Finally. Lucy’s fingers twitched and refused to stay still as she tried to keep a lid on her anticipation. It made it difficult to keep ahold of the tool in her hands. Hopes were riding on this, and she didn’t want to fuck it up. So what was effectively supposed to be a simple job was actually slated to become the single most nerve wracking night of her life.

Grip and swing. That was her job. Then book it. Or stick around and help. They’ll like it if you do that. That was the problem. Lucy needed to not only do her job, but do it well. They hadn’t told her specifically that she was expected to help out beyond what was called the Grip and Swing, but what if that was just something taken for granted.

She was sitting on a concrete post, loitering. Quite unlike how she normally acted, but right now it was helping her seamlessly blend in. Four other guys and girls were similarly lounging around the concrete features at the entrance to the park, and a fifth had just approached. He was bigger than everyone else there and wore a hood. The beard told Lucy that he was well out of high school already.

That much she’d expected. It was still strange to see someone like that walk up to five school aged kids and command attention in the way he did. Lucy turned to watch him the same as the others did, determined to blend in.

“Hey.” He said anticlimactically and jerked his head to the side. As one, all the other kids stood and followed, and Lucy scrambled to do the same.

She hurried to be next to Gracia and whispered in a hushed tone. “Who is this guy?” Lucy would’ve asked louder, but the others had quietened since the older guy showed up.

Gracia glanced at Lucy with an uncaring confidence that the other girl envied immensely. “Bossman for the job. He’s the one that set this up.”

Lucy looked at the guy leading them away from the park, nerves starting to rise within her. She quashed them, as she’d been doing all day. “So he got the info together?”

“That’s right.” Gracia giggled at Lucy’s attempt at using lingo. “But he delegated finding someone for the grip and swing to me.”

“You sure you’re up for that still?” One of the boys asked Lucy in a hushed tone, receiving a sharp look from Gracia.

Lucy tried to remember his name, but couldn’t decide on Troy, Roy, or Mason. He didn’t go to the same school, this was the first time she had met anyone but Gracia. She wrung the tool in her hands and tried to smile convincingly. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

Mason- his name was Mason, Lucy decided- didn’t seem taken by her smile, but didn’t press the issue.

“Just think of the reward.” Gracia said.

Lucy nodded, thinking of finally being part of a group. She wasn’t entirely sure about these people, but Gracia hadn’t spurned her yet, and that Mason boy was looking out for her. She was tentatively hopeful that this could work out.

“Masks on.” The hooded man said, and everyone around Lucy put something on to cover their face. She was left feeling lost and out of place.

“I didn’t tell you to bring a mask, didn’t I honey?” Gracia asked sympathetically.

“No, you didn’t.” Lucy somehow murmured through the shame welling up inside. Considering what they were doing, she really should have realised that a mask would be needed.

The older man had turned and was now looking at Lucy. She forced herself to look up and meet his eye. She saw no judgement there, for his face was covered by a black mask with two holes that she couldn’t quite see the eyes past.

She could feel it though.

“You are the grip and swing?” He asked, but it felt more like a statement.

“Y-yeah.”

“Find some way to cover your face. Wrap your shirt around it if you have to.”

“But-” Then I’ll be shirtless. Lucy hadn’t had the foresight to wear two layers that night. She’d first regretted that after making it into the nighttime air, and now again much more intensely.

“Aw, it’ll make you stand out.” Gracia gushed, seemingly liking the idea.

“You think so?” Lucy asked, not quite believing it.

“Yeah.”

“Would make a better story than my first grip and swing.” The other girl commented. Lucy thought her name rhymed with latrine, but couldn’t place it, just like with Mason. The other guy was easy. His name was Bob.

Bob had a grin on his face that made Lucy nervous. His mask had left his mouth exposed.

Mason looked on, giving nothing away about his thoughts one way or the other.

As for the boss, he was still staring at Lucy.

“Could you-” She tried to ask, but faltered. With everyone staring at her, she put down the tool for her grip and swing and started pulling her shirt off with trembling hands. Thankfully there was no whistling, but the gazes were hard to deal with and the attention made it hard for Lucy to properly wrap the sleeves over her face.

“Honey, let me help.” Gracia offered, and Lucy was grateful for her to do so.

