Heroes

Notes: More plot…ah, how I hate the slow unfocused build up that I think I'm kind of known for. I have issues getting to the point…or, rather, knowing what the point is. But, as I know where I intend to end up for a change, this may go smoothly… maybe. Probably not.

Oh, and I now know the real point of interludes: To keep sudden shifts in time from being too jarring. At least…that's how I intend to use them.

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Chapter Eight

What you Need

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It was about two weeks after their trip to the tower and they were now trailing Virgil's sister and Adam through the mall for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which was getting Jacob out of Richie and Virgil's clothes. There was also the issue of Virgil's tux for prom and some things Sharon wanted to look at for her wedding.

"My feet hurt." Virgil whined only to get a raised eyebrow from his sister. He sighed and continued to trail after her. She had Jacob by the elbow, with Adam close behind. He and Richie were bringing up the rear and playing human pack mules.

"Could be worse bro'." Richie said with a smile. "At least Jacob seems to know what he wants and Sharon approves of it. I haven't heard her go 'God, how do you dress yourself?' or 'No wonder you two only have each other for company' once. Though the latter would be out of place."

Virgil laughed while shifting the bags he was holding. "True enough. She must have said that to us ten times apiece."

"Hey you two hurry it up!" Sharon's voice seemed to swallow up the noise of the rest of the crowd so that all they could hear was her. He would never understand how she could manage such a thing. "We haven't got all day you know."

"I could really go for some kind of major emergency right about now." Virgil muttered as he quickened his pace.

"Are you insane?" Richie stared at him, decision clearly already made. "Do you have any idea what Sharon would do to us if we left? Have you no sense of self-preservation?"

Virgil's lips quirked. "When you put it like that…"

"Mm. I know sometimes I have to break these things down into tiny syllables for you understand." The sarcasm was thick enough to cut with a knife. Virgil swung, trying to catch the blond with one of the shopping bags but Richie simply sidestepped. "You're getting slow V."

"Whatever."

Richie laughed, blue eyes bright, before darting into the crowd to avoid the retribution that would normally follow escaping the first attempt at revenge. Virgil just sighed, rolling his eyes towards the class ceiling in frustration.

He was doing it again.

He was like…the Old Richie all of a sudden, instead of the New Super Moody and Slightly Scary Richie that had been hanging around for the past few weeks. He seemed…happy. He was smiling in a real way, not a forced or sarcastic one, laughing, and making jokes about his intelligence again. It was like nothing had changed.

Only something clearly had.

While Virgil was glad for the reemergence of his friend he had to admit it was just a little bit creepy how it seemed to just happen over night. If anything he would have expected Richie to be properly depressed, especially after what had happened in school.

He wondered it was his own idealism but he'd thought that the 'I'm bigger and better than you' bullies would have matured by twelfth grade and found something else to do. Or at least started to pick on the underclassmen.

He'd harbored this illusion until he'd seen Richie emerge from the nurse's office with a black eye and swollen lip. He'd told the nurse he'd been hit with a basketball in gym class but since they shared a gym period there had been no chance that was going to work on him.

It seemed Richie was as much a 'geeky little wuss target' now as he'd been when they were freshman. Not that it was true in the least. If he wanted to Richie could probably take out anyone who messed with him easily. He wasn't the same skinny and gangly kid he'd been.

All the fighting he'd done as Gear had taken care of that. Not that Virgil took the time to actually consider his best friend's body or anything like that of course. And even if he had it wasn't like he ever saw much of it. Richie was kind of shy actually, always wandering off by himself to change.

Not that Virgil cared. Because he wasn't looking and didn't want to look and if Richie thought had a reason to be shy than so be it. Right.

…anyway.

Today Richie had been cornered in one of those rare moments they weren't together. Virgil may have been talking to Daisy or something, he found he couldn't remember and labeled it as unimportant, and Richie had been heading to Psychics without him.

What exactly had happened was something that Richie wasn't sharing but the fact that his friend had been sulking and poking at his ribs throughout the rest of the day kind of made it easy for him to figure it out. He just didn't…understand.

"Why do you let them beat you up?"

"What else should I do?"

"Kick their heads in?"

Richie had laughed, though the sound hadn't held his usual humor. "Trust me bro' a few little bruises aren't worth the trouble that'd come if I got into a real fight. Don't worry about it. We should get going, Sharon's going to have our balls if we're late, again."

It'd been over like that. Virgil had been far from satisfied with that explanation but Richie hadn't really left it open to be questioned. He'd just sat in the car fiddling with the knobs for the radio and remaining pointedly silent while Virgil talked about everything from getting his butt kicked to the prom and why Richie refused to go.

