Author's note: People, I give you shipping material.
Four days. Four days of knowing the origin of Lux. Four days of worrying about becoming obsolete, when everyone could be extraordinary in the near future. Four days without seeing the girl in the shadows. Lucas cursed himself for thinking in poetry, and looked down at his very sugary drink that was less coffee, and more chocolate sprinkles and whipped cream.
"Hello." He was greeted, and he snapped his head back up. There she was, looking as radiant as ever, pulling off a pair of black gloves and taking a seat opposite from him.
"Hi." He smiled as nonchalantly as possible at her.
"May I start by saying that I've never been asked out for coffee via police scanner before. Well done." Wednesday commended Lucas and took a sip of her drink. "So, what's happening? Do you have any news on Buckman Inc.?" She asked, and Lucas shook his head and turned back to his drink. Wednesday raised an eyebrow. "Crime spree amongst juvenile delinquents?" She guessed, and he shook his head again.
"I...sort of just wanted to ask you out- like on a date." He admitted, and carefully sipped his drink to avoid the whipped cream.
"Oh," Wednesday awkwardly sipped hers as well. "Mmm, that is some good chai." She commented, and got a smile out of Lucas. "But seriously, I'm actually glad you asked. I'm really not good at this whole thing." She admitted.
"Really? You seem pretty smooth to me." Lucas said only semi-sarcastically.
"But I can assure you, I didn't ask you out, 'just to see how it feels', if that's what you're thinking." Wednesday's face remained unchanged.
"No, you really don't seem to be in the same archetype as my ex-boyfriend." She said dryly, and Lucas smartly changed the subject.
"I haven't learned anything new, but have YOU heard anything about Buckman Inc.?" He asked.
"I haven't, and that's something in itself." Wednesday stated, prompting Lucas to raise an eyebrow. "Is it not a tad odd that their big advancement is being kept completely under wraps? I mean, knowing this company, they would want it all over the press if they successfully created a superhero, right?" She asked, and Lucas nodded furiously.
"There was even press at the party, which means that Buckman had to have actually paid them off to keep them quiet." He added.
"And the only reason why he wouldn't want it in the press is that something went wrong along the line. And with the stuff they were messing with, we can't narrow anything down." Wednesday concluded, and they both took sips of their drinks in unison.
"So, now that we've done our share of work talk," Lucas started, knowing that personal lives were safe territory again. "Tell me about yourself."
"Well, I'm a professional vigilante- but you already knew that, I have two younger brothers that are twelve and six; Pugsley and Pubert, and my hobbies include game-hunting, dance, and Taekwondo." Lucas chuckled.
"Have you done this before?" He was rather amused at Wednesday's Dating Game approach.
"Yes." She admitted. "So, Lucas, what about you?"
"Also a professional vigilante, but it's somehow legal. I'm an only child, my father's dead, and I live with my mother-" He waited for the inevitable suck in of breath, indicating 'deal breaker', but it never happened.
"Go on," Wednesday prompted and sipped her tea.
"I like writing, and I'm taking a few classes at NYU." Lucas finished.
"So, what led you to want to be a superhero?" Wednesday inquired at a lower volume than the rest of their conversation.
"Helping people, mostly." Lucas admitted. "I grew up reading comic books, and I thought that I must have these powers for a reason."
"So the fame of being one had nothing to do with it?" Wednesday asked, and he shook his head. "Then what's up with the press conferences and such?" She pressed.
"It wasn't a big deal from the start, and then when the big vigilantism debate happened, I figured that if the public saw me as an all-American hero, they wouldn't hamper my efforts to save them." He explained, and Wednesday contemplated it for a moment.
"Yeah, that makes quite a bit of sense." She admitted. "Sorry for breaking you on live TV."
"It's ok; it was a wake up call." Lucas smiled down at his drink. "And it led me to you." Wednesday crossed her hands on the table and leaned forward.
"Oh, really?" She smirked. Lucas nodded and awkwardly took a gulp from his coffee, getting whipped cream on his nose. He reached for a napkin, but Wednesday stopped him.
"Wha-" He started when she stretched across the table and wiped it off onto her finger, which she then brought to her mouth.
"Mmmm."
"Gang violence?"
"Nah."
"Drug bust?"
"Nah."
"Kidnapping retrieval?" Wednesday read from her car's laptop. Lucas finally seemed interested.
"Okay." He agreed. Wednesday nodded and entered the information into the car's GPS. Both already in costume, they were fully prepared for a fight.
"You know, if we had any other job, working on a date would be awful." Wednesday commented before punching the accelerator and peeling out of the alley. Lucas looked out the tinted windows at the New York dusk.
"Be careful." He said as he saw civilians staring at the car that no doubt seemed very conspicuous. "It's not dark enough for this thing to be sneaky, yet." Wednesday slowed down to the speed limit.
"Forgive me, but I tend to get a little excited when children are involved in adult matters." Wednesday said grudgingly.
"A kid was kidnapped?" Lucas asked, and she nodded.
