Notes:
a) Please remember that Richie's powers are my own hypothesis on what may have happened had he directly inhaled the Big Bang gas as opposed to getting it from Virgil's clothes (There is no proof that he could or couldn't have gotten these powers after directly inhaling as when he finally did directly inhale, it was the end of the last episode of the series ). For more info on this theory, go read my story "Shatter".
b) Again, like I said, Richie would probably be an entirely different person had he never met Virgil, so read with an open mind!
c) Daisy is absent because I believe that had Virgil never gone to the private school with her, the huge mess that the episode entailed wouldn't have happened, and she'd still be there.
EnchantedBlood: XD, okay okay! If it's 'pain of death' we're talking about... then here you go :p
Richie I Love YOU: How could I do it? Because... I am sadistic. Especially to my favorite characters XD - And yeah, Hypno and Timezone are more of a partnership, but if I had to make a sidekick, it'd be Timezone. As it will later be described, Hypno was a superhero first before Timezone joined, just like Static and Gear.
Saturn's Hikari: Goth!Richie? I could see that, but unfortunately, not in this fic... maybe in another one :) As for Hotstreak in a tutu...XD And yeah, I was totally feeling the Gear/Timezone vibes... and I was actually considering that, but you'll see why it never happened in this universe once you read on.
Serina Kat: XD it's okay, it was fun reading the 'tv announcements'. And yes, I'm actually planning on writing up the next chapter of "Shatter" before the next day is out :)
Estel Baggins: Yes, I can guarantee a happy ending... but I can't guarantee you won't be sobbing right up until that happy ending ;)
And thanks to Mikaphantom, Nikana, Sailor Vegeta, SnakeMistress, Shebang, scheherezhad, leev, tp96, and BH. You are all loved :)
Fade Away
Chapter One
Letting out a groan of dismay, Richie Foley made his way up the steps of the sickeningly yellow school bus, eyes scanning the vehicle for a seat that would take him.
The empty one in the very front. Of course.
With a sigh, he sat down and unzipped his book bag, searching the contents for a CD worth listening to. A loud voice from somewhere in the back of the bus temporarily halted his hunt. Closing his eyes, he decided to ignore the sound.
"Hey, Poindexter!"
In the small CD store that was his backpack (or at least that was what Frieda called it, speaking of his wide taste for music), he had The Ataris, Nelly, Evanescence, and… the Backstreet Boys?
"Yo, Nerd Boy! I'm talking to you!"
Richie frowned. How did Frieda's CD get into his bag?
"Hey, Geekface!"
She had probably dropped it in there accidentally when they were in the computer lab…
"HEY." Richie froze as the voice that had so far come from a safe distance away was suddenly right beside him. Glancing out of the corner of his eye at the intimidating figure standing above him, he forced himself to hold back the scathing remark resting on his tongue.
"What is it, Francis?" he muttered, attempting to keep his tone sounding neutral. The bigger teen growled and took a step back.
"I told you to call me F-Stop!"
"Right. What is it F-Stop?" If Francis caught any of the sarcasm Richie's voice held, he certainly didn't show it. Instead, he folded his arms across his chest with an overly satisfied smile making its way across his features.
"Bad way to start off the new school year by ignoring me, Nerdy," he announced loudly enough for the other occupants of the bus to hear. He paused a moment for dramatic effect, before leaning against the back of Richie's seat.
Richie wondered why the hell the bus driver wasn't doing anything.
"…But since I'm such a nice guy," Francis was saying by the time Richie refocused his attention on the bully, "I'll let it slip this one time….for a price."
Without another word, Richie sighed and reached into his book bag to pull out his summer English assignment, almost mechanically handing it over to Francis.
As soon as the other teen disappeared with a haughty grin, several images of Francis with fiery hair accompanying glowing eyes flashed through Richie's mind.
He decided right then and there that he definitely preferred the other teen when he was Hotstreak.
O:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:O
"Richie! Hey!" Glancing up at the familiar voice calling to him, Richie gave Frieda a faint smile. The girl grinned brightly in return and looped her arm through Richie's.
