"Do you remember when we were younger? And the world was so big. The trees would hang over us like skyscrapers. They still do, but now we don't notice" –Nothing Personal by Backseat Goodbye

Virgil was seriously beginning to doubt he'd survive this night. After being snatched outside the school back alley, Ebon and Talon had taken him to a classroom. He recognized it as his freshman year Spanish classroom, where he had spent every Friday afternoon before a major vacation having a mini fiesta always consisting of eating nachos and taquitos while wearing a sombrero. But now was not the time for sombrero reminiscing, now was the time to be planning some type of heroic escape. He looked around and noticed two blank television screens in front of the classroom and he was almost 99 percent sure that Senora Rodriguez didn't require two television sets. So he assumed the two television sets had something to do with the diabolical plan thought up by the two meta humans in front of him.

"Talon, why don't you go and help out Shiv? I want to have some fun with Hawkins here." Ebon ordered. The feathered criminal took off and the maniacal shadow loomed closer to Virgil.

"Look, I don't know what you want from me okay?" Virgil swallowed hard. Ebon punched the poor teen and he fell to the ground. He used his arms to push himself up but Ebon's stretched out arms slammed him against a wall.

"Jig's up Hawkins, I know you're Static." Ebon growled, "And I know that Covelli's actually Velocity. And I'm taking you both off the street."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Virgil said his voice and face were controlled, but his hands nervously shook inside his pockets.

"Of course you don't. I hadn't expected you to break so easily, that's why I had to have a back up plan." Ebon grinned evilly, "I got you this time hero. I've got a bomb in the gym filled up with all your precious classmates and of course the closet where your running buddy Foley is locked up. When that blows up it's gonna set off a chain of dynamite that will destroy this entire pitiful school." Ebon explained. Virgil could no longer keep the fear from his expression and his mouth dropped.

"Ebon you can't be serious, petty crimes are one thing, but this… this is mass murder!" Virgil said, "You can't do this! I won't let you!"

"You won't let me? Well that'll be a little difficult considering you don't have a choice. You brought this on yourself hero." Ebon said.

"B-but I'm not Static!" Virgil lied his eyes focused on his shoes and his voice cracked, "This is crazy."

"Crazy? You think this is crazy? No hero." Ebon slammed Virgil against the wall once more, "Crazy is spending nine months in jail because of some goody two shoes little nark. You've had this coming."

"You can't do this! Please don't do this!" Virgil pleaded.

"Too late for begging, far too late." Ebon grinned maliciously, "Can't say I don't enjoy the sound of it though." Ebon said as he clicked on the two television sets.

The first one must have been wired to a video camera in the gym because Virgil could clearly see his fellow students dancing. Dancing very badly. The drama club was currently in the process of an unenthusiastic Macarena. If you're going to do the Macarena you must be enthusiastic about it otherwise it just looks ridiculous.

The other screen must have been wired to the closet where Richie was being kept because Virgil could clearly see his blond comrade attacking a door. Attacking very badly. He was currently in the process of trying to tackle the door while tied up. If you're going to try and tackle a door you must have your legs free so you can get a running start, however if your feet are tied up and you're bunny hopping at maximum speed towards a locked door you tend to look ridiculous.

"You're going to sit back and watch them die because of you." Ebon informed him. Yes, Virgil was seriously beginning to doubt he'd survive this night.

"What the hell are you rats up to anyway?" Ellie growled her arms crossed and her eyes were narrowed.

"You and Static are the ones who are informants for the cops, how are we the rats?" Shiv questioned as he looked through a desk and examined a snow globe before putting it in his pocket.

"Look at yourself, you're scavenging around a desk for cheap knick knacks to steal. How much money will a crappy snow globe from Oklahoma get you anyway?" Ellie asked.

"Eh, you never know. When you're living in the streets you have to take what you can." Shiv shrugged casually. Ellie then felt a tang of sympathy for the meta humans she fought so diligently against. They were poor and they stole to fulfill their basic needs. But just because life was hard didn't give them a right to steal or kidnap her. So she swallowed down her sympathy and continued to give the purple haired meta human a serious attitude.

"My parent's are really respected people around here and they'll seek capital punishment for kidnapping their only little girl, capiche?" Ellie tried her hand at the classic spoiled rich girl threat.

