Welcome to "Season 2" of All For Luz – Redux. For all of you old readers, if any of you remember the original "Season 2", which I would be shocked if you had, then you'll recall that it only had ten "episodes." This, however, will have more than ten "episodes." Especially given how much I want to cover in it.
At the minimum, we'll have three full-length arcs, each with five or more parts to them. This is technically the prologue to "Season 2," so it's kind of its own stand-alone story arc in one chapter. Just like how Season 1's first "episode" was. I know a few people weren't happy with how I ended the last "episode" of "Season 1." It's a massive change from the original, but it lets me be more creative with how "Season 2" progresses and develops.
Just to put this out of the way for all of you old readers. Put everything you remember about All For Luz's original "Season 2" into a cupboard somewhere. It is entirely irrelevant to the remake's "Season 2."
With that being said, let's get right into it!
[Opening Song: Bokurano – By: Eve]
[All For You? Or, All For Me?]
"C'mon, step on it!" A loud, rough voice echoed from one of the streets of Gravesfield closest to the town's bank. There was a clear sense of urgency in the tone of the voice, which, given what the voice's originator had been up to made a lot of sense.
The person who had just shouted moments ago was a large man dressed in all black with a ski mask. The man shoved a blue-dyed-haired girl into the back of the car, which had been the escape vehicle for the man. He had a gun in his hand, though notably, it wasn't pointed at the girl. The girl in question was dressed in a white sweater and black jeans with a pair of runners on her feet, her face completely uncovered.
While most people in this situation would be sweating bullets and scared out of their minds, the girl was strangely calm. She was not concerned for her well-being, nor was she at all afraid that the man with the gun would hurt her.
A few seconds later, a far larger man than the previous one, the same one who had shoved the girl into the car, hopped into the driver's seat of the vehicle, which was a black 1997 Ford Sudan. He, much like his accomplice, was dressed in all black with a ski mask. "Then get the fuck in, you dolt!" The other man said, his voice notably more aged than the first man, who narrowed his eyes at the other man.
"I'm already in the car, idiot! So, step on it, fucktard! Before the coppers show up!" The younger of the two robbers shouted back as the girl sighed.
"Both of you are idiots," the girl mumbled as the younger robber scoffed.
"Oh, sure, look who's talking! You're the one who tripped the security system, Jackie!"
"Fuck off, Jake!"
"Both of you be quiet!" The driver growled, stepping on the gas pedal as the car's engine revved. Smoke plummed out of the exhaust, and in a burst of speed, the car took off. Jackie gripped onto the side's pull-down support, as did Jake, who was cackling.
"Fuck yeah! That was probably the most money we've ever made in a day! Fuck Monty's Construction Company! We just made off with $20,000,000!" Jake boasted as the driver glanced in the rearview mirror.
"We haven't made it out of the clear just yet! We've got coppers on our asses!" The driver said as Jake cursed under his breath.
"Already!? Shit! Jackie, it's your turn!"
"On it!" Jackie said, rolling down the window, sticking her head and arm out. Narrowing her auburn eyes, which promptly began to glow green. As soon as that happened, a green aura formed over the centermost squad car in the group of three that was chasing after them, sirens blaring and echoing out in the streets of the usually quiet and sleepy town.
The officers in the car tried to wrestle for control of the vehicle, but as it began to levitate off the ground, they had already lost the battle. Sweat began to pour off the sides of Jackie's head, as, with the wave of a hand, she threw the squad car into the one on the right, the two colliding instantly as Jackie gave out, her eyes returning to normal as she slinked back into the car, turning away from the police vehicles.
A massive explosion erupted from the two cars colliding, which caused the one on the right to swerve into a fire hydrant, indenting the hood and forcing it to come to a sudden stop, giving the group of three a chance to get further away before back-up arrived. Jake whooped and hollered, as Jackie smiled, wiping the sweat off her forehead. "HELL YEAH! THAT WAS AWESOME!" Jake exclaimed, causing Jackie to blush with embarrassment.
"C'mon, Jake, it wasn't that cool," Jackie muttered as Jake ruffled her hair.
"Hell yeah, it was! Thanks to you, we've made it off like millionaires! You're the best little sister ever!" Jake proclaimed as Jackie's smile widened. Ever since she awoke her power, Psychokinesis, she had been trying to think of ways to support her family. Now, she found a way, and while it wasn't exactly the most legal way, everyone was doing crime nowadays. Be it petty theft, or something more.
