The Markings of a Hero

Chapter Eighteen: Give Me My Hometown

Miles away from the arts and technological New Ivy Metro area, a teenager at the age of sixteen walked down the sidewalk of his hometown with his hands shoved into his shorts pockets. The orange jersey he wore gave him sufficient air flow to his body to cool it from the summer heat. A dip at the lake would be favorable at the moment but that was a bus trip the teen did not necessarily want to take now.

A shop owner sweeping in front of his barber shop spotted the teen walking by. Said teenager was too busy staring at the sky with his headphones playing music but the owner still called out to him.

"Hey there Virgil," The teen paused, letting his headphones dangle around his neck, and returned a wave. "How's your pops doing? Hope he isn't stretching himself too thin."

Virgil Hawkins gave a small sigh. "You know my pops. He doesn't sit still long. But he's good. Sharon's been keeping an eye on him."

"Oh she is? How is she? She still taking classes at Wells Community?" Virgil nodded at the question.

"Yep. Hopefully she's doing better there than in the kitchen." joked Virgil gaining a chuckle from the man. "Sorry Mr. Simmons, but I gotta run. My pops will be pissed if I'm late getting to the center."

The aged man gave Virgil a nod. "Go on. Wouldn't want Robert to worry about you. But whenever you want to stop by and cut that mess out of your head, my door's always opened."

"Now you know I can't do that Mr. Simmons. I'm trying to get my image ready for the NBA." Virgil responded while brushing a hand through his dreadlocks. "But I'll be sure to tell Sharon that you can finally shave that mustache of hers. She needs it."

Virgil replaced his headphones and walked away from the laughing man, continuing his journey to the Freeman Community Center. He absentmindedly took in details of the area, as he always did whenever he was actually on time to these sorts of meetings.

Dakota City was never considered a "shining jewel" of Ohio or the country. To the average person, it was only talked about in a negative light for two reasons: The Dakota Riots and the Big Bang. Other than that, it was never on national news and no one ever talked about it.

That never bothered Virgil though.

Dakota was a city that was reformed during the 1920's and heavily influenced by the Harlem Renaissance. The laid-back feel of the city, the be proud for who you are motto of the townsfolk, and the constant hope for a better tomorrow were three obvious ingredients of what Dakota was made of and this, this, had been what Virgil was raised on.

Though, to be fair, Virgil had not traveled a lot during his almost sixteen years of existence. He remembers going to Disney World in Florida when he was a kid and there was were a few trips to New York City and Ivy Town for a family vacation and science fairs respectively, but not much else. He did not include anything within the state of Ohio for the simple fact that, up until two years ago, his family always went to at least one Cleveland Browns game and/or an Ohio State's football game.

But nothing beat Dakota.

A terrifying screech halted Virgil's trek. Looking upwards, he saw the feathery bird-woman known as Talon doing a sky-battle with one of Dakota's heroes, Gear. The mutated Bang Baby released a hyper-sonic shriek that would have surely buffeted Gear had the science-whiz in green not had the attack scouted and dodged.

Gear would soon toss a sphere towards the Bang Baby, the sphere opening to metal wires that entrapped Talon. The orange-feathered female immediately dropped out of the air, bound by one of Gear's trademark Zap-Cap Mark II, and crashed onto the hood of a street parked car.

Virgil winced. He really wished the insurance companies were a little bit more generous about these hero-villain fight casualties.

Using his Jet-Blades (rollerblades that Gear had modified into jet boots), Gear lowered himself to the on-looking crowd who, for the most part, had their cell phones out to record the end of what could have been a long battle.

"Have no fear. Gear is here!"

Again, Virgil winced. "Man, he really needs to work on his catchphrases."

"Sorry guys, no time to talk. Something else is going down." And with that, Gear left the swooning crowd while Virgil smiled at his friend's success.

Gear, whose real name was Richard "Richie" Foley, had had a rough last year starting in the hero business. Many of the people of Dakota saw him as the sidekick to their baby-face hero Static. Richie did his best to separate himself from that moniker but it would take a little more than nine months as Gear to do so. Now Richie was able to go out as Gear and get the same reaction from the people as Virgil could as Static.

Well... Not true.

At least they knew Gear's name.

Virgil sighed as he walked off. His name was not Sparky and most definitely was not Black Lightning Junior! One would think that a year of being Static would be long enough for those guys at the Daily Planet who claim that they are the "best at covering vigilantes."

Posers.

Police cars zoomed by, possibly going to where Gear had dropped off Talon. Kids were still on the sidewalk passing on the gossip of what had occurred yards behind Virgil. It was another day in the city that he loved; his hometown of Dakota.

