Leviathan!

Volume 5!

"Is she crying? Tell her to shut up,"

Kraken looked over at his brother. "Why do I have to tell her? You do it."

Glancing down at the sniffling woman huddling on the floor, Leviathan shifted from one foot to the other. "Um," he said with a slight garble. He cleared his throat, and spoke again. "Miss? Please stop crying."

He heard his brother snort from across the bank.

"You need to stop crying," he repeated, with a firmer tone.

There was a shuffling sound, one of the other captives had sat up. "Excuse me?" the man, the bank manager, said, "She's pregnant…" His words trailed off pointedly, as if Leviathan had severely disappointed the man. A general round of disgusted mumbling floated through the bank as the hostages complained about the duo keeping a pregnant woman trapped. Meanwhile, Kraken was laughing in his head.

"So?" Leviathan said, shutting his brother out of his thoughts as a slight blush threatened to creep up his cheeks. "Is she made of glass, then?"

At this, and old lady sat up, and pointed at Leviathan. "You should be ashamed, young man," she barked, "Aren't the rest of us enough for hostages?" There was a general murmur of agreement from the rest of the people crouched on the floor. Looking over at Kraken, he saw his brother staring at him, arms crossed, with an amused expression on his face.

"Fine!" he said, with what he hoped was an authoritative tone. "She may leave." When the woman didn't rise, Leviathan bent over with a sigh, and helped her to her feet. Gently walking her to the door, he pushed it open with his free hand, and held it as the woman stumbled outside. Turning around, he tossed a glare at the old lady, who was already hunched over obediently.

As he walked by her, he heard her mumbles, "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Let's get this over with," he growled at Kraken, who shrugged.

"It's your ball game," Kraken said, "You take lead."

Leviathan nodded, and headed around behind the counter of the bank. Staring down at the row of computers, he paused for several seconds, and then looked back up at his brother.

"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?" Kraken asked.

Ignoring this, Leviathan pointed over at the bank manager who had admonished him earlier. "You!" he snarled, "Come over here, now!" He waited as the manager stood up, and scurried to the other side of the counter.

"Yes?" the man asked.

"How do we get to the money?" Leviathan said, nodding towards the screen.

"Well, it's not actually in the computer…" the man replied.

Leviathan stared at him, eyebrow twitching. "I know that," he said darkly. With a sigh, he crossed his arms, and looked down at the ground. "Just tell me how to get into the vault," he said, trying to contain his annoyance. The manager twiddled his thumbs for a moment, as if debating whether he could get away with not telling.

"You'll need the passcode," he said slowly.

"Well?" Leviathan replied, cocking his head to the side. Was this man being intentionally slow?

"Fine, fine," the manager breathed, reaching into his pocket. "You'll also need my ID card." He handed the piece of plastic over to Leviathan reluctantly, his fingers tugging on the card as the villain took it from him. He visibly deflated as Leviathan pushed pass him as he strode over to the vault.

Sliding the card through the reader, Leviathan nearly broke the gadget off the wall when he was met with a revolting 'beep!' and a red light. He jerked the card through the slot again, and resisted screaming with rage when the red light flashed again. "I think you have it the wron-" the manager started to say.

"Shut up," Leviathan cut him off, through gritted teeth. He turned the card around, and slid it through the reader a third time, ready to scratch his eyes out when the god forsaken thing beeped at him again.

"Maybe if I cou-" the manager said, stepping towards Leviathan. He stopped dead in his tracks when the villain threw him a piercing glare.

"You could just let me tear the whole wall down," Kraken said to him, still watching over the hostages.

"And alert the authorities?" Leviathan replied, "No, we're doing this my way, the smart way." When the slot refused to read for a fourth time, he let out a yell of frustration, and flicked the card across the room.

"Yeah, the smart way," Kraken said, his tone irritatingly smug in Leviathan's mind. However, before he could start throwing everything in sight at his brother, both villains looked at each other with alarm when they felt a small surge of static crackle through the air.

"He can't do anything," Leviathan said, "We have hostages," Kraken didn't look convinced as he walked to each of the glass windows of the bank, and looked out. There will still people milling about the street, unable to see what was happening behind the tinted glass.

