A/N: It's officially been a week, and as promised, I got the next installment ready to go!

X

The following morning, Ben got up and dressed for the day before heading down to the kitchen for a quick bite. Finding his mother sitting at the table nursing a cup of coffee and looking more worn down than he'd ever remember seeing her.

"Mom? Christ, are you okay?" he asked, immediately taking a seat next to her.

Eva blinked and shook her head, "Oh, yeah. Sorry sweetie. It was a hard night at the hospital last night." she admitted before rubbing her eyes. "I barely got in a couple hours ago."

Ben was now worried, "What happened? Was there some kind of accident?"

"Something like that. Over a dozen people were admitted with various…problems." his mother replied while trying to find the right word for all that she had seen the night before. "There was some kind of chemical accident at the docks and a lot of people were affected."

The spider-powered teen felt his blood freeze as his thoughts last night came back to him while his mom continued. "There was also some kind of incident. An explosion on the fourth floor. I wasn't anywhere near it but I could feel the whole building shake." Eva rubbed her eyes again and yawned.

"You really need to get some sleep mom. I can take care of myself." Ben said, shoving his raging thoughts to the back of his mind for the sake of his mom's condition.

"No, it's okay. I can-"

"Mom." Eva looked at her son and saw the serious expression he was sporting, reminding her so much of his father in that moment. "I was just gonna hang out with Val and Richie today anyway. Get some sleep, please."

His mother smiled tiredly. "Okay. But if you need anything…"

"What I need is to see my favorite girl get some rest." Ben replied honestly.

Eva smiled wider, "Won't Valerie be a little jealous calling me your favorite?" The comment caused her son to turn red which made her laugh. "I'm only teasing you, Ben. I'll get some rest, just stay out of trouble."

Ben gave her a mock salute before kissing his mom on the head and heading for the door.

All the while thinking about what he had learned and the worries that came with it.

X

Meeting up with Val and Richie at the former's house, Ben informed them on what he'd learned from his mom.

"So the bangers were affected too." said Richie as they all sat around Valerie's room. "That's definitely not good."

"Considering these folks were trying to kill each other that night, it's a pretty safe bet." replied Val.

"Not to mention if the gas spread farther than the docks and caused mutations in people that were nearby." added Ben from his spot crouched on Val's ceiling.

His two friends looked up at him a little bewildered at how at ease he seemed while defying the laws of gravity. "You sure that doesn't bother you? Bloods gotta be rushing to your head by now." said Richie.

"Oddly enough, I feel pretty comfortable." Ben dropped from the ceiling and flipped in the air, landing on the carpet with a soft 'thump'. "Must be my new sense of balance. Almost feels like I've always been like this."

Val clapped her hands, "Alright, Ben spitting in the face of physics aside. We came here today to continue our steps into becoming Dakota's new heroes. So let's get started."

Pouring over the notes that had been made during their training session the day before, they managed to figure out what kind of costumes and gear they could use in tandem with their powers.

Ben had already gone through his clothes when he got home the other day and gathered a few things together in his backpack that he brought over. Leaving the room to change, he came back a minute later dressed in a red bodysuit, boots, gloves and mask that covered his whole head with white eye pieces. A pair of metal bands were on each of his wrists matching the utility belt strapped around his waist.

"Not bad," said Richie. "But what about your 'sticking-powers'?"

"The gloves and boots are thin enough to allow the setae to pass through them while being strong enough to hold up to a lot of movement. And the gloves set up in a way to allow me to shoot my webs." the aspiring hero explained. "What do you think, Val?"

Both guys looked at their female friend who was very quiet with a noticeable redness on her cheeks. While they'd been discussing, Val had been checking out her soon to be fellow hero and how the body suit he was wearing was hugging his new muscles in a way that drew her gaze like a magnet.

"Val?" She blinked and saw Ben and Richie were looking at her expectantly.

