“Really?!” She complained loudly after another five minutes. Hannah was not known for being a very tactful person. Heads turned as she continued, “That fatass has been at the booth for like an hour now!”

Just as it was proclaimed, the chubby man in front thanked his teller and shuffled away from the desk with his hat pulled over his eyes and his cheeks burning rose.

Hannah was not in the least bit regretful of her words. In fact, she would’ve been proud if there still weren’t another 20 people between her and the next available assistant.

Before the next banker made the full two steps to the front desk, the back door flew open too forcefully to be just another customer. That and the loud, “FREEZE!” had most people falling to their knees.

Hannah, along with the few less easily frightened customers, turned to see the menace that had entered. Her eyes promptly widened in fascination.

It was Raven Hood, the most well known super villain in the nation. Hannah had always observed his outfit as ridiculous when he would head-line in the news, but in person she was awe-struck. He wore a sleeveless black shirt with an unknown, faded crest on the upper right breast. A black cloak that reached his middle was slanted to drape over his left arm, leaving the Chinese dragon tattoo that crawled up his right arm exposed. His pants were simple, black, and form-fitting; and were tucked into two bulky black boots, one with two useless belts wrapped around the calf. To disguise his face, all he used was a generic black mask around his eyes, and a hunting hat with a red feather in it to further emphasize the dark-version-of-Robin-Hood idea. Last, but most definitely not least, was a bulky, silver belt with a warp-shaped buckle. This was the most important part of the costume, and what captivated Hannah the most. After all, it was where Raven Hood stored all of the super powers he had stolen from his former enemies.

Take from the blessed and give to, well, himself. That was Raven Hood’s motto. On any other day, it would’ve sounded cheesy to Hannah, but today, she repeated the phrase over and over in her head as the villain crossed the lobby of the bank with a sneer on his face. Everybody knew who he was and frankly, they parted for him.

“Uh, hello Mr. Hood,” the teller muttered, looking frightfully at her hands. Hannah couldn’t help but admire her bravery. Apparently, neither could Raven Hood.

“Good day,” he drawled in the most chilling super-villain-voice. “Listen, I need your help. Today’s a very special day. It’s my one year anniversary as a criminal and I just put my 10th super hero out of commission. I want to celebrate. May I take out a loan?”

“H-How much?”

“All of it.” The frightened woman nodded and ran to the safe.

It didn’t take very long for a whole bag to be filled with the bank’s own cash, and more was coming. But while he had rendered most vigilantes in the city utterly helpless, a few strong still remained.

“That’s enough, Raven!” came a booming voice from the doorway.

Calmly and curiously, Raven Hood turned from his growing cash pile and observed his latest nemesis. He promptly started to laugh. Even Hannah giggled a little at the costumed hero in the doorway. Fortunately, her input was drowned out by the various gasps and ‘awes’ of the people around her. She wasn’t too eager to draw attention to herself just yet.

The guy was small for a super hero and wore a padded latex jumpsuit. He looked like something right out of a comic book, with decorative flames dancing up his legs and arms, a red scarf, gloves, boots, and a bandana-like mask. Ridiculous.

“Who are you?”

“Inferno,” the boy replied proudly. “And I’m here to stop you!”

Raven Hood snorted and laughed again, slapping his knee as he tried to regain his breath. “Are you serious?! How old are you?!”

Inferno frowned. “Well, you’ve done away with all the adult super heroes. I figure I’m all this city has left.”

“And that makes you think you can stop me?” With another roar of mirth, Raven Hood turned back to his pile of money. “What a joke.”

Inferno replied by extending his open right palm, and consequently making a small desk with a vase atop it, explode. The flower and the wood caught on fire until the remaining water from the vase put most of it out. Good. Inferno didn’t want to burn the bank down, just demonstrate his power. Well, to his credit, it caught Raven Hood’s attention.

“Oh, I see,” the menace sneered, leaning back against the teller’s desk to better observe his opposition. “You want to do this the hard way.”

Inferno turned to the frightened on-lookers and signaled for them to vacate the premises. About five people made it through the doors before Raven Hood used one of his stolen specialties and blocked it with an electric force field. One unfortunate man got caught in the creation and was shocked to death, falling lifeless on the floor and extracting a blood curling scream from the other hostages.

“Wow,” Hannah breathed as everyone rushed to the walls and corners of the building. “Fucking intense.”

“I like to have an audience,” Raven Hood sneered, his belt buckle whirling and twisting in madness. It made Hannah dizzy to watch, so she focused on his hidden face instead.

Inferno wasted no time. He ducked to the side and grabbed a chair to throw at the villain. But just as it left his grip, the whole thing melted into lava. Raven Hood had been expecting a chair, not last minute liquid to burn through his clothes. A drop splattered his face, burning a hole in his cheek, but most got his cape and shirt. His seal was completely torched.

“Ahrg!” he roared as beads of perspiration doused his body. Smoke wafted from his burns and he glared at Inferno with death in his eyes. “You asked for it,” he growled, reaching for his belt. “Time to steal from the blessed.”

But Inferno was too fast. He extended his palm and obliterated the teller’s desk behind Raven Hood. The thief was thrown forward to the ground as flaming dollar bills rained on him.

Inferno walked toward the weakened villain, but Raven Hood created another electro-force field around himself as he stood up, still grasping his power-stealing buckle. Inferno, caught off guard by his quick hunter movements, just barely dodged the energy sucking power, rolling to the side. He ducked next to the edge of the barrier and lifted his palm to it. Immediately, the electrical current was interrupted and the whole thing melted, flames licking a circle around Raven Hood.

It was beautiful to watch, the fire dancing in Hannah’s admiring orbs. How she longed for such a power. If only-

Raven Hood cursed as the fiery super hero got closer. But in the blink of an eye, he was gone. Inferno stopped walking immediately as Raven Hood’s chuckle circled around him.

“Forgot about that night elf I took out, eh?”

Inferno, luckily, heard the whirling of the power-snatching belt and jumped to evade it once again. But, afraid that the saying ‘the third time’s a charm’ would come true, the vigilante wasn’t about to risk losing his powers again. It was his and the innocent hostage’s only weapon. So he was going to have to sacrifice some of their nerves to protect it.

He sporadically began to ignite explosions along the carpet and every unoccupied portion of the wall. People ducked and people screamed, but Inferno kept at it until finally, he made a hit. The explosion went off right behind Hannah’s head, sending her red strands flickering about her face and Raven Hood, now visible, to the floor by her feet.

Inferno approached calmly as Hannah sunk to her knees beside the lifeless villain and others scrambled away. But Raven Hood did not move. Not as Inferno knelt beside him, unhooked his belt, and melted most of the weapon, leaving the charred remains at Hannah’s feet.

“He won’t be bothering anyone again,” Inferno muttered in a highly recognizable voice. Hannah ignored the familiar itch in her subconscious, however, and put all of her attention on the burnt clump before her.

The sirens blared down the street as Inferno took a window exit, followed by the applause of the lives he’d saved. Hannah was uninterested in all that. She learned forward, tentatively touching the remains of the villainous weapon. It was cool. Encouraged, she picked it up and rolled it in her hands. The warp in the middle was mostly untouched if only by a few minor burns. It didn’t look too bad…

Maybe… just maybe…

The police entered the scene just then. Luckily, the teenaged redhead was able to pocket her new prize before being shoed out of the bank.

Hannah and her mom swooped by Wal-Mart and got her sister some super cheap, lame excuse for a gift for her sister, and then left it at the house for her sister to open when she returned from the party, thus making it so that they didn’t have to stop by. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad day after all.