Virgil stopped at a crossing. No chance he would try jaywalking with cops all over the area. After receiving the light to cross, Virgil headed in the direction of the center while deep in his thoughts.

Buzzing from his cell phone momentarily interrupted those thoughts.

"Yo, Richie," Virgil answered the call with a smile.

"Hey V-Man! Hope you don't mind me taking Talon out while you were busy with your old man!" Richie returned.

Virgil chuckled. "It's all good. But, hey, you might want to work on your speeches just a bit. I wouldn't say that they were corny, but… Let's just say Dr. Seuss wants his rhyme scheme back."

"Like saying, 'I'll put a shock to your system' is any better," joked Richie. "So you heading to the center?"

"Yeah, I promised I'd help him at the center. Have to make sure Sharon doesn't drive one of those guys crazy with all of her new psychology mumbo-jumbo." Virgil replied as he approached the parking lot of the Freeman Community Center. "Got to go. I'll stop by the station later."

"Well I have to deal with Raquel. I was supposed to meet up with her and I kind of got caught up on a game on Overwatch. Maybe you can talk to her for me? It's better if she's angrier at you than me."

Virgil shook his head at the comment. "I'd rather deal with Sharon than pissing off Rocky. Get luck though!"

"So that's what Static's kryptonite is. An angry girl who he refuses to see as more than a friend." Virgil scoffed at Richie's words. "Crap. Another robbery. Gotta jet!"

And with that, the call ended with Virgil entering the center seconds later.

The Freeman Community Center has been a major center point of, not just Virgil's life, but many citizens of Dakota. With the donations from guys like Edwin Alva the place had grown to a place where, not only could kids and adults go to spend time for positive productivity, but a place where those in need could find shelter.

Climbing up the stairs to the second floor of the three-story building, Virgil made a beeline towards his father's office. Approaching it, he could see that the door was open and could hear that his dad was in said office talking to someone.

Stepping into the office with a soft knock on the door, Virgil saw his father, Robert Hawkins, seated behind his desk on the office phone.

"We will do everything we can to help… No, no, it's no problem… Alright. Alright, I'll see you then… Goodbye," Virgil shook his head. While Robert practically preached patience to his children, the man had a problem with staying on the phone for more than three minutes. It was evident in his demeanor and tone of voice to anyone who saw or heard him.

Of course, seeing his son at the doorway cheered the man up instantly.

"Virgil! You're actually on time!" joked the man of forty-six.

"Yeah, yeah, get it all out. Would've gotten here sooner had it not been for Talon being taken down by Gear on the way here." Virgil said as he walked to his dad's desk. "So Pops, what's the news on the cure for the Bang Babies?"

Mr. Hawkins sighed heavily. "Sometimes Virgil, I don't even try to pretend to understand. But until one comes along, we'll keep those housed upstairs, upstairs. We can't change the opinions of the people in the world. We can protect people from those opinions though."

"I feel ya Pops. It's getting real crazy out there." replied the teen. "So is Sharon already here? If so, we should probably go make sure she doesn't have someone trying to burn their ears off to avoid listening to her voice."

Mr. Hawkins chuckled. "No, Sharon isn't here yet. And I doubt anyone sees Sharon as annoying as you do."

"I know a whole list of exes that would agree with me." Mr. Hawkins could only shake his head at his son's words. "On another note, did you hear what they're saying about Gear, Static, and the others? They're calling them criminals."

"I heard. Trina told me earlier today." Mr. Hawkins said solemnly. "I don't like it, but after seeing what that guy did in Gotham weeks ago, I don't blame the caution."

"But that's in Gotham City. Everything is wrong in Gotham City!" Virgil protested. "The Yellow Jacket exposed those guys-"

"I know Virgil. But if we go around beating on all cops for the things that only the bad ones do, then we're no better than the cops that shoot unarmed boys and girls in the streets." lectured Mr. Hawkins. "Besides, I've seen videos of that new guy that's trending. What's his name again?"

"The Yellow Jacket," Virgil answered, already knowing of the guy. Then again, there were not many superheroes that didn't trend on social media whenever they were spotted. The hash-tag "Spotted" was normally within the top ten of trending things on Twitter and Instagram during any given part of the week.

"Him," continued the man. "We don't need people like him or that Wild Dog character in Chicago. They are dangerous. But just like I said about the cops, we can't punish every vigilante on what a few do."

"Yeah, I hear you. It's not like Static is like those guys." said Virgil. "He actually saves people without killing them."

