Disclaimer: I do not own Static Shock or The Incredibles
Chapter Sixteen: Blood
With the holidays over, the residents of the Sanctum went back to their everyday lives. The kids resumed school and all that came with it, including massive amounts of homework.
"This doesn't seem fair." Francis complained, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "This thing weighs ten pounds more than it should because of all the books."
Virgil grimaced. "Yeah? Imagine how I feel. I'm in all the advanced courses; we get more homework than you do normally. My back's killing me."
"Oh relax, you two." Violet walked up to them. The teachers always load up before finals. You should be used to it."
"Where've you been?" Francis demanded, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "School got out like, an hour ago. I've been waiting."
Violet blushed. "Sorry, there was something I had to do."
"What?" Virgil asked.
"Nothing. We should get going, the weather guy said it was going to snow later." Violet hurried off towards the parking lot.
Francis and Virgil both looked up at the gray sky. Snow did seem likely.
"Good luck flying in that." Francis smirked and waved over his shoulder as he turned away.
Virgil frowned. "Gee thanks."
Francis trotted to catch up to Violet. She was walking swiftly towards the motorcycle with her books clutched to her chest, her head down and her black hair whipping around her face in the cold wind.
"You okay?" Francis asked when he got closer.
Violet nodded hurriedly. "Of course. Just got a lot on my mind."
Francis didn't quite buy that but he didn't know how to pry further so he let it go. "Whatever." He shrugged.
Bob dropped a load of books down onto the counter in front of Francis. The pyro looked up from his Auto magazine and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"Your next step in training." Bob said proudly, fanning the books across the counter and swiping the magazine away.
Francis frowned and looked at the covers. Sociology, Criminology, Computer Programming, Aviation, Conflict Resolution, Philosophy, International Affairs, the list went on and on. All the books were thick and academic looking. "What, did you hold up a junior college?" Francis scoffed.
"Ha ha." Bob replied humorlessly. He tapped the sociology book with one finger. "All of these books contain information it is crucial to know as a super hero. We're not all just muscle you know."
Francis looked skeptical. He picked up the Aviation book. "Why do I need to know this?"
"That's just the basic training information. Once you've mastered that, we'll take you up in the sky for some hands-on experience."
Francis' jaw dropped. "You're gonna teach me how to fly a plane?"
"Not for a good long while." Bob explained. "You will study these books in addition to your school work. Every few weeks you will be quizzed on the information. If you don't pass, you take it again until you have it memorized."
"Wait, hold on." Francis said. "I can barely keep up with my regular school stuff now. How am I supposed to do this too?"
Bob shrugged. "You'll figure it out. Violet and Virgil have been doing it for years now. Even Dash cracks open an Urban Studies book every now and again."
Francis still looked a bit blind-sided. Bob reached over the counter and handed the teen his magazine back. "Relax, you're not being graded. We're not going to hold you back if you fail a couple times. Think of this as supplemental."
Bob gave Francis a reassuring smile and left the kitchen. Francis leveled a glare at the books. "All I want to do is punch some guys, light some shit on fire. Not read about…" Francis grabbed one of the books and flipped it open to a random page. "…ethnocentrism. What the hell is that?"
Francis was again waiting around outside the school for Violet, who was running late again. He frowned at the doorway. Where was she? It was cold and he wasn't a patient person.
"Hey dude." Richie held out a fist for Francis to pound.
"Hey." Francis returned the greeting. "What's up?"
"Me and Virgil were going to go down the music store, wanna come?" Richie asked, shoving his hands back into his sweatshirt pocket.
Francis looked back at the doors. "One sec."
He pulled out his cell phone and sent a text to Violet.
Where the hell r u?
The reply was quick.
Talking 2 a teacher about something. It'll be a while.
Francis typed a message back.
Im going 2 the music store w/ R n V, meet me there
Ok
Francis pocketed his phone and smiled at Richie. "Sure, let's go."
The two set off down the sidewalk into the center of Dakota's downtown area. Despite it being the middle of the day, there weren't very many people out. The frigid weather was driving them all inside.
There was a music store that was popular with the high school crowd that always got pretty packed after school. Virgil waved to them from the back of the store where he was sampling a hip-hop album.
Virgil held the headphones out to Richie who put them on and began nodding to the beat. He smiled. "You do not lie dude. This is a great song."
"Told ya." Virgil grinned. He nodded at Francis. "Hey."
"What're you guys listening to?" Francis asked.
"A new artist, his name is Ice Pack." Virgil explained. "The lyrics aren't very good, but the beat is sick."
