Sorry for the long wait, I had other stories to update. With that being said, let's jump into this chapter, shall we?

[Search And Steal – Part 1]

Luz couldn't sleep.

Well, it wasn't that she couldn't sleep, but it was more like she didn't want to sleep. If she slept, it would mean she'd have to talk to him again.

There was no doubting the fact that he was evil, vile, and manipulative. The worst part about it was that he was in her head, more specifically in her dreams. If she ever fell asleep, then he would be there, waiting to speak to her.

Was it irrational to fear sleep? Well, she guessed not. It was kind of like a Nightmare on Elm Street situation, just without the threat of dying. But then again, Luz believed in the idea that there was a fate worse than death. And as she looked down at her hands, she felt a cringing sensation wash over her body.

If not used carefully, her power could cause people to go brain-dead.

And speaking of her power…. "I forgot to mention that I can also give powers…" Luz muttered, clenching her hands into fists. She had been so caught up in thinking about stealing other people's powers, that she never once thought to add the fact that she could give powers. But to give them, she had to already have a stockpile of other abilities.

It wasn't like Shigaraki told her that, she just figured that to be the case. Besides, how could she give powers if she didn't have one to give? Right now, she was "empty" at the moment. She had nothing to give, which meant all she could do at the moment was take.

And that there was the crux of the issue. She didn't want to take anyone's power, be they an enemy, ally, or random civilian. It was wrong. But, she felt as if there was going to come to a point in time when she had no real choice. Shigaraki mentioned the addiction, and that it started the moment her power awakened.

"All For One…." Luz murmured, opening her hands as she glared at the holes. "A power of The Chosen One… yeah, if they're a villain…." Luz grumbled, looking up at the sky. The stars were shining bright, a sight she rarely got to see due to the busy city. Being in the forest meant she got to see the stars, so maybe it was all bad? After all, she met all the people here, right? They might not be friends, but at least they'd listen to her. She was their commander, after all.

A wave of emotions came over her. Looking away from the sky, she kicked dirt into the fire, her expression taking up a more annoyed visage. Anger, sadness, joy, confusion, and above all else, stress filled her mind all at once.

How was she supposed to be a leader if she sucked at talking to others? How could she be a leader when she had nothing to show for it? She was Luz Noceda, the strange kid from Gravesfield Connecticut with no friends and ridiculous hobbies. How could she be a leader? What was the point of her being a leader when she had absolutely no self-confidence?

Well, that wasn't true. She was confident. The word she was looking for was fear. Above everything else. Above the anger, confusion, sadness, joy, and stress, the strongest emotion that she held onto right now was fear. Fear of the future. Fear of The Governer. Fear of those around her.

A part of Luz wanted to be optimistic, to see if she could end this diplomatically. That she could round up everyone and say that they decided to "sue for peace" or whatever the military term was for ending things with no bloodshed. But the looks on everyone's faces when the prize money was revealed… she could see that at least a few of those people looked at everyone as a target.

Greed. That was the root of their problem. The root of her problem. All For One was a symbol of Greed. Greed for other people's powers, which was a direct parallel to what the Governor was hoping for. The Governor was banking on everyone's Greed to push this whole thing along. So that kids would cave in and kill one another for his sick amusement.

This was a test. A sick, disgusting, disturbing test. Why hadn't the government found out about this? The news would be all over this if it was found out that 33 kids got kidnapped by the governor of Connecticut for some twisted experiment!

Unless of course… "the government is backing this whole thing…." Luz pondered aloud. And it was that which finally made Luz realize something that she probably should've realized the moment this whole thing began.

"He doesn't plan to give any of that money away…. The moment we finish this, he's going to forcibly recruit us to the military!" Luz shouted, narrowing her eyes. Most people didn't want to acknowledge the fact that Luz was smart. Sure, she had her dumb moments, but most of the time, she was wicked sharp when it came to things like that. She just happened to focus it all on her creativity.

But with no creative outlet to hone that one, all she had to focus that intellect on was the situation at hand. And while she didn't realize it, a smirk came across her face. A small, toothy grin, as only one poisonous thought, filled her mind.

"Once this is over… The Governor is going to pay for this with his life."

Luz blinked as she snapped out of her trance. Where did that come from? "Oh… don't tell me this power is going to corrupt me into some evil tyrant!" Luz said, looking back down at her hands. Clearing her head of all of her thoughts, especially that last one, Luz went back to looking at the ground.

And then, the sound of a door creaking open caught her attention….

xxXXxxXXxx

Julia Wittebane was what some might call your typical rich and snooty fundamental extremist. Or at least, her family was. She herself wasn't nearly as bad, but she held quite the remark or two for those who believed in witchcraft and magic. All of her life her family had been taught that those who had magical powers were to be seen as monsters and should be killed. Fitting, seeing as their family were witch hunters back in the 1700s. Not only that but her family were devout Christians, including her.

