Bank Robbery

The scene in front of the 22nd Street Bank of America was sheer pandemonium. Daniel had never seen carnage like this, at least not in real life. The torn apart cars and dead bodies lying in the streets were more like something out of a disaster movie than a regular day in downtown Miami.

Jim stopped the car several blocks from the bank, just in time to avoid having half of a police patrol cruiser drop onto them from above. The mangled wreck smoked where it landed in the middle of the street, the sides of the black and white metal looking torn and fringed. Both detectives looked at one another in a shared moment of stupification before quickly drawing their weapons and exiting the car.

The two jogged towards the bank, the sound of gunfire growing louder as they approached. As they made their way to the carnage, all around them torn pieces of cars and bloody corpses lay littered in the streets and sidewalk. Many of the bodies looked to have been torn to pieces by shards of sharp metal. What made it even worse to Daniel was that a lot of the corpses wore police uniforms.

The detectives eventually came to a blockade of police cars which was directly in front of the bank. Three uniformed officers were huddled behind them, guns drawn. Four more uniformed cops lay dead nearby, their bodies torn apart by metal shrapnel.

"What the fuck is going on?" Jim shouted as he ducked down behind the squad car, followed by Daniel.

One of the uniforms, a short Cuban by the name of Mendez, shook his head. "Don't got a clue, Jim. We got a call about some homeless guy robbing a bank. When we got here, shit started exploding all over the place." The officer spat on the ground, though the liquid that came out of his mouth was of a deep red. The two detectives noted that he was clutching at his side where more red was starting to leak through.

"You're hurt, Mendez!" Daniel gaped.

The older officer laughed, though it quickly degenerated to a bout of coughs. "Damn, Jim, your new partner really is a detective!"

At that moment, there was a loud crash followed by more screams.

"Shit," cursed one of the officers. He moved out of cover and aimed his gun, opening fire towards the front of the bank.

The other uniforms did as well. Jim and Daniel peeked out from the side of the patrol car and looked around for a target.

Standing in front of the bank was the homeless man Mendez had spoken about. He was an old man, with a dirty, straggly beard. A tattered gray t-shirt that used to be blue was worn over his thin frame, as was a pair of stained jeans. He walked around barefoot on the sidewalk, which didn't seem to smart as there was broken glass everywhere. On his back was a large red backpack that looked new, and from the open zipper green wads of money began to flutter out. The man had a crazed look on his dirt-streaked face, his eyes wide and bloodshot. It was obvious that he was high on some really high quality dope.

"Why don't you fucking pigs just leave me alone?!" He all but screamed at the surrounding officers at the top of his lungs.

"Kill the fucker!" Mendez shouted as he began shooting again. At his call, the officers pelted the man with pistol rounds.

The homeless man stumbled back from the barrage of gunfire, but he remained standing. Daniel watched, shocked, as he continued standing even as he saw numerous 9 mm rounds batter into his thin frame. Jim began firing as well, and the young detective took that as his cue to open fire. He pulled the trigger three times, hitting the deranged man in the chest twice and once in the head, but to his surprise the target suffered no damage. His clothing became ripped from the numerous projectiles punching through them, but the skin underneath remained undamaged.

"You damn cunts don't know when ta give up!" the homeless man screamed. "How many of you do I gotta kill till you leave me the fuck alone?!" With that he raised his right hand. Dan's sharp eyesight saw something small and shiny held in his fingertips.

Was that... a paperclip?

"Shit, get down!" Mendez shouted as he ducked back behind cover. Everyone did so except for Daniel, who continued to watch the events with a sort of horrified fascination.

"Die mother fuckers!" Shouted the homeless man. Suddenly, the engine from a nearby car exploded out of the hood and sailed through the air. It flew about a hundred feet and towards a group of officers taking cover behind an overturned SUV. The engine slammed directly into the vehicle, the **** so great that it flipped it over and onto the three men, crushing them.

The other officers on the scene, enraged at the **** of their comrades, fell out of cover and began shooting once more. Over and over the man was hit by bullets, seemingly to no effect. He merely grinned maniacally at them before holding up his paperclip once more. Jagged pieces of metal from the ruined cars around him flew out in all directions, impaling several unlucky policemen.

"What the hell is this guy?" Jim asked, his usually tough exterior wilting a bit upon witnessing such a complete and utterly alien scenario.