Static Force:
Chapter 5: Murphy's Law
Virgil lay haphazardly on plush mattress of his bed, his wrinkled, partially stripped sheets half covering his prone form as his arm lay limply over his eyes in an attempt to block the offending sunlight filtering through the partially opened drapes of his window. He loved summer vacation, if for no other reason than it gave him a legitimate validation to explore the wonders of sleep therapy. At least that was his excuse for what his sister would often label as "the laziness of Virgil".
"Virg, you there?" The bodiless voice crackled through the air again, reminding the drowsy teenager of what had awakened him in the first place. Sitting up gingerly as he rubbed his still aching ribs, he smiled despite his slight discomfort of the quick healing his body was performing, in no small part to the efforts of Shebang's parents. But Virgil couldn't bother with that now as he groaned angrily and rolled out of bed, seeking the Shock Vox that repeatedly squawked his name from across the room.
"Come in Virg." Ritchie's voice spoke again from the small box that served to keep them in communication.
"Virgil is away from his room, please leave a message." The groggy young man spoke into the communicator before returning it to his dresser and staggering towards his bed.
"Come on Virgil, this isn't time for games." Ritchie's voice called from the within the box, cut off by his best friend's rhetorical comment.
"No it isn't. It's time to sleep," Virgil said quietly, wondering how so many other heroes could function while staying up as late as they did while maintaining their life. "It's Saturday Rich, and it's summer break. Two very good reasons why I shouldn't be up before noon."
"Sure, and while your resting, the Meta-breed are vandalizing Dakota Central High."
A long, suffering sigh escaped Virgil's lips before looking at the communicator. "I'll be there in ten minutes. Where are you?"
"I'm in route now. I already called Shebang and she'll meet us there," the line was silent a moment before Ritchie's voice came back. "What do you think Virg?"
Having already changed into his alternate clothing, Static spoke into the Shock Vox as he opened his portable flying disc and exited through the open window of his room. "I don't know anymore Rich. This doesn't seem like them. They destroyed Dakota Heights Mall, hit the Imperial Records studio, thrashed Vanmoor School of Science and have vandalized a slew of movie theaters, shops, warehouses and even the theme park all in the past two weeks. It looks like there's some vendetta involved but we haven't found any connection yet."
"Well, technically, Vanmoor wasn't ransacked by the Breed, that was a different Bang Baby."
"Whatever, it fell into the category as the others so we should assume that Bang Baby is part of the Breed as well," Static replied, pushing his energy to move him faster as he soared toward the school.
"I don't know Virg, something doesn't feel right about it," Gear said, his voice expressing the deep, resounding concern as he contemplated the situation. "Anyway, when we're done here, I want to do some research. I need to check a hunch."
# # #
The Dakota/Spenceville International Airport was nothing short of a sea of bobbing heads and charged emotional clamoring as relatives, friends and families gathered tightly in the various terminals, fighting to embrace their loved ones departing or returning. Airports were, quite possibly, the most emotionally charged places on the planet. At least, that was how Adam Evans felt walking out of the unloading ramp of the airplane that had taken him home, only to find the wind briefly knocked from his body as the arms of the woman who had made him the happiest man in world wrapped tightly around him.
"Stringer!" Sharon Hawkins squealed, holding him as if afraid letting go would cause him to vanish. "It's so good to have you back."
"Hey Sharon," Adam smiled, wrapping his own arms around her, careful to keep them in proper proportion as to avoid any unwanted notice that would distract him from this grateful moment of peace. "So I take it you missed me?"
"Not really," she teased, her smile fading only when her pulled her into a tender kiss. Pulling away after several moments, she closed her eyes slightly and gazed at him through half-closed eyelids, a dreamy smile now painting her peaceful face. "Okay, maybe a little."
Chuckling at her nonchalant response, Adam draped his arm around her shoulder and led her from the terminal and back towards the bustling city of Dakota. "Daddy's out in the car waiting for us," she said, leaning her head against the inside of his shoulder and cuddling closer as she kept pace.
'Good,' he thought to himself, fumbling with the small gift box in his jacket pocket as he closed his eyes and hoped the nervousness would eventually abate. 'I wanted to talk to him about this.' Smiling down at the girl in his arms, Adam was amazed at how such a small body could make him feel so warm.
Taking a moment to gaze over crowd that bustled about the airport, the smile on his face fell immediately as he stared into the eyes of the man in the brown trench coat and fedora. Adam's eyes locked momentarily with the white slits that served as the other man's eyes, as he pulled nervously away from Sharon and stared down his brother.
"What's wrong Stringer?" Sharon asked, feeling her lover's body become suddenly tense. Staring back over her shoulder in an attempt to see what had disturbed him so much, she scanned the crowd, and finding nothing out of the ordinary, turned her attention back to the man at her side.
"Nothing. I...I think I may have misplaced the bag that I had your present in." Adam said, the words coming out faster than intended as he tried desperately to come up with an alibi for his sudden alarm as he looked down at the woman at his side. Moving his eyes back to the crowd, he sighed nervously as the form of his brother no longer occupied the space he had moments before.
"Is that all?" Sharon smiled, tightening her hold on his arm in a reassuring way as she pulled him towards the exit. "The only present I want I have right here," she responded, pulling him into another kiss while ignoring the jostling of people who moved about them. To them, the world itself had dissolved into nothingness, leaving only the perfect moment between them.
"Yeah, it's good to be back."
# # #
"Heh...I always hated this school!" Hotstreak screamed, sending a blast of fire into the tiled ceiling and watching as the flames streaked down the roof that covered the hallway. "Miss Hampton, you gave me detention," the pyromaniac screamed, sending a burst of flame into his former English teacher's classroom. "Mr. Carter, you gave me Saturday school," he replied, doing likewise to his history teacher's room a few doors down from the previous charred shell of Miss Hampton's room.
