Aftermath Chapter Four
Virgil stretched and sighed tiredly, seeing Richie glance over at him and grinned, "I gotcha didn't I?" Richie said softly as the television played to itself, a rerun of Twilight Zone.
"You did Rich, thanks... we haven't been able to do this for a while haven't we?" Virgil asked softly, his left foot swinging off the side of the couch while Richie was sat on the other leg.
"It has but I could talk to Adam and Shenice and see if we can come up with some sort of rota, be easier on all of us... but only if you want to" Richie replied softly looking over his shoulder to see Backpack crawling up to sit on the side of the couch.
"Maybe... but I don't want to wear the mask anymore, everyone sees Static when the mask is on... everyone" Virgil said almost whispering. "But when it came off then nothing, just a normal teenager with a secret, using his powers occasionally to make things easier" He carried on quietly looking at the television in the dim light.
Richie watched his best friend with a sigh and looked at the television, "We're the same person Virgil with or without the mask, I thought you knew that better than me" Richie said softly taking his glasses off and rubbed his eyes, pushing the ideas that came to his mind away for now. "Besides when I see you, all I see is you Virgil, my best friend... my brother" He added putting his glasses on to see Virgil looking at him with shinning eyes.
Virgil crawled up and hugged Richie tightly, "Thank you Richie, if Pops couldn't help then you were always the one friend I could rely on..." He croaked into Richie's side, his voice filling with emotion.
Richie smiled and hugged Virgil back, even though he had his own nightmares and mixed emotions he knew to keep them away from Virgil. At least until Richie felt he was ready to reveal to Virgil, but needed to talk to someone first.
"You're welcome V, I'l always be here for you" Richie replied softly holding onto Virgil until the teenager fell back to sleep, catching up on the lost peaceful sleep he needed so much.
"Well just glad that you boys made it safely here, especially as they discovered that slow leak in your hull" The barman of the Dunken Locksmith said as he put down two large plates of his best steak pie and chips down in front of the two lucky sailors, Jim and Marty.
"Didn't even realise until Dean put that camera down there or when Kyle started unloading, and discovered that tar goop stuff all over the crates!" Jim replied before taking a drink from his beer bottle.
"Well just glad that you're safe, both of you! Got some news for you two, the latest gossip of the city" Rosie, the assistant bar keeper said as she joined the guys in the front away from the bar.
Marty grinned as Rosie came in and sat next to him, "Yeah well means that we're here on shore for longer especially the inquest into how the hole got there without us picking it up... but then again it was causing a slow leak" He said before tucking into his food glad to have someone else cooking for him instead of Jim or himself.
"Still what is that stuff all over our cargo? Something I've never seen before!" Jim said with a sigh before eating his own meal.
"Well that doesn't matter now guys, you're safe back here in Dakota! Let me close up before I get ya boys some rooms for the night" Bill the bar keeper said with a grin and got to work in clearing up his small inn and bar.
Sharon crept down the stairs with Adam following slowly behind her, "They weren't in his room so they've got to..." Sharon started to say when she saw Richie sat on the couch but in a odd angle.
"They're asleep, come on... into the kitchen, I'll get some coffee for us" Adam replied softly opening the door to the kitchen and was surprised to see Robert sat at the kitchen table nursing his own cup of coffee.
"Daddy? What are you doing up this late?" Sharon asked quietly as they got into the kitchen, the door closing quietly behind them so not to wake the sleeping teenagers.
"Just thought I would get some work done for the community center but I can't focus... I saw them in there, I am glad that they are sleeping peacefully" Robert said with a sigh and took a sip of his coffee.
"I am too Robert, Richie hasn't slept in the last few days except for a few hours earlier today" Adam siad with a smile and got Sharon and himself a coffee each before his cell phone rang.
"Who can that be Adam?" Sharon asked as Adam shrugged and answered his phone.
"Adam? It's Shenice! I need you to come down to the docks immediately, you are not going to believe this!" Shenice's loud voice was heard down the phone.
"S-shenice! Calm down, what's going on?" Adam asked wincing at the loudness of the young hero remembering that they agreed to call each on the cell phones rather than the shock voxes.
