Will pushed out his ardor with a simple thought. Phasing only a few feet away, he narrowly dodged the punch the experienced fighter had aimed at his face. However, the old man was already familiar with the move. His punch somehow turned into a back kick, forcing Will to absorb it with both arms. This time, he absorbed the blow. He was gradually comprehending the amount of power required to withstand the hits.
Before he could celebrate, a streak of lightning shot out from Mav’s other foot, hitting Will in the chest. This electricity didn’t cause his body to spasm and shake. Instead, it was a physical bolt, pushing into his chest and throwing him back.
“Gah!” He yelled as his back hit the ground. The electricity was still trying to bore into his chest. Then, the electricity burst forth, transforming into a normal electrical charge. The power shot into his body, spiderwebing out of his chest in an instant, forcing his muscles to spasm and become rigid.
Will had grown used to the uncontrollable moments that followed the old man's zapping. This time, he was able to keep his bladder from evacuating. When the feeling passed, he let out an annoyed sigh.
“Unfair,” he growled.
“You’re the one that decided to use powers,” Mav said. The old man was looking down at him. “But you still have 60 seconds.” Instead of helping him up, Mav stomped down on Will’s balls.
His power activated with hardly a thought. He shot away about 10 feet, turning his body, clothes, and every part of himself into light. As Mav's foot stomped the ground, Will reformed and stood up. He put his fists up, ignoring the others as they cheered or clapped. Mav’s hand began to glow with electricity. The fight continued on.
“I hate this,” he said as the sparring match ended. “I’ve never hit you once.”
“Oh, so I should stand still and let you hit me?” Maven asked, and a small smile on his lips told Will he enjoyed the match.
“Yes,” Samson said from across the gym.
“Very much so,” Katy added, and a few others agreed.
“Tell you what? All of you take me on at once. If one of you gets lucky and hits me, there will be no retaliation,” Mav said.
“We aren’t falling for that again,” Santos said. Others nodded. Mav had tricked them into the same deal a few days ago. It had not been pretty. The situation deteriorated to such an extent that even Santos' healing efforts were insufficient. Every time they thought they were getting close to the old man's strength or skill, he took it up a notch. After two weeks of training with him, they had progressed, but it was never enough. Will felt he had about a thousand notches to go to see his true strength.
"Well, too bad,” Mav said. “That’s our next match. All of you against me.”
“What? That’s not fair!” A few said.
“Life’s not fair,” Mav laughed. “What? Do you think I am doing this to coddle you? Push you up when you aren’t ready. Force you to fight morning, noon, and night for your health? No, fights never happen when you want them to. Get used to it.” That quieted them. Mav gave them all a wider smile. "I'll use only my hand to attack this time." Come on, you all did pretty well last time. Your teamwork is getting better.”
Praise from the old man was quite rare. William felt that he was being truthful about it. It had been a week since they began outdoor ability training. Santos dedicated a few hours each day to healing patients at various hospitals. He cleared out so many minor injuries that he was about to relocate to a new hospital so people wouldn't ask too many questions.
Will had caught Ryu a few times during their games of tag, but the shapeshifter was rather resourceful. They made a game of their hide and seek, and Will looked forward to the training sessions. Will wasn’t too sure how far the others had come yet, but everyone seemed more confident with their powers. The sparring had started to include abilities now and then, and everyone had some method or another to attack with their skills.
“Let’s do-” Samson said, but was stopped as the old man’s phone went off.
Everyone held their breath as the old man answered. He didn’t talk much on the phone, but when he did, there was always a chance- “We got a call,” Mav said as he hung up. “A robbery this time.”
Will felt his heart skip a beat. The others had the same small smile when he turned. The last time they faced an Arc, he felt like he didn’t know what he was doing. After a few weeks of training, he was starting to become more confident in his power. It was time to see if the training had paid off.
—
As the group drove across town, Will sat back with the others. They were all going through their own mental processes as they prepared themselves for a possible fight with an unknown Arc. The only information Mav had given them was that the job involved a bank robbery. Will thought about his run-ins with the new world banking system as they drove.