Richie nodded his approval, still engrossed in the song.
Francis started flipping through some CDs, just browsing. Suddenly, he was shoved hard from behind. He crashed into the CD shelves and several clattered to the floor. Francis spun around in a fury and was greeted by Wade's grinning face.
Francis groaned. "Not you."
"Yeah me. Didja miss me?" Wade had several of his goons behind him.
"Not even a little." Francis deadpanned. "What do you want?" He felt Virgil and Richie shift beside him, ready to back him up if necessary. People in the store began to take notice and move away.
"Just wanna catch up is all." Wade said innocently. "I hear you and little Miss Uptight got it on over break."
Francis scowled, his fists clenching at his sides. "Shut up."
"Oooh, so you did. Didja show her a good time? Pull that stick outta her ass?" Wade leaned in closer, a grin lighting up his face. "I gotta know, does the carpet match the curtains?"
Francis punched Wade so hard he almost knocked himself over.
The other teen's head flew back with a crack. His crew had to catch him from falling over.
Virgil put a restraining hand on Francis' arm. "Relax. Let's get out of here." He tried to pull Francis away but the older boy didn't budge. He was still glaring at Wade, practically trembling with rage.
"Don't you dare fucking talk about Frieda like that." Francis growled.
Wade straightened himself up, wiping the trickle of blood away from the corner of his mouth. "Or what? You throw a pansy-ass punch." That was a lie and they both knew it. Another punch like that one and Wade would be passed out on the floor. Francis had done it before.
"Hey! You boys! Get out of my store if you want to fight." The man behind the cash register shouted at them. "You're driving all my customers away. Go on, get out."
"Sounds good to me." Francis said.
"Me too." Wade agreed.
They walked out of the store. Wade led them to an alley a few streets away. One of his guys stayed at the entrance to the alley, acting as a look out in case a cop happened to walk by.
Richie and Virgil stood awkwardly behind Francis, not sure what to do or what was happening. Wade had considerably more guys behind him.
Francis frowned. "This is one of the reasons why I miss having my own crew. I was never outnumbered."
"So let's make it fair." Wade offered. "Just you and me Francis."
"Fine."
"Francis, you can't fight." Virgil reminded the other Super.
"Shut up Virgil." Francis knew he was breaking a house rule, but he couldn't let Wade get away with insulting Frieda like that. Plus, if he backed off now, he'd lose any shred of respect anybody in Dakota had for him. That was not acceptable. If Wade wanted a fight so bad, he was going to get one.
"Rules?" Francis asked.
"Let's make it interesting." Wade grinned. "First blood."
Francis nodded. "Fine by me."
"First blood?" Richie whispered to Virgil on confusion.
"Two minutes." Wade said and then turned to his crew to talk strategy.
Francis turned to face Virgil and Richie, stretching his arms and neck.
"What's first blood?" Virgil asked. There was concern in his voice.
"Whoever bleeds first loses." Francis said succinctly. He took his jacket off and handed it to Richie, leaving him in a t-shirt and jeans. He jumped up and down a few times to warm up.
"This is an awful idea." Virgil said.
"If you guys get caught, you'll get arrested." Richie warned.
"I know." Francis said. "But I gotta."
Virgil nodded. "Then at least kick his ass."
Francis grinned. "Sure thing."
"You ready Francis?" Wade asked.
Francis turned around to face his foe. Every time Wade said his name, it sounded like an insult. It pissed Francis off. "Yeah."
"Ring the bell." Wade smirked.
"Ding ding." Francis muttered. They circled each other warily, scouting out the other's offense.
The spectators watched anxiously, occasionally throwing in a cheer for whomever they were supporting.
Francis lunged first, landing a quick uppercut to Wade's chin. The bigger teen was knocked off balance but came back with a clubbing blow that was surprisingly speedy. It caught Francis in the shoulder and he lurched sideways, ducking away from the follow up punch.
Francis landed a few body shots before backing off and going on the defensive. Wade was throwing punch after punch at Francis' face and he had to cover up or block most of them. A punch to the nose and the fight was over.
Wade huffed in rage and shoved Francis backwards into his crew. They grabbed at Francis and attacked. One kicked him in between the legs while the others hammered at his back and neck. Virgil and Richie shouted protests but were held back. Francis tried to pull away but then they shoved him forward into a straight right from Wade.
Francis dropped to the ground, feeling his face for blood. Luckily it had connected with his eye, no blood. There was a dull throb from between his legs and Francis winced before sitting up. Those bastards like to fight dirty.
