Hey guys, I haven't updated in a while and that's kind of lame of me. So I apologize for my lameness.
But thank you for the reviews, you're all too kind :)
"We can dance in your bedroom with no romance, I got time just to waste if you would be my new escape."-Do It Alone, Sugarcult
"Well Ebon our little friend Richie Foley was quite busy yesterday. He spent most his time with this blond girl Eleanor Covelli." Talon pointed to a screen where a video tape showed Richie and Ellie walking down the street together, "They spent most their time going into all different kinds of bars, kinda seemed like they were looking for someone. They met up with another guy a few times, his name is Virgil Hawkins." Talon explained pointing to the screen again as it showed Virgil walking into Burger Fool. "Looks like Static don't he? And the girl looks like she could be Velocity. They've both got the right hair, the right build and the wrong friends." Talon said with an evil smirk, hoping that Ebon was pleased.
"Not bad, Talon. Not bad at all." Ebon stood up, "I want you to try and dig a little deeper, I want to be as sure as sure can be, before we pull this off. Because odds are we might end up in jail afterwards, and I'm not going back to jail without giving Static and Velocity what they deserve." Ebon stated. Talon's lips moved to one side and she took flight. She soared through the skies and headed for the last place she had seen Richie enter before she went to go get sleep.
Unlike the last time the two had fallen asleep together, Ellie was the first one to wake up. She rolled off the bed as stealthy as she could manage so she didn't wake Richie up. Although there wasn't a need to use so much effort, the blond boy was sleeping like a rock. She exited Candyland and decided to start getting ready for the day. The house was silent and empty at this time in the morning. Peter usually slept in and Malcolm worked the night shift so the mornings were usually quiet until her father returned. Ellie was used to being the first one up and the last one down, so the silence was very normal to her.
After a pleasant shower, Ellie threw on a T-shirt and jeans. She watched some television until it was around nine, when she decided to start heading down into the kitchen to make some breakfast. She stopped at the doorframe when she caught sight of her brother. He didn't really notice her, he seemed to be in a hurry as he threw some Eggos in the toaster and impatiently scurried around the kitchen. Ellie hadn't talked to him since before the meeting, and he didn't know that she knew he was an alcoholic. This caused Ellie to feel a little uneasy as she slowly walked into the kitchen where her brother was bustling around. He grabbed the coffee mug and took a quick sip.
"Ellie, do you know when dad is getting back?" Peter quickly asked.
"Not until 11." Ellie answered quietly. She was still cautious of her brother, so she tip toed around him like he was made of glass. He was unaware of his sister's strange behavior and began to frantically try and fix his appearance.
"UGH! I needed him to fix my tie! What am I supposed to do now?" Peter sighed. Ellie put her hands on his shoulders.
"You should relax." Ellie said, she moved her fingers across the fabric of the tie as she expertly maneuvered it into a Windsor knot. She tightened it so he could still breathe but still high enough to make a good impression. She patted it down and then she adjusted his jacket so it was straight. Peter looked down curiously and finally realized she was definitely more quiet than usual.
"Are you okay?" Peter asked. Ellie nodded and smiled very softly.
"Pete, you know I love you, right?" Ellie looked down at the floor for a moment and added, "You know that even though I give you crap about college and stuff, I still love you... right?"
"Yeah… I love you too…" Peter asked, "You're not planning on committing suicide are you?" he joked.
"No... I just love you, you're a great brother." Ellie looked up from the blue tile kitchen floor and asked. "How are you feeling about a brother sister hug transaction right about now?"
Peter gave a small half amused half confused laugh and gave her a weird look before saying, "Yeah, I'm receptive to it, I guess." The second the words left his lips Ellie trapped him in a tight hug. Peter looked down at the top of his sister's head which barely reached his shoulders, and he gingerly returned the hug. "Man, something really is wrong, isn't it?" Peter asked. Ellie shook her head.
"It's nothing for you to worry about it," Ellie gave him a small kiss before retreating to the cabinets to pull out pancake mix. Peter wasn't falling for his sister's excuse and he circled her suspiciously.
"What happened with your friends last night? I thought you were going to be using the living room." Peter asked as Ellie began to cut up some fresh fruit for the pancakes.
"Nothing happened, we just went out instead." Ellie stated.
"Hmmm..." Peter hummed as he sat up on the counter he continued with his bird like stare.
