yeah, for a normal person, but, unlike you guys, if I eat like shit, I can still retain my natural body weight. So, that's what's gonna be my breakfast!" She said, happily.
After the three girls ordered their food and grabbed it, they sat down at a table, eating in almost complete silence, until Emily started talking. "So, I can't tell anyone else, I'm assuming?" She asked. "Mmm hmm." Beca said, taking a bite of one of one of her McMuffins. "Don't feel bad, Em. I can't talk about it, either." Jessica remarked.
As the girls continued eating, Emily got a news alert on her phone. She read it, and automatically handed her phone to Beca. "Just read it." Emily said. Beca did, and saw what was going on: a bank robbery, lead by the masked man. "Jess, the costume is in the car, right?" Beca asked. "Yeah. Why?" Jessica asked. Beca responded by showing her the news alert. "Holy shit. I'll unlock the car. I guess I'll have to put your breakfast in the fridge. Do you need me to drive you?" Jessica continued, as she unlocked the car, and Beca got up from the seat. "No time. If I fly, it'll be faster. People's lives are at stake, and I can't let them down." Beca said. "Beca, wait!" Emily protested, as Beca ran out the door.
When she got outside, Beca opened the van door, grabbed her costume from the front seat, and changed into it in the backseat. After getting on the costume, she jumped out of the car, and flew off to the bank, which was a fifteen minute drive from where she was. It would only take five minutes to fly there.
When she had the bank in sight, Thunderbird flew down, and made her way to the police officers who were already at the scene. "I'm here to help. Can you give me details?" She asked the man who she recognized as the Chief of Police, Benjamin Collins. "How can I trust you when you dress like that?" Collins questioned her. "Because right now, I'm the only one here with unbreakable skin, and the ability to manipulate time. So, I'll ask again: can you give me details?" She asked.
Collins stared at her momentarily, before finally saying, "There's at least eighteen hostages inside. There are eighteen gunmen in total, with half of them guarding the outside of the building, and the other half inside of the building, guarding the hostages. We think the anarchist from that car show is inside. And whatever it is they're using for guns, they're heavy artillery. Probably stolen military equipment. Can you take out the gunmen?" Thunderbird smirked, and said, "Chief, not a single hostage inside that building will be harmed." Collins nodded his head, before Thunderbird turned around, and flew toward the gunmen outside.
When one of the gunmen heard her coming, he began firing his weapon at Thunderbird, before she landed by kicking him in the chest, one down, and throwing his weapon at another gunman, two down. Then, she ran toward two other gunman standing next to one another, their backs turned from her, and she smashed both of their heads together, knocking them unconscious, three, four. This alerted her presence to the rest of the gunmen, who began firing at her. So, she decided to make a plan of attack, and retreated around a corner. She began to survey the area from around the corner.
Five gunmen, one minigunner on top of a truck, three standing next to one another, waiting for Thunderbird to show her face, and the last one coming up towards where she was. So, she quickly disposed of the gunman around the corner, four, and slowed down time, to deal to with the three gunmen standing next to one another, by flying directly into them, and slamming them into the truck that the minigunner was on top of, six, seven, eight. She decided to take out the minigunner by hitting him where it would hurt, but first, she needed to get the weapon out of his hands.
She flew up into the air, and then dropped down on top of the minigunners head. She began to dig her gloved fingers into his eyes, making him cry out in pain, as she grabbed the weapon from his hands, snapped it in half, and slammed her fist into his chest, and her foot into his face, knocking him down to the ground, nine.
Thunderbird flew back to Collins, and said, "Half of them are disposed of, Chief. Your officers can move down there, and wait for my signal." As she began to head back to deal with the robbers on the inside, Collins called after her. "Wait! What will your signal be?" He asked. Thunderbird turned around, smiled, and said, "You'll know when you see it." Then, she flew back to do what she had come to do.
The men in the building had heard what was going on outside. "She's here, isn't she? Get ready, gentleman! And prepare to be hurt." The man in the mask said, over the gunmen's radio channel. The men cocked their weapons, and were on the lookout for any and all indications of Thunderbird being there. Then, they heard a sound, a 'WHOOSH', and looked around. Then, two men were suddenly taken out, rather quickly. The gunmen turned to the spot where there two fellow soldiers just stood, and were perplexed as to what just happened.
Suddenly, the fire alarm turned on, and, as one of the gunmen saw Thunderbird approaching, and as he aimed his weapon at her, time slowed down, and she began to disarm and slam every single one of the seven gunmen through a window, starting with the gunman who was about to shoot her.
When she was done, she flew back in, stood in front of the visibly frightened hostages, and asked, "Are you alright?" Then, she heard a gun cock. "Turn… around… now." The man in the mask said. Thunderbird turned around, and saw him holding a loaded gun to a young boy's head. "So, I see you came. And, you took out my men." He said. "Don't shoot the boy." She said, in a low, dangerous voice. "What will you do? Break my neck? Shatter my spine? Hurt me in some long-term way?" He asked. "I'll bring you Hell." She threatened. "I'll fire on the boy before you even have the chance to save the others." He threatened back, smirking, as Thunderbird's eyes widened beneath her mask. "What? Did you really think that the bomb at the car show was the last one I had in my possession? Oh, Thunderbird. You stupid, stupid woman." He said, smugly, as he revealed a trigger in his pocket.
"If I press my thumb on this trigger, the bombs in the location I've hid them in will explode have an impact three times the impact that the one at the car show would have had. That means it will be enough to level five street blocks. So, what will it be, Thunderbird? We both know you can only slow down time for so long." The man in the mask said, making Thunderbird's heart skip multiple beats. "Oh yes, I know what you are, what you can do, and I know you. So, what will it be?"
As Thunderbird contemplated what to do, the man in the mask said, "Oh, who am I kidding? I'll just shoot the boy and detonate the bombs." As he was about to press the button, both Thunderbird and the man in the mask heard a car horn, and saw the truck that the masked man and his associates arrived in driving directly towards them. Knowing full well who was in the truck, and what was about to happen, Thunderbird slowed down time, flew over to the masked man, grabbed the boy, and flew to a safe spot. As time returned to its natural speed, the truck crashed into the masked man at full speed, knocking him into a wall. When he hit the wall, he slumped to the ground, unconscious.
When Thunderbird looked up, she saw none other than Jessica Smith and Emily Junk getting out of the van. "Thank you for your help. But it was a dangerous risk, doing what you just did." Thunderbird said, in a deep voice. "We know." Jessica said. "And that's why we did it." Emily finished. Thunderbird gave a knowing nod of her head, and set the hostages free. "Go out the back door." She said to Emily and Jessica in her normal voice, before turning to grab the masked man, and walking through the bank's front door, with the other hostages.
She saw Collins and the other police officers and paramedics making their way towards her and the hostages. When she got to the Chief, she dropped the masked man's body on the ground. "He's all yours, Chief." The Chief bent down, and pulled off the mask, revealing who the man was, much to Thunderbird's shock. "No… it can't be." She thought to herself, as she saw Thomas 'Tom' Matthews, Chloe's ex-boyfriend, lying on the ground, unmasked.
Author's Note: And the Anarchist is revealed! That's right, Tom is the bad guy! And his motives will be explained in later chapters! The next chapter will be the Riff-Off, and will feature more music, as well as some more interactions between Beca, Jessica, Emily, and (possibly) Chloe! Thank you all for reading, leave a review if you wish, and I will see you next time!