“I’ve been thinking this over, and tell me if you have any criticisms or different ideas. We go in and make a show to start with to get everyone on the ground and under control. For that we need something flashy-”

“Like Jake,” Kashif interrupted.

“Exactly like Jake. He goes in first, starts flashing like a strobe to get everyone’s attention as well as blind ‘em for a second. The rest of us follow, me using my voice like a bullhorn, issuing instructions, telling them to get on the ground, all that jazz. Kashif, how’s your aim with a golf club?”

“Pretty damn accurate.”

“Think you can take out the security cameras?”

“No problem, I’ll bring my sand wedge.”

“Perfect, you start doing that while everyone’s still screaming and confused and stuff. Exploding cameras should help convey the seriousness of the situation and really freak everyone out. Josh, you and I will take the lead, finding whoever is in charge of the bank at the time and telling them to open the vault. They say no, either I’ll blow some eardrums, or maybe you could do a little slicing. No serious wounds, just something that looks nasty and hurts a lot, but is in reality just a flesh wound. The worse it looks, the less trouble I think we’ll get from everyone else. If they behave after that, we’ll have Raphael take their pain. Hell, that’ll be win-win, giving Raphael more ammunition!” Seth paused to take a long drink, and then turned to Kashif. “Speaking of Raphael, did you talk to him about loading up his pain stores?”

“I did, and he said he’s going to go over to the University Hospital tomorrow after class and try to weasel his way into the ICU, claim it has to do with school credit or something. Once he gets in he’ll just soak everything up like a sponge.”

“Very nice. Maybe tell him to hit the maternity ward, as well. Does he have anything protective to wear?”

Kashif rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right. He and Jake are so convinced of their godhood now that they have powers that neither will be wearing protection. Except for masks; I made them promise to find something to cover their faces with.”

“Good,” Josh said emphatically, “we don’t want to get caught just because the younger kids want to show off.”

Seth didn’t respond, as he was busy looking for the bartender. “Hey I’ll be right back; I’m going to get a refill on the pitcher.” He said distractedly as he got up with the current, recently emptied pitcher and wandered off. When he came back with the new one, Josh and Kashif had already moved on to who in the bar they were going to try and pick up.

“Guys, guys,” Seth said, sitting down, “we can grab some girls in a second, but we should really finish this first.”

“Yeah, all right,” Josh said, reaching for the new pitcher. Kashif beat him to it, “But hurry up, will ya?”

“Like you’re actually going to talk to any girls anyway,” Kashif pointed out with a smug grin, refilling their steins.

Seth laughed. “I’ll try to wrap up the rest quickly. So for the hostages, I was thinking that Leslie could keep them under control with Jake, since she has a pretty flashy power as well. Anyone thinks of trying anything hero-like, Leslie can club them down. Kash, after you take out the cameras I want you to watch my and Josh’s back. Amanda will cover the front entrance, slow down anyone trying to get in or out so we can deal with them. Raphael I want to have floating in the background, ready to move in anywhere he’s needed at the drop of a hat, as he’ll be our ace in the hole for putting people down without a fight. Sound good so far?”

Josh nodded. Kashif, though, was curious. “When did you come up with all this? It’s fairly detailed, and we’ve only been talking about it since Saturday.”

“I initially got the idea when I first got powers with the rest of you on the 4th. Since I found out about the powers you all have, it’s been rolling around in my head, gaining speed and structure. Plus, at my work there’s nothing to do most of the day. I just sit on the internet and do research or homework. And planning this is WAY more fun that doing homework.”

Kashif smiled. “Works for me.”

“Anyway, the cops show, we have Raphael put some of them down temporarily to prove we’re a serious threat, I use my voice to negotiate a bus to the airport with a fueled jet waiting for us, and voila! Next thing you know we’re sitting on a beach getting drunk, with millions in our pockets after very little hassle.”

“Sounds fairly easy,” Josh mused.

“Hopefully it will be, but you never know. We still don’t have any way to plan around any heroes showing up, though we do know that there may be a guy with electricity, and the friend of the hero that Amanda killed sounds like he might have enhanced speed. Another reason why we need Amanda there,” Seth said sharply.

“So all we have to do now is tell everyone else and get organized, yeah?” Kashif asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yep,” Seth replied nonchalantly. “Oh, and I want us all to get together sometime to practice, but that can wait until later.”

“Ok, then let’s get drunk and try to convince some of these hotties to go home with me. Uh, I mean us. Except you, Josh. You can’t have any girls,” Kashif stated drily.

Josh flipped him off. It was shaping up to be a good night.