"Yeah, who hasn't given you detention?" Puff sighed, using her acidic breath to melt a formerly neat line of lockers.
"The principal...of course he did suspend me a few times," Hotstreak sneered, allowing a pair of great fireballs to engulf his hands as he made his way to the principal's office.
"That man's got issues," Sweetness sighed, using her great fists to pound through the thick brick of the supporting walls while Onyx worked on the other side.
"Issues...misunderstood...its all a matter of perception." Static said, floating some feet above the floor and the chaos of the Meta-breed's conditional reconstruction of the school.
"Static, how'd you get here?" Puff snarled, floating away slightly from the hero as she prepared for his attack.
"See the floating disc? It's called flying." The hero quipped, smirking as he looked at the assembled villains. "Being in a school I'd think you'd at least learn something besides interior decorating."
"Wasn't Shiv standing guard, what was he doing?" Onyx asked, having his own question answered as Gear floated into the hallway, the tightly bound Shiv in his arms as the energy wielding blade master had his own arms pinned to his side by Gear's mechanical spider-grapple.
"He's a bit tied up now." Gear remarked, rewarded by a sickening sigh from his partner as he stared at the tech genius and his poor attempt at humor. Shiv however, found it quite amusing.
"Tied up...that's funny. Hahahahahaha!"
Dropping the maniacal villain to the ground, Gear reached to his reserves and removed two more grenade-sized spheres as he prepared for the coming battle. Puff smirked at the readiness of the two heroes before turning to the group behind her. "Cut 'em down!" At those words, all hell broke lose.
Gear immediately threw his two spheres, one wrapping around Sweetness and the other ensnaring Puff, the former easily breaking the bonds while Puff turned her body to mist and floated from the bindings.
Static spun his body as he narrowly avoided the row of lockers that Onyx threw at him, however was not quick enough to avoid being snared by Chainlink's tentacles that laced around his ankle and threw him down the hall. Landing on his back and looking up into the snarling sneer of Hotstreak, Static quickly unleashed a blast of electricity the sent the fire-powered villain flying backwards before rising to his feet and summoning his flying board once more and returning to the fray to combat Chainlink.
Gear strained under the effort of using his new power, having telekinetically lifted Onyx and beating him back and forth into the two walls of the hallway until Sweetness had sent him flying with a well placed punch. The gray skinned monster was caught off guard however as Shebang, having moved from the opposite end of the hallway, drove the bulk of her thin yet powerful fist into the back of the monster. Bending painfully backwards from the unexpected assault, Shebang quickly spun her back to that of Sweetness, and reaching up to catch the powerful Bang Baby under the chin, used the faltering balance of the monster to flip her the length of the hallway and slamming her into the concrete wall.
Static had torn a pair of lockers from the wall and brought them together in an attempt to sandwich Chainlink, only to have the hateful Bang Baby split the lockers in half with the metal tentacles that extended from his back. "I owe you big time you meddling little punk." Chainlink smirked as he walked towards Static, lashing one tendril at a time at the electrically powered hero and slowly forcing him to the back of the hallway and away from the battle his friends were fighting and slowly being overpowered.
"You guys have made quite a mess," Static smirked, as his body began to pulse with electrical energy, easily avoiding yet another tentacle. "It alright if we bill you for the clean up?"
Lashing another metallic vine at the hero, Chainlink grinned arrogantly as he addressed his enemy. "You don't learn quickly do you Static? My tentacles may be metallic but they don't conduct electricity. Your powers won't work on me."
"Forget it chump," the recovered Hotstreak said, closing in ranks behind Static as he tossed and caught the fireball in his hand. "We've got you beat."
"See, this is what I'm talking about." Static said, sighing deeply as if disappointed in his two foes. "I may be a slow learner, but you two just don't learn at all. What makes you think I'm trying to attack you?" The young hero said, lowering his goggles to protect his eyes. As he did so, the dust piling on the floor from the battle began to swirl about him. "I'm only magnetically charging the dust particles. Used properly, it works the same as a sandstorm."
As if to prove his point, Static raised his arms, the particles of dust and debris flying upwards in a great wave of blinding efficiency. When the assault had died down, both Chainlink and Hotstreak were blinded and worked desperately to clear their vision. "See what I mean fellows, a little ingenuity goes a long way."
Static smirked as Chainlink growled in frustration and blindly lashed his tentacles towards to source of the taunting voice, unaware that as his attack connected with a body, it wasn't the one he was aiming at. Hotstreak, staggering to clear his the dust from his eyes and cough free the mouthful he swallowed, was hit unexpectedly by Chainlink's attack and sent careening into the wall as he crumpled to the floor unconscious.
"Good shot, too bad you hit the wrong guy." Static smiled, jumping once again on his disc and charging the power into his fists as he delivered a double Taser Punch to the temporarily blind villain, knocking him unconscious to the ground. Static didn't even waste the time for a quick remark as he flew back to the battle, coughing at the smoke that filled his lungs.
Gear struggled to keep out of reach of the recently freed Shiv as the blade master laughed menacingly while slicing the air in his attempt to skewer the brilliant teen. Trying desperately to shake the headache resulting from using the telekinesis, Gear summoned Backpack to project a hologram of himself in the hopes of confusing the swashbuckling criminal while he organized his thoughts. Scanning quickly to see Shebang struggle with both Onyx and Sweetness, Gear quickly pulled a sphere from his belt and tossed it the pair of powerful villains before ordering Shebang to cover her ears.
Above the chorus of battle, Shebang managed to hear Gear's instructions and did as she was told as a long, whining pulse erupted from the tiny orb, causing Sweetness to howl in misery as she clutched her ears to block out the offending noise. No sooner had the sound began than it had ended as Shebang used the timely distraction to drive her gray skinned opponent headfirst into the wall, the supporting structure giving way as Sweetness' head made a noticeable hole in the wall.