"You're dad's a scientist who lives in a middle class neighborhood." Shiv read as he picked up Mr. Hawkin's file on her from his desk.

"Well, he could make some weirdo science ray gun that'll he'll zap you with." Ellie said as the mental picture of a Terminator-looking Malcolm wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket and wielded an alien looking gun filled her mind.

"Oh mommy lives in Houston and it says here you don't like to talk bout her very much." Shiv read aloud. Ellie's teeth gritted and her knuckle cracked rather loudly. But she was interrupted from her new anger when a new voice sounded.

"Shiv, what are you doing?" Talon questioned as she arrived through the doors, "You idiot, do you want her to escape? Her hands should be tied."

"Sorry, I got distracted." Shiv said innocently, he put down the file in favor of his bag of potato chips. Talon's eyes looked over to the vending machine, there was gaping hole in the glass. She rolled her eyes and ignored Shiv's idiocy.

"I'll do it, you'll probably just mess it up anyway." Talon growled as she pulled out a rope and began confining Ellie's hands.

"What about Hawkins?" Shiv asked. Ellie's attention was drawn and her head shot up.

"Don't worry about him. Ebon took Hawkins and Foley out of the picture." Talon said. Ellie froze in shock and stopped her struggling. Her throat and eyes were burning, no it couldn't be true. There was no way those incompetent metas were able to kill them. Talon sensed the tension as she realized Ellie had stop fighting her, she added with an evil grin, "Don't worry Ebon was real quick about it." She said hoping to get a rise out of the trapped heroine. She got her wish as Ellie began struggling again.

"Bitch!" Ellie growled. Then the radio from the desk interrupted them.

"Hello Dakota! I don't think I have to remind you that the Dakota Super Power Hour is going to be on in 5 minutes! So grab a seat, don't turn the station and think up your best superhero stories!" The radio announcer's deep voice instructed. An idea began to formulate inside Ellie's head. But before she could initiate it, she had to find out what they were planning. And there was only one complex and intricate way Ellie could think of in order to discover what the two meta humans were planning…

"What are you planning?" Ellie asked.

"Oh yeah, like we're gonna tell you." Shiv said sarcastically. Talon had picked up Ellie's abandoned Cosmo and was clearly uninterested in getting into a banter with her. So Ellie persisted Shiv.

"Well, it's common villain etiquette to reveal your master plan in a menacing manner so feelings of helplessness and heartbreak begin to stew inside me thus avenging all the time you spent in jail and give you some kind of twisted psychotic masochist pleasure and what not." Ellie reminded him.

"But that's when you somehow manage some kind of impossible escape and then ruin everything."

"Ah, but you see I'm not a superhero, I'm just a mistakenly trapped teenage girl with absolutely no kind of power to foil your master plan."

"But even if you are mistakenly captured, you'd find some way to break free and contact the actually Velocity, giving her a heads up, thus allowing her to ruin our master plan." Shiv said, "I've seen enough cartoons to know how this kinda thing works out."

"Well fine then," Ellie pouted almost disappointed enough to give up. But another idea struck her. She watched a lot of cartoons too. And she'd seen enough Bugs Bunny to know a little reverse psychology was all she'd need to manipulate Shiv. "I already know what your plan is anyway."

"Psh, yeah right." Shiv said.

"No really, you're not too great of a villain, your body language gave everything away."

"What? That's ridiculous."

"No it's really not. I know what you're planning down to the last detail."

"No you don't!"

"Yes I do."

"You do not! There's no way you could know!"

"Oh but I do, you're heinous plan is practically see through." Ellie flipped her hair in a dramatic manner, "You are clearly going to bring me to an abandoned warehouse where I see Static hanging in one cage and my family hanging in a separate cage over a tiger pit and then Ebon will let out a diabolical laugh and make me chose which cage to save."

"Ha! You couldn't be anymore wrong! We took your school dance hostage and we're gong to blow it up to teach you guys a lesson." Shiv said triumphantly. Then realization clouded him and he clapped a hand over his mouth as if he could recapture his confession.

"Shiv!" Talon angrily slammed down the magazine.

"I didn't say anything!"

"Oh you idiot!"