"Once again, Frieda, I'm giving you this chance to ditch me at the beginning of the year and not have your oh-so-golden reputation tarnished by hanging with the school reject," Richie replied as a greeting. His best friend merely giggled and pulled him closer.
"Nonsense, my dear boy. Being seen with you is only helping my reputation. It's called charity work."
"Ooo, first burn of the school year and class hasn't even started. Getting ahead of ourselves, aren't we?"
"I burn when inspiration strikes."
"Yeah, right," Richie said with a small grin as they made their way to class. In the next instant, memories of Frieda giggling with a pretty girl around their age with dark skin, short black hair, and bright brown eyes sped past his line of vision. So fast, in fact, that he almost blurted out "So how's Daisy?" before he could stop himself.
Feeling the cloud of depression that seemed to befall him daily since he'd first stumbled upon his forgotten memories, Richie held back the witty retort that had been manifesting on his lips. He ignored the odd look Frieda shot him as he took his usual seat in the front corner of the classroom and began to pull out his books.
Richie grinned brightly as he put the finishing touches on his latest invention, rubbing clean the red sensory plate that acted as the machine's 'eyes'.
"So is that what you've been working on for the past week?"
Richie jumped at the voice of his partner and had the decency to flush.
"Yeah," he admitted, grabbing the invention and holding it up for his partner to see. "I call it… Backpack."
Timezone giggled, covering her mouth with her hand and pretended to be serious when Richie gave her a look.
"Sorry," she mumbled with a snicker as she removed her mask, allowing herself to fall back into the roll of Nina Gonzales, ordinary high school student. Richie rolled his eyes and began to tinker with Backpack again, frowning when he heard the machine beep.
"That's strange…"
"What is?" Nina dropped her utility belt on one of the boxes of the abandoned warehouse they used as a secret base, and made her way over to Richie, looking over his shoulder.
"Backpack is picking up an electrical signal almost identical to its own…"
"So?"
"So," Richie continued, apparently irritated that Nina couldn't see the not-so-obvious gravity of the situation. "We have to track it down."
"What? Why? I just got back from patrolling!" the girl whined, pouting as she went back to the area where her removed costume resided, pulling the material and equipment back on.
"Backpack is even more high-tech than any of the government's top computers. If there's something else out there with this much technology and it gets into the wrong hands…"
"Shut up, you just want to find it so you can play with it."
Richie looked temporarily offended at the suggestion, before grinning guiltily.
"Okay, maybe a little."
O:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:O
Frowning, Hypno stopped mid-flight as Backpack's coordinates led them to the local gas station that he had previously thought was nothing but completely abandoned.
"Are you sure that thing is right?" Timezone wondered skeptically as she hovered next to him on the pair of jetblades he had recently made for her. She had quickly gotten the hang of them.
"Are you insulting Backpack?" Hypno snapped, not being able to help himself. People could insult his personality, his appearance, his ideas, or even his entire being. But people could never insult his inventions. It was just something that wasn't done. Timezone should have been the first to know it, too.
With a loud, suffering sigh, as if she couldn't believe what she was doing, Timezone turned to the machine on Hypno's back. "Backpack, I'm sorry."
The machine beeped.
"That means it forgives you."
"Richie…you need more friends," she muttered under her breath. Choosing to ignore his partner's comment, Hypno closed his eyes and, where he had to manually control his helmet before, instructed Backpack to set his helmet on 'telepathic' mode.
It's been said that when the Big Bang hit almost two years ago, you knew exactly where you were and what you were doing at the time. Richie had found himself wandering around by the dock, contemplating how much his life truly sucked. He had only one real friend and that was Frieda (a major part of that was his father's fault, who he deemed more of a racist than Hitler) and, though he loved both of his parents dearly, his home life was less than perfect.
It's also been said that you knew exactly where you were and what you were doing when the first meta-human had been discovered. Richie had been sitting in his room tinkering with new inventions, feeling like his brain was on fire and suddenly things that had seemed like a labyrinth-sized puzzle previously, were solvable within seconds, allowing him to escape into a world of gadgets and technology. Not long after the discovery of his new genius, did the headaches begin. Excruciating, suffocating headaches that made him want to die. It was only later that he realized the pain was due to the growth of new powers: telekinesis and telepathy. However, no matter how hard he tried, he found that he simply couldn't control his powers on his own. That was where his helmet had come in. Specially designed to control his power safely, he resolved to only use his psychokinetic powers whenever the helmet was in place, keeping them locked safely within the recesses of his mind at all other times.
