Ok, here's the next chapter!
reminder: I don't own a damn thing.
Richie's POV
I had been surprised to find the Japanese girl opening the door. I had been teasing Virgil about the problems he was having with Daisy, when I heard the door open. I heard a rush of Japanese, and looked up at her. I was mesmerized by the grace and fluidness of her language.
She had long black hair, and was dressed in a martial arts outfit. Her eyes were strange. I had never seen a Japanese person with eyes like hers. They had many colors, but appeared brown. She seemed guarded.
Now I watched her run away from me. Her long hair like a silk flag. In my hand was parts of jewelry she had been wearing. A bracelet, a ring, and fragments of something else on the ground. I picked them up, and felt a small shock. I had a bad feeling about all this.
"Reiko! Reiko wait!" I shouted
She didn't even slow down. I swore. This could be very bad. If she wore all this jewelry a reason, I didn't know what to do. Part of me wanted to analyze the strange metal the jewelry was made of, something about it held power. But the other half of me felt it wise to alert her father.
Swearing again, I turned and ran. I changed in an alley. I hadn't forgotten that Reiko's father spoke only Japanese. Backpack should be able to help translate what he was saying to me, as well as at least attempt to translate what I said for him.
I pounded on the door, hoping he would answer. The door finally swung open. He looked apologetic at first, the puzzled. I thrust Reiko's jewelry into his hand. He looked at it for a moment, then a look of horror crossed his face, the color drained.
"Reiko!" He whispered.
"I can find her. If that is what I think it is. If we let Backpack track for the rest of the charms." I told him, allowing time for Backpack to translate.
"Please do. They save her from a burn out, from death." He replied, grim.
He handed me one of the two rings I had handed him. Backpack analyzed it, and stored all the other information I wanted to look at later. It started computing and began to give me the information.
"V, you there?" I called into my shock box.
"Yea, what's up?" He asked.
"We need to search for Reiko. Her father says she could be in danger." I said.
"I told you not to go after her man." Virgil said, scolding me.
"I know man. I couldn't help myself, we knew something was different about her, and I wanted to see if she'd tell me." I said.
"You know better than that. If someone asked us what was so different about us, I doubt we tell em." Virgil said. I said goodbye to Reiko's father and skated away.
"I know V. If I hadn't pushed her to tell me, she wouldn't have run off like this." I said.
"We'll find her. Don't worry." Virgil said.
"I'm already on it. Backpack has picked up the atmospheric ionization discharge on the docks." I said.
"Meaning?"
"A lot of lightning. More so than this storm has been producing, and of an almost different kind." I said.
"I'll be there to back you up in a bit." He said.
I found her at the docks. It was where the big bang had happened. I saw a few of the more menacing bang babies gathered in a circle. If Reiko didn't use her powers, she would be done for, I was sure of that.
That's when she went ninja on them all. Too bad they were the kind of people who didn't like to fight fair. That's when I saw him. He sauntered up, his hands behind his back, like most experienced and drama seeking super villains. This one I knew from my friends at the Teen Titans. Slade.
The bang babies parted, allowing him to walk straight up to Reiko unchallenged. It left her open to escape as well. She tried to, but Slade grabbed her by the wrist. It was like watching a kitten struggle in the grasp of a cruel school boy. She attacked him, kicking and hitting as best she could, but didn't seem to be making headway.
Static joined the fight about that time, but he wasn't alone. The Titans were there as well. I saw Robin dart in and portray similar moves to those I had just witnessed Reiko make. It was amazing to see the Titans here in Dakota. I shrugged and decided to join the chaos.
Reiko let Slade have it with a graceful, and with what seemed like inhuman flexibility, roundhouse kick. Robin stood there, agape. It was amazing to watch her fight, where Robin's attacks were well timed and precise, hers were also graceful and fluid. And she seemed to have one upped Robin with flexibility.
Slade might have been hard pressed with us all attacking him at once. If he'd had two broken arms anyway.
Suddenly I heard Reiko shout something and she lit Slade up. Literally. After the blinding light died down, she stood only for a moment, then collapsed. Slade had disappeared.
"Reiko!" I shouted.
I dove next to her. Her body crackled with electricity, and zapped me when I tried to touch her. I threw a zap cap at one of the bang babies that was approaching us. The Teen Titans were not so surprised at the disappearance of Slade, and helped round up the bang babies.
"Static! Get over here!" I cried out.
"What's wrong with her Gear?" Virgil asked.
"I don't know. I can't touch her, and she's got an electrical field around her that's going to fry anything that is electronic. Backpack can't scan through that. She might be in a burn out or whatever it is. Do you think you can help her?" I asked.
"I don't know." He said.
He took her hand in his own, and concentrated. Soon the field of electricity surrounded the both of them, humming and crackling viciously. I backed up and decided to help the others round up the thugs. It seemed to take forever, but soon enough we were handing them over, and walking up to Static and Reiko.
"How is she Static?" Robin asked.
"She's alive, barely. It was so strange. I was able to bring her from the brink…" He said absently.
"You closed the gap. The one that the charms she usually wears close." I said.
"We should take her to the tower. We have equipment there that most hospitals don't." Robin said.
"No, her father wouldn't want that. And you'd be hard pressed to argue with him, since he only speaks Japanese." I said.
"Well, be careful then. Slade probably isn't finished with her. And he does whatever he can to get his way. He doesn't care if people get hurt." Raven said.
With that, we took Reiko to the hospital. I was the only one that could really talk to her father, so I was sent to bring him to the hospital. About the time we arrived there, she was waking up. Robin was there, keeping watch. She looked so tired, and there was pain behind her eyes.
"Reiko, are you alright?" I asked.
"I'm better than I should be after what happened. I'm glad Static was there to do whatever he did. Otherwise…" She said.
"We're always here to help." I said, not wanting her to finish that thought.
"I had no idea you were so important Miss Kinomoto." A nurse said walking in. "You'll be able to leave shortly. You've checked out alright, if not a bit under the weather. Take it easy for the next few days. If your still feeling drained, I would suggest forgoing school for a little while."
"Thank you." She said.
She spoke with her father rapidly in Japanese, as the rest of us watched in silence. I was amazed at the language once more, how poetic it sounded. Soon her father left with an interpreter to sign paper work. I looked over at her and realized that Robin had gone. The only people left were Virgil, Reiko and I.
"You know what I am now." She said, catching my eyes with hers. Her voice was barely audible.
"A mutant would be my best guess, since you said you're not like us." I said, trying to keep the hitch in my voice from showing.
"Mutant, bang baby. If it were that simple." Reiko said with a bitter laugh.
I looked at her calmly, trying to slow my heart. I tried to urge her on with my mind, looking her in the eyes, trying to let her know it was safe to talk to us. She looked almost ready to speak, but did not. A nurse came bustling in to remove her IV and give her some last minute instructions and medication.
"You boys can leave now." She said. "I'm sure you two have parents that are worried sick about you."
"Yes ma'am. Thank you for your help." I said.
"No problem. Without the two of you, we'd probably have much worse injuries to treat these days." She said.
We left, hoping to get the chance to talk to Reiko. School looked like it was the only option a week away, with vacation starting the next day. And that would be a long wait for the curious.
I'm sorry if this chapter was a little confusing. I couldn't think of a better way to word some things, and I was REALLY tired when I wrote it last summer, and when I tried to edit it, it only got worse.