Now that the formalities are dealt with… Onward!
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Chapter 14:- Loss
"There's no sign of the boy, sir," said the lead officer.
Mr. Stone snarled. "And the girl?"
"No, sir."
"Damn it!" Mr. Stone yelled, slamming his fist down on the hood of his limousine. "What the heck do I pay you people for?"
The officer was silent.
"Find them. At all costs."
"Yes, sir," the officer said clearly before running off.
Mr. Stone looked at the hood of his limo in frustration. "Wilson!"
A large man walked up. He stood about six foot two, with a muscular frame and sharp glaring eyes. "Yes, sir?"
"We're going back to Metropolis," he glanced back at Vic, who pushed Jinx behind him. "Bring my son."
Wilson nodded and walked towards Vic. "Get in the car."
Vic remained silent as Wilson popped his knuckles menacingly. Mr. Stone climbed into the back seat of his limo and observed the vents from the window.
Vic took a step forward, but Jinx grabbed onto his arms with both her hands. "Don't leave me Vic…"
Vic turned to face her. She wore far too much pink, but other than that, she really was incredibly beautiful. He looked her straight in the eye. "I have to…"
"Let me come with you."
"No. Wait here for the others. Then do everything you can to help Gar."
"But…"
Vic glanced back to see if Wilson was out of earshot. He wasn't, so he lowered his voice to a whisper and took Jinx's hand. "I'll stall my father. I know how he thinks. Just be careful. Stay out of harm's way."
"But…"
Wilson popped his knuckles for a second time. Vic turned towards the car. Wilson held the door open for him, he bent over to clamber in when Jinx yelled his name. She ran over to him, and kissed him hard and quick.
Wilson coughed loudly and obviously.
"Stay safe. I'll come back for you," added Vic as he clambered into the car, next to his father. Wilson slammed the door shut, and walked passed Jinx shoving her with his shoulder. He walked around the back of the car, and glared at her. Then , without taking his sharp eyes off her, he slowly opened the door, before climbing in.
Jinx felt the shiver run down her spine from his cold glare.
The limo's engine revved momentarily, then it shot off into the distance leaving Jinx alone in the school grounds.
"There, there," came a raspy voice from behind her. She span around, and saw Mr. Sebastian, the principal, standing calmly, his gray hair, rustling slightly in the wind. "Everything is not lost. Come with me."
Jinx felt a force inside her head, a dark, powerful force. She grasped her head in pain, and fell to her knees and screamed. She looked up at the principal, and saw his eyes glow a deep shade of red.
Her fingers unclasped themselves. The force inside her mind penetrated her every thought, her every hope, her every dream.
She had no choice. She gave in to it, and it flooded her brain with a million miraculous images. New hopes, new dreams, new thoughts entered her mind, morphing her desires and every fabric of her being.
She felt a deep burning in her eyes, as they glowed the same shade of red as the principal that stood over her, and Jinx had no choice but to close her eyes, her mind and her heart, never to open them again.
"Stand up my child," said the principal. Jinx's body obeyed. "Now, come with me and serve me."
"Yes…" Jinx said in a drawling undertone, before following the principal into the school as obediently as a dog does its owner.
The limo neared the outskirts of Metropolis. Wilson sat opposite the Stones, who had not said a word to each other the entire journey and both wore large scowls on their faces.
"Are you not going to talk to me the entire time son?" asked Mr. Stone.
"Yep," answered Vic.
"Not even to question my motives?"
"Nope."
"To ask why I brought you along?"
"Nope."
Mr. Stone sighed, and pressed a button on his armrest. "Driver. Speed up."
In the front cabin, the driver obeyed and pushed his foot down on the accelerator. The limo sped up, causing several cars to honk at it as it sped past them on the highway. They had just gone past the Daily Planet building, when the huge LexCorp tanker pulled out in front of them.
The driver slammed on the brakes, causing the limo to swerve, and it slammed into a streetlight, knocking it over and flinging the limo through the air.
"Grab onto something!" yelled Wilson in a tone that would Batman jump.
The limo collided into the top of the LexCorp tanker, upside down. The steel coating of the tanker and the roof of the limo shattered like glass, revealing the green acidic substance inside the massive tanker.
Wilson hung onto one of the door handles and Vic did the same. Mr. Stone fell out of his seat, towards the acid, but was caught by Vic by the hem of his shirt. His feet hung millimeters above the surface of the stinking acid.
The driver fell, and was submerged completely in the substance as he uttered a muffled scream. He surfaced once splashing about and screaming maniacally, and remained there just long enough for the others to see, the acid burning through his skin, corroding it like salt does a slug.
The splashed acid, sprayed upwards towards the three, burning holes in their clothes. A lone drop of acid leaped upward at Wilson, and entered his right eye, as the huge muscled man screamed. Vic glanced quickly at him and saw his eyeball melted away, as the blood trickled down his face like tears.
The driver's face melted like butter and sunk, submerged in the abyss of the tanker.
Vic struggled to keep a hold of his father's shirt. "Wilson! Can you grab my father if I pull him up?"
Wilson nodded, the blood making him look even more scarier than he already did.
Vic nodded back, and yelled in effort as he pulled his father up with one arm, and took both of their weights with the other hanging onto the door handle.
He lifted him up, and Wilson reached down and grabbed him, as Mr. Stone fumbled for a handhold.
Vic glanced over at them, sweat beaded on his face.
Then, the door handle snapped off, the plastic shattering. Vic yelled in terror, as he fell into the green acid in the tanker.
The red streak slammed through the tanker walls, and cut through the acid like a knife. It grabbed Vic and burst out the other side, then flew back, ripped open the limo's side and grabbed Mr. Stone and Wilson.
Superman set Mr. Stone and Wilson on the ground, then lay Vic on the ground. He quickly turned and welded the holes he had created shut with his heat vision. Before turning back to Vic, the acid had burnt most of his clothes off, and the skin on his arms, legs, and chest looked shriveled and burnt. Half the skin on his face was the same way, the left side of his face the only part of him that had not been destroyed by the acid. With his eye, he looked feebly up at his savior.
Mr. Stone kneeled next to his son. "Vic?"
Vic looked at him, then his pupils dilated, and his eyelids shut.
Superman sighed. "His heart has stopped beating. I'm sorry." He stood up, his cape blowing in the wind. He flew towards the tanker and lifted it above his head before flying off into the horizon.
Mr. Stone wept over Vic's body. Wilson put a hand on his back. "Sir?"
Mr. Stone stood up and turned to Wilson. "Get him to my lab."
"Sir?"
"No-one takes my son from me. Get him to my lab!"
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Chapter 15 is almost finished, so it should be posted very soon! Next:- Father And Son