Bringing himself back out of his thoughts (he tended to get lost in them whenever working with his telepathic powers), Hypno blinked and focused his attention on the situation in front of him. As he concentrated on feeling for a potential life form that could have been the creator of whatever machine they were searching for, he frowned when he came up with nothing.
"Approach with caution," he warned Timezone, before slowly lowering himself to the ground. He halted as he waited for Timezone to join him, stepping in front of her in a protective manner as he led her inside.
"Well, this is quite disgusting," Hypno muttered as he wiped away cobwebs that littered the entrance. Backpack made a soft screeching sound, alerting him that the object of their hunt was nearby. Making his way to the other side of the gas station, Hypno felt a wave of unease fall upon him as Backpack's cry became louder with each step. Finally, as Hypno halted in front of a dusty blanket-covered lump, the sounds halted altogether, telling him that he had found what they'd been looking for.
"Be careful…" Timezone whispered from across the room. Hypno nodded absently and waved her off dismissively, kneeling down as he slowly removed the blanket. He nearly fell over at what he saw. It was Backpack. Only… it wasn't Backpack. Because Backpack was, currently, on his back.
Yet…there it was. An exact, albeit grimy, replica of his newest invention. Hypno pouted in disappointment. And here he was sure he'd created something so original…
He sighed and took the new invention into his arms.
"Might as well see if it still works…" He let out a tiny frown as he located the 'on' button in the exact same place that it had been on his own invention. In fact…now that he looked at it…not only did the design appear to be identical to his own Backpack, but the layout and mechanics were the very same as well. Almost as if he had made it himself.
Sitting back on his haunches, Hypno pulled off his helmet and began to study this odd machine, rationalizing that he was in no immediate danger as he hadn't picked up any signs of life within the area when he had checked before.
"R-Richie…?" Timezone's voice sounded quiet and timid. Hypno cocked his head to the side and looked over at her.
"Eh?" He felt a sudden shiver rock his body as he noticed the frantic look in his partner's eyes. "What is i?" A screech escaped his lips as a searing pain he hadn't felt since he'd first realized his powers began to infiltrate his skull, the point of concentration stemming from his right temple.
All at once foreign images began to slice through his mind. Some were fuzzy and weak, while others were strong and vivid. Emotions that nearly tore his body apart with their strength accompanied many of these strange pictures.
In the time it had taken for the pain to manifest itself, it was gone, and Hypno was left panting on the floor, feeling drained and fatigued. The mysterious images were still dancing around in his head. Coughing, Hypno sat up, chills running down his spine as he heard his own voice from somewhere behind. Cautiously looking over his shoulder, Hypno felt his blood run cold as a small hologram began to play in the center of the room.
"Gear…Richie…I-I really don't know what to say…"
"Please…don't…"
"Thank you…"
"S-stupid remote…"
"Richie…?"
A blinding flash lit up the room and suddenly there was silence, the hologram showing nothing but the empty gas station.
For reasons that were, at that time, completely unknown to him, Hypno began to cry.
It had taken nearly a week for Richie to sort out everything that had happened that day at the gas station and what exactly it all meant.
Two years later, he still cried at night. He cried for the life that had been his, so happy and full of joy, so unlike his life now. He cried for the adventures he had lived and the people who had been saved. He cried for Gear, his other self, for letting his heart be broken in order to make someone else happy. He cried for the friends he'd had that didn't even exist to him anymore, or who, due to his father, he couldn't openly be friends with. Like Nina. When they weren't in superhero mode, or hiding out in the warehouse, all they could do was acknowledge each other briefly in the halls at school.
Most of all, he cried for Virgil.
Virgil, who he loved more than anything in the world. Virgil, who he didn't love at all.
