Luke Cage: 12
Luke Cage: Born as Carl Lucas, he grew up on the mean streets of Harlem, New York. As a young adult, he began to stray toward a life of crime, but it was hurting his family, so he gave it up. However, Lucas was framed for a crime he didn't commit and was sent to prison. For early parole, he volunteered for an experiment that would speed up the healing process, but an enemy of his sabotaged the procedure. Instead of killing him, the procedure gave Lucas unbreakable skin and super strength. After escaping prison, he stopped a thief and was paid by the store owner as thanks. Now he hires his services as a Hero for Hire. He is... Luke Cage!
12: Ryoko Madarame wanted to become a model above all things. After being approached by G Corp, she believed that she would finally get her chance, but it was a trap. After being heavily experimented on by G Corp, Ryoko was near death, but she was saved by the Black Priest. After going into hiding, Ryoko saw that she had gained the powers of invisibility, telekinesis, and clairvoyance. She will expose G Corp for the people they have hurt. She is... 12!
Jessica holds baby Danielle in her arms, holding her perfectly still. Jessica wears a black t-shirt and blue jeans with no footwear, but the cold kitchen floor doesn't bother her since she is as bulletproof as her husband. Luke steps in and kisses her on the cheek, smiling at his two girls. "She seems peaceful," said Luke. "I'm glad. With everything that's been happening lately, with Iron Man going off the deep end and the Axis of Evil...," Luke places his right hand on Jessica's left cheek bone and looks at her with a worried look in his eyes. "Carnage made that video so that no one would hate the Avengers and X-Men, but that doesn't change what happened. Spell or no spell, I became the very thing I've been fighting against this whole time. I was willing to let innocent people die just to satisfy my own selfish pursuits." "Luke, stop beating yourself up. You have been working hard these past few months to make up for that. Whatever evil you have lingering inside of you, it will surface once in a while; you don't need a spell for that. All that matters is how you channel that evil."
The doorbell rings. Luke puts on his yellow t-shirt and approaches the door. He opens it as it creaks slightly. Luke sees a Japanese woman in her early twenties with a slender figure and a very smooth face. She is around 5'7 in height with long black hair stretched down to her breasts. She wears a white tank top with gray shorts and black open toe sandals. The young woman stares at Luke with a blank expression. "Are you Luke Cage?" "Yes. What do you need?" "My name is Ryoko Madarame. I want to hire you as my bodyguard. I'm being followed." Luke squints in suspicion. "Do you know who's following you?" Ryoko's eyes peer left briefly before looking at Luke again. "Purple Man." Luke seems to be shocked, hearing the name of his old enemy.
Ryoko now sits in Luke's living room, drinking from a cup of tea that Jessica made. Luke stands a few feet away from Ryoko with his arms folded. "It looks like you haven't eaten in a while. Now, tell me how you know that you're being followed." Ryoko looks up at Luke with a calm look on her face. "Because I saw Purple Man hiding nearby as I was walking. I knew that the two of you had history, so I figured I would hire you. I also wanted to see your abilities first hand, maybe combine them with mine." Luke becomes curious. "What do you mean, Ryoko?" Ryoko stands up and turns invisible, but her clothes are still visible. "So you can turn invisible?" "That's not all." Ryoko's tea cup levitates over to Luke, then returns to the coffee table's surface. "Invisibility and telekinesis. You sure you need my protection," asked Luke. Ryoko turns visible again. "I heard that Purple Man has mind control, so I am the last person who should face him directly. I knew that you fought him before, which is why I came to you, Luke. You have experience with fighting him. I thought you could help me."
Luke unfolds his arms and walks over to Ryoko. "So do I shake your hand or bow," asked Luke. Ryoko smiles. "I look Japanese, but I was born in the USA. A hand shake is fine." Luke shakes Ryoko's hand as she drops her smile. Ryoko reaches into her right pocket and takes out a bundle of one hundred dollar bills. Ryoko then hands Luke the entire bundle. "You charge upfront, right?" Luke takes the bundle of cash and counts through it. His eyes widen a little as he speaks to her in a questioning tone of voice. "This is two thousand dollars." "Is that enough?" "That's a lot of cash to be carrying around in your pocket. You don't have a bank account?" "Don't need one. As I said, I'm being followed."
