Mutation

Chapter Six

Richie and Adam ran from the corner of the block near Virgil's house when they heard a echo of a feral scream, this made them run faster towards the Hawkins Residence.

"T...that sounded like the creature..." Adam puffed as they got closer to the Hawkins Residence.

"W... we were t... too late" Richie said as they ran up the stairs, through the open door and found the Hawkins a little confused and shocked into what they had just seen.

"Sharon? Sharon, are you ok?" Adam asked, shaking his girlfriend slightly.

"A... Adam? Something's wrong with Virgil! He just froze up in the middle of our fight and started glowing blue before... oh baby bro... what has happened to you?" Sharon said snapping out of her shcoked and confused state before bursting into tears.

"It's ok Sharon, we'll get him back" Adam spoke in a soft voice and wrapped his arms around her gently.

Richie walked back over to the open door and looked around to see if there was any sign of which way Virgil would have gone.

"How long have you know Richie..." A gruff voice spoke softly before a heavy hand landed and squeezed his shoulder.

"About that Virgil is that monster... only just found out myself... I'm sorry" He said and lowered his head.

"It's ok, I know you will find a way to cure Virgil... this brings up some bad memories for you doesn't it?" Robert asked as Richie had spoken to him about any troubles he had in the past including the time he was captured by Brainiac.

Richie shuddered knowing what Robert meant, "It does... I got to get back to HQ and fix Backpack... we need to find the cure and fast!" He said, pushing the haunting memories away and focused on what was happening now.

Robert nodded and moved his hand off the young genius metahuman's shoulder. "We'll look after Sharon, call us once you have got anything and I mean anything Richard" He said, showing some concern for his son and his son's best friend.

"Ok I will... Virgil might have left his shock vox up in his room but I will double check its location once I got Backpack up and running... it took a pretty powerful hit but it wouldn't take me too long to repair him..." Richie said as he jumped down the steps instead of walking down them.

"I will use my connections with the police to help find the location of Virgil and see which way he is heading..." Robert said, recieving only a nod before watching the blonde boy run off back towards their headquarters.


Virgil watched helplessly as the creature tore through the cars and any other vehicles travelling along the main road, he tried to fight against it but it was too strong and he was tiring fast.

I... I can't fight it... He thought and images of his family came up including Richie and Adam. I'm sorry... I'm just not strong enough... Virgil thought, fighting back the tears that were threatening to leak over.


Shelly Sandoval watched from the helicopter as the creature threw blast after blast of its energy at buildings, making them explode on contact. Her pilot was doing his best in getting good footage for her while not putting themselves in danger.

"This is Shelly Sandoval reporting live from mainstreet, the creature has made a reappearance and is terrorising the cillivians and happy shoppers. There has been no sign of our residental hero Static once again, this is the third appearance of this terrifying monster" She reported in her clear voice as they passed over the creature who was distracted by a police car tear by.

"The first appearance of this terrfying beast we saw Static's sidekick Gear fight it until it disappeared leaving disaster and terror… its second appearance only a few short hours ago saw the heroes Gear and Rubberband Man fight against it once again but this time reports that came in suggest that the creature is, if possible, getting stronger" Shelly continued, the helicopter's pilot lurched violently to the left to doge a random attack.

"We better get out of here Ms Sandoval!" The pilot said as another blast flew by the helicopter and hit the billboard nearby, making if fall into the street below.

"Right! I am sorry ladies and getlemen but it has become too dangerous for us to be here" Shelly reported as the helicopter shook violently again.


Richie wiped the sweat away from his forehead, his cheeks covered in oil and the odd cut on his fingers which he had to treat and cover but before long, the light on Backpack flickered back into life.

"At last… come on Backpack" He muttered as he checked the systems along the link between Backpack and his computer.

Backpack ran its diagnosis and got back up on its legs flexing them before moving around on the desk, then scanned its creator. A little beep sounded and uplugged itself from the computer.

"I'm fine Backpack, just that we need to get to work… Virgil is in trouble… we better hurry" Richie said, grabbing his helmet to help with the interface system between him and the robot.


Robert hanged the phone up before placing it back on its hanger and went back into the main room to check on Adam and Sharon.

"Just got off the phone with my connection at the police department, they think that he is heading over to the Dakota power station…" He said and sat down on a free armchair.

"He must be needing the energy… I've seen Static drain the energy he needed from a nearby power supply or the zap caps" Adam spoke quietly while keeping Sharon close.

Robert nodded and thought about what the elastic metahuman had just said, it was true about his son using the power supplies like that but it often resulted in Virgil being totally exhausted afterwards.


Virgil shook his mind clear of the fuzziness that was threatening to engulf him.

I got to keep awake! I got to keep awake! He kept repeating to himself, fighting the temptation of the darkness that came with sleep.

Rich… please hurry… Virgil thought desperately as he watched helplessly as the creature that he had become continue with its reckless rampage throughout the city.


Richie quickly washed in the small bathroom they had salvaged from the junkyard and moved to their headquaters, before changing into a fresher costume.

He had left Backpack running analyse on the formulae of the adhesive against Virgil's power for all and any hope to find out how this had happened. Once that was discovered then they could start on the antidote.

