Lucy had begun her journey to becoming a hero, it was always simple. If a guy was beating an innocent person up, take them down. If a guy was holding up a gas station for cash, take them down. If someone was engaging in harmful, illegal activities that could harm the public peace, you take them down. See? Simple. But as she progressed and gained more experience as a hero, things became more complicated. No longer were these simple rules and morals simple. Lucy had to learn a very important lesson the hard way. And it started on the night she was on a simple patrol across her designated section of the city, where she had to run into him…
"Eight of Spades? Come in, Eight of Spades," a male voice called through her transceiver. It was her brother, Lincoln. Their de facto leader, awesome sibling, and the famous hero, Ace Savvy. He was calling in to check up on everyone's status as usual.
As Lucy peered across the empty night on top of a roof, she lifted her finger to the side of her ear and pressed a small button. "I'm fine Ace. I'm on watch right now. Nothing concerning at the moment," Lucy responded.
"Alright, stay safe. If you need help, Strong Suit is your closest back up."
"Of course. I'll be fine," She reassured. That was her brother, super protective. She continued to look out at the city. Blissful silence was all she heard on this calm night. Just how she liked it. The daytime was so hectic and eventful while at night, everything felt at rest. Which was exactly why she always preferred the darkness over the light. And, as a hero, it was her job to protect the peaceful night from those who wished to disturb the daily rest. Lucy took out her portable spell book and began to flip to a dog eared page. She was going to need to learn more spells and magic if she ever wanted to keep the night protected from those who tried to hide their atrocities in it.
It remained akin to this for a long while. Just her memorizing helpful tricks and learning new ones. That was until…
"We have 5 minutes 'till a freak shows up. We go in fast and get out quick, okay?" a shaky voice urgently ordered. Catching her attention, Lucy closed her book and crept over to the roof's edge. There she could see 5 men wearing masks, holding various objects in their hands that insinuated a heist was taking place. In front of the men was a pawn shop that had been closed down for the night. "Five minutes" the guy had said. Ha. Try one.
She spread her hands out and the shadows in her surroundings began to envelop her. She jumped off the roof and began to gradually descend down as darkness carried her to the ground. She gracefully stepped back onto the ground level and hid within an alley.
"Invisibilia...Transparcium," Lucy lightly uttered. Her body began to disappear and soon, she had made herself invisible to the human eye and casually made her way to the burglars.
"This is going to be simple," she thought to herself. As the 5 men began to break the lock of the shop with a blowtorch, one of the people wearing an odd-looking gauntlet on each arm began to look around. His hairs started to stand up as something was approaching. However, he saw nothing. He knew something unannounced was approaching them. Ever since his accident, it had been this way and it never failed to warn him that something was wrong.
"Uh… Guys?" he called out to his partners in crime. They were too busy fiddling with the lock and ignored his call. "Um guys?" he called out once again, this time a little louder. Two of them looked up and rudely told him to shut up as they continued focusing on breaking the lock. Despite being shushed, he persisted. "Guys, I think something is coming," he warned.
One of the men huddled over the guy with the blowtorch laughed. "Trust me, I doubt a super freak is here already newbie. Relax."
As soon has he finished his sentence, Lucy reappeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Two of they guys quickly spotted her, but were too slow to react as Lucy unleashed her attack. After materializing a black shovel made from the darkness, Lucy swung the flat side of her weapon into the side of one of the thugs face. As the other began to attack her, two guys from the group with crowbars and wrenches rushed over to the young heroine. Extending her arm out, Lucy began to chant.
"Wadsho… Hileds!"
A purple glowing shield appeared on her arm as soon as a thug struck down his wrench at her. She remained unscathed. Another man went behind her and swung his crowbar at her. Luckily, Lucy saw the attack coming and ducked before it could even land. While still crouched, Lucy took the opportunity to sideswipe the man in front of her with the wrench and send her leg into the gut of the thug with the crowbar behind her, sending him back a few feet.
