Here's the next chapter, it's a bit long, but I don't think you'll mind

I still don't own em...

Reiko's POV

"Class, I'd like you to welcome Reiko Kinomoto. She is new here, just having transferred from Metropolis. She was in the hospital last week, and probably isn't up to defending herself in the hallways. Can I have a volunteer or two to help her out today?" The homeroom teacher said.

"Virgil and I already met her, before she was in the hospital. We could do it if you like." Richie said.

"Be my guest Mr. Foley. Just don't frighten the poor girl." The teacher said.

Richie laughed. We both knew there was little chance of that happening. I rolled my eyes and proceeded to sit where I had been directed. Right beside the blonde actually. He looked so different with glasses on.

"Reiko, I think we should talk. Please, listen to me. I know what you're thinking. But we're willing to listen if only you would talk." Richie whispered.

"Don't pull charity on me Richie. You have no idea the can of worms you'd open by listening to me." I said, the teacher glared at us.

"It's not charity. Look, I'm sorry about last week. I almost got you killed because I was curious about you." He said. He sounded so sincere, and sad.

The teacher had turned around and was busy at the chalk board. I reached over and touched Richie's hand. He looked at me and smiled.

"I thank you for your apology. I was rash." I said.

We sat through the rest of homeroom, and then Virgil and Richie were dismissed from the last part of class to show me around the school. Luckily homeroom was at the end of the school day. I was amazed that they could put so many students into such a school. It seemed so big from the outside, but much smaller inside.

"It's not really all that amazing Reiko." Virgil said.

"You'd be amazed at the Japanese school system. And you'd probably go nuts in Metropolis. There are so many people, and we won't even start with the gangs." I said.

"They're pretty bad here." Virgil said softly.

"Virg lost his mom to the gang riots years ago." Richie said, as Virgil walked ahead of us.

"I understand his loss. But he shouldn't despair her memory, he should honor it with happiness in the life she gave him. He honors it by being Static, but shouldn't be sad about her death any longer." I said.

"You don't understand. We were there. We could have saved her, but she was a doctor." Richie said.

"And doctors put their life on the line many times, by being heroes themselves. They go out and patch up those that would sooner shoot them than thank them. I understand very well. Many of my relatives have given their lives to mafia members by helping people. And because my mother is the daughter of all important doctor, saved many men of rival gang, she die too. Do not tell me I don't understand." I said.

With my frustration and anger being brought forth, my command of English declined. It hadn't been my first language, and I still had some trouble with it. Richie looked surprised. Virgil was nowhere in site, which puzzled the both of us. Richie apologized, his voice soft.

I felt ashamed, being angry at him. He was trying his best to help me understand, and I continually brought him down with harsh and sharp words. I stood there, trying to reign in my emotions before I said anything else scathing towards someone I was hoping would be my friend.

We heard a loud screeching sound, and then a thud. The thudding was getting closer as horns and tires screeched. Richie and I rushed to a window to see a growing car accident, right outside the school.

Whatever had caused the accident was walking towards us. It was huge and ugly. Almost rocklike in appearance. The ground shook hard with its every step. A crack was traveling towards the school at a faster rate than the mobile mountain.

There was a crack in the wall running up towards us. As it traveled up past the window, the glass exploded. Richie grabbed my arm and we dove for cover from the shards. We looked up in time to see the crack run across the ceiling, and spider out.

We stood up, and as the ground shook, much harder this time, pitched to the floor again. We could see Virgil running towards us, looking very worried.

"What is going on? An earthquake?" He asked.

"No!" Richie and I replied.

"This is caused by that thing outside." I said, pointing.

"Onyx!" Virgil shouted.

"Oh no." Richie moaned.

Whatever this guy was, he was huge. I was surprised at his size, and also the destruction he had caused. I didn't want to know what had brought him this far, and only hoped that someone could stop him. I knew I couldn't.

Parts of the wall and ceiling were crumbling down around us. Richie was yelling something and I felt Virgil shove me to the ground. A huge chunk of the ceiling now rested where I had stood only moments before. It was getting very dangerous and I wanted to get out of there.

I covered my head, Richie doing the same. Virgil was standing over us, using his powers to protect us from the brunt of the collapsing hallway. He was having a hard time holding it off, I could tell. It was almost too much. I removed the charms from my right hand and touched his arm. It was the strangest sensation I'd ever felt.

It was as if I were floating. My power surged and combined with his. I was glad to see there were no students out where we were. We wouldn't have been able to protect them all. And Virgil's identity would have been uncovered. I pondered if maybe he would be able to help me.