Richie came back from the small bathroom, carrying his helmet and made himself a cup of coffee before joining Backpack at his computer.

Lines upon lines of code was flying about on the screen as Backpack worked with the data stored on its systems and the data stored on Richie's computer. It did this by using the link, it had plugged itself into the computer while its creator went to freshen up.

As for its creator, Richie, he watched the code for anything that his robot buddy could have missed. "Backpack, use the code from where we scanned our DNA after the second big bang" He said as he saw that the code Backpack was using to compare was the original code from when he had first created Backpack.

Backpack beeped in affirmination before continuing its analyse with Richie monitoring carefully. The lines of code flying acrosss the screen.

It went on for a few minutes, silence filled the gas station with it occasionally being broken by the police scanner talking about any ways that might be able to slow the creature.

Richie frowned and tapped a few keys on the keyboard, the screen displayed the complete formulae for the adhesive on one side and the scan of Virgil that they did shortly after the second big bang on the other. Backpack moved its eye to look at the screen to see if there was any reason to why this had happened.

Sighing deeply, Richie took his glasses off and put his helmet back on, securing it as he stood up. "Its no good Backpack, I can't see a place where we are suppose to start… we'll just have to go out there and get a scan of the monster Virg has become" He said as he activated the screensaver on the computer.

Backpack beeped in a concerned tone before moving away from the computer and off the desk, before climbing up Richie's back to its normal spot. Richie ran a mental checklist of what Backpack carried and made sure that it carried enough water zapcaps to do the job they needed to do. "Everything will be ok Backpack, we'll get Static back safely" He told his robot buddy as they left the gas station and took off to the sky, heading towards the last place the creature was spotted in.


"W…we have to go there! H…he still might be inside that thing!" Sharon said breaking the silence that had engulfed the Hawkins Residence.

"Its too dangerous Sharon! I have been hit by one of those energy blasts… if it wasn't for my metahuman powers then I could have been…" Adam stopped and sighed.

Robert got up off the armchair, "We have to try Adam, if things get too dangerous we will get out of the way and let you and Richie try and cure him" He said checking to see if his keys were in his pocket, which they were.

Sharon and Adam got up off the couch, "I'll go ahead but have to stop at the headquaters and see if Richie is there" Adam said as he transformed into his costume. "Ok… just be careful" Sharon said, tears still in her eyes. Adam smiled softly and wiped a tear from the corner of Sharon's eye before kissing her.

Robert shook his head and opened the door before heading out to check his car, leaving the young couple alone.


Gear flew through the sky, memories flew through his head as he flew above or past familiar sights but soon enough signs of reckage covered the streets and the tall buildings. Virgil… please hang on… He thought as he increased his speed slightly and soon enough sirens filled the air.

Gear muttered under his breath and soon there was a water zapcap in his hand. Here we go… He thought silently and threw the cap hard at the creature, it shattered on impact of its force field. Gear's hand was empty for a few seconds before another cap filled his gloved hand ready to be launched.

"Backpack, full analyse scan…" Gear ordered as they dodged another energy blast but attacked back with a water cap that created a hole in the force field temporary which allowed Backpack to get a scan of the creature that Virgil had become.


Virgil shook in terror in hearing the creature scream in pain, looking around through blurry eyes to find the cause of the creature's pain and was happy to see that it was Gear and Backpack, which looked freshly repaired.

Richie… He thought and tried to fight the powerful monster to stop it attacking.


Gear noticed the creature slow his attacks down and in those few short seconds delay Backpack displayed a small icon on the visor, telling Gear that it had completed the scan.

A car appeared out of nowhere and parked behind a upturned firetruck. Gear realised who the car belonged to and unleashed a series of attacks to confuse the creature/Virgil. Landing, he met up with the Hawkins and Rubberband Man.

"Its dangerous here! You shouldn't even be here!" Gear said sounding like the hero he is.

"We came here because that thing is my baby brother and we have got to try and help" Sharon said, the fire engine acting as a temporary shield for them.

Gear listened to Sharon and thought about the small battle he had just had, "V… he is still in there… he's fighting…" He said and half of his visor flashed in different symbols and code telling Gear that Backpack was analysing the scan and compare them between the scans in Backpack's memory banks.

"We got to try and get through to him… try and keep him with us" Robert said and then suddenly making the two heroes and the two cillivians jump, the fire truck was lifted up and thrown into the nearby grocery store. This left them revealed to the full view of the creature who glared at them and powered up.


Virgil's eyes widened when he saw his family in front of him, Gear and Rubberband Man stood in front of them trying to protect them from him.

Around him he heard the monster growl and power up ready to release a fully throtle attack on his family, getting all of his strength together he pushed it all into one simple command.

"STOP!" He screamed and forced the creature to stop and freeze up.

Gear saw the creature move in the same way that Static got ready to power up and unleash one of his more powerful attacks. At a silent gesture Rubberband Man and himself moved as one to stand in front of Mr Hawkins and Sharon but what happened next shocked all of them.

A cry emitted frm the creature before the corona of it died down to reveal Virgil. "I…" He muttered, his voice cracked and sounded like he was straining against something.

To be continued…