"What's "hmmm" supposed to mean?" Ellie asked.
"Nothing I guess…" Peter sighed looking up at the ceiling in attempt to build up Ellie's curiosity.
"What are you getting at? Just come out and say it." His sister challenged. Peter drummed his fingers and gave a small smirk.
"Well it's just you're acting a little differently… like quiet, but content. And sometimes people can act like that after they've had a good night…" Peter shrugged. Ellie scoffed as her jaw dropped.
"Get you're mind out of the gutter perv, nothing happened." Ellie waved her finger at him, "Sheesh… you're something Pete. I can't even say something nice without being accused of getting laid." Ellie shook her head, Peter chuckled.
"Okay fine, you'll get away with it this time. Even though I bet the neighbor boy is still upstairs hiding in your room." Peter joked.
"Oh no, that's way too cliché, I hid him in Candyland." Ellie grinned. Peter just rolled his eyes.
"The lame finished basement you call your lair? How romantic." He said
"Hey, it's my hardcore lair. Get it right." Ellie scoffed.
"Haha whatever you say. I have to get to this job interview." Peter stated, "I'll talk to you later." He said as he rushed out the kitchen.
"Good luck." Ellie called after him. Once she finished with the strawberry banana pancakes and bacon she left two plates on the kitchen table and pranced down to the basement to go and wake up Richie. He was still passed out, but he had rolled over on his side in his sleep. Ellie grinned as she sat down on the bed next to him.
"Good morning sunshine! The Earth says hello!" Ellie rubbed Richie's shoulder and he startled awake. He looked up and around at the unfamiliar setting and remembered he had spent the night in Candyland last night. He looked up at Ellie, she gave him a small smile as he yawned and covered his eyes from the small amount of light that managed to leak into the basement.
"What time is it?" Richie asked tiredly.
"It's 9:30." She informed him.
"9:30? Man, when did you wake up?"
"5:00."
"5:00?! Are you insane?"
"I have an internal alarm clock." Ellie shrugged, "I made some breakfast. So you need to come eat before it gets cold." She ordered.
"Okay I'll probably get dressed first though." Richie agreed as he kicked off the blanket and sat up. He reached into his bag and pulled out the two things he had packed. Richie tugged on his khakis over the red plaid boxers he had slept in. When he looked up he saw Ellie stare for a moment before looking away quickly. Richie could swear he saw a bit of pink enter her cheeks. He pulled on his hoodie over his white undershirt and when his head poked out, Ellie had returned to normal.
"Hope you like strawberry banana pancakes!" she declared as she led him out of Candyland and up the stairs.
"Um… sure I guess." Richie said, truthfully he had never had these pancakes before, but it sounded unique.
"Great, why don't you call Virgil and get him over here? I made extra." Ellie informed him.
"Yeah, okay." Richie said as he pulled the Shock Vox out of his pocket, "Richie to Virgil, come in." he said. Ellie giggled and Richie paused to see the blond girl with her lips rolled in and curved into a slight smile, "Something funny?" Richie had to ask.
"It's nothing." She said, but then she failed to repress her laughter and she let out a tiny laugh, "It's just really cute when you guys talk 'radio' with each other."
"O-kay," Richie shrugged and resumed his attempt to contact Virgil, "Hey Virgil it's Richie are you awake yet?"
"Oh no, no, no, no I didn't mean to cramp your style, you can go back to your radio jargon." Ellie insisted as she took a bite of pancake, the grin remaining on her face. Richie rolled his eyes and tried a bite of his own pancake. It was a different taste, but it wasn't bad. He decided he liked it. Halfway through their breakfast together Virgil contacted them and they decided to meet at the Abandoned Gas Station of Solitude. But Ellie insisted on doing the dishes first to lighten her father's work load. So they eventually exited the house, blissfully unaware of Talon perched on a near by roof and watching them with a video camera. She flew overhead, but she tried to keep to the shadows so she wouldn't draw attention to herself. Richie and Ellie ended up at the Abandoned Gas Station of Solitude around 10:30. Virgil was on the couch with his mask off as he sipped a soda while he waited for them.
"Okay, for the record I think we'll have to do all future business dealings in Candyland because I was not kidding when I said this place smelled bad." Ellie informed them.
