Chapter 7

Last chapter Yukiko met up with Edwin Alva, a lot of boring stuff. Then BANG! Snow-child showed up and kicked things up! Will Yukiko be saved from Snow-child's clutches? Or will she be put on ice? ONWARD TO THE BATTLE FIELD!

"So, what kind of fun can we have with you today?" Snow-child asked grabbing Yukiko by the hair. Yukiko let out a yelp of pain.

"P-please…don't do this…" she begged as Snow-child lifted her off the ground. Snow-child scowled.

"Aww, but if I don't how on earth will I be able to live with myself? Not to mention, making you and your stupid family suffer for what they've done to me!" She said. "Now, what should I do, I can't very well freeze you, that wouldn't do anything for me. Other than shut you up."

Suddenly there was a loud snap and Snow-child was knocked back. She dropped Yukiko who let out a sigh of relief, she then looked over to see Static floating over to them.

"Hey there. Seems you and me keep runnin into each other." He said then looked to Yukiko, "Listen, a little tip about Alva, I wouldn't trust him if I were you."

Yukiko looked to Static and nodded, "I-if it means anything…I didn't plan to go through with the merge."

Static nodded, then was blown back by a heavy wind of snow. Snow-child stood up and was now glaring at Static. She then created a bridge of ice and slide over to him, grabbing Static by the shirt.

"You jerk! You're ruining everything!" She shrieked, Static shrugged.

"That's sort of the job of a hero." He said, then zapped Snow-child. Meanwhile Yukiko took advantage of the two fighting and went to help Alva, who was still frozen to the wall.

"Care to explain?" Alva asked, Yukiko scowled as she began pulling the ice from his sleeves to free him.

"I've read more about your company Mr. Alva. The Yamamoto family won't be merging." She said, "However I do not think now is a good time to talk about business."

Yukiko let out a sigh of frustration. She wasn't succeeding in removing the ice that pinned Alva to the wall. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. Panicked, thinking that perhaps it was Snow-child, she let out a slight yelp. When she looked back she was surprised to see Hotstreak.

"W-w-what are…"

"In the neighborhood." He said, then melted the snow Shurikens, setting Alva free. He stood and looked to the two. Hotstreak scowled, "I'd beat it if I were you."

Alva scowled back, then looked back at Static and Snow-child. Yukiko nodded, which must have been the ok, since Alva took off. Meanwhile Static and Snow-child clashed.

"I'm starting to really not like you!" Snow-child growled forming her snow katana. She let out a growl and ran at Static, created a static cage around her.

"Believe me, the feelings mutual." He said letting out a sigh. Snow-child scowled.

"You, really do suck yaknow that electro-boy?" she hissed as the air around them began to chill. Static glared at Yukiko who smirked, "Well, on the up side, my work is done."

Static scowled as suddenly snow-child's body suddenly turned to snow and collapsed into water, shorting out the static cage. Static scowled, then felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked back to see Snow-child.

"Like it? I call it a Snow clone." She said, then pulled back her fist and punched Static in the face, "Since I can manipulate snow and ice, I can also change the shape."

Static groaned and held his face where a bruise was forming. He looked to Snow-child who smirked and looked behind him. He looked back and was shocked to see Hotstreak standing next to Yukiko.

"What the..?" He mumbled, then felt a cold sharp wind. He looked back to Snow-child to see she had once again disappeared. "Oh damnit!"

"Why…a-are you here?" Yukiko mumbled. Hotstreak Shrugged and put his hands in his pocket.

"I said I was in the neighborhood." He said, "What more do you want?"

"An explanation would be nice." Static said flying over to the duo. Since Snow-child was gone, he might as well get to the bottom of Hotstreak's appearance. Hotstreak glared.

"That's none of you'r business Static. I haven't done anything wrong." He growled. Static looked to Yukiko who nodded, confirming this.