Lucy picked herself up and turned her attention to the guy crouched near the lock with his blow torch in his hand. He looked terrified by her and raised his blow torch in defense. Lucy didn't hesitate and smacked the blowtorch out his hand with her shovel of darkness. She proceeded to take out a future telling card from her utility belt and slam it on the ground near the cowering man. He found himself begin to sink into the ground, yelling and begging for mercy until he found himself completely submerged from the neck down where the effect stopped, rendering him still able to breath but effectively immobilized.
Lucy looked around her. The men were lying on the the ground and groaning in pain. Just to be safe, she rubbed her hands again and chanted another spell.
"Lepes…" she whispered as she let out one of her palm in front her lips. She blew onto it, creating a thick grey cloud as it came off her hand. The grey mist soon reached the thugs, causing any who were trying to get up to collapse back on the floor.
Lucy couldn't help but feel proud of herself. She had taken out 4 grown men all by herself without any trouble and remained intact. She really was becomin- wait a minute… there were 5 men that she remembered.
The sound of what was like a taser being discharged came from behind her. She quickly turn around but was met blunt and forceful punch to the chest, as well as the jolting pain of electricity surging through her body. She found herself going airborne several feet before crashing back onto the ground. Lucy gritted her teeth as she tried to shake off the hit. Such a rookie mistake, how could she have missed one?
She took account of her surroundings and looked at the guy who got the drop on her. It was the thug wearing the weird gauntlets. He appeared to be much younger and shorter than the rest of the group. Lucy suspected he was a teenager. The guy started making his way toward her while rubbing his fists together. When he pulled them apart, blue sparks of electricity began jump out and flow across the knuckle area.
"Great, I got deal with a ex-human," she thought to herself. She readied for an attack as she grabbed small ,shuriken-sized spades out of the the shadows. She tucked them in between each finger swiftly. Using her other hand, she extended it out said her spell. "Wadsho… Hileds," she said as another shield appeared in front of her. The enhanced thug smirked as he brought his fists close to his face area.
Lucy threw a spade at her opponent, only for him to dodge it. Taking his chance, he took a jab at Lucy's shield. Lucy found herself stunned when on impact, her shield cracked after it took the brunt of the attack. The thug smiled and threw another punch at her shield, shattering it completely this time.
With her defense down, he wasted no time. He gave continuous punches at the goth, giving her no chance to recover from what was going on. The thug sent a few more jabs at the heroine before rubbing his knuckles again, charging them with electricity. Lucy, in a desperate attempt to protect herself, put her wrist in front of her face. The thug, with all of his strength, let out the hardest punch he possibly make and Lucy was sent flying several in the air when it landed. She eventually crashed into one of the closed shops on the street they were fighting in.
Lucy could feel herself beginning to blackout as her entire body ached. Her stomach churned as she felt sick and wanted to puke. In her moments to spare, she looked over at the pawn shop. The door was open and the security system was set off. She knew the the thug she was just fighting had broken inside. But, as she tried to move, she felt her body go numb and could barely move her fingers.
After several attempts and fails to get up, she saw the enhanced burglar running away with the cash he had just stole. The last thing Lucy remembered before going unconscious was she had failed. She had allowed a burglar to get the best of her and flee.
Lucy woke up to the sounds of sirens. She opened her eyes and was met with flashing blue and red lights that were blinding her. She could feel herself able to move again but ached as she slouched up, letting out a silent groan as she recuperate. She looked around again and found the cops had just arrived onto the scene and were parked in front of the robbed pawn shop. She slapped her forehead as she remembered that she had let the guy get away. Lucy cursed herself and miserably muttered her invisibility spell.
"Invisibilia...Transparcium," she said and disappeared from the sight of the police. She made her way to an empty alley and rested her back onto the wall.
Her body was still aching and she felt every injury she had received from the fight. She still couldn't believe that she had lost. She was supposed to be a hero, but how could she save others if she was almost defeated herself?
As she rested, she thought about all her mistakes and how she could've done better. It would've been an easy win if she hadn't forgotten such a formidable foe. Now, because of her failure, another criminal was loose on the streets of Royal Woods.
"Eight of Spades? Come in, Eight of Spades," Lincoln's voice said through her transceiver.
"I'm here," Lucy responded. She had hoped he wouldn't call so soon. She wasn't ready to admit defeat.