"Oh leave it alone, do you have any idea how difficult it was to find a place for our headquarters?" Virgil asked.
"What's the matter? Couldn't build a tree house?" Ellie mocked.
"Okay children, let's mature a little bit so we can formulate a plan." Richie requested.
"I thought our plan was to find Hotstreak." Ellie asked as she took a seat next to Virgil on the sofa.
"Well the thing about Hotstreak is; he's a felon the run, and if he doesn't wanna be found he won't be." Richie informed her.
"Okay what's Plan B?" Ellie asked. Virgil and Richie looked at each other and then back to Ellie before shrugging. "We really don't have a Plan B? Come on guys, even villains come up with a Plan B."
"Well why don't you come up with a plan for a change?" Virgil asked.
"Why don't you come up with a decent comeback instead of just changing the subject for a change?" Ellie snapped. Richie sighed and pinched the bone between his eyes, the two heroes were backtracking rather than moving their friendship forward.
"Guys, can't we all just…?" Richie started.
"You are so annoying! Even your costume is loud and obnoxious!"
"What's wrong with my costume?! Yours is the one that's all mellow and depressing, kinda like your personality."
"I am not mellow and depressing! You're just overly perky and…"
"That's it!" Richie declared as he stood up, both Ellie and Virgil silenced and stared at the fuming blond boy, "I'm done playing mediator with you two! You're at each other's throats constantly and I can't take it anymore. Work together or work apart, I'm going to get a milkshake, make your decision before I get back." He ordered as he grabbed his coat and walked out of The Abandoned Gas Station of Solitude. Ellie and Virgil both stared at the door, slightly awed at the out of character frustration displayed from Richie. But after a few moments their eyes met the floor and they both kept their arms crossed. The silence lasted for a minute before Ellie couldn't take it anymore.
"I'm sorry I made fun of your headquarters." Ellie eventually blurted out. Virgil paused for a moment, not ready to apologize, but then he ultimately gave up.
"I'm sorry I called you annoying." Virgil sighed.
"I'm sorry I called you a feminine egocentric nark."
"…when did you call me that?"
"It was behind your back, but I'm sorry anyway." Ellie admitted quietly.
"I guess it's okay." Virgil shrugged.
"We've kinda been acting silly, I mean we don't have to be best friends but we don't have to hate each other either."
"Yeah, and I mean we're near adulthood, if we can't fake a smile and be pleasant with someone, then we'll never make it in the cooperate world."
"Well said." Ellie extended a hand, "Truce?"
"Truce." Virgil gave in with a small smile and took her hand.
"Well at least your man lover will be happy now…"
"My man lover? How can you say that when he's clearly your meat puppet."
"Oh, I get why you've been all standoffish, I infiltrated your territory and I pose a threat to you. When Blondie went on his PMS rampage, he didn't even take your side. But you don't have to worry, I'm not after your man."
"You couldn't have him if you tried girlfriend." Virgil snapped his fingers in a mocking way. Ellie giggled and a smile remained on her face, before getting slightly serious.
"So, what are we going to do about Ebon? I feel uneasy about this whole mess." Ellie asked. Virgil frowned.
"I don't know, they're all laying low, I mean there's been no meta-human action on the news since yesterday."
"Well maybe if we both lay low, we can lull them into a false sense of security and they'll come on out."
"Or we could go out looking for them, there are a million places we haven't looked. They're fond of rundown juvenile halls."
"Whaddaya think they're planning?" Ellie mused out loud, "I mean from what I've seen, they're like me, they have too much pent up energy to stay put and hide. What could be worth that kind of agonizing torture?"
"Most likely the destruction of Static and Velocity." Virgil said. They both sighed.
"We're back to square one, you realize that right?" Ellie asked as she paced the room.
"We never checked the south side, we can start there…" Virgil suggested. But the sound of the door hitting the wall made them both jump and stare at the door. Richie ran in panting.
"What happened?! Are you being chased?" Ellie gasped. He shook his head as he tried to catch his breath.
"Is it Ebon?" Virgil questioned. Richie shook his head again.
"Just… saw… Hotstreak… ran back… as fast… as I could." Richie said in between breaths.
"Great! Where is he?!"
"Follow me!" Richie said and resumed a jog and turned around so the others could follow him. They had ran a few blocks before reaching the alleyway Richie had seen Hotstreak in. The door had a giant melted hole and the three teens stepped into the dark warehouse. It was completely empty.