"Fine, whatever. Yukiko you ok?" Static asked, Yukiko nodes silently as she gave him a strange look. Static looked back at her awkwardly.

"I'll take it from here." Hotstreak growled, Static glared.

"I don't think so. I know what you did the last time." He said, Hotstreak glared back his body igniting with fire. Yukiko let out a slight yelp, then stood between the duo.

"N-no i-it's ok! I-I can go with him." She mumbled what was no doubt going to be a fight. Static scowled at her.

"You sure?" He asked, Yukiko nodded silently. Static looked back to Hotstreak who smirked triumphantly, "Don't think I'm not watchin you."

With that Static lit up his disk, and flew off leaving the duo behind. Yukiko grabbed her bag and then looked to Hotstreak.

"I-I-I want…an explanation." She mumbled, "N-now."

"Look I said I was sorry." Hotstreak growled, then grabbed Yukiko by the hand, "Like I said it was all Ebon's idea."

Yukiko looked up at Hotstreak fearfully as he dragged her out of the building until they were far enough away from Alva's building. When Hotstreak was satisfied he stopped and looked back to her.

"Listen, I said I was sorry. And I wanted to make it up to you. I heard a crash when I was walking down the street, so I came to investigate." He said. Yukiko pulled back.

"I…have a-a hard time believing that." She mumbled. Hotstreak scowled.

"Ok, fine. I'm lying. Snow-child tried to set me up to kill you, but I thought better of it. Happy?" He hissed. Yukiko looked to him with fear, "I'm not gonna kill you."

Yukiko stayed quiet.

"I'm not. Ice Queen might not like you," He went on, then looked away crossing his arms, "But I think you're ok."

"I-I'm…ok?" Yukiko repeated skeptically. She wasn't sure she believed him, after all he had kidnapped her in the hopes of getting money out of her family. It had backfired of course. Hotstreak let out a frustrated sigh.

"After that whole ordeal the other day, when Snow-child dropped in, she said what she did about your parents." He said, Yukiko looked away. Ashamed.

"Y-you shouldn't…believe everything you hear." She mumbled. Hotstreak rolled his eyes.

"Right, the look on your face said it all." He said, Yukiko looked to her feet, "Look, I get it. Parents can be lousy sometimes. So when I heard that from Snow, I felt bad for ya."

"I don't need your pity." Yukiko said turning away from him.

"Even if I knew a way to get away from all that?" Hotstreak asked, Yukiko paused and looked back at him, "I can show ya how to get away from it all."

"H-how?" she asked. Hotstreak smirked and walked up to her, placing a hand on her shoulders.

"Come on, I'll show ya." He said, "It'll be, liberating."

"Th-this isn't going…to end up w-with me tied to another chair is it?" She asked looking up at Hotstreak, who paused for a while, then laughed.

"No! like I said, not my idea!" He said, Yukiko gave a meek smile.

"O-ok…" she mumbled.

~0~

"Hotstreak?! Hotstreak saved her!?" Richie shouted back at their secret hideaway in the abandoned gas station. "Why would he..?"

"I don't know Richie." Virgil said taking off his costume, "But you can get I don't trust what's goin on. First that thing with Snow-child and Hotstreak, now this. Somethin's up."

"We should ask her tomorrow if she's ok. Any time Hotstreak's involved Yukiko usually gets hurt." Richie grumbled. Virgil nodded.

The next day Virgil and Richie found Yukiko, scribbling away in a notebook as she sat early in class. They walked over to her, she was deep in thought, or so it appeared. Closer look to her notebook and it turned out she was just doodling.

"Uh, Yukiko?" Richie asked, Yukiko jumped in surprise and closed her notebook quickly. She looked up at the two and fixed her glasses.

"R-richie, Virgil. P-please don't sneak up on me. I-I scare easy…" she mumbled.

"Sorry, so how was that meeting thing you went to yesterday?" Virgil asked, Yukiko pushed her glasses back into place and stood.