Shebang turned in time to feel the great stony hand of Onyx grab her around the waist and, taking a page from her book, drove her into the wall. Shebang's vision went black for a moment as her head lolled limply against her shoulder. Before she could recover, Onyx threw her nearly unconscious form down the hallway, only to have Static catch her in mid-flight and bring her to rest on the burned floor, Gear coming to join him.
Breathing heavily, Gear removed the portable oxygen tank from his belt and held the breathing apparatus to Shebang's mouth, letting her take a grateful gulp of breathable air in the smoke-filled hallway. "This is no good V," Gear mumbled, taking his eyes from his assisted first aid service to the few standing villains. "We're not doing too bad, but the smoke is making it hard to breath for us." He said, coughing to prove his point as he handed the oxygen canister to his partner.
Static took a quick draw from the canister before handing it to his best friend and watching as the still conscious villains stood at the end of the hallway. Eyes narrowing through the smoke, Static focused on them before voicing his own concern. "Why are they just standing there?" Eyes opening in realization of the missing enemy, Static stared at the ceiling above him and watched as Puff completed the disintegration of the support beams above them. Forcing an energy barrier just as the large portion of the ceiling collapsed, Static fought to keep the weight from crushing the three of them.
After a few tense moments, Static managed to elevate the sphere, keeping his friends with him as they moved away from the collapsed section of the former high school and watched as the villains made their escape. Wanting to chase after them, Static thought better of it as his fatigue him of the bad idea hunting Meta Humans while hurt and tired was. "Another day then," Static said, flying the three of them away from the ruination of the battle, unaware of the cautiously staring figure hidden atop the stone gargoyles of the nearby building.
# # #
Elizabeth Murphy never considered herself a typical villain. The use of guns...the necessity of violence; it never appealed to her. She preferred resorting to using her mind rather than senseless acts of disorder, and as such had amassed quite a reputation in her home of New Jersey as a thinking man's criminal, though being liberal and independent of such stereotypes, hated the title.
However, much in the way of many of the great criminals, most of the crimes that she had been charges with were performed by copycat criminals. Of course, she never objected to the notoriety nor did she attempt to dissuade the public as such. She was famous, and though it was for all of the wrong reasons, she admittedly enjoyed the fame that came with her choice of professions.
One such crime she had been blamed for yet never committed was the kidnapping of a rather conservative senator's son for ransom or special favors or whatever. No one knew the true objective of the kidnapper, and as she was accredited with the crime, she certainly could not address the reasons behind it, as she had nothing to do with it.
The media had come to call her 'The Jersey Devil' and she did what she could to live up to that name. So, when she was brought to Dakota to stand trial for the kidnapping of the senator's son, she made it quite clear she had no plans to stay trapped in the local prison and quickly escaped. She spent most of her days hiding out on the docks, looking for a ship that would take her away from this boring city and as close to New Jersey as possible.
That was, however, before the strange explosion on the docks nearly two weeks ago and the escaping gas that had transformed her body into something from a child's nightmare. She remembered as a youth, seeing pictures of the seductive succubus and could not help but think she now looked something akin to the mythical creatures. Though, other than her now permanently fire-red skin, her appearance was as it had always been, with the exception of the bat-like wings that had sprouted from her back, and the long tail.
Some however would consider such a transformation to be a work of simple bad luck, but Elizabeth saw only opportunity, and not at all wanting to pass up the new powers she found herself possessing, had made her way through the northern district of Dakota, breaking into houses and robbing the wealthy residence without so much as tripping an alarm or alerting the owners of her presence until they awoke the next day to find their valuables missing.
Like her namesake, Elizabeth followed the simple guidelines of Murphy's Law concerning the Golden Rule, "He who held the gold, made the rules." For Elizabeth, she wanted to rule it all.
# # #
Virgil walked down the stairs from his room at the smell of his sister's cooking, hesitantly curious as to what concoction she was presently preparing as he entered the kitchen.
"Just in time," she said, stealing a glance at her brother over her shoulder as she continued to stir the ingredients into the boiling pot on the stove. "You can set the table for dinner, and set an extra place, Adam is staying." She said, humming happily as she stirred the soup a bit more.
"Adam's staying? And you're cooking?" Virgil smirked as he dug the plates from the cabinet and trying not to wince at the pain in his side that aggravated him now only when he stretched his arms. "And here I thought you liked the guy."
Sharon ignored the comment she expected to be coming from her younger brother and continued to work on the meal. Smiling as she happily prepared the dinner for them, Virgil shook his head at the telltale signs of love his sister displayed while working to set the table.
"Where is Adam anyway?" Virgil asked, placing the cups.
"He's in the study talking to Daddy," she replied, the singsong tone of her voice indicating she expected more than just a simple conversation between the two most important men in her life.
While in the study, Adam sat uncomfortably in the leather chair across from Mr. Hawkins, fidgeting slightly as the elder man scrutinized over the beautiful ring revealed within the black, satin box sitting atop the desk. He found it oddly ironic that, though he could face down the Meta-Breed or even a screaming crowd of cheering fans without breaking a sweat, the normally kind man before him desperately intimidated him.
"So, you're asking for my blessing to ask Sharon to marry you?" Robert said, the negative tone in his voice caused the hope within Adam to crush under the weight of that very tone.
"Y...yes sir." Adam said, nervously trying to find a comfortable spot in the chair before finally giving up under the hard stare of the man before him. "I never thought I'd ever find anyone who makes me feel the way she does. She's the most perfect woman I've ever met.
"I know my past is probably working against me," Adam said, tumbling forward as he tried to convince this man that he was the best man for his daughter. "But Sharon believes in me, and for what its worth, she's the reason I'd never go back to that life. Because disappointing her is the only fear I have in this world."