"Let's pray it stays that way. While I won't judge Static or any Bang Baby for the simple fact that they have abilities, them having abilities makes them dangerous to themselves and others if they lose control." Mr. Hawkins stated, a frown marring Virgil's face. "Like it or not, we're all humans- Bang Babies or not. Emotions play a huge part of our self-control and there is a limit to Static. Let's just pray that no one learns how to push him, or any of those guys, over the limit."

Virgil could only nod his head at the statement. There had been times, especially when in pursuit of former bullies who did not possess any abilities, that Virgil had nearly lost his cool for personal reasons. It had led to him having a long conversation with Icon before the alien left for a mission outside of Dakota.

Yet, Virgil would be hypocritical if he said that he never thought about using his abilities for more personal matters.

"Hey son, can I get you to run something to your school?" Virgil groaned. With only a few days (five including the weekend) left, Ernest Hemingway High School was the last place Virgil wanted to be at.

"Come on Pops, can't someone else do it? I really just want to enjoy my last days of freedom before that place sucks the rest of my soul out." complained Virgil.

"It's about the center's basketball tryouts. I need you to hang up some flyers." Mr. Hawkins continued, completely ignoring his son's protests. "Do this and I'll stop by somewhere for dinner tonight."

At this, Virgil perked up. "No Sharon cooking? All you had to do was say the word." The teen grabbed the stack of flyers off of Mr. Hawkins' desk. "Hey, before I go, has Dwayne been alright since… Well, you know."

Mr. Hawkins smiled. "Dwayne is doing fine. He's starting to make some real friends and his parents are helping him better control his powers."

"Good," Virgil said as he backpedals towards the door. "The last thing we need is for another kid to make the wrong choice in life."

"That we agree on son."

Virgil took his leave afterwards with the flyers in his hands. His mind went back to the conversation that he and his dad had just had.

The Yellow Jacket was a rising internet star with his fame coming from the younger generation in America. Virgil was not one to knock a hero for doing his/her job as it would seem hypocritical. Static has been criticized by news anchormen and anchorwomen for his flashy ways and his comical (though not everyone saw it that way) quips.

But Static was not a murderer.

That was something that Virgil did not agree with. His peers thought that New Camford's Killer Bee was so cool because he lived by his rules and gave little care about the law. But Virgil did not like that. People, regardless of how they decided to live their life, deserved the right to live. The Yellow Jacket took that right away whenever he found it necessary and Virgil was not okay with that.

Still… Virgil could not help but to respect a guy that exposed dirty cops, especially one in the act.

Coming down the stairs to the main floor, Virgil was greeted by the sight of his friend, confidante, and former crush Frieda Goren. Despite this résumé, Virgil had not spoken to her for most of the summer vacation due to one thing. Frieda had hidden her relationship with Larry from Virgil.

Petty? Maybe. But the space between the two had put a lot of things into perspective for young Virgil.

"Hey Virgil," Frieda greeted in an oddly shy tone. "Can we talk?"

"Sure. Walk and talk?" Okay, so maybe he still had a thing for Frieda despite the better part of him telling him to let her go.

The pair walked out of the Freeman Community Center side-by-side. They were not walking alone, oh no, the awkward tension from early June had returned to keep the friendly couple company. Needless to say, said awkwardness was a third wheel that they could have gone without.

"So-"

"I-"

They started at the same time before quieting up to let the other finish. Virgil laughed quietly.

"You first," he offered as they walked down the sidewalk together.

"So, um, how are you?" she asked.

"Other than becoming an errand boy for my pops? Fine. And you? You're looking vibrant today." returned Virgil.

Frieda rolled her green eyes. "Vibrant, Virgil? You're so cheesy." She then smiled at him. "And I'm hanging in there."

"And Larry?"

Frieda looked away which confused Virgil. He never understood how she was irritated whenever he brought up the fact that she was seeing one of his friends but he admittedly didn't have firm grasp on the female gender quite yet.

"Sorry," Virgil apologized quietly.

"No, no, he's fine. It's just that… I mean, he still runs with his crew and I just…" Frieda paused, her pink glossed lips pressed together for a moment. "I was thinking that a talk with Static could help."

Virgil sighed quietly. "I don't know Frieda. I've talked to Wade before, as Virgil, and it didn't work. He still thinks that his gang is his family, and I get it, you know? They had his back when he was nothing. And now-"

"Now he's an idiot with a gun like you were." Frieda said angrily before taking a calming breath through her nose. "Virgil, when you told me what happened that night, I was pissed that you'd put yourself in that predicament. And then with Holocaust… Look, I have enough worry with you. I don't want to worry about Larry like that." The girl glanced to the side. "Neither of you are invincible but he doesn't have your powers."

Virgil fought the urge to put his headphones back over his ears and blast the loudest Eminem song that he could. It was bad enough that his friend was found secretly dating a girl everyone knew Virgil liked, including the girl herself. It's another thing for Virgil to be the guy's saving grace.