"Uhh, I think it looks good. Kinda bland though. You need some kind of symbol, you know, like Superman or Batman." She answered, doing her best to get herself back together.

Ben thought about it a moment before reaching back into his bag and pulling out an old blue hoodie with the sleeves torn off. Slipping it over his head, he straightened it out to reveal a sideways styled spider symbol on the front of it.

"Now that's a good look," said Richie with a thumbs up with Valerie in agreement.

"Guess it's my turn." she said, grabbing some things from her closet before stepping out of the room.

Ben watched her leave before he sat on her bed as they waited, not noticing the look Richie was sending his way. He'd known for a long time that his two friends were into each other, and as the years went by the subtly became less and less to everyone but themselves.

More often than not he kind of felt like a third wheel, but wanting to see his two best friends happy outweighed any of the cons. Which was why he did what he could to get Ben and Val to admit their feelings to each other.

Though getting them to do just that was an uphill battle on its own.

A couple minutes passed before the door opened, both boys looked up and saw Val step in wearing a long purple jacket with yellow lining over a white half-shirt that showed off her slim belly and waist with a black circle with a lightning bolt in the center of her chest. Black pants, running sneakers covered her legs and feet with gray gloves on her hands. A white mask covered her eyes with yellow sunglasses resting on her forehead while her dreadlocks were tied back with a yellow ribbon.

"Well? Don't leave me hanging." she said, striking a pose with her hands on her hips.

"Pretty heroic to me, another winner." said Richie. He looked at Ben who had his attention on Valerie. He couldn't tell what his expression was given the mask he was wearing, but the slight fidgeting of his hands told him plenty.

As for Ben…he was glad his mask was on since his face was as red as the covering itself.

"Alright, so we got the power, we got the gear, what's next?" asked Val.

"We keep training, and when the moment shows itself we make our mark and show Dakota City there are new sheriffs in town," said Ben.

X Present Day X

For the next week, Ben and Valerie juggled school and training their new powers before the moment presented itself for them to reveal themselves to the world. The break-in at the warehouse was their first official introduction into the life of heroes, and it went off without a hitch.

But the night had still been young. After stopping the thieves, the duo managed to stop another robbery involving an 18-wheeler filled with stolen electronics. The newly christened Static and Spiderman had finished with the second round of crooks by sticking them to the truck's trailer with their respective powers.

"Looks like this truck is from the same warehouse the other thugs were ransacking." Ben said after webbing the last crook to the truck.

Using her own powers, Val opened the back and found several large boxes of equipment one would use for DJing. "Wait a minute." she said, getting a closer look at one of the crates. The label on the side clearly read 'Dakota Union High School'.

"Yo, Spidey. Come check this out." The spider-hero joined her a moment later. "This is the sound equipment that was going to be used for Homecoming."

"Guess it's a good thing we stopped them when we did. But the school won't be able to get them in time for the dance with these punks trying to jack it." replied Ben while crossing his arms.

Valerie took a moment to think before grinning. "Well, what if we made a delivery?" Ben gave her a look before getting what she meant and grinning under his mask.

X

In the gym of Dakota High, several students were hard at work getting everything set up for the homecoming dance that was right around the corner.

Frieda Goren, a member of the student council and a good friend of Valerie, Ben and Richie had taken charge of the preparations and was handing out jobs to the students who volunteered to help.

"Put those banners over there, above the bleachers." she instructed one of the volunteers before turning attention to Richie who was working with a couple of power cables. "Hey, where are Ben and Valerie? They said they'd lend a hand tonight."

"Oh! Uh. They were…working on a project together." he managed to cover after a moment.

Frieda beamed, "Together? Are the finally-"

Richie shook his head, "Nah, Frieda. That's still a work in progress." he admitted, making the girl sigh heavily.

"Honestly, the only ones that don't know those two are into each other are themselves."

"They'll get there eventually." Richie replied as they got back to work.

Hey! Check it out!" A student shouted from the door leading to the parking lot, everybody quickly went outside and found themselves stunned at what they were witnessing.