Every Sunday she went to Church, when asked to she knocked on doors to spread the word of her God and Jesus Christ, and she always donated when asked, often chipping in with her hard work for money. Her family banned television within the household, and any mention of witches, often preventing friends from coming over because they would taint her mind with devil worship.

Of course, Julia had a rebellious phase; most kids did, and it was because of that she was supposed to go to Reality Check Summer camp. Her parents weren't happy with her reading books about magic, like Harry Potter or The Dresden Files—she blamed a kid in school for that. She even went as far as to buy a copy of the first books of both series, which her father quickly burned.

Another thing that they found out was that Julia was a lesbian. How? Well, they caught her kissing a girl, and that sent them over the moon with anger. They pretty much locked her in her room for a month after that. Her father would make her read bible verses over and over again about how sex with the same sex was wrong, and yadda yadda, over and over again over that period.

It didn't change the fact that she liked girls. No matter how many male suitors she was given to marry for the rich clout, she refused them all. She didn't like men, and that was final. That had been the first sign that her father and mother didn't like her. Not like they used to, anyway. They started verbally harassing her but never laying a finger on her. Their butlers sympathized with her, but couldn't do anything. She was basically on her own at that point.

All she wanted was to live the life that she was given. Sure, her mother and father might have disowned her in everything but her name, but at least they still let her live in that house. Nothing else could've possibly gone wrong….

Until two days ago.

The final straw was her Super Power awakening. Her vines. She hated them with a burning passion. Because of them, her mother and father disowned her completely and kicked her out of the house the day before she went to the camp. All of her friends, who had been made at the church and several meetings as well as at Sunday School abandoned her and left her to die.

Her church refused to let her in and refused to give her any food or clothing. Her whole community abandoned her, and all because she awakened a superpower. But she wasn't the only one, far from it. Hundreds of children from around the area were being kicked out because of their "demonic powers" and their "unholy appearances." Seriously, some kids woke up with scales or even horns growing out of their heads! It was INSANE!

And now, she found herself in a similar situation to all those people that her father laughed at, calling them beneath her and her family. She was without a home, with only a suitcase, a few changes of clothes, a couple of snacks, and her phone with a charger. Sure, it was more than what some people could claim to have, but going from living in luxury to living on the streets with nothing but a handful of things to her name was a shock to the system.

At least she had RCSC to look forward to, which she was originally opposed to going to. But now, considering she was homeless and without proper shelter or people to rely on, she had been excited. At least, all until she had been hit in the back of the head with the butt of a gun.

And now, it turned into some stupid death game. A death game that gave them the privilege to turn into super soldiers for the army. It wasn't stated, but it was so obvious that it wasn't even funny. At least she made a friend in Luz Noceda, a half American half Spanish teenager with a quirky personality. She was kind and caring enough to become her friend and was also afflicted with power, much like a majority of those put on that bus. At first glance, her power had seemed to be something of a dud, but as of this evening, that was not the case.

Originally, from what she told Julia, was that she could see who had powers, and she had tiny holes in the palms of her hands. That was it, and as such, she brushed her off completely in that regard. It wasn't a great power, making her mostly normal. In other words, she probably wasn't sent to the camp because of the power outbreak, but for something else entirely.

And then, Luz told everyone what her power was, and Julia had to struggle to not jump for joy! She could take away people's powers! That meant her power! If Luz could take away her stupid vines, then her father and mother might accept her back into the family! She would be able to go back to her normal life and not have to live on the streets! She had only done that for one day, granted, but it was miserable!

Of course, she knew things probably wouldn't have been that simple, but at least she could try! At least then she could have a chance. There was no use in sticking with the stupid vines if Luz could take them and make her life that much easier!

However, a nagging voice in the back of her head told her that it was a stupid idea. She was in a death game specifically about their powers. If she suddenly lost hers, The Governor would probably have her killed if she suddenly didn't have them so that this could've been kept a secret. Then again, even if her parents did find out, they probably wouldn't have cared.

Sitting on the cabin bed, Julia was staring at the floor with a contemplative look on her face. It had been five hours since everyone had decided to go to bed. Everyone besides herself had fallen asleep, except for Luz.

Luz had yet to come to the cabin, which was strange seeing as she looked pretty tired. She looked out of the cabin a couple of times and saw that Luz was still at the campfire, sitting there and doing nothing. There were times when she would fidget in place, but not much else. The fire was still going, meaning that Luz hadn't put it out.