Adam paused a moment to take the black box from the desk and fumble with it distractingly as he stared at the heart-shaped diamond offset by the two emeralds on either side of the delicate ring. "I don't know what the future will hold for anyone, but I can promise you, that I will give everyday of my life to make her the happiest woman whose ever live."
Robert leaned back in his chair for a moment, listening to the young man's words before finally voicing his opinion. "I'm afraid I can't give it to you then." He said sadly as he watched the hurt fill Adam's eyes and continued with his explanation. "I think for you to want to marry her now will not make her happy. She has two years left of college before she graduates, and I'm sure you're well aware of how important her work as a social worker will be to her. Getting married before she graduates may upset her plans."
"Oh," Adam said, a slight, nervous smile now painting his features as he looked at the older man in understanding. "I didn't want to get married just yet, just engaged to be married. I never wanted to take her away from college or her dreams...just share in those dreams."
Confusion now played across Robert's face as he looked pointedly at the younger man. "If you know it will be at least two years before you plan a wedding, why do you want to rush into the engagement now?"
"I don't want to rush into anything, that's why I want to ask her to marry me now, and wait until after college to get married." Adam paused as if pondering how to phrase his words before continuing. "See, my music career is starting to take off, and I'll be traveling quite a bit, if all goes well. But I wanted Sharon to know that, no matter how far away I am, I'm always thinking of her. I want her to know that I'm committed to her and only her. I need her to know that, even though music is my life, she's my world, and no matter how long it takes, I won't leave her, that my love for her...it's permanent."
Robert had expected to hear more from the young man and was silent for several moments after the heartfelt declaration Adam gave to him. It took him a moment longer to find his voice and despite the worry of his own heart, could not keep the smile from decorating his features. "I'll take you at your word Adam, that you will wait to plan the wedding until after Sharon graduates. Only by abiding by that one condition, do I give you my blessing."
All the air that seemed to have escaped him under the nervousness the man in front of him caused him came back in a rush of emotion as he held the ring tightly in his hand, a beaming smile stretching his face a bit beyond its usual proportions.
Robert merely smiled as stood from his chair and took the young man's hand in a firm grip. "I know you'll make her happy and keep her safe. And I'm proud to give you what you want."
"Yes sir, I swear the only thing I want is her happiness." Adam said, causing Robert to smile broader at the words. Turning to open the door to the den to lead the young man from the room, Mr. Hawkins startled to see Sharon standing on the other side.
"Uh..." The young woman said, stumbling to try to explain why she was so obviously eavesdropping. "D...dinners on."
Chuckling to himself as he walked past his daughter, Mr. Hawkins made his way to the table to take his place. Adam smiled brightly at the woman who made his life feel more complete than he ever dreamed possible, as he draped his arm over her shoulder and allowed her to lead him towards the dining room table.
However, the explosion that dissolved a greater part of the living room wall tore the two away from the utopia of love they shared, as Ebon, Hotstreak and Onyx entered the house through the large hole in the wall. Immediately, Virgil rose to his feet, but could find no way to make a run upstairs to retrieve his costume as they three villains had barricaded the living room with their presence.
Adam however, pulled Sharon behind him and morphed his own body, his clothes replaced by the purple stretch-suit he wore when in the guise of RubberBand Man. "What do you want Ivan?" RubberBand Man demanded, staring at his brother.
"Just a little family chat brother," Ebon mocked as he glided closer. "Or perhaps some friendly advise. If you're not a leader or a follower, then you're an obstacle. I'm the leader, and your just refusing to follow, so," Ebon said, shifting his attention from RubberBand Man to Sharon. "I thought I'd conduct some reeducation bro...street style."
"Sharon!" Virgil screamed, running to his sister and grabbing her wrist as a swirling portal formed under her, slowing dragging her to wherever it was Ebon intended to send his intended captive. Robert moved quickly to help Virgil keep his daughter from slipping into the dark pit before the thick hand of Onyx stopped the worried father cold, knocking him against the kitchen table.
RubberBand Man moved to save Sharon before the extended arm of his brother pushed him out of the way while the burning blast of fire from Hotstreak startled Virgil just enough that Sharon's hand slipped from his grip. Virgil stared in fear as his sister was dragged into Ebon's portal.
The realization that his sister was now a prisoner of Ebon hadn't even registered fully in Virgil's mind before Hotstreak grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground. "Well, well...Virgil Hawkins. How longs it been since I last beat your face into mince?" the fire starter ridiculed before being called back by Ebon.
"You ever want to see your girlfriend again brother, you'll stay out my way." Ebon said, opening a larger portal as Onyx stepped through. "She'll be safe as long as you don't do anything stupid."
"Heh...I'll beat up on you another time Virgil." Hotstreak said, disappearing into the portal and followed by Ebon, leaving the three remaining occupants to stare at the space where Sharon had vanished.
-To be continued
# # #
A/N: Yeah, this is an evil cliffhanger...heh. But I never said I wasn't evil. Anyway, I'd first like to say how appreciative I am to everyone who's read and reviewed this story so far. As I've said, reviews make any fanfic writer want to continue with their work...so I am most appreciative to everyone. Secondly, I'd like to apologize for the last chapter, I wasn't too happy about it and hope this one is a bit better. And finally, just to give you guys a better idea of what both Elizabeth (aka Jersey) and Grendel look like. For Jersey, picture Demona from the cartoon series of Gargoyles and paint her red and you have a close idea of her appearance. For Grendel, think of Blanka from the Street Fighter video game with a tail and horns and you have a pretty good idea of him. And I didn't describe Jersey very well, but slight spoiler she is the last member of Ebon's crew. You'll get a better idea of her and her powers in later chapters. Anyway, hope everyone liked this and thanks again.