Ellie tuned out the squabbling meta humans. She had all she needed to set her plan into motion. She looked over and made sure Shiv and Talon were still preoccupied before executing the first step. She closed her eyes and focused all her energy on her hands. She had picked up a neat little trick a while ago, just like her feet could move at hyper speed, so could her hands. She started off moving her wrists up and down against the ropes slowly, but then she picked up speed until the friction burned the ropes. Once free, she made sure that Shiv and Talon were still bickering before grabbing the phone off the desk. She dialed in the number fast and swept all her hair to the left of her neck so she could hide the phone from sight.

"WWDK-FM, how can I help you?"

"Adam. Adam Evans, I need to talk to him now it's an emergency." Ellie whispered urgently.

"Please hold." The receptionist said.

"No…" Ellie groaned lightly. She had to hope this wasn't going to take long, or else they would realize she had the phone. Thankfully it only took a moment.

"Adam Evans, here. I only have a moment before the Power Hour starts, is this urgent?" He greeted.

"I just saw Velocity running towards Dakota Union High where the meta-humans are keeping a whole bunch of kids captive, and Static is not far behind."

"And you want me to announce this over the radio? The segment is for stories, not spottings." Adam said annoyed.

"Please, I need your help, I need you to announce this, from one super hero to another Rubber Band Man." Ellie pleaded.

"Who is this?" Adam asked curiously.

"Hey! What do you have there?" Talon said angrily and grabbed the phone from her ear. She crushed the phone into dust and Ellie winced.

"Who were you talking to?" Shiv questioned.

"Oh I called the Bat Cave and asked if Robin could come back me up." Ellie said sarcastically and then resumed an angry voice, "Who do you think?! I called the cops! There gonna be here any second!" Ellie lied as convincingly as she could. Luckily her tone was defensive enough to convince them. Shiv looked to Talon, he was slightly nervous.

"Let's get her out of here. We'll go to Ebon." Shiv suggested.

"Fine." Talon reluctantly agreed. She grabbed Ellie's wrists and pulled her up out of her chair.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Ellie shouted and pulled away from Talon. Shiv grabbed her around the midsection and his hands glowed purple until the blades held her into place as she was dragged along.

"NO! You're wrong! Stop! I'm not Velocity! I'm not…" Ellie screamed in protest, before the faded static from the radio turned into Adam's voice.

"And this just in… Velocity and Static have just been spotted heading towards Dakota Union High, where the meta-breed is holding a bunch of students hostage…" he stated. Ellie felt a smile curl at her lips… she seriously owed Rubber Band Man for that. Shiv and Talon both froze and looked from Ellie to the radio.

"I told you! Velocity is heading to the school right now to stop your little plans! I'm no superhero!" Ellie yelled while still being restrained by Shiv's glowing arms. Talon shifted uneasily.

"Come on Shiv, let's get out of here." Talon said. Shiv released Ellie and the two meta-humans ran out the door. Ellie gasped in relief and she quickly grabbed a paper weight and crushed the links of the handcuffs that held her ankles together. Once she was free she ran for the backpack underneath her chair, thankfully Shiv and Talon hadn't noticed. She changed into Velocity quickly and she kicked it into hyper speed towards the high school.

"What?! What are you talking about?!" Ebon growled through the phone.

"We were wrong, boss! Static and Velocity are heading for the school right now! Covelli called the cops on me and Talon, so we booked! Ebon you gotta run too, you're gonna be outnumbered…" Ebon hung up the phone during Shiv's nervous rant. He turned to Virgil, and grabbed the front of his shirt.

"So Hawkins, you were telling the truth... oh well nothing personal." Ebon threw him back against the wall. Virgil groaned in pain and Ebon clicked the button to initiate the detonator for the bomb. Virgil's mouth dropped, and he stood to his feet. Ebon let out an evil cackle and slithered out of the room locking it behind him. Virgil picked up the timer, 5 minutes. He ran for the door and looked out the window making sure Ebon was gone before picking the lock with his electricity. Virgil ran down the hallway only to have Velocity crash into him.

"V!" she shouted in excitement, she threw her arms around him trapping him in a hug, "You're okay! I was so afraid that Ebon…" she started.

