August 29th, 2010 11:40 P.M.

I gulped nervously. Tonight was to be the first time I'd gone after a big take: Brockton Bay Central Bank. Normally I went after stuff like small banks on the outskirts of the city or beyond. Today though, I'd planned to get the big one. There was a fuck load of money in the vault today when I'd done some innocent snooping. I'd already scoped it out beforehand many times when I came here with my foster parents. The outside door security system could easily be bypassed by my power, and the vault too, if I'd done the calculations correctly. After that, I'd be almost literally swimming.

It would also test everything I'd learned about my powers so far.

Don't get me wrong: while the doors are simple. It's actually getting to the doors unseen that was the hard part. During my trips here with my foster parents, I'd memorized the locations of the cameras and, on one of my nighttime scouting missions, I'd used my power to take pictures from the camera's perspective. The final piece of the puzzle was when I'd looked up the make and model number of the cameras the bank used to check if they recorded audio, which they didn't, so I was at little risk of being heard.

Of course, if there happened to be a patrolling hero or cop around, then my chances were busted anyway, regardless if they could hear me or not.

One more second… and… finally. I started the timer on my watch. The camera had turned far enough away that I could run to the door underneath its blind spot.

I placed the printouts on the ground and, pulling on my power, I bent space so the cameras were looking directly at the pictures and anchored them in place, hopefully with no change in the recording.

I used my power to turn the quarter inch gap between the wall and the hinge side of the door into a gap that was three square feet. Once inside, I restored the gap back to normal. Fifteen seconds had gone by and I was already inside with the cameras covered. I suppressed a giggle as I ran for the vault.

The cage door parted easily with my power and I went to work on the vault door. It was a bit harder, given that I was trying to open up a gap that was less than a millimeter in width. Not to mention that I had to make sure that I didn't disturb the pistons that locked the vault door in place. After almost thirty seconds, the majority of which was spent actually finding the gap, I'd stretched it as far as it could go. Where once there was a solid vault door, there was now an opening big enough to crawl through. Or slip out duffel bags full of money. After double checking that the illusion on the cameras were still in effect, I went inside the vault.

I practically goggled at the stacks of cash that were just laying around on shelves. Not wasting any time, I pulled off one of my duffel bags and piled as much into it as would fit. It took everything I had to not laugh maniacally as I did so. Normally, the bank didn't have this much cash in it, but it was getting close to the next Endbringer attack. The Federal Reserve wanted all banks to be well stocked in case people wanted to withdraw their money to buy provisions or for travel. All the weeks spent scoping it out were well worth it as I began loading the second duffel.

I only ended up filling two of the three duffel bags. Turns out that many stacks of cash are heavy. I was fairly certain that the total amount of money I had was in the seven-digit range as I exited the vault door. I triple checked that the bent space on the cameras was still functional and I hurried back to the door. A quick peek outside confirmed no cars or people on the streets. After waiting five seconds for the camera to turn the other way, I warped the door and stepped outside.

Once outside, I fixed the door, dropped the bent space on the indoor cameras, and collected my pictures, tucking them into a pocket on the inside of my jacket. I waited two more seconds for the camera to pan back towards the bank and booked past it into a nearby, thankfully unoccupied, alleyway. I stopped my timer and checked it.

A minute thirty-one. Ninety-one seconds to rob the biggest bank in the city for over a million dollars. It was mind boggling. I took several deep breaths to calm myself and started heading back to my foster house. With this money, I could finally leave and find my own place. I was still too young to get emancipated, unfortunately. But I could stake out on my own until then. I had plenty of money after all.

I'd gotten about halfway home before even seeing another person. Unfortunately that person was none other than Aegis, the leader of Brockton Bay's Wards. He was flying over the street that I was walking down. I couldn't turn down a side street now, it would seem too suspicious. Thankfully, my toy Alexandria mask was still in place. I'd ripped all of the internals out of it, so the lights and sounds wouldn't go off. Though my duffel bags full of pilfered loot would undoubtedly be suspicious.

It seemed that he'd spotted me, because he was coming in for a landing. 'Okay Missy, you can do this. Just remain calm.' The thought gave me little comfort as the veritable mountain of a teenager landed about five feet in front of me. I'd jumped back partially out of instinct but made a show of relaxing when I turned my head up to him. Hopefully he would think I hadn't been paying attention and realized that it was a Hero.

"Oh, hey uh- Aegis. Right?"

He nodded. "Yeah." He seemed to give me a once over. "First night out?" His tone of voice didn't seem suspicious. More curious than anything.

"Oh, no. Um, I'm not anywhere near ready for that." And I never would be, considering I was basically a Villain. Subtly glancing at a nearby sign that advertised the junkyard, a plan formulated in my head. "I was just getting some scrap."

Aegis hummed in understanding. "A Tinker, huh?" I nodded. "You should know that solo Heroes, especially Tinkers, don't last that long." He pulled a formal looking business card from a pocket on the side of his costume. "Here's my number. If you decide you want to join the Wards, gimme a call." I took the card, wincing as I saw his gaze shift to my gloved hand. "If you're not patrolling, then why the getup?"

I blanched. Thankfully, it was blocked by the mask. "Oh. Well, I didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea by seeing some random girl carrying two duffel bags full of materials. It might put my civilian identity at risk. This was the best I could do with what I had around the house."

"Ah," He tapped the side of his head with a finger. "Smart." Him clearing his throat almost startled me. "Well, I should get going. My patrol is almost over." He pointed at the card that was still held in my outstretched hand. "Remember, gimme a call if you decide you wanna join." I nodded again. He took off into the air and quickly flew out of sight.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. 'Thank God that's over.'.

The intersection where I had to turn was only two blocks away. After glancing backwards to make sure that Aegis had left, I pinched the distance using my power and crossed it instantly. From here it was practically a straight shot home. I took a deep breath and focused my power and fell into the familiar rhythm that I had gotten accustomed to for crossing long distances. Pinch. Step. Release. Pinch. Step. Release. Within a minute of doing this I had crossed the twenty miles back to my house. The familiar structure loomed ahead of me; all of the windows unlit. I pinched space again, this time to ascend to the second-floor window where my room was. I had done this after many robberies, though never with this much cash on hand.

Inside, I tossed my mask and the duffel bags onto the bed, wincing at the slight creak that the weighty cash produced. I quickly swapped into my pajamas, hiding my costume underneath the floorboard along with the unused duffel bag. It was only once I had secured the deadbolt on my door that I went to count the cash.

"Holy shit." I whispered out loud once I had finished. Nine hundred seventy-eight bundles of cash, each containing a thousand dollars' worth of twenty-dollar bills. One hundred bundles of hundred-dollar bills that held five times that much. Almost one point five million dollars. All mine. I quickly tucked the bundles back into the bags, which went into the false wall within my closet that I'd stored my previous takes in. I kept one of the bundles of twenties out and carefully unwrapped it.

The money fanned out in my shaking hands. This was more money than I'd ever had in my entire life. More than I'd ever seen in my entire life. And I had a thousand more just like it. I pressed the bundle to my nose, inhaling the intoxicating scent. A pleased laugh escaped my lips.

What now?