1973/It's a Scream!

It's a Scream!
Date of Scene:	14 August 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Screams herald the OH CRAP factor of a civilian finding what she thinks is a corpse on the bus. Doesn't help when the corpse gets up and runs away. STATIC SHOCK gets the wrong idea, and stops the corpse -- one ALEXANDER DUBOIS -- from leaving the scene. However, HAWKEYE (the female one), comes to Alexander's aid. Civil conversation ensues.
Cast of Characters:	1261, 1256, Hawkeye (Bishop)

---

Alexander Dubois (1261) has posed:
A scream is a surefire sign that something is wrong. And there's a scream from a bus at a stop in Midvale. Shuffling around, and then a dark shape tears out of the still-open doorway, leaving chattering and questions behind. Who was that? What had the person done? Where are the superheroes to stop this sort of thing?! The shape moves at a fast (but humanly so) clip towards the first alley it comes to.

Actually it's not as bad as it looks. Alexander tears out of the open door of the bus, running as fast as his feet will carry him, toward an alley. He looks scared. ('Teach me to fall asleep on the bus.') Which was what happened. He doesn't breathe, so that person probably thought he was dead. Which of course made said person scream, because 'corpse on the bus'. Of course THAT startled him awake, so he ran out of the bus.

That poor old lady.

But yes. Alexander's running for an alley, hoping to get good and lost, really fast. He isn't sure if they're going to send the police after him or not. And he'd really rather not be caught by the cops. For a number of reasons.

Virgil Hawkins (1256) has posed:
"... oh baby, put your arms around me! I don't care, if my father grounds me! I wanna' be with you, bay-bay! You wanna' be with me, bay-bay! So let's Just Be!"

So. That not-too-bad but certainly not-any-good singing is coming from above. Not too high above because the superhero in question is skimming just low enough so that people can see him on his stylishly designed mode of transport! The black and the purple and the visible electromagnetic trail that's left in his wake can only mean one thing: STATIC. And just in case there was any doubt, there are some people that end up with frizzy hair or shirts pulled up. It's static-y out here, okay!

Static's rendition of No Direction's 'Just Be' is cut short when he surfs around the corner and pulls up short seeing the mini-commotion happening with the bus. Or what just happened. Whatever. He's late enough to misunderstand but early enough to make a difference. At least that's the plan. "Ah ah ah!" Static goes high and immediately sends some electromagnetivity to grab the dumpster in the alley and swings it to the mouth of said alley for a little bit of blockage. "Sorry, man. This alley's closed until further notice!" With a grin, Static drops a bit low to glare through his masic and try to look as heroically intimidating while cracking jokes as possible. It's going to be an interesting attempt. "Or at least until I take you to jail." Static grins. "You got a prefernce to which one?" Oh, the classic cocky superhero trope. It's in full effect here!

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Crime never stops, does it? Hawkeye decides to go patrol in the daytime for once - it's Sunday, so why not? But, things are slow. So she just happens to be prowling around a rooftop when she hears the scream and something run off a bus. She tracks the movement and ends up on a building overlooking the alley Alex has fled into. A man in black on top of a manhole cover trapping the poor guy in here. She crouches on the corner of a building. "Hey, Pikachu! Leave him alone!

Alexander Dubois (1261) has posed:
Alexander yelps as he skids to a stop when the dumpster suddenly blocks the alley. He runs into the dumpster, but not too terribly hard. It's enough to make him stumble, but not to fall over, and there's no resounding CLANG!, like Virgil may have been hoping.

Virgil gets a good look at the kid then, and he IS a kid; looks like he's about sixteen. Dark skin on the lines of someone of Indian descent (actual India, not native American), short and shaggy brown hair, yellow-gold eyes -- the latter of which may mark him as not being completely normal. Though that may not help his case.

It probably also won't help that he's electrically active in ways a human shouldn't be. There's ionized electromagnetism in that kid, even if he's not wearing a costume. It's a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, and a long-sleeved shirt tied around his waist by its sleeves. Probably not a supervillain in that getup.

He turns in Virgil's direction, his hands raised. Notably, they're empty. "Wait, wait, you got it all wrong!" he declares. He pauses then, as Kate shows up. He doesn't remember her, but he looks hopeful when she seems to come to his aid. And since it's possible two heroes are about to face off, Alexander stays quiet. He's not a hero, and if he doesn't want to be punching above his weight class, he isn't going to get between them.

