I gotta say, I love all of the theories that everyone's coming up with. Believe me, y'all are not ready for what I have planned to come. Some of you might hate it, but I plan to take this story into a far more… interesting route than what I'm sure you all are probably thinking.
Also, for anyone who was at all wondering, even though I know there is not a single soul who asked, I'm just gonna say it anyway, the "official" opening song for "Season 1" of All for Luz, mainly because I like it too much and it's stuck in my head, is Kyouran Hey Kids, by THE ORAL CIGARETTES. And the "official" ending song is LIFE, by Rude-a.
Why am I putting this out here even though I know it's going to be considered cringe? Because why the hell not? I'm cringe, and I am unashamed!
I have a P-Atr-Eon. Please check it out! The links are all in my bios on Wattpad, FF Dot Net, Ao3, and Qoutev. Just in case, here is the link: gobblegum2?fan_landing=true&view_as=public
That being said, let's jump into the chapter!
[Search and Steal – Part 3]
When Luz awoke, she did so with a headache. This was starting to become a pattern, and she didn't like it. Looking around her, she saw that the cabin was empty. Well, not totally. She couldn't remember her name, but the goth girl seemed to be still sleeping.
Luz scratched just beneath her eye, drooping her arm to the edge of the bed after that. She was still laying down, looking up at the ceiling with a distant look in her eyes. She didn't want to get up, especially after the talk she had with Shigaraki. She hated how he was right about damn near everything he said. Wake-up call after wake-up call was something that she was used to, but not with the bluntness that Shigaraki provided.
Most people danced around every subject, but Shigaraki didn't. He went straight to the heart of the problem and ripped the bandage off with a pair of pliers each and every time. First, it was about using her power, then it was about the reality of the situation she was in, and recently it was about her mother and her actions. Did her mama think that? Did her mama truly send her to this camp because she wanted to better her life?
Without her here to ask those questions, it was hard to piece together the proper thoughts. She didn't want to assume anything, but seeing as there was no way to confirm or deny anything, Luz couldn't help it. What was her mother thinking now? Was she glad that she was out of her hair? Was she happier with her gone?
"No…. Mama would never think that…! Right…?" Luz thought, forcibly closing her eyes, blinking back the tears that fought to break past her eyelids. Putting an arm over her face, she hitched back a breath, unaware of the cabin's front door opening. When the creaking of the door stopped, a voice spoke out to her, one that she was vaguely familiar with.
"Hey, Boss, you up?"
The arm over Luz's face flopped to the side of the bed as she looked over to the person who spoke. It was Ronny Armstrong, his arms crossed against his chest as he looked at her with a worried gleam in his eyes. Ronny was wearing a different shirt from yesterday. Instead of it being black, it was white, and instead of green shorts, he was wearing black shorts. But as far as Luz was concerned, the minor details didn't matter. What he said, did. "You good?"
Sitting up, Luz rubbed away the tears forming in her eyes as she nodded silently. Ronny shook his head, sighing, sitting down on the bed in front of her. "Don't bullshit me. You ain't alright, matter of fact you look like shit. What's going on?" Ronny asked, genuine concern in his voice. Luz couldn't bare to make eye contact with the boy, for the simple reason that making eye contact with anyone was hard enough as it was, let alone now.
But, seeing as Ronny probably wasn't going to leave without an answer, Luz decided to speak. "I… I'm homesick," Luz admitted, though she couldn't help but feel a pang of hurt in her chest at the idea of going home. Ronny sucked in a breath, before grunting.
"Ah… wish I could say I relate, but being an orphan doesn't give me that luxury," Ronny said, letting out a bitter laugh. "I mean, your parent's really gotta hate ya if they sent ya here to some shoddy education camp, right?" Ronny snorted, unaware of the pained expression on Luz's face.
"You might be right…." Luz muttered as the taller kid blinked, before grimacing.
"Shit, that was a joke, ya know…. I didn't think… never mind, ignore me, I'm sorry," Ronny said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Look, uh… I and the recon team want you to go with us on our first excursion. Judy said that with the power you got, we could probably get the care package that location mapped out before shit hits the fan. Peace time's over, the fight's only gettin' started, and seeing as you can steal other people's powers, well… weakening the enemy seems like a good idea to me, right?"
