With The Power Out [Completed]

[bangbaby]

Players: Static Shock and Green Lantern
Location(s): Dakota City, 3 years ago
Plot Summary: An entity from space arrives in Dakota City and drains the city of all its electric energy. Static Shock and Green Lantern team up to stop it!

It started with one small spark. No one knew how it got there. In reality the power hungry entity had traveled through time and space to the small planet Earth. Earth was hardly known for sheer electrical energy possession but it definitely depended on it. Regardless the entity had decided to settle there. Soon it began to roam. First it absorbed the electrical energy from a businessman trying to close a business deal. It then absorbed the electrical energy from the whole block. With every absorption it made it grew larger. Eventually it was as big as a soccer ball. Then it was big as a car and then it was nearly as tall as a building. It then took human form and began to walk along Dakota City. Power went out and lights flickered off. Its rampage continued for hours and soon it towered over the city. Soon it was a giant amongst buildings. Eventually every major power source in Dakota City had been trained and the city fell into panic. Soon riots and fires began to spread through out crime ridden neighborhoods and the police were powerless to stop them. Luckily the local heroes rose to the challenge and Static Shock was amongst them.

---

“This is a little too close for comfort!” 16 year old Static Shock hovered high above the gang members who were attempting to pull him down to the ground. One man managed to close his fingers around his hover disc and nearly dragged Static to the ground. The teen managed to knock him off with a well placed blast before he could get consumed by the mob. “You’re the only source of electrical power in this city! Why else do you think they’re all in your grill?” Gangsters and thugs crowded around Rocket but she didn’t seem particularly bothered. For every punch, kick or bullet she received her inertia belt absorbed the damage and only increased her strength. “Damn. Power goes out for five f!cking minutes and these guys use it as an excuse to get all over me. I’d be flattered if I actually wanted their attention.” For a moment six or seven men jumped on top of Rocket but Virgil’s girlfriend merely extended her arms and threw them all loose. “I’d offer you my help but it looks like you’ve got everything under control.” Virgil said with a chuckle.

“Damn straight.”

Virgil glanced up the street and noticed that more criminals were running towards them and they all had weapons. Static frowned and turned his senses inward, attempting to sense what powers they had. He quickly determined that they all had some form of metallic alloy. “Too easy.” He said with a chuckle as he snapped his fingers. The weapons (along with any metallic objects the men had) were ripped from their hands and all slammed against a nearby ransacked car. Virgil blinked at the loss of energy and realized he’d need to conserve himself. He didn’t have a place to recharge. “Nice.” Rocket cooed as she slammed a man against the ground. “Damn straight.” As they continued to fight a bright yellow glow shined over them. Virgil glanced upwards to notice that a massive yellow creature twice as tall as the buildings surrounded them was searching for another energy source. Virgil grimaced and glanced at Rocket. “Go! I got these suckers!”

Virgil nodded but fired an electric signal in the air anyway. Any hero near by would know to help Rocket. The electric behmoth noticed it and lunged towards it. It grabbed the signal out of the air and stuffed it in its mouth as if it were food. Virgil grimaced again. “I told you I don’t need help! Now get the f!ck out of here!” Virgil nodded and flew towards the creature. “Let’s see what you got big man!” Virgil charged the creature head on and as he did a curious thing happened. He felt himself accelerate and suddenly realized that the creature must have been controlling the electricity in his body! Virgil let out a whelp before he was sucked inside the creature. When he was he felt all the electricity drain from his body....then he felt himself suddenly charge full with power. More power then he knew what to do with. Then Static was thrown out of the creature’s body and landed on the street. He groaned and struggled to his feet. “That ain’t an experience I’m in a hurry to repeat.”

[John Stewart]

Standing firm with his hands behind his back John Stewart was gazing up at the giant monitor in the main area of the watchtower base on the moon. It was the base of operations for the Justice League, the group of heroes dedicated to saving the world (and sometimes the universe) from grave dangers. He was standing next to the Flash and Hawkgirl when the emergency light began to flicker on the screen. The three of them were quickly debriefed of the situation from the news cast. "I've got this one," John spoke up to the other two's surprise. He had his own personal reasons for wanting to go to Dakota City, but that was not something he was going to discuss with the others here. "Be on standby just in case I need back up," he added as he stepped out toward the teleporter.

