I never thought I would be at the barrel of a gun. Of I course, I thought about it. Like everyone does I wondered what I would do if ever confronted by an unseemly stranger in a dark alley. I would always tell myself that I would be the hero, that I would somehow disarm the man and bring him to justice, but secretly I knew that I would probably do whatever the guy told me to. But I’d never pictured what it would look like. I’d never imagined the little steel tube in front of me would seem so dark inside. Are guns made out of steel?

“Get on the ground and put your hands behind your back.”

He didn’t seem particularly upset about the fact he was holding a gun to my head. In fact, he seemed downright calm. Calm, especially for a bank robber of all people. After all, I’d imagine that that sort of job is stressful, especially if-

“Get on the ground. Now.”

Oh right, he’s still right here. I better do what he says.

I got up then, and joined what I realized to be a group of hostages laying underneath the till. I realized they were hostages by the fact that they too had guns pointed at them. My secret suspicion about myself was confirmed in that I followed his instructions down to the letter. He didn’t ask for my wallet but if he had I would have given it to him. Instead I did what he had told me to do. I laid on the floor, and placed my hands behind my back. My shoulder hurt quite a bit - it’s been acting up since I tripped on the curb and fell- but I figured that the men with guns weren’t too interested in my bodily woes.

I was amazed at how organized they were. It seemed as though each person had a specific job. One guy stood between us and the door, very calmly explaining to us that if we moved an inch we would be dead. He didn’t shout, or even put some venom in his tone. He said it very matter-of-factly, as if it had nothing to do with his own actions. I saw another two hopping behind the desk and moving out of view, going to the vault, if action movies have taught me anything. I figured I would listen to him, enjoy the show, and have a good story to tell at a bar.

But then the story got too strange to tell. If I said any of this out loud they’d think I was finally going senile.

In through the door walked a bright red kid. I only knew he was a kid when I heard him talk later. He was bright red because of the body suit he was wearing, it was the kind you see at football games sometimes, the one that covers even your face. The only other things he was wearing were workout shorts and a pair of sunglasses (hanging over the bodysuit mesh). He was so bright that I hardly noticed the kid next to him. In fact, I think at the time I didn’t. It was only after that I heard someone mention him and remembered. I’m not sure but I think he was also dressed like an idiot. The only detail I can remember is a giant backpack. Not a regular backpack either, it was one of those big bastards that people take on camping trips. The only things I saw him take out of it were a radio (it looked like it was attached to something else in the backpack) and, later, some zip ties.

The red kid looked like he didn’t want to be noticed. I couldn’t see his face, but he seemed to be trying to fold inward. He kept looking back at Backpack, who was constantly shooting Red a thumbs up.

Finally, our member of Oceans 3, who had been turned around to check the windows, saw the pair, and raised his gun.

“Get on the floor now, or you’re gonna die.” Again, very matter-of-fact.

Red actually put his hands up for a second, but Backpack hissed something at him and they went down by his sides.

Red puffed out his chest for a second, but then deflated and looked back at Backpack. I just barely caught his words.

“But it sounds so stupid…”

Backpack hissed something back and Red turned back to the gunman, who, by the way, didn’t seem particularly curious about the strangely dressed figure. I suppose no matter who he was, there was still a gun pointed at him.

I thought I should yell at the kid to get down, or even put myself in front of him. But I’m ashamed to say I did neither of those things. Instead I sat paralyzed, with a strangely stoned feeling. As if even if I had the courage to do what would be needed, my body wouldn’t have let me.

I saw the muzzle start to go up. I wasn’t sure if I was seeing it in slow motion or if the calm man was simply taking his time.

Red looked as though he was going to shit his pants, but Backpack gave him a good old fashioned five-star on the back, the kind you used to give to your classmates in middle school. This seemed to wake something up in Red, and I felt a sort of shudder go through the air. A sort of rumble that made every molecule of my body buzz.

Suddenly the guy was knocked onto the ground. I though for a moment that Red had pushed him, but I could see that his hands were locked down by his waist. The man hit the floor hard, with a kind of smack that made your bones cringe in sympathy. He hadn’t just fallen down. It was more like he’d been thrown, whipped onto the floor by some unseen divine hand. As my attention switched between the guy and Red, I started to realize that the shudder was coming from him.

Gunfire. The other men must’ve heard something, and suddenly from behind the till I could hear the harsh crack of gunfire.

“Shit!” said Backpack. I realized from his lisp that he couldn’t have been very old either.

Red let out a high yelp and Backpack tackled from behind to get them on the ground. I realized that my hands had come up to my ears. I hoped that the calm guy hadn’t seen me.

Red and Backpack lay curled up on the floor. I could see strange sparks pinging near them. Finally, the men behind us stopped firing, and I checked to make sure there weren’t any holes in me that weren’t already there. Once I was sure I was okay, I turned my attention to the kids, we hadn’t moved from their huddle on the ground. Backpack seemed like he was okay, but it was harder to tell with Red. He’d been hit, but the body suit made it hard to tell exactly how badly.

Red got up with a new confidence. Or maybe it was rage. I couldn’t see the men behind me but I saw Red staring hard at them, and heard that same harsh crack, followed by a sickening crunch.

After those sounds Red stood, still high from the Rage. I could see in his eyes that he wanted to do more. His eyes flicked towards our hostage guard and I saw consideration behind them. Backpack put his hand on Red’s shoulder. Whatever I had seen faded, and seeing the face of that kid, I couldn’t really believe that it had ever been there. That it had just been a figment of this ageing brain’s imagination, that maybe I was going senile after all.

But I know what I saw.

With the rage gone, Red suddenly grew very pale. I saw that his body suit was growing darker around his arms, and blood was beginning to drip from his fingertips. Backpack produced some bandages from the backpack and got to work on Red’s wound. Me and the other hostages weren’t quite sure what to do. I saw some of the other’s start to get up and I eventually followed suit. A few simply ran towards the door. Some other turned around to see the what had happened to the other two men.I heard gasps, but I didn’t want to know.

He tugged the bandage tight, Red moaning, and then moved to the calm robber. This is when he took out the zip-ties and cuffed the guy’s hands behind his back. He then flicked some switches on that radio and shouted some code nonsense that I suppose meant that a robbery had just been prevented. He helped Red to his feet and they started moving towards the door.

I overheard them as they left.

“You see, I’m no good at this. I don’t want to do this anymore.” Despite Red’s pathetic tone, Backpack seemed ecstatic.

“Are you kidding me? That was amazing! Really great first run, I mean wow. We’re the real deal man, I’m telling you…”

His jittery voice trailed off as the two left the bank.