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Hotstreak tried not to wince as the old gate creaked when he pushed it slightly open to enter Ebon’s hideout. He didn’t know why Ebon had called him here, and that only put him all the more on edge. He had to keep his heat in check, knowing he tended to run hot when nervous.
“Yo Ebon, what’s up?” he said, trying to sound casual and probably failing. Ebon, in his typical dramatic fashion, didn’t reply right away, letting Hotstreak simmer in his doubt, wondering if he’d done anything lately to set the man off.
“Hotstreak,” Ebon said neutrally, finally standing from his chair and the papers strewn about atop his makeshift desk.
“You wanted to see me?” Hotstreak asked, a little intimidated despite himself.
“Yeah. I got a case for you. Need your specific expertise.”
Feeling more confident at the mention of his powers, Hotstreak stood up a little straighter, happy to hear that he wasn’t on the man’s bad side at the moment.
“Sure man, you know I’m happy to help for a price. What you need stolen?”
“Not that kind of expertise,” Ebon said, picking up one of the papers. He turned it toward Hotstreak, who was confused to see an image of his old classmate.
“Virgil Hawkins,” Ebon said slowly. “Look familiar? He should: you went to school with him.”
“Yeah, I knew Hawkins. What of him?”
“I got a theory ‘bout the punk, and I need you to confirm it for me.” Hotstreak nodded, unsure what to say. Virgil’s gotten out of the gangs, so how did he end up on Ebon’s radar and for what?
“Okay, what’s the theory?”
Instead of answering, Ebon said “He was at the docks the day of the big bang, right?” Hotstreak couldn’t really understand the point of the new question, but he remembered that day clearly. Pushin’ Virgil around when he got in the way of F-Stop snaggin’ a hot date with Freida. He remembered how Wayne stopped him from pickin’ on Virgil, and how he’d seen Virgil that night at the docks, clearly havin’ to back up Wayne, to be a part of his crew, and equally clearly terrified and quaking in his boots about it all.
“Yeah, he was there. Supportin’ Wayne and his crew for the night. Definitely his first and last night with anythin’ like that.” Ebon nodded like he had known this all along.
“And everyone from the Bang got powers, right?” Ebon asked. This one caused Hotstreak to think. As far as he knew, no one who was at or near the docks that night hadn’t got powers. Some were more obvious than others, like physical deformities, while others could hide ‘em until they needed ‘em. He remembered Virgil, and he remembered what he thought in the weeks and months after.
“I think I see where you’re goin’ with this,” Hotstreak began. “Yeah, Virgil was there that night, and yeah, he’s gotta be a bang baby. But he’s not a big name in the bangers or ‘heroes’.”
“Virgil Hawkins is Static,” Ebon said with a challenge in his voice, just asking Hotstreak to contradict him. Not one to back away from a fight when he knew he was right, Hotstreak took him up on it.
“Nah, Virgil’s too much of a wimp to be Static. It took me a while to get it, but I figured out what power he got from the Bang.”
Ebon raised an eyebrow and sarcastically flapped a hand as if to give Hotstreak the imaginary stage.
“Virgil’s not Static cause he already has a power. Hawkins is lucky.” He paused a second to let that sink in, but Ebon just laughed.
“Lucky? You take me for a fool, dawg?” Hotstreak, sensing the danger he was now in, backtracked.
“No, I mean, it fits doesn’t it? No visible power, no actin’ weird after. School too boring for him? Boom, offer to a new smart school. His dad’s work about to go under? Boom, huge donation from Alva himself. No major illness, no lost friendships, no nothin’. Anything goes wrong in his life, it’s fixed in a matter of days. And he knew Shaq! Shaquille O’Neal himself called Virgil Hawkins his friend on TV! You just can’t argue with the facts man. Dude’s either the luckiest kid on earth or…”
“Or the Bang gave him a lucky upgrade. Hmm.” A few moments of silence went by, making Hotstreak shift on his feet, a nervous habit he’d thought he’d gotten over.
“What made you think he was Static to begin with?” Hotstreak said, curiosity winning over self-preservation.
“Couple things. He was hanging around this kid that was always near Static. When we took him in, he acted a little weird. And the hair and height match.”
“Well what happened?”
“Static showed up with that sidekick o’ his, Gear. First time Gear ever showed his face on the scene.”
“Man, you’re thinking about it all wrong then,” Hotstreak said with too much confidence, not noticing as Ebon tightened his grip on the arm handle from where he’d sat back down.
“Explain it to me then,” Ebon bit out.
“He’s not Static, Ebon. He was lucky enough that his powers kicked in to get his butt saved by not one but two heroes! I’m tellin’ ya, there’s no other explanation for how everything seems to go right for the kid.”
Ebon slowly began to nod.
“You’re sure of this?” Ebon asked seriously.
“No way is wimpy Virgil Hawkins Static. It just ain’t possible.” Ebon relaxed into his chair as he began to think. Shiv entered the room hardly a moment after Ebon reached his conclusion.
“Shiv, escort our guest outta headquarters. Hawkins ain’t Static, which means we need a new lead.”
“Sir, yessir!” Shiv said excitedly, reaching for Hotstreak and yelping when he set his own arm ablaze to prevent the overly casual touch.
Fine, he was wrong this time, Ebon thought, but he’d get it right next time. Watch out Static—your days are numbered.