The Final Chapter! Hope you enjoy! Also special thanks to OMAC001, coyoteprime1100 and Bigmoose01 for all their ideas!
Chapter Six
"So... can you go over it again?" Asked Steve, who was sitting next to Raine at their desk in the precinct they worked at.
Raine nodded, their smile a little strained from having to explain it twenty times (they had counted) "Okay, so I figure Odalia was doing something and asked Dr. Character to help, got it?"
Steve nodded "Okay."
"But Character didn't like what they were doing or going to do and backed out. Understand?"
"Yeah."
"Then Odalia doesn't want to risk Character telling the Police or Board. That make sense?"
"Sure."
"Odalia goes to her Butler and tells him to get his sniper rifle, and he kills Character. Do you understand?"
"Yep."
"Are you sure?"
"No, I lied."
...
"MOM!"
Luz rushed to her mother's side, her face flooded with tears as everything else drained away from her mind.
The consolments of the bystanders...
The Distant sound of sirens...
For Luz, only her mother existed at that precise moment.
Camila wasn't moving. Wasn't breathing. Luz put a ear to her mother's chest, trying to hear a heartbeat.
She heard none.
For the second time in her life, she had lost a parent. And it had hurt every bit the same as it had the first time, like her heart was being slowly ripped out of her chest.
As a milk-white ambulance pulled up, Luz became aware of the bystanders again, and stood aside as the paramedics came near.
"Kid? You okay?" asked a kindly-looking man in a Police Officer's uniform, kneeling next to her.
Luz tried to answer. All that came out was a choked sob.
The Officer sighed, standing up as the paramedics put Camila in the Ambulance and someone called him on his radio.
"Ah-huh? He's just come out of the Grocery Store?" Luz snapped to attention, listening to him "A hostage? Right. We'll have to-"
Luz heard no more. She had already left.
...
Hmm... I haven't really given Willow much spotlight in this story, have I?
I do apologise, Willow fans. Feel free to throw rotten fruit at me.
Five minutes Earlier...
In Wortan's Shopping Oalace, a fantasy-themed grocery store, Willow Park was looking for petunia seeds. She and her parents had wanted to grow some for ages, and they had finally decided to make it happen.
She turned to her parents "Hey, dads! I got-"
BLAM!
"EVRYONE ON THE GROUND!" yelled a voice coming from the main entrance, gruff and gravelly and filled to the brim with desperation.
As people screamed and ran for the exits, Willow did something on the orders of that hardened Commander we call instinct.
She ran towards where the gunshots had sounded.
A tall man wearing a black ski mask was trying yet failing to get the bystanders to get down on the ground.
Then he saw Willow and turned the gun on her "Get over here, girlie!"
Willow froze. Terror strangled her heart and her hands shook as if there was an earthquake within them. She did not think that through.
"You wanna get shot?"
Bursting with reluctance, Willow walked over to the Robber and stood next to him, trying to put on a brave face but inside, she felt like an injured mouse cornered by an army of hungry lions.
The guy held a gun to her head and practically dragged her out of the building "You make a sound, I make a hole in ya." The man growled, raising his gun.
As they went into the open, there was a lot of yelling from Police Officers aiming guns as The Guy dragged Willow into a nearby car and roaring in the opposite direction.
As Willow looked around the inside of the car, she realised something.
This car belonged to Luz's mom...
Had something bad happened to her and Luz?
Willow didn't know.
And not knowing scared her.
The guy drove like he had nothing to live for, weaving through other cars at top speed. In fact, if I wanted to keep the death count to just one more person, plenty of people would have been run over.
Then in the night-covered street, something landed on the roof.
The felon screamed, swerving the car to swing the something off. The something went flying into a nearby alley as the Robber grabbed Willow and dragged the struggling teen out of the vehicle, sprinting across the street and dodging into a large building with a sign saying 'WILSON AND SON'S GARAGE' on the opposite side of the street.
As went round to a side door, Willows kept looking for a means of escape. None. Nada. Zilch. What if the robber carried out his threat and shot her?
The guy flicked the lights on, looking around. It was a run-of-the-mill garage shop with a couple cars being fixed in it.
As the guy checked to see if any of the cars were working, Willow yelled "You know you can't win! Just give up already!"
"What did I say about taking?" growled the Crook, pointing his gun at her.
Then he froze, looking at the door they had just come through. Luz stood there, wearing a black bodysuit, what appeared to be an almost completely torn off cape and a furious expression on her face as she put her finger on the light switch.
"Don't move!" yelled the Gunman "Or I'll-"
In a particularly badass fashion, Luz flicked the switch, sending the room into darkness.
The felon fired his gun, illuminating the room for three seconds at a time to show Luz rushing towards him.
Then there was a nasty 'CRACK!!' and a scream as Willow heard Luz throw herself into him and they both fell to the ground.
Willow blinked in the Darkness, just about seeing Luz grabbing the guy by the hem of his shirt "You just put a bullet in my mother."