Their plan had been quite simple: Walk into the bank, shut and lock the front doors, and then knock out the security guard. Getting everyone to kneel on the ground wasn't too hard with Kraken looming over them threateningly, but one of them must have managed to sneak a call out.

"Shit," Kraken said, slamming his hand against the window when he saw that people were being ushered away down the street by police. "They've made us,"

"I'm not leaving here without the money." Leviathan responded. Kraken looked over at him in surprise, and then smiled when he saw that Leviathan was pointing at the vault. Walking behind the counter, he joined his brother and stared at the metal door for several moments.

"Shouldn't be too hard," he said, and then thrust his fist against the solid vault, a loud clang ringing out when he made contact. Pulling his hand back, he smiled at Leviathan when a large dent was revealed. Their triumph was immediately tempered when the bank alarm sounded, shrieking incessantly.

"Go faster," Leviathan said. Kraken nodded, and continued to wail on the door, one punch after another. The metal was quickly caving in on itself, the hinges prying loose. They both stared for several seconds when the metal finally dropped backwards, revealing the orderly stacks of cash behind it. This was the farthest they had ever come.

Without wasting another moment, they stepped inside and started stuffing the bills into the large sacks they had brought with them. Leviathan had laughed when Kraken showed him the bags, asking "What, no giant dollar signs on the sides?", but they were as good as anything else.

"Come on," his brother said, grabbing Leviathan's arm. He stood up, and followed his brother out to the lobby, and towards the front doors. All they needed to do now was race towards home. Crashing through the glass without bothering to unlock the doors, both brothers blinked rapidly in the bright sunlight.

Suddenly, there was an impact in front of them. "Going somewhere, boys?"

Triton was standing before them, his cape waving in the wind, spear pointed directly at Leviathan's face. After a loud crack sounded through the air, the brothers knew that Volt was somewhere overhead. "Still got mama watching out for you, huh?" Kraken said, nodding up towards the sky.

Triton smiled. "Mama?" he asked, "You're one to talk. I hear that Leviathan always has to save your ass."

For some reason, Leviathan found Triton's easy use of his name annoying. Looking over at his brother, he nudged Kraken in the arm. "We can't fight with these bags," he said, "We have to run,"

"Hey!" Triton yelled, "What are you two doing?"

Before either party could say anything, there was a flash of static in the air, and then Volt landed roughly on the ground, beside Triton. "They're speaking telepathically," he said, "All monsters who can transform have the ability."

Monster? Leviathan turned his face towards Volt, smirking. He dropped the bag of cash on the ground, and pointed his hand towards the bay. Instantly, Sea Fang was summoned to his grip, glistening in the morning sun. He pointed the blade at Volt, beckoning him to come forward. He would show that pompous ass a monster.

Taking Leviathan up on the invitation, Volt rushed forward, fist raised. His punch landed on dead air when Kraken grabbed his brother by the waist, and jerked him out of the way. "Don't fight my battles for me," Kraken said, ruffling his brother's silky, black hair.

"Isn't that sweet?" Volt asked, as he righted himself. He turned to the pair of brothers, and crossed his arms. "Do either of you actually want to fight, or what?"

Kraken rushed him, and the two clashed together like football players, the earth reverberating from their impact. Looking around, Leviathan caught sight of Triton circling towards him. He backed away from his brother, and pointed Sea Fang towards Triton.

The kiss from the day before was still burning on his lips. A burning that ignited an anger that Leviathan had never felt before in his life.

If Kraken knew he let a superhero manhandle him…

"That's kind of a shrimpy blade," Triton taunted, edging closer towards Leviathan, breaking the villain from his thoughts.

"Size doesn't matter," Leviathan replied. "It's how you use it." With that, he lunged forward, reading to slash the hero's throat. However, his jab was blocked with a loud clang, as Triton's spear blocked his path. Before he could dodge, Triton's fist flew around the blades, hitting him squarely in the stomach, sending him flying several yards in the opposite direction.

Reeling from the impact, Leviathan staggered to his feet. Before he could recover, Triton was there again, slamming his fists down on Leviathan's back. The villain crashed to the ground, the wind knocked out of his powerful lungs.

He was hunched over on his knees, fists clenched as he tried to regain his breath. Expecting another hit at any moment, his vision going fuzzy. When did this punk get so good at fighting?