Luke and Ryoko walk down the street from Luke's apartment. Ryoko quickly spots an old woman having trouble with her groceries and runs over, taking the other bag. "Why thank you, young lady." "Not a problem," said Ryoko smiling. Luke drops his smile when he spots a figure across the street in the alleyway, wearing a black suit. He sees a hint of what appears to be purple skin. Luke becomes serious. "She was right. I see him." Luke makes a fist of slight anger. "Zebediah Killgrave. Purple Man." Luke thinks these things to himself as Ryoko comes back to him. "What's wrong, Luke?" "Purple Man. What's disturbing is that he's not hiding. It's like he wants us to know that he's here." "I think I know why," said Ryoko. Ryoko ducks into a small alley and turns invisible, then removes her clothes. "I'll be right back. Watch my clothes, Luke." Luke looks down at the clothes, blushing a little because Ryoko has stripped nude.
"Got him," said Ryoko with Purple Man floating over to Luke, seemingly immobilized. Luke looks up at Killgrave. "What gives, Zebediah? You're usually more careful than this. You forget your spy training?" Purple Man laughs before serenely but sadistically smiling. "Not at all, Luke. I was paid to give the little lady a message, but when I saw her hire you, I thought I could kill two birds." "How? Ryoko caught you." "Oh, I'm just a distraction. G Corp paid me a lot of money to follow Ms. Madarame. They're watching us right now." Luke becomes serious. "Who are G Corp?" Purple Man suddenly finds himself passing out. Ryoko puts him down as invisible hands pick up her clothes and put them on. Ryoko becomes visible again with Luke stepping over to her, folding his arms. "Okay, start explaining. Who are G Corp?"
Ryoko and Luke continue their walk through the streets of Harlem, passing up a playground. "Luke, the real reason I hired you is because of G Corp. I was hoping that you could help me take them down." "So who are they?" "G Corp is an organization that specializes in biology, but what they don't tell you is that they perform unethical experiments on people to turn them into superpowered soldiers. I know this because they experimented on me." Luke looks at her with concern. "During the time that they opened me up, I overheard them talking about their previous experiments. They said that I was number twelve." "So eleven other people before you were their test subjects," responds Luke. "G Corp is owned and founded by Hidemitsu Rashamon, but I should warn you Luke; he too is a superhuman." "What are his powers," asked Luke. "Hidemitsu is a psychic generator. He generates his own psychic energy and gives it to others so that they develop powers. Then he exposes them to radiation so their powers awaken faster." Luke looks serious now. "Then he has to be stopped. Where is G Corp?"
Luke and Ryoko are in utter shock when they find themselves suddenly inside of a black, fancy office. Luke and Ryoko fearfully look at the large desk of the man behind it. He has the appearance of a very young Japanese man with pale skin, Rapunzel like long blue hair down to his waist, a white suit with a black suit shirt and red tie, black suit shoes and he has red irises in his eyes. He is extremely attractive, but his shit-eating grin doesn't help the situation. "Looking for me, Ryoko?" "Hidemitsu. How did you…" "Find you? Killgrave was my eyes. The moment he laid eyes on you, I was able to track you." "You used telepathy on him, didn't you," asked Luke. "Very good, Mr. Cage. Yes, I used telepathy to see through his eyes. However, it was rather careless of you to leave Killgrave unattended. I woke him up right after I brought you here."
Ryoko pushes Rashamon into the wall with telekinesis and as she flies at him, he knocks her back with his mind. Rashamon hovers over to her in the center of his giant office. Ryoko's face burns with anger. "Killgrave is a monster and you're helping him! All that does is confirm your own malicious nature!" "Purple Man is not my concern, but Jessica and Danielle are yours, aren't they, Luke," said Rashamon as he speaks to both people in his office.
Ryoko tackles Rashamon through the windows, taking them both outside into the skies of what appears to be St. Louis, Missouri. Luke looks through the hole that they made, seeing the Gateway Arch. "How did we get all the way here?" Ryoko and Rashamon trade blows as they levitate high above St. Louis. Rashamon hits Ryoko with a psychic blast, sending her back onto the roof of G Corp, making a dent. Luke climbs onto the outer wall and leaps to the roof to aid Ryoko. As Luke is helping her up, Rashamon rams into Luke, sending him halfway across the roof but not knocking him down. Rashamon throws a right hook, but Luke dodges in time and delivers his own, knocking him back and damaging the roof. Luke charges at him, but Rashamon levitates to his feet and blocks his punch with tremendous backlash.
