Incendiary

Incendiary

The bank was having their regularly scheduled armored truck delivery, each of the two cars containing at least $5,000,000.  A classic place for a robbery.  One of the guards was out sick, so they would even have one less obstacle in their way.  But he didn’t strike there.

The museum was hosting a week-long exclusive viewing of rare gemstones from Africa and the Middle East.  Even the smallest of these gems is priceless, but the man in the orange and black suit did not bother.

9:45 AM, a crisp early April morning.  One of the first nice days after the winter cold, a gentle wind accompanies the city folk enjoying the nice weather, and a man in an orange and black diagonally striped suit and a metal helmet walks into the city governor’s office building.

Not even 5 seconds after walking through the main doors the man commands in a low, flat voice, “You have one minute to leave the building before these doors burst.  I need to have a private conversation.”  As a security guard begins to approach him, the man suddenly and without hesitation pulls out a silver handgun.  BANG-BANG!  He shoots the guard twice, leaving him alive but severely crippled.  The man says one more thing before he opens the door to the stairwell, “You had your chance.”  A millisecond later, the door shatters in a fiery shockwave.

Within seconds the four ground floor entrances and exits are all consumed in bursts of flame.  As everyone else in the building frantically panics, the man in the metal helmet continues to calmly climb the stairs.  Some start to flee down the staircase he is on, seeing their scared expressions reflected by the polished industrial-type metal that encases his entire head, save his face.  A few take notice of the helmet’s details as they run to hopeful safety.  A center stripe of rivets bolts over his head from the just above his forehead to the back of his head.  Two larger bolts on the sides of his helmet hold a bulky, vicious looking mouthpiece that looks similar to the bottom jaw of a shark.  

Firetrucks and ambulances can be heard arriving outside the building as the man meets his target at the top of the stairs.  The governor frantically opens the doors to the stairwell from the hallway, quickly glancing to see if these stairs were already overwhelmed with flames like the first stairwell he tried.  

“Oh, Mr. Governor,” the man says in a fake surprised tone.  “I’ve been needing to speak with you.”

“Wha-what?  Who are you?  N-nevermind we need to get out of here!” the governor tries to push past, but the man easily stops him with his muscular arms.

“That was not a request.  We can have our conversation now.” The man’s dark eyes glint under his helmet in the firelight as he sternly orders the governor.  “After our talk, these flames will be the least of your worries.”