In the two short months that superpowers became a widespread thing, life had spiralled out of control. Widespread crime had begun to pop up across the country, and the police forces country-wide had been unable to stop most of it. Most of her friends had turned to a life of crime, and none of them had been caught.
It had become clear to everyone. Those with powers were superior to those without, and it caused riots in the streets. Some of them were even joined by the police and other members of law enforcement.
It was a scary thing to see, with the current President backing these protests. Every day, it became more and more dangerous to be someone with a superpower. But, because her people, who had been labelled as Super Humans, had superpowers, any protest was met with a counter-protest that was not only twice as large but twice as fearsome.
More and more children were being born with superpowers. Conspiracy theories popped up, and tons of hate began piling onto her people. Be it the religious folk calling them demon spawn, or the Neo-Nazis calling them freaks that should be purged, every and all group of extremists viewed her people as a threat.
On the other side of things, extremists on the side of the superhumans believed the opposite. It was all "might makes right" and "powerless people should be powerless, period" or "we've evolved, so everyone else should get with the program" or something along those lines.
Personally, Jackie was on neither side. She just wanted to live her life the way she wanted, and if it meant robbing banks to support her family, so be it. This had been their biggest haul yet, which wasn't saying much seeing as this was only their second. They just needed to get to their drop-off spot, and they'd be home-free!
As their car zoomed past, however, a security camera hooked up to a powerline turned and honed in on the car, the lens zooming in as the camera's lens glinted in the sunlight. In a dark room, surrounded by over a dozen monitors, a pale blonde-haired woman sat in a custom hot-pink gamer chair. She was dressed in a zip-up black body suit that accentuated every curve of her body, which had been the point behind it. After all, she had been the one to design the suit.
As the only adult a part of the makeshift team that she was all but forced to join, she wanted to take advantage of the whole thing. Over her eyes was an Augmented Reality Headset, which was connected to every camera in Connecticut. While only twelve could be active at a time, it was the best they could do. Until the technology developed, that was.
"I've got a lock on the perpetrators!" The woman said into a microphone with a German accent, as, atop an ice cream parlour, a fair-skinned golden blonde-haired teen crouched atop the ledge of the roof. She was dressed in a white jacket with a pink feather coat resting atop its shoulders, along with a black corset underneath the outfit with another thin layer of white clothing underneath the corset to cover any potential cleavage that others could see. The outfit was completed with a pair of leopard print pants and black and red slip-on runners.
Overtop her eyes was a pair of bright red pilot goggles with bronze frames, and she wore a scowl on her face. It was far too early to deal with things like this. She had only just woken up about an hour ago, and this was the first thing she had to deal with. A couple of thugs robbing a bank?
Regardless of her thoughts on the matter, she had no real choice but to roll with it. She was getting paid to do this, not that they needed the money, but still. With a sigh, the teen stood up to her full height, putting a finger on her earpiece. "Where at, Beholder?"
"They're a block away from your location, Flamingo! You ready to get them?"
"As long as Luzura is ready to deal with the actual criminals. You know I suck in a fight," Flamingo replied as another voice crackled through the comm link.
"Don't you worry about it! I'm tailing them from the shadows right now. They haven't spotted me yet. Just get the trap ready before they make it to where you're at!"
"Roger that, Captain!" Flamingo said, before putting all ten fingers together in a pyramid. Narrowing her eyes underneath her goggles, she waited for just the right moment. She could do this. They were counting on her to spring this trap. She had done it time and time again. She wouldn't fail. She couldn't fail.
Her breathing began to pick up pace, but she was able to keep calm. A few seconds later, a black Sudan going well over the speed limit turned the corner. From a distance, she could spot a man in a ski mask driving the car, which gave it away that they were the perpetrators. As soon as she spotted them, she split her fingers apart from one another as a hexagonal net formed out of heavily condensed string formed out of her fingers.
One second, the black car was speeding down the straight away, with nothing blocking their path. In the next, Flamingo shot out the small net from her fingers and made it cover the whole straight away on both sides of the street.
"Shit!" The driver exclaimed as Jake and Jackie stared in disbelief at the massive net cast in front of them.
"What the hell is that?!" Jake exclaimed as the driver slammed on the brakes, turning the vehicle sharply left to pull off a u-turn, knocking around Jackie and Jake in the back of the car, neither of which were wearing their seat belts. The car came to a sudden stop, tipping over slightly, before slamming into the ground.
