Note: This chapter is set in an alternative version of Superhero.

X X X

Lightning Begins

"Give it back, Claire! Give it back!"

Claire Farron giggled and danced out of her sister's reach, a doll held in one hand. "You have to catch me first, Serah!"

As her sister gave a cry of outrage, Claire turned and raced out into the garden. Serah was right on her heels though, and Claire leapt up onto the wooden cover of an old well right at the edge of the garden.

"Give me back my doll, Claire!" Serah cried before she realised just what Claire was standing on. "You shouldn't stand on that, father says it's dangerous."

Claire pouted. She was going to give her sister's doll back anyway, but it would have been fun to run around a bit more first. "It's not that dangerous," she said, tapping her foot on the cover of the well. "See, Serah –"

Crack.

The wooden cover broke and suddenly Claire was falling. She landed with a thump and felt tears prickle at the corner of her eyes. Her back hurt, and so did her legs. With a groan, she got to her feet, but there didn't seem to be anyway of climbing back up.

"Claire!" Serah shouted. "Claire, are you okay?"

Claire winced and nodded. "I think so." She looked up. How deep was the well? She could barely even see Serah. "Get father, Serah. Quick!"

Serah nodded back and then ran. "Just stay there. I'll get him."

Serah had been gone for only a few minutes when an ominous rumble came from the sky. Claire looked up and her mouth went dry. Above her, the sky had gone dark, and she could already feel the first drops of rain tumbling down. Seconds later, there was a flash and a bolt of lightning streaked through the sky. Then there was thunder, thunder so loud the whole well shook, and it took everything she had to keep from crying.

"What's taking so long?" she whispered as sat down and pulled her knees up to her chest. The rain had begun to come down in thick sheets and with each moment that passed, the thunder and lightning grew stronger. Close to tears, she closed her eyes and covered her ears. Please, just let it all go away.

Some time later – Claire had lost all track of time – a shout came from the top of the well. She looked up. Her father was there. She bit back a sob as he set a rope up and came down to get her, and despite how much she hated crying, the moment he reached her, she threw her arms around him and sobbed. There had been so much rain, so much thunder and lightning, and she'd been trapped, trapped in the bottom well with nowhere to go and everything had been so loud.

"It's all right, Clare," her father murmured as he carried her out of the well. His voice was gentle, but strong, and he was so warm. "I've got you. You're safe."

But even as he said the words, Claire saw another bolt of lightning split in the sky. In its wake came a blast of thunder so great that even her father's arms could not keep it away.

Later that week, the Farron's went to see the premiere of a new movie. Her family's company had sponsored its production, and the special effects were supposed to be state of the art, a new benchmark in realism. Unfortunately, those special effects happened to include what felt like an hour's worth of fighting in the middle of a storm.

Even with her parents only an arm's length away, Claire began to feel ill. There was so much rain in the movie, and as she watched, a storm rolled in. Thunder and lightning filled the theatre, so real that it took her breath away. She swallowed thickly and clutched at the armrest. She wanted to go. She didn't want to be here. But her parents were enjoying the movie and so was her sister, but there was so much lightning and… and…

"Are you all right, Claire?" her father asked.

Claire nodded mutely.

He looked at her and his eyes softened. "It's all right." He leaned over and whispered to her mother. "I'm feeling a little ill. It must have been something I ate. Do you think we could leave?"

Her mother seemed surprised, but after a quick glance at Claire, she nodded. "All right. We can always come back and see the movie another time."

Quietly, the four of them left the cinema. With the press watching the front entrance, her father decided to lead them around the back. It would be quicker that way, and with any luck, they'd be able to keep out of the papers.

As for Claire, she was more concerned about the sky. It was dark outside, but it was drizzling, and the air felt heavy the way it always did before a storm. She was so concerned about what was happening above her, that she never even noticed the man at the end of alley – not until he stepped forward with a gun in his hand.

What happened next would be forever burnt into her soul. The man asked for money and then grabbed at her mother's purse. Her father stepped forward and there was a bang and a flash – thunder and lightning – and then her father was falling, falling, falling and his shirt was wet with something other than rain. Her mother screamed, and then she was falling too. Then the man was gone with her mother's purse clutched in his hands.