"Can we talk about this not in public?" Virgil said.

Frieda glanced over at Virgil. "Is there a problem Virgil?"

"Well, no, but we can't just talk about that out in the open. So how about we talk about…? I don't know, school? Prom? Graduation? Anything other than-"

"Virgil Ovid Hawkins," Frieda began with her threat. "We're talking about this now. You've been dodging me all summer long and I'm not waiting for another excuse; legitimate one or not."

Virgil didn't argue. He couldn't. Truthfully, he had been avoiding her with good reason and he had used being Static as an excuse to escape any awkward moments. Now here he was, walking down the sidewalk to school on a summer day with a girl he could not escape.

Frieda huffed in annoyance. "I know I should've told you and I'm sorry Virgil, I really am. But this is Larry we're talking about. He's your friend too. I think he's in some serious trouble and I want you to talk to him."

"Fine Frieda. I'll try to find him later on today as, you know," Virgil spotted the smile taking shape on Frieda's face. "Geez, you're buggin' more than Sharon does in the morning."

"Did you just compare me to your sister?" Frieda asked with faux irritation.

Despite the awkwardness and his inner frustration with his friendship with Frieda, Virgil shared a small laugh with a girl. It felt good to laugh with Frieda again even at the expense of his true wants.

A moment later, Frieda calmed down to ask, "So what's the latest on your investigation on Holocaust?"

"Well," Realizing that Frieda was not going to stop talking about his life as Static, he spoke quietly. "There was a guy that Gear and Rocket took down yesterday, someone who runs the drugs from here to Gotham."

"And?" Frieda asked.

"He didn't say much," Virgil was still quiet in his speech but made sure that his voice reflected how serious the situation was. "But he did let it slip that Holocaust was pissed about a bust that went down in Gotham. Something about his weapons being shortened out."

"Why does a Bang Baby need weapons?" Frieda questioned before adding quickly, "No offense."

"I don't know what he needed them for but I know that it was nothing good."

"What are you going to do?" asked Frieda.

"You know me. I'll stop him. Someway, somehow, I will stop him." Virgil said with confidence.

"I know you will." The redhead said before putting a strand of hair behind her ear. "So, um, now that we're talking again, I have to ask a question. Do you think you can charge my phone? I lost my charger."

Virgil's only answer was a laugh that seemed to wash away all awkwardness between them for the moment.

Virgil Hawkins was not known for a lot of great things. He was smart, one of the smartest in his class when he actually applied himself, but nothing really else stood out to most people. Heck, he even grew his hair out to have at least one distinctive trait and even that was not a big distinction among the other citizens of the town, athletes especially.

His father was still a little wishy-washy about the dreadlock ordeal.

However, to the citizens of Dakota City, Virgil Hawkins was… Well, nothing but a kid who lived in the city. A bit on the thin side and barely 5'6", Virgil did not stand out much.

But as Static he was a whole new person with a whole new persona.

Surfing through the air on what he and Richie like to call the Static Saucer, Virgil was finally alone in his thoughts for the evening. Rocket (Raquel) and Gear (Richie) were both patrolling the city elsewhere which gave the High-Voltage Hero time to live up to the promise he made to Frieda.

The soothing breeze coming from Lake Erie reached the city during the cooling sunset, Virgil's hair now able to flow freely behind him. It was evenings like this that made being a hero worth it. Calming serene setting with just enough life to make the city not boring.

This was Dakota City, Ohio.

"Hey Sparky," Rocket's voice came through the communication device known as the Shock Box. Virgil placed the walky-talky next to his ear. "Gear tells me that you're doing personal favors now. Any chance I can use you for a babysitter anytime soon?"

Virgil chuckled quietly. "Sorry Rocky, not tonight. And this favor isn't just for Frieda, it's for Wade. Someone needs to talk some sense into him."

"Mm-hmm? And the fact that you're still sweating this girl has nothing to do with it, huh?" Raquel Ervin retorted with her normal sass.

"Don't you have a baby-daddy to stop from robbing another alien's house?" returned Virgil. "Look, I'll catch up later. Wade's making a move tonight and catching him before he does something stupid is going to be tough."

"Listen Sparky, if things go wrong with him, don't hesitate to kick his ass. Larry's not that bright and you know how things get with him." Raquel stated. "I'd rather see him locked away than you shot because of your feelings for Frieda. Larry won't see you as Virgil. He'll see you as a costume cop trying to hold a black man down. Don't let him."