Richie seemed to think it wasn't a big deal and even questioned why Virgil was making such a big deal, since he'd also ditched homecoming and everything else of the 'fun' nature that was supposed to make your senior year memorable. He'd somehow even managed to not get his picture taken once for the yearbook, which was something that had to take a lot of time and effort considering he was actually on the yearbook staff this year.

Apparently Richie didn't care about any of that though, and Virgil just couldn't understand why that was. Sometimes Richie made him crazy.

Sometimes he was a real pain in the ass.

He finally tracked down Richie and Jacob in the food court. Sharon and Adam were nowhere to be seen. He sat down, dropping the stuff he was carrying and trying not to blink at the look of pure amusement Jacob shot at him.

Apparently Richie wasn't the only one in a good mood. Maybe they had something to do with each other's good mood? He frowned at the thought. What could one kid Richie had just met have to do with his sudden change? Nothing. They didn't even know each other that well.

If Virgil couldn't do anything to get Richie out of his funks then why should this guy?

Richie moved a cup in front of him. "Sharon and Adam went to the jewelry store."

"The hunt for the perfect wedding ring continues." He muttered. A glance into the cup found a grape icy. His favorite, which meant Richie must have gotten it. Sharon had this nasty tendency to buy him banana-kiwi even though she knew he hated it.

"So it seems." Richie smiled and leaned back in his chair. "I was telling Jacob the 'Dress' saga."

Virgil just shook his head. "Why must you share my sister's insanity with others?"

"It's funny." A perfectly innocent look went along with this. He rolled his eyes and Richie stuck out his tongue, which was tinted blue. Blue raspberry, Richie's usual. "I was up to the near fistfight at that place downtown."

"Oh yeah. I never saw it coming." He smiled wryly. Sharon was determined to have the world's most perfect wedding and was willing to sacrifice everyone, including Adam and Virgil, to see it happen. Not that Adam seemed bothered by it. He seemed to think Sharon was at her best when she was descending into insanity and kicking that ass of anyone who got in her way. His eyes got all big and sparkly whenever she got loud and commanding.

Virgil just didn't get it.

His father kept saying 'this is one of the most important days in Sharon's life and she deserves to have it anyway she wants.' and it wasn't that he didn't think his sister deserved the best. He just didn't want to have to break up any more 'bride fights' or be on the receiving end of Sharon's left hook ever again. He'd met Meta-humans who didn't hit as hard.

Jacob smiled faintly. "Could be worse: he could be neurotic too. My mom once catered a wedding where the groom was both about to fall off the deep end if everything wasn't just so. There is nothing worse than a man in a tux sobbing because the crab rolls aren't all uniform."

"I shudder to think."

Jacob nodded sagely. "As you should."

Richie started to say something but…didn't. Rather his gaze slide from Virgil to some point behind him. Virgil turned and was met with the sight of a few guys from their school heading their way. He turned back and arched an eyebrow at Richie who was making a fantastic show of slowly sliding down in his chair.

Jacob glanced down at the other blond before turning his attention back to his drink.

Virgil just shook his head. Honestly, who made a scene in the mall? That was kind of…childish, even by his standards.

Jacob reached over, grabbing Richie by the arm, and hauled him so he was sitting straight up. Richie looked scandalized but Jacob was still watching his straw intently so it went without notice.

Virgil frowned, considering. How many guys could he take out sans powers anyway? One or two, yeah, but five… He wasn't Robin or anything, he didn't have years of martial arts training under the most anal retentive man in the world backing him up. He was just used to fighting super-powered people and probably had a much higher pain tolerance.

It was funny how the body numbed itself to pain after a while.

"Hey Foley, out on a date with your boyfriend?"

Virgil blinked once then looked over at Richie who was blushing darkly. It was these kind of idiots? Why was it that no one had better things to do than mess with those they thought was different?

Another one, the biggest by far, spoke next. All five had the same taunting 'aren't I a tough guy even though I pick on guys who weigh maybe half of what I do' grins on their faces. Or at least that's how Virgil interpreted them. He could have been wrong.

"I always thought you were with Hawkins but this guy-" a nod towards Jacob who was still scribbling away. "Looks more your speed. I bet he even lets you on top sometimes."

"Are you asking because you want to watch?" Virgil asked, mind working independently of his brain. It did that when people got in his face, a throw back from his 'smartass' days. Though some might say he was still a smartass…Richie and Sharon mostly. "Did your mom find out you were downloading gay porn and make you give back her credit card?"