"Four-year-old son of a bank manager." She elaborated. "To be quite honest, I wouldn't have cared whether or not you wanted to do this."
"I understand."
"Good." Wednesday began to subtly speed back up. "Would you like me to brief you further on the situation so we can avoid any possible accidents?" She asked, no longer sounding like she was on a date.
"I'm pretty sure I can handle it, Wednesday." Lucas reached over and touched her shoulder, initially causing her to tense up, but she soon relaxed. "Calm down. Nothing will happen to him with us around." She nodded, and the two were silent for the rest of the drive out to Queens.
The GPS lead them to a derelict warehouse where several unmarked police cars were already staking out the place.
"We need to find a way without them seeing us. I'm not exactly on good terms with the cops." Nera explained. Lux nodded and his eyes began to glow.
"The guys that took the kid are holed up on the second floor. There's a bunch of third-story windows on the other side of the building that we could enter through. I can't see the kid." His eyes returned to normal and he turned to Wednesday's pleasantly surprised smile. "Sonar." He explained. "I would use it more if it didn't give me a terrible headache."
"Impressive." Wednesday commended. "Ok, so how do we get through those windows without anyone seeing us?"
"Pull over around the block." Lucas instructed, and Wednesday complied. The two stepped out of the car and Lucas reached around to pat his own back. "Now's not the time for feminism. More power to you, but seriously, hop on." He ordered. Wednesday sighed and again complied, climbing into a piggy-back position.
"Hold on." Lucas warned as he launched them into the air and flew back to the building, where he hovered in front of one of the third story windows. "It's locked!" He said to Wednesday, and she rolled her eyes.
"Of course it's locked! Break it!" She said and Lucas brought his fist to the glass, cutting his knuckles on the pieces that shattered. "Let's move. Fast!" Nera whispered and crouched for optimal stealth before leading a ghosting Lux out of the decrepit room that was probably once used as an office or something. At the stairwell, they met the man sent up to investigate the broken window. Nera made quick work of him with one quick punch to the face, knocking him unconscious.
"-Tellin' you, it don't matter if the cops are out there. They're gonna give up the money for the kid." A thick Brooklyn accent could be heard from the stairwell. Wednesday nodded and Lucas and reached for her crossbow before charging in, taking cover, and firing tranquilizers in all directions, making contact ever time.
"Watch out!" She heard Lucas yell and she managed to move just enough to cause the bullet of the last remaining gunman to hit one of the bulletproof spots on her outfit. She turned in their direction, and found Lucas holding the man in a chokehold.
"Where's Ben?!" She asked the slightly dazed criminal, and slapped him across the face.
"Bitch!" He yelled, and she hit him again.
"I'm not afraid to kill you." She growled. "Where is he?" The man struggled to swallow his own blood and saliva as Lux held strong.
"He's-" Nera could practically see the conflicted thoughts rushing through his head. "In there." He finally confessed, and his eyes darted to what appeared to be a closet.
"Lux?" She asked. His eyes glowed briefly and he grimaced in pain before nodding in confirmation. She crossed the room and easily broke the cheap lock on the door.
"Hi, Ben" She whispered to the crying little boy waiting inside. She crouched down to get more on level with him. "Everything's going to be okay, now." His big brown eyes met hers from behind his black wayfarer glasses, and she smiled before scooping him up into her arms. "Lux, get that scum out to the police and have them all booked." She called behind her shoulder as the child rested his head on the other, and she carried him out of the room.
"I wouldn't have pegged you as a kids person." Lux admitted to Nera as she watched Ben be reunited with his hysterical parents.
"Do I really seem that one-dimensional to you?" She asked.
"Of course not." He corrected immediately. "It's just…nice. You know, seeing you act so different."
"It's nice when things turn out like this." Nera admitted. She glanced over at the police officers that continued to side-eye her. "Can we go?" She asked Lucas.
"Of course." He swooped her up off her feet before she had time to protest.
"Excuse me, Maniac, but where are you taking me?" She asked, only half-nicely as they flew over her car, and began to gain altitude.
"I can show you the wooorld!" Lucas began to sing as they headed for Manhattan.
"Lucas, what the hell are you-"
"Shining, shimmering splendor!" Wednesday's open hand made contact with Lucas' chest.
"Take me back to my car, you dork!"
"Tell me, Princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?" Lucas couldn't help but laugh towards the end of the last line.
"Oh, I'll show you 'princess', buddy." Wednesday crossed her arms and sulked for the entirety of the next verse.
"A whole new world! A new fantastic point of view! No one to tell us no, or where to go, or say we're only dreaming." Lucas waited for Wednesday to join in before he cleared his throat and went up about an octave in pitch. "A whole new world! A dazzling place I never knew. But when I'm way up here, it's crystal cl-" The verse was abruptly cut off by Wednesday's frustration peaking, and she decided to shut him up in the only way she knew would work; kissing him. For a split-second, they began to fall from the sky, but they soon were rising up again.