Once Chicago returned to a semblance of normalcy, it was time to resume work. The only question was, for what purpose were people working? It was honestly easier when the world was in chaos. You took what you needed. Most of the time, this put you at odds with other survivors, but that was the way of the world.
It was nearly impossible to convince an entire city of people that they should go to a day job, work for two weeks, and hope for a paycheck. People had reverted back to being children. Work was paid for daily. Upon putting in work, you received a ration that was immediately visible and not stored for weeks, as the corporations retained your earnings to generate additional interest.
The Dragoons had a plan for this, though. When the Arcs departed from one city to liberate another, a new authority, Covenant Bank, emerged. They were in charge of the new world's currency. No longer would cash be king. The new money system in the country would be entirely digital.
Of course, there was a fair amount of resistance. Blackouts were common, and the power grid was still establishing itself. But the Goons paid you daily. They still referred to money in dollars, but instead of using sheets of paper, they provided everyone with cards that displayed the amounts.
The Universal Card, or U-Card, was the original method of payment for people. Anyone who had these on hand could pay with them. It wasn’t until a few months after the majority of people in the city were accounted for and living in an assigned location that Citizen IDs were given out.
Anyone over the age of 18 could receive one. Granted, no one had the foresight to save social security cards or birth certificates during the financial crisis. So anyone who worked and pitched in was able to receive a Citizen ID. This ID was everything someone needed for identification, all rolled into one. It had records of fingerprints, blood type, birthplace, picture, and most everything, including access to all of your money.
People under 18 were given temporary IDs that contained most of this information, but you couldn’t get a Citizen ID until you were 18. With that ID, you could engage in any activity you wanted. The Goons made alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs legal. Instead of taxing the American people for every little thing, the majority of taxes they collected were from sales of these products and gambling. Even prostitution was legal under the Goons.
“I hate these places,” Samson said as the vehicle slowed down near the bank.
“Which?” Ryu asked, leaning his head back against the truck's side tiredly.
“Banks,” Samson stated. “Covenant Bank, my ass.”
Will scoffed. “What? Bad experience?”
“When things started to get normal and they were passing out U-cards, he tried to turn in a few million in cash,” Santos said.
“What?” Katy laughed.
“How was I supposed to know they wouldn’t honor the mighty dollar bill?” Samson asked. He was almost offended.
Will chuckled. Samson wasn’t the only one who tried. The Goons completely overhauled the banking system. They prevented the formation of any other bank for years afterward. Covenant Bank was the only place you could hold your money and have access to U-Cards and Citizen IDs. It was known as the “bank that works with you.”
When Covenant announced that they wouldn't exchange dollar bills for dollars on the card, it nearly sparked a full-scale riot. With the departure of the previous government and numerous administrations across the nation, the Goons viewed money as an empty vessel. They promised an allowance to those elderly individuals who had dedicated their entire lives to a job only to have to fight in urban warfare at the end of the world. But at the start of the Goon takeover, everyone had to work to earn the new dollars.
“We robbed about 20 different banks to get the money,” Santos said. “He’d been lugging that money around for weeks.”
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“I’m surprised there was still money around,” Katy said.
“You just have to know where to look,” Samson said as Mav opened the back of the truck.
“Ready to go?” He asked. They piled out one by one to reveal that they were at Covenant Bank Headquarters in Chicago. The building was massive, constructed from stone and dark glass. It was one of many buildings the Goons commissioned after the war to get people working again. The Goons built it directly on the ashes of a skyscraper that had collapsed during the height of the conflict.
“Someone robbed this place?” Samson inquired, pointing to the guards at the wide front doors. People streamed in and out, either working or complaining about this or that bill. Covenant handled all loans. Because they charged a flat 1% interest rate, no one could compete, so no one tried to. No legitimate place anyway. Loan sharks were still very much in existence.
“Nope, not that fancy,” Mav said, pointing to the side of the building. At the side of the building, there were a couple police cars parked. Officers stood beside the building, staring at a hole in the wall.