Virgil understood exactly what Raquel was warning him about. Gangs in Dakota were only loyal to each other, not friends from their high school or neighborhood. Larry was like that. He was friends with Virgil, Frieda, Raquel, and Richie, but he always found a way to put his gang above them.

Despite this, Virgil had to do this for Frieda whether Raquel understood or not.

"I'll keep that in mind if Wade somehow becomes an insulator and I can't do anything to him." Virgil said nonchalantly. "I'll be fine Rocky. Just make sure you and Gear keep things on lock until then."

Raquel scoffed. "You forget Sparky, I've been doing this longer than you have. But I get it. You love Frieda," Raquel then sighed. "Again, just don't do anything stupid. Gear and I can't have you getting killed."

"I won't. Talk later. I'm getting close to where Wade's supposed to be."

With that, Virgil put his Shock Box into his coat pocket as he soared on his disc to the spot he was sure Larry would be at. His mind was still debating with his heart about what to do. Of course, helping a friend was above all other things, but this was a friend who, not only stole a girl from Virgil, but had repeatedly put his gang life above friendship.

Virgil shook those thoughts out of his head for the moment. Raquel had told him countless times that Virgil's life should not interfere when Static had to save a life. She stated how it would eventually lead to people either defeating Static easily or finding out who Static really was. The former had already happened while the latter, thankfully, has not. For now Larry was the focus of Static, not necessarily Virgil. He had to remember that.

Five minutes later, Static was currently soaring over his former neighborhood of Paris Island. Since the Big Bang, there were several homes and buildings abandoned as most residents of the neighborhood moved inland or out of the city altogether. It made searching for those who walked freely down the sidewalks easier to spot but those who wanted to stay hidden harder to find.

Fortunately, and unfortunately, Virgil had learned Larry's gang's favored spots. He knew where to look. And soon, he spotted the sixteen year old, Lawrence "Larry" Wade. Problem was, Larry was not actually doing anything wrong. He was just walking.

But a promise was a promise, Virgil supposed. So the hero began to add vibrations to his voice to further hide his identity and made his move.

"Nice night for a stroll, right?" Static's words got Larry to look upwards as the hero descended on his disc. "I hope I'm not intruding on some important business."

"Static!" Larry said with surprise. "What are you doing on Paris Island?"

"You know, patrolling. Heard there were some deals going down and you know I can't have that." It was a long shot but Virgil did understand how gangs operated thanks to Larry and his run-ins with the Paris Island Bloods.

Larry gave the hero a shake of his head. "Not here. I don't do that shit man."

"Now that's not what I heard. According to some of the guys of the Bentley Crew, you sell for them." Virgil partially lied. He had heard that Larry sold drugs for the Bentley Crew but it was from Larry in confidence.

"Nah, you got the wrong guy Static. Maybe you should try-"

Gunshots echoed from down the street causing Virgil to curse his luck.

"I'll be back. Don't get into any trouble." Virgil said as he rose on his disc into the air.

Static flew off with no other words exchanged between himself and his friend. Frieda would understand, right? She had to. He had a duty to uphold as a hero after all. Besides, it wasn't like he would be gone all night. He could stop whatever was going on, find Larry again, and give Larry the talk that Frieda wanted.

Yeah, that didn't seem hard at all…

If only things were that easy.

Virgil, now outside of his heroic persona, stood in front of a distraught Frieda on her doorstep. Apparently she received the news before he could give it to her. Then again, how could she not have received the news?

"Frieda, I…" Virgil began to say but failed to come up with anything remotely comforting. Judging from her eyes, it appeared Frieda was not in the mood for anything comforting either. "There was a-"

Frieda slapped Virgil with everything she had, ignoring the stinging in her hand afterwards. Her green eyes were filled with grief and anger as she stared for his reaction.

"Why?" Frieda's shaky voice surprised Virgil as he had to deal with the dying ring in his left ear. "Why didn't you save him? You were supposed to save him!"

"I tried. But there was- See, there was shooting and-"

"You were supposed to save him!" Frieda cried. "You…! You're a hero! You're supposed to save him! You knew before he got hurt! Before he got…!"

Frieda could not finish her statement, breaking down into heavy sobs. Virgil swallowed quietly. Hearing about Larry being shot and killed during a drug deal gone wrong was hard. Knowing that he would have to face Frieda was harder.

Virgil reached to bring his friend into an embrace but she swatted his hands. A second attempt was met with a cry of detest and a stronger swing. Knowing the woes of death as well as anyone else who has dealt with the loss of a loved one, Virgil made one final attempt. This time, he quietly used his powers to pull her body towards his, making himself a magnet attracting her shaking body. And Frieda, unable to break his magnetic pull, eventually gave up and hugged him.

