Chapter 3

At night inside a seedy bar in the part of Royal Woods that was most heavily occupied by the gangsters, a few of Lincoln's female peers were being held hostage, dressed in revealing outfits and forced to serve the patrons as barmaids and sick entertainment. Suddenly, every light in the building went out, bathing everyone and everything in the reddish hue of the emergency lighting.

"The heck? What's going on?" asked the gangster who had taken ownership of the establishment by force. "Clancy, you see anything?" he called to his fellow gangster stationed outside the door as a bouncer. Instead of a verbal answer, somebody walked into the room holding Clancy by the nape of the neck. The newcomer wore a black hooded outfit similar to what a ninja would wear, only embroidered with Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics in bright silver, and with a long black sash around his waist that nearly reached his ankles. His face was concealed by a bone-white mask that bore slight resemblance to the mask worn by Doctor Doom (only with black lenses in the eyes and without all the rivets). The figure brought his black-gloved free hand to Clancy's neck and ripped out his windpipe, letting the lifeless body fall to the ground.

"Let the girls go, or you're next," he threatened, his voice grating like tires on gravel. Thinking he was unarmed, the gangsters all pulled out their guns and fired at him. His body jerked with the impact of each bullet, and black fluid that could've been blood sprayed from the wounds. Rather than fall lifeless himself, however, he merely staggered a bit when they stopped shooting, and the holes dotting his torso simply vanished. "I warned you," he said. A black tar-like liquid flowed down his right arm, covered his hand, and hardened to form a jagged obsidian blade at the end of his wrist. He killed every man in the room in a matter of seconds, despite their best efforts to defend themselves using melee weapons and furniture. He turned to the group of girls, who were huddling in a corner out of fright. "Your captors are dead; you are free now. Come with me, and I will keep you safe as you return to your families." Thanking him profusely, the girls proceeded to strip the corpses of jackets and other articles of clothing to ward off the autumn chill.

Together, the girls traveled down the street in silence. They never saw their mysterious savior and guardian, but they always knew that he was close by, as evidenced by the occasional muffled, gurgling shout from those foolish enough to try ambushing them. One by one, girls split off from the group to enter their homes for the first time in weeks, until the only girl left was a redhead named Cristina that had known Lincoln since elementary school and mourned his loss deeply. When she reached the front steps of her house, she started as the strange man appeared right beside her.

"You are safe now; this is where our paths must part," he said. "Take care in the future, for you may not be so lucky as to have me to rescue you." He turned to leave, and Cristina grabbed his arm.

"Wait! Who are you?" she asked.

"You may call me whatever you wish, but my true name must remain unknown," he replied and vanished into the darkness.

...

Lincoln sighed and removed his mask. It had been nearly two weeks since his death and resurrection, and he had spent that time learning the extent of his new powers. Tonight was his first excursion outside the Temple of Khonsu deep underneath Town Hall, which was now his primary place of residence until the desire to return to his loved ones became too strong.

As far as he knew, his powers included rapid healing and regeneration; a black substance secreted from his pores (and which also replaced his blood) that he could solidify at will to form weapons, armor, and limb extensions; and the ability to "jump" between shadows, using them as a form of teleportation.

"How did your first act of heroism go?" Haiku asked as she sat down beside him on the black leather sofa in his room in the temple, her black eyeliner (which he now knew was called kohl) giving her a slightly wraith-like appearance.

"Very well. I showed no mercy toward the men holding our classmates captive," he replied. "Haiku, I need to go back to my family. They need me. My...my wife needs me."

"Lincoln, I hate to tell you this, but you and Jenny aren't married," Haiku said with a look of pity.

"What? I don't understand. We exchanged vows through mutual consent, Clyde and Lisa were the witnesses..."

"Ah, but the vows include the statement 'until death do you part.'"

"And your point is?" Lincoln asked, unconsciously adding a long, sharp claw to the end of one finger.

"Death has already parted you. But fear not! Now that you are alive once more, you have the opportunity to undergo the ceremony properly." Haiku watched Lincoln stand up. "And where are you going?"

"I can't stand it, Haiku. In need to see her, and I need to see her now."

...

Bypassing Lisa's security on the bunker was no issue, as Lincoln was able to shadow-slip (the term he made up for his bizarre method of teleportation) inside. He made his way to the room he and Jenny had previously shared as lovers, slipped into a set of his old clothes that Jenny apparently refused to get rid of, and stood over the sleeping form of the very woman he had left widowed. Her puffy eyelids and the dried tears on her cheeks suggested she had cried herself to sleep, and she mumbled his name softly as she hugged a pillow to her chest. He smiled, gently pried the pillow away, and slipped under the covers. Immediately, Jenny's arms slithered over his chest and pulled him into a tight embrace. Her mumbling quieted as his presence seemed to soothe her troubled dreams, and he allowed himself to slip into a light sleep as he waited for morning to arrive.

He woke up slightly before Jenny began to stir. She cracked her eyes open and smiled at him. He smiled back.

"Good morning, beautiful. How did you sleep?" he asked her.

"At first, terrible. But now I'm having the most wonderful dream," she replied in a whisper. "And I don't want to wake up, because if I do, you'll disappear again." Lincoln found the fact that she thought she was dreaming both endearing and disheartening.

"Jenny, I would never leave you on purpose. I'll fight tooth and nail to be by your side for eternity. I told you before that I'd gladly die for you all over again. I'm back now, and nothing will ever separate us again," Lincoln said and pulled Jenny into a deep, passionate kiss. Jenny then realized that she was, in fact, awake, and as soon as their kiss ended, she took a deep breath...

And screamed at the top of her lungs.

How do you like the powers I gave Lincoln? Kind of a cross between Moon Knight, Venom, and a vampire. His costume was based off of that of Amon from Avatar: The Legend of Korra, but with Egyptian hieroglyphics thrown in.

I failed to mention this before, but I think the fandom's title for Jenny is "Brownie QT."