"Nice meeting you!" Static called out as he and Gear's most recent customer had gotten her comic signed and now was leaving the shop.

The heroes then looked at the line formed in front of them. Zoey Parker was next.

"Think we can pull this off?" Gear quietly asked his buddy.

"I don't think we have much of a choice," Static said. He usually was comfortable being Static in front of people he knew such as Daisy, his pops, and even Sharon. But with the new girl he felt surprisingly nervous. He could almost feel Zoey eyeing him like she could see through the mask and that she already knew it was really Virgil Hawkins who was hiding underneath it. Just the thought made him touch his mask to be sure that he was indeed still wearing it.

On the other hand, Zoey was ecstatic that she was actually there in the comic shop with Dakota's famous superheroes merely a few feet away from her. She had asked Frieda if she wanted to come with, but she had told her she was busy with some journalism thing. Zoey had even invited Virgil and Richie to tag along in class yesterday, but they had said they had to study for the test they had on Monday. Seriously, it was like they all saw superheroes everyday or something. It would've been nice to have some company to share this exciting moment with her, but she guessed she didn't mind. After all, it gave her a chance to chat with the heroes alone.

The last girl before her had left, and now it was her turn. She began to feel slightly self-conscious as the heroes watched her expectantly, but nonetheless she took a deep breath and walked over to them.

The heroes held their breath as the girl approached them. This was a point of no return—they couldn't go back and do this over.

"Hey, Z-citizen." Static said. Great, within the first few seconds of meeting her he had already almost called her by her name.

Don't screw this up Virgil, he thought to himself.

However, Zoey was so excited that she had hardly noticed him hesitate."Hey Static. Hey Gear. It's so great to finally meet you guys in person."

Gear waved her comment aside. "No, we should be the ones excited to meet you, Zo-" Static glared at him warning him not finish his sentence. "Zo-uh, what's your name again?"

"Zoey Parker."

"Oh yeah, sounds familiar. Heard the name once or twice," he said, trying to sound passive.

"Really?! Where?!"

His eyes widened, realizing what he had just said. He had just put them in a very compromising position. "Uh...I don't exactly remember..."

"We, uh, know all our citizen's names. It's part of the job," Static piped in before Gear could dig a deeper hole than they were already in.

Gear nodded. "Yeah, and it's very strenuous one at that," he added.

"Wow, that's amazing." Zoey was impressed. She couldn't imagine memorizing thousands of names.

"Well, I am a genius. Memorization is like second nature."

"Haha, sure." She smiled. Gear was a character, that much was certain.

Suddenly, déjà vu struck her. Something about what he just said sounded awfully familiar. Where had she heard that before?

Static noticed the girl's expression change like she had remembered something. Or was figuring something out.

"...So...Zoey, have you heard of the Big Bang?"

Static's voice broke through her thoughts and she quickly looked up at the hero. "It was the gas explosion right? When all the meta-humans were created."

Static nodded, slightly relieved that his attempt at a distraction appeared to be working. "Yeah, and that's how me and Gear got our powers. Unlike a lot of the gang bangers, we decided to use our powers for good," he explained.

Little did Static know she was only half-listening. She kept replaying what Gear had said over and over in her mind. It was so familiar. She supposed she was probably just excited about meeting them and was subconsciously pretending she knew them somehow. It was stupid. This was the first time she had ever met them.

"...That's cool." she said.

Static relaxed a little—not entirely—but just enough to feel like he had managed to regain control over the situation again.

"So, Zoey, have anything for us to sign or..."

"Oh yeah, totally forgot," she said as she pulled out a notebook from her bag. Static eyed the book while she flipped to a blank page. It might've been his imagination, but he thought he saw drawings in it of Gear and him.

"Don't read comics much?" he asked. Most of the people who had come to get his autograph had given him a comic book.

Zoey shook her head. "No, not really. I'm not really into that kind of thing."

"That's too bad," Gear said. "'Cause pretty soon I think they'll be making one about us."

Zoey laughed softly, picking up on Gear's humor. "If that's the case, then maybe I'll read it. Maybe."

She handed the notebook to Static, who began scribbling his name into it.

"I couldn't help but notice you have a lot of pictures in here," he said. "As stupid as that sounds."

A faint blush crept across her cheeks. "Yeah, drawing is a kind of a hobby of mine I guess you could say. I just like art in general."

