Minutes after Virgil and Richie had left their friend's house, superheroes Static and Gear were flying through the sky, heading towards the mall.

"I hope Frieda isn't too mad at us for ditching," Static said. Even after standing his friend up several times in the past, he always felt guilty about doing it.

Gear, as usual, tried to rationalize the situation. "She'll be alright, V. She's got Daisy and Zoey, so she has enough company to keep her happy."

"I hope so. The last place I wanna be is on her 'worst friend' list."

"Well, on the bright side, you can't really be that much worse," Gear joked. "If she truly held a grudge against us, she wouldn't have invited us over in the first place."

"Speaking of uninvited guests," Static began. "What do you think Ebon and his crew are up to? It's strange they'd make an appearance all of sudden."

Gear shrugged. "Beats me. Guess we'll have to find out the hard way."

When they reached the mall, they saw what appeared to be dozens of police cars surrounding the perimeter of the building. Groups of cops were huddled together outside, including the police chief, who was silently observing the scene. When he had gone into work that morning, he certainly hadn't expected Ebon's gang to be part of the day's itinerary.

"Should we round them up?" an officer asked.

The police chief shook his head. "No. Wait 'til Static gets here."

"Did someone mention me?" they heard a voice shout overhead.

Sure enough, within seconds, the famous superhero himself and his sidekick were standing before their very eyes.

"Static!" the police chief exclaimed. "We're glad you're here."

"What's the situation?" Static asked.

"Well, as you probably know already, we began receiving calls concerning meta-human activity inside the mall. It appears that the meta-human known as Ebon and his gang have been causing a disturbance. We told civilians to evacuate," the police chief explained. "We are unsure of their motives at this point."

Static narrowed his eyes. He was tired of Ebon and his cohorts interfering with his social life.

"Well, whatever their motive is, it can't be good," he answered. He then turned to his partner. "C'mon Gear, let's find out what they're up to."

With resoluteness in his eyes, Gear nodded and began following the superhero as they made their way into mall, not knowing what dangers awaited them.

Meanwhile, Zoey bounded down the sidewalk, wasting no time as she raced towards the mall.

She felt bad for leaving Frieda and Daisy, but at the same time, she felt like this was a rare chance to catch the heroes in action, without almost being cooked by a fireball like she almost had at the comic book store last Saturday. This time, she would be sure to watch from a safe distance.

Turning a corner, she spotted the large structure in the distance. She could see the police cars, along with the surplus of police officers, surrounding the building. Whatever was going on, it couldn't have been good.

As she neared the scene, it became more apparent to her that she'd have trouble sneaking in. Static and Gear were probably already inside. If she knew the heroes at all, they were quick to respond to calls.

Guess she'd have to be quick herself, before any officers had a chance to stop her.

Taking a deep breath, she collected her wits, knowing full well that she was risking getting into some major trouble if she was caught. Not to mention her mom would absolutely kill her if she knew what her daughter was up to.

"Hey, miss, it's not safe for you to be here," a voice said.

She turned her head to see a police officer approach her.

"You should go home."

Little did the officer know that she had other plans.

"What's going on?" she asked, attempting to stall as she mustered up the courage to follow-through.

"There's been some reports of meta-human activity occurring inside the mall. For your own safety, I'd advise you to leave the premises immediately."

Zoey could practically hear her heart pounding in her chest as the reality set in that, if she was going to take action, she needed to do it now.

Peering behind the officer, she could see the entrance to the mall several yards away. She was going to need to be fast.

It's now or never, Zoey, she thought to herself.

Adrenaline fully kicking in, she gave the officer one last glance before sprinting towards the entrance. It took a moment for the officer to process what was happening before he understood that she was not going to heed his warning.

"Hey!" he shouted, capturing the attention of some of the other officers close by, prompting them to chase after her.

However, as though she had been training for this her whole life, Zoey was able to keep ahead of them, as well as skillfully dodge the officers guarding the building. She had never been exceptionally athletic, but motivation was a powerful thing.

Ignoring the shouting behind her, she finally reached the entrance. Without hesitation, she dashed inside, the only goal being to get away from the doors as quickly as possible.

Once she was a fair distance away from the entrance, she finally stopped to catch her breath. There was no going back now, considering the only alternative was to turn back and face possible consequences. Needless to say, she was glad she was seventeen instead of eighteen.

As her breathing returned to normal, she took a moment to study her surroundings. Contrary to what the news had indicated, the mall was eerily quiet. No sign of any bang-babies, or of anyone for that matter. There was evidence of destruction, as some of the stores had merchandise scattered across the floors as though they had been robbed. But there was no one in sight, including Static or Gear.

They must be in a different part of the mall, Zoey surmised. It was hard to believe that they weren't here at all, considering the news.

After a few seconds of contemplation, she decided that she would search for them. She hated to impose on them, but she was starting to regret ever coming here in the first place. What she had been expecting to see when she came here had turned out to be the exact opposite. No superheroes, no bang-babies, nothing. Plus, she was beginning to have this strange feeling that someone was watching her, which was making her uneasy. But she wasn't about to head back out into the clutches of the police after what she just done. There was no place to go but deeper into the mall, where she hoped to find the two heroes. It wasn't as if things could be any worse.