Virgil Hawkins (1256) has posed:
"Pikachu?! Pikachu?!?!" Swirling around on his totally not manhole cover because he's got actual CLOUT now, Static narrows his eyes at the girly that's deciding to be all up in his business. "Well, okay. I can live with that. Pikachu's pretty cool. But do you even /see/ any yellow? Come on." Static motions to all over himself where there is not yellow costuming! He worked hard on this costume. There was a montage and everything.

"Don't go anywhere Electro, Jr.! Let me handle your back up and then you and I'll have a little chat about Bang Baby Do's and Don't's." Static flings a ball of Static Cling off in the direction of Alex because he's definitely trying to make sure he doesn't go anywhere, as he lifts higher to get all up in Kate's Face.

"Listen up. Since you didn't try to kill me on sight, I'm gonna' guess you're not as bad news as I should think you are. So I'm gonna' let you in on a little secret. I'm Static. And that dude down there is... well, I don't know who he is. but I'm gettin' all kinds of electro vibes from him. Which probably means he's a Bang Baby or something worse. And before you so ruuuuuudely interrupted, I was about to take him to ShockTown!"

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Hawkeye peers at Static over her sunglasses. "No yellow, yeah. Ok, you can be Raichu, then." She has her bow out but no arrow, yet. "I know that guy, he's alright. Nothing to worry about." She nods, though, at Static's introduction. "'Static', huh? Is your secret weakness dryer sheets?" and she grins. "I'm Hawkeye."

Alexander Dubois (1261) has posed:
The ball of electricity comes down at him, and Alex's eyes widen. He doesn't know what that's going to do to him. He can assume it's not going to kill him, but... better safe than splattered, right? An unearthly groan echoes up from somewhere underground -- probably not helped in its creepiness by echoing around the walls of the alley -- and a large tendril of greenish-white smoke exits his opened mouth, heading for the approaching cling ball.

It looks a little like a big green amoeba trying to swallow a smaller amoeba. And given the wince from Alexander, and the way all his muscles tense up -- not much different than a lot of actual static electricity, in fact -- the smaller 'amoeba' bit back. But while the ball does seem to be absorbed by the smoke, it clearly didn't 'taste' very good. Alexander stumbles, hitting a knee as the smoke withdraws back into his mouth and the echoing groan from the depths of God-only-knows-where fades away. "...Ow."

That display comes right on the heels of Kate's assurances that he's 'all right', too. Trust issues, man! He just ate a ball of static electricity! He tilts his head up as the two heroes talk, curious, but not wanting to intrude. Or get himself in trouble. Can he hear them from the ground? It's hard to tell, he's not making it obvious if he can.

Virgil Hawkins (1256) has posed:
"I can dig that. Raichu's pretty cool. I'm wit' it." Static offers this with a bit of a shrug as he swirls on his STATIC SAUCER to check out Alex while talking to the one known as Hawkeye. "Hawkeye, huh? So that's why you hang out on rooftops? Like to get a Bird's Eye View?" Static cracks his joke and raises an eyebrow when the information about Alex being 'alright' finally comes to pass in his mind.

Of course, this is the same moment he witnesses the HungerFest that just went on down there. He blinks a couple times behind his mask and just turns to look back at Hawkeye. "... You call /that/ alright?" Static shakes his head and looks down at Alex with a wave of his hand. "Hey, Audrey III! My bad, man! You're all good! Birdgirl up here vouched for you!" And with another blast of electromagnet stylishness... the dumpster is moved out of the way. "But do me a favor and please find a better place to live than this alley. Gross, man. Gross."

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate shakes her head. "Do I look like a bird?" but she's not angry or anything. She turns to show her back to Static. "No wings, see?" she shrugs at the question. "I don't know. Maybe he was hungry? He didn't do that the last time I saw him." She smiles as Virge unblocks the alley. "See? We can all get along. Good on you."

Alexander Dubois (1261) has posed:
Alexander blinks. 'Audrey'? He knows the reference, yeah. He winces again, in fact, and presses a hand to his chest. Still hurts, too. Heartburn, apparently. But when the dumpster's moved, Alexander cringes back away from the movement. He can probably sense the electromagnetic spectrum being used to move it.

