Disclaimer: I wish I owned this but I don't, still only the story line and of course, the new mysterious villain. More on him later


The two teens had fallen asleep remembering their pasts, and the next day they woke determined to help Hotstreak and Ebon. They met up at the gas station first to plan how to go after Alva and discuss the results of Richie's diagnostics. Richie was the first to arrive, but because he hadn't really slept the night before he promptly fell asleep on the couch.

Virgil came in and smiled at his friend asleep on the old couch. He wanted to let Richie sleep, but knew they had to get started. He swept the blonde's feet off the couch so he could have a place to sit, effectively waking him up.

Richie looked around in confusing, the drowsiness of sleep still clinging to him. He spotted Virgil and smiled as he sat up and stretched. "Hey. Sorry I fell asleep. Didn't get any last night. Couldn't stop thinking. But I might have figured out what happened to Hotstreak and Ebon."

Virgil shrugged off the lack of sleep, he hadn't fared well last night either, but he perked up when Richie said he might have figured it out. He nodded to show he was listening.

"Well I found nanobots in both their blood samples. I think that definitely points to Alva. They had to have been injected. I think he was using them to relay messages to their nervous system and controlling them that way. What would normally be puzzling would be why those two didn't put up any resistance. Those two fight everyone and everything. But then I figured it out, you know how you don't remember anything from the first bang? I think if it's still trying to mutate the DNA, you mind doesn't know what to do, so it's just blank. It didn't happen to me at the first bang because it was such a low exposure. And during the second bang for both of us, our DNA was still mutated, so it didn't take as much to get us back to full power, and of course you burned it all off as soon as you could. Hotstreak and Ebon were exposed to so much more. I think it more or less just erased their minds." Richie pause to make sure Virgil was understanding, and then continued. "I don't know how this will last. I would assume its temporary, but I don't know what Alva did to them when they were missing or how much gas they were exposed to. I also don't know how much the nanobots are affecting anything. I think the only thing we can do to help them is go to Alva. If nothing else, we can figure out how he's controlling the nanobots and stop that."

Virgil nodded. "We need to get that done as soon as possible. I don't want to put it off another day. What do you need from Alva to help them?"

"I need to know how he's controlling the nanobots at the least, but it would also be helpful to have any records of his experiments on them. That would be all I need. But it is going to be hell to get those. I think our best tactic would be to have you create a diversion while I go in and get the files I need with Backpack."

Virgil nodded. It seemed like a solid plan to him. "Okay, but Richie if you get in trouble, we need to have a signal. How about you buzz me twice if you are in trouble, and once if you get it?"

Richie nodded in agreement, "Okay, and we can leave after we get some food. I don't think either of us has eaten."

The boys broke apart and searched the gas station to get ready. Richie grabbed all the tech he would need while Virgil got them some food ready. Then they were off to Alva's company to get what they needed.

While they were attacking Alva and getting what they needed, across town, someone else was making their move. Ebon was broken out of prison. Deep down Ebon felt something he never expected to feel, fear. He knew he had helped the heroes, but this man, the real mastermind, was dangerous. Alva was the link. He only hoped his little brain would figure it out. He suddenly tuned in to what the man was saying as he was slapped. "I said you need to capture Gear. Put this collar on him." Ebon was struggling in his mind, but the his hands moved of their own accord and grabbed the machine that would keep the heroes under control. Foley would be able to explain it better, but simply put there was a lot of technology in the collar that could kill whoever wore it if people didn't listen.

Back at the gas station Static and Gear were celebrating. They had gotten everything to save Hotstreak and Ebon. But Richie still couldn't help think that something was wrong. It was too easy to get the nanobots control and the experiment files. Richie tried not to wonder about it too much at the moment, he needed to focus on healing them. Richie spent the whole night working to heal them. While he worked, he was watched. Ebon knew he would be punished for it later, for not capturing Gear right away, and doubly so for allowing him to release Hotstreak from the man's control.

Then next morning the two heroes went to the police station to free their former enemies. When they arrived they learned of Ebon's breakout, and in Richie's mind that threw up a red flag, but he couldn't figure it out. He was just devastated that he couldn't fix Ebon. They promised to catch Ebon, but they needed to help Hotstreak first. Gear gave Static one of the needles that contained the cure and stepped out, disabling the cameras. He knew that Virgil and Hotstreak needed time to themselves at first.


A/N: Okay, back to normal length. Let's see what will happen, shall we? Please read and review.