"Eight of Spades, I just got a report that the robbery was successful. What happened?" Lucy could hear the disbelief in his voice. She sighed out loud before beginning her explanation.
"There were five criminals. I was able to easily defeat four of them, but lost track of the fifth. He... escaped."
"Escaped? How could you let that happen, Eight of Spades? You should've been more cautious," Lincoln scolded.
"I'm going after him, Ace," Lucy decided. She had been tossing the idea around in her head, but knew she was too injured to actually go through with it. That didn't matter to her now. She had to prove to Lincoln, and the rest of her team, that she was capable of completing her mission, even when it was as messy as this.
"No, Eight of Spades. We need to discuss this. Who knows where that guy is now or how many others he has with him. This is a bad idea. You could get hurt or someone else could get hurt," Lincoln denied.
Lucy had already made up her mind. She was not going to let that criminal run free. He needed to be locked away as soon as possible.
"I'll be able to find him, I've been researching a few new spells recently. I'll be more careful this time."
"No. It's not safe, Lucy. I don't want you getting hurt. You can go after him another time, but for right now you need rest. You'll have a better chance of winning if you wait." Lincoln said.
Lucy sighed. She saw his logic and understood his concerns. And she was pretty beat up. It would be useless to go after him right now.
"Fine," she replied, "I'll see you at HQ."
Lucy decided to heed his words and return to base. She groaned as she stood up straight and murmured a spell. "Viletate… Denasc," she murmured as she stretched out her arms and allowed herself to ascend.
"Transportium… instantianium," she whispered as she envisioned the HQ in her mind. She hoped that this would work. Dark clouds enveloped her body and she felt a strange sensation. The clouds soon parted to reveal… and empty desert in the middle of the day.
"God damn it!"
Lucy eventually was able to transport herself to the base, only to be bombarded with dozens of questions from Ace Savvy. Everything from the criminal's age to his posture. He tried to ask about Lucy's injuries but she refused to explain them. She had enough to deal with without her protective brother trying to confine her to bed.
She knew he meant well, but she didn't care. She had dealt with enough that day. All she desired now was rest and relaxation.
Her injuries, thankfully, turned out to be minor. She was expected to be healed in 2 weeks. She was able to magically treat some of her wounds, making her recovery time a little under 1 week. Lincoln disapproved of this practice, saying that it was too risky for her to use experimental spells on herself. She told him that she wouldn't, but she didn't keep her word.
Lisa had been treating her and was constantly astonished by her quick recovery. The young genius was eventually privy to her secret treatment but didn't seem to be against it. When asked, she simply told Lucy that she was glad that she could soon have more time for other scientific pursuits. As soon as Lucy was ready to go back out, she made her way to her brother that what still at the base.
"You have any leads on my escaped prey?" She said in a cold, harsh tone.
"Uh, that's is the strangest way I've heard any of you ask that. But as of right now? No…" He informed, unsure.
Lucy scoffed. "I know you barely checked. Give me an hour and I will. If you just let me find him."
"Lucy, please…"
"I know you can't handle the fact I'm going up against someone who's more formidable than an average bandit. But you been sheltering me for too long. I've fought villains before. You've seen me in action. So just let me take this one guy down!"
"Fine! I'll let you take this criminal into the slammer. But as soon as things go south, you contact us, okay?" Lucy nodded a response and crept away. She took a deep breath. She was going to finish what she started and she wasn't going to let her guard down. But first, she had to do her own investigating to locate where the man was.
Lucy walked over to her advanced computer and began typing."Most burglars rob places that are within a mile and a half from where they actually live." Lucy isolated the pawn shop in white where her fight went down on the virtual but detailed map on her computer. Then, she added the surrounding areas that were within a radius of a mile and a half from pawn shop.
This helped shorten her options where the criminal could be. After sifting through her options on the surrounding areas, she found around thirteen places he could be hiding. "Even so, I want to know exactly where he is. And I'm sure he's not in thirteen places at the same time. However…"'
Lucy searched the traffic cams in the city at the area near the robber. Nothing showed up. However, she didn't check any of the residential security cameras. After hacking and going through a few cameras near the suspected thirteen areas, surely enough, she found her lead. He had escaped into an abandoned office building near the older side of Royal Woods up north. Lucy was going to be ready this time.