But he is not a coward. Proved when he actually starts to head up to the roof of the building! He doesn't have any fancy movement abilities or grappling hooks, so he has to rely on climbing up a fire escape. He can reach up and pull down the ladder with that green smoke if required, but aside from that, it's all about running and climbing.

Give him a sec, guys, he'll get up there...

Virgil Hawkins (1256) has posed:
"Hey, the less kicking of bootay I have to do around here, the better. I mean, if I start being awesome all over the place then what's Superman gonna' do, huh? Exactly. /Exactly/." He doesn't even leave a place to respond because he's getting the feeling that Hawkeye's going to respond anyway. So far, that's been how they do their thing. Not that they have a thing. It's a conversation? Oh, nevermind!

"Hey uh, dude? What're you?" Static rolls his eyes for a moment and has to stop himself from facepalming. "Dude! I could've given you a lift!" Static sends out some sky purple beams to grab onto all the metal that's not tied down in the immediate area and gives them all a quick lift before setting them back down. "But if you need the exercise..." And with a grin he's turning back to Hawkeye because he just totally showed off. Oh yeah.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
"Cute." Kate says as she watches the show. "What's your electric bill like?" she quips. "You're adorable." she encourages. "and a free light show too." She nods to Alexander as he ends up on the roof. "Hey."

Alexander Dubois (1261) has posed:
Alexander isn't above getting a lift! Though he's not exactly Italian plumber material, he can play platformer with the Metal Stuff Rising. Eventually though, he'll get on the roof. First thing he says when in speaking distance? "Nah, exercise won't do me any good. And I'd rather avoid exorcism, thanks; I'd like to keep my soul on the inside." That's a clue, too.

Kate gets a blink when she greets him. "Uh, hi?" he offers uncertainly. He doesn't really know her, or at least, he doesn't seem to recognize her in her hero costume. Which is kind of the point of hero costumes, so at least she knows that part's working as intended.

Virgil Hawkins (1256) has posed:
At the bottom of the screen that nobody knows about but our viewers at home, a little Anime version of Static is squealing like crazy with the speech bubble that says: 'OMG YES SHE THINKS I'M CUTE I KNEW IT WAY TO GO STATIC BRING IT HOME BOY!'

Static gives a bit of a nod when he's complimented and shrugs it off with the humility of a street level hero that has the potential to be so much more. "Adorable, huh? Psh, I bet you say that to all the electrically charged heroes with awesome hair." He even takes a moment to toss his dreads around. Y'know, just in case she didn't notice. Static is the worst (or the best) at flirting.

"You mean on the inside whenever you're not making my static electricity into a Big Belly Burger?" Static grins and reaches out to offer a non-electrical fist for the dude to pound. Fistbump action. "My bad. I heard people screamin', saw you runnin' and in all of my Hero Handbooks that equals bad news. Call me Static. But don't ever call me..." Oh god, he's not going to say it. He's going to say it. He's smiling like he wants to say it. He won't say it. "... late for dinner!"

Ugh. He said it.

Alexander Dubois (1261) has posed:
Alexander facepalms at Static. But he's also laughing, quietly. He isn't going to comment on the flirting with Kate. He does, however, return the fistbump action, if it's meant as a request for one. He's still snickering. Also he needs to answer the other thing. "Yeah, I uh. I'm... kinda dead," he admits. "Like, literally. I don't have a heartbeat, and I only breathe to talk. I fell asleep on the bus, and that poor old lady probably thought she stumbled on a corpse. And when she screamed, it woke me up.

"Being a street kid, I know when someone's standing over you screaming, it's usually a bad thing. So..." He shrugs. Snickering at the 'late for dinner', he returns, "Alexander." Nope, that's not a hero name.

Virgil Hawkins (1256) has posed:
"So kind of like a Zombie and a Vampire? Vambie? Zompire? Somebody stop me because I'll just keep going." Static stops himself by saying that and seems to be all good with whatever. "Don't worry, dude. I've seen worse. Met worse. Fought worse. And then there was that one blind date..." Static shudders and waves off the memories of such bad times. He doesn't even want to go back down memory lane.

"As long as you're on our side that's all that matters. Sorry that you're dead, though. That's gotta' suck, right?"

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
"So, you went on a date with a vampire?" Hawkeye asks. "I guess you didn't take her to an Italian place, did you? Maybe that's why it didn't go very well, huh?"

