Nova Agent Nikolai
From Toosigma
The Bank Robbery
Melanie gazed up at the clock for the millionth time that day, willing it to travel faster to the end of her shift. Realizing that no amount of wishing would accelerate the seconds, she lowered her gaze to the long line of customers waiting to speak to the tellers. With a heavy sigh she turned back to finish a few keystrokes from her last transaction, and called out for the next in line.
"How can I help you today?" she asked without looking up.
"Well, I suppose you can start by giving me one hundred fifteen million dollars." Melanie almost broke into a grin before she looked up and noticed the muzzle of a gun pointing at her from his coat.
"Now, now, sweetheart, don’t go freezin’ up on me. Just you go back to your manager over there, and tell him to give me what I want."
Melanie turned and followed his instructions, as if on autopilot. Henry, the manager, was appreciably shocked when she first spoke to him, but quickly recovered his composure and moved back to the vault. These robbers were obviously well informed, because the bank was holding just over one hundred fifteen million dollars in cash, which was scheduled to be shipped out in only an hour.
Melanie shuffled zombie-like back to her station, where the young man waited patiently for his orders to be fulfilled. A flicker of hope raced through her as she noticed the security guard standing up and walking toward her. She struggled to keep her eyes on the robber to keep from alerting him to the impending conflict.
“FREEZE!” the guard yelled, pulling his service revolver. The robber’s confident smile turned immediately to a dissatisfied frown, but he did not turn or drop his weapon. Melanie could only watch in horror as the guard’s entire chest seemed to explode, showering her in blood and gore.
The crowd erupted in panic, some sprinting for the exits and most diving for the safety of the floor. Seven other wolves left the cowering sheep, pulling a variety of lethal devices from hidden caches.
“Now, my dear, you will give me my money!” the first robber said as he pressed the gun into her forehead. She backed up in fear as he leaped over the divider and herded her into the back. As they approached the vault, Melanie saw the prone body of Henry, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle and a thin pool of blood forming beneath his right arm. Another robber was hard at work opening the vault, and Melanie gasped when she saw the severed hand lying discarded on the floor next to him.
Seconds later, the vault opened, and three more of the robbers came into the back, carrying large duffel bags for the cash. They set to work filling the bags, while the first robber stood guard at the vault door, with Melanie’s arm in a firm grip when a strange noise carried back into the vault area.
“Go check it out…” One of the other robbers picked up his weapon and hustled around the corner to the reception area. His body came flying back around the corner a second later, slamming into the wall hard enough to leave an imprint. Following behind him was a tall man, dressed in a long flowing jacket and what appeared to be some sort of metallic shiny body armor.
The remaining four robbers all turned their guns on the stranger, firing dozens of rounds. The stranger seemed unfazed by the bullets and strode purposefully over to the robbers, wrenching the guns from their hands as though taking toys from spoiled children. With no apparent effort, he incapacitated the three robbers in the vault, and then turned to deal with Melanie’s captor.
“Not another step!” the robber said as he quickly drew a knife to replace his confiscated gun and held it to Melanie’s throat. The stranger stopped his approach, and simply raised his empty left hand. The robber tensed, pressing the blade harder against her throat, drawing a thin trickle of blood. And suddenly, the pressure ceased. The stranger walked up to the pair, and gently grasping Melanie’s hand, drew her away from her attacker. Melanie stared at the robber, face frozen in a rictus of fear and his arm still holding the knife to where her throat once was.
“You are safe now. The authorities have been summoned. I must go now,” the stranger said in a low, calm voice.
“But who are you?” Melanie managed to ask.
“A friend.”
The Escape
Adam raced from the bank as police cars pulled into the area and stormed the building. He pulled his trench coat around his unorthodox attire and sprinted down a back alley. One of the resident winos looked up at the noise, but in the second it took to raise his head, Adam was already out of sight.
Two minutes later and nearly twenty miles away, Adam stopped at a seedy motel that would be home for the next few hours. He paid the clerk, who looked somewhat surprised that Adam did not have some local prostitute on his arm, and walked up the stairs to the fourth floor room.
He turned on the sink and splashed water on his face, looking at the face in the mirror. To think it had been almost three years. His once dark brown hair was now peppered with gray, and the worry lines in his face bespoke a much greater passage of time. Three years of having these incredible powers, being faster and stronger than any human had ever been, with the power to paralyze with a gesture, and he had finally used them to do good in the world. He flung himself onto the bed, closing his eyes to savor the euphoric feeling.
He started awake some time later. The sun was now setting, casting the room in an eerie shade of orange. He walked to the window, looking out on the city as it awoke to the evening with the glimmer of a thousand lights.
“You have to go back, you know,” came a quiet voice. Adam whirled around, spotting the dark figure standing next to the door. Dressed in jeans and a black leather jacket, with his arms crossed over his chest, the figure hardly seemed threatening.
“I’m not going back. Not now, not ever,” Adam said, his voice almost trembling with fear.
“You don’t have a choice.”
“You can’t understand the feeling, Nik! I saved someone’s life today! I saved dozens of lives! Isn’t that worth the risk?”
“Are you coming with me, or not?”
Adam raised his arm to paralyze his opponent, but he suddenly was no longer there. An inky black shadow cloaked the room, completely drowning out the remnants of the sun. Adam raced for the door, knowing his only salvation lay in escape. He flew down the stairs with his preternatural speed and practically flew out a side door into an alley.
He ran headlong into his pursuer, and collapsed on the ground, gasping as though he had run into a wall. Nikolai helped Adam to his feet, but maintained a vise-like grip on his hand. Nik looked Adam straight in the eye, and said, “Goodbye, Adam.”
Nikolai strode from the alley, leaving only a small pile of ashes that was quickly dispersed by the wind.
Report for Duty
The following morning Nikolai walked into an office for his after-action report.
“Good morning, Agent (LAST NAME). I hear you have good news!” the man behind the desk said.
“I retired Agent McIntyre at 1832 Pacific time,” Nikolai stated.
“I knew you were the right man for the job. The weenies in psych suggested we send Bravo Team, given your history.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Your record speaks for itself. Still, I’ve decided that you need some time off.”
“I don’t need a vacation, sir,” Nikolai said stiffly.
“You and Agent McIntyre were partners for two years, and you don’t want a little time off to let things simmer a bit?”
“No sir. I’d rather get back to work, sir.”
“Well, I admire your spirit, but Psych has suspended your status until you take a month of leave. Alternately, you can volunteer for a psych review at Central, and be back in just two weeks.”
“Sir, with all due respect, I’ve never met a Psych who knows which end is up, and which end the shit comes out of. Sir.”
“Ain’t that the truth. But orders are orders, and this comes down from on high. You want the review, or not?”
“I’ll take the review. Thank you, sir.”
Nikolai walked down the hallway, wanting nothing more than to back out hunting fugitives.
