This was originally supposed to come out a week ago, but I got sidetracked. If Mega Man 11 wasn't kicking my ass, then I was busy playing the Black Cat DLC from Spider-Man PS4. Anyway, here it is, the first appearance of the Rubberband Man, as well as Static and Bombshell's first encounter with him.

Chapter 6

Brooklyn, NY

Ice Pack rides through town in his limo listening to his hit new single along with two other people. One was an African American woman with hazel eyes and short brown hair, and the other was a man of the same ethnicity, wearing a do-rag and sunglasses.

The woman decides to congratulate the rapper on his new song, "This is my favorite record ever Ice, you really ARE a musical genius."

"I always thought I had mad skills," Ice Pack brags. "I just had to figure out a way to bring it to the people, you know?"

Meanwhile the driver sees something on the rearview mirror, "Uh, sir? I think we're being followed."

Ice Pack lowers his sunglasses at the driver, "Then lose em."

"I…think you need to take a look at this."

The rapper begins to look behind him, and heading towards them was what looks to be a rubber ball with a man's face on it bouncing towards them.

"Shit, it's one of those Bang Baby's. Floor it."

The driver does what Ice pack tells him and begins to speed up. The rubber ball then takes the form of a man who's legs have taken the shape of giant springs, and proceeds to chase after the vehicle.

Meanwhile...

Virgil and Lana are walking from the library where they were doing homework together. As they walk across the street Virgil starts to rub his right shoulder while creaking his neck a bit.

Lana notices this right away, "What's wrong?"

The electric meta looks over at his girlfriend, "Wha…oh, it's nothing really. I guess I'm still a little sore from our fight with evil Kara." (A/N) That thunderclap of hers REALLY knocked the wind out of me."

"Poor baby," Lana coos. "Here, move your hand."

Virgil does what she says and the brunette girl proceeds to massage both of his shoulders.

"Mmm, that feels nice actually. You should probably get a career as a masseuse."

The brunette girl removes her hands, "There, all better?"

Virgil moves his shoulder around for a bit, "Yeah, thanks."

Lana waves it off, "Eh, no biggie. It's just something my grandma taught me. She used to work at a grocery store in her younger years where she had to do some heavy lifting. Her mom would give her a shoulder massage every night when she came home."

"Speaking of moms, you ever plan on visiting yours at Rykers?"

Lana scowls at the question, "Not in a million years."

"I take it she won't be nominated for mother of the year anytime soon, huh?"

"Or ever, all she ever cares about is herself, she never cared about me or what I want. She's only interested in what I can do and how it can benefit her."

Virgil gives his girlfriend a sympathetic look, "I…I'm sorry. I didn't realize…"

"It's okay. You know, every time I hear you talk about your mom, I can't help but think about how lucky you were to have someone like her in your life…If only MY mom was like that."

Virgil hugs Lana, "Well you don't have to worry about her hurting you anymore. And if she ever gets out and tries to force you into doing something you don't want to do, then she's gonna have to deal with me first."

The brunette girl smiles and hugs her boyfriend back, "God, what did I ever do to deserve you?"

The electric meta smiles back, "By being you."

The two teens look at each other for a moment and then share a brief kiss, but their little moment was immediately interrupted by a white limo speeding past them, and what looks like a man in a purple suit and stretched out limbs running after it.

Lana raises an eyebrow and says, "Well there's something you don't see everyday."

"You got that right."

With that, the two rush to a nearby alley to suit up.

The man in the rubber suit continues to chase after the limo. He eventually catches up and jumps in front of it. The meta then stretches his limbs and wraps them around the left and right street post. When the limo approaches him, his elastic body was able to stop the vehicle and send it hurtling into the air. Static, who had been following the meta, finally decides to step in and he uses his electromagnetic abilities to stop the limo in mid-air and sets it down gently. He then looks at the mysterious figure and his eyes widened.

"Oh my God, that's Sharon's boyfriend. He's a bang baby?"

Adam sees Static and scowls, "Static, right? Look man, I've got no beef with you. So do yourself a favor and stay out of my way."

He then forms into a rubber ball and bounces towards his target. That was when Bombshell steps in front of him.

"That's as far as you go, you human silly putty."

"And you must be Bomb-Girl."

"It's Bomb-shell."

As Static (still in shock by the fact that this is Adam) lands beside his girlfriend, the brunette girl continues, "You mind telling us what your problem is with these people?"

"The punk inside stole from me."

"And you think THIS is the way to solve the problem? Dude, why don't we just sit down and talk about this?"

"I've tried everything. Now I'm not gonna tell you again, get out of my way."

Static sees Adam raising his fist and he pushes Bombshell out of the way, "LOOK OUT." He then takes the punch in her place. Bombshell, who is now on the ground sees her boyfriend getting knocked down as well,

"STATIC." The electric meta begins to get up, "I'm fine. Okay super ball, now it's my turn."

Static's right hand begins to form an electric current and he delivers a massive right hook to Adam's face. Adam's neck stretches back from the sheer force of the blow but immediately snaps back into place.