That was the last thought I had for a while.

Richie's POV

"Reiko! Virgil! Look out!" I shouted, but it was too late.

That was the problem with Virgil's powers, and I guess Reiko's as well. Wood was no match for them. No metal of any sort was in it, so they couldn't use their powers to grab it, or to hold it off. Something wooden flew into Reiko's midsection, sending her flying.

She hit one of the rows of lockers, making a sizeable dent in them. She landed on the floor, and didn't move. I stood to run to her, the crack in the ceiling already approaching her still form. I looked at Virgil, he was holding well enough on his own. I grabbed the charms that had fallen from her hands and rushed towards her.

I dove, as something else caught Virgil and threw him into a beam that had become exposed. We couldn't escape the collapse. I saw Virgil get buried underneath a huge pile of rubble, and cursed. I wished that I had Backpack, and that it could have helped us somehow. I used my body to shield Reiko from the collapse.

It was really starting to get uncomfortable in that position. I wasn't sure, but I think I blacked out a few times. I felt rubble shifting here and there, and only hoped that it wasn't about to collapse more stuff on us.

However, there was soon light pouring into the small space we were in. I could breathe easier, and my back wasn't weighted down by the ceiling. I looked at Reiko as the light fell across her face. If it weren't for the cuts and bruises on her face, she would have looked like some sort of angel sleeping. Her black hair was spread around her head like a halo. Of course, my vision was slightly blurred as well.

"Are you alright?" A familiar voice asked me.

"Batman? Oh yeah, I'm ok, but Reiko is unconscious. Did you find Virgil? He got the brunt of the collapse." I replied when I saw him.

"They're digging him out as we speak, Richie. Do you have any broken bones? Are you two safe to move?" He asked.

"Reiko needs to be taken care of first. She's been unconscious since this happened." I replied, feeling along her arms, her neck, to see if anything was broken or out of place.

After I was sure that she could be moved, we maneuvered her out from under me, and onto a stretcher. Then he pulled me out. It was a relief to be out from under what was once the hall's ceiling. And to know that Reiko and Virgil were being taken care of. I stood there, watching Batman carry her away.

My mind was in overdrive, trying to figure out how best to help my two friends. If something were to happen, Reiko could take out half a wing of the hospital, and with Virgil out, Static couldn't protect people. We were really in for it if this was the case.

"Come on Richie. You need to go too. And you need to tell me about the girl." Batman said.

I cringed. The hospital again. They weren't going to be thrilled to see her. Then I stopped dead in my tracks. I still had her charms in my hand. I hadn't been able to put them back on her. I tried to run towards the ambulance, but Batman grabbed my shoulder, practically clothes lining me.

"Do you know what she is?" Batman asked.

"I know that she isn't a bang baby. I need to get these back on her, otherwise there could be serious problems Batman." I said softly.

He just looked at me like maybe I was telling the truth, or that maybe I didn't know it all. Then he let me go, I crawled into the ambulance. The medics took a moment to swarm me and clean some of the cuts on my face before I was able to put the jewelry onto Reiko's hand.

The medics looked at me strangely. I thought quickly to figure something out without letting them know that she wasn't exactly normal like them.

"It's the latest in some of Bruce Wayne's technology. She has a strange condition when it comes to electricity." I started.

"Oh, we heard about this girl. She came in a week or so ago, almost blew up a heart machine. Static was with her, trying to help equalize the electricity. She must have been hit with a few volts to be like this still." One of the medics said.

I just kind of laughed and nodded. Let them make up their own thing. They started talking about some of the reasons Batman would be in town. Most of the Justice League stayed close by this area, but Batman was constantly in Dakota. They laughed about how maybe he was just keeping an eye on the two young heroes that the city boasted. I sat back and closed my eyes, only to get poked.

"None of that young man. Not until we reach the hospital. The doctors would throw a fit if you were to pass out in our care." The other medic said.

He was bent over Reiko, whose eyes were open, if a little glazed over with pain. She looked scared and unsure of what was going on. The medic was cleaning her up as well, trying to make sure that they would be ready for anything, especially an over abundance of electricity.

We got to the hospital soon enough. I didn't see Reiko for a while after that. They took her to get a CAT scan, while they finished cleaning me up and giving me pain killers. I knew I'd be sore for a while, and I'd have to be careful about my back. I actually had to get stitches at one point since part of the ceiling had cut me pretty deep on my lower back. Any more to the left and it might have done some damage to my spine.

