dc_parent (dc_parent) wrote in dc_nextgen,
@ 2011-08-17 19:51:00

Entry tags:

inactive - zachary zolomon, npc - jai west, plot - "lightning strikes"

Grand Opening, Grand Closing
"Good morning, this is Linda Park-West coming to you live from the opening of the new Keystone First National Bank. This bank was previously Keystone Savings and Loan, but was recently purchased and updated by its new owners, WorldCom International. According to a statement from World Com, this bank will be the first in 'a new wave of banks that come equipped to deal with the rigors of living in major cities that deal with meta-human issues." Linda says, turning slightly to welcome the bank manager, Coleman Reese.

"Mr. Reese, thank you for joining us. This is quite a turnout! Did you expect this?" Linda asks.

"Oh, we hoped for it, but it's good to see it happening and this is what want. We want people come and check us out. Keystone First National wants to be your bank for life and the first 10,000 customers will get free checking and savings accounts." Mr. Reese says.

"Maybe I need to bring my kids down here." Linda laughs.

The two talk for another minute and the current interview ends. Once her cameraman calls for a cut, Linda hands over her microphone and looks around at the crowds. She wanted a hot dog before the next segment and she thought about calling Iris and asking her to check on Jai.

Her kids were going to be adults next month and Linda smiled wistfully. Her babies were all grown-up. Where had the time gone?

Just then, she figured out what she could get them for their birthday.

"I bet they'll love this." she says, heading inside the bank.

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hsalf
2011-08-18 12:51 am UTC (link)

Zach was broke. Again. Registration fees had been more expensive for the fall term and once again the scholarship that he was so dependent upon had been under-funded. A down economy sucked. It sucked hard and for a few moments Zach had thought about just going with the truth: withdrawing from school, trying to find some semblance of a job, move back in with his mom. But he'd come to care about Wendi a great deal and, well, his ego wasn't going to let him just fail. He needed cash, a lot of it, and fast.

Robbing a bank was no big thing, but Zach had never really been down with high profile heists. Yet...lots of customers meant lots of money which was what he needed...

In a blur of color, Zoom had the doors of the bank secured.

"Ladies and gentlemen I'm sorry to interrupt your regularly scheduled banking but this is a holdup."

The gun in his hand wasn't real, but it looked real enough.

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dc_parent
2011-08-18 01:06 am UTC (link)

Linda was at the counter and her back was to the door, so she didn't see who'd shown up immediately. The sound of air displacement is a fact of life in her house, so it doesn't register immediately.

She knew it so intimately that she could always tell which member of her family was home by the sounds they made dashing around the house.

It took her a few seconds to recognize that this sound was off. When the teller's eyes went wide, she finally turned around and thought she was seeing a ghost.

"Oh god..."

Zoom.

She'd always hoped he'd run full speed into a bus, but it seemed she wasn't so lucky. Many of the people around here were cowering in fear, but Linda couldn't let this guy gain the upper hand or he might kill them all. She had to stop him from getting to that point.

She takes a tentative step forward.

"What do you want, Zoom?" Linda asks, trying to look more confident than she feels.

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	hsalf 2011-08-18 01:08 am UTC (link)
	Oh crap. The newslady was going to interfere. This was not what Zach wanted. When she took a step forward, he thrust the gun forward in her direction and hoped the prop gun from the drama department didn't look too fake. "What do most bank robbers want? I thought you'd be smarter." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

dc_parent
2011-08-18 01:20 am UTC (link)

Linda stiffened as she saw the gun. She'd give her eye-teeth for even a fraction of the speed that her husband or kids possessed right now.

"Calm down, Zoom. These people don't deserve this. How about we compromise. You let everyone in here go, and I'll stay. I'll be your hostage while we work this out.

This is a chance for you to be smarter than most would-be robbers right now." Linda says.

Whoever this guy is, he isn't Zoom. She'd be dead right now if he was. That man was an animal.

"You've obviously got a neat trick going on there. You could leave now and no one could catch you, right? Why get yourself thrown in jail?" she asks.

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	hsalf 2011-08-18 01:24 am UTC (link)
	"I'm not here for hostages. I'm here for the money." He waved the gun at a teller. "Empty the drawers into a bag. No dye packs. Just hurry up." He turned the gun back to Linda. "I can leave with the money and no one will catch me. That's the point." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	dc_parent 2011-08-18 01:28 am UTC (link)
	"Oh." Linda says, looking at Zach with a trace of pity. "You definitely aren't who I thought you were. You're new aren't you?" she asks. "There are people in this town who will catch you and make you sorry you got out of bed with this half-baked idea. If you knew anything about Keystone City, you'd know that." she says. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	hsalf 2011-08-18 01:30 am UTC (link)
	"If you knew anything about me, you'd know this isn't my first rodeo." Okay, now she was annoying. The teller needed to hurry the hell up. He didn't particularly want to hurt anyone. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

dc_parent
2011-08-18 01:41 am UTC (link)

"There's still time to stop this, pal. You've got, maybe, another minute or two before things get bad for you." Linda says.

She sees movement in her peripheral vision and she notices that someone is edging closer to the door behind her captor. If someone can get out of here, they can get help.

