"That was such a close one, bro," Static said as he and Gear roamed the concourses of the mall for a second time.

The journey back to the mall had been fairly quiet, as both of the heroes became lost in their thoughts. They were still recovering from the initial shock of discovering their friend at the hands of Static's arch-nemesis. If anyone, they thought it'd be Frieda who would get a little too close to their superhero selves, yet there Zoey had been, in the clutches of Ebon. They could only hope it didn't happen again. They'd have to be a little more careful next time about making sure they weren't followed by one of their friends. That could end up badly, especially if Ebon was successful in his attempt to capture them. At that point, Static wasn't sure what he'd do if Ebon found out who he was and held someone he cared about for ransom. He supposed he'd have no choice but to back off, or to summon his old friend Mirage as a last resort. Gear's technology had saved their identities the last time their civilian selves had a run-in with the shadow man, but he wasn't sure if it would work again. Ebon was getting smarter, therefore, there were only so many tricks he and Gear had up their sleeves before they ran out of options, and their identities were, in fact, compromised.

"I know, right?" Gear agreed. "That could've been bad."

Static rolled his eyes. "Ebon's getting more nosy by the minute. I just don't know why he's on our backs all of a sudden."

Gear shrugged. "Don't know. Guess he just figures that if he finds out our identities, he'll be able to stop us once and for all by scaring us into submission."

"And I don't know why Zoey would even think that following us into bang-baby territory would be a good idea," Static rambled on.

Gear glanced down at the floor, processing what his friend was saying. "One thing's for sure, the girl's got her priorities."

The electric superhero sighed. "I just wish we weren't weren't one of them."

Gear shrugged once more. "I mean, it's kinda flattering," he remarked. "She likes us enough to put herself in danger just to see us in action."

Static glared at his partner. "In what world is a crazy fangirl following us everywhere flattering?"

"She's not crazy. She's obviously aware she took it too far," Gear retorted. "Not that I'd ever want her to do it again, but we need to put ourselves in her shoes. She's brand-new to Dakota, didn't even know what a bang-baby was before she met us, then she finds out that there's some of us who use our powers to do good for the community. It's like she stepped right into a movie without even knowing it. If I were her, I'd definitely be curious."

Static was silent for a moment. "I guess," he finally relented. "But that's no excuse to run into danger without thinking."

"Agreed. Maybe hearing it from us, she'll back off a little," Gear said. "Though, I honestly don't know how safe she'll be now that Ebon's on our tail. He seemed pretty convinced she had some sort of connection to us."

"Not sure why," Static answered, frowning. "I mean, Virgil and Richie hang out with her, and Hotstreak and Talon were looking for us pretty recently."

Gear rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "And Ebon still hasn't forgotten about Richie Foley hanging around Static."

"And Virgil hangs around Foley," Static added. "But you were able to trick him with that video loop when Ebon captured me."

"Was able to trick him," Gear said. "Who knows how long that'll last. Because if he sees Zoey hanging around Virgil and Foley…"

"Then he'll think she's the link between us and them," Static finished.

"But what about Daisy and Frieda?" Gear inquired. "They could just as easily be targets, since they hang out with us, too."

"Well, Hotstreak knows Frieda, and Frieda talks to everyone so that crosses her off the list," Static reasoned. "As for Daisy, Ebon's never seen us, Static and Gear, with her, so she's not on his radar."

"But as for Zoey, we've been in the same place as her twice now," Gear said. "This…poses a problem."

Static nodded. "'Cause if Ebon and his gang find out that she's also friends with Virgil and Richie, he's gonna be suspicious."

"Well, we can't just tell her not to be our friend anymore,"' Gear retorted. "We see the girls every single day. And if we break ties with one we'd be breaking ties with all of them."

Static scratched his head in frustration. "Man, this sucks."

"You're telling me," Gear agreed. "I happen to like having friends."

Despite the serious topic, Static chuckled. "Even if the friends are as nosy and hyperactive as Frieda."

