So it wasn't as quick as I had wanted to be, but it was still a much quicker update than the last time. :)

"Cause I hate the ocean, theme parks and airplanes, talking with strangers, waiting in line. I'm through with these pills that make me sit still. "Are you feeling fine?" Yes, I feel just fine." - Everything Is Alright by Motion City Soundtrack

The world is full of awkward looking things. Scalene triangles, cotton candy ice cream, tube socks, Ben Stiller... but nothing looks as awkward as two drenched superheroes taking the bus all the way across the city at 2 in the morning. The old woman and a greasy, middle aged man that were also on the bus were staring intently. Even the driver was taking breaks to look over at them in his mirror. Static sat in the seat with his arms folded in an irritated manner and his clothes were extra heavy from soaking up all the water. Velocity was next to him, her spandex was more dry than Static's outfit and her long wet hair dangled freely. The two powerless heroes exited the bus as quickly as possible once they reached their stop. They only had to walk a block before reaching Ellie's house and thankfully the streets were so empty they didn't have to worry about anyone seeing them go into the house with their costumes on.

Ellie let out a loud breath of relief as she tossed her mask to the floor and kicked off her shoes. Virgil shed his mask and coat and neatly hung them up.

"First priority: I need food in my belly." Ellie announced as she dragged her feet into the kitchen. Virgil's stomach growled as well and he remembered that he hadn't eaten since the morning. The moment Ellie and Virgil walked into the kitchen Richie sprang to his feet.

"Thank God you guys are home! We were beginning to... why are you guys wet?" Richie questioned.

"It's been a long night sweet face." Ellie said as she pecked him on the cheek and approached her cabinet and let out a sigh of relief when she saw Lucky Charms.

"Well, what happened?" Richie asked.

"Well... we went to Alva's, lost our powers, got tossed into a lake and then we had to take the bus home." Ellie sighed she crossed her arms with a pout, "People stared."

"You- went to- you lost your- what?" Richie gaped. He looked to Virgil who nodded in confirmation. "Well snap... what's the next move?" asked the blond boy.

"We go to the Cave of Wonders, get a genie lamp, wish for all the mean people in the world to turn into marshmallow, world peace and permanent sunshine." Ellie suggested.

"OR we go and infiltrate Alva's again and investigate Iron Fist. He said he stole the gas from Alva's so he must have some type of access to them in order to know that..." Virgil said as he started peeling a banana.

"Who's Iron Fist?" asked Richie.

"Some crazed up dude in a costume made of iron." Ellie shrugged.

"How will we get in without your powers?" Richie questioned.

"My dad works there remember?" Ellie said as she began rustling through her cabinets again. "All we need to do is make up a couple of fake ID's and that's easy as heck for me since I sell them to middle schoolers for 20 bucks. Ooooh we have animal crackers!" Ellie shouted with delight as she took out a plastic bag and began munching on her new snack.

"I swear Ellie, somebody could sell you ground up chicken livers and as long as it was in the shape of a flower you'd find it appealing." Virgil shook his head.

"Hey I can't help the fact I fall under the spell of consumerism." Ellie said, "I mean which sounds better to you; a box of popcorn or a box of popcorn with Batman's face on it?"

"They're the same thing." Virgil said in a monotone.

"Nuh uh. One has Batman on it." Ellie rolled her eyes at Virgil's stupidity and mumbled, "Idiot."

"Hey guys, can we stick to discussing the plan?" asked Richie.

"Oh right." Ellie said, "Well I'll just go grab my dad's work photo ID badge thing and make three copies with different names, I have a laminating machine downstairs in Candyland. Once those are all faked up all we have to do is go invade Alva's and cause some chaos." she explained.

Virgil gave her a suspicious look, "Do you really sell fake ID's to middle schoolers?"

"I don't really think that's the point right now." Ellie said, "The point is, I can get us inside."

"And then we'll find out who Iron Fist is, find out where the real Bang Baby Gas is and get our powers back." Virgil confidently finished. Richie nodded and looked over to Ellie who had gone a bit quiet. There seemed to be a question on her mind but her blue eyes showed hesitation. She just bit her lip and nodded. Before Richie could ask her about her unusual behavior; Ellie's father, Malcolm, walked into the kitchen.

"El, it's been almost 4 hours since I texted you for dinner, where were you?" he asked.

"I was in a lake." Ellie said.

"And why didn't you call?"

"Again, I was in a lake." she pulled out her water soaked cellphone and put it on the table. Malcolm sighed as he looked at the pitiful thing.

"That's the third one this month..." he reminded her.

"And this why I asked you to spring for the water proof utility belt but does anybody listen to me? Nooooooo, 'Just get the black one it's only 45.95'." Ellie mocked.

"Yes and I believe your retort to that was 'No daddy, this one's yellow and it matches my outfit!'." Malcolm mocked back.

"Well, it was also waterproof." Ellie said with her arms crossed.

"Yeah and an extra 20 bucks." Malcolm said.