Luz didn't respond verbally, instead, she sat up, jumped off the bed, and headed toward the door. Ronny shrugged, scoffing. "Guess that's a yes." And he wasn't wrong. The only reason why Luz didn't say anything was that, quite frankly, she didn't want to talk. Not because she didn't want to talk, it was because she had too much on her mind.
When Jean saw her, he smirked. "Tu vois? I was right, I knew she'd come," Jean said, ejecting a blade from his wrist in a flaunting gesture. "Ready when you are, commandant!" Jean was wearing an orange and white striped t-shirt, a pair of baggy sweatpants, and hiking boots.
Luz looked over at Jean, a small smile on his face. Everyone seemed so… happy? No, not happy. No one here was happy. They were doing what it was that anyone in this situation would do. Coping. Coping at the fact that their families threw them away, unaware that they would be subjected to this. But even so, the act of throwing them away, it was something everyone here could at least relate to.
They were doing the best that they could. And if moving forward was what would distract them from the truth, then she'd go along with it. "Do we know where the care package is?" Luz asked as Judy spoke up.
"No, we don't. But, if we had to guess, it would be in the center of the forest. All we have to do is map out where the center is. That is why we're doing this first excursion," Judy explained as Luz nodded.
"And what about the other participants? What're we going to do if we come across them?" This time, it was Stanley who spoke. When Luz looked over at him, she saw what it was he was wearing, that being a black button-down shirt, a pair of black jeans with a jacket tied around his waist, as well as a pair of rocky mountain steel-toed boots.
"Do we subdue them, retreat when seeing them, or… well, ya know…." Stanley left the last option out, mainly because no one wanted to even think about the prospect of spilling someone else's blood. Killing someone was wrong. To Luz, taking their power away was already bad enough, but killing someone…?
Luz sighed. She knew what she had to say, not what she wanted to say. Wants and needs were finely separated here, and being a leader in a literal war game forced that out of her. She wanted to say not to kill. But… "we match their intentions. They want to subdue us? We subdue them. If they retreat, we let them. But… if they try to kill us…."
"We kill them," Jean said, a grim expression on his face.
"Only, if necessary," Luz added, looking down at her hands. "If I can't take their power in time, then yes, by all means. The fewer people that have to die, the better in my eyes. It's not our choice that they get to live or die. Even if they don't have powers, it's better if they live rather than kick the bucket. Right?" Luz said as everyone nodded. A small smile crept its way on her face as Julia placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Be safe," Julia said, a worried expression on her face as a soft smile made its way to Luz's face. Luz nodded, before looking at the draw bridge that acted as a door. She walked up to it, placing a hand on the bridge. Putting a small amount of pressure against the draw bridge, she closed her eyes, before then pushing it. When she did, it fell with a loud thud.
Luz had to take a step back due to the noise, as did a few others. Dust kicked up around them as the bridge now no longer blocked their way. A big rope that was connected to some sort of gear mechanism dangled to the left of the entrance, showing that was how the bridge was supposed to be brought back up.
Exhaling, Luz walked out of the base, as did Jean, Ronny, Stanley, and Judy, though Judy had a duffle bag over her shoulder with a bunch of stuff. Luz guessed it was for camping out, in which case, she was glad that Judy thought so far ahead.
When everyone was out, Luz turned to see the drawbridge begin to close up the entrance to the base. The drawbridge was raised by Julia, who smiled at Luz. Luz smiled back, waving at Julia, before turning to face the group of four as the drawbridge closed with a thud. "So… which direction does everyone want to go in?"
Ronny shrugged. "When in doubt, go north. We're bound to find something there. Everyone cool with that?"
With a series of nods, it was decided. North they would go.
xxXXxxXXxx
"Hmm… very interesting…. Very interesting indeed," Rodger hummed, overlooking the camera footage of last night. He played the clip over and over again, watching as Luz Noceda, leader of The Alpha Squadron, stole Julia Wittebane's power. The idea sounded preposterous, but even so, he couldn't deny the facts. One moment, Julia had her power, Vines, and the next she was without them, and Luz Noceda had them.