"Is it true? The rumours?" Jackie thought, sweat falling down the side of her face as Jake threw the car's rear passenger door open, gun in hand as he pointed it every which way to try and find who created the net. In the blink of an eye, the gun was snatched out of his hands by a small glob of string, which scooped it up and pulled it toward the roof of the ice cream parlour nearby.
"What the—" Before Jake could finish that sentence, a massive tree-trunk-sized blue dragon made entirely out of energy slammed into Jake's stomach and shoved him into the wall of string, causing him to bounce off of it and into the ground, convulsing in pain. The energy dragon then turned around and wrapped around the Black Sudan tight enough to keep it in place and lift it off the ground.
"JACKIE! DO SOMETHING!" The driver exclaimed as Jackie panicked, her heart pounding against her chest as she looked out the windshield of the car. On the ground in front of the car was a tan-skinned girl just about her age, maybe a year older, dressed in a white slightly baggy body suit with black gloves that covered up to her elbows, and boots that went past her ankles.
Around the neck of the suit was a purple angular heart-shaped design that stopped just above the teen's chest with a golden jewel just above the sternum. On her shoulders was a clip-on red cape that stopped just behind her knees.
The teen had purplish black hair with spots of white dotted about the place, and yellowish brown eyes. She had a large thunderbolt-like scar going over her right eye, and on her forehead was a golden headband that read Luzura engraved in the center. The teen, who was apparently named Luzura, had a wide toothy smile on her face that oozed both menace and, oddly enough, safety.
"You gonna give up?" Luzura asked as Jackie swallowed. The driver turned to face her, eyes wide. Frankly, Jackie wasn't stupid enough to try and tussle with the likes of the girl in front of the car. Especially if the girl was what she thought she was.
"Jackie?! What the fuck's going on?!" The driver exclaimed as Jackie began to shake, fear coating her features as she shrunk into herself.
"T-The rumours…! T-Their true! D-Dad, she's a Hero! W-We're screwed!" Jackie stuttered as the driver looked out the windshield, sighing as he raised his hands. With that, the car was lowered back to the ground, the energy dragon slinking away back into Luzura's shoulders as several police cars came around the corner.
Luzura, otherwise known to those close to her as Luz Noceda, stood in front of the car as Flamingo, otherwise known as Julia Scotsman Delmisso, or Julie for short, came down from the ice cream parlour rooftop. At the same time, one of the police cars pulled up next to the pair, who high-fived one another. Luz turned to look at the window as it pulled down.
A man in his late 40s and balding with chocolate brown eyes stared at her with narrowed eyes, a frown on his face as he slung an arm out of the window and over the rim of the window sill. "Still playing dress up, Noceda?" The man grumbled as Luz shrugged.
"It pays good, and besides, if we didn't show up these guys would've gotten away. Again," Luz pointed out as the man's frown turned to a scowl.
"We had it handled. We didn't need the likes of you to show up," the man continued as Luz crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow. Just as she was about to say something, Julia put a hand on Luz's shoulder and shook her head, signalling her to back off, before speaking up herself.
"With all due respect, Sheriff Johnson, Jackie Wilson, the girl in the back of the car, had a Psychokinesis ability. We saw what it was able to do, and from the looks of things, they were going to get away before you caught up to them. The least you can do is agree with that," Julia noted as Sheriff Johnson rolled his eyes, but grumbled in agreement.
"Fine, fine. You got me there," he said, glancing up at the camera. "What about your German friend there? What the hell did she do? We pay our hard-earned tax-payer money for you twerps and yet one of ya ain't even out in the field!"
"For your information, Sheriff," Luz began, getting his attention as she spoke. "Her power isn't a combative one. She plays the support role of helping us locate where the criminals will be ahead of time. Without Beholder, we wouldn't be able to catch nearly as many criminals as we do in a day."
"Fine! Whatever! Just get rid of that string blockade already!" The Sheriff spat, rolling up his window as Julia waved her hand away at the string, causing it all to fall away and dissolve to the ground. The Sheriff's car sped off a few moments after, blowing exhaust in Luz's face as she coughed.
"Jerk!" Luz called out as Julia sighed in disappointment. As the Sheriff drove off, another police officer walked up to the pair, a frown on his face.