"He can't have gotten too far. I'll go see if I can catch him." Ellie said, speeding away and leaving the two boys alone in the warehouse. Richie looked around curiously, and found something in the corner of his eye. He went over and picked up what appeared to be a red stick off the dusty warehouse floor.
"Hey V, check this." Richie tossed him the red cylinder. Virgil inspected thoroughly and found a long wick.
"Dynamite? Hotstreak stole an entire warehouse filled with dynamite?" Virgil said.
"Well that doesn't spell out trouble or anything…" Richie said sarcastically.
"I don't like the looks of this." Virgil sighed as his back slid down against the wall and he sat down. He agreed with Ellie, this whole situation made him feel uneasy too. The time when Ebon had used Richie to try and get to Static had made him worried and even partially guilty, that his friend had been put in that kind of danger. He looked over at Richie, and wished that his friend had a mask to hide behind. This was a mess. Ellie sped in and pressed a hand against the wall to hold herself up. She panted.
"No…sign…of him…" she said in syllables through her panting breath. Richie looked at her curiously.
"You're actually tired? I thought running was cake for you." Richie asked.
"Well… I just searched… down every alley… every nook and cranny… within a 200 mile radius of here… kind of exhausting…" Ellie panted, "Even for me."
"I see… well he cleaned out this entire place." Richie's arms flapped to his sides frustrated.
"What'd he take?" Ellie breathed.
"Dynamite… and lot's of it." Virgil answered.
"Yeah, well there's no way he did this whole thing by himself and that only confirms that he's working with Ebon." Richie responded.
"Talk about a dream team." Ellie let out a loud groan. A loud buzzing interrupted their conversation and Virgil pulled a small metallic device. He pressed a button and sighed.
"My pops just paged me, he needs me at the center, you guys gonna come with?" Virgil asked.
"Wait, you guys…? Does that mean that you two are-" Richie started with a wide grin on his face.
"Playing nice for the sake of Dakota and Richard Foley's sanity? Yes we are." Ellie finished for him, "And thanks but no thanks, I'm gonna go patrol for a while."
"You're cool to go out by yourself? I mean Hotstreak's armed with dynamite…" Richie said.
"Oh don't worry, I can do it alone. I'm used to it. I'll call you guys if I find anything. Later." She stated and a gust of wind chilled the two boys as she ran passed them.
"Are you guys really playing nice?" Richie turned and asked suspiciously with an eyebrow.
"You make it sound like I've never compromised before." he rolled his eyes, Richie's eyebrow remained perched and Virgil shrugged, "Well there's a first time for everything."
Ellie tugged off her mask as she exhaustedly trudged into her home. She was sickened to discover that the spandex was clinging to her skin due to the amount of sweat. She never sweat! She hated this whole ordeal and wished she could just solve it already. Ellie collapsed on the stairs, so she was sprawled out. Her knees curled up and she considered taking a nap right then and there until Peter crept over.
"Ellie!" Peter hissed.
"Oh not now Pete, I'm not in the mood to fight with you." Ellie sighed as she sat up on her stair.
"Well get in the mood!" Peter held out the brown bag Richie had packed the night before, "I totally thought you were kidding and then I found this in the basement!" Peter stated, Ellie reached out to take it from him, but he held it out of her reach.
"What we're you doing in Candyland to begin with?" Ellie asked irritably.
"I thought you might be down there. But more importantly what was neighbor boy doing down there?!" Peter asked.
"Look it's not what you're thinking, and give that back." Ellie reached for the bag but Peter held it too high.
"No way! What's stopping me from showing this to dad?" Peter asked.
"The fact that I'm innocent." Ellie stated, "And what makes you think it was Richie anyway?"
"Well besides the fact it contains one of those green hoodies he's so damn fond of, it's so painfully obvious you like the kid."
"Oh shut up Pete, you don't know anything about this situation, so don't assume you do!" Ellie growled.
"Oh please, like I don't know anything about being a hormonal teenager."
"Look, I was protecting him!"
"Well as glad as I am to hear you use condoms, that's really not the…"
"No not like that! I meant…" Ellie let out a frustrated sigh, "He knows I'm Velocity."
"He knows what?!" Peter shouted, "Are you insane woman? You've known the kid for like a week!"