She was left standing in the cold night air with the body of her shirt now hanging down her front and the long sleeves wrapped around her head twice. Her black sports bra was the only thing protecting her modesty, and it looked kind of okay, like she was out for a run in the park even though it was night. Lucy had definitely seen other girls with even more daring dress, but there was only meek solace in that. She wrung her hands around the crowbar that had been given to her, feeling immensely ridiculous.

The things she did to fit in…

The boss stepped closer when Gracia was done, and pulled at parts of Lucy’s impromptu mask. Her bottom sleeve came down to better cover her mouth, and he stepped back satisfied.

He turned and addressed the group. “Our target is the gas station on the corner, next block over. Well funded, but only open during daytime thanks to this area’s… reputation. We’re going to be targeting where the money is stashed.” He gestured towards Rhymes With Latrine and Mason. “You two will be on general acquisition while you,” he turned to Lucy, “will grip and swing at anything and anyone they tell you to.”

Anyone? Lucy couldn’t quite pull herself to question it out loud. She thought this was just a robbery. Now her mouth was going dry.

“Shouldn’t be anyone inside, unless you lied.” Mason said to the boss.

Tension suddenly built in the others as the boss glanced over to the boy. “Or I was lied to.” He said at length, and everyone relaxed a little. The older man started walking and was unanimously followed, Lucy still feeling a bit out of place.

“So do you really know what the grip and swing does?” Rhymes With Latrine asked Lucy after a short while.

Lucy lifted the crowbar slightly. “Grip it and swing, right?” She tried to smile, but with the shirt hanging from her nose she didn’t exactly know how she looked. That’s a lie. I look ridiculous.

“Grip it and swing.” Rhymes With Latrine repeated and smiled, or Lucy thought she did. There was a tinkling not to her voice that Lucy connected to amusement.

They made it to the gas station without any more conversation. The boss pointed at tall glass doors. “Grip and swing.” He said.

This was it. Lucy walked to the front, holding the crowbar tight in her grasp. She took a steadying breath after lifting it to strike, then swung at the glass door as hard as she could. The crowbar hit the glass and slid down, leaving a scratch and nothing more.

“Try the pointy end.” Bob offered, sounding far too amused. Lucy could hear giggling behind her as well.

She steeled her resolve. Lucy was wearing her shirt over her face and this was probably on camera already. She’d already tried to break down the door. She was in this until the end. And then she’d finally have a group.

Though she didn’t entirely want to, Lucy took Bob’s advice and reversed how she was holding the crowbar. She raised the crowbar, took another breath, stepped closer by half a step, and swung at the glass door.

The crowbar jumped in her hands when it made impact, and it hurt a surprising amount. Not that Lucy really noticed with how the whole glass door shattered into a thousand pieces of hail and fell to the floor in front of her. An alarm started ringing, making Lucy flinch as the other five criminals she was working with darted past her and into the shop.

I did it. No going back now.

“Grip and swing!” Bob shouted from inside. He had all but teleported to where the ice creams were kept behind glass displays. “Need you to smash!”

Lucy shook herself from her stupor and ran over. “Can’t you just open it?”

Bob shook his head condescendingly. “Mag locks, baby. Now smash.”

Lucy didn’t much appreciate being called baby by someone like Bob, but she was here for a reason. Where was Gracia anyway? Lucy almost looked, but an impatient sound from Bob reminded her that she was here for a reason. If she didn’t do what she was here for, she’d never be part of the group.

The alarm was making it hard to think. Lucy channeled the frustration from that into swinging at the freezer door. It took two swings to do that one, and Lucy’s hands felt raw afterwards. She didn’t know how many more times she could do that.

Thankfully Gracia arrived and dumped some bags by the boy. They were the reusable kind, and could hold quite a lot, provided you had enough strength to lift it. She threw two at Bob who was already busy pulling tubs of ice cream off the shelves, then turned to Lucy.

She jerked her head. “Come on, got a thing for you to grip and swing.”

“Coming…” Lucy trailed off but matched the quick jaunt of the more mature girl. It turned out the thing Gracia wanted her to smash was the till. Probably hoping to get the money inside. Lucy used the hooked end of her crowbar to hit it three times but failed to get it open. Her hands were quite sore after that.

“Disappointing.” Gracia shrugged. “Well that’s what the boss man is doing anyway. Come on, gotta get what I want.”