"I'm sorry for the Sheriff," the officer said, rubbing the back of his neck. "He's been stressed out of his mind. Especially after he lost his nephew at that camp…"
Luz fidgeted. That was her fault, wasn't it? "Oh well, he shouldn't have tried to kill me, then…" Luz thought, pushing the thought away before nodding. "Yeah, I know. I was there. I saw it happen. We might not've been friends, but he didn't deserve to die."
Julia eyed her with a raised eyebrow, which Luz met with a glance that all but told her to be quiet. The last thing Luz wanted was for her public image to be marred. There were already tons of theories about how she had as many powers as she had, coupled with the fact that she was one of the survivors of that awful camp. The last thing she needed was someone telling the whole truth.
As far as the public was concerned, the reason for her extraordinary power was that her power allowed her to absorb the souls of those who had died around her, and use their abilities as if they were her own. They even changed the name of her power from All For One to Power Vacuum to keep up the public image—even if Shigaraki had complained about it.
"I know you probably hate being reminded of that, so let's switch topics," the officer said as Luz and Julia turned to fully face the man. He looked to be around his early 20s. He was dressed in what one would assume a police officer would be dressed in—the blue uniform that most police were known for. The only thing he was missing was the hat, which revealed slicked-back black hair. "God. To think that there are real, honest-to-the-lord superheroes now…. Seriously, thank you for your help today. We might not have caught these guys if it wasn't for you two."
"It's not a problem," Julia said, smiling. "It's our job to do this. Although, if we can make a suggestion, point that girl you just arrested in the Governor's direction. Her power, if trained well, could be a perfect addition to the team we're building."
"I'll make sure to do that," the officer replied, grabbing the walkie-talkie on his shoulder and speaking into it. Luz tuned out what he said as Beholder, otherwise known as Emelia Worstoch, spoke in her ear.
"Guys, I've gone blind. Head back to base. I overused my power, again. Luz, can you get your mom to heal me?"
"Roger that," Luz replied, a tad bit annoyed. It could've been worse, she supposed. However, thanks to the two months' worth of training that they received thanks to the Governor, Emelia could use her power three times in both eyes before going completely blind. Similarly, Julia could create bigger and bigger string structures without having to devour half a fridge after the fact.
As for Luz, she was fairly certain her limit had increased from ten powers to fifteen. She had considered heading back to grab some of the powers from that corpse she had dumped her old powers into, but chances were that it was long gone. Which sucked, because Julia's original power was in there. She'd contact the hospital just in case, though she doubted it was still there.
"Well, that should be all, yeah?" Luz asked the officer as he nodded.
"Yup. We can handle it from here. Thanks for your help, uh… Luzura and Flamingo, right?" The officer asked as the pair nodded. The officer chuckled, glancing over at the camera. "Oh, and, uh, Beholder, right? I know they aren't here, but tell them that the police station sends their thanks."
"We will do that, officer. Thank you for your service to our town," Julia thanked, outstretching her hand for a handshake, which the officer quickly accepted. Afterward, they went their separate ways. Julia yawned, stretching her arms behind the back of her head before slumping forward. "I would use those string clones if it wasn't for the fact that they disappeared after ten minutes. That way I could get some more sleep…"
"Well, I don't need to sleep thanks to Stamina Negation, so I guess I can't relate," Luz replied as Julia frowned, giving her a noogie, making Luz giggle. "Okay! okay! I'm sorry!"
"Don't rub in your anti-sleep power, jerk…" Julia mumbled. "You owe me extra cuddles today just for that…"
"Whatever you say, Jules," Luz said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as she smiled. Both Luz and Julia had been dating ever since that proposed movie date, and Luz had to admit that it was probably the best thing that had happened to her. The second best thing to have happened to her was probably this whole hero gig. The last best thing to happen to her was her mother finally stopping drinking.
That didn't mean everything was good, though. While her mother had apologized for what she had said to her the day before the event that almost cost her her life, while Luz wasn't awkward around her mother anymore, things had gotten a lot more tense lately.
Not that it was her mother's fault, mind you. Her mother had done nothing wrong since that day. As a matter of fact, she had been doing a bit too much to make amends—which, as far as Luz was concerned, she had already done and then some.
For starters, thanks to the handout they were given by the Government of $3,000,000, her mother had quit her old place of work and opened her own clinic in Waterbury, which was where they now lived for both convenience sake for work, and while Gravesfield had a special place in her heart, far too many horrible things had happened to her there to make her want to stay there.
The second thing that happened was that her mother had hired someone to be their, uh… butler? Maid? Servicer? Luz didn't know what to call them, but they were someone she didn't know, and maybe it was because of her paranoia thanks to that god-awful death trap, but she didn't trust them. Not even in the slightest.