Virgil lay haphazardly on plush mattress of his bed, his wrinkled, partially stripped sheets half covering his prone form as his arm lay limply over his eyes in an attempt to block the offending sunlight filtering through the partially opened drapes of his window. He loved summer vacation, if for no other reason than it gave him a legitimate validation to explore the wonders of sleep therapy. At least that was his excuse for what his sister would often label as "the laziness of Virgil".
"Virg, you there?" The bodiless voice crackled through the air again, reminding the drowsy teenager of what had awakened him in the first place. Sitting up gingerly as he rubbed his still aching ribs, he smiled despite his slight discomfort of the quick healing his body was performing, in no small part to the efforts of Shebang's parents. But Virgil couldn't bother with that now as he groaned angrily and rolled out of bed, seeking the Shock Vox that repeatedly squawked his name from across the room.
"Come in Virg." Ritchie's voice spoke again from the small box that served to keep them in communication.
"Virgil is away from his room, please leave a message." The groggy young man spoke into the communicator before returning it to his dresser and staggering towards his bed.
"Come on Virgil, this isn't time for games." Ritchie's voice called from the within the box, cut off by his best friend's rhetorical comment.
"No it isn't. It's time to sleep," Virgil said quietly, wondering how so many other heroes could function while staying up as late as they did while maintaining their life. "It's Saturday Rich, and it's summer break. Two very good reasons why I shouldn't be up before noon."
"Sure, and while your resting, the Meta-breed are vandalizing Dakota Central High."
A long, suffering sigh escaped Virgil's lips before looking at the communicator. "I'll be there in ten minutes. Where are you?"
"I'm in route now. I already called Shebang and she'll meet us there," the line was silent a moment before Ritchie's voice came back. "What do you think Virg?"
Having already changed into his alternate clothing, Static spoke into the Shock Vox as he opened his portable flying disc and exited through the open window of his room. "I don't know anymore Rich. This doesn't seem like them. They destroyed Dakota Heights Mall, hit the Imperial Records studio, thrashed Vanmoor School of Science and have vandalized a slew of movie theaters, shops, warehouses and even the theme park all in the past two weeks. It looks like there's some vendetta involved but we haven't found any connection yet."
"Well, technically, Vanmoor wasn't ransacked by the Breed, that was a different Bang Baby."
"Whatever, it fell into the category as the others so we should assume that Bang Baby is part of the Breed as well," Static replied, pushing his energy to move him faster as he soared toward the school.
"I don't know Virg, something doesn't feel right about it," Gear said, his voice expressing the deep, resounding concern as he contemplated the situation. "Anyway, when we're done here, I want to do some research. I need to check a hunch."
# # #
The Dakota/Spenceville International Airport was nothing short of a sea of bobbing heads and charged emotional clamoring as relatives, friends and families gathered tightly in the various terminals, fighting to embrace their loved ones departing or returning. Airports were, quite possibly, the most emotionally charged places on the planet. At least, that was how Adam Evans felt walking out of the unloading ramp of the airplane that had taken him home, only to find the wind briefly knocked from his body as the arms of the woman who had made him the happiest man in world wrapped tightly around him.
"Stringer!" Sharon Hawkins squealed, holding him as if afraid letting go would cause him to vanish. "It's so good to have you back."
"Hey Sharon," Adam smiled, wrapping his own arms around her, careful to keep them in proper proportion as to avoid any unwanted notice that would distract him from this grateful moment of peace. "So I take it you missed me?"
"Not really," she teased, her smile fading only when her pulled her into a tender kiss. Pulling away after several moments, she closed her eyes slightly and gazed at him through half-closed eyelids, a dreamy smile now painting her peaceful face. "Okay, maybe a little."
Chuckling at her nonchalant response, Adam draped his arm around her shoulder and led her from the terminal and back towards the bustling city of Dakota. "Daddy's out in the car waiting for us," she said, leaning her head against the inside of his shoulder and cuddling closer as she kept pace.
'Good,' he thought to himself, fumbling with the small gift box in his jacket pocket as he closed his eyes and hoped the nervousness would eventually abate. 'I wanted to talk to him about this.' Smiling down at the girl in his arms, Adam was amazed at how such a small body could make him feel so warm.
Taking a moment to gaze over crowd that bustled about the airport, the smile on his face fell immediately as he stared into the eyes of the man in the brown trench coat and fedora. Adam's eyes locked momentarily with the white slits that served as the other man's eyes, as he pulled nervously away from Sharon and stared down his brother.
"What's wrong Stringer?" Sharon asked, feeling her lover's body become suddenly tense. Staring back over her shoulder in an attempt to see what had disturbed him so much, she scanned the crowd, and finding nothing out of the ordinary, turned her attention back to the man at her side.
"Nothing. I...I think I may have misplaced the bag that I had your present in." Adam said, the words coming out faster than intended as he tried desperately to come up with an alibi for his sudden alarm as he looked down at the woman at his side. Moving his eyes back to the crowd, he sighed nervously as the form of his brother no longer occupied the space he had moments before.
"Is that all?" Sharon smiled, tightening her hold on his arm in a reassuring way as she pulled him towards the exit. "The only present I want I have right here," she responded, pulling him into another kiss while ignoring the jostling of people who moved about them. To them, the world itself had dissolved into nothingness, leaving only the perfect moment between them.
"Yeah, it's good to be back."
# # #
"Heh...I always hated this school!" Hotstreak screamed, sending a blast of fire into the tiled ceiling and watching as the flames streaked down the roof that covered the hallway. "Miss Hampton, you gave me detention," the pyromaniac screamed, sending a burst of flame into his former English teacher's classroom. "Mr. Carter, you gave me Saturday school," he replied, doing likewise to his history teacher's room a few doors down from the previous charred shell of Miss Hampton's room.