Once I was cleared by the doctor, I walked out into the waiting room to see if my parents were there. I wanted to wait for at least some news about Virgil and Reiko. I saw Mr. Hawkins sitting there with his head in his hands. I felt my gut twist. This man was like a father to me, and his son was like a brother to me. It was like a rock was sitting in my stomach, I felt like lead.

Virgil had gotten hurt because I hadn't been smart enough to bring some of my heavy duty gadgets along to save him. I sat next to Mr. Hawkins, feeling like I was going to cry or something. I didn't want to though; I wanted to prove to him I was as strong as his son.

"It's not your fault Richie. You did what you had to." Mr. Hawkins said softly.

"It feels like it. If I had been smarter, I could have saved us all a butt load of pain. Instead this happened. We could have gotten out of there if I had thought faster." I said. "Virgil's a strong guy. He'll pull through. I know it."

I said it more to comfort me, since I was so unsure of everything right now.

"I know Richie, I know. It doesn't stop the worry though. It was one of those bang babies, a gang banger most likely than not. It feels like I'm in the same place I was those years ago with his mother." He said.

I didn't know what else to do. His pain was so much stronger than mine. He'd already lost his wife because of stupid gang wars. One of them probably would take the life of his son in the future, because we would get careless. In the end, instead of helping, we could only hurt Virgil's father more.

I patted his shoulder, it was awkward. I was so used to being the one comforted by an adult, not trying to give them comfort. I almost yelped in surprise when he grabbed me and gave me a tight hug. I overlooked how sore I was and returned it. The man needed it; I could feel everything, his pain, loss, sorrow, in that small gesture.

"I'm glad you're alright Richie. Virgil would have wanted to make sure of that." Mr. Hawkins said.

"That's what he was doing. He made sure that Reiko and I got out of harms way. Something came out of nowhere, threw her into the lockers, and then hit him too. I had gone over to Reiko to make sure she was ok. Then the ceiling collapsed on us, and all I could do was try to protect her, since it was too late to help Virgil." I said.

"I'm sure he wanted you to do that." Mr. Hawkins said. Then he jumped up. "Reiko was there too! Has anyone told her father?"

"No. No one else can speak Japanese besides her. That I know of anyway." I said.

"I'll call a co-worker. He knows Japanese. Let's hope its enough to help Mr. Kinomoto. The poor man must be out of his mind with worry." Mr. Hawkins said, dialing his phone.

I smiled grimly. He was trying to keep his mind off Virgil. I didn't blame him; I was trying to do the same. All I could see was his face full of surprise and fear as that thing hit him, flinging him across the room. I hadn't seen it, I had no idea what was going on. I had let my mind immediately go towards wondering about Reiko's well being. I felt ashamed that my best friend hadn't come first in my mind, and wondered why I felt so strange when I looked into her eyes.

Soon enough Reiko was brought into the room by a nurse. She sat in a wheel chair, looking pretty mad. The nurse glowered down at her, and then smiled at me and the other nurse in the room. I was wondering about everything that had happened to cause Reiko to become upset.

"Reiko, it's alright. Your dad will be coming soon." I said softly.

Her face smoothed slightly when she heard me. The nurse smiled at me, a more real smile. I wondered just what her problem might be when she started rattling things off.

"She's not to leave the chair young man. Make sure of that." The nurse finished.

"Yes ma'am." I said and gulped.

I could only think of the nurse in a three ninja's movie when it came to this nurse. I was pretty sure that my hair was standing on end too by the time she had finished. A terrifying presence if I ever saw one. And that says a lot, with all the bang baby women I put up with. But the woman seemed more Norwegian than Japanese like the nurse in the ninja's movie.

Reiko folded her arms over her chest and sulked. The nurse just patted her head and walked away. I looked at Reiko, noticing for the first time how much pain she must have been going through. Her breathing was irregular, and every time she breathed, she winced in pain. I was wondering whose bright idea it was to send her home.

"Hey, take it easy Reiko. You don't want to end up like you did the last time, right?" I asked softly. She sighed.

"It my fault Virgil hurt so badly." She said, a tear falling down her cheek.

"No, he wanted to make sure you were ok. That's the kind of guy he is." I said.

Without thinking, I put my hand on hers to comfort her. She flinched at first, but put her other hand on top of mine. Every move seemed to threaten to send her into tears of pain.

"Thank you, tomodachi. You saved my life. I do not know how to repay." She said.

"I do it all the time Reiko. It's nothing." I said softly.

"No, is something. I help you, help Virgil." She said.

"Mr. Hawkins, Virgil is awake. If you all would like to see him, I'll let you. It can only be for a few moments however. He really needs his rest." Another nurse said, about ten minutes later.

Tadaaa.. another chapter