"I do what needs to be done, regardless of what others think of me," said Rashamon, holding Luke's fist. "Even if it means destroying people's lives," asked Luke. "You think I killed them, don't you? Didn't Ryoko tell you? The people I experimented on are still alive, I made sure of that." "So what?! You think that makes it right," shouts Luke. Rashamon blasts Luke back. "I have seen the future, Luke. I know what is coming. Humanity must be ready, which is why I started those experiments to begin with. "Ready for what," asked Ryoko. Rashamon looks to his right at Ryoko, squinting his eyes with a bad omen. "Apep." "Who," asked Luke. Rashamon looks back at Luke again. "You have teamed up with literal gods from mythology, Luke, such as Hercules and Thor. Apep is the Egyptian God of Evil who only wants destruction. I have seen a Dark Future, one where Apep reigns supreme and people kill without reason. Our world's population is dangerously low and killers and rapists roam free. After Ryoko, I began to rapidly increase the number of super humans so that when Apep makes his move, we would be ready to face him as a species."
Luke and Ryoko look at each other for a brief moment before nodding. Luke leaps high into the air and Rashamon is surprised by it before Ryoko does the same and the two of them take off in high speed flight.
Luke is back at his apartment with Jessica standing next to him. Ryoko stands in front of them with a somewhat satisfied grin. "I suppose that is all for now. If I need you again, I'll call you." "Hold up, Ryoko! Something still bothers me. If you've been hiding from Rashamon this whole time, then where do you get your money from?" Ryoko shrugs. "I am an online model, but that job barely pays, so I use what little I make to play at the casino." "You mean you use your telekinesis to cheat at the casino, right? You paid me two grand in cash and there is no way you made that on your own if you're living incognito. So where are you staying? A small house? An apartment? A roadside motel?" Ryoko lowers her head, humiliated. "An abandoned church." Luke and Jessica look a bit confused. "I had an apartment, but I knew that if I went back there, Hidemitsu's people would have found me. In fact, they have agents watching it right now."
"So you're homeless," said a sympathetic Jessica. Luke and Jessica walk into the kitchen and begin to whisper. "So Jess, what do you think? Should we send her back out there? If Rashamon finds her again…," "I don't think you could live with yourself if that happened. Luke, Rashamon may think he's doing the right thing, but so does Magneto. How many people has he killed in the name of mutant rights?" Jessica looks to her right, seeing Ryoko in the living room. "If Rashamon really is that powerful, physically and financially, then Ryoko can't be by herself right now." Jessica and Luke make eye contact. "All right, I'll tell her," said Luke. Luke and Jessica look back into the living room and are surprised to see that Ryoko is gone.
Ryoko sits on the head of the Statue of Liberty after dark. It has been hours since she left Luke's and Jessica's apartment. Ryoko left because she overheard Luke's and Jessica's conversation with clairvoyance. Ryoko feared that Rashamon would come after them next and they would be put in harm's way because of her. Luke and Jessica may be bulletproof, but what about Danielle? Ryoko has to be alone until G Corp is exposed. She can't let anyone get hurt because of her. A figure lands on the statue behind her as she hugs her knees. He wears a gray costume with black and white outlines and a large, black cape. He wears a silver helmet with a physically fit body. "You don't have to be alone. By yourself, you are vulnerable." "I know who you are. Why are you here, Magneto?" The master of magnetism responds calmly.
"Quentin Quire and Emma Frost helped me find you. They told me of a young psychic that is being pursued by a corporation. The X-Men can give you aid."
"You don't know what Hidemitsu is capable of. Even I haven't seen his full power yet."
"Still, it is better than hiding."
"I'll take my chances. Goodbye, Magneto." Magneto hovers over the statue and makes one last statement as he looks down at Ryoko. "If you change your mind, you know where to find us." Magneto takes off and Ryoko continues to look over the edge of the statue. "I can't get anyone involved. I don't want G-Corp hurting anyone because of me."
The End