She believed their name was Vee or something like that. She had recently been fired from her job at an orphanage as a janitor for some reason or another that Vee wouldn't elaborate on. If Luz had to guess, it more than likely had to do with their shapeshifting power and that her true form made her look like a weird cross of a fish, a slug, and a snake.
That was already weird, but then again, she guessed that some superpowers came with heavy alterations to one's appearance. She had seen a man with winds in between his arms recently, so it wasn't a stretch to say that it was possible. But, what was weirder was that there was no string attached to Vee's head, which would indicate that she had a power.
That was the main reason why she was suspicious of Vee. She hadn't said anything about it, mind you, but it was something that she kept in mind. It was obvious that they were hiding something, and the last thing that Luz wanted was someone hiding something from her. The only reason Luz was referring to Vee as "they" instead of "he" or "she" was because they often switched between male and female appearances. Something about "testing the waters," was what Vee had said when she had asked.
Not that it was a problem, mind you. It was just something that she often found herself correcting in her mind when it came to Vee as a person.
Then came what her mother's explanation was for what she had said to her months ago. As was expected, she blamed the booze, which was stupid. There was a part of her who wanted to say those things, and it wasn't just the booze—at least, Luz thought so anyway. Why she would whole-heartedly blame that was beyond her, but if that was the excuse she was running with, then so be it.
If this had been over a month ago, then she would've put her on blast about the issue. But, she had learned to forgive, but not necessarily forget. It would be a permanent stain on her reputation to Luz. The only time it would be a problem is if she suddenly decided to pick up the bottle again. Then she'd get angry at her.
In other news, Pastor Domenico Jacobson had been murdered in his Church around the same time that they had escaped the death camp that the previous Governor had set up. Both she and Julia were still in the hospital when his funeral happened, but needless to say, when the news got to Julia, it had thrown her into a depressive pit.
Thankfully, watching movies, snuggling, and overall doing things to distract her from what had happened had somewhat relieved that. But now, Julia was hellbent on figuring out who killed the Pastor. Luz couldn't blame her, especially given the fact that he was like a surrogate father for her.
Or was it more appropriate to call him a surrogate grandfather?
Honestly, Luz didn't know, but it didn't matter. Not anymore. Not that he was dead and buried.
It was a shame because from what Luz had remembered about the man when her mother used to take her to Church, he had been a close friend to her father.
That was another thing. Her father.
Due to having moved away from where both herself and her mother would go to celebrate his death, they instead decided to start a new tradition. On the roof of the building they now lived in they had planted a small garden which they took care of, filled to the brim with all of his favourite flowers, vegetables, and fruits.
It wasn't what they used to do, but it was better than nothing. That, and it was something that they could do all year round. Besides, Luz still planned to swing by Gravesfield to clean up his grave now and then. It would be disrespectful to let it rot. Dead or not, that grave was still a part of her family, and she wasn't going to let it go by the wayside.
"I wonder what he'd think of me now?" Luz thought, before shoving the thought aside and looking over to Julia. "Alright, we should probably get going," Luz said, reaching out to Julia, who took her hand. Crouching, Luz got down just low enough for Julia to climb atop her back and sit down with both of her legs draped over her shoulders.
Once Luz stood to full height, she activated Pyrokinesis and created a pair of flame wings out from below where Julia sat, making sure the fire was as cold as possible to ensure that Julia didn't get burned.
With a single flap, she and Julia were airborne, blowing a cloud of dust and embers in her wake, and with a couple more flaps, they were high above the clouds, right in the sweet spot where the oxygen levels weren't low to cause suffocation, but that they were still high enough in the sky to avoid jets and airplanes.
It had taken Luz a long time to practice flight with Pyrokinesis, but it was worth it. That, mixed with making sure the actual heat of the fire was low enough to where it didn't burn anything too badly was another thing that she had taken a long time to practice with. It had been only recently that she had gotten it to this level of control to where Julia was freely able to sit on her back piggyback style without fear of getting burned.
Before that, she had taken a page out of Doflamingo's book—which had been what her hero costume was based on—and swung from cloud to cloud to get from point A to point B. If there weren't any clouds, then she'd make sticky string and swing around like Spiderman.
That aside, the few powers that Luz had been specifically training with had been Pyrokinesis and Energy Dragons, as they were the ones that needed to be most honed so as to not cause any unneeded collateral damage like at the camp when most of the forest had burned down.
