LIGHTNOVELONLINE Ch 22 – We Never Knock
The bomb collars were unexpected.
The other team arrived. It didn't take long for The Twilight Guard's gadgeteer to work out the means to take down the goo. WASP called into the bank to negotiate and as soon as the call started, the signal was given. The catalyst hit the goop and almost immediately it started to crumble. A large hole was forming for the WASP team and the Twilight Guard to go storming in.
The Rascals, using a teleport boosted Wanderer did a short port through the anti-teleport warding into the vault itself. It felt like getting turned into thread, fed through a needle, then being knitted back together on the other side. With Jack pumping up Wanderer's teleport, they managed to pull it off, barely. As they arrived on the other side they found the four men being held hostage sporting rather unfashionable bomb collars.
One of the bank robbers was also present in the vault with the detonator.
Unfortunately he was too far away to reach as they materialized. The teleport had a short delay before they could act. It was only a second while they appeared, but it was enough time for the robber to press the detonator.
The collars all started to beep. Just in case of an accidental triggering, there was a short timer from the moment when the button was pressed to the second when it exploded. Just a few seconds, mind you. Not enough time to make a difference, but enough time for someone to dive for cover. Certainly not enough time to disarm the bombs.
Grease was going to try anyways.
As she moved towards the first hostage, Jack put two and two together, reached out his hands, and with adrenaline surging through his veins felt himself reach out and pour everything he had into Grease. Specifically to boost up her speed. Tendrils of blue energy lanced out and caressed Grease in an almost loving fashion.
What happened next happened too fast for anyone else to see.
From Grease's point of view, she felt a surge the likes she had never encountered before. It was like everything came to a stop. She wasted a few subjective moments to look around. As she did, one of the lights on the bomb collars slowly started to brighten. The other's had begun to swell in unison as well.
She stared at Angel and saw him reaching out to her with both hands. The look on his face was of pure desperation. Her eyes could finally focus on the wispy blue energy reaching out from him to her. She realized she had no more time to waste and rushed to the first hostage. She tried to pull the collar off, but it was too well made. As she struggled with it, the energy from Angel fluctuated and she felt her strength spike. She put everything into it, grabbed the collar on both sides and pulled it apart.
The locking mechanism shattered.
Two, Three, Four more collars. They were all flashing fast now. Maybe two seconds had gone by in the real world, but for her, it seemed like a minute. Still, she was running out of time. With no other option, she ran out of the vault. She dug deep to those reserves she rarely used, pushing herself to her absolute top speed, which was then exceeded by the boost from Angel.
There was a sonic boom as she shot out of the vault, through the back office, through the lobby, and out the hole WASP has just made in the goo. She smiled as she stepped out of the building and pulled her arm back to throw the collars into the air where, hopefully, they would explode with little collateral damage.
Instead, they detonated in her hand.
From everyone else's point of view, they teleported into the back, the robber set off the collars, there was a blur of blue, and then something exploded in the parking lot.
Grease did not come back.
Jack stood there, his hands outstretched. The explosion caused him to snap his head around to look out the open vault door. Sass didn't waste any time and rushed the robber, who was dressed in body armor from head to toe. As she went to punch his face, Jack switched his focus on Sass, boosting her strength.
The robber brought up both arms to block the punch. The blow shattered both arms and sent her flying backwards out the door, through the office area, through a cashier's desk, and left her mangled body to tumble to a halt in the middle of the lobby.
Sass glared back at Wanderer, "Why didn't you tell us they had Bomb Collars?"
Wanderer looked defensive, "It was hard enough looking through the hardening! Besides, I don't know what's men's fashion on your planet!"
Jack went pale, "What happened to Grease?"
Grifter and the golden knight both spoke in unison, "I'm sure she's fine." As the rushed out the exit. This room was clearly secure, so it was time to get the rest of the building.
Jack watched the other four rush out into the next room to join the melee. He turned to look at the four men left behind. They were tied up with their hands behind their backs, gagged, and one looked like his shirt had been torn open. He was the one who appeared to be the most emotionally devastated by this experience. He was clearly in a state of shock. Another two of them were crying.
Jack stared at them and had this strange disconnect. On one hand, he found the tears revolting. He knew this was a different world and a different society, but he just wanted to shout in their face to man the fuck up. On the other hand, he was worried about them, which was totally unlike him. He rubbed his forehead for a moment, then shook his head to clear it, "Fine. I guess I'm the one watching you guys." He looked annoyed as he started to untie the men.
As soon as he removed the gags they started babbling. Jack smiled and nodded, "Yes, yes. It'll be over soon." It took a minute to free them all. By the time he had finished with the last one, Grifter had returned.
She rushed over and grabbed Jack by the arm, "We need you. NOW." She scooped him up in a prince carry and ran with him in her arms. As they left the vault, Jack could see the carnage. The place had been shot to hell. Maybe a dozen people were in on this assault. Most of the crooks were critically injured, maybe dead. The WASP team was attaching rather large, twin conical devices over the prisoner's hands and locked their arms behind their back. This was being done BEFORE any medical aid was rendered.
Grifter wasn't here to give Jack a tour. She was here to get Jack out to the parking lot. As they arrived, they saw the paramedics gathered around Grease who was on a stretcher.
Grease's arm was on a different stretcher.
Grifter put Jack down next to Grease, "Can you do anything?"
Jack just stared in horror.
Grifter grabbed Jack by the shoulders, turned him to face her and gave him a shake, "ANGEL! I need you to focus! Grease-"
Jack cut her off by giving himself a quick slap across the face, "Got it! Focus!" He knelt down next to Grease. The paramedics weren't trying to heal grease, but actually slow down her regeneration. If she regenerated before the arm was reattached, she would be down an arm for the rest of her life. Regenerators were notorious for being difficult to regrow limbs for, and unfortunately, Grease wasn't a regenerator that regrew missing body parts.
Jack reached down, grabbed the severed arm and held the mangled limb against her stump. Unfortunately, Grease was missing fingers as well. He looked around, "Any idea where the fingers are?"
Grifter winced and started looking around, "It might take a while to find them. She was holding the bomb collars when they went off."
Jack looked at Grease, "Fudge." He took a deep breath, then looked at the damaged limb. He reached down to touch it, "Maybe... I'm thinking about this backwards." He focused on boosting Grease's regeneration, but not all of her. He started with the fingers. He was going to get the limb to repair itself first before he reattached it.
The burned and disjointed lump of meat started to twitch. It was covered in a blue glow as he enhanced Grease's ability to regenerate and push far beyond it's normal limits. The limb was surrounded by a blue outline and inside it her fingers started to regrow.
The paramedics were nothing short of astounded.
It only took thirty seconds to completely regrow into a perfectly healthy arm. When it seemed like all the fingers were back, Jack moved the limb to force it back into place while extending the regeneration boost to Grease's whole body.
A few seconds later, the arm settled into place. Grease took a deep, gasping breath as she abruptly sat up, "FUCK!" She looked around, "How's the Team-" She saw Jack and Grifter standing over her, "Oh." She looked disappointed.
"Fight's over, huh?"