If Virgil knew one thing about bullies it was that they hated being called gay. Probably hated it more than they professed to hate gay people. He wasn't surprised when the guy swung. He reached out to grab his arm before either Richie or Jacob could be hit.

Two things happened at once. Jacob's drink, dark red and more juice than ice hit the floor and formed a puddle as Jacob grabbed Richie's arm and yanked them both to the side. The overhead glass shattered and shards came raining down onto them.

He stopped, confused. The bully, having nothing to hit, over swung then slipped in the puddle. It could have stopped there, since he grabbed the table to steady himself. But the table broke. Just…collapsed. It'd seemed sturdy enough a moment ago. The bully fell with it and everything hit the ground.

Hard.

No one really noticed. Everyone was a little bit busy watching the giant storm cloud with eyes fall through the skylight and start hurling lighting and ice balls at everyone. There was an almost eerie silence followed by screaming and running.

The bully on the floor stayed put. Virgil had to resist the sudden urge to kick him in the ribs and instead stared at the cloud. That was a new one.

Then Richie coughed. "We should…go."

Virgil nodded his agreement. Jacob looked a little bit startled but grabbed some of the bags and followed nonetheless. The bathroom seemed like the best place to beat it to so they headed in that general direction.

"You did that didn't you?" Richie demanded over his shoulder.

"Yes. It went surprisingly well. I was sure he was going to crack his skull open and start bleeding everywhere. I hate blood."

"You can't just…that's…oh my god." Virgil wasn't even sure what to say. They were at the bathroom now and Jacob came to a halt and smiled wryly. "You can't do that kind of thing. We don't actually hurt people for being assholes."

"I can't very well guarantee positive outcomes, my whole 'power' is about negative things. If you want positive I have to act after seeing that's always iffy." He squinted at him for a moment. "Besides 'Do you want to watch'? I mean…why?

"Virgil has a problem thinking things through." Richie muttered. "So. We're going to save the day, all cool and dramatic like. You're-"

"Going to see if I can get another icy." He smiled brightly. "It was really good."

Virgil blinked. "Right." He wasn't even going to think about how strange and wrong that was.

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Static wasn't sure what he was expecting as he navigated his way over the heads of terrified people and through the ropes holding up the giant 'spring themed' balloons. To come face to…face with a giant cloud that knew his name wasn't it.

The cloud had spread out over most of the food court and, though it was nearly translucent now, was doing a lot of damage. A mixture of lightening, hail, and sleet was beating down on everything

"Static." The voice sounded like rain, if that made any sense. "Gear. Nice of you to come and see me."

Gear glanced at him and shrugged. He didn't recognize the voice either. "Have we met?"

The cloud sniffled in faux hurt. "You boys don't remember me? Maybe because of the change." As it spoke the cloud seemed to come together, forming a body. A very female, curvy body. Still the features were very…well cloudy. They shifted with the air, unable to just stay in one place for any length of time and it was thusly impossible to try and identify her.

She sighed. "I'm shocked Static. After all, the first time we met you turned me into a rain cloud."

That sparked a memory, pun not intended. Maybe because Richie had yelled at him when he'd retold the story, claiming that he could have killed the other Meta-human with that kind of stunt. What if a breeze had blown and some of her body got away? How would he have felt then?

Richie had been right of course, turning someone's body into steam was probably not the best idea he'd ever had.

"Aquamaria?" He muttered, blinking.

She threw her head back and laughed and he was reminded of thunder, harsh and booming. Then she stared at him, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"No Static, I go by Stormy now." Virgil had to bite his tongue to keep from calling her on copyright infringement. She smirked in a misty kind of way then raised her hands up above her head. "Allow me to demonstrate."

A gust of icy wind swept up from seemingly nowhere and slammed into Static. He hadn't been expecting it and was almost thrown from the disk. The wind only got stronger and it was a matter of moments before his entire arm had a coating of ice.

Since being half-frozen had never solved a damn thing he dodged away from the wind and went behind one of the support beams on the first floor. He flexed his fingers and arm, cracking the ice, and looked around. Where was Gear?

"What's this? Big bad boys running away from me?" Static watched her in the glass of one of the windows. She was still hovering but her form seemed to be coming unraveled, becoming that of a cloud again. "It's your fault I'm like this! I at least deserve a fair fight!"

Static rolled his eyes. How was it that he always ended up being blamed for everything that went wrong with people around here? Had they never heard of personal responsibility?

Still, he wondered what had happened to her. Last he'd heard she'd been moved to an out-of-state juvenile prison at the request of her parents, something about a crazy boyfriend, after receiving the cure. None of which explained her very cloudy presence in the mall. She'd been cured, he'd seen it…hell, he'd nearly drowned in it before it had happened.