Alexander Dubois (1261) has posed:
"More like a..." And yes, he does the voice, in a tone intended to be humorous, and as he says the next, he raises his hands to the side of his head, making claw-like motions with his hands. "'ZOMBIE GOAST'!" Yes, he knows that meme. Though he straightens up immediately, chuckling. "Something like that, anyway." He snickers at the 'blind date' mention. "That's one of the reasons I don't date. The reveal is kind of awkward."

Kate's mention of going to an Italian place gets a snort, and he covers his mouth to try not to laugh. "Yeah, I can imagine," he notes. "Also, is 'second base' with a vampire chick her getting to bite you? Or is that third base?"

Virgil Hawkins (1256) has posed:
"It wan't a vampire! It was much much MUCH worse. It was a Yankees fan. Total dealbreaker." Static cleans it up with more humor that's probably not even funny but he's in the business of trying to make sure that everybody laughs and nothing gets awkward so he's down with making sure that he drops the quip hammer every once in a while.

"ZG! I do /not/ need to hear this!" Static plugs his ears and goes into a teasing la-la-la mode when the Zombie Ghost Reboot is talking about The Bases.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate looks the pair over. "Well, that was fun. Bantering and all." she says. "It's good to get those muscles exercised. A delicious part of a nutritious breakfast." She yawns. "I should probably run along, you boys have fun."

Alexander Dubois (1261) has posed:
Alexander starts to laugh when Static plugs his ears. "Corrupting the youth of today, I know. Sorry about that," he offers, still chuckling. "I'm older than I look. Tends to be a thing with us undead types."

He chuckles to Kate's words. "Thanks for the save," he notes to her. "Be careful out there, okay?"

Virgil Hawkins (1256) has posed:
"Right. Well, catch ya' later, Hawkeye!" See, Static knows not to press for the digits. He's pretty sure they'll run in the same circles again or something. He's not about to just be all extra with it. He does one of those salute-waves and turns to Alex in the next moment.

"Man, I know this is probably going to creep me out and give me more nightmares than a bad fish sandwich... but the whole dead thing? Uh. How? When? Etcetera?" Yes. Static just said 'etcetera'. WTF.

Alexander Dubois (1261) has posed:
Alexander gives a wave to the departing Kate. Static's question, though, draws his attention back, and he blink. "Oh. Um. Couple years ago there was a talent show in New York. Might have made the news, I don't know. Lightning hit the sound system while one of the performers was on the stage, caused an explosion and killed the performer." Virgil may or may not have seen that. "That was me. I was a minor at the time so they probably withheld my name."

He tilts his head a bit, remembering it. "I didn't really feel a thing, actually. Felt like a heavyweight boxer punched me in my everything, but I didn't even have time to feel the pain," he notes. "It was dark for a while, and then my senses started coming back. THAT'S when the pain set in. Turns out being in the crossfire of four amps exploding will mess you up pretty bad. Zero out of ten, would not recommend." He smirks, trying to make light of it.

Virgil Hawkins (1256) has posed:
"I dunno. Sounds like it'd be a pretty big boost for me." Static raises a hand and makes electricity crackle all around it. "Your origin story's so much cooler than mine. You had music and lightning and a whole crowd of people to bear witness! Me? I got hit by gas." Static frowns his face up as the electricity fades from his hand. "So the amps. That's why you read like a Christmas Tree on Steroids. I was wondering how that worked with the whole Zompire thing but... I get it. Cool." He's scientifically impressed! "So when you're not scaring people off the bus do you like... fight crime? Or you doing the whole 'survival of the deadest' thing?"

Alexander Dubois (1261) has posed:
Alexander seems to shy away from the electric hand. Which may not be surprising if he died to electricity. But he tilts at Static's account. "I'd rather have yours. That way hundreds of people wouldn't have had to see a sixteen year old get basically burned and electrocuted to death." He frowns.

The mention of 'reading like a Christmas tree on sterioids' gets a blink. "That's the ionization," Alexander replies. "Ever heard of 'ectoplasm'? That's what that green stuff was. Ghosts use it. It's electrically charged. That's probably what you're picking up."

As for scaring people off buses? Alexander looks sheepish. "That was kind of accidental. But no, I don't really fight crime. I mean, I don't go out of my way to. I help where I can, but that's about it. Like yesterday, I helped a little with these two that was trying to run cars into a place where people were meeting. I wasn't really 'MVP' there, but I hope I helped a little."