Hovering in the air on a manhole cover with electricity channeling around them was a young African girl in a purple long-coat and a white mask. A moment later, another masked individual, this one clearly male in a red and blue outfit came swinging in on some kind of rope and landed in a crouch on a nearby lamp post.

"Gotta special delivery for Dakota High!" The female said, using her powers to levitate several pieces of equipment that many noticed was the sound equipment for their dance.

"Who are you guys?" Frieda asked in awe.

"Name's Static." said Valerie as she floated past the gathered crowd and into the gym. "I'll put a shock to your system."

"As for me." Ben swung on a webline and stuck to the wall above the door. "I'm just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man." He then crawled down the wall and through the door above their heads before leaping off and web swinging to the center of the gym. "Looks like you all still got some work to do." he commented while looking around.

"Fortunately, we're a pair of 'all purpose' super heroes." Valerie added, using her powers to set up the sound equipment in moments and get the lights on.

Ben swung himself around the gym, using his strength and dexterity to snatch up the decorations and set them up at the height of each swing. Using his webs to attach them securely around the room.

A job that would have taken the students all night to complete was done in mere minutes. "It's…It's beautiful. Thank you." said Frieda, in awe at the sight of everything with everyone else.

Valerie smiled as she hovered in the air, Ben hanging upside down on a webline beside her. "It's all part of the job," said the new super heroine. "Catch you all on the flip side!" She spun in the air and flew out of the door. Ben gave a salute before swinging after her.

The whole gym was already buzzing about the super powered duo that had appeared, no doubt word would spread about them like wildfire the following day.

Among the crowd, Richie was grinning as his two friends disappeared into the night. "They're naturals."

On a nearby rooftop, the two heroes observed the aftermath of their introduction. "Well, that is one way to reveal ourselves to the masses." Ben said casually.

"Won't be surprised if we're the talk of the school by tomorrow. Then the city within the next day." said Valerie. "Having a couple of super heroes set up for homecoming will definitely leave an impact."

At the mention of Homecoming, Ben tensed. He'd been so busy with the issue with Francis and Wade, then the gas explosion followed by his and Val's powers he'd almost completely forgotten about it…along with his original issue of asking out a certain someone.

Anxiety gripped his chest, but he crushed it down. Taking a deep breath, he reached up and pulled off his mask. "Valerie."

The static-powered heroine spun around wide eyed. Ben had only ever used her whole name like that when he was serious about something. When she saw him looking at her without his mask, she knew it had to be something big.

"Is…something wrong Ben?" she asked.

Ben took another breath, "Do you…wanna go to Homecoming…with me?" he managed to ask through the steadily mounting uncertainty.

A tense couple of seconds passed before Valerie's look of shock turned to a brilliant smile, her reddening cheeks hard to notice but clearly there. "Yeah, I'd love to go with you Ben." she answered softly.

Her fellow hero smiled back with a blush of his own. But their moment was broken when they heard sirens in the distance. "Looks like we still got a job to do tonight." he said while pulling his mask back on.

"Then we better get back to it." Val replied as they both took to the air. She on her manhole cover while Ben swung from building to building right beside her. Their first night as heroes was looking to be a long one.

X

The following day, the group of friends were out and about checking out the local stores. Ben and Valerie showed a little exhaustion after being out so late the night before, but after everything they did to clean up the streets it had been more than worth it.

They had been walking through a department store when a news report about their exploits came on one of the TVs on display. Valerie was a little put off about the two of them being referred to as 'mutants', but word was getting out about what they were doing for the city.

A second report came on afterward, this one in regards to more victims of the gas explosion at the docks, now being referred to as 'the Big Bang', being brought into the hospital. Each and everyone suffering from some kind of mutation caused by the gas.

"Hundreds?" Richie said in shock when the reporter mentioned the number of people on the streets who could have been affected by the mutagen gas.