"Yeah, who hasn't given you detention?" Puff sighed, using her acidic breath to melt a formerly neat line of lockers.
"The principal...of course he did suspend me a few times," Hotstreak sneered, allowing a pair of great fireballs to engulf his hands as he made his way to the principal's office.
"That man's got issues," Sweetness sighed, using her great fists to pound through the thick brick of the supporting walls while Onyx worked on the other side.
"Issues...misunderstood...its all a matter of perception." Static said, floating some feet above the floor and the chaos of the Meta-breed's conditional reconstruction of the school.
"Static, how'd you get here?" Puff snarled, floating away slightly from the hero as she prepared for his attack.
"See the floating disc? It's called flying." The hero quipped, smirking as he looked at the assembled villains. "Being in a school I'd think you'd at least learn something besides interior decorating."
"Wasn't Shiv standing guard, what was he doing?" Onyx asked, having his own question answered as Gear floated into the hallway, the tightly bound Shiv in his arms as the energy wielding blade master had his own arms pinned to his side by Gear's mechanical spider-grapple.
"He's a bit tied up now." Gear remarked, rewarded by a sickening sigh from his partner as he stared at the tech genius and his poor attempt at humor. Shiv however, found it quite amusing.
"Tied up...that's funny. Hahahahahaha!"
Dropping the maniacal villain to the ground, Gear reached to his reserves and removed two more grenade-sized spheres as he prepared for the coming battle. Puff smirked at the readiness of the two heroes before turning to the group behind her. "Cut 'em down!" At those words, all hell broke lose.
Gear immediately threw his two spheres, one wrapping around Sweetness and the other ensnaring Puff, the former easily breaking the bonds while Puff turned her body to mist and floated from the bindings.
Static spun his body as he narrowly avoided the row of lockers that Onyx threw at him, however was not quick enough to avoid being snared by Chainlink's tentacles that laced around his ankle and threw him down the hall. Landing on his back and looking up into the snarling sneer of Hotstreak, Static quickly unleashed a blast of electricity the sent the fire-powered villain flying backwards before rising to his feet and summoning his flying board once more and returning to the fray to combat Chainlink.
Gear strained under the effort of using his new power, having telekinetically lifted Onyx and beating him back and forth into the two walls of the hallway until Sweetness had sent him flying with a well placed punch. The gray skinned monster was caught off guard however as Shebang, having moved from the opposite end of the hallway, drove the bulk of her thin yet powerful fist into the back of the monster. Bending painfully backwards from the unexpected assault, Shebang quickly spun her back to that of Sweetness, and reaching up to catch the powerful Bang Baby under the chin, used the faltering balance of the monster to flip her the length of the hallway and slamming her into the concrete wall.
Static had torn a pair of lockers from the wall and brought them together in an attempt to sandwich Chainlink, only to have the hateful Bang Baby split the lockers in half with the metal tentacles that extended from his back. "I owe you big time you meddling little punk." Chainlink smirked as he walked towards Static, lashing one tendril at a time at the electrically powered hero and slowly forcing him to the back of the hallway and away from the battle his friends were fighting and slowly being overpowered.
"You guys have made quite a mess," Static smirked, as his body began to pulse with electrical energy, easily avoiding yet another tentacle. "It alright if we bill you for the clean up?"
Lashing another metallic vine at the hero, Chainlink grinned arrogantly as he addressed his enemy. "You don't learn quickly do you Static? My tentacles may be metallic but they don't conduct electricity. Your powers won't work on me."
"Forget it chump," the recovered Hotstreak said, closing in ranks behind Static as he tossed and caught the fireball in his hand. "We've got you beat."
"See, this is what I'm talking about." Static said, sighing deeply as if disappointed in his two foes. "I may be a slow learner, but you two just don't learn at all. What makes you think I'm trying to attack you?" The young hero said, lowering his goggles to protect his eyes. As he did so, the dust piling on the floor from the battle began to swirl about him. "I'm only magnetically charging the dust particles. Used properly, it works the same as a sandstorm."
As if to prove his point, Static raised his arms, the particles of dust and debris flying upwards in a great wave of blinding efficiency. When the assault had died down, both Chainlink and Hotstreak were blinded and worked desperately to clear their vision. "See what I mean fellows, a little ingenuity goes a long way."
Static smirked as Chainlink growled in frustration and blindly lashed his tentacles towards to source of the taunting voice, unaware that as his attack connected with a body, it wasn't the one he was aiming at. Hotstreak, staggering to clear his the dust from his eyes and cough free the mouthful he swallowed, was hit unexpectedly by Chainlink's attack and sent careening into the wall as he crumpled to the floor unconscious.
"Good shot, too bad you hit the wrong guy." Static smiled, jumping once again on his disc and charging the power into his fists as he delivered a double Taser Punch to the temporarily blind villain, knocking him unconscious to the ground. Static didn't even waste the time for a quick remark as he flew back to the battle, coughing at the smoke that filled his lungs.
Gear struggled to keep out of reach of the recently freed Shiv as the blade master laughed menacingly while slicing the air in his attempt to skewer the brilliant teen. Trying desperately to shake the headache resulting from using the telekinesis, Gear summoned Backpack to project a hologram of himself in the hopes of confusing the swashbuckling criminal while he organized his thoughts. Scanning quickly to see Shebang struggle with both Onyx and Sweetness, Gear quickly pulled a sphere from his belt and tossed it the pair of powerful villains before ordering Shebang to cover her ears.
Above the chorus of battle, Shebang managed to hear Gear's instructions and did as she was told as a long, whining pulse erupted from the tiny orb, causing Sweetness to howl in misery as she clutched her ears to block out the offending noise. No sooner had the sound began than it had ended as Shebang used the timely distraction to drive her gray skinned opponent headfirst into the wall, the supporting structure giving way as Sweetness' head made a noticeable hole in the wall.
