Beacon and a bank robbery

[Devilpants]

Kenneth Welles, better known as Beacon, was retired.

He was supposed to have retired in 2008, but here he was, in 2022, responding to a bank robbery.

Normally he wouldn't bother. Bank robberies were for street-level heroes, with powers like "can only shapeshift every second day, and only from the waist up" or "can control fire, but can't create it" or "is a little bit stronger than a really strong human."

Normally he wouldn't bother because he had no respect for the predatory and corrupt banking institutions who were responsible for several housing crises and recessions.

This time, there were hostages.

This made it different for Beacon, because the bank's employees were just ordinary people doing a job, who had families to go home to. Ordinary people who bought their own groceries, cooked their own food, washed their own dishes, cleaned their own homes, raised their own kids, and rented their apartments and cars from predatory and corrupt landlords.

Ordinary people.

Beacon no longer wore a super suit or any sort of armour, so when he strolled up to the police line in plainclothes, he was told to stay back. It only took a short introduction for them to realize who was here to help.

Beacon was legendary, after all. He was one of the Big Three, alongside Tungsten and the still-missing Queen Raven. He hated that title, but it had its uses.

He was given a rundown of the situation and agreed to the police's plan. Given Beacon's propensity for flashy explosions and bright lights, he'd act as a distraction. Normally, property damage was to be avoided, but the bank could afford it. The bank would be fine.

Beacon took to the sky and focused, creating bright white flashes at points around the building as indicated by their plan. He circled, watching as the cops moved out to rescue hostages. Gunfire echoed between buildings, and he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

The roof access opened and one of the black-clad robbers came out, pushing a terrified bank teller out with him. Beacon swooped in, but the robber grabbed the teller and held his pistol to her head.

"Don't move, don't you fucking move! I will blow her brains out!"

Beacon stared, unmoved and unimpressed, hovering about a foot up from the rooftop. He spoke slowly and carefully, his voice even.

"No you won't."

The robber wasn't sure how to react, hesitating for a moment. "If you make a single move, I will -- I'll fucking kill her, her blood is on your hands! It'll be your fault!" He was getting frantic.

"You misunderstand." Beacon landed, putting his hands in his pockets. Beacon took a full step forward, slow and deliberate. "She's the only thing keeping you alive right now." He took another step forward. "You know I kill, right? I'm not Tungsten. I'm not part of a team anymore. I don't have a code."

There was a long silence between them, the robber's eyes darting about, constantly readjusting his grip on his pistol.

Beacon continued. "If you kill her, I kill you. Simple as that." He kept his tone even and neutral, not a single ounce of smugness or anger in it. "Nobody will blame me. They'll see the exit wound from your bullet, and they'll see the hole I melted through your chest, and they'll know exactly what happened."

Beacon took another step forward. "Is it worth it?" He slowly pulled his hands from his pockets. They were close enough now that Beacon could see the whites of his eyes. And there it was, that moment of distraction he was looking for.

Beacon concentrated, generating a thin, precise ray of plasma that instantly seared through the robber's bent elbow, severing it completely. The robber screamed and fell to the side, the arm that was holding the gun just a smoking stump now. The hostage also screamed and ran toward Beacon, getting behind him.

"Look what you made me do. You could have let her go." Beacon was still speaking slowly and evenly while the robber writhed in pain. "Now you'll have that injury for the rest of your life. Enjoy wiping your ass with your left hand, I guess."