"I'm sorry Frieda. I really am." Virgil quietly said soothingly.

The previous night after the murder was called in, Virgil spent most of the night listening to Raquel calm him down. He was angry at himself for not staying with Larry. Raquel, however, pointed out that Static had a duty to the city and had gone off to do that job. Of course, Raquel was only saying this in an attempt to keep Virgil from blaming himself for Larry's death; an attempt that only worked for a few moments.

Now Virgil stood with the very person that would always remind him, intentionally or not, that he failed to save Lawrence Wade.

A quiet beep from Virgil's jean's back pocket caused him to groan quietly. It was an alert that either Raquel or Richie had sent him. Now was not the time for Static, especially after last night's blunder.

Frieda slowly peeled herself off of Virgil, backing to her door.

"Frieda, I'm so, so sorry. I should've stayed with him but-"

"I know, Virgil." said Frieda with a quiet sigh, wiping her eyes. "Listen, I just need some time to deal with this."

"It's not going to be easy. Wade was-"

"You, Virgil. I need time to deal with you." Frieda cut the boy off again. "I need to figure out who I'm angrier at the most. My friend for not doing a favor. Or the hero who failed to save my boyfriend."

Virgil's face winced at the comment. "Frieda, you're hurt, I understand. But I talked to him. I was talking to him before the first shooting went off. I had to save those people or else."

"I know." Frieda responded quietly. "Just… Just go home Virgil. Please."

Virgil watched as Frieda closed her door with one final quiet goodbye. Frustrated, Virgil departed from Frieda's house with hands balled at his sides. His mind constantly replayed last night with different scenarios. The first gunfight could have been dealt with faster. He could have placed a tracker on Larry. He could have done something different that would have saved Larry's life.

Virgil wandered away from Frieda's home with his thoughts still following him. He should've been there. He should've been there! He had every right, every…!

There was no excuse for him not being there and now Frieda… How could he fail her? Frieda had been the first to learn about his powers, the one that has been carrying the burden of his secret identity for the longest. And for what? For him to fail in saving Larry Wade- another friend of his, no less! Frieda and Larry deserved better and he ran off and-

"Whoa there Sparky," Raquel's voice actually scared Virgil who had wandered to a park not too far from Frieda's house. "Calm down before you actually light someone up!"

Virgil could not argue with the headstrong girl, her short hair cut in a fashionable pixie cut with dark bangs that hung above her eyebrows. Despite being an inch taller than her, Virgil always found himself looking up to Raquel for one reason or another. Her time working as Icon's sidekick had made her wiser than most kids their age. Though, to be fair, she was still easily annoyed by Virgil's or Richie's antics which completely erased said wisdom from time-to-time.

"Come on, let's get to the station," Raquel told him as she guided him through the small park.

"How'd you know where I was?" asked Virgil.

"Had Richie track your phone." Virgil bit his tongue. He absolutely hated it when Richie did this. "I told you to leave that girl alone. Give her time to understand what happened."

"What happened was-"

"Someone was in trouble and you went to save them. It ain't a butterfly effect V. It's simple heroics." Raquel was quick to interrupt him, as usual, with some wit that he begrudgingly admitted made sense. "You remember what you told me about Darnice, right? Same thing applies here. It sucks but that's all it is. Simple heroics."

"But Darnice is alive." Virgil countered while tugging his wrist out of her grip. "And this ain't got nothing to do with 'simple heroics'. I failed them, Raquel."

"If that's the case, I failed Larry too. And so did the school system, corrupt cops, bad parenting-"

"Raquel."

Raquel grabbed his wrist again. "Listen Virgil, I know you're pissed off and you have every right to be. But for now, we need to capture the bastards that did it. Richie thinks he has a lead."

"A lead… How? And when did you two-"

"Simple. Heroics." Raquel repeated with a motherly tone this time showing she was beginning to grow tired of his back-and-forth rebuttals. "Listen and learn Sparky. We found out that the killers were working with…"

"Let me guess: Holocaust." Virgil said.

"Well, not directly with Holocaust," began Raquel. "Apparently, the license plate of one of the cars came back and was registered to a man that lives out in Cleveland. That's normally nothing but considering the guy has a rep with working with Tobias Whale, it's something."

Virgil's face adopted a perplexed expression. "Tobias Whale? Why does that name sound familiar?"

"The guy you've been fan-boying over for the past year? Black Lightning?" Virgil's face metaphorically lit up in realization, Raquel shaking her head. "Seriously Sparky, how can you be this smart and dumb at the same time?"

"Do you have to be like this today? Can't we just go after them?" questioned an irritated Virgil.

