Eric felt pretty stupid in his costume. It was a slightly modified devil suit and mask he got at another city’s discount Halloween store, complete with pitchfork. That was the best he could find on short notice and buy with cash. Where exactly did the big name villains get their costumes from, anyway? The heroes at least could get the government to shell out for it. Was there a black market trade in super costumes?

Whatever the case, he made himself invisible, entered the door, and went to the exact middle of the room. His plan was to appear suddenly, announce it was a robbery, and then throw some fire around until everyone cooperated. No deaths, no injuries, just hand over any cash on hand. Since it was right next to the country club, they often catered to the rich folk, so they should have at least a few hundred thousand on hand. With that money, he could easily buy the house, he’d get revenge, and that was that.

Before he could start, though, someone else dressed in blue kicked open the door and blasted sonic waves across the room. Eric stumbled, but didn’t fall over. Everyone else around him went for the ground even before being told it was a robbery. The villain – well, the other villain – went straight for the tellers. Whoever it was, he didn’t recognize them. Neither, it seemed, did the tellers. “250,000 from each account. If less, clean it out,” the villain said, though their voice was distorted.

Well, this had gone completely off the rails. What was worse, if the other villain robbed the bank first, then he couldn’t get the money. And the other villain was taking only the FDIC maximum – only the money that would be replaced. Maybe they weren’t doing this to hurt people? They might actually listen to him. He made himself visible again. “Hey!” he said, trying to make his voice deep and gravelly. He was probably failing. “I was here first! I got dibs!”

The other villain whipped around. “Dibs!” the villain… well, not said. The word came back in his own voice, but distorted and screechy. Mocking, obviously.

“Look, I need the money. Can you cut me some slack?”

The other villain tilted their head. “Need,” they repeated.

“Okay. How about we split it 50-50, then? My powers can get us out of here. And I can help fight off the heroes. So, deal?”

They paused for a moment, and then shrugged. “Deal,” they repeated.

“All right, do what the blue villain here said,” Eric called over to the tellers. “Or you find out why I’m in a devil suit.” He waved the pitchfork at them. They didn’t look impressed, but they did start piling money into a blue bag. Probably banking on the heroes coming soon.

“Devil suit,” Blue repeated, looking him up and down. Even though their mask didn’t change at all, he could feel it judging him.

“Yes,” Eric said, trying not to look as uncomfortable as he felt.

Finally, the tellers tossed the bag onto the desk. “That’s all we have up front,” one said.

“Up front,” Blue repeated, looking into the bag. They stood back and let Eric look in. If those were all hundreds, then he was more than rich enough even with the split.

“Well, we can take you into the back,” the teller said. He looked like he was challenging them. That was probably a bad sign.

Fortunately, Blue shook their head and picked up the bag. With a wave, they yanked Eric toward the door. “Get us out,” they repeated.

“Right,” Eric said, bending light around them. By the time they reached the door, they’d disappeared entirely. Heroes were beginning to show up, based on the bright colors nearby. Eric grabbed the blue villain and pulled them along, dodging one who was probably Angelica, based on the white costume, though she didn’t have her wings out. Soon, they were clear, but Blue grabbed him and lifted him off the ground. It took a monumental force of will not to scream. Blue landed them in a small park with no cameras. Eric pulled off his costume and motioned for the blue villain to do the same. They eyed him. “Look, if you turn visible again with the costume on, they’re gonna be able to track you,” he said.

They sighed and pulled off their costume, stuffing it into the bag and motioning for him to do the same. Underneath was a woman, or someone who looked like one. “You’d better not be an undercover agent,” she said.

“Nope. I’m Eric,” he said.

“Coral,” she said. “So, I think we need to have a chat. Ready to sit?”

“As long as I get the money afterwards,” Eric said.

They got food and drinks at a nearby stand and then sat down far away from anyone else. “What’s your story?” Coral asked, munching on a hot dog.

“I imagine it’s similar to yours,” Eric said.

“No. No, it’s not,” Coral said. “Spill.”

That piqued his curiosity, but he doubted she’d tell him without his story. Eric sighed and explained his situation. “…So I got a costume and you know the rest. Not all that exciting.”

Coral nodded. “I did it because I know a retired superhero. The government stuck her in a terrible place and none of her former teammates visited her. So I figured, why not make the government focus more on providing for their heroes? Make them really appreciate them. And that bank is the literal worst, so I figured I’d deal out some justice in the process.”

“Okay,” Eric said. “You weren’t kidding about it being different.”

“Yeah. I’m honestly not planning much with my share of the money. So if you want it, you can have it.” She pushed the bag over to him. “Just in case it takes more than you thought.”

Eric looked down at it. “What about your costume?”

Coral shrugged. “Last-minute ensemble. I’ll get a new one.”

He looked down and then shook his head. “We split it fairly. 50-50.”

“All right, then. Make us invisible.” After he did so and nodded, she opened it up. “It doesn’t look like they put a dye pack in there.” She reached in and pulled out a stack of bills. “Wonder why.”

“What, you were willing to let me have it all because you thought it was trapped?” Eric grinned at her. “Last time they put in a dye pack, a young superhero opened the bag and things got messy. Apparently, they had some kind of triggered attack. Not only did they get the dye on their face, but they also ended up blowing up the money and their civilian identity. Then there was the time Arson-Knight got hit with one, then marched back into the building and, well, lived up to his name. With everyone inside. So they don’t use dye packs anymore for supervillain robberies, though I think they still do with regular robberies.” He frowned. “What were you planning to do?”

Coral shrugged. “The money wasn’t the point, so I was just going to dump the bag. Maybe I’ll donate it.”

“Good thing I’m here, then,” Eric said.

Under the cover of invisibility, they split the bills. As he thought, he had more than enough. Coral turned the bag inside out, which made it a different color, and then put her money back in. “Well, good luck, then,” Coral said, shouldering the bag and walking off.

Eric watched her leave. Their business was done. And yet, robbing the bank had felt so good. Even now, he could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins. His power felt calmer, too, not raging against his skin. It wanted to be used. She wasn’t a bad guy, either. All she wanted was to make a lonely old lady happy. So… why not?