The Beauty of Death

Part Two - Not the Only One Looking

It didn't matter what way Static looked at it. He was back at square one. The murderer was still a phantom disappearing into the maze-like city after massacring an innocent, evading capture and leaving no traces as to his whereabouts. Sure Static now knew his name and what he looked like but he had no clue as to where to search. The city of Dakota was huge and Arturo could be hiding in any number of places.

Static pushed aside the feeling of being overwhelmed before it became the prominent part of his thoughts and consumed him. He didn't have the time to allow the weight of his job to get in the way. He'd just start in one section of the city and then go from there. Each night he would begin from where he left off the night before. That was, if he could risk continuing the search each night. Coming out here like this was becoming harder and harder. You see, it wasn't just because they were school nights; his father refused to allow him out on his own due to the attacks.

…And he thought balancing two lives was a chore before all of this began! He shook the thought off. He'd just have to deal.

It was time to go home. He was late as it was and his father wasn't going to be very happy about it but Static already had a plan. After giving Richie an update on his unsuccessful night via the shock box, he let him in on the plan. "We're going to pretend we're working on an after school project. That way if he questions you, we'll have the same story."

"What kind of project?"

"Extra credit for history."

"Good cover up, just one problem there V. What if he decides to check with the teacher?" It dawned on Richie, "Oh no. Uh-uh."

"Please, Richie? I really need you to do this for me. You know I can't work on it with you while I'm looking for wolf-boy. Besides, you still haven't fixed Backpack so you can't exactly help me if he decides to make things difficult." Backpack had gotten beaten up pretty badly during one of their excursions and Richie couldn't seem to find the time to sit down and fix it during the school week.

"Alright, fine, but you owe me big."

"Thanks man." He put the shock box away and found a spot near his house to change. Tucking Static away, he became Virgil Hawkins once more, ready for the fire he knew he'd get the moment his dad knew he was home. …And he got it alright.

"I thought I told you to come home right after school? You know I don't want you walking by yourself out there in the dark. Not with that metahuman on the loose."

"I know Pops, I know. Richie and I are working on some extra credit for history in order to get my marks up. I had to stay out late."

"You should have called! You had us worried," Sharon scolded.

Virgil winced. "I forgot?" he offered.

His father frowned, "You're grounded." The words were sudden, even a bit unexpected.

"But what about-" Virgil started but was cut off.

"Call us when you're done at school and one of us will come pick you up," his father said.

There was little he could say in response. He merely nodded and headed for his room. His plans hadn't been ruined however. He could still sneak out after school, search, and then return. It wouldn't be much different from what he'd done that night, there'd just be a different return point.

He sure was grateful for what Richie was doing for him though. The guy was a true friend and for that he was thankful. He'd have to think of something major in order to pay him back but he felt tired at the moment and so eagerly succumbed the luring call of his bed.

It sure seemed like he'd been tired a lot since this whole thing started. It just zapped the energy right out of him. He was lucky that there wasn't much else going on otherwise he'd be in some really deep water. You would think that the crooks would take this opportunity to raid the city while it was gripped by fear but apparently they were scared as well. One of the victims did turn out to be a metahuman after all. To most people, metahumans were something to be afraid of, something much more powerful than they. Which was true. Some metahumans weren't exactly the cuddly type. Maybe those crooks finally got it into their heads that no one was safe. At least that was the hope he held and refused to let go of.

Despite the dangers his fervent searching entailed he wouldn't rule himself out. Yes, he'd discovered the fragility of his mortality many times when fighting crime. It was dangerous work. He knew he could easily be killed by Arturo but that was the risk that came with the territory. He wasn't going to let the morphing bangbaby scare him. His sense of duty was too strong. The love for this city and its people remained firm. Virgil was not going to let harm come to it or, more importantly, to his family and friends. Never, ever.

- - - -

The week had drifted by, each day building onto his rapidly growing disappointment. Each night's self pep talk he gave began to sound less and less reassuring. It was already Thursday and he'd still seen nothing of Aruturo. He was quickly running out of city to search. Where could he be hiding? With a resigning sigh, Static turned to go back to school and call his dad. He'd almost missed the oddly placed man bent slightly over something in an alleyway. Curious, he paused to get a better look. The old Hispanic was holding a rifle cocked and hanging on the inside of his elbow joint as he loaded it.

"Last time I checked, hunting within city limits was illegal," Static said without his usual brazened attitude or smile as he lowered himself until he was floating a foot off the ground, blocking the alley exit. At the same time he magnetized the rifle and called it to his hand. "Looks like I'm going to have to report you."

"Go ahead, that won't stop me." The man spoke in a gruff voice without the probable Hispanic accent, his squinted brown eyes settling on Static. They were emitting a buried hatred that sprang from an unknown depth deep within, for reasons Static couldn't even guess. It jolted him a bit. The wrinkles sketched on the man's worn face only added to his intensity, to the wild sense of purpose which he seemed to be emanating as a whole as if driven by something unstoppable. The entire man was sturdy and hard. Even if he was bent a little from old age there was nothing about him that gave away hints of weakness. "I'll get that darn'd wolf even ifs'ya sent in the army after me."

"Whoa, whoa!" Static waved a gloved hand as if it alone would make the man stop talking. "Hold on a minute. You're not seriously going after wolf-boy by yourself. That's plain suicide!"

"I'm gonna kill that monster b'fore it kills anyone else 'n nobody is gonna stop me. Nobody, ya hear?" His stubborn stance made that pretty evident but Static was going to try and convince him otherwise anyway.

