Mutation

Chapter Nine

The police car that had just arrived on 32nd street screeched to a halt to stop crashing into an overturned truck, which soon caught on fire when hit by another blast. The police inside the car jumped out and ran behind the closest parked car.

"What the devil is going on?" One of the officers yelled over the loud roar coming from the large blue creature that was on a rampage going from power station to power station.

"I don't know! But this is crazy!" The other officer said as he ducked behind the car along with his partner as their car got blown up.

The creature roared again before firing a large blinding blast making the police duck down hiding their faces from the light and the glass that had shattered from the windows of the surrounding buildings.

"Bill! Bill are you ok?" The officer called as the light died down as well as the roar.

"I'm fine Tony, what was that?" Bill asked as they rose back up on their feet carefully shaking the glass shards off.

"I don't know" Tony said as a shadow covered them both. As they looked up they came face to face with the large blue monster that had been terrorising the city throughout the day.

Before the monster had a chance to attack it screamed in pain and backed off to release a series of attacks at the building behind it.

Rubberband Man bounced down from the building behind the police officers. "Are you ok?" He asked the officers as the creature roared in anger and frustration.

"We will be, what is going on?" Tony asked as they watched something strike the corona of the blue creature.

"Shebang is up there keeping it busy while I help you two get out of here" Rubberband Man said glad that they had picked up a case of water zap caps before they left.

"But where is Static and Gear?" Bill asked wondering where the more common heroes of Dakota were.

"They're coming... listen you need to head back to the station, you'll be safer there" Rubberband Man said looking at the two officers before a large piece of rubble hit the car that they were sheltering behind.

"Think you're right, thanks" Tony said pulling Bill away before they ran away from the blue creature and the wreckage surrounding it.

Rubberband Man sighed deeply before pulling a water zap cap of his own from his hidden pocket and joining Shebang in distracting the creature that they knew was Static buried deep inside the monster.

'Hurry Richie, Virgil needs you!' He thought as he bounced out of the way of one of the creature's attacks.


Richie groaned and hit his head on the desk twice before moving away, and headed across to the drinks table where a coffee maker sat that he had rescued from the junkyard.

Backpack glanced over at its creator before going back to the computer while Richie got himself a cup of coffee.

"Sorry Backpack, just needed the caffeine... when we do get Virgil back then how do we know that he will have his powers or if he ever wants to become the superhero Static ever again?" Richie said leaning against the table as the coffee maker warmed up.

"This city needs Static just like we need Virgil to be the cheerful, funny, energetic teenage that he is! But because of my stupid invention blowing up in our faces and the effect that it has had on my best friend, he's out there now trapped in that monster that I created!" He continued to vent out his frustration to his trusty robot.

Backpack let the computer run its program while turning to face Richie, who was now pacing back and forth from the desk and the coffee maker. It watched with its green optic eye wondered silently to itself how long he would go on for this time.

"How could I do that to him Backpack? How could I have done that to my best friend? The one person that I can always turn to when my parents... my father gets too much!" Richie said running a hand through his hair, pushing it back while making it more messy than it usually was.

Backpack wondered what to do when the coffee maker hissed into action, filling the glass jug that sat underneath it and the computer beeped for attention so the robot turned back to the computer while the blond teenager got his much needed caffeine fix.


Rubberband Man pulled Shebang down behind the upturned fire engine as the power plant that sat on the corner of 32nd Street went up with a glass-shattering explosion.

It sent out a large shockwave, knocking out all of the electronic devices in the immediate area are while breaking all and any glass from the windows of the buildings to the windscreens and windows of the vehicles nearby. The shockwave also knocked everybody onto the floor, mostly being police and firefighters that were near the power station trying to stop the creature from draining the energy into itself.

Soon the shockwave faded only to be replaced by a loud roar and more explosions, Rubberband Man looked over the fire engine to see that the creature was moving on. "He's leaving" He called to Shebang before jumping over their barrier and across to where the police were picking themselves up.


"This is Shelly Sandoval reporting to you live from what remains of 32nd Street" Shelly introduced as the camera scanned over the scene of wreckage and destruction as the police and firefighters worked together to try and clear the wreckage or rescue people from upturned cars.

"The creature has struck again by destroying 32nd Street's power station, the police were helpless in fighting of this powerful monster, whose origins are still unknown" She continued as the helicopter continued to circle the street below.

