Anthology Two Presents

Mysteria
"A Brief Stop At The Bank"
By Philip Duplessis

Victoria Burke sighed with displeasure, as she stood motionless in the lobby of the Pacific City First Bank. She had intended to make a quick stop, but it seems as though her plans were going to be interrupted. She made the mistake of walking into
a bank robbery. Now a man stood in front of her, and pressed the barrel of machine gun into her stomach. She held her hands up in the air as her eyes flickered over his form.

He was an odious fellow, standing at a height of 5’5 and he was overweight. He wore a black ski mask over his face, and the only thing she could see were his muddy brown eyes and chapped lips. His black t-shirt was tight around his rolls. He wore ragged blue jeans and old, scuffed tennis shoes. She smelled his body odor this close, and it appalled her to no end. She was not used to having to deal with such disgusting people.

She saw another man pointing a gun at the crowd of hostages. He was skinny, and each of his movements broadcasted his nervousness. He was dressed in the same outfit as the man that was pointing a gun at her.

The overweight man rudely grabbed her arm, and began to drag her over to the group of hostages. In the process the sleeve of her stylish, black dress was ripped. She cursed the man inwardly, wishing that she had even the slightest chance of stopping the robbery. She could not, however, because she didn’t want to give away her identity. The man shoved her and she fell forward into the arms of a man who standing at the head of the hostages. He helped steadied her, and she gave him her thanks.

She stood there, as nervous as the other hostages, and watched a third man from the rear of the bank. He held a large burlap bag in his hands, and he was dressed differently from the other two men. He was dressed in a bright blue outfit, and had a small, red omega on his chest. A black cape trailed behind him. His face was hidden behind a black mask that covered all but the lower portion of his face. An evil smirk was plastered there, and his lips curled back to reveal perfect white teeth. His eyes shined dangerously from within the two holes on the upper portion of the mask. They both glowed with a fierce green light as he stared at the captives.

The caped man spoke, “Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your compliance. I am pleased to say that I have just about completed my robbery.”

As the man continued to ramble, Victoria’s eyes caught the movement of someone behind him. The figure looked familiar to her. Two bright yellow bursts of energy striking the guns out of the hands of the two men identified the man she thought it was. The guns flew across the room, leaving the two lackeys standing there dumbfounded.

He stepped out of the shadows, revealing his glory and she realized once again it would be Millennium Man who saved the day. The caped man turned around to face the Millennium Man, whose eyes were narrowed to slits at the would-be bank robber.

The criminal shouted, “Millennium Man!”

Millennium Man nodded, “To state the obvious. Now who are you?”

The criminal swept his cape back with one hand, and held onto the money with the other, before stating in a dramatic voice, “I am Lord Omega.”

Without warning the eyes of 'Lord Omega' lit up with a dangerous glow and twin beams shot out towards Millennium Man’s chest. The hero was sent backward into a wall, where he sat stunned briefly on the ground.

Victoria slipped back into the crowd hostages, who all focused their attention on the fight. There when no one saw her she disappeared from sight, literally, as she has been able to since that night at the charity event.

She crept along the edges of the crowd, stopping near the two men in ski masks. With a quick motion she grabbed their heads and slammed them together, producing a loud cracking sound. The hostages watched as the two men dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Lord Omega turned to see his two lackeys unconscious. His eyes looked over the group of hostages, not seeing the invisible Victoria Burke walk towards him. She balled her right hand into a fist, and slammed it into the area under his chin, before drawing back from him and sending a swift kick into his groin. The man dropped to the ground in pain, twisting his cape around him as he rolled around. Victoria acted quickly, tying the edges of the cape together. He was effectively captured within his own cape.

She quickly ran to the area behind the hostages, who all stared at the unconscious men and the pain-wracked, tied-up costumed man. She quickly willed herself visible behind one of the decorative pillars of the bank, and stepped back into the edges of the group.

She smiled as the Millennium Man stood up, and looked around for any sign of the person who stopped the three men. She felt good, and realized something. Maybe stopping at the bank wasn’t such a bad idea after all.