Author's Note: Yay, another chapter!
"Lucas, time to get up!" Alice called (somehow in a chipper manner), through her son's' bedroom door, and banged on it three more times. The young man groaned, and lifted himself up into a sitting position like a zombie rising from the grave. He rubbed his eyes and took his phone from the nightstand. 7:30 AM. His mother never allotted him a few extra minutes, did she?
Off to the closet he went, picking out an outfit for the day's events, and after a slight debate with himself, decided to wear his suit underneath. In his early hero days, he quickly learned that the major trouble in the city happens when least expected, and the last thing he needed was to have to go home for his disguise. He grabbed his backpack from beside his bed and headed downstairs to the kitchen, where his mother was just putting the lid on his coffee mug.
"Thanks mom." He said as he accepted the cup, and then kissed her cheek before turning to head out the door.
"Don't forget, we have the Buckman gala tonight." Alice called, and Lucas let out a rather loud sigh.
"What illness could possibly get me out of it?" He asked.
"None. Your father owned a lot of stocks in this company. Besides, Amanda will be there, of course." Alice often teased Lucas about his relationship with the air-headed heiress. While she personally didn't care for the girl, all that mattered was that she made her son happy.
"Okay, Mom." He didn't exactly sound too thrilled, but it seemed he wouldn't disappear all night this time.
Lucas walked to the elevator, and then began trekking to the nearest subway station. This simple task seemed so trivial to him, which was often frightening. Had he become so dependent on his rather unorthodox method of transportation, that it was changing who he was as a person? No, probably because the subway's disgusting. At least he didn't have to worry about dropping his coffee and seriously injuring someone below.
His classes at NYU seemed to drag on more than usual today. Even his favorite professor, who was often very animated in his teaching of literature, seemed rather dull. Lucas was actually hoping for some sort of alien invasion that would give him an excuse to turn into his alter ego with a much more exciting life, if not a rather dangerous one.
By the time the last class got out and he was walking back to the subway, Lucas was almost giddy to see the hoard of police cars zooming in one direction. He grinned, ran into an alley, and quickly stripped himself of his normal clothes. Lucas stuffed them in his backpack, where he retrieved his mask from. Lux then chucked the backpack up into a spot where no one but him could get it, and took flight.
It wasn't hard to spot the high-speed chase, and he was almost relieved to see that the perp was not driving a black Chevy. He swooped lower, and flew beside the passenger window of one of the cop cars. The deputy sitting in the seat behind it grinned like a maniac and rolled down his window.
"Good afternoon, Officer." Lux greeted him with a grin. The man, not much older than himself, was grinning like a maniac.
"Oh my god, it's so great to meet you!" The young cop gushed, and his middle-aged partner groaned.
"Now is not the time, O'Hara!" She chastised.
"What seems to be the problem?" Lux asked. The young one, O'Hara pointed ahead.
"Bank robbery. The guy's supposedly armed, and stole about a quarter-million dollars." Lux grinned.
"Do not worry. I will take care of this." He said to the men and flew ahead. Compared to Nera's impossibly fast car, the Ford Fusion was fairly easy to catch. This time, he dropped to his feet on the hood, and crouched down to meet the driver's eyes.
"Holy shit!" The criminal screamed in surprise, and began to swerve due to his now limited vision. Lux clenched his hands into fists and began battering the windshield until he'd made a sizable hole, and the driver crashed into a wall. Unfazed, Lux reached in and pulled the man from the car.
"Did your mommy not teach you that you shouldn't steal?" He asked rhetorically as he dragged the possibly-concussed bank robber to the back door where he smashed the window with ease and found the bags of money. It was when he was reaching in that he heard the click. He turned to face the bloodied criminal with his pistol aimed right at the hero's head. Lux opened his mouth to say something when the perp simply collapsed in front of him, an arrow in his back.
"Well, that was a close one." Nera approached from behind the possibly dead man, crossbow in hand. "Don't worry, I just shot a non-vital area with a very powerful tranquilizer. He should be up for trial in a few days." She explained. Lux glanced down at the man.
"Impressive," He complimented. "But I could have handled that myself." Nera disagreed, but let it go.
"It's actually rather lucky I caught you here." She stepped over the criminal's unconscious body. "What do you know of Buckman Inc.?" She asked straightforwardly. He almost said that they'd bought his father's company two years before, but that would have definitely breached his identity.