"Ebon started the bomb timer! The whole school's going to blow in less than 5 minutes!" Virgil grabbed her shoulders. Velocity's eyes widened.

"What?!" she stated.

"Look, I'll try and find where Ebon hid Richie, but I need you to evacuate the gym." Virgil commanded.

"On it!" Velocity sped out of the hallway. Virgil ran for an empty classroom and quickly changed into Static. He was quickly on his disc and burst into every closet or storage room he could find.

Meanwhile Velocity ran at full speed and crashed into the gym doors, forcing them open. She fell to the floor and a crowd of students all gasped. She used her arms and pushed herself up and stood. She looked at the teenagers who just stared at her blankly. They had all frozen mid party, their dance positions held awkwardly.

"Well! GO! Get out! The schools gonna blow!" Velocity yelled and motioned for the door. A panic erupted fast and every student started pushing passed each other. Velocity squeezed through the crowd, and the gym was completely emptied in a matter of seconds. She cracked her neck.

"That was… easy?" she questioned herself. But she shrugged regardless and went to leave. The sound of thumping against a door made her stop. In the corner where all the gym equipment was located, there was a chair propped underneath the handle. She sped over and quickly removed the metal chair out of the way, she cautiously opened it only to have a tied up Richie once again try and tackle the door. He, of course, went tumbling to the ground.

"Richie! Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" Velocity quickly probed. Richie only mumbled behind the duct tape that concealed his words. "Oh sorry." she apologized and ripped off the tape.

"Ouch! Dude, I thought that was just a movie over exaggeration, but having tape ripped off your mouth really does frickin hurt." Richie said but Velocity wasn't really paying attention as she went to work on the knots that bound his hands and feet. In a matter of seconds Richie was free and rubbing the severe red marks from the ropes.

"Can you walk?" Velocity asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." Richie stood up.

"Good because we gotta get the hell out of here." She said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him along.

"What's going on? They tied me up and threw me in there, but they didn't tell me what they're planning." Richie said trying to keep up with Velocity.

"Long story short: They were gonna blow up the dance to teach me and Static a lesson. But I got everyone out okay and now we're leaving before we end up charred remains on the gym floor." Velocity said.

"Wait, were just gonna let him blow up our school without even attempting to stop him?" Richie asked.

"Dude, we don't have enough time." Velocity said remorsefully.

"But that just means that Ebon wins." Richie argued.

"If that's the price we have to pay for everyone to be safe, then Ebon's just going to have to win this battle." Velocity stated.

"Too bad I'm not in it for the battle, I'm in it for the war." The shadow interrupted making both blonds jump in surprise. Velocity quickly moved in front of Richie.

"Run Richie," she commanded. But before he could argue about leaving her behind, Ebon had disappeared from sight, and of course, reappeared behind Richie. The shadow had an arm confining Richie's throat before he even fully grasped what was going on. Velocity made a move to attack but Ebon only shook his head.

"Take one more step and I'll snap his neck, speedy." Ebon threatened. Velocity lifted her hands in surrender.

"Okay… calm down, just let him go…" she stated.

"No. He's got some link to you and Static, and I'm going to find out what it is right now! Take off your mask!" Ebon ordered.

"Ebon… don't be stupid, okay? This isn't the time or the place, this whole school is going to blow in just a few minutes." Velocity reasoned.

"Well then you better take it off quickly. You and I have the ability to get out of here fast, but our little Richie." Ebon ruffled Richie's blond hair, "…he's just not as quick as us."

"Stop it." Velocity growled, "Your problems with me, leave him out of it."

"Well unfortunately for him, he is in the middle of this." Ebon tightened his hold and Richie gasped from the sudden restriction of air.

"No!" Velocity shouted desperately, "Leave him alone!" Ebon let out an evil chuckle, enjoying his torment over the younger girl.

"Are you going to cooperate?" Ebon asked, Velocity opened her mouth angrily but Ebon pointed to his wrist, "Tick tock, tick tock." Velocity cringed and closed her eyes.

"Yes." She said, "Yes, I'll cooperate."

"Velocity, no!" Richie yelled before Ebon covered his mouth, and his shouts became muffled. He twisted the blonde's arm and he groaned in pain.

"Stop, you're gonna hurt him!" she pleaded.