"Look, if you go after him you're as good as dead, with or without a gun. He's fast. I've seen him move before. He'd be on top of you before you could even get a clear shot."

"Not if it doesn't see me first."

He returned that with a cleverly thought out reply that he'd hoped would get the man to rethink his decision but the man merely brushed it aside with a rough sentence. It was like trying to stop a rock from falling. The man just refused to budge from his choice of action.

After a moment of unyielding silence, the man lowered his intense gaze and frowned at the ground, shifting his weight as if about to make a decision he didn't want to make. He sounded chastened but annoyed at the same time, "I've seen ya. Yar lookin' for it as well. Ya won't find it. Not flyin' out in the air like ya've been doin'."

"Oh? Then what do you suggest?" Static hadn't expected the immediate change in the man. Was he about to help him?

"It knows people are lookin' for it. It probably expects ya to go after it." The man shrugged, his light jacket rustling. "May be it wants ya to. May be it plans to play with ya b'fore it decides to kill ya. In either case, it'd be best ifs'ya bring yar search to the ground."

"I'll uh… keep that in mind." The idea of Arturo hunting, even playing around with him wasn't exactly all that appealing.

Static's watch suddenly beeped, alerting him that he was out of time. He needed to get back to the school otherwise his dad would get suspicious if he stayed too long. He looked back at the man. "Looks like I've got to go but don't think this gets you off the hook. I'm still going to call you in."

Static glanced at the rifle, trying to decide what he was going to do with it. Giving it back to the old man wasn't a good idea considering he would probably go off hunting the wolf. If he was fast enough he could get it to the police and tell them about the man, then get back to school. He'd be later than usual but he really couldn't help that.

"I'll be taking this with me, just incase you try something while I'm away."

The man straightened a little, scowling at him but instead of saying what Static anticipated, he stated his name. "Joaquin. The name is Joaquin."

Static paused not expecting the man to introduce himself in that manner. Joaquin sure was the surprising type. The boy nodded, "and I'm Static."

- - - -

"So how did it go last night?" Richie asked, glancing up from his work on Backpack. It was after school on Friday and the two boys were chilling out at the gas station. Another story had been invented by Virgil in order for him to get away from his house for the weekend. He promised that he wouldn't go out and about, especially in the evening which was when most of the killings had occurred. Of course, he had no intention of keeping that promise. At least, not as Virgil Hawkins.

"Well, it turns out the police and I aren't the only ones looking for Arturo. I had a run in with this old guy named," he shook his head with a dismissive raised hand as he tried to recall the name, "Walkeen or something like that." He shrugged, "Anyway, he was going to make some nice holes in wolf-boy before I took his rifle away."

"He was going to do what!" Richie straightened in his seat to get a better look at Virgil. He wasn't really asking a question, just voicing his disbelief.

The other boy shrugged his agreement, "I can't understand his logic either. I mean you can't just waltz around with a rifle and expect to take out a bangbaby with it. I think the guy's got a few things loose up here if you know what I mean." He tapped his head and raised his eyebrows with the typical 'someone's crazy' teenager look. He sighed and dropped both the expression and his hand. "I'm just hoping he doesn't do anything stupid if he does manage to elude the police."

"Let me guess, he's some kind of fanatic." Richie raised one eyebrow.

"Oh yeah," he exhaled noisily.

Richie then grinned, taking the opportunity that had presented itself to lighten Virgil's mood. Virgil was so caught up with the whole Arturo thing that he hardly joked around like he once did. Everything that had happened lately was changing him and though Richie hated to admit it, it scared him. Maybe his suggestion to V on becoming a superhero the day Virgil showed him his powers had been a bad one. A tinge of regret had begun to manifest itself within him during the past few weeks as he'd watched his best friend change before him. But those were dark thoughts of times already gone by, thoughts that came and went in a flash. He paid them little heed, barely letting them faze him. He wouldn't let them bug him… for now.

"Look on the bright side, at least you're not the only crazy one out there."

Richie's words invoked an old spark within Virgil and a faint smile found its way onto his face despite everything. Along with it came a brilliant response, his old self coming back if only momentarily. "Better watch what you say there blondie. It won't be long before you become one of those 'crazies'." He motioned towards the mechanical device hailed as Backpack, the smile slipping away once more. "How long do you think it's gonna take you to fix?"

"Dunno, probably by tomorrow afternoon." Richie said then thought, 'At least I know that the old Virgil is still in there somewhere.'

"Only that long? Why didn't you just work on it during the week?" Virgil pulled up a chair beside his friend.

"I had our 'project' to do, remember?"

"Oh yeah, that."

"Plus I had other things to do."

"Mostly school related," Virgil guessed easily. He wasn't kidding around, instead being completely serious.

"At least I didn't forget about today's biology test."

Virgil winced a little. "I have my reasons. Some very good reasons and you know that."

The other boy only smiled, understanding.

The radio had been on the entire time, playing softly in the background. The current song ended and another promised half hour of uninterrupted music would resume after a short newsbreak. There was nothing unusual about that. It was the contents of the second report that immediately caught their attention. There'd been yet another killing by the alleged Saberwolf. The name Saberwolf being the one that the media had so cleverly given the metamorphic boy based on rather shaky descriptions from dying victims.

Virgil's expression became drawn, his jaw tightening. "Better get back to work."

A/N Hey You! (Sorry Digi, I just had to… you did say that was one of your nicknames. grins) Thanks so much for the review! I feel loved. Hope you liked the second part! I would have gotten it up sooner but I delayed working on the last part yesterday. I was being lazy. :p

Next time: Part Three - Confronting the Courier of Death