"Multi-purpose corporation founded by billionaire Don Buckman in 1988. The nation's leading distributor of pharmaceuticals, automobile modifications, and children's toys. Has been criticized for its outsourced labour and questionable ethics in their toys- the most notable one being the baby doll that appeared to say homophobic slurs, which the company claimed was simply an unfortunate voicebox malfunction." Lux said this at rapid fire speed.
"Well done. Are you aware of the fact that it's their annual holiday gala tonight?" Nera asked, and Lux nodded. "It's rumored that there's going to be some sort of big unveiling at it."
"An unveiling of what, exactly?" Asked Lux. Nera shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm guessing something important enough that it has to be unveiled in a room full of rich investors." She hypothesized.
"So, not another racist action figure?" He asked.
"Exactly." She agreed.
"Is that all you wanted to talk about?" Lux asked. Nera had no time to respond because the police cars fun joined them.
"Curses! You'll never take me alive, Lux!" She over-dramatized at the top of her lungs and grapple-hooked away. Lucas couldn't help but chuckle as the police all scrambled out of their cars and pointed their guns in every direction.
"You fiend!" Lux screamed in a random direction and turned to the police.
"Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be able to catch her this time." He said to them, and they all lowered their weapons hastily. He lifted up the unconscious man by the arms and dragged him over to one of the cars. "Probably best you call an ambulance." Wanting to avoid any possible holes in his story, Lux left out the part about the perp pulling his gun, and simply said that he'd knocked the guy out when he tried to escape from the vehicle. He waited until they'd all gone back to the station and had the Ford impounded before looking up at the sky.
"You still there?" He called.
"Yep." Nera said from right behind him, causing him to jump about ten feet in the air due to shock. When he'd come back down on the ground, she was giggling. He could see now that she was hanging upside down from the cord.
"Well, doesn't this look familiar?" He said as he took in the scene.
"I'm not exactly sure. My knowledge of pop culture is...limited." She did the kind of maneuver you'd see from an Olympic gymnast and landed on her feet. "So, we were saying?" She asked as she smoothed down her hair.
"You were about to tell me if you had anything to say to me other than something big will happen with Buckman Inc.." Lux recapped.
"Right, right." Nera nodded and thought for a moment. "No, I think I covered everything."
"Fine. So, have you been staying out of trouble?" He asked.
"Since last night? Yes." She replied.
"Good." Lux said with a smirk.
"Don't get all high and mighty. There's still plenty of time for me to go rob a bank or something." She said, and he continued to just smile. "I'm not going to become some stupid hero like you!" She insisted.
"Never said you would." Nera's fist connected with Lux's left cheek. "Ow!"
"Dammit, you are infuriating!" She yelled and grappled away. Lux looked around, doing all but scratching his head in bewilderment. It took her about twenty seconds to reappear. This time when she grappled upside down in front of him, he at least didn't freak out. At least, not until she grabbed his face and pulled his lips to hers. All Lux to think to do was flail his arms as one if his favorite superhero moments ever, happened to him. Well, a very warped version. Also kind of rough.
"I'm sorry, I just had to see what that felt like." She said and disappeared again, leaving Lux to his jumbled thoughts as he flew back to the first alley and retrieved his things before flying home. He knew he wouldn't have time to travel like a civilian without getting yelled at by his mother for making her late to the party.
"Oh, it's even prettier than last year!" Alice Beineke gushed as she stared at the enormous Christmas tree in the centre of the Buckmans' massive ballroom. Her son, who at one point in time may have found linking arms with his mother to be embarrassing, smiled at the simple things that made her happy. It was rare that he got to enjoy things anymore. He enjoyed his moment of peace before he inevitably had to approach Amanda. She didn't seem terribly thrilled to see him, which was probably for the better.
"Hello, Amanda." He greeted her, and she pecked his lips as a sort of formality. He frowned, waiting for the right moment.
"Ugh, this party's so lame." She groaned. "All these old people to is talk about politics and the stock market. Like, I'm not saying those things aren't important, but Lux totally almost died today. Doesn't he deserve some damn recognition?" Amanda's rant caused Lucas to desperately grab a glass of champagne from a passing waiter.
"Do you mind if we go somewhere private?" He asked his girlfriend quietly, gesturing to several of her friends very close by.
Why?" She asked. "If you have something to say, then go for it." Lucas sighed and tried to be as confident in himself as possible.
"I- think this relationship isn't working out." He forced out. Amanda narrowed her eyes.