"I'll do more than hurt him, now take off the mask!" He retorted.

"Okay, okay!" Velocity said. She looked up at Richie and their blue eyes locked together. Richie shook his head slowly. She mouthed 'It's okay', and brought her shaking hands to her face. She closed her eyes and sighed, as her hands gripped the bottom of her mask.

The idea of Ebon knowing for sure the secret identity of Velocity was horrifying. If he knew Eleanor Covelli, then he would find Malcolm and Peter. Eventually find her brother's John and Charlie Dan. Maybe even trace the Covelli line to her mother in Houston. But Richie's life was more important than her safety. She would just have to find some way else to protect her family. She closed her eyes and sucked in a breath as she gently started to lift the mask off her face.

"Let him go Ebon!" Static saved the day as he zoomed inside the gymnasium taking Ebon's attention away. Ellie quickly readjusted the mask and ceased the opportunity to speed towards Ebon and tackle him, thus releasing his hold on Richie. The shadow was now frustrated and angry at two evil plots being foiled in one night. His hand caught her throat in one swift movement, holding her steady long enough to get a powerful punch into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Not to mention the throbbing pain added by the pre-existing burn given to her by Hotstreak which she seriously doubted would ever heal. As Ebon went to try and strike the disoriented heroine a volt of electricity hit him.

"I got Ebon, get Richie out of here!" Static shouted to Velocity. The yellow clad superhero quickly grabbed Richie's hand and pulled him along. They ran down the hallway, Richie stumbling at how fast she was making him run. When he cleared the left hall way in less than four seconds, the blond finally tripped over his awkward running and collided with the floor.

"Come on Richie!" Velocity said as she pulled him back to his feet.

"I can't run as fast as you!" Richie stated loudly. Velocity groaned.

"Well try!" she grabbed him again and they sprinted down the hall way where the doors were in sight. They pushed through them so they were outside the school. Richie bent over and put his hands on his knees as he wheezed. There was a loud crash and the sound of electricity zapping.

"Stay here." Velocity instructed leaving Richie alone in the quad outside of the school. She zoomed back inside to the brawl that Static appeared to have in complete control. She had underestimated him when she first came to Dakota. Ebon was on the floor groaning in pain when Static zapped him again.

"Where's the bomb?" he questioned impatiently.

"Screw off hero." Ebon growled. Static zapped him again making his yell out and curse at the electrical teenage.

"Where?" he repeated.

"Go to Hell." Ebon said. Static lifted his hand in annoyed manner and went to go and send Ebon into some more pain, but Velocity's gentle gloved hand grabbed his. She winked and initiated the classic game of good cop/bad cop.

"Come on Ebon, think this through logically. If you don't come clean and tell us where the bomb is then you'll just get blown up too." Velocity said feigning compassion for the shadow that had earlier planned her demise.

"Suck it, you bitch." Ebon growled. Velocity shook her head.

"I'm sorry but impending volts of electricity are just no excuse for such vulgar language, zap him." Velocity let go of Static's arm.

"Wait!" Ebon stopped him, the two heroes stopped and gave their attention to Ebon before he sighed, "The bleachers… it's in the bleachers." He pointed to the set of high school gym bleachers in the corner of the room.

"Hold him there." Velocity instructed Static and she sped over to the corner searching through the cracks in the bleachers for the bomb. She then spotted a blinking red light duct taped underneath the tallest seat. So for the second time that night she ripped duct taped off of a surface. Thankfully the plastic wooden surface didn't let out the same yell of pain that Richie had. She glanced down at the time they had left. 45 seconds.

"Uh oh." Velocity muttered before zooming back to Static and Ebon, "We've got forty five seconds before we're blown to little pieces of meta humans."

"Not good." Static voiced as he took the bomb from Velocity checking the time himself.

"Sucks for you." Ebon shrugged before ceasing the opportunity of Static's lack of attention and slinking off to the shadows. Velocity made a move to chase after him before Static grabbed her arm.

"The ticking bomb in my hands is the priority."

"Modern bombs usually don't tick dude."

"Is that even relevant right now?"

"Well yeah, because we're talking about a non-ticking modern bomb."

