Amanda, looking morbid in her evil clown mask, reached the double glass doors on the west side of the building first and politely held one open for the others. Seth and Jake, as planned, were the first ones inside, followed quickly by Kashif and Josh. Kashif immediately dropped his golf bag, knelt down, and pulled out a driver and his bag of golf balls. Josh hooked his fingers underneath the skin of each wrist and pulled a throwing knife free, holding them loosely in hands that only shook a little. Raphael and Leslie stayed behind by the doors with Amanda for the moment. Seth opened his mouth as his eyes were darting around and studying every detail in front of him.

The main floor was circular, with a foreign currency transfer kiosk set in the center, like an iris in a giant linoleum eye. Today it was closed.

The tellers’ stations were located directly opposite the front doors, in a wide semi-circle that curled halfway around the room. The vault was behind a massive steel door on the south end of the circle.

There were only three tellers working that Seth could see, one of whom was probably a manager, and ten or twelve customers were in the process of being helped or were standing in line.

What Seth didn’t immediately see, but had already planned for, were the cameras set all over the ceiling, and the two or three security guards in a back room somewhere in the building that was filled with TVs, providing a panoramic view of the bank floor. Seth did spot another two guards on the floor, one on each end of the tellers’ semi-circle.

There was roughly ten million in the vault (or so Seth had promised), not including the personal safe boxes that customers could rent. And the nearest police station was literally right around the corner.

At this moment most of the angels in heaven were watching with baited breath.

Jake gave a pre-arranged hand signal to his friends, and then strobed as hard as he could. Even as the wall of light was rippling outwards, Seth stepped in and took over.

“Excuse me!” Seth’s booming voice was accompanied by a small explosion. Kashif had taken out the first of many cameras.

Just like in so many movies, everyone hit the deck immediately, hands going over heads in a protective ‘duck and cover’ fashion. Seth grinned.

“We’re here to rob the bank,” he continued conversationally. “We have absolutely no intention of harming ANYONE, so long as you don’t provoke us.” Seth punctuated the word ‘anyone’ with a shout that was strong enough to create a little breeze, ruffling the varied hair styles of those cowering on the ground. “Will everyone, except whoever is in charge, please come to the kiosk in the center of the room?” No one moved. “NOW!”

That got them going. The customers, two tellers (a guy and a girl, neither looking much older than twenty), and the two security guards got to their feet and slowly walked towards the kiosk, where Seth and Josh were standing. Kashif was making his way around the room taking out, with perfect aim, every camera he could see. Seth took this moment to pull a water bottle free from his backpack and take a long drink.

The manager, left behind, pressed the silent alarm button on the underside of his station. Seth didn’t see it, but assumed it would happen. Wanted it to happen.

On their way over Seth noticed one of the guards start to inch his right hand towards his gun, belted to his waist. He glanced at Josh, nodded in the direction of the guard, and raised his eyebrows.

Acting on the silent command, Josh cocked back his arm, took a half step forward, and threw his right hand knife in one quick move. The blade tumbled gracefully through the air and sank halfway into the guard’s shoulder. He grunted in surprise and pain and went down to one knee.

“Anyone else?” Seth asked the little group as Josh hooked another knife free. No one answered. “Hitter, come here a second.”

Kashif, mid swing, followed through and took out another camera before moving to join Seth and Josh. Seth gave a wave of his hand towards the locked door of the currency kiosk. Kashif, understanding, grabbed the door handle and gently pulled the door off its hinges, mindful of his limitations. It came off much easier than he expected.

“Inside please,” Seth politely ordered the hostages. They filed in, barely fitting into a room meant to hold no more than five people at a time.

Once they were settled (as much as they could be), Seth turned to his friends at the door. “Rockslide, you mind sealing this up? Just make sure to leave a crack at the top for oxygen.”

Leslie didn’t move forward to join them; she didn’t need to. Concentrating fiercely and using the stone covering her body as the focus point, she raised her hands. Bedrock from deep beneath the building tore through the floor in a circle around the kiosk, flowing upward much as her mask had flowed over her head, until nearly the entire kiosk was encompassed by a thin shell and the hostages were cut off from view.