Moments later John reappeared in the streets of Dakota City. This city had been hit with an event that some referred to as the 'big bang' which produced a bunch of metahumans. Several that were still not even known yet, while others had taken a very public approach early on. One such person was the electrifying teenager known as Static Shock, whom was on the scene already. The Green Lantern had run into a few other locals of Dakota City in other areas of the world, Icon in a bout with the Justice League and Shadow Cabinet. Another one was Hardware, but that meeting was a lot less pleasant.

A green light molded around John's body giving him flight. Before him was a giant electric monster that had just spit back out the young teen hero. Lifting his ring hand into a fist he took aim and sent a blast that got the attention of the Electric beast to look his way. The creature turned to take a swing at him, but was met with a giant green steel wall. "You looked like you could use a hand," he said sarcastically as he lowered down to the ground in front of Static with the wall blocking several punches from the electric entity. He had seen exploits of the teen on the news, the League had even taken a small interest in keeping track of him, but there was still a giant unknown with all the metahumans from Dakota City. There was no better way to see what Static was made of or what he was even like than seeing for himself in person.

[bangbaby]

The massive electrical creature stared down at Static and he couldn’t deny the fact that he felt a sense of kinship with the creature. It was hardly the type of kinship that was positive but he felt a connection with the creature nonetheless. Virgil was willing to bet that it was because they had the same powers or at least required the same source. The 16 year old considered himself a scientist of sorts and as a result he didn’t find it all that difficult to piece together what had just happened. The two of them were both capable of absorbing electrical energy and using it offensively. So when they had collided they had both affected each other the same way. This meant that the two of them couldn’t harm each other. Virgil could harm as much electrical energy as he wanted at the creature and all he could do was power it up. This creature could try and absorb his electrical energy as much as it wanted to and Static would just absorb it back.

They were at a stand still.

Virgil stood to his feet and stared up at the massive creature. It was staring down at him as if it was unsure what to do. Something told Virgil that this thing was barely sentient. All it was doing was searching for a source of energy. Virgil wondered what the creature would do once it fulfilled its goal. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. The creature paused before it reached down to scoop Virgil up again yet he stood his ground. Maybe it was sentient. Only sentient beings would be stupid enough to try something that hadn’t worked the first time. Then a massive green fist spiraled through the midnight sky and struck the creature across the head. The blow did little then faze it and it immediately turned and reached for the man encased in green. Virgil’s eyes widened. It didn’t take him long to realize who this was. It was a certain hero that Virgil had admired ever since he had seen him on his television.

The fact that he was here meant this situation was much more dire than Virgil would have liked yet he didn’t care. It was Green Lantern! It was an honor to work alongside him! “I sure could!” Virgil said a little too enthusiastically as the electric entity continued to slam its fists against Green Lantern’s shield. “I don’t think he’s going to try and absorb your power...unless you’re based on electricity? I doubt it. I’ve been studyin’ your mythos since you showed up on my t.v. and-” A shock of electricity rippled across Green Lantern’s shield and promptly broke it. Virgil hurriedly dodged out of the way as a massive electrical fist slammed against the ground. He grit his teeth in frustration as he racked his brain on what he needed to do. If electricity powered the creature maybe metal would slow it down? Virgil called upon his powers [his power boost didn’t hurt his efforts either] and picked up a car. Sweat broke on Virgil’s brow as he hurled the car up and at the creature. The car exploded against the creature’s face and it struggled backwards as the metal stuck to its face.

“Any idea what this thing is? I know what he’s made of but I got the feeling that this ain’t your average supervillain.” He grabbed two trash cans with his powers and hurled them at the creature as well. Maybe if he bogged it down with metal it wouldn’t be able to move.

[John Stewart]

There seemed to be a moral boost for the teenage hero when his eyes met the Green Lantern's appearance. That was part of being a rolemodel or a hero of John's level, they inspired young heroes just by showing up. But that was not supposed to distract him from his duty or the task at hand. That slight moment of distraction gave the electric entity the leeway to break through his shield punching to the ground. He was already far enough back from the energy beast that he would not get hit at all, so he hovered off to the right as he prepared to deflect the inevitable next attack.