"Nice shot sparky," he then says with a smirk. "But rubber is an insulator, so your electrical powers can't hurt me."

Suddenly the limo begins to move again and tries to get away from the fight that was occurring.

"Not so fast," Adam says as he stretches his arm out and grabs the vehicle's bumper.

Static sees this and begins to charge up his fists even further, "Let me tell you something about electricity. A big enough charge can overload ANY insulator."

He then releases a massive electric charge that knocks the elastic meta back, forcing him to let go of the limo, where the vehicle makes a successful getaway. Unfortunately, that last blow took a lot out of Static and he begins to fall to his knees in exhaustion. However, Adam immediately gets up from the younger meta's attack and he is not happy.

Static sees this and sighs, "And unfortunately, that wasn't enough."

Adam's fist then forms a hammer and he uses it to knock Static into a nearby street post where the electric meta falls to the ground, barely conscious.

Just when the older meta was about to deal the final blow another voice calls out to him, "Hey Laffy Taffy Man."

He turns around and sees Bombshell in a fighting stance, fist glowing bright yellow.

"You may be immune to electricity, but let's see how you handle a regular blast."

She then fires two energy blasts from each of her hands and they hit Adam directly in his chest. However, his torso begins to stretch backwards and as soon as it snaps back into place, it sends Bombshell's blast right back at her.

"SHIT," she yells as she jumps out of the way.

But the blast hits a nearby blue convertible, causing it to explode. Bombshell was in range of the blast and the shockwave sends her flying a couple feet. She too falls to the ground.

Adam looks at the two young metas he had just laid waste to and then sighs, "I don't have time for this."

With that, he begins to spring away.

Static watches Adam leave and thought, "Man, Sharon is gonna trip when she finds out about this. IF she ever finds out. And I was really starting to like the dude too." Then he realizes something. "Lana." Static rushes over to his girlfriend who remains motionless on the ground.

"Bombshell, Bombshell are you okay? Please be okay."

The brunette girl groans, "Anyone get the number of that car that blew up in my face?"

Static breathes a sigh of relief and then chuckles at his girlfriend's quip. He then looks on in the distance, "Looks like Adam is long gone. Hopefully that limo was able to get far enough away that he won't be able to catch up."

Bombshell perks up at what her boyfriend called the meta, "Adam? You mean your sister's boyfriend? He's a bang baby?"

"And I'm willing to bet the person inside the limo was Ice Pack. I'm guessing he's still mad that he took his song."

"Ice Pack was in that limo? Damn, and I didn't get the chance to ask for his autograph."

Static rolls his eyes.

Queens, NY

"Alright Pete, I give up, what are we doing here?" Virgil asks as he and his friend approach an abandoned gas station.

Peter finally explains himself, "Well, Kara and I talked about this and we figured, since we kinda have our own superhero team with you, Lana, Ty, Tandy…and maybe Courtney if she's up for it…that maybe we should have our own base of operations. You know, kinda like how the League has the moon base and the Titans have their tower."

"And an old, run-down gas station is the best you can come up with?"

"Hey, I may be well acquainted with Bruce Wayne but that doesn't mean I inherited his money. Besides, gotta make do with what we got right? Think of this as our little hangout in case we have to deal with something that requires all of us to participate. Kara was kind enough to help me move all of my lab equipment here."

"Well…if you put it that way…that doesn't sound like a bad idea. I mean, with the Meta-Breed and Spider Slayers trying to kill us on a daily basis, it helps when we can be able to call for back up."

Once the two boys are inside, Virgil begins to tell Peter about his run-in with Adam.

"So that elastic guy was your sister's boyfriend?" asks Peter.

Virgil nods, "Yeah, crazy right? He went after Ice Pack because he thought he plagiarized his music. If I wasn't there to stop him, he probably would have done something stupid."

The spider hero then pulls out a CatCo. magazine from his backpack, "Well, your little scuffle with Plastic Man V2 is one CatCo.'s most prominent articles. Lucky for you, the photographer who took photos of the fight sucks, so both of your faces came out blurry. Which means our stretchy man can breathe a sigh of relief of anyone recognizing him."

Virgil takes the magazine from Peter's hand and reads the headline, "The Rubberband Man's assassination attempt foiled by Static and Bombshell." He then looks up at his friend with a raised eyebrow, "The Rubberband Man? For real? Like the song?"

Peter shrugs, "Ms. Grant's a huge fan of that song. Chloe once told me she caught her grooving to that song in her office during late nights when she thought no one was watching her."

"Yeah, well, it's a fitting name, since the guy is immune to my electric powers. There was no way I could hurt him without running out of juice. Lana and I took a massive L because of it. I can't believe even with these new powers of mine, I STILL feel helpless. Maybe I'm not cut out to be a hero after all…"

With that Peter chuckles.

To which Virgil gives him a deadpanned look, "I'm glad you find my dilemma funny."

