Only when Nora's van left the campsite did Lucas begin to worry about the danger of his situation. His arms ached, and sweat poured from his glands, drenching the front and back of his t-shirt as his palms burned red-hot energy into heavy, pulsating spheres. He wasn't sure of the number he had killed; somewhere along the line the adolescent had lost count. But for every one soldier he detained it seemed that three more hurried to take their place.
Lucas growled at them angrily as the troops slowly loomed closer and closer to his person. Before at the house, his movement had been smooth and certain, melding naturally in tune with his sister's. But away from Nora, his reactions had become erratic, tainted by his fatigue.
At the very thought of his sister, he pushed himself to fight back harder, faster than he ever had in his entire life. He could do this. He knew he could still make it. All had to do was get to the –
An exploding 'pop' sounded right beside to him, followed by another just like it, causing him to roll down onto the ground. His twin sister's circular shield predictably appeared at the threat to his person, but their distance had grown. It loomed about him weakly, threatening to break apart into smoke.
Finding his feet, he shook the dirt from his hair and jumped back, quickly regaining his momentum. But when he turned his gaze to see what had made the awful noise, he froze, disbelieving what his eyes were seeing.
The Mustang tilted wearily to one side, its left tires reduced to drooping slabs of rubber.
Lucas' broad shoulders shrunk as he felt his stomach drop down into his feet.
He had no way out.
His eyes falling to slits, he furiously threw red bolts of heat into as many of the soldiers as he could, determined to make a run for it.
However, when he turned to make his escape, the fighters inexplicably parted, and a soldier fired what looked and sounded like a bazooka straight into his hands.
He gasped, letting out a loud scream as Nora's force field dissipated completely. Something heavy and metal shot out from the huge weapon, pulled back his arms, and anchored him to the dirt floor. Despite his grappling, the handcuffs held strong and a device attached to his wrists, forming a thick metal glove around each of his hands.
His breath coming out in grunts and gasps, Lucas paused in his struggle as a loaded rifle pinned his neck to the ground, and a stout solider with black paint covering his face bore down upon him. "The handcuffs are made of an indestructible metal called edimantium. Fire off anything, and you'll be learning to spoon peas into your mouth with your elbows."
At the threat, Lucas brazenly pounded his feet into the officer's shins, sending him face first into the gravel road.
A rifle broadsided his head and at Lucas' shout, at least a dozen more clicked backwards, warning him that another move like that could end in his death. At first all he could hear were his own groans of pain, but soon the unmistakable sound of footsteps crunched from behind the cabin and up to his bleeding temple.
Lucas' eyes followed polished black shoes up to tall strands of spiked blonde hair combed straight above a pair of murderous ice blue eyes.
Staring intimidatingly down upon the youth, Officer Lexin Grey frowned as he spoke. "Lucas Blaize. Seventeen years of age. Twin sister to Nora Blaize, both of you born August 23, 1986." On the other side of him, Williams leaned down to grab him by his sweat-drenched, brown hair.
"Mutant status confirmed," Lexin replied with a reserve that sent an intentional shiver up Lucas' spine. "June 2, 2001."
It took all of Lucas' strength to keep his hands from firing off inside their indestructible metal casing. "You can't scare me," he said, revulsion cutting deep within his tone.
"We can do whatever we want," Williams told him. He violently threw his head backwards onto the ground. "Your body belongs to us now, mutant. You've got no rights."
Lucas' eyes widened wildly. "Get the fuck out of my face," he whispered in the most menacing tone he could muster.
With lightning fast reflexes, Williams' gun shot out from his side. "Careful, mutant. You're just a walking ghost to me."
Glaring, Lucas heaved back and spit a mixture of blood and mucus into his face.
Disgust was followed by rage. Not even bothering to wipe his face, Williams pointed his gun into the adolescent's face and fired. The shot would have killed him, but for a swift kick that sent the gun off course into the clear blue sky.
Lexin Grey, though he wanted nothing more than to watch the mutant reduced to a bloodstain on the ground, pointed to the teenager. "Alive," he said simply.
Shaking with rage, it visibly took all of Williams' will power to step back and lower his weapon.
"However," Lexin said, squinting deeply into Lucas' eyes. "You may explain to the mutant the consequences of his actions."
When the official turned his back on the boy, he ignored the gruesome sounds of fists punching into flesh and bone. "Retrieve the girl," he told a second group of officers.
"Nora." At Lucas' attempt to speak, Williams' fists pounded swiftly against his teeth. The enormous man screamed something about the men who had been killed, about how they didn't deserve a death by his kind. Nora, he thought as he felt his face quickly swelling. They're after you. Tears involuntarily flooded down his cheeks, burning against his growing bruises. Don't stop. Whatever you do, don't stop…
Through eyes that refused to focus, Lucas glimpsed the same officer that had calmly addressed him before walk back into his line of vision.
Lexin studied the mutant as he endured his beating. The boy gnashed his teeth, refusing to scream. He was stronger than most, but that strength would only take him so far. It was impressive, nonetheless. Lexin made a mental note. He would have to be watched.
He put up his hand in a gesture of authority. "Enough."
Williams' was a man fixed on punishing the murderer before him, but he was also a man of discipline. Leaning down, he spit with all his might back into the mutant's face. Breathing heavily, he once again gained control of himself and lifted his hands away from Lucas' swollen, bleeding face.
Lexin squinted once more, watching the mutant shuddering from the pain encompassing his young form. "Do not think our reaction too severe before you consider the fate of your counterpart." He reached into the inside of his uniform, retrieving a small glass vile. "Her punishment shall prove much more primitive."
When Lucas' expression showed the first true signs of horror, Lexin's held a disturbing kindness. "I wouldn't worry," he said in the least reassuring voice Lucas had ever heard.
Despite his loud and violent protests, the teenager was turned onto his stomach and held there by what felt like an entire army. "When you have no conscious way of retaliating against your oppressors, you find ways of coping with captivity." Lexin Grey unscrewed the cap of the vile and dropped three beads of liquid into the back of the mutant's neck, watching as it formed a small, perfectly circular crater into the edge of his hairline.
Within moments, Lucas slumped down onto the ground and stared blankly into the dirt that held his own sweat and blood.
Brushing off his slacks as he rose, Grey nodded to the soldiers, who quickly carried the mutant into a helicopter that had landed nearby.
He smiled as the wind from the propellers blew back his hair. As in all the others, a deep red glow set into the mutant's eyes and gleamed ominously from a distance.