Julia was worried for Luz; not only because she was her friend, but because she seemed to separate herself from others. She wanted to comfort Luz, truly she did, but she didn't want to make it awkward. Most of all, though, was that she wanted her power taken away.

Calming herself, Julia exited the cabin as quietly as possible, closing the door behind her in the process. When she did, from a distance Luz's attention snapped over to her. The brunette saw her and smiled, causing the pale-blonde teen to freeze up. She could do this, it wasn't that hard to do, now was it? Walking over to Luz and sitting next to her on the log, the teen spoke up.

"Couldn't sleep?" Luz asked as Julia nodded.

"Yes…. I don't know how to feel about all of this, thus it has caused me issues sleeping…." Julia replied as Luz snorted.

"You're so… formal, you know? No offence, but you sound like you come from one of those medieval-era movies, like a princess stuck in a tower," Luz quipped as a smile appeared on Julia's face. She had always wanted to watch movies like that, but yet again, as many things seemed to have been so, her parents banned them.

"I see…" Julia said, placing her hands in her lap as she stared into the fire. There was silence for another few moments until Julia finally built up the courage to speak. "Luz… I know this might sound strange, but… I want you to take my power away."

Luz blinked, confusion riddled over her face as Julia began her explanation. "My parents… they are Religious extremists, and as such when my powers awakened, they thought me devil spawn. I hate these things…." Julia said, sprouting the vines from her fingers. "I think it was God who set me up to meet you. You can take away what is to me a curse, and maybe then when this is over, my family will accept me back into the house…."

Julia retracted the vines and looked at Luz with a faint smile. "Please, Luz. I know it might sound selfish, but I beg of you. My powers are nothing but a curse to me…! They've brought me nothing but misfortune since the day they showed up! So please, take it from me!"

Luz looked away, a contemplative expression on her face. Once again, there was a moment of silence, but this time it was more palpable. Julia felt whatever hope she had in her chest die away. Of course, she'd be reluctant. Julia didn't know why she even bothered. But, it was worth a shot, wasn't it?

And then….

"It'll hurt… a lot," Luz said, making Julia tense.

"Huh?"

"I said, it'll hurt. It… it might even make you go brain-dead. So… if I do this, and you die…. I…" Luz trailed off, looking away as Julia bit the inside of her lip, not sure what to say to that. Brain death was something that no one could ever come back from. A heart attack could be solved by a defibrillator. Death of the brain? Not so much. The human body needed that to function at all times, so if it stopped for even a moment, then the body would be pretty much useless at that point.

But if she did live… then there would be a chance that she could get her old life back. And that was well worth the risk.

"I'll take the risk," Julia stated, looking at Luz with a serious expression as the teen looked back at her. A conflicted expression took over her visage, and then, Luz frowned before nodding.

"Alright…. Since you asked for it, it can't be so bad, right?" Luz said, reaching her right hand out and touching Julia's forehead. As soon as it made contact, Luz's eyes flashed red, and when they did, black and red lightning sparked from her arm as a shocking sensation rippled throughout Julia's body.

She screamed.

It hurt! It hurt so badly! It was like she was being hit by a car repeatedly over and over again! No, that wasn't right. It was more literal to say that she was getting shocked by an electric chair at maximum voltage, or maybe double that. Because of it, goosebumps rippled all over her body as tears fell from her eyes.

Actually… no, that wasn't right either. There was no way to reasonably explain it. It felt like something was being forcibly removed from her brain like someone had cut open her head, pulled out her brain, and used a pair of tweezers to extract a single part of the brain that contained her power.

No…

No….

No…..

That didn't describe it….

The only thing that could explain the pain that she was feeling was this: It hurt.

It hurt!

It hurt…!

It Hurt…!

Ithurtithurtihurtihurtihurtithurtithurtit—

The pain ceased as Luz took her hand away from Julia's head. Julia breathed heavily, looking down at her hands. She tried making the vines appear, but they didn't. Julia smiled as she looked over to Luz, who was staring at the vines coming from her fingers.

And then, for some reason or another, something… clicked for Julia. She didn't know why this came to her mind, but a connection had been made between Luz, and something else. It was a strange comparison, but… it was something that only now did she notice.

God fated them to meet on that bus, that much had to be true. It was like an angel and a lost mortal meeting on the mortal's brink of collapsing into sin, only to then be swooped out of that wicked fate by said angel, said angel, in this case, Luz. And, as for Luz, much like the christly figure of Jesus, she had holes in her hands, though not because she had been crucified, but rather because of her godly power to take away powers from those who could be deemed as "unworthy".

And with the way the moonlight had shone on her like she was some sort of deity, Luz became something more to her than a friend.

She became her saviour.

From the distance, a camera zoomed in on Luz, and beyond the camera, The Governor smiled.

-To Be Continued-