What about what I want? The trouble was that Lucy couldn’t really think of anything she was truly craving at the moment. The feeling in her stomach was completely overridden by how her heart was pounding so intensely.

“Here.” Gracia pointed at a freezer.

Lucy looked. “Really? Milk?”

“Look down, that’s Chocolate milk.” Gracia stressed. “Now come on, coppers usually take five to ten minutes.”

How long have we been here already? Lucy’s eyes widened and she moved to swing. She screamed as she did, but the glass wall held up for two swings. Her hands were really starting to hurt now. It almost felt like they were bleeding, but Lucy didn’t see any red when she looked down.

Even still, she gripped the crowbar tight as Gracia started packing her cartons chocolate milk. She was doing it. They’d invite her for another job after this.

“Grip and swing!” Came a sing song call from Rhymes With Latrine from the back of the shop. She and the two other boys had gone through a door over the counter, and a moment later the girl herself flung the door open and jumped over the counter, sending snacks on display to the ground.

Lucy cringed but dutifully ran towards the girl. She’d crouched down behind the counter and was watching Lucy approach.

“Stay down, he’s got a-”

At the same time another unfamiliar man staggered out of the door. In his hands was something very familiar, but Lucy couldn’t help but disbelieve something like that would be here right now. It was just a robbery? Why would someone threaten death over something like that? Then she saw the muzzle turning in her direction and the world went white for a moment.

Lucy’s hearing stopped, replaced with a constant tone. She stumbled, but made it to where Rhymes With Latrine had taken cover. Lucy was dimly aware that the other girl seemed to be enjoying this. Hands patted her and Lucy looked down to see an unharmed body. The only pain she felt was still in her hands.

Rhymes With Latrine was pointing over the counter and miming swinging. Did she want to take over as grip and swing? Lucy half heartedly offered the crowbar to the other girl.

She was ignored as Rhymes With Latrine started moving away, still crouching under the counter. Lucy was still grip and swing. Rhymes With Latrine had pointed at the man after calling for a grip and swing. The boss had told her to swing at anything and anyone she was told to. Lucy had just been told to swing at the man.

Before Lucy could even come to terms with what that meant, a body was thrown over the counter to land right beside her. She looked, half afraid, only to find that it was the gun bearing man and that there was no pool of blood spreading underneath him.

A hand gripped her arm and pulled her up. It was Mason. He looked at her for a while, then pointed out the door. He wanted Lucy to grip and swing the other door.

She understood that. There were no guns involved when she swung at doors. It’d probably take three with how weak she was feeling, but she could do it. The first swing hurt. The second nearly made her drop the crowbar. The third was stopped when Mason caught her arm.

Lucy looked at him. Mason shook his head and pointed further away. Lucy followed the point and saw red and blue lights. That was all she had time to register before she was tugged away in a different direction after Mason and the others. She clutched her crowbar the whole way there, wherever there was.

There turned out to be an alley not too far from the gas station. Bob and Gracia had two stocked bags of stolen goods each, and were going over the goods with Rhymes With Latrine. The boss looked haggard, but his hood was still up and Lucy didn’t see any blood anywhere.

So at least there was that.

Mason released Lucy to go join the other three students, and Lucy stood there as her hearing slowly returned. That had been… everything she feared it to be. Now all that remained was the moment of truth.

Would they invite her for another one?

Lucy wasn’t sure she wanted another night like this, but there wasn’t supposed to be anybody inside the shop in the first place. If things went more to plan, then she’d much better enjoy this kind of thing.

When Lucy could finally make out individual words again Gracia was arguing with Bob over who got what from the robbery, while the boss seemed to be on his phone. She glanced back, seeing the reflections of red and blue lights. Hopefully that was enough distance for now, but they’d need to make more soon.

Right?

None of these people seemed concerned.

“Oh yeah, that reminds me.” Bob said suddenly, breaking off from his argument with Gracia. “What the fuck was that, Lucas? You said there’d be nobody inside.”

“There shouldn’t have been.” The boss Lucas replied, closing his phone. “I see three reasons that man was there tonight. The first, simple chance.”

Bob snorted.

Lucas continued, disregarding Bob’s reaction. “The second is what I already mentioned, that I was lied to. As for the third…” He paused. He looked Lucy’s way. “Someone called him there.”

He looked away before his look could become a stare, but Lucy felt the accusation there. She needed to speak up.