That kind of raw power was deadly. He didn't know just how many powers Luz could steal in one go, but seeing as her power wasn't replaced by the vines, it was clear that there either was no limit, or there was one, and she just hadn't reached it yet. Granted, it appeared that this was her first time taking a power, seeing as she seemed a little on edge about it. But, the fact of the matter remained.
She was perfect.
When the power boom occurred, the government was in shambles. They needed a way to contain this outbreak, and seeing as there were not enough armed men to keep those with powers at bay so they didn't cause any uproars, Rodger took matters into his own hands and created this. This was simply a test run for things to come. If all went according to plan, then he would do more of these.
But that was only if this went right. If it flopped, then there was a high likelihood that he'd lose his position and his freedom. The Federal Government was completely unaware of this camp he was doing, seeing as he was using State Funds to fund this thing. The General of the military didn't even know why Rodger needed the men in the first place but handed a couple hundred over because of the power outbreak.
While most of them were patrolling the streets and neighbourhoods making sure rowdy kids didn't try and start shit, 50 of the soldiers he requested were guarding the forest so no trespassers could come skulking through the woods and find the test he was doing.
He knew damn well that he was immoral. But, as far as Rodger was concerned, he didn't want anyone in his State to have any sort of power against him or his friends in the office. Granted, what he was doing was probably counterproductive, but, as he had mulled over before, this was for the betterment of the country. The fewer of these freaks that existed, the better.
And then, along came Luz, with her power to steal other powers. That had intrigued him. Not only did it intrigue him, but it got him thinking. What if he set something up between the three groups that would cause a massive fight to ensue, but distract Luz long enough for it to pass by? And once it was done, introduce Luz to the situation, in where then she could take the powers from the fallen, and kill the rest of the stragglers and take their powers.
Then, bring more super-powered kids in by the truck full, have Luz take their powers, kill them, then kill her! All of the powers in his State would be gone, and he would have nothing to worry about! It was a genius plan! Nothing could possibly go wrong with it! All he'd have to do is bomb the location with Luz still inside it, therefore killing her with all the powers stored up inside of her. And once she dies, there would be no more powers in the state of Connecticut!
The problem was… how was he going to do it? How was he going to convince the rest of them to gang up on The Alpha Squadron, then each other…? Maybe introduce more money for the survivor? Kids were greedy like that. Money was money was money. Kids didn't care the amount, pay'em and they'd do it. Morals? Who needs'em when you can be a billionaire? Rights? Pfft! What do human rights have to do with them getting rich?
Besides, it wasn't as if he was gonna give them any money in the first place. This was all just to make the perfect super soldier. And while making Luz one would be another easy alternative to get her out of the way, no one should have that much power, which was ironic seeing as he was a Governor of a State.
He sighed, reclining in his chair, and rubbing the sides of his head. "Now… what to do about the parasite…." Rodger murmured as he tapped his chin. Super soldier or battery for power then nuke from orbit. Oh, the options, so many and yet so little time. Two and a half months wasn't long in the grand scheme of things. He was working with limited time and a small group of people.
Then again, he didn't have to give the kids back, now did he? He could make the camp counsellor lie and say that some tragedy occurred and they all died. That would buy him enough time to get what he wanted to be done off the ground.
He smirked to himself. Option two was the better way to rid his State of superpowers. So that was what he was going to do. Besides… what could possibly go wrong? Now all he had to do was get a message to the other two teams, and get them to cooperate. Once that was done, then he could move on to step two of his plan. As half-baked as it was, it was better than not having a plan. This was all sprung at him with no sudden warning—Luz's power, that is. Technically this whole thing was slapped together in a matter of hours, but at least it was working.
Honestly, if the first round of intimidation when he rounded them all hadn't worked, then he would've just had to kill them outright. He was glad it worked, because otherwise if he didn't give a proper explanation to the General, he would've lost everything. Once again, he was pulling off a massive gamble, and as a gambler, he was glad that sticking to his cards gave him yet another victory.
"Welp, time to get to work," The Governor said, walking over to a control panel and smiling. Pressing a green button with a drone icon, he looked over to a pair of screens, showing both The Heaven's Devils and Foxtrot's bases. Both leaders were rounding up a group of people to send them out of their bases, most likely on recon. The timing was almost too perfect.