"We have just had reports in that the creature is now heading for the large power plant, and if the creature sucked the power out of this station then the nuclear plant will overload wiping Dakota off the map" Shelly said with a urgent and grave tone.

"I speak for everyone when I say, Static we need you so please help us!" She said holding her microphone tightly.


"That's great Backpack! This will work, it has to!" Richie said as they finished sealing the zap caps containing what the robot and himself hoped was the cure for transforming Virgil back into the energetic metahuman that he truly was before being caught up in a unseen backlash of Richie's experiment.

"Gear to Shebang, come in" Richie called into the shock vox while Backpack finished the checks on the caps before unloading them into the compartment that usually held the spare caps.

"Shebang to Gear, go ahead we're here" Shebang's voice came back through the shock vox, closely followed by the screams of terror and mixed sirens.

"We finished the caps! We are more certain that these caps will free Virgil from that creature, where are you?" Richie asked as Backpack climbed off the table and up onto its normal space on Richie's back.

"We're in Central Park! He's heading for the nuclear plant Gear!" Shebang said sounding stressed as an explosion was heard in the background.

"Ok Shebang, try and keep him distracted as long as you possibly can as we're on our way" Gear said securing his helmet with one hand switching the shock vox between his hands, his gloves held by Backpack.

"Distracted? How?" Shebang asked as Gear switched the shock vox to his hands free system before he put his gloves on and performed the checks on his skates and his other systems.

"Improvise, I'm on my way" Gear said taking off into the sky making the quickest way to the park he knew.


Shebang looked at the shock vox, "Improvise? Thanks for the advice!" She muttered putting the shock vox back on her belt and watched the trees rip from their roots before being thrown at the police.

"What did Gear say?" Rubberband Man asked as she swung through the trees towards the creature.

"To keep him busy until Gear gets here with the cure" Shebang said moving out of the way of the large flying tree that was on fire.

Rubberband Man caught up with Shebang once again after dodging the same tree she had just dodged. "The cure? Gear's got it?" He asked as the creature roared in anger.

"Yes he has, now we just got to keep big blue busy until Gear gets here! Any ideas?" Shebang asked as an explosion rocked the area.

"How many water caps have you got left?" Rubberband Man asked as they came to the clearing seeing the area lit up by the flashing lights of the fire engines and police cars, other sources of light was one of the police cars on fire.

"About four I think... what's the plan?" Shebang asked as they came to a halt at the edge of the clearing.

"I got four too... so we need to talk to the chief and explain the plan to him as we're going to need their help to give Gear the extra time" Rubberband Man said as he looked around for the chief of the police force.

Shebang sighed and climbed back up into the trees to see if she could see the chief amongst the chaos of the new battle zone.

The chief could be found near the firefighters talking to the chief of the firefighters, together they discussed all and any possible means of stopping the creature reaching the nuclear power plant.

"Water has had effect on the creature in the past but now its just so powerful I'm not sure what would work on it" Chief Rohan said with a sigh and rubbed his eyes tiredly, it had been a long day for the firefighters and he didn't know how much longer his men would last.

"We just have to hang on a little longer, ah Rubberband Man please tell us you have good news, all of our men are exhausted" Chief Barnsdale said with a tired gruff voice as Rubberband Man joined them.

"Gear has just contacted us saying that he is on his way with an improved zap cap, we're hopeful that this will work" Rubberband Man said keeping his cool and secure look in his posture, and on his face.

Chief Rohan raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms watching the elasticised superhero in front of him. "Sounds like we need to keep that creature busy until Gear gets here," He said looking at the hero in front of him.

"That's right Chief Rohan, we just need ten minutes until Gear gets here" Rubberband Man said as Shebang joined them.

"You got a plan, haven't you?" Chief Barnsdale said knowing the hero too well.

"I do... we're going to need the firefighters help to get the job done" Rubberband Man said before they were knocked off their feet from a nearby explosion of yet another police car.

"Let's hear it" Chief Barnsdale said gruffly as they got back up on their feet and dusted themselves off.


Gear flew through the sky as fast as he could get his jets to go, he hoped that he wouldn't be too late to rescue not just the city but Virgil.

As he approached Central Park, Gear could make out the lights of the many police cars and fire engines as the natural light was fading into an orange glow of the evening.