"Yeah..." John replied with a slight shift of his eyes toward Static. "My powers rely on an alternative source," he continued as his eyes found their way back to the electric form before them taking a swing at him once more. His powers were based on his will and concentration. Without much of a thought he created a half sphere to block the punch long enough for him to fly out of it's path. Then he began to build an enhanced version of a machine gun from the basic pieces until completion. From there he began to pull the trigger unleashing energy bullets that appeared to have a spike like surface. Once these bullets hit they explored outward causing the creature's form to break apart and struggle to reform.

"Let me scan it and see," John replied to Static as the youngster attack with two trashcan lids. Raising his ring up in front of him again dropping a light energy ray over the electric form below. ::Scan Complete.:: the ring spoke moments later. "Report," he spoke back to it as he lowered back dow next to Static creating an energy dome over them to block the next attack. ::It is a nonsentient entity from deep space that has been seen in several surrounding sectors. Considered to be more of a energy virus, programmed to absorb energy and convert it into a pure electricity, Thus giving it it's electrostatic form. Warning, if it absorbs too much it'll explode. Secondary warning, It's form is enhanced by electromagnetic field of Earth. Currently, at sixty eight percent capacity:: The ring informed the two heroes of what they were dealing with.

"So essentially this isn't a supervillain," John stated as he opened the back of the dome slowly inversing it to be a dome over the electric force of space nature before them. "It is more of a space enigma," he was not going to make light of what they were dealing with. This situation could become extreme in a hurry. "Ring keep me updated on the capacity report," he needed to keep a keen eye on that specific problem. The last thing they needed was a electric bomb made of pure energy exploding here on Earth on his watch.

[bangbaby]

“So it looks like this thing is my antithesis.” Virgil mused as he floated around the electronic entity. Green Lantern had effectively trapped it under a dome and as much as it struggled it wasn’t going to break out. Yet. Virgil could see micro-tears in Green Lantern’s structure and had a feeling that the monster would break free after a few more poundings. All Virgil could do was stand here and wait for the eventuality. Virgil’s mind was running at lightspeed to try and figure out how to take his down. His own electrical blasts could only strengthen the create and Virgil lacked any super strength to move the creature if he wanted to. Fortunately it wasn’t like the creature could drain him of electricity nor could it really harm him. They were both charged by the same source. One was positive and the other was negative. Neither of them could cause any real harm in this situation and it looked like Green Lantern was the deciding factor in this battle.

“Maybe if we move it to-look out!” The entity flexed outwards and emerald shards flew everywhere! Virgil threw his arms over his face as the energy dissolved around him. He opened his eyes just in time to see a massive glowing hand close around his waist. Virgil wasn’t about to have any of that and used his hoverdisc to shoot downwards. The hand clamped over air and Virgil decided to up the ante. He dug deep into his power reserves and slowly picked up a truck that was parked beneath him. He felt sorry for the poor soul whose truck he was about to demolish but this was for the greater good! He picked up the truck with some effort and though his muscles quivered and sweat ran along his brow he still managed to lift it with his powers. The vehicle was encased in electric energy and if he timed it correctly the electric blast would do more harm than good.

He used his magnetic telekinetic abilities to heft up the truck and throw it at the creature! The truck thudded into the chest of his foe before sinking in slowly. Once inside the truck sparked and then exploded. The creature stumbled backwards from the sheer concussive force of the explosion before toppling on its back. Virgil flew down to see how it was faring but the fight was far from over. As he was hovering above the monster two human sized electric beings hopped from the creature’s chest and knocked Virgil over. He found himself flat on his back struggling to get up as they held him down. Virgil wasn’t sure what these creatures were trying to do to him but he was certain that he didn’t like where this was going.

[John Stewart]

"ughhh..." John let out as his shield splintered into several shards in an explosion of electricity. This attack sent him flying down the street tumbling end over end for a few yards. Not the most graceful of landings, but he did not have time to manage his appearance on dismounts. "focus John, you're better than this," he muttered to himself as he punched the ground with his ring hand getting up to one knee.