Smiling the Governor activated his microphone on the drones, walked over to his chair, and sat down, tapping on the mic. Through the screen, both leaders turned to their respective drones, eyebrows raised as The Governor spoke.
"Hello, Emila Warstoch/Kenndy Jennkins. I have a request to make of you…."
xxXXxxXXxx
The sun shone down on the five intrepid scouts, beating down on them with 45 degrees of pure UV rays. Sweat trickled down everyone's foreheads, sweat stains evident on their clothing. Although out of everyone there, Judy seemed to have it the worst, what with the leather Jacket not helping her any. And while she was the one who had every right to complain about the scorching heat, the person who did complain did not.
"Ugh, how long are we going to be out here….!" Ronny exclaimed, his voice hoarse from the heat as Judy pinched the bridge of her nose, a visible vein appearing on her forehead.
"If you don't stop complaining, I'm going to hurt you," Judy snarked, black energy warping over her hand. Ronny sneered, standing up from his hunched position with his chest flared out, his arms tense as he clenched his fists. Sensing the conflict, Luz stepped between them, a concerned expression on her face.
"C'mon, we don't need to fight," Luz said, looking over to Ronny, then back to Judy, both still having annoyed expressions on their faces as Luz let out a nervous chuckle. It was clear the heat was getting to both of them, though for Luz it wasn't much of an issue. Her house had no A/C, meaning she always dealt with hot summers at full blast, so she was used to the heat. She had to assume it was not the same for Ronny and Judy. And so, she came up with a solution.
"You know what, seeing as the heat is affecting everyone, how about we take a break? We've been walking for a few hours now, so I think stopping for a bit will get our spirits up, right?" Luz suggested as Ronny looked over to Luz, smirking, then stuck his thumbs up, while Judy glowered but ultimately recited her power.
"Alright, we'll take a fifteen-minute break. If that's alright with you, Captain?" Judy said as Luz nodded. The dyed-haired teen nodded, opening the duffle bag and scooping out five water bottles, tossing one to each person, before opening the fifth of herself. "I got ten more water bottles, so don't drink it all. I only took enough to last us a week, and we don't have a water purifier, so use the water sparingly, got it?" Judy said as everyone gave affirmative grunts.
Luz leaned up against the tree, taking a few gulps of water for herself. It was instantly refreshing, as she sighed. Long walks were not Luz's thing, especially through forested areas. She didn't know what it was about forests, but they always unnerved her. Maybe it had something to do with watching too many horror movies based in the woods. Now that she thought about it, yeah, probably.
Even so, the forest was beautiful. Actually, scratch that, nature was beautiful. She just wished her first time camping in a long time wasn't attached to a grizzly death game.
Her thoughts were cut off when someone spoke up.
"Ronny's question was valid, though. How long are we going to be on this excursion, Commander Judy?" Jean asked with an eyebrow raised as Stanley nodded, agreeing with the question as he crossed his arms. Judy, for her part, sighed as she sat down on a nearby boulder, while everyone else either leaned against a tree or stood.
"A week. We want to be the ones to find the dropoff zone for the chest, right? Then, when we do, we camp it out. I brought spare sleeping bags, five to be exact, that way we don't have to scramble to find something comfortable to sleep on. Originally, one was going to be a spare in case we lost one, but seeing as our leader is with us, that one will be hers, alright?"
Everyone nodded, as Judy huffed, turning to face Luz. "Speaking of our fearless leader. What exactly is your power? I mean, you did tell everyone roughly what it can do, that you can steal powers, but that's all you said. Is there a specific limit? Does the power you steal replace the current one? Like, what's the deal?" Judy questioned as Luz frowned, glancing at the floor absent-mindedly.
For a minute, there was silence, until Luz broke that silence. "Well… there's not much else I can say. I mean, I take powers, that's what my power is. I don't know if there is a set limit, or if it's based on how body my strong is to handle more than a few powers, or what have you. All I know is that I can steal other people's abilities. Er, well… I can also give powers, too. But that's only if I already have a large number of powers already stored within me. And… if I'm not careful, I could potentially turn someone brain-dead."