She dropped to her knees beside her parents. Their eyes were open, but they couldn't see, not anymore. Serah was beside her, and she was crying – crying, and crying, and crying. And high above them the skies were crying too. The rain fell, and when the thunder and lightning came, she barely noticed. Instead, she could only hold Serah and stare blankly at her mother and father. It was her fault. If only she hadn't been so scared… if only… if only…

The first person to reach them was a policeman. He said his name was Amodar, and he'd been drawn by the gunshots. He was the one who got them out of the rain. He was the one who closed her parent's eyes for the last time.

The days would pass and everyone would say how tragic it was that Claire and Serah had lost both their parents in one night. Nobody, not even Serah noticed that their parents weren't the only ones to die that night. That night, the little girl named Claire had died as well.

X X X

Years would pass, and while Serah stayed in Bodhum City and studied, Claire travelled the world. She learned that the world was not a good place, that it was not fair, or just, or decent. What had happened to her happened every day to more people than she could imagine. The only way to stop it, the only way to make the world a good place, a fair place, a just, and decent place, would be for someone to make it that way. She would be that someone.

She learned how to fight, to survive, and in a desolate mountain range far from Bodhum City, she learned how to become more than a woman – she learned how become a hero, a legend. She learned from those who walked in the shadows, from those who shared her hatred of evil. And when she had learned as much as she could, those teaching her made her face her fear, forced her make it a part of her.

They took her out onto the mountainside and they waited until a storm broke. There, with the storm raging all around them, they sought to kill her. If she lived, she was worthy. If she died, she was not. She let the fear flow through her, let it overwhelm her, and then she crushed it beneath the weight of her purpose. There was no room for fear in her heart, no place for weakness in her soul. She fought. And she won. And so, she was worthy.

And then went back to Bodhum to the life she'd left behind, and a sister she now barely knew. People called her Claire, but that wasn't her name, not anymore. For centuries men had feared lightning, had feared it for its sudden, ruthless power. It was divine judgement. Well, she had it feared it as well, but no longer. Now, she was the lightning.

X X X

Lightning limped away from Serah and reached for her costume.

"Why does it have to be you, Claire?" Serah shouted. She'd known right from the start that there was something different about her sister, but until she'd seen it with her own eyes, she'd never imagined that Claire was Lightning, the cold, merciless vigilante. "You're killing yourself." She bit back a sob, remembering how she'd found Claire passed out in her bed, the sheets soaked with blood. "I've seen the bruises, Claire, I've had to bandage and stitch the cuts. Tell me, why does it have to be you? Why do you have to fight them?"

Lightning tugged on her mask and turned. "You don't understand."

Serah grabbed Lightning's wrist. "You're right! I don't understand!" She blinked back tears. "I don't understand why the only family I have left is out there fighting a battle she can't possibly win. You've given them enough, Claire. You've done more enough. They don't deserve anything else, not from you."

Lightning gently pulled out of Serah's grasp and then reached up to cup Serah's cheek with one hand. "It's not a question of what they deserve," Lightning murmured. "It's a question of what I'm willing to give."

"And what are you willing to give?" Serah asked. She'd seen the news. She'd seen entire blocks of the city ablaze as a madman brought his terrible vision to life.

Lightning smiled softly, sadly, and then turned away. "To make sure no one ever suffers the way we did? Everything. Serah. Everything."

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off of this.

Okay, when I was first tossing around ideas for Superhero, I wasn't sure exactly who to base Lightning on, and what sort of tone that I wanted. This is sort of an alternate universe to Superhero, a much darker one in which Lightning is based on Batman. This chapter, as you can probably tell, is modelled quite closely on the recent Batman trilogy (Batman Begins, the Dark Knight, and the Dark Knight Rises).

On an unrelated note, I haven't stopped working on my other stories, but due to various issues, I haven't had as much time as I would like to sit down and just get something done. As it is, I had to sort of churn this out in a little less than an hour (although I did have a rough draft to work off). Still, once things clear up, it will, hopefully, be business as usual. Also, I finally got around to seeing Fate/Zero. Yes! It was awesome. It also happened to set some plot bunnies bounding around in my brain. There are more than enough similarities between Lightning and Saber for me to work with… but I should probably leave that until later. Oh well, it might pop up briefly in an omake or something until I've got the time to do it properly.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.