She ripped herself from her computer and saved her bandit's address into the portable technology integrated in her suit. She immediately made her way to the exit where Lincoln stood. With a worried look on his face. Biting her lip, he walked even faster towards the door and strided in confidence. "Bye," she muttered.
"Lucy, we can always help. Going at things alone can be tough."
"I'll be fine, brother. Goodbye," she replied in annoyance. She wasn't going to make her brother group her up with their sisters. She could she handle enhanced thieves on her own. Lucy would be victorious tonight. And with these thoughts and emotions fueling her, she took off in night and disappeared into the shadows.
Lucy found herself across the street from an abandoned building, examining the exterior with critical eyes.
'Royal Woods seriously needs to do things about these abandoned buildings,' Lucy thought to herself as she neared her destination. The place seemed to be an old bank with a rustic feel to it. Her heart pounded as she crept over the deserted street, a sick feeling of dread and doubt growing in the pit of her stomach. She had been so focused on catching the thug that she hadn't even considered the danger that Lincoln had been blatantly pointing out to her. Only here in the moment did she realize the truth behind his words.
'I've already come this far. I'm not backing out now,' She told herself.
"Transparcium… Revealia," she whispered as she stood in front of the building. Her vision turned completely dark and she was able to see a faint grey outline around what seemed to be her target. She scanned for any other outlines but found none. Lucky for her, the criminal was alone.
'Piece of cake, right?' she thought to herself.
"Viletate… Denasc," she murmured as she began to fly to one of the office's already busted windows. She landed inside the building and took careful steps towards the floor her opponent was at.
'He's below me. If I'm quick, I can get the drop on him,' she kept saying in her head as she found the stairs that lead down. As she got closer and descended even further, she could faintly hear someone speaking. She swore that he had been alone and let out a muffled sigh. As she crept closer, she could see the criminal. He had a phone pressed up against his right ear and his mask was off. He seemed Hispanic and sported curly black hair. What Lucy found shocking was that man she was going to engage looked no older than 15, incredibly young for a criminal. Why was he robbing pawn shops with full grown men?
"Just please save her. I can pay for whatever the price is. Just move her on the priority donor list. Please…"
Lucy raised an eyebrow at what was going on. Why was he talking about a donor list?
"Wait, you can? Yes, please! Oh thank you… Thank you so much. Please, notify me when the operation begins. And make it soon! I don't know if she can keep fighting like she is," he exclaimed. Lucy heard the beep of the call ending and saw the criminal hold the phone to his chest.
For some reason, Lucy didn't want to attack. A self-imposed mental block kept her from advancing. He was right there for the taking, why wasn't she able to move? In a frustrated attempt, she thrust her leg in front of her. However, her face sank as she heard it resonate loudly throughout the room. 'Aw, shit…'
The villain spun his head toward her location, and could see Lucy eavesdropping on him. Gritting his teeth, his activated his gauntlets and rubbed his knuckles against each other. The familiar blue sparks of electricity sparked out of his fists as he separated them.
Lucy took out a card and formed her shield again, this time, reinforced with the power of darkness. "Wadsho… Hileds… Stobo!" She was confident that going to win this fight.
What seemed like the standoff at first soon erupted into chaos. Lucy was the first to attack. It wasn't her usual method but she wanted to finish the man she had been humiliated by as soon as she could.
Lucy flung her card at the man, hearing it whistle through the air. The enhanced opponent narrowly dodged it and it sliced cleanly through on of the building's pillars. The pillar hissed as it began to crash to the ground. Not wasting a second on what could have happened if it hit him, her opponent charged at Lucy, who found out he was incredibly swift and was forced to raise her shield. The punch collided with her defense with a echoing crash. The shield resisted the force, however Lucy winced as she took in all of the shock that single hit.
His attacks didn't cease though. He continued his barrage of strikes, weakening Lucy's shield a bit further every single time. The attacks were so quick and precise that she wasn't able to perform any spells that would somehow flip the fight back in her favor as she was preoccupied with defending herself.