"It's worse than I thought. Mom's been having long nights lately from all the bang babies being brought in." Ben said grimly, using the name Val had used to describe them after the first report.

The three of them watched a young man being taken into the hospital with long tentacles extending out from under the sheet covering him. "Man," Valerie muttered with a shiver. "Good thing our powers didn't do that to us."

"We were lucky." Ben added in agreement before they stepped away from the display and went over to check out the CD racks nearby. Curious, Val picked up one of the disks. Slipping a finger through the middle ring and putting it to her ear, her powers channeled through it and caused the disk to spin and music to play as though it were a headphone.

"Guess that's one way to check out songs before you buy." Ben commented as he watched the spectacle, while also making sure no one else did.

"Guys, heads up. Freida's coming." Richie warned them as the girl in question came over looking worried. "What's going on, Frieda?"

The brunette looked toward the other end of the store, "There's a guy over there. I think something's wrong with him." she said, motioning to a man by a nearby kiosk holding his stomach and groaning.

Ben got a good look at the 'sick' man and almost immediately felt his spider-sense ring loudly in his head.

A second later, the man seemed to just explode. His clothes turned to shreds as the man changed in front of everyone, becoming a large, purple furred, werewolf-like creature. It turned to the shocked and horrified customers of the store and released a feral roar that snapped them out of their stupors.

"RUN!" Ben shouted, shoving Val, Richie and Frieda toward the exit as the wolf-beast started to tear the store apart. The other customers followed their example as they all ran out into the street screaming in terror.

The four friends ran down the sidewalk, trying to put as much distance between them and the newly turned meta-human when they ran into someone who stepped out of a nearby alleyway.

Someone none of them wanted to run into.

"Francis?" Valerie said as the red/blonde haired thug appeared.

"Hey there, sweet cheeks. Miss me?" asked Francis with a smug grin. He then grabbed Ben by the shirt and slammed him against a nearby wall. "You and I have unfinished business, Reilly."

"It's gonna have to wait, we got bigger problems." Ben said just as the wolf meta-human came barreling out of the store, picking up a nearby garbage can and throwing it into a passing car and causing it to crash.

Francis looked at the creature with a raised eyebrow before turning back to Ben. "You stay right here." he said before releasing him and approaching the meta-human. The wolf growled at the bully, who growled back before summoning a fireball to his hand and throwing it into the creature. Sending it crashing to the ground with burns spread across its furry body.

"No way…F-Stop is…"

"He's a bang baby!" Valerie finished for Richie.

The wolf meta-human ran off, whimpering from the burns it now suffered from. Francis turned to the group of four with purple smoke billowing off his body, grin still in place.

"Always thought you were a hot-head, Francis." said Ben, intent on keeping the bang baby's attention on him. "Guess you took it a step farther."

"You got that right, Benny-boy." Francis said while conjuring another fireball. "Also got a new name. HOTSTREAK!" He threw a barrage of flames at them and forced them to start running.

Ben and Valerie split off from Richie and Frieda and went down the alley the newly named Hotstreak had come out of. The bang baby in question stood at the opening shrouded in fire, "Two for one geek-kabob, coming right up. Sorry sweet cheeks, shoulda picked a better man to stick with."

"Yeah? When you find one let me know!" Val shouted back, grabbing a nearby trash can lid to block the fireballs being thrown at her and Ben.

Francis blew smoke off his hand before turning his attention to the remaining two friends. "What about you, Freida? You gonna stick around with what's left of these geeks?" he asked while advancing on said girl.

"Step off, Francis!" Richie said, getting in the bang baby's way.

Hotstreak growled before holding out his hand. Both Richie and Frieda screamed when the former's shirt was almost completely burned away and made him stumble back. "So how bout it, Frieda?" he asked as though he'd never nearly burned someone horribly.

Frieda attempted to shove him away, only to pull back with a yelp, her hands feeling slightly burned.

"That wasn't nice." Francis frowned.