"That's cool. Do you have any drawings of us by any chance?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Uh, yeah, I do actually," she said, slightly flustered. She was surprised that one of the most important people Dakota wanted to look at a high school girl's silly drawings.

Static handed the notebook to her and let her leaf through the pages until she found the right one. Then she gave the notebook back for the heroes to study.

"Here." She bit her lip nervously as they looked her picture, praying it wasn't too horrible.

The heroes stared at her artwork in awe.

"Wow," Gear said. It was their turn to be impressed. Zoey had their appearances down, costume and all. "The detail is outstanding."

"Yeah, and she got my hair right. Better than whoever made those figurines, " Static added.

Zoey's ears perked up and felt the her embarrassment subsiding upon realizing that they were praising her drawing. Static and Gear actually liked her drawing.

"It's really good, Zoey," Static said.

Gear grinned, secretly appreciating the fact that it was clear she had spent just as much time on him as on Static. She made them look even better than they did in person.

"Ha, yeah, you could become a famous artist like Leonardo Da Vinci. Well, besides the fact that you're a girl...and I'll just stop talking."

Zoey beamed with pride. No one had ever really complimented her like that on her art before. Granted, it was only over a sketch in her notebook, but she had worked hard on it, and she would have never imagined that she would be showing it to the actual subjects of her drawing. It was like a dream come true.

"Have you shown anyone else your drawings, like your friends or your family, or other people that go to your school?" Static asked. He couldn't recall a time when she had shown Virgil or Richie any of her drawings, let alone ever telling them that she created art in the first place.

"No, I just kind of keep it to myself."

Static frowned. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I just never thought to. I doubt anyone would care anyways."

"Are you kidding? It's amazing! You should share your talent with the rest of the world."

Gear nodded in agreement."Yeah, I mean, when you got a gift like that, you should, you know, flaunt it."

After the heroes each signed their names, Static handed the notebook back to its owner.

"On Monday you should show your friends at school what you've done. I think they'd really like it."

"You think so?"

Static smiled, partly because it was ironic that his alter ego told her to show him her drawing, meaning he'd technically be seeing her artwork a second time and she had no idea (hopefully). The other part was that he simply felt happy for his friend, and he wanted her to be able to express herself. That was important. Every kid should have an outlet, his pops had taught him.

"I know so."

Zoey thought for a moment, then a grin slowly spread across her face. "I will," she said.

"Promise?" Gear said.

"I promise."

"Well, in that case, it was nice meeting you, Zoey." Static stood up and outstretched a hand to her. "We'd talk to you longer, but as you can see we're kinda busy."

Gear looked over Zoey's shoulder at the crowd of people huddled in line behind her. "Yeah...we have our work cut out for us. It'll be Monday before we can get through all these people."

Static glanced at the line. "Oh man," he muttered to himself. "I never asked to be this popular. Now I'll never make it home for dinner." He then turned his attention back to the girl. "Anyways, good luck to you. And don't forget your promise."

Zoey shook Static's hand."I won't. And it was nice meeting you too, Static. Gear." She nodded at the two superheroes. "Thanks for everything."

"It was our pleasure." Gear stood up and shook her hand. "It's not everyday we meet an artist who draws us. Who can draw us well for that matter."

Zoey met the helmeted superhero's gaze and the same feeling struck her again. It was so intense this time that it almost startled her. This overwhelming familiarity she was experiencing. What was causing it? There had to be something that triggered it. What was it? The eyes? The voice? She couldn't pinpoint it. Whatever it was, it was Gear, no, both of them, that reminded her of something or someone. Or someones.

Whatever it was, there was no use in trying to figure it out now.

"Well, I guess I'll see you guys around then."

She turned and was about to let the next person in line go when suddenly, there was a loud explosion, followed by the shrill screaming of customers. She instinctively crouched down on the floor and covered her head, a thousand scenarios running through her mind.

"Everybody, get down!" she heard Static shout over the shrieks of terrified customers.

Within a matter of seconds, there was a second explosion. This time, however, the back wall of the comic shop crumbled, leaving a gaping hole where there was once a shelf of comics. Only the shelf that had been there was now in splinters on the floor and was smothered in flames.

A red-haired male in a tight red shirt stepped through the wall, grinning evilly.

Static and Gear's jaws dropped at the sight of the red-haired bang-baby. Hotstreak again?

"Make that three meta-humans encounters."