It would appear that he was in for a little bit more of a fight than he had originally anticipated, but the Green Lantern enjoyed a challenge. "Rebound time," he stated as he flew up from the ground just as Static launched his truck attack on the creature, using his resources around him showed John that this kid was a quick thinker. Though property damage was not at the front of his mind. Young and dumb, he would learn the hard way that his image was not to the level that the likes of Superman or even Batman was yet. No one liked their vehicle getting wrecked, unless it was by Superman 'yay superman touched my car'. Then again, even then there were many that did not exactly like that either. he was distracting himself at this point.

::Alert; capacity at 77%:: The Green Lantern's ring was quick to tell John that things were picking up in a hurry. "Neat trick, I can clone myself too..." he complimented the creature as he generated fly swatters to slap away the creatures from Static. "We need to get this thing away from all these power sources," he was stating the obvious, but the young hero seemed like he was going to say something earlier. This would give the teen a chance to speak up as he counter attacked the creature's attacks for a moment.

[bangbaby]

As the creature’s held him down Virgil released generated enough voltage that could kill an elephant. He was hoping that the electric wraiths would explode or overload or something. That didn’t prove to be the case. At the age of 16 Virgil’s fighting skills were literally nonexistent. He wasn’t the type of person you wanted on your side in a fight. Well, he kind of was if you took his powers into account. Also his ability to think on his feet and adapt to a situation. There was also his intelligence. Yet if you ignored all those traits Virgil was not someone you wanted on his side. So while he was on his back struggling to escape his foes he was basically powerless. One of the electrical thugs clapped its hands around Virgil’s throat and began to strangle him. Virgil realized that generating his voltage was only powering them but he realized it too late. As he struggled for air he tried to focus on his magnetic powers but he simply couldn’t. Soon Virgil’s hands dropped to the ground and just when he was convinced that everything was lost a green fly swatter knocked away his enemies!

Virgil gasped for air and the white and black spots that had been invading his vision faded away. He sat up and rubbed at his neck as Green Lantern told him what he needed to. Though he respected the man he couldn’t help but let his snark sneak through. “Ya don’t say.” He muttered as he stood to his feet. Then he realized he was talking to a fully grown adult who was a member of the Justice League. “Sorry. I nearly got myself strangled to death.” He was hoping that’d be a good enough apology for his lack of respect. He stepped back a couple of times as the electric monster dissolved into a haze of electric energy before reforming on its feet. Virgil stared up at it and sighed. “Water and electricity don’t mix, right?” He used his powers to nab his hover disc and slowly began to hover into the air. “So we drown it in the river surrounding Paris Island. It’s just big enough to fit this thing.”

The creature raised its hand and released a shockwave of electricity just as Virgil finished his statement. That definitely wasn’t a good sign. It was giving up its own precious energy to take down Green Lantern and Static Shock. This meant that it recognized them as the bigger threats and would attempt to eliminate them before finishing its conquest for pure energy. Virgil was perfectly fine with that. As the electrical wave flashed towards him Virgil simply lifted his hand. The wave passed over him harmlessly and he absorbed a good portion of it. “I’m the master of electricity! You really think dat shooting a few sparks at me is gonna do somethin’?” Virgil flew towards the creature and shot right past its head. It turned around and began to lumber after him. Virgil hoped that Green Lantern would take his cue and distract the creature as well while Virgil attempted to lead it towards the river.

[John Stewart]

"It's alright," Green Lantern was quick to reply to Static's snarky comment. He knew that the young hero was a little flustered after being held down and strangled, so he did not take the words the wrong way. Though, he was not going to show one way or another. He had to stay focused on the task at hand. "Take a moment to gather yourself, I'll cover you," he said as he generated two energy clones of himself to help keep the energy wraiths away from Static for a while longer.

"In theory that should work," John replied with a nod to Static's makeshift plan, it was simple and straight forward yet effective. This could work, the space logs had captured the creature with a different member but that method could not be used in Earth's orbit or gravity. "The planets this thing was sighted on before did not have any large bodies of water," he further explained his reply to Static as the two clones pushed the wraiths back toward their master.