"If Whale and Holocaust are in this together, what in the hell do you think a kid on a trash lid is going to do? Call his rollerblading IT guy?" shot back Raquel. "We got our asses kicked by Holocaust and we still don't know what those guns he's got can do. But if we can find someone who's in with him…"

Knowing that she was leading him on, Virgil concluded, "We can get them to tell us what he's up to. Fine. But what about the guy that killed Wade?"

"If Icon was here, I'm sure he'd point out that vengeance isn't going to solve a damn thing. You might not like to hear this now, but you have to drop it." answered the teenage mom. "But if we do find out who exactly did it, you get one punch, understand?"

Virgil silently nodded. There was no point in arguing with a girl who would simply put a shield around the person. Sure, his powers could reach the protected, but at what cost? Simply put, Raquel was the smarter fighter of the two. If she wanted to kick his ass for doing something stupid, she more than likely would with or without his cooperation.

That being said, he valued her friendship above anything else about her. Like now, she kept him in line whenever he was down on himself or life in general. The girl from Paris Island was not at all confused about how the world worked or how to traverse through it. She was street toughened and educated by a well-versed alien lawyer. Those were the right ingredients for her to get an application to some high and mighty snob university elsewhere but Raquel had voiced her desire to stay close to Dakota and help those with her gifts. And Virgil, despite his displeasure for her maternal chastising, will always appreciate her staying by his side.

"Hey, Rocky?"

"Hmm?" Raquel gave him her attention for the moment.

"Do you think I can, you know, walk without you holding my hand?" asked a grinning Virgil. "Unless you want to ask me out, which I don't have a problem with but-"

"Please," Raquel scoffed as she practically threw Virgil's arm back at him. "Your virgin ass wouldn't know how to handle me if I put it down lukewarm."

Virgil laughed. "But I'm sure you would teach me, right?"

"Not even in your dreams sparkles."

Yeah, even when she attempted to insult him, Virgil was more than happy to know that she was normally on his side.

Eli released a sigh of pain as he rubbed the back of his neck with a gloved hand. He had never been half-dressed in costume, either fully dressed as Hornet or Elias Jackson. But the previous day had been a pain in the ass and today was no better.

Apparently some of Whale's men had been spooked and have been having multiple gunfights with other rivaling gangs in the city and elsewhere. While Eli did as much as he could, he was still just one guy. Even with Black Canary's more than needed help, it was still overwhelming for the up and coming hero.

Currently wearing his Hornet outfit sans his mask, goggles, and signature yellow jacket, Eli walked around the basement under Nick's shed. His lip was bruised from a punch that he had not properly been prepared for during an earlier skirmish. Safe to say that the guy who did punch the hardy Hornet was dealt with afterwards but Eli was still not okay by the punch and neither was Canary.

"You look like shit," Nick commented from his chair at the large computer, his eyes focused on the teen. "When's the last time you had a decent sleep kid?"

Eli shrugged a shoulder. "Between Bookworm's stupid riddles and these guys shooting every fucking thing in sight? Not much." Eli groaned again. "Tell me you found out something."

"Not really. But your little communicator has been buzzing quite a bit. Could be Nightwing." Nick stated before spinning the chair around so that he could face the computer. "There are reports that there were shootings in Dakota City, Bludhaven, and D.C., all thought to be related to Whale's organization. My guess is that some of these deaths weren't just random deaths of gun violence but-"

"Actual targets," concluded Eli as he stretched in the chair he sat in. "Canary taught me about that- what did she call it? Controlled chaos." Eli shrugged once more. "It's really about when someone creates a shit-storm so that they can pull off some sort of job. She said that that shit is real popular down in Gotham."

With his fingers expertly clicking keys on his keyboard, Nick raised a brow above his glasses, "And you think that Whale is doing it now?"

"I was thinking about it earlier before that shootout in Rhodes. But I wouldn't put it passed him. Whale bought his way out of prison and got that Black Lightning dude to back off. Bastard has to be smart, right?" Eli remarked.

"Smart or lucky one, kid. But you may be on to something," Nick said as he pulled up the list of victims in the recent shootings of Dakota City and New Camford. "Look at this. The kids that he's killing all have a rap sheet."

Eli folded his arms and laid them on the desk before resting his head on top of them. "Let me guess, none of them worked for him, huh?"

"You know, you're actually getting too good at this." Nick commented.

"That's just common street sense," responded the resting teen. "Smart guy needs to kill a few rivals. Creates some big gang war that has cops scrambling off of their lazy asses to save the wrong guys. Real guys get shot."

Nick glanced over at Eli. "Canary teach you that?"

