22 Is it a Plane,Bird or Superman? Nope.

Zach sits at his computer checking whether Tom is online or not, looking at the CounterFight friend list; TheTom26 is offline.

.It says he was online half an hour ago, Damn just missed him.

Thinking about his recent absences and home problems makes Zach regret not reaching out sooner.

.I don't know where he moved so i can't visit him directly, ill just have to see him on sports day. Actually, i should probably try these gills in chlorine to see if they are ok... and actually train for sports day. Being strong doesn't help my technique, if i want to win well then i better train well.

He looks up local gyms on his PC and checks that they have full facilities, all of them are too expensive for his current self.

.If i stop some crimes and accidentally come across some cash then it's not bad.

As he is thinking this his newly acquired radio sparks to life, it quickly changes frequencies revealing a variety of voices and problems. It suddenly stops on one that describes a robbery in a store he is familiar with that is close by.

"Man armed with a knife holding civilians hostage, negotiations are being initiated."

Zach ignores the rest and puts his "hero" costume in his back pack and leaves.

The store is a corner shop run by a husband and wife pair, they offered Zach a job once he left school if he ever needed a quick paycheck so Zach feels that he owes them.

He sprints out from his front garden and accesses the system,

.Is there anything that can hide me from people when i need to escape?.

[Maru's smoke screen = 1 soul (Single use only)]: Makes user invisible to normal humans for 20 seconds. User becomes visible if they make any hostile actions during duration.

[Unstable flash bang = 1 soul (Single use only)]:Blinds all normal humans near the explosion, due to the unstable nature of the devise permanent injury is possible.

[Holy HandGrande = 10000 souls (Single use only)]: Blinds all those that see the explosion and destroys all fluffy creatures.

[MiniNuke] = 1000 souls (Single use only)]: Destroys a large radius around detonation.

.A nuke? I guess it works but jesus! Ill take the smoke screen.

A puff of smoke appears and drops a little purple gem in his hand,

.Just throw it and run i guess.

Zach concentrates on where he needs to go but realises that he arrived while he was thinking about the system. He thinks back to the layout of the shop and remembers that their roof kept having maintenance done on it, there seems to be some area between the shop and the flats above. Maybe its possible to crawl through and get the jump on him.

Looking around he sees a blockade of police cars, news agencies and nosy civilians,

.If i do this, i will get a lot of coverage... Not sure if i wan that.

His fears are replaced with confidence as he sees the frightened couple through the window with a man with a knife and surprisingly a gun wandering about the store.

.A gun, ill definitely have to get the jump on him... I can't take any chances.

He circles around the buildings to the back where a few police are stationed keeping watch, he sees a ceramic vent on the side of the flats that are directly above the corner shop.

He ducks into an alley way and puts on his mask and black clothing, he also allows his tail out and flexes it.

The vent looks just big enough for his now thinner self to get into, seems like the corner shop used to be a restaurant or such a large vent wouldn't be needed.

He sprints as fast as he can, his 17 strength stat boosting his speed not far from an athletes.

The police officers notice a black creature with a tail sprinting towards the crime scene with surprising speed. It jumps 6 feet in the air and uses its tail to cling to a pipe that leads up the wall of the building, it looks clumsy but nimble.

They start to report it to the others but get blown off because of the weirdness of the description.

Zach concentrates as he is climbing up the sturdy pipe, the ceramic vent reveals a weakness slap dab in the middle. Clinging onto the pipe with all four of his limbs he uses his tail to pierce it and climbs inside.

Inside the store an escaped convict waits for his demands to be fulfilled, he shouts again.

"GET ME 10 MILLION OR ILL START KILLING PEOPLE, I ALSO WANT MY POSSE TO BE RELEASED IMMEDIATELY!!!"

Flem flies out of the skinny white mans mouth and onto the window facing the police barricade, they respond not giving any lee way,

"James, this can only end in two ways. One is you kill innocent people and we rush you, Two; you come out and take the money we have prepared while we release your friend... Think calmly about this, you know that if you harm anyone it won't end well!"

The negotiation goes on and the police officers watch the mad man through the window, he suddenly looks agitated and glances around the room.

He turns the cell phone off that hey were talking to him through and appears to start shouting at the hostages,

"This is bad, we better intervene! He is clearly unstable."

"No, if we do now he will get atleast three people or die trying."

"What do you think hes doing then?"

The balding police Sargent looks deeply and squints his eyes,

"There is something in the vents"

Zach loudly crawls through the vents, his tail makes scraping noises that sound like its from an Alien movie.

.I better hurry up or he will start hurting people.

He hears a man shouting loudly directly below him,

"Whats that noise! YOU THINK IM AN IDIOT, WHAT IS THAT NOISE!"

Zach is surprised by his apparent volume, he looks down and concentrates on the vent below him revealing a large black mark.

.This might hurt.