Shank’s high pitched scream was like music to Tommy’s ears, sweet pay back for all the niggling little cuts that the teleporter had handed out to the hero during their wee scrap. [I]Am I a cruel man to enjoy this? Probably, but everyone knows highlanders are a little bloodthirsty, and the lad has been pissing me off something chronic.[/I] A quick scan of the bank room revealed that Wenchang had dealt with Bouncer and that Sonja had . . . Sonja had [b][I]VACCUMED[/B][/I] Sarin! That had to be villain takedown of the month, if the bank security cameras had managed to tape that then Sonja was going to be a internet celebrity by the end of the day. The other heroes seemed to be mopping up the rest of the goons, so it looked like this wee misadventure was all but over.

	[b][u]BOOOOMMMM!!![/B][/U] The room seemed to shake with explosive force, only one meta in attendance capable of making an explosion like that. 

	“Me and my big mouth,” groaned Volt as Boomer blasted Graviton across the room, the hero hitting the opposite wall with an unhealthy sounding crack. That wasn’t even the worst of it, as more goons flooded the room while Burnout climbed back to his feet, murder in his eyes. Him and Boomer looked especially irate when they caught a glimpse of Volt. [I]Suppose that’s fair, I did hit them pretty hard.[/I] Burnout raised his hand and sent a searing blast of fire shooting towards the Lighting-Slinger, who only just managed to dodge it by throwing himself forwards and rolling behind a desk, yelping in pain when he put his weight on his injured leg.

	“What's happening?” Silvertongue was yelling in his ear, complexly oblivious to the fact that Volt might be a little preoccupied to answer.

	“Burnout and Boomer are back up, seems their a mite miffed about what I did to them earlier. I think Burnout just singed my eyebrows!” grunted Hi-Voltage, draining the charge from a nearby light fixture, replenishing his dwindling supplies of electricity. It had the added benefit of sealing a lot of his smaller cuts, and reducing the size of the wound in his leg. Not ideal, but it would have to do for now. 

	“Damn, that sounds awesome. I need to get camera’s in your goggles!” replied Silvertongue. His lack of concern for Tommy’s wellbeing had long ceased to be a surprise. 

	Volt took a quick peek over the desktop. Olympia and Sonata had their hands full with the new set of goons, but on the plus side the gunmen hadn’t had the forethought to grab anymore hostages from the vault. Graviton was still down, but Volt couldn’t tell if he was still breathing or not from his position. [I]One problem at a time Tommy-boy. Graviton knew the risks going in. Deal with the headers throwing fire balls then sort out the injured. [/I] It seemed callous, but this was the type of tough call that heroing was all about, Volt had learnt at some expense. On the plus side Sonja and Wenchang were still standing, but seemed to be easy targets for the two super-villains. 

	“Hey sparky, who said we were done?” shouted Volt, firing a blast of blue lightning at Burnout, who dived out of the way, Boomer turning to see what the commotion was. 

	“Don’t worry, I brought enough for all your friends!” continued the Lightning-Slinger, shooting another chain at Boomer, catching the big man high on the shoulder, spinning him from his feet. The exploder wasn’t down yet though, clambering to his knees and firing at Volt’s position. He was quickly joined by Burnout, and the two piled on the heat. It was all Volt could do to stay out of their grasp, he didn’t even get the chance to return fire. 

	[I]I just hope Wenchang and Sonja can come up with a cunning plan to save my ass now![/I] He thought to himself while dodging high powered blasts.