The shield began to crack and she found herself backed to a column. However, she realized her opportunity to get out of her mess. The villain had just finished charging his fists again and threw his punch. To his surprise, however, Lucy dodged the attack by dropping down before it landed and, instead, his gauntlet slammed into the column, destroying it completely with a single punch.
Lucy, who was squatting after just narrowly avoiding the blow, took the opportunity to kick his legs as hard as she could, causing him to fall down towards her before receiving another kick to the jaw. Lucy rearranged herself and began forming a concentration of energy with black mist steaming out of it within her hands.
"This ends now!" she yelled as she fired her blast.
The villain's eyes widened as he jumped away from the beam before it hit him and made a run for it. The stream followed closely behind as it destroyed everything that was standing in its way. The villain made his way around the room as it followed him. The villain dashed towards Lucy, sliding underneath the ray of darkness. Before Lucy could react, she was tackled to the ground. He began to raise his fist and but suddenly halted. He glanced around fearfully as he climbed off of her.
"We need to leave. Now," he demanded, a sense of urgency filling his voice.
Lucy glared at him. "We're not done yet. I'm not leaving until I have you behind bars!"
"No, you don't get it. Something bad is about to happen, let's go!"
"Why should-" Lucy was interrupted by a sick sound. She had realized what was going on. Her blast had crumbled every support column.
A piercing creak sounded throughout the room along with the sound of rocks bouncing off the ground.
The roof of above them had begun to crumble and she saw the villain was already sprinting off. Lucy followed as they made it to the stairs scrambled down two at a time. After they had reached the first floor, all Lucy could remember was the roof collapsing on top of her and her vision going dark.
When Lucy opened her eyes she could barely comprehend what had happened. Her brain seemed like it was pounding against her skull and and she was surrounded by pure darkness. She turned her head to each side and saw nothing outside of the pitch black.
Normally, she would not mind the fact darkness had enveloped her, but that was not the case in this unfamiliar situation. She could not stand without hitting her head, forcing her to stay seated where she was. She heard a pained moan in the shadows next to her and whipped her head around to search for the source of the noise.
"Shadio… Revelia," she muttered, straining to speak as the wind was still sucked out of her lungs from the collapse. After the spell had been cast, the area seemed to light up. She could see perfectly fine what had been concealed from view mere seconds ago.
She assessed the situation first, glancing around and seeing that the office building was no longer visible. She was under what seemed like a massive pile of rubble. She tried to recall what events had led her to being trapped under all this debris. At first, her memory was foggy, but it soon came back to her. She was fighting against the man who had escaped her. In the middle of their fight the ceiling had crumbled and crashed to the ground, trapping both of them. That meant the other guy was here somewhere.
She looked to where she had heard the moan a minute ago. Sure enough, there he was. He was lying on his stomach, an unfamiliar bruise on his forehead. Lucy wondered if he was knocked out, but the villain snapped open his eyes, blinking rapidly.
"W-what… happened? Where a-am I?" he asked, looking around. Lucy realized that he was seeing only blackness. The spell she had cast affected only her own vision, not his. She watched as his movements became more frantic as he tried and failed to get to his feet.
"Help!" he cried out, his voice echoing in their small chamber. Lucy sighed out loud, alerting the villain to her presence. He seemed to stare right at her. It felt like he was watching her even though she knew that he had no way of seeing her. It unsettled her.
"W-who's there?" he asked. His voice trembled betraying how terrified he really was. Lucy felt pity for the thug. She was used to the darkness and the cramped spaces, but this had to seem like torture to him. She shifted closer and laid a hand on his head, making him scream in pure terror and scramble to get away.
"Calm down," Lucy ordered. The man let out a animal-like whimper and trembled as Lucy concentrated.
"Shadio… Revelia," she whispered. She removed her hand from the man's head and he looked around. His eyes finally landed on Lucy.
"How did you do that?" he breathed in wonder.
"Magic," she said.
"You're joking, right?" he asked, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the sudden illumination. He continued to scan the area as he got used to his new night vision.
"No." Lucy shifted to the side before patting the spot next to her. "There's more room over here."
The criminal crawled over Lucy and sat up. He looked at the small space that they were trapped in, shaking his head and burying his face in his palms.