Maven led the way. The mother duckling at the front as the students followed dutifully. They were dressed in their familiar dark navy trainee uniforms. Will felt as though the outfit was akin to a costume. He had seen his father in the uniform so often that he had dreamed of wearing it. But the fight for survival squashed that dream. He had seen the ugly side of people and knew that many weren't worth risking your life for. It was better to go through the world worrying about oneself instead of others. Maybe if his father had been a little more selfish, Will would still have him in his life.
He pushed those dark thoughts away as the officers turned to them. A sergeant, sporting stripes on the shoulder of his uniform, turned to face the old man.
“You’re them, then?” The sergeant inquired, carefully scrutinizing each person. During the ice Arc crisis, the officers had paid them little attention. Will guessed the rumor had gotten out that they were all Arcs. Each of the officers had a little bit of fear as they waited a few paces away.
“That’s us,” Mav said, raising his hand. Some sparks shot between his fingertips. The old man was never shy about showing off his ability. “What happened?”
“Uh, the video is inside,” the sergeant said. The other officers moved back to their vehicles. Making themselves scarce with Mav’s show. The leader led them through a side door of the Covenant Bank and guided them to a small security office. The guards snapped to attention as the real officer came in.
“They need to see the video,” the sergeant said. A larger guard nodded. He plopped down in a chair, bringing up apparent security footage of where the officers had congregated. An ATM machine was located inside the brick wall's alcove. People often used them to print out new Universal Cards.
“This was about an hour ago,” the security guard said. Pointing at the screen, someone was using the machine. Another person got behind them. William noticed that the person who was patiently waiting was careful not to look directly into the camera. When the original person at the ATM walked away, the other person moved up.
Instead of inserting a card, their hands touched the ATM machine. His body obscured the unit's face from the camera's view, but abruptly, the machine emerged from the alcove. Inexplicably, the man on screen tore the machine away from the wall. Then dragged it out of the view of the camera.
“Another angle shows him getting away,” the guard said. He pulled up another screen, showing a new viewpoint. It showed the whole area. The robber waited patiently to use the machine, then walked up to it and pulled it out like it was nothing. He struggled to lift it, but dropped it in the back of a waiting truck. The camera's angle did not show the license plate. Only a red truck sped away.
“We are requesting access to other cameras in the area to see if they caught a license plate,” the sergeant said.
“Very good,” Mav said. “Alright, team, what do you think?” He turned to William.
“Uh, he stole an automated teller machine?” Will offered.
“Duh,” Mav said. “Let’s start at the beginning. For any investigation, you ask if there are witnesses. Witness 1,” he pointed at the screen of the camera. “Was there anyone who saw anything?” He asked the officer.
“Uh, no. None have come forward,” he said.
“Fine. So we have this to work with, and that's it. Time is of the essence for this sort of thing,” Mav said. “How do you think he pulled the machine out of the alcove so easily?”
“He’s super strong?” Samson asked.
“No, you can see here he is struggling to move the machine to the truck,” Mav pointed out. “This man is an Arc. How did he pull it out of the wall?”
Will looked at the screen, but Katy answered first. “It’s impossible to see from these camera angles,” she said. “We need to check the area out.”
“Very good, let’s go,” the old man said. He pointed at the door, and they all headed back outside. The officers were still talking in their vehicles, but as the group walked up, they quieted. William could practically feel them talking about Arcs. His face burned in embarrassment, but then pushed the thought away.
“Check it out,” Mav said, pointing at the alcove where the machine sat. It was only about 2 feet wide by 5 feet tall and 2 feet deep. Red brick lined the alcove all around. Inside Will noticed anchor bolts mounted into the brick on the floor and in the sides. Bending down, he found broken gray plastic pieces that he guessed belonged to the ATM.
“It looks like he busted the bolts,” Samson said. “Just straight up ripped it out.”
“Could you rip a 300-pound ATM out of the wall?” Mav asked.
“I don’t know; I haven’t tried,” Samson said. He flexed his muscles as he thought about trying it.