Wade was standing over him, chuckling softly. "Oops, I thought I told them to stay outta this."
"How about that." Francis muttered, standing up slowly. "You oughta train 'em better."
There were some outraged shouts from behind him, which Francis ignored. Wade's eyes flashed dangerously. "You just don't know when to keep your mouth shut do you?"
"Guess not." Francis agreed. He leapt forward and caught Wade across the face with a punch.
Wade staggered backwards. No blood. Francis growled and attacked again, sweeping Wade's feet out from under him. The large teen went down to the pavement with a thud. Before he could sit up, Francis stomped on his face.
Wade howled and put his hands over his face, curling up in pain.
Francis backed off, glancing anxiously at the gang to see if they would attack in retaliation.
Wade finally sat up, and yes, there was blood. Lot's of it. Wade was bleeding from the nose and from the mouth. Francis might have knocked a few teeth out.
Wade was furious, he sputtered a string of nonsensical swear words at Francis through the blood before lunging for a glass beer bottle lying on the ground beside him. He grasped it by the neck and smashed the end against the pavement. The bottom broke off, leaving a jagged ring of glass.
Francis' eyes widened as he realized what Wade was going to do. He might have lost the fight, but he was going to make sure Francis wound up bleeding too.
Someone grabbed him from behind and Francis threw an elbow back, satisfied when he felt bone crack against bone. Those few seconds of distraction allowed Wade to get to his feet and charge at Francis. The heavyset teen easily knocked Francis to the ground and he jerked the jagged bottle at Francis' face.
Francis ducked to the left but he felt the cold slice of the glass cut through the skin on the side of his head. Wade reared back to strike again but suddenly Virgil was there, wrapping both of his arms around Wade's, holding him back.
It would have escalated into a full-on brawl if the look out hadn't come tearing up the alley screaming, "Cops!"
Wade's crew scattered, leaving their wounded leader behind. Richie pulled Virgil away and they ran, thinking Francis would be right behind them.
Wade jumped off of Francis and tried to run away but a herd of police officers came charging down the alley and in a moment, Wade was on his stomach, hands being cuffed behind him.
One of the officers knelt next to Francis and pulled him up, shoving the pyro up against a wall. Francis' arms were pulled behind him and handcuffs were clapped over his wrists. Francis leant his head against the cool of the wall and tuned out the officer rambling off the Miranda Rights.
Francis was sitting in the Dakota Police Station, handcuffed to a chair, waiting for the Parrs to show up. His head and back hurt. One of the cops had handed him a towel to mop up the blood when they'd first arrived and Francis was holding the cloth over his temple with his free hand, trying not to notice the trickles of blood that slipped down his hand and slid all the way down his arm.
Wade had been released on bail already. One of his goons had arrived with a wad of cash shortly after they had been booked.
Francis leaned back in the chair and let out a sigh. He stretched his legs in front of him. At least Richie and Virgil had gotten away. Francis didn't want them to get in trouble. They hadn't even done anything.
Making the call to the Parrs had probably been the worst thing he'd ever had to do. Helen had cried, Bob had cursed. He was in some serious trouble. Not to mention, he'd left Violet at school without a ride. He'd have to apologize for that later too.
"Hi, we're here for Francis Stone."
Francis looked up. Helen and Bob were at the desk. The cop there rifled through some papers before finding the right one.
"You're his legal guardians?"
"Yes." Bob answered.
The cop jotted their names down and looked at Bob's driver's license for confirmation. "Since he's a minor he'll be released into your custody. No charges are being pressed although this will go into his official file."
"We understand." Bob said shortly.
"Then sign here." Papers were passed around and signed.
An officer came and uncuffed Francis before leading him out into the lobby where Bob and Helen were waiting. His wallet and phone were given back to him. They said he could keep the towel. He kept it pressed against his head.
Francis trudged up to Bob and Helen, waiting for the yelling to begin. They hardly looked at him. "Let's go." Bob said gruffly.
Francis followed them to the car. Violet was sitting in the back. She looked at him anxiously when he slouched into the seat next to her.
The drive back to Metroville was silent. Francis almost wished there had been yelling.
"I'll call Doc." Helen said when they pulled into the driveway. "He needs stitches."
Bob nodded and motioned for Francis to follow him.
Bob had Francis sit on the edge of the bathtub while he looked at the cut. It was deep and long. The cut started near his eye and ended under his ear. It had scabbed over by then so Bob took a wet washcloth and dabbed at it to clean it up a little for Doc so he could stitch the skin together.