"How much money do you spend in phones for me again?"

"I don't know how I raised you to be such a little wise ass." Malcolm shook his head, he looked over and noticed Virgil and Richie's presence.

"How long have these two been here?" he asked.

Richie looked aghast, "I've been here for like six hours, two of which I spent talking to you!"

"Oh right... you talked about your feelings for a bit and then I just kind of tuned you out." Malcolm recalled, "Are they staying much longer?"

"They're spending about a week or so here." Ellie said.

"I see."

"Yeah, don't answer the phone if their parents call, we're supposed to be in Montana at Uncle Sebastian's chinchilla ranch." Ellie said. Malcolm let out a long sigh.

"And why exactly am I covering for them to stay here?" Malcolm asked skeptically.

"Because, there's no way Virgil's dad is gonna let him go outside while all these riots are breaking out and I need Static's help on this one." Ellie requested. Malcolm looked at Virgil and felt his morals being conflicted. He would be allowing the mocha skinned teen put himself in danger just to keep his daughter out of too much danger. He didn't want to do it, but if Ellie was admitting that she needed help, there must be a whole bunch of trouble brewing. He nodded.

"And why am I covering for your boyfriend to stay here?" he asked.

"Because his parents are out of town. And it's too scary outside to let him stay by himself."

Malcolm groaned very loudly and covered his face with his hands. "I hate lying to fellow parents about their children's whereabouts."

"But you'll do it, right?" Ellie batted her eyelashes and kissed her father's cheek.

"Please don't ever use my parenting skills on your own kids, El." Malcolm said.

"But you're the best daddy in the entire universe. You have a mug that says so. I bought it for you remember?" Ellie said.

"Go to bed." Malcolm said and dragged his feet out of the kitchen.

"Aren't you gonna tell me to brush my teeth first?" Ellie called after him.

"Brush your teeth and floss!" Malcolm's voice called back.

Ellie groaned, "Ugh, I don't wanna floss."

"Too bad!"

"Fine..." Ellie grumbled and stomped to the bathroom.

It didn't take Richie very long to fall asleep. Once they had finished coming up with fake names for the ID cards and went through the process of laminating them, Ellie set up the futon and air mattress with blankets in Candyland for Virgil and Richie before retiring to her own room. So Richie was only a few moments away from REM sleep when he felt something nuzzle itself against his chest. And he knew this "something" was most likely Ellie because she had a pretty distinct way of possessively wrapping her arms around his hips to keep him close. At least he hoped the "something" was Ellie and not Virgil or the other potential male candidates upstairs.

"You smell like grilled cheese." the "something" informed him, "It's very flattering." Yup, definitely Ellie.

"Well, no offense to your dad's cooking but I had to eat something." Richie said, "And speaking of him, I don't think he'd be very thrilled if he knew you were sneaking out of your room to stay down here..."

"Eh, my daddy's a permissive parent."

"Hadn't noticed."

"So, he'll get over it."

"Whatever floats your boat." Richie said. Ellie let out a small quiet laugh and cuddled him closer. She then grew quiet for a good couple of minutes. This was a very un-Ellie like thing to do. Richie had stayed in a bed with Ellie many times (more times then he'd care to admit in front of his parents. The speedster had a habit of crawling through his window after a night of patrolling) and she almost always kept him chatting until he fell asleep on her.

"Are you okay?" Richie asked. He felt the her body heave a sigh.

"Everything is alright..." she responded in an unenthusiastic tone.

"Now that didn't sound too convincing." Richie noted, "What's wrong?"

Ellie shifted for a bit and hesitantly looked up to lock eyes with Richie. The moon light from the small corner basement window illuminated his face and highlighted the blue in his eyes, making it physically impossible for Ellie to lie to him.

"I'm scared." she whispered.

"Well, of course you're scared... you just had your life threatened." Richie reminded her and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"No, not of that... well kinda that... but it's just... I feel so..." Ellie broke off, her words jumbling themselves. She sighed and Richie patiently waited for her to regain control of her speech. She took a deep breath and continued, "I'm not like Virgil, or you, for that matter. I was always different, being fast is all I've ever known. And now I don't know what to do or how to be. It's like someone took one of my eyes, I can still function, it's just different, I feel like someone took my edge." Ellie said miserably. "On top of that, I have to lie to my dad. Because if he knows I lost my powers there's no way in HELL he'd let me go out risking my neck anymore. I hate lying to him. He's like one of my best friends..." she said.

"Ellie, it's gonna be okay. We're going to infiltrate Alva's tomorrow and we'll get your powers back." Richie comforted.

"But what if..." Ellie looked very hesitant and she sighed, "...never mind."

"Wait, what is it?" Richie pressed.

"It's late... let's just talk in the morning." Ellie rolled on her side.

"But El-"

"Sweet dreams sugar plum." Ellie silenced him. Richie let out his own sigh and turned over so he was on his back. He could tell she was still troubled, but he didn't want to her push her too hard. He tried to relax as best until he fell into another sleep.