Heroes and Villains

Before - The Jewellery Heist

Briar wandered through the store, looking through the rings and necklaces on display. The sun streamed through the glass windows that stood floor to ceiling and made the diamonds and gems bounce rays of light into her eyes. Robyn, her childhood friend, was browsing at a collection of stackable rings, her long brown hair falling over her shoulders. The blue tips matched the sapphire ring she was trying on her slender fingers. Robyn had been to Australia on a holiday trip a month ago, and had returned with a dark tan to replace her usually pale skin.
"Hey, Briar!" She called, and waved her fingers in the air. "What do you think?" The sapphire shone and looked perfectly at home among the large collection already stacked on her fingers.
"Just buy it already," Briar moaned, "We've been here for ages and it's the twelfth one you've tried." Robyn rolled her eyes and turned back to the counter, and started pulling out a card. Briar's eyes glanced over to the window, the sun had stopped shining and now it was pouring with rain. Yes, London weather is bad but it's not that terrible. It doesn't just change at the snap of someone's fingers. She felt her senses go on full alert, as they do when she feels uncomfortable. The door to the store opened and a group of teenagers stalked in. They walked in pairs, and the odd group of three and began milling around the store. At the front was a boy, probably around 17 like Briar and Robyn, and he walked alone. Due to the laws that now allowed heroes to carry weapons, Briar's hand instinctively reached for the gun holstered at her waist. The law may allow them to carry these weapons, but they were government issue. A developed weapon to only knock out, not to kill. If a hero is caught with a real one, well, the punishment is the same for everyone; a very long prison sentence. Just as her hand closed around the grip, one of the teenagers smashed a glass case and others pulled out guns - however they were real. They them aimed a few shots at the ceiling and ushered the workers and customers out of the building, leaving only the villains and the few heroes who happened to be there or passing by at the time. They swung the backpacks they carried off their shoulders and began filling them to the brim with the most expensive looking items while some were brought into fights with the heroes. Briar pulled out her gun and pointed it at the boy up front, stuffing necklaces into a bag. Briar risked a glance over to where Robyn had been before, and there she was, stuck in a fist fight with another girl. But the glance had been a risk, and it wasn't one that payed off. A fist collided with her nose, and her head snapped back. She felt a warm trickle of blood dripping into her mouth and onto the floor. Her gun was plucked from her hands and chucked across the room. One of the teenagers picked it up and fired a few shots, shattering a glass window and glass cases. Even though it didn't fire proper bullets, it still shattered glass. Briar rubbed a finger under her nose, the blood still running. The boy in charge was stood before her, a gun at her head.
"So," the boy said, his voice quiet against the sound of people shouting and glass smashing. "You're a hero." Briar's heart quickened. He must have noticed as he said: "It was quite obvious. You were carrying that." He nodded towards a gun that had been discarded on a table.
"What are you doing robbing a jewellery store?" Briar asked, keeping her questions careful. She wasn't ready to be shot in the head and left to bleed out in a shop in London. The boy shrugged.
"Money, the chance to break the law. You know, the usual for us villains." He gestured with his gun for Briar to get on the ground. She obliged, and knelt on the marble floor. "Well, it was nice to have this little chat. My friends here will be shooting you now." Briar looked up at the boy. She laughed quietly.
"So you're a villain who doesn't kill? Wow, I never thought I'd see this day." The boy flinched slightly and his eyes flashed with anger, but only for a moment. His finger trembled on the trigger and Briar closed her eyes. She didn't want him to be the last thing she saw before she died. A shot rang out and a pain flared in her shoulder. Her hand pressed against the pain, and it came away wet. She opened her eyes and her hand was bright red, and her jacket was sticking to her skin. The boy in front of her was shaking, and he dropped the gun. Such a great villain, Briar thought, but her mind almost instantly returned to her shoulder. The pain was agony now, and the blood was running down her arm.
"But...how?" The boy stuttered. "I...I didn't..."
"Huh?" Briar said, her head spinning. "This wasn't you?" The boy shook his head.
Outside, blue lights flashed and sirens wailed. The villains began throwing the backpacks over their shoulders and shouting to each other to run and leave. Police were storming the building now, arresting the majority of the villains. Briar tried to stand, leaning onto a table for support. The boy had disappeared, and Briar struggled out of the back door. She collapsed onto the sidewalk, her blood sliding into the drain in the ground. Her vision blurred and the blue lights became the cause of a migraine and the sirens; white noise. She leant over to the floor and led her head on the cold concrete. Her eyes closed and she fell into the black.