"Neither is this!" He spun around in time to receive a pair of red boots to the chest that sent him crashing to the sidewalk several feet away.

Spider-Man leapt off the webline he'd swung in on and landed in a fighting stance while Static came in riding a trash can lid. "You two alright?" asked the young heroine, worried when she saw the state of Richie's outfit.

"We're fine but-LOOK OUT!" Freida screamed as Hotstreak came running at them hurling fireballs.

Ben grabbed Richie and Freida and jumped out of the way while Valerie tilted the lid she was riding on and deflected the blasts.

The spider-themed hero dropped his passengers a safe distance away before leaping back into the fray. Firing two weblines, he snagged a nearby garbage can and swung it at Francis who had been too busy trying to hit Static as she flew around in the air.

Seeing the coming projectile, Hotstreak shot a blast of fire that incinerated the can before it got too close. Cutting off the flames, he was caught by surprise when a webline attached to his chest and snapped him forward where he received a hard roundhouse kick that sent him rolling into the street.

"Well, this guy seems to have taken the term pyro to a whole new level." Spider-Man said as Static came down and hovered beside him.

"Then maybe we should cool him off a bit." she added with a smirk.

Francis got back to his feet and glared at the heroes, "You think you geeks can stop me? You're out of your league!" Flames exploded around him and he sent a literal wall of fire at them. Valerie shot higher into the air while Ben leapt up over the attack, landing on the other side with a roll and coming up and swinging a punch at the bang baby.

Dodging the punch, Hotstreak caught the follow up and grinned as smoke emitted from where his palm and the hero's fist were connected. "What's the matter, spider-freak? Too hot to handle?"

Ben grit his teeth from the burning sensation in his fist, "Nah, just need to put a lid on it!" He quickly fired webbing from his other hand at Francis' face. The pyromancer stumbled back, tearing at the webs covering his eyes before using his flames to burn them off. The distraction having been enough for Val to use her powers to levitate a bunch of equipment and tools from a nearby construction site that she then sent raining down on him while the spider-hero got out of the way.

Dodging the first few projectiles, Francis blasted fire into the air and burned the rest to ashes before shooting toward the ground. Taking to the air like a rocket and straight at the heroine above him.

Too stunned to move in time, Static was unable to avoid Francis sending a blast at close range that destroyed the trash can lid she had been riding on and sent her crashing into a nearby park.

Pushing herself up, Valerie rolled over in time to see Francis stalking toward her. Shoving a couple burning trees out of the way with flames covering him like a shroud. "You know, I wouldn't mind knowing your name, gorgeous. But you've pissed me off." He held out his hands, preparing to turn the young heroine to ashes.

Val was frozen in fear, the heat making her sweat as she closed her eyes and waited for the end.

"Hey Hothead!" Francis looked up in time for a blast of water to hit him head on. Valerie opened her eyes and saw Ben with several firefighters as they doused the bang baby with their hoses. Once he was down and put out, the spider-hero fired webbing from both arms and wrapped the pyromancer tightly in a cocoon.

"Thanks for the help guys. The webbing should dissolve in an hour or two, long enough to put him on ice." Ben said to the firefighters as a couple of cops moved in to take in the restrained bang baby.

Once he was sure Francis was being carted off, Spider-Man turned to his friend and partner and saw her back on her feet with her eyes cast to the ground. "Static? You okay?" he asked.

Val looked at him before turning her gaze elsewhere, "N-No. I…I choked…" she turned and walked away without another word. Leaving her fellow hero standing there with a worried look beneath his mask.

X

A/N: The life of a hero is never for the faint of heart, especially when one figures out the amount of danger one has to put themselves in to save the lives of others. A harsh lesson, but one our two newest heroes need to learn if they are meaning to take that road in life.

It's been surprisingly easy to get this story rolling, the time frame of updating is definitely working on this one. I'll have the next update ready in a week, and it'll finish setting the ground work for the chapters to follow.

Till next time!