Suddenly, there was a tight grip around Leviathan's throat, and he was being lifted upwards. Triton stared up at him, his expression triumphant as he appraised the weakened villain in his grasp. Leviathan wheezed as he clasped his hands around Triton's wrist, wishing that he could claw the muscular hand away from his throat.

Opening his eyes, he found Triton staring at him with a curious expression, watching as Leviathan held on to his wrist with slender, pale fingers.

The grip around his throat loosened slightly, and Leviathan drew in a long breath of cold, miraculous air.

"Levi… athan…" Triton murmured, his blue eyes appraising every inch of Leviathan's body. The villain felt the blood drain from his face. Had he been found out? There was no possible way that Triton could figure it out… The hero was reaching forward towards Leviathan's face with his free hand, aiming for the metal mask covering the bottom half of Leviathan's face. He had to stop him.

Before Triton could grasp Leviathan's mask, Kraken appeared and grabbed his brother, knocking Triton's hold on loose. Flinging Leviathan over his shoulder, he swerved around and started to race down the street. Luckily, he had gotten the upper hand on Volt. Triton would have to stay behind to help him.

Kraken just hoped his brother was ok.

''''

"I'm just saying, you could try being a bit more friendly, Mr. Sourpuss."

Levi studiously ignored his manager as he thumbed through the new best seller they were setting up a display for. Outside, last minute shoppers stared forlornly at the "CLOSED" sign hanging in the window.

"It was ten minutes past nine," he said, "What was I supposed to do?"

The manager sighed, shaking her head. "Ring them up!" she said, "They had all the books they wanted, you could have given them a pass."

"That would have required me to unlock the cash register," Levi replied, setting the book down on the table. He nudged the life size cutout of the author several feet, frowned when he heard disapproving sounds from the manager, and pushed it back to its original place.

Sighing, the manager pushed him out the way, and started fiddling with the cutout. "Let me handle this," she said, "You can clock out early," Not needing to be told twice, Levi quickly made his way to the employee lounge, and gathered his things.

Outside, the night air was crisp. The events of the morning had disappeared with sun, and the city was calm again… if only for a small time. Levi bundled his scarf more tightly around his neck, and started towards the bus stop.

"Leviathan,"

Turning towards the origin of the voice, Levi let a small smile grace his lips. "Rage," he replied, nodding towards his friend. The man stepped forward, his muscular build casting a shadow from the streetlight. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you," Rage replied, moving even closer towards Levi. "Kraken told me what happened today, I was worried."

"Kraken talks too much," Levi replied, continuing down the street. He stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning, he found Rage staring at him with a concerned expression, lips pressed in a thin line.

"You're not biting off more than you can chew, right?" Rage asked.

Snorting, Leviathan turned his head to the side, unable to look at the other villain. "I've yet to see how this is any of your business…" he said, fiddling with his pockets. He flinched when he felt a hand touch the bottom of his chin, and direct his gaze towards Rage's eyes.

"It used to be my business," Rage said. He moved his hand down to Leviathan's neck, gently massaging the area that Triton had grasped so tightly. He smiled sadly at the bruise. "Running into you yesterday was nice," he said. "I wish it didn't end so abruptly."

With a sigh, he appraised Levi with slightly narrowed eyes. "You seemed pretty assured that that hero would rescue you."

"He would have rescued any human," Levi cut in, not liking Rage's tone of voice.

"Maybe," Rage said, moving his hand even farther down until it was placed against Levi's chest. He backed the villain against the brick wall of the building beside them.

"Just remember, Levi, heroes are all the same." He clenched Levi's hair, and jerked his head to the side, leaned down, and ran his tongue along the purple bruise on Levi's pale throat. "They pretend to be made of goodness," he said, nibbling on the skin, making Levi wince, "but he was ready to kill you, wasn't he?"

Levi placed his hands on Rage's shoulders, breathing heavily despite himself. It had been several months since his last time with the other villain, and he couldn't control the warmth racing down to his loins. "You've got the wrong idea," he said, breath hitching as Rage started to grind slowly against him. He closed his eyes, gasping when Rage pressed him roughly against the wall. A few months was a long time…

Opening his eyes, suddenly everything seemed to lose focus. Standing across the street from them, barely lit by the flickering street lamp, was Troy.

And he looked very, very angry.