(Tap…tap…is this thing on? Hello? Was my last chapter just too short to justify a review? Wow, that's harsh. I'm sure you all will ((cough)) make up for it this time around though, right?)

Chapter XIII

The Moral of the Story

By: Red Turtle

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"Civilized people – Muslims, Christians, and Jews – all understand that the source of freedom and human dignity is the Creator." - John Ashcroft (Attorney General)

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Pork-chops and applesauce are my favorite meal, so dinner was very pleasant despite the contrived conversation my dad kept forcing (everyone had to say at least one sentence about their day). Eventually Dad took over entirely, because his favorite football team had a chance at the superball and he could talk forever about that. I noticed Mathew looking at me oddly. I didn't like Mathew looking at me at all, and this was unnerving, because it probably meant he was going to initiate some kind of discussion.

Sure enough, after supper, in the middle of my beginning research into AIDS (which consisted of beginning to realize how much information was out there and how was I going to handle it all) there came a knock at the door to my basement room.

"Can I help you?" I asked politely of my little cousin.

"Are you busy?"

"Well, I was getting off on black gay devil worshipping porn so I only have a minute."

Something about Mathew really brings out the evil side in me. I only said this having verified that my parents were not in listening range, although they already know about the black gay part.

He actually glanced at my zipper to confirm that I was just being crude.

"Seriously, Ritchie". He sighed.

Well, cousins are sort of like brothers, and something said I have to let him talk to me, even if it means putting off the cure for AIDS for a while, so I allowed him into my room.

"Are any of your friends mutants?" he asked.

"What? Uh…no…why?"

"Because wasn't it most of your class that got hit with the gas?"

"Who says I'm friends with most of my class?"

"Well, do you know anything about…how to handle someone who might be a mutant?"

"You mean meta-humans? Just stay out of their way."

"Mom told me you were kidnapped by meta-humans once, and your Dad had to save you."

"Yeah, that was a while ago. I've managed to stay out of trouble since then."

This wasn't true, of course, as both Ritchie and Gear I had been kidnapped on other occasions. They always go for the smart ones.

"I just want to know what's the best way to stop a meta-human. Because I think a kid in my class might be one."

My mind split in two, half continuing the conversation and the other half calculating all the ramifications of this revelation.

"I just rely on Static Shock and Gear to stop them. They're our town's heroes, you know."

"But they are meta-humans. You'd have to stop them too."

"No you don't. They don't do bad things with their powers."

"Their powers are a bad thing."

"Richard! Phone!" Mom yelled, saving me from getting drawn into another unpleasant argument.

Mathew followed me upstairs and went to the living room while I picked up the phone.

"Ritchie! News! Watch it now!" Virgil told me in no uncertain terms.

I carried the phone to the TV in the living room, which my family was gathered around with a sense of dread. The footage showed screaming people being blown along a sidewalk into cars and buildings. Then it centered on Slipstream, another old enemy. One I never even enjoyed fighting, as I remember the only time I fought him I ended up with a broken arm. But that was before I was Gear.

By now Virgil had hung up the phone, no doubt changing into Static. I needed to do the same.

"Hey, Dad, can I go spend the night at Virgil's?"

"You want to leave the house with that villain running around? No way!" Mom answered.

"But Mom, I'm almost eighteen I can handle-"

"You heard your mother, Ritchie", Dad replied.

With I sigh I put the phone back down. That put visiting Shenice out of the question too. Unless I snuck out, but there were no windows in the basement, and between Mom by the back door in the kitchen and Dad by the front in the living room I had no choice, unless I provoked a show-down, but given the discussion I was just having with Mathew that would possibly be suspicious, if I were to leave and then Gear conveniently shows up on the news.

I got to move out.

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"I don't need to argue here that the evil in the world proves that the universe is not designed, but only that there are no signs of benevolence that might have shown the hand of a designer. But in fact the perception that God cannot be benevolent is very old. Plays by Aeschylus and Euripides make a quite explicit statement that the gods are selfish and cruel, though they expect better behavior from humans. God in the Old Testament tells us to bash the heads of infidels and demands of us that we be willing to sacrifice our children's lives at His orders, and the God of traditional Christianity and Islam damns us for eternity if we do not worship him in the right manner. Is this a nice way to behave? I know, I know, we are not supposed to judge God according to human standards, but you see the problem here: If we are not yet convinced of His existence, and are looking for signs of His benevolence, then what other standards can we use?"
-- Steven Weinberg, "A Designer Universe?" ††

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