"How are we going to get out of here?" he moaned. Lucy thought for a moment, resting her chin in her partially open fist. She had to have a spell that would enable them to move the debris. She mentally dug through all the spells that she had memorized before settling on one.
"Physiqueium… incresia," she said. The criminal looked at her oddly.
"Uh, what-ium something-ia?" Lucy let out a sigh at the man's lack of knowledge.
"It's magic. This spell should increase my strength enough to move this rubble," she explained.
"So you really do know magic," he said, stunned.
"Yes, I do," she agreed. She placed her hands on the stone ceiling above her and pushed. The rubble shifted as she strained her body, trying desperately to get it to move. She raised it a bit and heard the tumbling of rocks. She ignored the noises as she pushed the roof higher and higher. A beam of light began to peak through as she grinded her teeth and growled in frustration.
"Just… a… bit… higher!" she grunted as she felt rocks slam into her foot. She heard loud crashing as pieces of debri slid off the top of the piece she was lifting. The load didn't seem to lighten and she felt tugging at her costume.
"Uh, Eight of Spades? Eight of Spades? There's a problem!" the villain started yelling, tugging at her cape.
"What?!" she spat.
"You might want to stop!" he exclaimed.
Lucy dropped the load and sighed. She turned to the man to question him when she saw that he was extremely close to her. She gasped for breath as she saw the damage she'd done. Half of their small space had caved in as she lifted their roof. Any longer and the entire area would've been flooded, leaving no room for the two to even breathe.
She let out a grunt as she sat back down next to the criminal, her muscles sore and throbbing from the overexertion. "What's the plan then?"
"I don't know. Got any useful 'spells' that can get us out?"
"I don't think so. I do have a teleportation spell but I have to be at high altitudes to perform it. And I would just call Ace Savvy and the rest of my crew but..." She opened her hand to reveal a destroyed communicator.
The villain sighed. "Then we're stuck til someone finds us."
They sat in awkward silence as they waited. Lucy was cursing herself for being so reckless. Not only could she have died but also let the guy get away. Now she was trapped under a ton of rubble with no back up. For a while it remained that way, the silence allowing Lucy's thoughts to run wild. She thought up a good question.…
"What's your name?" Lucy asked.
The villain pursed his lips before revealing it. "Taron E. Holland."
"Hm, Lucy."
"That all your gonna tell me?"
"Yes."
Taron and Lucy looked at each other for a while, relaxed and composed. Lucy had so many questions running through her head but remained her poker face. She then had to ask, "Why are you stealing at such a young age, Taron?
He chuckled before looking away with a sad frown. "I'll tell you, but then you have to tell me why you go out fighting bad guys at 'such a young age'."
Lucy nodded. "Deal."
"My mom had a heart attack. She needs a new heart but we can't afford one. So, to make quick money and save her in time, I asked a couple of guys who were planning to rob a place if I could join them. They said yes after I convinced them. Then I had to face the wrath of Lucy," he said with a thin smile.
Lucy may have been emotionless to many things when she was young, but she was excellent at reading others' emotions. Just by looking at him, she could tell he was in intense emotional pain. He was doing everything he could to hide his worries with a smile. Lucy couldn't believe that she actually found that admirable. To still smile after so much sorrow. "You must really love your mother," Lucy said in a gentle voice.
Taron sniffed. "Yeah… I guess I do. I've always have been a momma's boy."
"There's nothing wrong with that. A mother's love is some the purest."
Taron slightly nodded his head before asking. "What's your deal?"
Lucy readjusted her seating position before telling him. "I've had these powers of mine for 6 months now and I've always wanted to help people. I never knew how, though. That's why, when I manifested them, I decided that being a hero and protecting the public was the route to travel."
"Nice," Taron said. There wasn't any talking after that. Taron soon broke the silence.
"Wanna see something cool?" he asked.
Lucy shrugged. "Sure."
Taron curled his hand into a fist and began rubbing his own hair. After a few good seconds of doing such, his once curly hair was now standing up straight as needles, looking a like a mad scientist.