“He-” Lucy cleared her throat. It felt weird talking after spending a brief time not hearing anything. “He shot at me.”

“He Missed you.” Bob retorted.

“Inconclusive.” Lucas said decisively.

“Aw, fuck off. Tonight went tits up because the grip and swing couldn’t fucking swing properly. I raise my middle finger at chance, and the gang is family. That only leaves one option.”

“What, that you’re a mole?” Rhymes With Latrine teased.

“That weak bitch is the reason we nearly all fucking Died!”

“Hmm. No. That's you, loudmouth.” A new voice decided, coming from above. Everyone looked up to see a male figure leaning over the edge of a building above. He was wearing a mask like everyone else, but his looked professionally made, and came with a costume too. All of it was in white. There was a small crossbow in one hand, and the string was drawn back. He waved cheerfully with that same hand. “Hey all. Heard the fuss and came over to see what it was about.”

“J-jumpspark.” Lucy stuttered, and immediately regretted it because it earned the attention of the young hero.

“Hey, nice outfit.” He snapped his fingers and pointed at Lucy. “But your seductive ways won’t work on me, I’m afraid. How’d the phrase go? Y’all are villains, y’all!”

Bob groaned loudly. “Can’t you try something original? Mr Ranger is so lame!”

Jumpspark’s friendly demeanour vanished as he looked to the other boy. “You’re gonna be first for that.”

“Scatter.” Lucas said, and ran down the alley away from Lucy. Mason and Gracia were shortly behind him, while Bob and Rhymes With Latrine ran in the direction of Lucy. They passed without touching or helping her in any way, and the girl stood there with her crowbar before realising she’d been told to run.

Jumpspark meanwhile demonstrated why his hero name was what it was. He gestured and white, lightning like energy flashed, and he was suddenly no longer on the roof but standing in front of Bob. Another flash later Bob, whose hair had suddenly decided to stand on end as the boy collapsed from uncontrollable conniptions as the hero started running after the running girl.

Another flash saw Rhymes With Latrine falling in the same way. Lucy, who was still frozen in the awe of the spectacle in front of her, saw Jumpspark toss something in her direction, and then was suddenly no longer there.

A gloved hand landed on her shoulder. “I’ll go easy because you didn’t run.” He said, and unleashed his power.

Lucy’s control over her own body was ripped away as spasms rippled through her, starting from where Jumpspark had been touching her. She didn’t fall with the same disgrace that her partners in crime had, but landed on her knees all the same. With what felt like herculean effort, she turned around in time to see Jumpspark flash away from the other end of the alley.

It had happened so fast.

The heist had been successful and they were getting away, then one hero had appeared and it all crumbled to dust.

Lucy just wanted friends.

She looked back at Bob and Rhymes With Latrine. Bob she’d be fine with never seeing again, but Rhymes With Latrine seemed alright. Strange, but alright. She didn’t condescend to Lucy quite as much as others tended to, but that might’ve been because she didn’t know Lucy. Lucy hadn’t seen any of these people save for Gracia before tonight, but it was telling how Rhymes With Latrine had started doing what everyone else did to her within minutes of being introduced.

Lucy kind of wanted to save the girl, but not Bob. She felt guilty about that, but at the same time if she saved Rhymes With Latrine but not Bob that’d reflect badly on her. So as much as she wanted to, it was probably better to leave the two where they were.

The red and blue lights were getting stronger. Who knew how far away Jumpspark was.

She should just save herself. It hurt, and there were tears in her eyes as Lucy staggered to her feet and turned her back on her two partners in crime. Then she was faced with another problem: Getting away fast enough.

Lucy knew in both her heart and from hours of fan research that Jumpspark would catch her if he caught sight of her again. The girl didn’t have much time to move, but she started.

And promptly collapsed against a fence in the alley.

A wooden fence that broke, and possibly led to her salvation.

Lucy scrambled through the hole provided by the one broken plank of mostly rotted wood. She felt it catch on her, and knew that splinters were something she’d have to deal with, but she made it through. Somehow, she was still holding the crowbar.

As an afterthought she pushed the broken plank halfway back into place. It would be best to wait out the police, then go back home by herself. Lucy was confident she’d make it back eventually, but not right now. Not until the police and hero had moved on.

Tears spilled down Lucy’s cheeks as she heard the police arrive and arrest the two she had left behind.