As the electric creature started to charge up for an attack John's ring was alerting him, so he dissolved his two clones as he flew into the sky. Before him energy constructs began to form in the forms of metal pieces and screws. As they started to merge together they formed a machine not of Earth origins. Static absorbed a large majority of the attack that the creature unleashed, but the rest was stopped by the absorbing machine that redirected the rest. Unfortunately he could only hold the amount he did, because he had to generate another bubble forcefield around the machine to contain the mini-nuke explosion. Once that was put out he circled around the creature taking aim and firing several small blasts of energy in different key spots to cause a bigger distraction.

[bangbaby]

Virgil glanced over his shoulder just in time to notice Green Lantern building a complex alien structure with his ring. The box-like container absorbed the rest of the electrical blast and when it began to spark and overload Green Lantern was able to create an energy bubble to restrain the blast radius. Virgil didn’t let himself get too distracted by the man’s work. He just couldn’t help but feel a spark of admiration for the man. He was cool under pressure and had yet to insult Static or try and force him to run away from the fight. People tended to do that with him. Yet Green Lantern was proving himself to be a man willing to take suggestions and advice. There was no questioning the fact that he was “in charge” of this little fight but he had also acknowledged that this was Static’s turf.

The high-pitched sound of energy blasts slamming into the creature was like music to Static’s ears. While it hurriedly pursued him it’s process was greatly hampered by John Stewart’s attacks. As long as his ally kept up the good work then Static could stay just out of its reach. Static’s only experience with massive monsters in suburban cities was a movie he had seen titled Godzilla In Da Hood so this was a new experience for him. It was an experience he wasn’t in any hurry to repeat clearly so he was hoping to take this thing out for good. He had a feeling that things would turn out pretty well as long as he stayed focused and didn’t take advantage of his partner’s help. That creature could swing around and take Green Lantern out any moment and as a result Static was still using every reserve of power he had even if he didn’t have to.

As Static continued to move down the street he glanced to his left and noticed that there was a significant gap between an apartment building and a library. The school that had once stood there had been razed to a ground less than a week ago. This shortcut would only allow Static to get to the river quicker. As he continued to fly through the air he took a sharp left and the monster swung around to follow him. The river was in the distance now but Static no longer heard the sounds of Green Lantern’s energy blasts. He also felt the hair on the back of his neck rising steadily. The electric behemoth was getting closer. He felt a sudden rush of air and descended sharply just as the behemoth swung at him. The air around Virgil’s hair was electrically charged and his hair rapidly expanded into a misshapen afro. Virgil winced in pain as he felt his dreads detangle from their braids. This seemed to be happening more and more lately.

Luckily the Paris River was just in the distance and when Virgil was just about to lead the monster straight into the depths of water he was knocked off of his discus. Virgil let out a grunt of surprise as he sailed through the air and crashed into the water. As he continued to float deeper into the depths he lost consciousness. The electric creature teetered on the edge of the water as it watched Virgil sink deeper into the river before it finally tripped and fell in as well. For a moment it managed to maintain its form before an explosion of electric energy spread through the water. Any human being or animal in the water would have been killed instantly. Static was able to survive because of his powers but his powers couldn’t protect him from drowning.

[John Stewart]

The Green Lantern keep his attacks basic and amped as he continuously circle the enormous mass of electricity. The electromagnetic field was going haywire with all of the interference, he could tell that just by what was going on in the streets below, flickering lights and cars losing power without notice. This was mayhem at it's worst. Just when he thought he and things all set from his end the creature turned in a twister motion to launch him into a building not far off down the street.

"Son of a..." John muttered to himself as he gathered his barrings from within an office space surrounded by everyday computer workers. "Gentlemen and ladies, excuse me," he said with a nod as he stood back up forming a green energy field around him before taking off once again out the hole he created in the building back after the creature. It was not like it would take him long to find that monstrosity, it's size alone was like a beacon to everyone.