"No, no, it's just…what you're feeling right now, I've been there. As soon as you become a superhero, and you feel like you're getting the hang of it, you feel unstoppable. Until that one random bad guy comes along and gives you a massive wake up call. Believe me that was something I had to experience multiple times, and each time I remember something my uncle once told me. He said that the only way to truly fail is to give up. As long as you keep trying, and give it your all, you can overcome any obstacle. So there's a guy out there that you can't hurt with your powers. If I were you, I should probably look for some kind of alternative on how to beat him. You're a smart guy Virg, I know you'll think of something."

After several seconds of silence, the electric meta finally smiles, "Thanks Pete."

The spider hero smiles back, "It's what I'm here for. Oh, before I forget…" He then moves over to his lab table and picks up a sickle shaped object.

Peter hands the object over to Virgil to which the other boy asks, "What's this?"

"You see that small button?" Peter asks as he points to said button. "Push it."

Virgil sees the button his friend mentions and does what he is told. The sickle shaped object begins to circle around itself, forming a large disc in the process. Virgil's face went from confusion to wonder.

Peter explains, "I notice how you use trash can lids and manhole covers as your mode of transportation. No offense, but I always thought that looked a little, well you know, tacky. So I decided to make you this retractable disc that you can use. It's lighter, slimmer and you can carry it anywhere. If you're gonna go knock some sense into your sister's boyfriend, why not do it in style?"

Virgil continues to look at the disc and whistles, "This looks dope Pete, thanks."

"No problem man, and let me know when another supervillain is kicking your butt. I'll be happy to give you more advice."

Ice Pack's penthouse, Manhattan, NY

"Ice, seriously man, maybe we should cancel the concert. What if that rubber-guy shows up to try and kill you again?"

The rapper is sitting on the couch, talking to his agent on the phone. The two are arguing over whether or not Ice Pack should cancel the upcoming concert.

"And I say bring him on," Ice Pack answers. "We put a lot of money and work into this, I'm not about to let some brotha in purple spandex ruin it."

Suddenly there's a knock on the door. Ice Pack gets up from his couch to open it. When he looks outside, he doesn't see anyone. He then looks down and sees a purple rubber ball on the floor. The rapper picks it up, closes the door and walks back to his couch, bouncing the ball along the way.

"Look man, just make sure security is tight. This show is happening no matter what. I ain't about to let some bang baby with stretchy powers scare me like he's the boogeyman or something."

With that, Ice Pack ends the call. He looks back down at the rubber ball, wondering where it came from.

Then suddenly, the Rubberband Man's face begins to appear, "Boo."

Ice Pack gets startled and drops the ball, which begins to shapeshift and take the form of the bang baby who attacked him the other night.

"Sup Ice, we have some unfinished business."

Meanwhile, Static and Bombshell are flying through the Manhattan skylight, making their way to Ice Pack's penthouse.

"You think Ice Pack will let us help him?" the brunette girl asks as she hangs on to her boyfriend.

"He better," Static answers. "Because I doubt his bodyguards would stand a chance against a guy who can turn his hand into a wrecking ball. Besides, we also need to help Adam from getting in any real trouble. It's a good thing Peter and Kara know someone who's a journalist. She was able to help us dig some dirt on who REALLY stole Rubberband Man's music. Now we just need to find him so we can reason with him."

As they approach the penthouse, Bombshell looks inside the balcony window with wide eyes, "Uh, Virgil? I don't think finding him will be a problem."

Static looks inside as well and he narrows his eyes.

Ice Pack begins to back away from Rubberband Man and eventually he trips and falls on his rear, "Look man, what do you want from me? Money? Fine just take it, I've got plenty."

"I don't want your money," the elastic meta responds. "I want to know where you got that new song from."

That was when the rapper realizes something, "Oh shit, you're that guy from the autograph signing. Look, I'm sorry if I took your song alright? If it makes you feel any better, I didn't come up with it myself, someone gave it to me. If anything, you should take it up with him. I'm just a guy who likes to entertain."

Rubberband Man picks up Ice Pack by the collar and lifts him up in the air "You got my song from someone else? Who?"

"Maybe if you put him down, he'll answer you."

Rubberband Man looks behind him and sees Static and Bombshell standing near the doorway to the balcony. The man in purple takes the rapper and hangs him on a deer head wall mount.

He then turns to the two younger metas, "Back for another ass whoopin' huh?"

"We were unprepared last time you walking condom," says Bombshell. "I promise you that won't happen again."

Rubberband Man gets into a fighting stance, "Alright little girl, how about we put your money where your filthy mouth is? You two are gonna regret trying to mess with me."

Static and Bombshell also get into fighting stances as they prepare for yet another fight.

(A/N) He's of course talking about the epic fight against Dark Supergirl in chapter 18 of Hope and Responsibility.

Looks like our heroes are ready for round 2, but what trick do they have up their sleeve? How is Static able to beat a foe that he can't even hurt? Find out in the next chapter.

Be sure to leave a comment with your thoughts on the story so far. Until next time...