“No, there are simpler explanations for this,” Mav said. He turned to the sergeant. “I’m guessing this isn’t the first time this has happened.”
“Uh no, they’ve reported two others missing in the last few days. They can swiftly disable the banking system's access codes, and they informed the Dragoons about this. They were going to send someone in the next few days.”
“If they can remove the access codes, why have the machine?” William asked.
“They were pretty vague on that,” the sergeant said. "Supposedly, someone is attempting to hack their system. Therefore, it's possible that they are offering the machines for sale. They’ve also implied you can still transfer money from Citizen IDs to U-cards with them. However, specialized software is required for that process."
“Which tells us that they could be organized,” Mav said. He turned back to those looking into the alcove. “Come on, it’s pretty obvious what the Arc did to pull the machine out.” Will looked at the broken pieces, trying to picture what could have happened. Eventually, he shrugged, along with most everyone. Except for Katy, at least. “Katy, what is your guess?”
“Uh,” she said, slowly turning back to the old man. “He shrunk it?”
“Very good,” Mav said.
“Shrunk it?” Samson asked as he turned back to look at the broken pieces.
“How did you come to that conclusion?” Mav asked.
“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug. “In the video, I thought it looked smaller. Then it got a little bigger, and he had to put it down because it got too heavy.”
“A+ for you,” Mav said. “It was a lot easier for me to discern because I could see the Arc manipulate his ardor in the video, but he did shrink it.”
“How does that work?” Santos asked, confused.
“How do you heal people?” Mav asked. “It doesn’t matter. It happened. The man stepped up to the machine.” Mav moved to the spot where the thief had stood. "He directed his ardor towards the machine, causing it to change shape. While the machine shrunk, the anchor bolts were ripped out, he pulled the machine away and got away with it.”
There was a long pause. The group waiting for Mav to continue on. “That’s it; that’s all that happened.”
"So, how are we supposed to find him?” Ryu asked.
“That is the true question,” Mav said. “First, our witness told us they escaped which way?”
The group pointed in the direction the car had left in the video. Samson initially pointed in the wrong direction but corrected himself when he noticed where everyone else was pointing. “Good. And there are no leads?” He questioned the sergeant.
“No, sir,” he said.
“Fine, so how would all of you proceed?” Mav asked.
“Can you turn into a hound?” Samson questioned Ryu. “Sniff them out for us?”
“That only works when they’re on foot,” Ryu said. “And not in the middle of the city.”
“So you can do it,” Samson said. Ryu didn’t answer.
“Other options?” Mav asked.
William thought about his ability. He could travel quickly but was still having trouble with long distances. “Search for him?” Will offered.
“Yeah,” Katy said. "I, uh, could maybe try flying.”
Mav nodded. “Any other options?” He asked. No one offered anything up. “Normally, I would make you find them, but that wastes training time. I will make this simple for you, but over the next few weeks, I want you to think of a way to find them using your own abilities in the future.” Mav began to gather electricity in his palms. Rubbing his hands together, the sergeant stepped back wide-eyed.
Mav continued to gather energy, causing Will to sweat. Will had experienced too many zaps to feel at ease with the elderly man manipulating lightning. The thin strands of lightning coalesced, turning into a ball that grew to about the size of a basketball. The white lightning began to make a low, humming sound, as if Mav were holding an electrical transformer in his hands. Then, a bolt of lightning drooped slowly from the ball, as if it were a large drop of water.
The drop expanded in size before descending to the ground, hovering just an inch above the surface. Mav moved his hand; another bolt drooped from the ball, then another. On the third, the ball in his hand disappeared, and three small glowing orbs of lightning appeared.
“Go find them.” Mav ordered the small floating balls, and then, in a loud, booming crash, they flew off in three different directions, as loud and fast as a bolt of lightning escaping the sky. Mav turned to the wide-eyed crowd. “That shouldn’t take them too long….and I found the guy. Let’s go look for him.” Mav turned and walked toward their parked vehicle. Leaving the quiet group as their jaws still hung in awe of what they had just seen.