While Bob tended to the cut, Francis washed his hands and arms of blood and dirt.
After a few tense minutes, Bob sat back on his haunches and looked at Francis. "You do know you're grounded for forever, right?"
"I sorta figured." Francis muttered.
"At least tell me you had a good reason for getting into a fight and being arrested?"
"Actually, yeah." Francis said.
"Did you win?"
"Sort of."
"Doc's on his way." Helen said, leaning against the doorframe.
"Good." Bob got to his feet. "That's a nasty cut. How'd you get it?"
"Bottle." Francis said.
Bob and Helen both winced.
Helen went to the medicine cabinet and found a bottle of aspirin. She tapped two out and filled a glass of water, then handed Francis all three. He swallowed the pills gratefully.
"Are you truly okay?" She asked with worry.
"Yeah." Francis said.
"Good." She slapped him on the chest. "Don't you ever do anything so stupid ever again. Do you understand?"
Francis nodded hurriedly. "Yes Ma'am."
"You know, I was going to be mad at you for ditching me." Violet plopped onto the couch next to Francis. "But I don't think that's even still relevant at this point."
"Ha ha." Francis muttered. He was resting his newly stitched head on his fist, staring stonily at the TV. He'd expected yelling or threats of calling Dicker. Instead, the Parrs just told him they were disappointed in him and grounded him. Turns out, disappointment is worse than yelling. It made Francis feel ten times worse.
"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Violet asked.
Francis shifted and propped his feet up on the coffee table. "I'm sure Virgil will fill you in."
"Virgil was there?" Violet asked in confusion.
"Yeah, but don't tell the adults. He didn't do anything. No point in getting in trouble for nothing."
Violet nodded. "I gotcha. No worries." She reached over and traced the edge of the white bandage Doc had taped over the stitches. "Does you're head hurt?"
Francis shrugged. "Not really. Took some meds."
Violet tapped under her own cheek. "That's pretty."
Francis knew the bruise under his eye was getting more colorful by the minute. "You should see the other guy."
Violet laughed. "Well, I'm glad you're okay. Is there ever a time when you're not bruised and bleeding? You seem to be in a perpetual state of injury."
"I've noticed." Francis grinned. He finally looked over at Violet. "So what have you been doing after school the last couple of days?"
"Wha…huh?" Violet startled and affixed her gaze on the TV. "I told you, I was seeing some teachers about extra credit."
"And I call bullshit." Francis said bluntly. His grin widened when he noticed a faint blush creep over Violet's face. "Out with it."
Violet looked over her shoulder to make sure no one else was within earshot. "You have to promise not to tell anyone."
Francis lost the grin. Violet was serious. "Okay."
"I…" Violet chuckled humorlessly. "It's probably stupid."
"C'mon, tell me." Francis prodded.
"Itriedoutfortheschoolplay." Violet said in a rush. She ducked her head in embarrassment.
Francis' brow furrowed and he tried to comprehend what Violet had just said. "You…oh." He looked at Violet and burst into laughter.
"I knew you'd laugh. It's stupid. I don't know what I was thinking." Violet got up and started to walk away.
Francis caught her wrist. "I wasn't laughing at you."
"Huh?"
"I was laughing 'cause it's stupid how nervous you are. You'd be really good at that kind of thing." Francis explained.
Violet tucked a strand of hair behind her ear nervously. "You think so?"
"Yeah." Francis said. "So did you get the part?"
Violet sat back down. "I don't know yet. Tryouts were this week and I got a callback but I won't know if I got the part until next week."
"What's the play?" Francis asked.
"Hamlet." Violet said. "I tried out for Ophelia."
"I have no idea who that is." Francis said. "But that's Shakespeare right?"
Violet nodded.
Francis whistled softly in admiration. "Good luck with that."
"Thanks, but you know it's bad luck to say good luck." Violet said with a smile.
"Yeah? What am I supposed to say?"
"Break a leg."
Francis frowned in confusion. "I don't get it, but okay. Break a leg."
"Thanks." Violet grinned at him. "Really."
Francis shrugged. "No problem."
Author's Note:
Wow, it's been a long time since I updated. My bad. No bonus points for finding the Rocky reference, although it made me giggle writing it. I got the first blood idea from the WWE. Yeah, it's good for something. That whole extra reading for training thing I thought of a long time ago. I was sitting in Sociology and I thought, I bet superheroes would find this stuff useful. So there. They do. I'd like to promise the next chapter won't take as long to get up but I can't. I'm distracted by Glee returning tonight. It rules my life.
PLEASE REVIEW!
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