"Actually, I-I was sort of hoping to…talk to you two about it." She said. Richie and Virgil looked to each other then to Yukiko as she gave them a serious look.

"Oh, kay? What's up?" Richie asked.

"I had a run in with a certain hero yesterday…" She began, surprisingly calm, as she gathering her notebook in her hands, "Static shock, he had come to my meeting after Snow-child had crashed it."

"You ok?"

"Indeed, H-however, I was surprised to see Static there to begin with." She explained, the boys gave her a confused look.

"Why's that? He's a hero, he's bound to show up whenever trouble comes, regardless of where." Richie said with a grin, "That's how the hero thing works, right?"

"I suppose, however, what bothers me is what he said to me." Yukiko said pushing her glasses up her face, "Somehow he knew about the merger between the two of us. The only people who knew about that were part of the Yamamoto house hold."

"Oh yeah?" Virgil asked, "That's…weird."

"Let me finish, the only people who knew were part of the Yamamoto house hold, and the two of you." She said narrowing her eyes. Virgil and Richie looked to each other with slight panic. Did she figure it out?

"W-well…"

"So, Virgil, i-if you're Static, does that make Richie Gear?" She asked looking to Richie, who blushed a bit. "I-it's really interesting. However did you manage to keep it a secret?"

"It was easier before."

"Oh? S-so then no one else figured it out before?" she mumbled, "Seems like Comic-book logic to me."

"Eh what?" Virgil asked, Yukiko smiled timidly and pulled out an old comicbook.

"M-my caretaker gave me a few of these…I-I was up reading them it's strange that no one can figure out who this hero is." She mumbled, "It seems obvious."

"Yeah, I always wondered why no one could figure that out." Richie said, "Yaknow, it'd be pretty cool to have you help us out Yukiko. Yaknow nabbin the bad guys. People like the Meta-breed for example. It'd be great to have another egghead on the team."

"O-oh, that sounds very uh…cool? But…between classes and business…" Yukiko mumbled brining her fingers to her lips and nibbling on her nails "B-besides, I don't think I'd be all that good at it."

"If it makes you feel any safer, ya don't have to do any of the fighting." Virgil said, "Besides, you'd also be able to take out Snow-child, maybe put her behind bars. For good."

"No!" Yukiko shouted, surprising the two boys, "I-I won't get involved with a-anything…that h-has to do…w-with that girl!"

Yukiko then grabbed her bag, placing her things inside, "A-and neither should you. Y-you're going to end up really getting hurt. Sh-she's not like those people from the Meta-breed, o-or any of the bang-babies."

"Chill Yukiko, relax, we know what we're doing." Vigil said, as Yukiko walked past them. She shook her head.

"N-no…you don't…not—not when it comes to her." She said. Having heard enough Yukiko walked off, without hearing anything the boys had to say.

"Well that coulda gone better." Virgil said. Richie nodded.

"Yeah, but now she knows who we are. Should we be worried? I mean with Hotstreak and Snow-child shadowing her, we might have a serious identity crisis on our hand." He said, "Not to mention what they might do if they find out she knows."

"We'll just have to talk her into helping us I guess." Virgil said, "We'll meet up with her after school, talk to her then."

"If you say so."

~0~

Meanwhile in her own little hide away, Snow-child sat back in a frozen chair. She sat alone, waiting for Hotstreak to come back with a status report on the plan. In her boredom she had began to make things out of the frozen air around her. For example she made a small ice sculpture of a young girl.

"Ah Yukiko, soon you, and the rest of the Yamamoto family will pay dearly for what they've done to me." She said, holding the ice sculpture in her hands, "And I will take great pleasure in bringing down the entire Yamamoto family."

"Hey Ice-queen!" Hotstreak shouted barging in. Snow-child let out a surprised yelp as she slipped out of her seat and dropped the sculpture, it shattered to pieces on the ground. Snow-child then glared and stood up as Hotstreak walked toward her.