"This long day is coming to a end and hopefully more way than one" Gear muttered as he silently armed himself with a water zap cap as they would need to break through the corona of the creature before they could hit it with the cure caps.

Looking down at the park's main clearing, Gear could see that the firefighters and police had worked together to make barriers of fallen trees and fire engines in hope to keep the creature at bay until he had arrived.

"Well Backpack, let's get this show on the road" Gear said to his robot buddy before flying into the clearing to join the battle down below.


Rubberband Man could hear Chief Rohan yelling orders and line of encouragement to his men as they focused on controlling the high pressure of water shooting out of their hoses aimed either directly at the creature or scraping by and keeping the trees too damp to catch on fire from the loose sparks flickering off the creature.

The creature itself roared in anger and frustration powering up to attack the men hiding behind the wooden barriers howling in pain from a fresh attack from above.

If fired up at Gear with one of his bolts, barely missing the super intelligent metahuman before Gear returned fire with another cap.

Rubberband Man felt his shock vox vibrate for attention in his pocket, pulling it out with taking his eyes away from the creature he guessed who it might be. "Hey Gear, nice shot!" He said with a small smile.

"Thanks Adam but listen, in order for the cure to be administered we need to get the corona of the creature down as the cure needs to be a direct hit to the body not the force field!" Gear's voice said while he dodged the attacks.

"How are we going to do that Gear? These firefighters are pretty exhausted down here," Rubberband Man said with a sigh.

"Have the firefighters focus on a few spots and that should cause a weakness in the corona, and if we attack him together with the water zap caps it should break down" Gear said hoping that the idea would work as he performed a backflip to keep away from a series of attacks from the creature.

"That could work! You staying up there?" Rubberband Man asked as Shebang joined him behind the main barrier with the two chiefs.

"No, I think I'll stay up here and keep him busy!" Gear replied before launching an attack at the creature to draw attention to him while Rubberband Man talked to the two chiefs, passing Gear's message to them.


"We're all set here Gear, just need to wait for Shebang" Rubberband Man said across the shock vox.

"We're ready here Gear! Let's get going" Shebang called over the channel.

"About time! I don't know how much longer I can keep this up for" Gear said, his voice sounding tired and strained while above them he did his best to keep the creature busy.

"Ok Chief Rohan, let's get this plan started" Rubberband Man said with a nod and got ready to throw the water zap cap.

"Right Rubberband Man, Men! Hoses on full!" Chief Rohan ordered his firefighters who turned their hoses onto full pressure at their captain's orders hitting their targets.

The creature roared in anger and pain, confused to which direction ti should attack first as the firefighters were attacking from the four different barriers all at once to confuse the creature to give the heroes time to set up their own attacks.

"Now!" Gear yelled across the open shock vox channel and launched his zap cap at the creature while Rubberband Man and Shebang launched their own.

With the pressure of the firefighters hoses and the water concentration of the zap caps, there was a large roar of anguish followed by a large flash of light dazing everyone as the barrier came crashing down.

Gear had his visor darkened so he could see through the bright light that had engulfed the park, 'It worked! Now to get Virgil back!' He thought as Backpack handed him a cure cap.

He flew down and launched his attack at the creature, flying in a complete circle around it launching as many of the cure caps as possible at the creature before the light died down.

Chief Rohan rubbed the spots out of his eyes along with Chief Barnsdale and Rubberband Man; Gear landed and watched the creature stumble before heading off away from the nuclear power plant. "He's backing off!" He said ordering Backpack, mentally, to turn his visor back to normal.

"Great! We better follow it!" Rubberband Man said and leapt over the barrier as Shebang joined them.

"Did it work?" Shebang asked as the police and firefighters alike cheered at getting the creature to back off away from the nuclear power plant.

"Well the cure is in him! But he's backing off... we better follow him" Gear said as he took back off into the sky and looked for the blue creature.


The creature growled deeply as it stumbled back into the city, it felt its power being drained off as it continued its journey to an unknown destination.

As the cure flowed through the creature, it burned off the excess energy and slowly woke Virgil up even though Virgil was exhausted from the fight against the creature.

'Home... need my home...' A thought bounced around the creature's mind as it howled in pain as yet more energy pulsed off it, lighting the buildings and the artificial lighting of the streets surrounding it.