Chapter Three: A Pale Moon

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"Wow, a gang war where everyone involved turned into mutants. Sounds like something you only hear about on TV." Morgan commented.

"Well this happened for real and it was one scary ordeal." Virgil responded.

The group of teens was sitting in a circle on the middle of the gas station. Virgil had told his story first and Richie piped in every now and then when necessary. Morgan and Lux just listened intently.

"Hotstreak, the one you guys met earlier today, he went to Dakota U. too. He was known as F-Stop." Virgil continued.

Lux burst into laughter, "F-Stop? That's horrifying."

The rest of the group laughed too. They had to agree, it was a pretty pathetic name.

"Anyways, there's a whole slew of bang babies out in Dakota right now. There's Ebon, Talon, Shiv, Puff, and so many more," Virgil frowned, "And it's up to Static to take care of them all. And I have to admit, it's getting harder nowadays."

Morgan smiled a comforting smile, "At least not all the bang babies are bad."

Virgil nodded and smiled back, "So what's your story?" He asked.

"Well my sister Lux and I are metahumans, obviously. The only thing is, I was born naturally and…" Morgan began.

"I was created from scratch." Lux finished.

"I didn't even think it was possible, to create a metahuman as powerful as you." Richie remarked.

"I'm not powerful, just well trained, nothing more." Lux responded, quickly getting defensive. Morgan placed and hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright Luxy, we can trust them. Sometimes I swear you're the older sister." The telepath laughed.

Lux shrugged and continued, "We were created to be human bio-weapons, in other words, super soldiers. I'm the offense and Morgan is the defense."

"Why is the government creating super soldiers?" Virgil asked.

"Same reason why we created nuclear bombs, for war," was Lux's bitter answer.

"Did you escape or something? I'm sure it's not every day human weapons go to high school." Richie joked.

"Nor is it every day that teenage boys moonlight as superheroes, but to answer your question, we didn't escape, we were granted freedom." Lux answered.

"On one condition though, if we're called at any time, we have to go in and perform our duties." Morgan added.

"What duties?" Virgil asked.

"Assassinations," the room went silent.

Morgan closed her eyes and sighed, leaning onto Lux's shoulder. Looking out the window, the teens saw it was getting later and the moon had come out to greet them. Lux got to her feet and helped Morgan up, they both nodded to the boys.

"We should go now, we can talk more tomorrow." The white haired girl said.

She and Morgan said their goodbyes before walking out of the gas station and heading home. Virgil and Richie watched them go.

"I should get started on patrol." Virgil said, going back inside the gas station.

"Yea, you should."

--

James was waiting for his girls when they got home. He had expected them home earlier but when they called him to tell him they were hanging with friends, he was a little surprised. Of course, he knew they would make friends their first day at school.

"Hey Daddy!" Morgan said as she passed him.'

"Good evening Morgan how was school?" He asked.

"It was great, we met some great people." The blonde smiled as she headed upstairs.

"Did you make any friend Lux?" James asked his ever silent daughter.

"Yes, of course you wouldn't approve. He's a bit of a bad boy." Lux grinned as she followed after her sister.

"Bad boy…?" James frowned.

Upstairs Lux closed her door; she didn't lock it because she knew Morgan would want to go over the events of the day. She didn't know yet if she trusted Richie and Virgil. So what if Virgil was Static, Dakota's favorite superhero? It didn't mean he was trustworthy.

"I think you're over analyzing the situation Lux." Morgan chided as she walked in.

"Forgive me for not being the optimistic and trusting sister." Lux scowled at her sister.

Morgan sighed and sat down beside her sister, intending to comfort her in some way. Moving was always harder on Lux than her, mainly because the white-haired girl found it harder to make friends. Lux simply felt that the only people she could truly rely on were her sister and her father.

"They didn't judge you like the others did." Morgan pointed out, "Actually they thought you pretty cool."

Lux hid a smile as she nodded, "Okay I guess I can give them a chance. We've told them everything anyway. There's no reason to hide."

"Exactly!" Morgan exclaimed as she hugged her sister.

Minutes later Lux was saying good night to Morgan as she closed her door, this time locking it. Heading over to her window she opened it and stepped out onto the ledge. In her opinion, the night was still young and she had no intention of sleeping it away. Summoning her flames she let them control her as she jumped from the window and soared into the air. She flew over the entire neighborhood, watching it. It was then she wondered if this is how Virgil felt when he was on patrols, like he was the only one who could protect this place from pain and despair.

She left the area where she lived, flying over downtown. There seemed to be no trouble tonight. I guess even bang babies take breaks? She mused to herself. Landing on a fire escape she looked down at people walking in and out of nightclubs. Some were drunk and other completely sober. She never understood the human need to drink, not when she knew alcohol had lethal effects after awhile. So why drink at all?

"Lux?" She heard above her and looked up to see Virgil aka Static looking down at her.

"Hey Vir…Static, how's it hanging?" She asked nonchalantly.

"It's pretty quiet tonight; I thought you guys went home." He landed beside her.

"We did but I don't sleep, and I can't sit still. So I decided to get familiar with Dakota since we'll be here for awhile." Lux told him.

He nodded, "Well at least you can protect yourself, so I've got no reason to worry."

"You got that right Static Cling." Lux smirked before leaping off the fire escape to the ground below. Static just shook his head before he took off to finish his patrol.

Lux wondered past closed shops and restaurants. It was quiet and that both soothed and unnerved her. Looking at her cell phone, which she had brought with her just in case, she saw she had been out for at least two hours. Frowning she looked up at the stars, wondering why off all the places in the world she had to be stuck in, she was in Dakota. Actually, I hate to be stuck anywhere. She mused; I'd rather go wherever the wind takes me. Even if that is a little cliché, it's what I want.

Somewhere far away she heard a clock strike midnight and she decided to head somewhere different. Downtown was beginning to bore her. Somewhere nearby she had the sound of glass breaking and an alarm going off. It's no wonder the crime rate was still going up despite Static around. The electric boy wonder had a curfew. Lux smirked, but she didn't. Heading down an alleyway she encountered three crooks. All were human so she didn't really need to use her powers to take care of them. Five minutes later, after taking them by surprise, she had the three tied up and unconscious with the police on their way. She got away as quickly as she could and headed to the park that was nearby.

She strolled down the paved paths until she reached a giant oak tree. Having nothing better to do, she climbed to the very top of the tree and made herself comfortable. She had a far view of the city below her and she watched it. It was silent as though all life had vanished. And yet there were still sounds. The farthest sound she could hear was a television set. The closest sound she could hear was…fire?

Lux looked down, and indeed, the giant oak tree had caught fire. Panicking she slid down and jumped from the tree. The fire wasn't white, so it wasn't hers. Quickly she put it out before any major could be caused. Looking around she located the arsonist standing a few feet away, setting another alight.

"Hey!" She called out.

The vandal turned around and Lux was somewhat surprised to be standing face to face with Hotstreak again, after she had fought him earlier.

"Well, what do we have here? You're the bitch that almost got me arrested." Hotstreak spat.

"And you're the asshole who decided to terrorize students, which is why you were almost arrested. I wish the police had finished the job." Lux snapped back.

"Well they didn't, so what are you going to do about it?" Hotstreak smirked, his body becoming ablaze.

"Oh, you'll see." Lux replied, her hands began to smoke.

And Hotstreak charged at her.

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That's a horrid place to leave it but I like cliffhangers. They make you want to read more. Okay, so review and tell me what you think!

Later.