If she was changing back then…

He judged the distance between the column he was behind and the next while folding his disk. Ten feet give or take. He formed a ball of electricity then darted from behind the column to throw it. His aim held as true as it usually did but, as he scrambled behind the next support, he saw her more or less absorb it.

Then she held out a hand in his general direction. Lightening shot from her finger tips and he frowned. What the hell was she thinking, that wasn't going to do anything. At least he didn't think it was. He usually got stronger during storms but who was to say that would hold true in this case?

He found out soon enough when the bolt punched through the column, destroying a good chunk of it and sending cement and plaster raining down on his head. He shook his head, more annoyed than anything. It was going to take more than one support beam to do damage to the mall after all.

His shock vox crackled in his pocket and he pulled it out in time to hear Gear's voice, laced with annoyance.

"Bro', I think we have a problem." Static was inclined to agree. "I was going to try and pull her up through the ventilation system and maybe contain her on the roof but-"

"The ventilation system is out." Static finished, groaning. He remembered, dimly, hearing about it on the news. Something about a strange odor and them taking everything down panel by panel to seek it out.

"Exactly. I can override the system to turn it on but it'd be pointless. There's no power to it."

"Can I-"

His words were lost when another bolt of lightening sliced through the rest of the column. He groaned and shoved the vox back into his pocket before running for the next column.

He needed a plan. Or at least to know where the power was, he would have settled for that.

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Jacob wasn't exactly an overly selfless guy. He imagined he'd be a piss-poor hero because he didn't really want to risk his life trying to save others if he wasn't guaranteed to survive. He didn't get how Richie and Virgil could become Gear and Static then race off to fight some creepy cloud chick.

Being a superhero must mean you had no sense of self-preservation and Jacob existed because of his sense of self-preservation. He didn't have a whole lot else going for him, sadly.

Still he was crouched at the side of an escalator and considering the power box there. How had he known where to find it? He'd stumbled upon it while running away. It seemed very unlikely to just…notice a small panel in the escalator, unmarked and made of the same glossy metal as the machine with nothing except paper thin gaps between the panel and the rest of it.

But that was what Jacob was all about so he decided to go with it.

He found that when he touched it the lock popped itself.

It was all rather strange; his power didn't actually have a 'happy' active side, like he'd told Virgil. He saw all sorts of stuff but could only 'nudge' bad outcomes. Anything good he had to go out and do himself, which was a real pain in the ass.

He wasn't even sure why he was over here actually. He just…had a feeling. He had to do something to…do something. Sadly his brain didn't come with super intelligence or even a decent vocabulary.

Now the difficult part. He didn't just…know shit like Gear…or, well, he did in away but not really in such a competent way; he saw and he could effect but he didn't understand. He certainly couldn't shock it like Static. So. When in doubt and dealing with electronic things…

Right. He reached out and yanked some of the wires out of their places then frowned, head tilting slightly. His vision went hazy for a moment and closed his eyes against the growing darkness (1). He reached out again, yanking and twisting and pushing, focusing on the worst possible scenario and willing it to be, and knowing when he felt the current jump into his skin and go racing for his heart that he had it.

And then he died.

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Gear blinked, startled, when the power to the food court, bathrooms, and a fourth of the stores on the first floor went out. Only to have the power to the vents come on.

At a loss for what else he could do he flicked the switch to turn the vents on, having hacked past the security system the moment he entered the security office. He'd left the fight, almost certain that nothing he was carrying could fight a cloud, and gone for the behind the scenes approach. He kind of reminded himself of Oracle. Only less…female and able to break up super-teams with a single look.

At least he didn't think he could do any of that.

Anyway.

Now all Static had to do was get her near one of the vents. He could set up the flow of air so that she came out on the roof after traveling through the entire system. She'd probably have such a hard time keeping herself together that she'd be too tired to do much of anything except try to keep from scattering and floating into a million different directions.

Hopefully.

There was a slight chance she wouldn't be able to hold herself together inside the vents and her entire form would be stretched and dissipate then emerge at random points throughout and outside of the mall. He wasn't sure if she'd be able to pull herself together after such an occurrence or how long it would take her to do so.

But, considering the power she was displaying fighting Static, he didn't see that happening. She'd have to lose all control over herself and he didn't see that happening.

He stood, indicating that Backpack should follow him, and headed for the stairs he knew lead to the roof. He wasn't sure if it would work but he already had an idea of how to contain her while waiting for Meta Human Containment to come along.

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1) I totally meant that the way it sounds.

You know what? I suck at being subtle. Heh.