"Nice job." Nera said sarcastically. "Now land before you kill us both." Lucas sighed, and landed on the observation deck of the Empire State Building, which was luckily closed for the night. Both heroes had lost track of time in their big rescue. Wednesday walked over to the railing the moment Lucas set her down. "It's kind of nice up here. Quiet." She commented. Lucas nodded and stood at her side.
"It's why I like flying. It's the only time I can every really be alone in this place." He confessed, and placed his hand over hers on the railing. A gust of wind hit them before he could say anything else, and blew a few strands of Wednesday's long hair into his face. "You know, your hair's a bit of a hazard." He teased.
"My hair is fine." She argued, and leaned into Lucas, which surprised him a bit, but he went with it.
"It's getting late." He commented, and Wednesday nodded. "I guess you'll have to go soon." He assumed.
"I don't have to." Wednesday turned her head to look up at him. "Can I show you something?"
"Hey Joel?" Ultraman called from the bed of his cell. Joel groaned and put down the book he was reading.
"Yes, Ultra?" He replied.
"Are you mad at me?" Ultraman asked innocently.
"You killed and ate my coworker." Joel stated, and stood up to stretch his legs, turning his back to the glass.
"Is that a yes?" The grizzly voice asked. Joel turned around to face him.
"Yes, it was." He noticed that Carson had gotten out of bed. "What, do you want a flesh cookie?" Joel taunted, and Ultraman smiled crookedly.
"Yeah." He said simply, and began to beat the glass, seeming to be completely unaffected by the electric shocks.
"Becky!" Joel yelled in panic and looked around the room for anything that could help the situation as the glass took more and more damage and threatened to break at any moment. Joel felt around in his pants pockets and smiled just as Ultraman managed to break his hand through the glass. "Cu later!" Joel said cockily and threw the penny at Ultraman's hand. He smiled when the hunk of muscles and blue veins fell backwards on impact, but his glee faded as Ultraman quickly regained his strength and stood back up.
"OWY!" He mockingly yelled and went at the glass at full force. Becky ran into the room at this time, and screamed.
"Not helping, Becky!" Joel yelled and got an idea. He jumped up on his desk and reached up for the exposed water pipes. He spotted one of the copper ones and started yanking. It gave way faster than he thought, and he thanked his recent work in the gym. He completely disregarded the small stream of water than came with the pipe's absence, and waited for Ultraman to emerge.
"Are you crazy?!" Becky yelled. "This lab is watertight!" Joel shrugged, and Ultraman broke through. Remembering his years of Jedi role-playing with his friends, Joel wielded the pipe as he would a sword, or a light saber.
"Come at me, Ultra." Joel yelled. Carson contemplated this for a moment, and shook his head.
"I'd rather not. But I'll see you later." Ultraman leaped over Joel's head, and flew into the elevator. He put one fist over his head and jumped again, breaking into the elevator shaft, which he used to get out to the ground level of Buckman Inc., and then put into the city's streets.
He found himself gasping at the lights and traffic, getting sensory overload from it all after seeing it for the first time since he gained his heightened senses. He looked down at the syringe of glowing blue substance in his right hand. A bit of a parting favor he'd taken from the ground level's containment room that he'd burst into. He smiled down at it, and began to walk down the street, hoping his scrubs he was wearing didn't attract any attention. He was ever so full already.
Already done with all of the lights, he turned into an alley, where he saw two woman. The young one was obviously a prostitute. She was being held against a building by the other, a woman in her mid-thirties or so with curled brown hair, and looked to be much better-groomed.
"I don't appreciate it when my girls try to steal from me, Trixie." The pimp purred, and scratched her fingernails across the hooker's face.
"I'm sorry, Dalia!" The girl cried, and the pimp let her go.
"Good." The one called Dalia shoved the girl, and she ran away, right past Ultraman. He walked slowly towards the woman as she reached for a cigarette from her purse.
"I carry a stun gun, ya know." Dalia warned in a Brooklyn accent the moment she saw Carson approaching.
"Good. A beautiful woman such as yourself needs protection." He smiled without showing his teeth, and Dalia decided against having a smoke.
"Look, dude. If it's a good time you want, I'll go get one of my girls. Assuming you can pay." She said as he walked closer.
"I'm not interested in any whores." Ultraman said and continued to walk. He smiled wider when he swore he saw fear in Dalia's eyes.
"What do you want, then?" She asked shakily.
"A strong woman like you. One that's not afraid to use force to get her point across." Ultraman grew weary of walking and flew the rest of the gap, causing Dalia to scream. "Now, don't you worry a hair on your head, my dear." He said and at first gently placed his hand on her cheek to caress it. "You are going to be so happy with me."
With that, Ultraman pushed the side of her face into the brick wall and brought the syringe to her neck, unceremoniously injecting her with all of his contents, and then gently placed her on the ground as she began to writhe as he had. He held her head and stroked her hair, marveling in her rebirth.
People, I give you the most adorably messed up ship I've ever created; Dalson. Their theme song is Animal by Neon Trees. Go Tumbl about it or something.
Also, I apologize for the terrible element pun.
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