"Partly. Eric taught me the rest." Eli admitted. Nick's lips thinned with Eli sighing. "The guy that ran Saints Row before Eric told him some stories that he used to tell me and George. Honestly, I don't believe half of that crap."

Nick said nothing as he watched Eli close his eyes and rest. The man had seen this plenty of times with Malcolm and Trent, the former more so than the latter. However, neither of the two aforementioned heroes ever seemed this exhausted. Yet surprisingly it seemed as if tiredness did not completely dull Eli's mental wits. Nick was positive that even now, Eli was still thinking of trying to beat Bookworm to the next victim as well as capturing Tobias Whale.

It was then that the small communicator that Eli had received from Nightwing. Eli raised his head and eyed the device across the table with eyes filled with hatred. Nick winced at the thought of Eli taking his rage out on a defenseless communicator but instead Eli's hand slammed on his mask as he put it on.

Grabbing the communicator seconds later, Hornet answered with his voice masked. "What is it?"

"You sound like shit," Nightwing's comment gained a growl from Eli who was dying to get some sleep like he was ordered to do. "But we have a problem. A big one at that."

"I've got the shootouts under control." responded Eli.

"You're good but not that good. Unless you've made a trip to Dakota as well, and we both know that if you show up there, it's on the internet." He had a point, Eli thought to himself. Ivy Town had reports of the Hornet for the few times he actually dressed up and stopped crime there. "These gunfights between Whale and rival gangs will spill out in New Camford especially if your Russian friends don't play nice. But I do have word that the middleman for Whale and Holocaust will be in Calvin City tomorrow and that's not too far from you, right? I have some friends who can help as well."

Eli closed his eyes behind his mask, a sight that, without his goggles, Nick could see clearly. Sleep was clearly taking its toll on him. He couldn't even properly be annoyed about the fact that there would be more masked vigilantes (one more than likely Batgirl) running with him.

"Fine," relented Eli. "Get here soon and we'll meet up."

Nightwing released something akin of a laugh and a sigh. "Well… See, we're already here- in New Camford that is. So whenever you're free…"

Eli now sighed heavily. "Meet me at Mylos. And don't get yourself killed."

"You sound worried." pointed out Nightwing at the unusual word of worry from the normally angered Yellow Jacket.

"The last time you were there, you nearly died while destroying my lead," Hornet argued. "I'm sure that if any Mozgov saw you in that area, they won't hesitate to finish the job."

"Good point. Be there in ten." Nightwing said before adding, "And you might want to take the communicator with you. Like it or not but we're going to have to work together. There could be metas."

Eli sighed quietly. "I'll be there."

Nick said nothing as he watched Eli replace his goggles and then the gauntlets that he wore on each arm. Again, Nick had seen Malcolm pull himself together plenty of times and walk while running on adrenaline alone. But Eli was running pure willpower that Nick assumed came from Eli's claim to be a full-fledged vigilante (the kid still wouldn't call himself a hero) before school started.

"I'm running reconnaissance. If you find out anything about Bookworm or whoever, let me know." Eli said, now putting on his signature jacket.

"You're going to get yourself killed if you don't get some sleep kid. Just let Nightwing and his friends handle this and…" Nick stopped once he saw Eli strap the quiver on his back and check the arrows he had left. "And you're still going to do this, aren't you?"

Eli just nodded his head. "What choice do I have?"

"Sleep till tomorrow like any other teenager." countered Nick. Eli still made his way to the ladder. "Eli, you should really-"

Nick's words were cut in half by a dart slicing through the air and hitting the punching bag in a spot similar to where Nick's had hit months ago.

Wordlessly, Eli ascended the ladder with his bow safely clipped onto his back. Nick leaned back in the chair, letting a smile settle on his face. Leila would be pissed if she had witnessed that, regardless of how impressive the feat was. But Malcolm would probably wait until Eli was out of earshot to boast proudly about what his son had just done.

Adjusting his glasses, Nick turned back to the computer with his grin still apparent.

"Give 'em hell kid."

Author's Notes: Static is here in 2019! The High-Voltage Hero will have a very interesting companionship with the online sensation known as the Yellow Jacket. Eli's interactions with Virgil/Static, Raquel/Rocket, and Richie/Gear will be vital for his battles against Whale and Holocaust. Also some pretty interesting character clashing between the Dakota City Heroes and the Killer Bee. Eli's time will also be divided between his civilian life and his heroic life style more as the school year begins in his timeline. On another note, Dick has acquired the help of Hornet, Batgirl, and Wonder Girl with Static, Gear, and Rocket on the way. Seems like a team is forming, eh? Anyway, new year, same phrase, if you have any questions, thoughts, or comments leave a PM or review and I'll respond in the next review corner. Till then, catch you later.