By the time the sky was dark, and the full moon hung in the air, bathing the streets in its calming glow, undead Julius arrived at his destination. The 24-hour bank was a staple service of each District. With the irregular times that Adventurers, and governmental officials worked, most services were provided 24 hours a day to cater to them.

  The large building struck an imposing figure, with two marble columns at its entryway, and several statues depicting the banks founders. The founders themselves were not the usual elderly wealthy type, or even scholarly, but seasoned Adventurers who had the power to headbutt a Minotaur and come out on top. These statues reminded every customer that any crime would not be permitted, with them having the means and will to punish those responsible.

  Those things obviously did not concern Bob and Marlo at all, and especially not the undead who had gold coins flashing within his eyes.

  Disregarding the bank for the mean time, Julius went to the closed hardware store beside it, finding a dark corner that was well hidden, and surreptitiously, also housed the manhole cover to the sewers.

  As soon as Julius appeared at the manhole cover, it was silently lifted from the other side, revealing a very wary Lizardman, then followed by a jittery blind man. Bob took a seat on the ground and kept going over everything in his mind, with him deciding to let undead Julius do it with his limited intellect, but also possessing the necessary memories to make it believable. He was prepared to jump in at any point if the bank staff became suspicious though.

  Breaking him out of his repeated play through, a soft glow chased the shadows away that were hiding their presence. Marlo had his pipe in his mouth, with his blue crystal glowing intently, and filling his lungs with the suspicious drug. The blue tinged smoke filled his lungs and seeped into his body, before assaulting his brain and melting his worries into pleasure.

  To Bob's shock, the next action stopped him from reacting by the absurdity of it. Marlo passed undead Julius the pipe as if natural, presumably thinking it was Bob. The walking corpse inhaled deeply, a never ending inhalation that did not seem humanly possible. The blue crystal that was sizeable, quickly deteriorated and was blasted through the pipe into his lungs.

  Julius did not breath out though, with the blue smoke staying in his inactive lungs, and gently floating out of his mouth and nostrils. If seen by a stranger, it would make them doubt their eyes and wonder if his mother had mated with an ice dragon.

  Bob looked from Julius to Marlo repeatedly, before he spoke.

  "You done giving the zombie drugs now Marlo?"

  The next words that Marlo said, confirmed Bob's thought of him getting the two confused.

  "Eh? I know you're ugly Bobby boy, but calling yourself a zombie is a bit harsh"

  "You gave your pipe to Julius and he finished it off"

  Bob's words took a few seconds to register with Marlo, before his eyes went wide and he shouted. Bob quickly clamped his hand on Marlo's face, stifling the noise that was about to alert the entire street to their presence. Marlo heaved at the feel of the acid scarred flesh on his face, but he could do nothing about it.

  Bob did not know what Marlo was trying to say, but the only muffled words he could make out were, 'piggy-bank', 'bitch', and 'damn'.

  With his other hand, Bob slammed his fist into Julius's stomach, forcing him to expel all of the smoke in an instant. The giant blue cloud hit Marlo's face and calmed him down, whereas the remnant crystals struck Bob's hand and bounced back onto the zombies chest.

  Julius ignored the living peoples antics, and then spoke in his robotic style, before turning and leaving.

  "I will go now Master. Please await a positive outcome"

  Leaving the shadows, the undead Julius set off before his rotting internals began to emit a repulsive odour.

  The two security guards at the entrance to the bank eyed up the newcomer. Dressed in black armoured attire, they more resembled what a SWAT team would look like, and even held high powered rifles. Since the advent of powered people and monsters, it became unbelievably apparent that the usual style of security guards were useless.

  Many powered people, Adventurers and their kin, could be shot many times, with the bullets not even being able to break their skin. New weapons were developed, as well as unmanned sentry guns needing to be placed throughout society.

  Now these deadly individuals were scrutinizing Julius as he approached. Once he got within several metres of the security guards, a holographic screen became visible in front of their eyes, displaying the information of the person in front of them. Immediately their demeanour changed, they stood to attention and welcomed the zombie into their midst.

  "Welcome Mr Dinghurst, it is a pleasure to receive your patronage"

  Not replying to them, Julius walked through the automatic doors that welcomed him. The security guards were not alerted by being ignored, in fact it was the reply they were most familiar with.

  The bank was one massive room, with every surface being a sterile white, and several female bank tellers displaying warm smiles. Julius approached the nearest counter and did not have to wait in line, with only one other customer to his side.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  The person in question was a plump middle aged woman with a terrible attitude, apparently enraged at the fact the bank charged her interest on a loan. This altercation although uncomfortable for the staff, was perfect for taking attention away from the walking corpse carrying his bank card.

  "Welcome Mr Dinghurst. Are you depositing, withdrawing, or is it another matter Sir?"

  The sweet melodic voice of the bank teller would usually elicit a blush from customers, be them male or female, but it had zero effect on Julius. Inwardly the woman frowned, contemplating if Julius was secretly powerful.

  Charlotto had the ability to slightly alter peoples moods with her voice, she was hired by the bank specifically for this ability. It worked as a pseudo charm and when implemented fully, could even enrapture a person if they already harboured feelings for her. The only people it had no effect on, were powered people who were stronger than herself. There was also a second type of person it had no effect on, yet she would never know this, that being the undead.

