Lights, Camera, Action!

Chapter 29: Pass Go, Collect £200,000

This was child's play for Petal and Honey. Breaking, entering and hacking a bank was a training exercise she had given her daughter as a child. Granted, Honey had only ever practised this in theory but Petal had done this a couple of times. It wasn't difficult however despite Rosepetal knowing full well of its assassin population and who they worked for. Beauty was actually quite popular in the town with the majority of the people liking her in spite of her unpredictable nature. Therefore, people didn't get on her bad side and need to protect themselves against her assassins.

Out of all of the buildings in town, the bank was probably one of the easiest to find. It was quite big and made of marble with a large golden sign that read 'Bank of Rosepetal'. Despite it being broad daylight, the two assassins walked causally into the building. There were a group of people on the other side of the desks who were dealing with the citizens. Mother and daughter blended in well as they approached one of the empty slots. Lucky for them, the person who served them wasn't one of the three people who were at the studios the other day. "Hello, welcome to the Bank of Rosepetal, how can we help you on this fine day?" They were being friendly and doing their job but Honey sighed beside her mother.

Petal ignored her muttering about 'idiots' and 'fake cheeriness' to focus on the task at hand. Honey was a brilliant killer, excellent sleuth and fantastic flirt when it came down to it and could handle any weapon but lately her mother had seen her lacking in basic people skills. Socialising and small talk was not her forte so that was why Petal accompanied her on certain jobs. Unlike Honey, she hadn't been trained from birth as an assassin. It was only after her own mother died and she gave birth to her son, Twig, Petal felt the need to become one.

"We've come to collect a withdrawal." She smiled sweetly at the bank worker, carefully choosing her words.

They thought nothing of it and got the bank numbers up. "Okay, what vault number is it?" Petal acted like she was getting her notebook out to check and showed the worker the number.

The assassin had long since discovered the numbers to some of the more secure vaults. If they followed protocol, the worker would have to check with their manager. This would give Honey enough time to disable the lights and Petal to see what vaults had appeared on the computer. Once the lights were out, panic would ensue and people would flee. Bankers would come out and be confused while the two assassins could walk easily into the vaults that contain the most money that the studio needed. Of course the vaults would lock down and be a bit tricky for anyone of less skill than them. However Petal would blow the joints holding the door in place while Honey took out the security cameras. Then they would get the money and climb out the window. Then along the roof and back to the studios with enough money to help get everything back on track.

The bank worker nodded as they read the number. "I see. Hold on." The assassins waited for them to go and talk to their superiors and follow protocol but instead they remained sat there and clicking away at the computer. "Okay, how much are you planning to withdraw?" The worker acted like nothing was out of the ordinary and the women were starting to panic.

Honey cleared her throat behind them. "Last time we made a withdrawal, the person had to check with their manager." Hopefully this worker had forgotten their cue and just simply needed a little push to get the scene running smoothly once more.

They shook their head. "That was the old policy once security realised it was a hazard to leave the vaults and money unattended. Rest assured, your money is safe. Withdrawal?" Petal mentally cursed for underestimating the bank's systems and thought for a moment. They had no idea how much money was in the vault or any other codes needed to unlock it. This scenario was completely unprofessional and should've been avoided yet the pair were cocky and underestimated their opponent.

Realising her mother was stuck, Honey slowly unhooked her bow and loaded it with an arrow behind her back.. "Yes, we'd like to withdraw the entirety of the money." The worker blinked in surprise at her request but proceeded anyway. The thing was, Petal had done these types of jobs a million times before and wasn't used to improvising so suddenly. She often spent a week or so planning it before going out one night and completing it. Honey had survived due to improvising. Improvising her food supplies, weaponry, escape routes. If things went off piece then that was where she shined.

"Very well. We just need the access code for such a vault. So-" They never got to finish their question because at that moment Honey disabled the lights and plunges the bank into temporary total darkness. Slightly panicked mutterings sprung up everywhere but not from the person serving them. In the few seconds of darkness, Honey took aim and fired. The arrow hit their head with ease and the death was silent and instantaneous. Retrieving the arrow, she hopped over the counter and her mother followed.

The red emergency lights flickered on and people's visibility began to return. Screams and shouts started once they saw the dead body and the two assassins slipped past them all undetected. The security cameras were also offline so as they made their way past the offices and to the vaults, no one saw them. "Good work." Petal whispered to her as their goal came in sight. She hadn't been expecting that and things could have gotten a lot tricker without Honey's quick thinking.

While it warmed her heart to hear her teacher's praise, Honey didn't let it distract her. It was nice but not necessary. "This is the vault." She pointed to a larger one with red lasers criss-crossing the door. They suspected that if someone was to cut the lasers then more alarms would go off and the money would never be theirs.

Petal nodded and pulled out her katana. She lifted it up so the tip grazed the laser pointer and pierced the steel. The red lights flickered and died before them. With the security taken offline, all they needed was to get inside. Frankly, all that would take was either a massive push after freezing the hinges. So that was what they did. Honey pulled out a bottle filled with something that Petal suspected she should not have. Pushing herself up onto her tiptoes, the younger assassin saw the gap between the door and wall where the hinges were. The liquid was then poured onto them and it rapidly froze the metal over. Stepping back, the pair watched as the ice froze over the entire door. Then they took a running start at the door and slammed their body weight against it.

Neither woman was particularly heavy but with their combined momentum and strength pressing against the weaker parts of the door, it gave way. The door crashed into a vault with a loud bang but with the screams and sirens it barely made any difference to the cacophony. Walking inside, Honey gave a low whistle at what they saw and Petal grinned. "Beauty, we've found the score. You're going to like it." The older assassin could communicate to their boss through her watch.

"Excellent. Hurry up and bring it back." The pair did as she said and started to gather as much money as they could from the mountains upon mountains of gold within the vault.

Honey sighed as she hauled a pile of coins into a bag. "I didn't think Rosepetal had all this money in the first place." She had seen what good this money could do if the owners actually chose to use it.

Petal grinned. "There are a few pockets of poverty but the majority of the town is rather wealthy. Plus technically, this money belongs to Beauty so we are making a withdrawal." Honey stopped shovelling gold into a bag and her pockets for herself and looked up at her mother.

"What do you mean?" As far as she was aware, this money belonged to the council.

Petal shook her head. "It's not that important. This money belongs to the council, right?" Honey nodded. "Well the person who had control over the vault is the mayor. The last mayor of Rosepetal was Thorn Rose. He controlled who had the money. His family was also meant to have access to it but Beauty was locked out. That's why she has her own bank account." The assassins continued to haul the money as the mountains soon became hills.

Honey stopped again and thought for a moment. "Why is the company called Thorn Pictures if Beauty and him hated each other?" It seemed like a strange thing to do.

Petal grinned at her, a glint in her eye. "Why not? It makes absolutely, perfect sense."

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, Legoland was a lot of fun. Now that my holiday is over and it's still half-term, the updates will be back on schedule. I thought that how Honey and Petal broke into the bank was interesting. I'll hopefully update again tomorrow. Happy Jubilee and bye, bye.