"D-don't sneak up on me like that!" She hissed, Hotstreak cocked an eyebrow. "What do you want? You'd better have an update!"

"I do Queen of cold." He hissed back, his body temp rising, Snow-child crossed her arms.

"Well then, go on with it. Spit it out." She said. Hotstreak scowled, and grabbed Snow-child by the shirt.

"I'm done. I don't care what your history is with Yukiko and her family. I'm not gonna help you kill her." he said, "I'm out."

Snow-child's eyes widened with surprise as Hotstreak released her, she then glared as he began to walk off. She balled her fists up in anger and let out an angry scream. Hotstreak paused and looked back at her.

"You flame headed bastard! You can't quit on me! I can end you right now if I wanted to!" She screamed. Hotstreak turned his full attention to her and grinned evilly as he spread his arms out.

"Come at me baby." He said in a dark tone. Snow-child glared at him, then let out a scream.

"Fine you want to have you're precious Yukiko, just wait! Wait until you find out her dark little secret!" She shouted, Hotstreak lowered his arms as his smirk disappeared. He then turned and walked away.

"I've already figured that out." He said. Snow-child's eyes widened. She ran up to him and cut off his pathway.

"You what?! How could you have possibly done that?!" She shouted, Hotstreak smirked, very much enjoying Snow-child's panic.

"She told me. Now move before I turn your little ice box, into sauna." He said, and pushed past the white haired girl. When he left Snow-child began to throw a fit, until finally she broke down into twisted laughter.

"How very interesting…" She said through a twisted grin. Suddenly her body began to turn as white as snow and her form dematerialized, until she herself became snow and collapsed.

~0~

"Yukiko-san, it's time for bed young miss." Miss Takara said, entering Yukiko's room later that night. Yukiko was sitting on her bed, flipping through a comicbook that had 'X' in the title, "I see you've made good use of those American comics I found."

Yukiko nodded, "This school for gifted children is…interesting."

"I'm glad you enjoy them." Takara said, the removed the comic from Yukiko's hands, "However young Miss, it is time you got your rest."

Yukiko nodded and removed her glasses as Takara closed the curtains to her bedroom.

"By the way, young miss, how did that issue with the boy turn out?" she asked looking back at the young girl. Yukiko blushed.

"W-well…I'm not entirely sure." She said, "I guess I'll find out tomorrow."

"Well I hope it all works out Yukiko." Takara said, patting Yukiko on the head and leaving, "See you in the morning dear."

Yukiko yawned and laid down, when a sudden tap at her window made her sit up in surprise. She looked to her window and froze.

"F-francis?!" she shrieked as Hotstreak entered through the window.

"Hey."

"W-w-what are you…h-how are you…" she panicked. Hotstreak smirked and leaned against the window frame, his arms crossed.

"I followed ya. Thought we could talk." He said, Yukiko grasped her blanket tightly and swallowed hard.

"A-about…w-what?" She mumbled a bit of scared of what might happen. After all he was there, in her room, in the middle of the night. Suddenly Hotstreak pushed himself off the wall and moved toward Yukiko. Her heart began to pounded in her chest as he got closer, and closer until he stood over her. Hotstreak then dipped to her level and grinned.

"So how's your evening going? Snow-child?" He whispered into her ear. Yukiko's eyes widened, and pushed herself away from him.

"H-how did…"

"Wasn't too hard," Hotstreak said, "You made it pretty easy. Especially when you managed to burn me that day when I grabbed you. Only someone with ice powers could do that."

"S-so…w-what…what are you, going to do n-now?" Yukiko asked. Hotstreak didn't reply at first. Then he surprised Yukiko by pinning her to her bed, she gasped as her face started to burn red with surprise. He then surprised her by pressing his lips against hers. When he pulled away he smirked at her.

"I'm going to enjoy this."

End of chapter 7! What'd you think? Review! No Flames please!