"Well ya know the week ended so I couldn't decide whether or not I should jump into bed with him or tell him I'm a superhero." Ellie said in mocking manner before getting serious, "Are you kidding me Pete? I had no choice! I told him because I had to. You know that shadowy meta-human creep?"
"Yeah, Ebon or something like that."
"Right. Well Ebon is after him. Apparently he spends too much time with superheroes and that makes him look suspicious. His parents are away and I was sure as hell not about to let him spend the night alone. So nothing happened between us, okay? It was strictly business." Ellie said.
"And how do I know you're not lying?"
"Oh please when do I ever lie?"
"Uh… this morning!" Peter bellowed.
"No, I clearly said I was hiding him in Candyland, you need to pay closer attention."
"Okay, but if you're intentions were so noble then why bother hiding him?" Peter asked.
"Because Richie's parents would go through the wall if they found out. I wasn't really hiding it from you guys, we we're hiding it from them and in order to do that, I couldn't tell you." Ellie said. Peter growled in aggravation.
"Why do you have to be such a smooth talker? I totally convinced myself you weren't going to get away with this one and now after one conversation with you, I actually believe you."
"No, you believe me because I'm telling the truth. Now fork over the bag." Ellie ordered. Peter just let his face fall into an annoyed expression and he tossed the bag into her awaiting hands. She then threw the bag over one shoulder to hold it in place as she laid back down on the stairs. "I'm glad we had this talk and our trust is reestablished, so now leave me be child." Ellie said as she closed her eyes.
"Are you okay?" Peter asked as he realized that she was about to take a nap right on the stairs.
"I'm tired." She responded wearily.
"But you're never tired." Peter said.
"I spent all day running around the city looking under stones for that Ebon creep and I got nothing to show for it…" Ellie sighed.
"Hmmm…" Peter said while rubbing his chin. Ellie groaned and opened her eyes.
"What's your "hmmm" mean now?" Ellie asked.
"Nothing I guess." He said his eyes darting to the ceiling.
"Must we go through this again? Just tell me what you're thinking." Ellie asked.
"It just seems like your doing a lot to help this Richie character…" Peter shrugged.
"Is this the part where you accuse me of having sex with him?"
"Nope. I'm just thinkin' that maybe you might be falling in l-"
"Don't you dare say the "L" word." Ellie immediately interrupted him.
"Okay fine… but at least admit you're attracted to him." Peter said. Ellie paused for a moment keeping a cool face as she rolled in her lips. Of course she was attracted to him. She knew that from the moment she met him. He was cute and smart, he had a certain gentile quality that drove Ellie crazy. But she wasn't about to confess this to her annoying older brother. So instead she nervously tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and looked up at the ceiling.
"I hadn't thought about him like that." Ellie lied.
"Oh is that so?" Peter grinned knowing that she was lying, the blond just nodded and he rolled his eyes, "Goodnight sis." He said as he patted her shoulder and walked away. Ellie grinned and turned back on her side so she could fall asleep.
"So I followed Foley around in the morning. Covelli and him ended up at this gas station at like 10:30, he left alone and he seemed pretty steamed, so instead of watching disgusting teenage drama I snuck into Dakota Union High and dug through their records to see if I could find anything. And here's what sealed the deal for me. Virgil Hawkins: perfect grades, perfect attendance, perfect yatta yatta, all through out middle school and some of freshman year. Until the second quarter which is also around the time of the big bang. He drops from all high A's to high B's. And he's got about 29 tardies and 18 early dismissals. At least we can rest knowing that all of Static's meddling takes a toll on his academic record…" Talon said.
"What about Covelli?" Ebon asked.
"I'm getting to that. Covelli just transferred to Dakota Union High from New York. I don't think I have to remind you that New York City is Velocity's old turf." Talon grinned, Ebon was silent for a moment when a subtle chuckle barely managed to escape his throat. He stood up and faced the window.
"Whatcha thinkin boss?" Shiv asked from the couch where he was lazily eating potato chips and watching television.
"I'm thinking we got them." Ebon said, "And I'm thinking that our plan will be executed this Saturday."
Bada-Bing.
Kind of a filler chapter, cause I haven't updated in a while.
The next update won't take so long.
And this story is coming to its end very soon.
Then, I'll start the second part of my trilogy.
That is all.
Love, Dani :)