Amanda – Hourglass
Monday the 13th, Jak and Aaron had just sat down at their table outside. Amanda was walking with her best friend and co-villain, Leslie, towards Nostalgia. Neither worked until later, so when Leslie invited her to talk over a cup of coffee, Amanda readily agreed.
“…saw that article in the paper?” Leslie was asking.
“Of course. Lends weight to the idea that there really is a hero group out there to counterbalance our ‘villains’.”
“So what do you think? Still want to follow through on this bank heist idea?”
Amanda shrugged. “Yeah, I think so. With this new information about the heroes, though, I think the sooner the better. Before their group really gets organized and stuff, you know? Not to mention we still don’t know how many of them there are. Three, at the least.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking, too.”
“There’s just one little detail that I think is really important,” Amanda ventured cautiously.
“What’s that?”
“Well, we need to ensure that we’re going to be taken seriously, right? I’m not saying we should kill half the hostages in the bank to prove we’re not messing around, but I think we need to be willing to off one or two if we have to.”
“What? I don’t think so! I think we can do plenty without actually having to kill anybody. I mean, look at all the bank heist movies, like the one with the surfer bandits who wore dead president masks. They robbed tons of banks and never even raised a hand towards the hostages!”
“True, but when they robbed banks in that movie they never hit the vault, they just settled for the chump change. When we do it, we’re going to be going for a lot of money, and that means spending more time in the bank, more risk of an exchange with the cops, maybe an exchange with the heroes, however many of them there may actually be,” Amanda countered.
“But that still doesn’t mean we have to do more than maybe toss some people around a little bit. Did you see the one where one of the robbers hid in the vault, and the cops never found him? Then later, when the heat had died off a little, he made a totally ninja escape!”
“Yeah. That was a sweet movie.”
“Right, and they scored millions in diamonds! They beat up a couple people, but they got away scot free without killing anybody.”
“How about the newest comic book movie that just came out, whatever it’s called? In the very first scene the bad guy kills a ton of people and gets away with how many millions of dollars?”
“That’s different,” Leslie said, shaking her head. “He was killing his own men so he wouldn’t have to share, and a mob guy who doesn’t count. Plus, he was a lunatic! You’re saying you’re going to kill all of us when this is said and done so you get more money?”
“Of course not!” Amanda replied with a forced laugh, trying to keep the mood lighthearted. “Ok, all movies aside, then. I’m just saying we need to be prepared for anything. Hell, if the time comes and you guys feel weird about it, I’ll kill the hostage.”
Leslie stopped, staring at Amanda as if just seeing her for the first time. “You just want to kill someone, don’t you?” she asked quietly.
“What if I do?” Amanda snapped back. “What is anyone going to do about it? If I can get away with it, why the fuck not, right? Isn’t that part of why we’re robbing a bank, because we can? Kash was right; we’re like gods! We can do whatever we want! Besides, aren’t we the villains? What better way to get our name on the map!”
“Not like that,” Leslie said, anger seeping into her voice. “Look, robbing a bank, that’s insured by the way, is one thing. Killing somebody? Do you really want someone’s blood on your hands? Do you?!”
“Who’s going to stop me?!” They were both shouting now, not noticing the weird looks other people were giving them as they walked past. “The so-called heroes? The cops? You?! I’ll take you right now, if that’s how you feel!” Amanda was powering up as she screamed, the waves of her field swimming in her vision, slightly distorting the world around her. Her irises began to swirl in slow motion.
Leslie stopped in her tracks. There was silence as the two friends stared at each other.
“Amanda,” Leslie finally said, anger dissipating, “how could you say that? You’re my best friend. I’m just trying to do what’s right by you. I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret.”
Amanda’s shoulders slumped, and the rage and power drained out of her at the same time. “I just…I can’t…I don’t want to get hurt. I don’t want to get hurt. Not again.” The last part Amanda said so quietly that Leslie didn’t hear.
Leslie, thinking her friend was talking about the heist, came forward and put her arms around Amanda. For a moment they stood there, until Amanda shook her head and pulled back.
“I’m really sorry,” Amanda said. “I would never do anything to hurt any of you, you know that.”
“I know. I’m sorry, too. I’m just looking out.”
Amanda smiled, and the last of the tension passed.
For the rest of the walk to Nostalgia they talked about lighter things, like where Amanda wanted to have her birthday get together in the next few weeks, and whose house they were drinking at that night. Amanda was only paying attention with half a mind, though, as the other half was seriously contemplating telling Leslie about what had happened to her the night they all got their powers. She desperately wanted to tell somebody, but at the same time there was a little voice screaming that if it could be buried, it could be like it never happened.
Just as Amanda had made up her mind to talk about it, they arrived at the coffee shop. Maybe, had the timing been different and Amanda had gotten everything out in the open, things would have ended differently. Maybe nobody would have died.
As it was, though, their arrival temporarily put an end to their conversation.