Linda takes another step forward and another.

"You don't want to do this. You can still run." she tells him, trying to keep her attention focused on him.

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	hsalf 2011-08-18 11:12 pm UTC (link)
	"Can you please just shut up? You don't know what you're talking about." The teller filled the bag and in a blur, Zoom had grabbed it. This was all getting too messy. He had to get out of there and now. (Reply to this)(Parent)

dareyoutorun
2011-08-18 01:50 am UTC (link)

Jai gets home from Mexico to find that the house is empty, as usual. Irey's probably in San Francisco, Dad's probably with the Justice League and Mom had a story to cover today in downtown.

He needed something to take his mind of how crap-tastic he felt lately, so he plopped down on the couch and turned to Mom's station.

OPENING DAY HOSTAGE CRISIS is the banner line on the bottom of the screen.

"I'm Justin Feraldo, live from Keystone First National Bank covering this breaking story. Approximately ten minute ago, a man dressed in a mockery of the Flash's costume entered the bank and closed the doors. No demands have been made.

The only thing certain is that this individual has several hostages inside, among them, our own Linda Park-West. We will bring you updates as we have them." Justin says.

Jai is gone the moment he hears his mother's name.

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dc_parent
2011-08-18 11:47 pm UTC (link)

Linda moved toward her kidnapper again, keeping him focused on her. Her eyes shift slightly to note the position of the person heading for the door.

When the security guard gets to the door, he's fumbling with his keys, trying to open it and get outside. He finds the key at the last second and starts to open the door.

"HELP! IT'S SOME CRAZY FLASH-WANNABE!" the man is yelling before the door is even open.

Rather than let Zoom get ahold of the man, she tries to take him by surprise, going for the weapon.

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	hsalf 2011-08-19 12:21 am UTC (link)
	Fast or not, this isn't something Zach is prepared for. This is not how these things usually go. When Linda goes for the weapon, it goes off and Zach realizes something that he hadn't before: guns that shoot blanks still shoot. "Oh crap." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

dc_parent
2011-08-19 12:40 am UTC (link)

Linda knew the gun could be loaded, but she hoped that this guy was just bluffing about shooting someone or maybe even that the gun was a fake. She'd heard of enough crooks who did it to make it a possibility.

Something hits her low, near her stomach and her eyes widen in shock as she backs away. She looks down to find a dark, slowly spreading stain moving across her the abdomen of her shirt.

Linda Park-West collapses to the floor, staring at Zoom in disbelief.

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	dareyoutorun 2011-08-19 12:42 am UTC (link)
	This, of course, is where Mercury arrives, seeing his mother collapse to the floor. He doesn't know who the guy holding the weapon is, and he doesn't care. Right now, he's Public Enemy Number One. "Get away from her!" Mercury yells, dashing at Zoom with a raised fist. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

hsalf
2011-08-19 12:43 am UTC (link)

"This wasn't supposed to happen...it's not even supposed to be real..." Zoom had gotten to his knees beside Linda, horrified that he'd shot someone when Mercury showed up.

This was rapidly becoming the worst afternoon ever. Zach has no time to explain himself to Mercury as he is coming at him too fast so Zach is forced to engage with him, dodging the fist at super speed.

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	dareyoutorun 2011-08-19 01:14 am UTC (link)
	Mercury misses Zoom, but changes direction and swings again and again, trying to hit the man. "I am so sick of garbage like you showing up in this city to screw over decent people!" Mercury yells. "If that woman dies, you're a dead man too." he says, trying to grab him. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	hsalf 2011-08-19 01:18 am UTC (link)
	"I didn't come here to shoot anyone!" Mercury gets a brief grasp on Zoom, but he moves the opposite direction and manages to wiggle free. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	dareyoutorun 2011-08-19 02:01 am UTC (link)
	Mercury is about to swing on him again when his speed suddenly stops. It simply doesn't happen. He stills tries to grab Zoom anyway. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	hsalf 2011-08-19 09:55 am UTC (link)
	Mercury's sudden lack of speed gives Zoom ever chance to pull away and he doesn't waste it. He takes off out the door, a blur of color as he flees the scene. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

dareyoutorun
2011-08-20 01:36 am UTC (link)

Mercury watches Zoom speed away and he can't believe. The only person who's ever outrun him is his father. Mercury is angry as hell, but before he can do anything else, someone yells his name.

"Mercury! She needs your help! She's bleeding out!" someone yells.

Mercury comes back to the here and now and remembers that his mother is on the floor. There is a man standing over her, applying pressure to the wound.

"Mercury, I know you want to go after that man, but this woman is gong to die if she doesn't get to a hospital immediately. The ambulance won't make here before she can--"

Mercury doesn't need to hear anything more.

He picks up his mother and races for Keystone General.

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	hsalf 2011-08-20 01:48 am UTC (link)
	Zach runs and runs and runs and runs, crossing the country and coming back again before hiding in his apartment, a heavy sense of panic and guilt sitting in his chest like a rock. He'd shot someone. He'd shot someone badly. He probably killed someone. He was turning into his father and he wasn't sure if there was any going back. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	dareyoutorun 2011-08-21 01:40 pm UTC (link)
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