Virgil Hawkins (1256) has posed:
"Dude." That one's the one that sounds like he's all somber now because he didn't look at dying in front of all those people and how bad it probably made everyone feel.

"Duuuude." That one is the succinct agreement to the fact that it is, indeed, the ionization. Clearly, Static knows his science stuff even if he's not using the scientific words to respond. He even does some ionic stuff.

"Dude!" That one is for the more excited part when he's told how Alex did some actual crime fighting. Even if it was just a little bit.

"But seriously, though, we do need more people like you. We've got enough Big Time Superheroes. We've got enough of people trying to play hero. We don't have enough people to just... Be Heroes. Just Be." Static gives a nod and a grin because it's good times when he meets someone that's not completely crazy or trying to kill him or anything like that. "You should get a costume. Costumes are fun."

Alexander Dubois (1261) has posed:
Alexander is amused by the repetition. "'Dude' is a pretty useful word, I admit," he agrees. "I only know of one with more utility, and it's not one I'm going to repeat here." He grins. Yes, he's kidding. Sorta. He's not going to say bad words in front of Static, who seems a young sort. No corrupting the innocent, you horrible ZOMBIE GOAST!

As for a costume? He blinks. "That would mean I'm setting out to fight crime. And besides, I can't fly or run super-fast, or even lift things in the air. Not that are big enough to carry me." Here he smirks. "Besides, I don't think I have the legs to pull off spandex."

Virgil Hawkins (1256) has posed:
"Dude, you don't have to rock spandex. I /know/ I don't have the legs for it. So I went with a more Urban style." He starts spinning on his Static Saucer in a slow and modeling fashion. He really should stop being /such/ a jokester. But he can't help it. Even in his civilian life his mouth just keeps going and going. "I mostly meant for protection. You start bustin' up these guys carjacking operations and sooner or later they're gonna' get bit by a genetically altered jackrabbit, call themselves Hijack and come hopping and stomping your way! It'd be better for you and anybody that knows you to, y'know, not get attacked while you're trying to eat a burger." Static shrugs. "just a thought! Besides, costumes come with cool names. Like Static." He grins.

Alexander Dubois (1261) has posed:
Alexander snickers at the mention of 'HiJack' and his origin story. "Actually I like that. Might make a song about it," he replies. Though he does take into account not getting attacked when he's out and about. "That's not a terrible point," he admits. "But all the cool codenames about ghosts have probably already been taken. And I don't want to call myself Slime Boy or something ridiculous like that."

Virgil Hawkins (1256) has posed:
Static grins. "Listen. If there's a cool power we can find you a cool nickname. I mean, again, Static." He's the best at using himself for a reference point. Also, it doesn't show how much of a fanboy he is. Then again, he just created a stupid supervillain out of thin air so there's probably a good chance at understanding that Static is not only a superhero... but he's also a fan of them. Maybe that's why he's pushing this so hard. "Plasm." Static starts nodding his head like he's some name creating genius.

"Oh and look me up when you record that song. I wanna' be on the remix."

Alexander Dubois (1261) has posed:
Alexander blinks. "Not bad," he notes. "Though I can think of several 'villain nicknames' off of that one that I ought not to repeat." It's WEIRD being stuck between adulthood and one's teenage years!

"Also, I need to get my normal life established before I can start making another one," Alexander notes. "One step at a time, right? Still running around trying to do that whole 'existence' thing. Good thing I don't need to eat anymore." He DOES, because it makes him feel normal. But it's not a necessity.

Here he smirks. "How does one look up a superhero, anyway?" he asks. "Does every superhero have a signal or something? Like they do for Batman in Gotham?" He's probably kidding.

Virgil Hawkins (1256) has posed:
"Yeah, I already lead a double life. I can't even imagine trying to lead a double unlife. It's gotta' be crazy." Static grins at the thought of trying to lead a quadruple life and just shakes his head. Man, their lives are pretty darn crazy. "Well, you see, not everyone has a cool light on top of city hall they can shine when needed so you might want to just..."

From somewhere down below and off in the distance there is a bloodcurling scream of injustice. Static sighs.

"That." Static gives a salute. "Gotta' fly, Plasm. Stay Undead. And remember, no brains. Not because it's wrong but because it's totally gross, man. Ugh." With a laugh and a salute, Static spins up on his Static Saucer and soars off into the sky!

"Bloodcurling screams? Best. Segues. Ever." Oh the sarcasm.