"The docks they're on fire! Every firefighter is here fighting it, you've got to get here Adam!" Shenice carried on, Adam could hear the roar of the firefighter's hoses in the background.
"Maybe I should wake Richie, sounds like we're going to need all the help we can get!" Adam replied looking over at Robert, who sighed and nodded before rising from the table and left the kitchen to wake Richie.
Chief Barnsdale couldn't believe how bad their week had been for the city, first a energy monster showed up destroying everything it touched and sucked up the electricity from the power stations. Now the docks were alight with fire coming from what appeared to be nowhere, it had started at a boat then spreaded throughout the docks.
Chief Rohan yelled down his radio over the roar of the hoses, he was oredering his team of firefighters into seperate teams in an attempt to contain the fire to just one area of the docks.
A huge explosion rocked the east side of the docks bursting into flames causing a shockwave across the docks, the fire roared louder than ever. The firemen and other enforcement and rescue services shuddered as the noise sounded alot like the energy monster that had terrified the city's population, costing the city thousands of dollars in repairs.
Shebang leapt up on one of the tall masts of the ships still docked at the harbour to try and see the main source of the fire or why the fire was spreading so quickly.
It took a while to get Richie awake enough to free himself from Virgil's hold on the blonde genius and a few black coffees into his system but now he was in the sky with Adam following close behind.
"Shebang I need a update" Gear said along the open shock vox channel glancing back at Adam to see that he had his own shock vox out.
"It's bad! Five members of the firefighters hae been burnt by what the paramedics are describing as lava jelly, sounds strange I know" Shebang yelled over the noise in the background.
Gear flinched slightly at the loudness of Shenice's voice. "Lava Jelly? Can you describe it Shebang? We're almost there, I can see the fire from here" He said seeing that the fire had lit the sky all around the docks and outer edges of the city. Glad that Mr H's house is on the other side of the city from here Richie thought to himself, a image of Virgil sleeping peacefully appeared in his mind while his heart fluttered lightly.
Shaking his head to clear his mind, he just heard Shenice starting to describe the 'lava jelly'. "It's really wierd Gear, its pure black like light is absorbed into it but at the same time there is a real hot fire burning all around it" Shebang informed him.
Gear's mind flashed back to the start of the second big bang, he was fighting alongside Static with their powers fully restored and better than ever.
In front of them was a large shadow like monster, a fused being made from two powerful metahumans Ebon and Hotstreak.
It can't be, it was destroyed... they were destroyed Gear thought to himself.
"-- can we do? They're tiring fast down here!" Shenice called over the shock vox.
"Are they trying just water?" Rubberband Man asked as they stopped and looked out over the docks.
Half of the warehouses were ablaze with savage fire eating at anything it could sink its fiery teeth into, burning away the supports before starting the side panels with any burnable contents going up in flames. The smoke was, thankfully, being blown away from the city and into Dakota Bay.
"They are! But they had to stop because the sand kept turning into molten glass!" Shenice yelled and sounds of explosions rocked through the docks.
Gear looked over at Rubberband Man before taking off to the sky towards the docks, he felt Backpack give him a water cap ready for anything. "Hang in there Shenice" He said as he prepared to enter the second most dangerous situation they came across in a matter of days.
"This is Shelly Sandoval reporting live from Dakota Docks where the police, firefighters and paramedics are all working together to try and fight the large fire that is burning and spreading rapidly behind me as you can see" Shelly Sandoval reported from where the police had set up safety barriers.
"Dakota's finest continues to protect the city but reports are coming in that the fires continue to burn out of control, Shebang has been seen on the scene while the other heroes have yet to emerge" She continued as the police waved her back away from the barrier.
"We are being told to back away from the docks by another two blocks for our own protection, I think I speak for everyone when I say, Come back Static we all need you" Shelly reported before the camera switched back to the studio.
A young man curled up tighter into the ball he had curled up into, the glow of the tv lighting his features. I don't know if I can help... if Static could help... He thought to himself before giving way to a fresh wave of tears.