"True dat. Speaking of friends, are you seeing Zoey's backpack anywhere?" Gear asked.

Static glanced around more closely. "Nope. And we've already searched the entire mall, pretty much."

"Maybe one of the police officers found it and gave it back to her," Gear suggested.

Static's eyes continued to wander, seeing no sign of his friend's mauve-colored backpack. "Let's hope so. I don't know where else it would be."

"Wanna go back and tell her?" Gear asked.

Static gave their surroundings one last glance before turning to his partner. "Yeah, let's call it quits. Hopefully the police found it, like you said. With all this walking, I'm gettin' kinda hungry."

"Burger Fool it is, then."

Not too far from the mall, a shadowy figure lurked the streets of Dakota City, making its way past the various businesses and neighborhoods, undetectable by the average passerby, until it finally reached its destination: the Juvenile Detention Center.

With little effort, Ebon phased through the brick wall and found himself standing in the recreation room. Hotstreak was lounging on a beanbag chair listening to his new mp3 player while Shiv was seated on the couch, munching on a bag of chips. Talon was sitting on the opposite end of the couch, giving Shiv the occasional glare while she filed her bird-like claws.

Upon their leader's arrival, the group immediately shifted their attention to the shadow man.

"You're back," Talon said, sitting up from her relaxed position. That's when she noticed he appeared to be carrying something. "What do you have there?"

Ebon held up the mauve-colored backpack. "This could be the key to finding out who Static really is."

The gang leader looked around the room, realizing someone was missing.

"Where's Kangorr?"

"He's out stealing something from some place," Shiv responded casually, popping another chip into his mouth. "I wasn't really paying attention."

"Well, pay attention to me," Ebon ordered, meeting Hotstreak's gaze. The pyromaniac got the message and reluctantly pulled his headphones off his ears.

"What's with the backpack?" he asked, glancing at the girly-looking bag in confusion.

"That's what I'm here to find out," Ebon answered.

Like a small child, Shiv eyed the backpack curiously. "Where'd you get it?"

"Some girl at the mall. Calls herself Parker."

Hotstreak frowned, still not understanding what his superior was up to. "I thought you wanted to nab Static and Gear. That's why you asked us to ransack the mall, to lure them there."

"That was my original plan, yes," Ebon replied. "But things played out a little differently after I spotted that Parker girl snooping around the mall, lookin' for trouble."

"How do you know she was snooping?" Hotstreak asked. "Girls love to shop, you know."

As usual, Ebon ignored Hotstreak's attempt at humor. "Because she was the only one there, besides Static and his goofy sidekick."

"I thought the police evacuated all the civilians," Talon interjected. Like Hotstreak, she was also confused as to where her leader was going with this.

"All but one," Ebon answered. "And I'm thinking maybe she's a special kind of civilian."

"What are you saying, Ebon?" Hotstreak asked, growing impatient. He wasn't a fan of subtlety, yet Ebon always seemed to be the king of ambiguity.

"I'm saying she could be the key to finding out who Static really is."

"And how's that?" Hotstreak asked, folding his arms skeptically.

"Think about it. She was the only one there, after everyone else was evacuated."

The pyromaniac shrugged, still not understanding. However, Talon was able to follow the shadow man's logic.

"You think she's tied to Static somehow," she said.

Ebon nodded. "She could be a running buddy, like Foley was to Static."

Now that he actually understood what the gang leader was getting at, Hotstreak scoffed. "You're making some big assumptions there. She's probably just some crazy fan that follows them everywhere."

Ebon narrowed his cold, white eyes at his hotheaded crew member. It was times like these he wondered why he even put up with someone so dense.

"It's the only lead we got. So I'm gonna follow it, whether you're with me or not."

Hotstreak held the shadow's gaze for a few seconds before he finally caved.

"Fine," he grumbled.

"Now that we are all on board," Ebon began. "We should brush up on Parker a little more."