The memories of that other world were still so fresh in his mind and as much a part of him as his real memories. So much so, that sometimes he couldn't tell which were real and which had been planted.
So did he really love Virgil? Or was he merely remembering the feeling of loving Virgil?
Either one made him hurt just as badly. Like he could barely function. Virgil was his best friend. His soul mate. Another part of him.
Only he wasn't.
Only they had never met.
Since the day Richie had found the older Backpack sitting in a pile of dust in the old abandoned gas station, he had lost count of how many times he'd watch the hologram.
They'd gone back in time to save Virgil's mother, and now…and now what?
What had happened? Had keeping Virgil's mother alive really changed the present that much?
Apparently it had.
Virgil.
Richie sighed and crossed out the messy 'Death of Ebon' comic he'd doodled on the back of his notebook.
Virgil.
/I wonder where he is now…/
O:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:O
Virgil rolled his eyes as his mother and father chatted politely with the school principle, laughing here and there about the ironies and misfortunes of being a parent.
For the first time it what seemed like forever, Virgil wanted to get to class. Before his brain exploded from this useless adult flirting thing his parents and the principle had going on, preferably. It was just creepy.
He could barely hold in his sigh of relief when his parents finally said goodbye to Mr. Jessup, gave him a kiss on the top of his head (well, at least on his mother's part) and made there way out of the building. When they were both out of earshot, Mr. Jessup turned to Virgil and frowned, his friendly demeanor dropping abruptly.
"Here is your locker number, a map of the school, and your daily schedule. Don't lose it, you won't get another one. Have a nice year and get out of my office."
Virgil grimaced as he was shoved out of the room and the door slammed shut behind him.
"Well, let's hear it for warm welcomes…" he muttered as the bell rang. Sighing, he looked down at his schedule and saw that it was already second period. He'd have to try to find his locker later if he didn't want to be late for his next class. Opening up the map, Virgil walked blindly as he searched for his destination, frowning when a group of voices from up ahead caught his attention.
"You know, Foley, I hope your heart wasn't set on getting your English homework back," a tall redhead dressed in baggy clothes taunted as he pushed a slighter blonde boy back into a bunch of lockers.
"Leave him alone, Francis!" a pretty girl with long brown hair shouted angrily. Francis gave her a nasty sneer.
"You little…" she muttered, coming up in front of Francis and kneeing him soundly in the crotch. Virgil winced collectively with the surrounding crowd.
"Are you okay…?" the pretty girl asked Foley, bending down to help him stand up.
"You know… if I cared what people thought…" Foley said through harsh pants of breath, "or had a reputation to protect…I'd be super pissed at you right now for saving me…"
The girl smiled. "And since you don't?"
Foley gave a quiet grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. Virgil was taken back by the familiarity of the expression.
"Since I don't…I'm damn grateful that you did," Foley admitted, allowing himself to be helped up by the girl. "Thanks, Frieda."
"Aw, I can't let my charity get beat up! Then I'd look bad."
"Uh huh." Foley rolled his eyes and paused as he felt around his face. "Fuck, I can't find my glasses. They must have fallen off…"
"Do you need me to help?" Frieda offered, turning back around. Foley shook his head and waved her off.
"Go to class…I'll be fine. I can find them."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes! Now go!" Foley half laughed, half hissed. Virgil frowned as he watched the scene unfold. There was just something so familiar about this Foley guy's face…
Shifting his backpack on his shoulder, Virgil made his way to the crouched figure, picking up the fallen glasses that resided a couple of feet away from their owner against the wall.
"Uhm…here…" he said softly as he held out the spectacles for the other boy to take. Foley made a noise of gratitude as he took them, standing up straight and sliding them on.
"Thanks… I can't see shit without…." Foley's eyes widened almost comically as he stared at Virgil, taking a shaky step back.
"Uhm…?"
"V-Virgil…"
Virgil frowned, cocking his head to the side. "How do you know my name…?"
"I…uhm…I…" Foley mumbled eloquently, before spinning around on his heels and running for the nearest exit.
Virgil stood silently, staring at the spot where the strange blonde boy had just been standing.
"Well, V," he muttered to himself, "welcome to Dakota."
TBC