Gear Crash

Chapter 11

"Don't move or you'll get shot! I don't want to hurt anyone, I want your money, not your life!" One of the men in the black yelled. The group of men spread out across the restaurant, all holding up guns directed at the civilians. Two of them strode across to the front desk, and started grabbing fistfuls of cash out of the register. The terrified cashier hid underneath the counter, trembling. Kyle slowly moved close enough to Simon to whisper into his ear.

"Suit's in my bag. Make a distraction'" Simon nodded, the message understood. Kyle slowly moved back, far enough away from Simon to be unnoticed. Simon took a deep breath, then suddenly stood up.

"DAAAAAY-OOOOOOOO!" Heads turned towards him. The men in black raised their guns, pointing at him.

"Daaaay-ooooo, daylight come and he wan' go hoooooome!" Kyle smiled, quietly getting into his suit in the corner, amused by Simon's distraction. Simon began snapping his fingers and dancing. "Work all night for a drink of rum! Daylight come and he wan' go hoooome! Stack banana t'ill the morning come!" The men seemed puzzled, unsure what to do. One of them turned to the leader.

"What do we do with this clown?" The leader shook his head, looking flustered.

"Shut him up, but don't hurt him." The henchman walked over to Simon and pulled out a rope. 

"You're annoying, so... bye!" He began to tie Simon up with the rope, when Kyle finally finished putting on his suit and flew into the room.

"Alright, play time's over. Y'all are going to jail." The men began rapidly firing bullets at him. Kyle raised his hands, and an electric pulse swept through the room, hitting all the bullets and and causing them to hit the ground with a clink, useless. One of the men ran up and tried to fire another bullet. He clicked the trigger. Nothing happened. He looked up to see Kyle's grinning face. "That little trick I just pulled is called an EMP, which stands for electrical maelstrom pulse. It basically kills any electrical device it touches. I hope none of you were carrying your phones with you." Simon burst free of the ropes that had been binding him, and pulled out his tranquilizer gun. He fired two darts into two of the men closest to him. They fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Who wants some? Because they can get some!" Simon sprayed a wave of darts into the air. They cut into the row of henchmen, and pretty soon, the only ones left standing were Simon and Kyle.

"Well, that was pretty eventful." Kyle muttered, as he stepped out of his suit. "Let's get this money back where it belongs."

"N-not so fast!" Kyle and Simon turned around. They had forgotten about the leader. He had grabbed a random bystander, and held a gun to her head. "Give me the m-money, or she dies!"

"You don't have to do this," Kyle said, trying to calm him down. "What's your name?"

"L-l-lester." The man's hands trembled as he pushed the gun closer to the bystander's head. Kyle looked at him. He clearly had no  business robbing a two year old for it's ice cream, much less a store.

"Why are you doing this? You obviously don't want to be here, why would you want to turn to a life of crime?"

"M-my d-daughter. She's sick with leukemia. I don't have enough money." His voice raised to a shout. "Give me the money or this one dies!"

"Listen to me, Lester, you don't have to do this. You're a good man. We can help you raise the money in some other way. Not like this."

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Lester cried. "Please, just give me the money, and this can all be over." Simon looked over.

"Is this what your daughter would want?" He quietly said. Lester froze. His face turned pale. He let go of the woman, then dropped his gun.

"Take me away." He whispered. The police arrived. They arrested Lester and his hired group of mercenaries, and took him into the police van. The last Kyle saw of him was the image of him sitting in the police van, sobbing uncontrollably. The news reporters crowded around the scene of the crime, trying to get a picture of the 'new' superhero.

"That was close." The bystander said. She stood up and shook Kyle's hand. "My nickname's red, but you can call me Sophia." Kyle froze mid hand-shake. Red looked concerned. "Did I say something wrong?" Kyle paused for a second, then shook his head. 

"No you just reminded me of something that I need to do. It was nice meeting you." Kyle walked outside the restaurant, past Simon, past the paparazzi, past the police cars. He knew exactly what he was going to do.

He was going to find Sophia.