Shocked silence encompassed the group of five as everyone mulled over the information. Brain death was worse than a natural death because even though the person is brain dead, their body could still function based on whatever impulses the brain left behind for upwards of a few weeks. It was worse than a coma and worse than getting your head blown off with a shotgun.
The implications that it left behind caused a couple of the scouts to pale, namely of which being Jean, who covered his mouth in shock. It remained this way for a few moments when Stanley spoke up. "Hey… wait a second. Didn't you take Julia's power? Marco said something about someone screaming last night. It was Julia, and when she woke up, she muttered about being cured of something, whatever the hell that meant. Did that you mean you took her power, despite knowing you could cause brain death?"
Everyone's attention was drawn to Luz as she clamped her Jaw shut. For a few moments, Luz didn't respond. Just as Stanley was about to say something, Luz spoke up. "It's not like I didn't tell her that," Luz started, a sigh escaping her as she met Stanley's eyes with her own, brown eyes meeting sky blue as the two stared. "I warned her of what could happen. She accepted that warning and asked me to take her vines anyway. Besides, nothing bad came out of it, right? She wanted her vines gone, and so I took them. I don't see any harm in doing that, even if it made me feel bad after the fact."
Stanley remained silent after Luz's response. No one said a thing after that, as Stanley sighed, turning away. He walked over to a tree, and sat down underneath it, looking at Luz, who watched his every movement, not out of keeping an eye on him, but out of fear of what he might do. Stanley was a big guy, with massive muscles large enough to make some professional bodybuilders cry. The kind of power a punch like that could pack, super strength or not, was intimidating—and he didn't even have super strength! He had Shock Absorption!
"Alright. I guess that makes sense. If she asked for it, then she asked for it. No reason to hold you against it. 'sides, you're right. Nothing bad happened. Sorry about that, I just get… touchy about subjects like that," Stanley said, frowning as he looked up into the skyline. Everyone else remained silent for a little bit longer, and once everyone was relaxed, they were about to get going again, only for a snapping twig to put everyone on alert.
Everyone looked in the direction of where the twig snapped, and as soon as they did, a bright ball of orange flame gathered just above the bush, and then, shot out toward the group of five.
"SCATTER!" Luz shouted as everyone dove for cover, one of the water bottles being hit in the process as the fireball hit the ground, the grass catching on fire before fizzling out. Luz groaned, slowly standing up along with everyone else as a teen around the same age as Judy stood up from the bush. His hair was a deep orange, and his eyes were bright blue. His skin was tan, and his clothing was standard, that of a white shirt and black ripped pants with a pair of hiking boots. On his fingertip was a small wick of flame, a smile on his face.
"Seems as if I lucked out! I knew following those footsteps was a good idea! It led me straight to you!" The boy said, his smile turning to a smirk.
"Oh ho! You're from one of the other camps, aren't you?" Jean said, narrowing his eyes at the boy, who clapped in a mocking gesture.
"Bravo! Look's like we got a smarty! Not that it matters," The boy said, his right arm dematerializing and turning into pure fire. "Names Cody Johnson, and you're toast!" Cody shouted, launching a pillar of flame toward Jean! Before it could make contact with Jean, Stanley knocked him out of the way, taking the full brunt of the attack, the flames washing over him like a tidal wave.
"Stanley!" Luz cried out as Cody smirked, only for that smirk to fade as Stanley stood there, not a hint of damage on his body. His shirt was burned off, revealing his muscular body, and parts of his pants were singed, but that was it. The only thing that showed that he was hit with a fire attack was the soot marks on his shoulders and chest. The big guy laughed, slamming both of his fists together in a taunting gesture. Seeing this as a sign to get into fighting positions, Luz drew out Vines from her fingertips, while Judy coated her arms in darkness, Jean drew out his arm blades, and Ronny flexed his arms.
Cody, for his part, cracked his neck from side to side, a smirk on his face. "Oh, it seems I'm outnumbered… oh well! I can take you all on!" Cody shouted, a determined expression on his face. Luz swallowed back whatever fear she was feeling at that moment, as she stared Cody Johnson down. It was only the second day of this hell, and now she had to fight someone.
She only hoped that this would end well, for both parties involved.
-To Be Continued in – The Raging Flame of Battle-