"What?" She asked.
"I want to break up." Lucas clarified.
"You have got to be kidding me." She looked at her friends and turned back to him. "Was it that skank, Brittney?" She asked.
"No." He said and took a drink of the champagne.
"Then who?" She pried.
"No one." Lucas admitted, to her utter shock. "I just don't want to be with you anymore." He was given a prompt slap across the face, and he turned on his heel back to the dance floor while Amanda went to trash him with her friends. He found his mother conversing with some women she'd befriended at past events and decided to leave her to that.
"Would you care to dance?" A female voice asked, and he turned to finally see her. She wore a black dress that flowed in a way similar to her black cape, and her face was completely recognizable, even without her mask. He nodded and the two began to waltz around the dance floor.
"I never thought I'd see you here, Nera." Lucas whispered at the young woman.
"Please, call me Wednesday here, Lux." She whispered back.
"And you can call me Lucas." He replied and spun her. "I must admit, that picture in Forbes really doesn't do you justice, Wednesday." He smiled coyly.
"Flattery will not better your chances of me not killing you in an alley, Lucas."
"That wouldn't be the first thing you've done to me in an alley." Lucas smirked. Wednesday stomped his foot.
"Sorry." She apologized with about as much sincerity as a snake. Lucas grimaced, and dipped her.
"Would you like to take this outside?" He asked as he held her in place.
"I wouldn't like to miss this." She said up to him just as music tackily cued Mr. Buckman up onto the stage. The aging man smiled hugely at the audience of investors and general people with heaps of money to spare. Lucas brought Wednesday up and let go of her. The two turned their attention to the CEO along with everyone else, many applauding.
"Thank you." He said and they all shushed. "I would like to thank you all for coming here tonight, and Happy Holidays." Lucas clapped politely. "I really hope you're all enjoying yourselves, and I was planning on waiting a few more weeks to unveil this-"
"No he wasn't." Wednesday muttered, and Lucas made an exaggerated shush motion. She rolled her eyes.
"I, like many of you, am a big fan of Lux." Buckman began, and Lucas and Wednesday both sighed in unison. "And I'm sure many of you wonder how he's so remarkable. He looks just like you and me, doesn't he?" He asked rhetorically.
"Except he's super hot!" Amanda yelled from the back of the ballroom, sounding significantly less sober than she had just a short while before.
"Well, yes." Don failed miserably to laugh off his daughter's comment. "Here at Buckman Incorporated, we are constantly striving for bigger and better things. And that's why, for the past two years, we've been working day and night to bring you the next, and highest step on the gene ladder. " Lucas and Wednesday met each others skeptical gaze.
"What's happening?" Lucas mouthed, and Wednesday shrugged.
"I would like to introduce you all to Carson Kelven." A tall, handsome man with chiseled features stepped onto the stage, followed by two scientists in lab coats. "Carson may just one day give Lux a run for his money." Don turned his attention to the scientists, who each produced a rather large syringe full of glowing blue liquid. Carson removed his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his white dress shirt.
"Don't worry, ladies and gentlemen, he will be more than fine." This final statement from Mr. Buckman sent chills down the spines of Lucas and Wednesday. With a nod from their boss, the scientists stuck the syringes in the young man's arms. He immediately cringed as the blue liquid was forced into his bloodstream, and let out a blood-curdling scream just moments after the needles had been removed from his arms. The audience gasped as he collapsed and writhed on the ground. Lucas could see that all of his veins had turned the color of the serum, and were popping out everywhere. Ushers immediately began calming the audience, and after a few more minutes, Carson Kelven went silent.
Just as people dared to think that he might be dead, he sprang to his feet with one fluid motion. He smiled out at the audience, and even their average eyes could see that his muscles had grown considerably, and he was at least three inches taller than before. Don smiled proudly and approached Carson, who leaned down to let the man whisper in his ear. He nodded, saw something at the far end of the ballroom, and to the shock of everyone in the room, he flew over to it.
He reached down and flipped over the empty table. From there, he tore one of the stainless steel legs off of it, and folded it in half as if it were looseleaf paper. All but two people in the crowd applauded.
"It's so nice to meet you all." Carson spoke aloud for the first time. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Ultraman."
Wednesday and Lucas' eyes met once more. Without any words exchanged, they made their way for the door, neither looking back at Dr. Frankenstein and his creation.
Dun dun DUUUUUUN!
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