"Okay, now isn't the time for our regular banter, let's focus on this considering we have thirty two seconds."

"Right do you have any experience with diffusing bombs?" Velocity asked. Static gave her a look.

"I'm a sophomore in high school."

"You have a double life as a superhero, surely you've come across bombs in your line of work."

"No, I don't have experience with diffusing bombs, you squirrel!"

"Squirrel? What kind of an insult is that?"

"THERE'S A BOMB IN MY HANDS VELOCITY!"

"Right. Let's get rid of that." Velocity said before suggesting, "I can run it out to a desert."

"This things going off in like nineteen seconds we don't have time for that."

"Well it's metal right? Can't you zap it up in the air and out of sight?" Velocity pointed upwards.

"Ebon thought this through this, this is plastic." Static explained. Velocity looked around before an idea occurred to her and she jumped up in excitement.

"The metal on the bleachers! Wrap it around the bomb, that way the bombs attatched to the metal and you can send the metal-"

"Up in the air and out of sight! Velocity you're a genius!" Static said.

"Well thank you sweetie." Velocity stated as Static's electromagnetic powers ripped one of the seats from the bleacher and it molded itself around the bomb which now read five seconds. Quickly, he sent the ball of metal hurling through the gymnasium ceiling and it made it a good 300 feet above the school before exploding. Velocity and Static both let out a sigh of relief before collapsing on the floor in fatigue.

"Dude." Velocity said.

"Yes?" Static replied.

"I think this triumph calls for a fist bump, don't you?" Velocity stated.

"Well that's usually me and Richie's thing, but I think I can make an exception for our near death experience." Static agreed and extended his fist and Velocity returned the hand gesture before letting out another sigh and ceasing the art of sitting up in favor of laying on the gym floor.

"Is this necessary?" Richie asked as Velocity pulled him into the art classroom. Outside of the school, most of the teens who had been at the dance were being questioned about the event by police (who once again had arrived much too late, gotta love America). The trio had snuck away because technically none of them had partaken in the dance. Static had just taken his disc home, but Velocity had phoned Malcolm to come and pick up her and Richie since they lived in such close proximity. But before Malcolm came to pick them up Velocity and Richie had to duck out from the police and find a place for the yellow clad heroine to change into civilian wear.

"Yes it's necessary. After all this nonsense that went down tonight, I'm not letting anyone see Velocity get into a car with my dad, that just compromises my identity again." She said as she checked the outside window, "Yeah, we're good, no cops are snooping around here. Now turn around." Velocity commanded.

"I can just wait out in the hall…" Richie said awkwardly shuffling his feet.

"Okaaaaay, maybe you didn't get me the first time around, it's been a crazy frickin night, I'm paranoid. You're not leaving within a three foot radius of me, got it?" Velocity said, "Turn around now, please." Richie obeyed and could feel a blush burning on his cheeks as he tried to block out the sound of sliding clothes crumpling to the ground.

"Okay, you're good." Ellie informed him as she folded up her costume and tucked it underneath her arm. Richie turned around and really hoped the redness in his face had disappeared. Ellie didn't seem phased as she gave him a smile. She then wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Richie had a moment of confusion before returning the embrace.

"What's the hug for?" Richie asked.

"Because for a moment there, when I was being held up at the community center, I thought you and Virgil were dead. And then I was so relieved when I found you guys but then Ebon grabbed you… I just need a damn hug Foley, don't question my motives." Ellie smiled refusing to let go of her friend. The heroine's affection gave Richie confidence, enough confidence to admit his true feelings for her.

"Ellie?"

"Yeah, Richie?"

"I-"

"Foley! Covelli!" The two teens jumped at hearing their names called in such a scary manner. And standing in the doorway was Mrs. Coleman leering at them.

"Mrs. Coleman… uh… we were just…" Ellie began.

"In the Art Wing! You have no business being in the Art Wing. Detention." She growled. The two looked at each other and then back to the teacher. They had just saved the entire school and now they had detention? The only thing they could articulate to the teacher was:

"…really?"

Ah gotta love the irony.

Well anyway, we have one more chapter left of this story and it will be a very short epilogue type of chapter.

And it will be updated fairly soon :)

But the plot has basically been wrapped up.

I hope you enjoyed it darlings!