  Julius smiled stiffly, a tiny wisp of blue smoke swirled about his teeth, before it vanished for good as it dissipated in the air. Handing over his bank card and identification, he replied to the woman.

  "Withdrawal...Please....20,000"

  Charlotto noticed the unusual style of speech, but she had seen worse, so she ignored it and set about checking his details.

  "No problem Sir. I won't be a moment"

  Behind the counter at the side of Charlotto, a circular pillar rose up from the floor. A strange distortion appeared on its surface, a sign of a void space that could be used for storing equipment. Charlotto placed her hand into the void space, it seemingly disappeared into thin air up to her elbow, before she withdrew it holding an envelope.

  The pillar descended and left no trace of it on the floor. Withdrawing the money from the envelope, Charlotto confirmed the amount and handed it to Julius with a smile.

  "Here you go Sir. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

  "No...Thankyou"

  Julius quickly took his money and answered the woman in his stilted voice. Turning on his heels, he started to head towards the exit, his mission near complete. Behind him at the counter, Charlotto seriously pondered why her ability had no effect on him. She had increased the power each time she spoke, even to the point that would make a normal person drop to their knees and beg to be her slave.

  Even so she felt no power from him, she eventually had to accept he was that powerful that she could not even see through him. Thinking of his cold dead eyes, she imagined him moonlighting as a blood thirsty killer. Looking away from his back, she approached her colleague and spoke only a few words to the customer. Immediately the plump woman lost her anger and became docile.

  Outside of the bank, Bob was watching through Julius's eyes and relaying what was happening back to Marlo. The excitement he felt was interlaced with a nervousness that he had not felt before, where every step the undead piggy bank took, his exhilaration increased.

  A moment later and Bob's stomach dropped out. Just before Julius could exit the bank, a rotund, bald man swaggered in, with a curvaceous woman on each arm. Adorned in numerous gold and gaudy accessories that were extremely expensive, they looked ridiculous on his 5ft frame. The man's ridiculous image was not what shocked Bob, but the fact the man knew Julius and stopped to converse with him.

  Bob immediately took over.

  "Ahhh Julius! It's rare to see you out so late! How's the wife?"

  The stunted way of speaking was now a distant memory as Bob controlled Julius's actions. Not having a clue who the man was in front of him, he made special care to be ambiguous with his words.

  "It's good to see you! I needed some fresh air, hmm, we had an altercation"

  Understanding the meaning of his words, the man was seemingly aware of his infidelity, and could guess at what had happened. He motioned to the woman on his right arm as he replied.

  "Ahhh I see. I was wondering why you didn't have your security with you....Anyway, forget about that bitch. Here, you can have Cassy for the night, she's guaranteed to put a smile on your face!"

  The woman he mentioned was a full foot taller than himself, with long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, her features complimented the barely there clothing she wore. Slightly licking her lips and staring at him in a coquettish manner, she was fully imagining the things they would do, and obviously the large amount of money she would acquire.

  Raising a hand in denial, Julius hurriedly uttered his words.

  "No, no, I'm good thanks. I have something to do already...I better get going"

  Bob would have been lying if he did not consider taking Cassy's offer, and enjoying a night of passion with a Human, but the obvious repercussions denied him that pleasure.

  Cassy seemed slightly dejected, but she soon perked up when she remembered how much the short fan man liked to throw his cash around. On the other side of him, the other woman was a polar opposite of Cassy. She was of a similar height, but exuded the aura of an empress, a cold beauty that captivated peoples hearts. With deep black hair and eyes, her Asian features afforded her a rare beauty, that was not often seen in District 4.

  The woman scrutinised Julius, a peculiar thought coming to her mind, but she instantly disregarded it for its absurdity. She remained unmoving, whereas the short man named Nicolloco, leaned into Julius and breathed in through his nostrils. A hint of surprise flashed on his face, before it was replaced with a knowing expression and a smile.

  "Don't worry about it Julius. Come and see me tomorrow, I promise it'll be worth it"

  Julius only nodded his agreement, and then walked past him and finally left the bank. Nicolloco and his two beauties carried on with their business, making a beeline for the bank teller who had now taken her position back behind her desk.

  Swiftly moving through the night, Julius met up with Bob and Marlo, with the latter greedily taking charge of the money. At that moment, the backup of Mr Squeeks was not needed, and so he left Julius's pocket and leapt under Bob's cloak. The backup plan was just in case of Julius being found out after he had acquired the money, where Mr Squeeks would grab the envelope and bolt into the sewers.

  Bob had took away his control of Julius, and allowed him to move under his own power to complete the operation. Julius was not going with them, even if he would be a massive help back in the sewers, a missing rich person would have them sniffed out in no time.

  Julius silently and orderly left their presence, and walked into the adjoining dark alley and sat down, the necromancy power now revoked. Slumped against the wall, his head was lulled forwards and his palms fell open.

  According to the world, the man died of heartbreak in a no name dark alley all alone. As to what he planned to spend the money on, most people would presume prostitutes.

  After helping Marlo back into the sewers and onto the undead mount, Bob securely closed the manhole cover, and then they set off home. With a newfound invigoration in their spirits, the thought of food circled within both of their minds, with the adjoining string of drool leaving their mouths.