Lucy hysterically giggled at the sight despite her best efforts not to. Taron couldn't help but reveal a toothy grin, happy that he was alleviating the dire mood, even if it was brief. Lucy then put her finger to her chin and pondered for a few seconds before asking, "What is your enhancement again?"
Taron looked excited as he began to sit straighter. "I have electrical powers. But it's only in the form of static electricity so I can't necessarily fire it. I have a hard time containing my energy so that's why I made these…" He detached a gauntlet from his arm and gave it to Lucy to look at. She was honestly a little stunned by how fast they were getting along as she took it from him and observed it carefully.
"They help control my energy output by storing high amounts of electricity for me. When I begin rubbing my knuckles together, I'm recharging it again by brushing the hairs in my fingers together."
"This tech is astonishing, considering you created this yourself. I know I was just fighting you awhile ago but I give credit where it's due. You might be a genius," Lucy complimented, handing it back to him.
Reattaching it to his arm, he laughed. "Ha, thanks. I took some inspiration for it from looking at defibrillators. Then I just added my own touch."
"More like punch. A static punch." The two of them laughed together in the dark. The both of them had found each other to not be that bad at all.
"Honestly, that would be a cool villain name," Taron commented.
"Introducing the Electrifying: Static Punch!" he said with dramatic hand movements.
Lucy smiled at the light banter. "Why does it have to be a villain name?"
Taron smile fell and he rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess 'cause I've committed a crime."
"Vigilantism isn't really legal either. You would've made a great hero," Lucy encouraged.
Taron looked away and stared off into space. Lucy could tell he was regretting his life choices. "Hey, I know it's tough right now. I know you did something stupid. But don't let that get through your head. Think about how you can change what you do next," Lucy comforted, "and while you may be a criminal, I guess you're a hero to your mother. Try to make her proud after you get through this."
Lucy saw that he wasn't looking at her anymore. Instead, he was looking at something else in the in their small space. "Hey, Lucy?"
"Yeah?"
"I think I just found our way out of here."
Lucy practically jumped from where she was sitting. "Where?" she asked excitedly. Taron pointed to a small but large enough opening that they could crawl through. He gestured his arms toward their exit. "Ladies first," he said with a dumb grin on his face.
"Oh, such a gentleman," Lucy went along. They began their journey out, coughing and rubbing their eyes from the still settling dust and debris. But soon, they could see the night sky and broke through the wreckage. They began cleaning themselves up and and checking their surroundings. The building was still standing and but they had noticed that the second and third story were now gone. They were astonished by how they were able to survive that.
After catching their breath, Taron straightened himself out. "I better get going, it was really nice meeting you. Sorta. After you blasted at me and made the roof collapse," Taron said in a tired but jocular voice.
Lucy pouted with a smirk. "I remember you taking out a column yourself. But I'll admit I was responsible for most of it."
Taron returned a smile of his own. But soon, they heard sirens coming towards their direction. "Oh crap. Hey, I'm really sorry but I have to go," Lucy heard Taron say. She saw him beginning to take off quickly into the night. Lucy's eyes widened as she forgot why she was here to begin with. She began to form a ball of darkness when she remembered their conversation. How genuine it all felt. How open he was to her with sharing his issues with her. Maybe he did screw up and break the law, but his mother needed him. There could have been a chance he lied to her this entire time. But could he have really? This constant debate of back and forth concluded with Lucy resting her hands to her sides.
She let him go. And while a big part of her called herself dumb for letting a criminal get away scott free, another part of herself trusted that he had a heart of gold somewhere in that strained soul of his. And because of that, maybe this was the right thing to do. Lucy turned around and ran the opposite direction. She couldn't help but want to see him again one day.
Over Two Weeks Later
Lucy woke from her slumber and groaned. The alarm clock on her phone blared like hell into her ear drums. She grabbed her smartphone and dismissed the alarm, thoroughly rubbing her eyes and adjusting to the brightness of her phone screen. After that, She began going through her notifications that came overnight. A few text messages and update approvals. The usual. However when she was checking out the news outlets, she found something that caught her eye.
The video was titled, "Enhanced Teen Turns Himself Into Authorities." Lucy raised a brow, sounding familiar. She tapped the video and was met with a startling realization. It was Taron from a while back.