This had led him to the river front where the Green Lantern had made it just in time to see the creature lung out to strike Static from the air. "Watch out!" but John's outcry was too late as the teen hero was knocked from his flying platform into the water below. He knew two things and two tings fast; Static would be fizzled out and this creature would redirect it's attack with Static not drawing it's attention. "Guess I'll have to do all the work..." Creating a giant wall John pushed against the unbalanced creature until it toppled over into the water. This was a good and bad move, the large body of electricity was dispersed throughout the water killing any human or animal in the water around it's blast radius instantly.

Flying up and overtop of the water John created a bubble surrounding his body before he decended down into the water. Once under water he generated a claw to grab and drag Static into his bubble so that the kid would not drowned to death. With that done he then turned to face the small core of the creature. It was nothing big or special, just an energy lifeform dying slowly in the water. He fired a green beam around it making sure to surpress it from drying off, capturing water in the apperatice he was creating around the lifeform.

With that complete the Green Lantern directed his bubble to fly up and out of the water back onto stable ground. Letting the bubble forcefield drop from around him and Static, his complete focus was now on the creature trapped in the water prison. He waited for Static to stop spitting up water and before he asked, "You alright kid?" It was a rhetorical question, but one he felt needed to be asked. It was good to see that the kid was alright.

[bangbaby]

Virgil hit the water so hard the breath was knocked out of his lungs. He was temporarily stunned and unable to do little more than weakly move his arms and legs in an attempt to float to the surface. If he was a regular human he would have died upon impact. The sheer amount of electrical charge the rapidly dissolving creature was generating was deadly. Yet Virgil was able to absorb the energy with ease. It just so happened that it wouldn't protect him from drowning. Virgil continued to sink down and as he did he felt more and more pressure to breathe. He held off for as long as he could but soon his reflexes set in. Virgil opened his mouth and began to inhale water and couldn't stop.


The pain of water filling his lungs alongside him desperately coughing in the water pushed Virgil into unconsciousness. He wasn't aware of Green Lantern grabing the electrical entity nor was he aware of Green Lantern encasing him in his own bubble. However Virgil soon came to while he was still being pulled out of the river. He gasped for air and soon found himself coughing up what felt like a gallon of water. Soon he found himself lying on the ground next to the river continuously coughing. He opened his eyes and slowly rubbed the back of his neck and sat up. He coughed one more time and the last of the water dropped out of his mouth. He glanced up at Lantern.

"I just recovered from drowning so relatively? I'm doing aight." He paused as he glanced at Green Lantern's other construct. "Is it over?"

[John Stewart]

"That's good to hear," John replied quickly with a half smirk. It was good to see that the Static was alright after almost being drowned. "Couldn't deal with that on my conscious today," he joked as his eyes shifted over to the container. His concentration was not wavering off from that thing, though the thing would need a charge to even get power going again. "Besides, it was our first time teaming up. Cannot have you dying," he added as he turned to face Static once more.

"Yes," John answered Static's question immediately. "Now I need to get this thing back to Oa. That way we can lock it up properly, to prevent it from doing anymore harm," once on Oa this thing would be put into a science cell like any other villain or entity that would do more harm to the universe if out. Most in those science cells were of the most vile in all of the universe. They did a good job of holding those beings, with the only exception being during Blackest Night in which chaos overruled reason. But those times were under control again, somewhat.

"But before I go I have one more thing to say," John's tone change from that of a lighthearted feel to a more serious one. "Keep up the hard work here in Dakota City. it may not seem like it, but for a young hero you are years ahead of a lot of others older than you," he had seen so many heroes of all size, color, or sex come and go. Most fell to the stresses and troubles of trying to balance the double lives as heroes. Others were not even that lucky some times. The one thing that happened to a lot of heroes that start out young and grow up in the mask world is that they become really jaded over people and reality. Almost losing a sense of hope about things, that was why it was important to encourage those like Static to keep up the hard work.

"I'll be seeing you around Static," that was all he really wanted to say to Static, Green Lantern was not kidding when he said that he had to go. It was a positive thing to see a young African-American hero like Static doing what he did for Dakota City. Lifting off the ground once more John made a salute to the hero before he turned toward the sky taking flight dragging the container close to him.

[exit GL]