In the darkness, the guy held his hands up "I-"
"You stole her car. Used it for your crimes."
"I-"
"Then you kidnapped my friend!"
The guy gulped "I- I- I- I-"
"Luz! Stop!"
Luz turned, as if having forgotten Willow was there.
"It's not worth it."
Luz looked at The Killer, then Willow, then back again, noticing something that shocked her to her very core.
The crook was wearing neon pink trainers.
Just like ones on the robber Luz hadn't stopped.
It was her fault. She had killed her mother.
After a few minutes of shocked silence, Luz stood up and threw herself into Willow's arms, sobbing as she cried oceans of tears.
As Willow comforted Luz, The Killer went to grab his gun-
"FREEZE!"
"DROP THE WEAPON!"
"HANDS IN THE AIR!"
A squad of Police Officers burst in, weapons raised at The Killer.
One of the Officers pointed his gun at Luz "Spread em', ya filthy-!"
"Hey! She didn't do anything!" Yelled Willow, angrily "And it was her mom he shot!"
After a moments hesitation, the Officer grumbled and joined the other cops in arresting the Killer.
And Luz carried on crying into Willow's shoulder.
...
That night...
A Gravesfield City Precinct Building.
Luz and Willow were asked questions by a (thankfully not racist) Officer, and sat down outside the office.
Willow held Luz's hand for the next hour until her dads came to pick her up.
"Tell Gus I said to tell you everything." Luz whispered, before she left with a hug.
And then Luz waited alone.
For the next three hours.
From what the detectives were saying nearby, The Killer wasn't saying who beat him up. Probably either too scared of Luz or too embarrassed at being beaten up by a teenager.
Then she was called into the office again the officer, a black woman with dimples and dyed blue hair, told her to sit down.
"Listen, Luz. May I call you Luz?"
"Okay."
"Luz, since you have no living relatives, we're gonna have to hand you over to the foster system-"
Luz's blood froze. What if she went to a different school? What if she was sent to a different state? She might not see her friends again!
"-and fortunately, a nice woman has offered to take you in. Be your guardian."
The door opened, and a tall woman with red hair stepped in.
Eda.
...
"Look, kid. I know you barely know me-"
"Most foster kids don't know their guardians before they meet them." Luz pointed out, as Eda drove Luz to her house in her banged-up car "And besides, you were gonna train me to use my powers and to be a hero..." Luz nudged Eda, a smile on her face.
Eda grinned "Change your mind?"
Luz sighed, looking out of the window "I guess..." she thought for a minute "I guess that with great power... comes great responsibility, I guess."
"That's a great quote."
"Thanks. My mom said it before she... before she..." Luz's face went glum again.
Eda sighed "Kid... I know this sounds corny but... she's still with you. Trust me."
Luz smiled "That does sound pretty corny... but it's also really good advice."
Eda smiled "Take all the time you need, kid. Healing takes time."
"Thanks, Eda."
One thing was clear. Luz did have great power. And she had a responsibility to use it to help others. If she didn't... more people would get hurt. More people would lose their parents. Their children and siblings. Their friends and uncles and aunts and Auncles.
Not on her watch. Never again.
...
At Blight Manor...
Odalia was in the living room having another facetime call with the Kingpin on her computer.
The Kingpin was a busy man who did not like seeing his resources wasted. Or his instructions disobeyed.
"I told you to have Jenkins meet up with my men." he told Odalia in a voice as cold as the artic. "And my multi-billion-dollar machine was confiscated because of your ineptitude."
"Sir, Jenkins is my Butler! If he was seen with criminals, my reputation-"
"-took a hit anyway." finished Belos, savagely.
To that, Odalia had no answer.
"Perhaps you need a little reminder of who's in charge."
"What are you-"
Suddenly, there were several smashing sounds from the window. Odalia felt something whizz past the back of her head, and her hair suddenly get a lot lighter.
She felt at where her bun should have been. Nothing there.
She looked in the mirror. There were bullet holes next to it. What was equally noticeable, however, was that her bun had been shot off.
"Let this be a firm lesson to you, Odalia. Do as I say." and with that, the Kingpin ended the call.
There was a short silence.
"You know, you would be a much better Kingpin than he." remarked her mirror self.
"You flatter me."
"Oh no, I'm serious. You're already running America's biggest weapons company. You can easily be a city Mob Boss, too. You're already rich and have friends in congress, but how about a bit more power?"
Odalia thought to herself for a moment "That certainly is an idea... but how? His men won't immediately accept me..."
"No, but they might accept ME while you're REALLY the one running things."
Odalia nodded thoughtfully "I can figure out his identity..."
"And I can do some of the dirty work AND make appearances to your underlings."
"You will need a name, though."
"I've thought of one."
"And what would that be?"
Her mirror self smiled "The Goblin Queen, or just Goblin, if you like."
...
Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this fic! I plan to do a trailer-fic for... -DUN DUN DUN!- the next part!
Still looking for ideas for the colours of Luz's proper spider-suit!
Favourite and review!