Shebang turned in time to feel the great stony hand of Onyx grab her around the waist and, taking a page from her book, drove her into the wall. Shebang's vision went black for a moment as her head lolled limply against her shoulder. Before she could recover, Onyx threw her nearly unconscious form down the hallway, only to have Static catch her in mid-flight and bring her to rest on the burned floor, Gear coming to join him.
Breathing heavily, Gear removed the portable oxygen tank from his belt and held the breathing apparatus to Shebang's mouth, letting her take a grateful gulp of breathable air in the smoke-filled hallway. "This is no good V," Gear mumbled, taking his eyes from his assisted first aid service to the few standing villains. "We're not doing too bad, but the smoke is making it hard to breath for us." He said, coughing to prove his point as he handed the oxygen canister to his partner.
Static took a quick draw from the canister before handing it to his best friend and watching as the still conscious villains stood at the end of the hallway. Eyes narrowing through the smoke, Static focused on them before voicing his own concern. "Why are they just standing there?" Eyes opening in realization of the missing enemy, Static stared at the ceiling above him and watched as Puff completed the disintegration of the support beams above them. Forcing an energy barrier just as the large portion of the ceiling collapsed, Static fought to keep the weight from crushing the three of them.
After a few tense moments, Static managed to elevate the sphere, keeping his friends with him as they moved away from the collapsed section of the former high school and watched as the villains made their escape. Wanting to chase after them, Static thought better of it as his fatigue him of the bad idea hunting Meta Humans while hurt and tired was. "Another day then," Static said, flying the three of them away from the ruination of the battle, unaware of the cautiously staring figure hidden atop the stone gargoyles of the nearby building.
# # #
Elizabeth Murphy never considered herself a typical villain. The use of guns...the necessity of violence; it never appealed to her. She preferred resorting to using her mind rather than senseless acts of disorder, and as such had amassed quite a reputation in her home of New Jersey as a thinking man's criminal, though being liberal and independent of such stereotypes, hated the title.
However, much in the way of many of the great criminals, most of the crimes that she had been charges with were performed by copycat criminals. Of course, she never objected to the notoriety nor did she attempt to dissuade the public as such. She was famous, and though it was for all of the wrong reasons, she admittedly enjoyed the fame that came with her choice of professions.
One such crime she had been blamed for yet never committed was the kidnapping of a rather conservative senator's son for ransom or special favors or whatever. No one knew the true objective of the kidnapper, and as she was accredited with the crime, she certainly could not address the reasons behind it, as she had nothing to do with it.
The media had come to call her 'The Jersey Devil' and she did what she could to live up to that name. So, when she was brought to Dakota to stand trial for the kidnapping of the senator's son, she made it quite clear she had no plans to stay trapped in the local prison and quickly escaped. She spent most of her days hiding out on the docks, looking for a ship that would take her away from this boring city and as close to New Jersey as possible.
That was, however, before the strange explosion on the docks nearly two weeks ago and the escaping gas that had transformed her body into something from a child's nightmare. She remembered as a youth, seeing pictures of the seductive succubus and could not help but think she now looked something akin to the mythical creatures. Though, other than her now permanently fire-red skin, her appearance was as it had always been, with the exception of the bat-like wings that had sprouted from her back, and the long tail.
Some however would consider such a transformation to be a work of simple bad luck, but Elizabeth saw only opportunity, and not at all wanting to pass up the new powers she found herself possessing, had made her way through the northern district of Dakota, breaking into houses and robbing the wealthy residence without so much as tripping an alarm or alerting the owners of her presence until they awoke the next day to find their valuables missing.
Like her namesake, Elizabeth followed the simple guidelines of Murphy's Law concerning the Golden Rule, "He who held the gold, made the rules." For Elizabeth, she wanted to rule it all.
# # #
Virgil walked down the stairs from his room at the smell of his sister's cooking, hesitantly curious as to what concoction she was presently preparing as he entered the kitchen.
"Just in time," she said, stealing a glance at her brother over her shoulder as she continued to stir the ingredients into the boiling pot on the stove. "You can set the table for dinner, and set an extra place, Adam is staying." She said, humming happily as she stirred the soup a bit more.
"Adam's staying? And you're cooking?" Virgil smirked as he dug the plates from the cabinet and trying not to wince at the pain in his side that aggravated him now only when he stretched his arms. "And here I thought you liked the guy."
Sharon ignored the comment she expected to be coming from her younger brother and continued to work on the meal. Smiling as she happily prepared the dinner for them, Virgil shook his head at the telltale signs of love his sister displayed while working to set the table.
"Where is Adam anyway?" Virgil asked, placing the cups.
"He's in the study talking to Daddy," she replied, the singsong tone of her voice indicating she expected more than just a simple conversation between the two most important men in her life.
While in the study, Adam sat uncomfortably in the leather chair across from Mr. Hawkins, fidgeting slightly as the elder man scrutinized over the beautiful ring revealed within the black, satin box sitting atop the desk. He found it oddly ironic that, though he could face down the Meta-Breed or even a screaming crowd of cheering fans without breaking a sweat, the normally kind man before him desperately intimidated him.
"So, you're asking for my blessing to ask Sharon to marry you?" Robert said, the negative tone in his voice caused the hope within Adam to crush under the weight of that very tone.
"Y...yes sir." Adam said, nervously trying to find a comfortable spot in the chair before finally giving up under the hard stare of the man before him. "I never thought I'd ever find anyone who makes me feel the way she does. She's the most perfect woman I've ever met.
"I know my past is probably working against me," Adam said, tumbling forward as he tried to convince this man that he was the best man for his daughter. "But Sharon believes in me, and for what its worth, she's the reason I'd never go back to that life. Because disappointing her is the only fear I have in this world."