The reporter said he had turned himself in after he had left a the exact sum of money he stole from the pawn shop he robbed in front of their doorsteps.
"While the owner of the shop decided to not press charges due to being paid back, Taron Holland is required by law to be tried in court. It is being decided whether or not he should be tried as an adult. A bail has been placed of $2000.
"Taron told the police he committed the act in order to raise enough money for a costly but life saving operation for his mother. After she made a recovery, he decided he was going to bring himself to justice. The case has apparently caused a stir of controversy amongst the people of Royal Woods on how many young kids are abusing the enhancements some acquire," the reporter stated.
But for Lucy? She could say she was conflicted on her definition of what was truly a villain. Taron had blurred the black and white logic she was so used to. What was just a small talk humanized her perception on criminals. Yes, some villains were flat out evil. But many weren't as bad as they were antagonized. So maybe, Lucy thought, she could change how much she had desensitize the people she fought. After all, they were all humans with stories and origins of their own. But all Lucy wanted to do now was help Taron Holland out. And she had an idea how.
Taron sat in his cell in solemn silence. It was going to take a while for him to get over the fact he had just strained his mother's new heart already, but he knew that this was what he deserved. He broke the law. He was going to pay for it. Initially though, he was just going to sweep the whole thing under the rug and lie to his mother about how he was able to pay for her operation. He could have totally gotten away with it too.
However, meeting that goth heroine practically made him guilt trip himself into doing this. It would have been better this way to begin with. He was most likely going to juvie. He knew that his family didn't have enough money to provide a good attorney or even bail him out and the state provided lawyers were known to be terrible. Taron just hoped he was not going to be kept there too long and that his future was not utterly screwed up.
However his sulking was interrupted by a guard walking to his cell door and opening it for him. For the next few seconds, the guard merely stood there, holding the door for him as he sat in confusion.
"Uh, sir, what's going on?" he couldn't help but ask.
"Someone paid for your bail. You can go home. All belongings will be waiting for you with your attorney your family hired," the guard said emotionlessly.
Taron blinked a few times. "Excuse me sir, I think you have the wrong person. My family can't affor-"
"Your name is Taron Egerton Holland, correct?' he interrupted.
"Yeah…"
"Then get the fuck out of my sight already," the guard said, clearly annoyed.
Taron gave a shocked expression and gulped. "Okay, sir," he said as he got up from his seat and walked out of his cell. He found himself being escorted by two other guards as they made their way to a room. The guards opened the door and inside stood a steel table where a bin holding his clothes was rested in the middle of it. There also stood a tall man in professional business attire facing him. 'Must be my lawyer,' he figured. The guards left his side and Taron stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.
The lawyer walked over to him and let his out his hand. "Hi, my name is-"
Before he could introduce himself, Taron cut to the chase. "Who sent you here? My family isn't exactly the richest to afford a guy like you."
The lawyer just smiled. "Why I was hired. Though the person who hired me to defend you has decided to remain anonymous. She was also the one who paid for your bail."
"Who is this 'she' and why am I of any importance to her? Was it my mother?" he questioned.
"No, Mr. Holland. As I have already stated, she didn't want her identity to be disclosed. But that hardly matters right now. Let's have you changed and discuss how we're going to keep you from being placed in a youth detention center."
Taron pursed his lips and nodded, he sure as hell wasn't going to complain about it. He walked of to the bin and grabbed his clothes. However, he felt something thin and solid underneath as soon as he grabbed them. He took out what it was and found it to be a playing card. An eight of spades to be specific. On it was a short and simple note written in black Sharpie.
"You're welcome. Love L." He whispered lightly to himself. Taron let out a tearful smile. 'My hero, Lucy,' he thought to himself.
I love this chapter, it's Meh's chapter and it's a complex storyline in one chapter.
My only problem was Static Punch's real name, I changed it because it was stupid.
Next is Jack's chapter. See Jack? I'm not lazy like you.
Oh and hello you fellow Gemi? How are you? Well Jack played a sick joke and his father found out and deleted his account. Trust me he brought it on himself, he was kind of a asshole. He's the reason why Meh Writer is done writing this fic.