Adam paused a moment to take the black box from the desk and fumble with it distractingly as he stared at the heart-shaped diamond offset by the two emeralds on either side of the delicate ring. "I don't know what the future will hold for anyone, but I can promise you, that I will give everyday of my life to make her the happiest woman whose ever live."
Robert leaned back in his chair for a moment, listening to the young man's words before finally voicing his opinion. "I'm afraid I can't give it to you then." He said sadly as he watched the hurt fill Adam's eyes and continued with his explanation. "I think for you to want to marry her now will not make her happy. She has two years left of college before she graduates, and I'm sure you're well aware of how important her work as a social worker will be to her. Getting married before she graduates may upset her plans."
"Oh," Adam said, a slight, nervous smile now painting his features as he looked at the older man in understanding. "I didn't want to get married just yet, just engaged to be married. I never wanted to take her away from college or her dreams...just share in those dreams."
Confusion now played across Robert's face as he looked pointedly at the younger man. "If you know it will be at least two years before you plan a wedding, why do you want to rush into the engagement now?"
"I don't want to rush into anything, that's why I want to ask her to marry me now, and wait until after college to get married." Adam paused as if pondering how to phrase his words before continuing. "See, my music career is starting to take off, and I'll be traveling quite a bit, if all goes well. But I wanted Sharon to know that, no matter how far away I am, I'm always thinking of her. I want her to know that I'm committed to her and only her. I need her to know that, even though music is my life, she's my world, and no matter how long it takes, I won't leave her, that my love for her...it's permanent."
Robert had expected to hear more from the young man and was silent for several moments after the heartfelt declaration Adam gave to him. It took him a moment longer to find his voice and despite the worry of his own heart, could not keep the smile from decorating his features. "I'll take you at your word Adam, that you will wait to plan the wedding until after Sharon graduates. Only by abiding by that one condition, do I give you my blessing."
All the air that seemed to have escaped him under the nervousness the man in front of him caused him came back in a rush of emotion as he held the ring tightly in his hand, a beaming smile stretching his face a bit beyond its usual proportions.
Robert merely smiled as stood from his chair and took the young man's hand in a firm grip. "I know you'll make her happy and keep her safe. And I'm proud to give you what you want."
"Yes sir, I swear the only thing I want is her happiness." Adam said, causing Robert to smile broader at the words. Turning to open the door to the den to lead the young man from the room, Mr. Hawkins startled to see Sharon standing on the other side.
"Uh..." The young woman said, stumbling to try to explain why she was so obviously eavesdropping. "D...dinners on."
Chuckling to himself as he walked past his daughter, Mr. Hawkins made his way to the table to take his place. Adam smiled brightly at the woman who made his life feel more complete than he ever dreamed possible, as he draped his arm over her shoulder and allowed her to lead him towards the dining room table.
However, the explosion that dissolved a greater part of the living room wall tore the two away from the utopia of love they shared, as Ebon, Hotstreak and Onyx entered the house through the large hole in the wall. Immediately, Virgil rose to his feet, but could find no way to make a run upstairs to retrieve his costume as they three villains had barricaded the living room with their presence.
Adam however, pulled Sharon behind him and morphed his own body, his clothes replaced by the purple stretch-suit he wore when in the guise of RubberBand Man. "What do you want Ivan?" RubberBand Man demanded, staring at his brother.
"Just a little family chat brother," Ebon mocked as he glided closer. "Or perhaps some friendly advise. If you're not a leader or a follower, then you're an obstacle. I'm the leader, and your just refusing to follow, so," Ebon said, shifting his attention from RubberBand Man to Sharon. "I thought I'd conduct some reeducation bro...street style."
"Sharon!" Virgil screamed, running to his sister and grabbing her wrist as a swirling portal formed under her, slowing dragging her to wherever it was Ebon intended to send his intended captive. Robert moved quickly to help Virgil keep his daughter from slipping into the dark pit before the thick hand of Onyx stopped the worried father cold, knocking him against the kitchen table.
RubberBand Man moved to save Sharon before the extended arm of his brother pushed him out of the way while the burning blast of fire from Hotstreak startled Virgil just enough that Sharon's hand slipped from his grip. Virgil stared in fear as his sister was dragged into Ebon's portal.
The realization that his sister was now a prisoner of Ebon hadn't even registered fully in Virgil's mind before Hotstreak grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground. "Well, well...Virgil Hawkins. How longs it been since I last beat your face into mince?" the fire starter ridiculed before being called back by Ebon.
"You ever want to see your girlfriend again brother, you'll stay out my way." Ebon said, opening a larger portal as Onyx stepped through. "She'll be safe as long as you don't do anything stupid."
"Heh...I'll beat up on you another time Virgil." Hotstreak said, disappearing into the portal and followed by Ebon, leaving the three remaining occupants to stare at the space where Sharon had vanished.
-To be continued
# # #
A/N: Yeah, this is an evil cliffhanger...heh. But I never said I wasn't evil. Anyway, I'd first like to say how appreciative I am to everyone who's read and reviewed this story so far. As I've said, reviews make any fanfic writer want to continue with their work...so I am most appreciative to everyone. Secondly, I'd like to apologize for the last chapter, I wasn't too happy about it and hope this one is a bit better. And finally, just to give you guys a better idea of what both Elizabeth (aka Jersey) and Grendel look like. For Jersey, picture Demona from the cartoon series of Gargoyles and paint her red and you have a close idea of her appearance. For Grendel, think of Blanka from the Street Fighter video game with a tail and horns and you have a pretty good idea of him. And I didn't describe Jersey very well, but slight spoiler she is the last member of Ebon's crew. You'll get a better idea of her and her powers in later chapters. Anyway, hope everyone liked this and thanks again.