She had gotten to the point with both of them that she didn't feel as if she needed to train with them anymore. While she wasn't a master at either of them, she knew how to use them, how to regulate them, and how to ensure that they didn't cause too much damage.
As for her other powers, they didn't require any training, because they were so simple to use. For example, Spear-like Fingers just turned her fingers into spears that she could shoot out in any direction she wanted so long as she was looking in that direction.
Training with Super Strength was easy, especially controlling said strength, as it was just a regular workout routine followed by guidance to not destroy everything she grabbed or touched. The rest were passive abilities that didn't need to be trained.
Well, there was Forcefield Projection, but Luz couldn't find a reason to keep it around. It wasn't like she needed a forcefield. Not when her skin was as tough as quadruple-reinforced steel thanks to Kinetic Absorption or, in the event she did wind up somehow getting injured, she could just regenerate the damage with Super Regeneration. It also wasn't like she could feel pain, either, thanks to Pain Nullification.
The only reason why she kept it around was because it was used to protect nearby civilians from falling debris or to protect Julia on the battlefield. Other than that, she hardly ever used them. She knew she could sling them back at others to reflect the damage that they absorbed, but it was far too risky. She couldn't regulate the damage, so it oftentimes wasn't worth using.
She was a hero. Not a vigilante who didn't care about their surroundings.
Thenthere was the last power in her arsenal, Longevity. All it did was increase her lifespan from the projected 80 years that she had to live on the mortal coil to a whopping 232 years. It also slowed her physical aging, meaning when she turned 60, she'd look like she would be in her mid-20s. Shigaraki had noted that she could increase her lifespan by taking good care of her body, which was another prospect she had intended to use and abuse.
To put it frankly, Luz was scared to death of dying. She was pretty sure anyone and everyone had that opinion. No one wanted to die. Not prematurely, anyway. Luz was going to use all 232 years of her new lifespan, and that was final. It would've been 246, but she had already lived 14 years of her life. While the first 14 years had sucked, she had two centuries of life to look forward to.
"Two centuries… That's a long time to be alive…"
As Luz thought that, she looked up to see Julia smiling and waving her hand through the clouds. They were fairly high up in the sky, just above the same altitude a plane would be, and they were going about just as fast as one. Usually, for a regular person, they would've been torn to shreds by the wind pressure. But, as she had found out, someone without power and someone with power was more physically resistant to bodily trauma.
For example, if she were to punch a regular human with half the strength that she would punch a superhuman with, they would not only go flying, but she'd more than likely punch a hole through them. But, a superhuman was more than able to survive being punched square in the chest by a full-power punch from her, them being knocked unconscious notwithstanding.
"How much longer till we get back to the tower?" Julia asked as Luz hummed.
"Probably another hour."
"Okay."
The tower in question was the new home that Luz, Julia, Emelia, her mother, and Vee lived in. It was given to them by the government to act as both a base of operations and as a home. There were several floors, the top of which was the hang-out lounge and where they planned everything. The floor below their living space was a gym, and the floor below that was a training room. The floor below the training room was where everyone slept.
Below that was a library, and below that was the room where Emelia was able to gain access to every camera in Connecticut. Then, of course, there was the foyer where people who needed to send in requests for help and or to try out for the team that they were building. No one had applied to the latter, but the former was rather busy.
In between Emelia's workroom and the foyer were twenty floors worth of offices that they had rented out for local businesses. They charged $2,000 a month per office, which earned them some extra money when they weren't constantly busy, though that was mostly never.
Petty crimes were usually handled by Julia and Emelia. Luz was only ever sent out when something big was happening, and that hadn't happened since the bomb threat at Wendell L Cross School. She had been able to shield the explosion, absorbing all of the damage and the kinetic energy output from the blast. It was what had made her skin as tough as it was.
Then, there was Wrecker. Her first real, honest-to-life fight with a villain. Coincidently, it had been the day of her debut, which had been kind of perfect. It took place in Stamford, and a lot of the surrounding area had been destroyed, but by the end of it, Wrecker was killed in the fight. It was thanks to Kinetic Absorption that she had survived that fight and Super Regeneration. She had remembered her body breaking on more than one occasion in that fight.
Every day she thanked Stanley for his gift.
Every day she regretted that he had to die.
Every day she regretted that any of them had to die.
Even Kennedy.
For as much as she had hated them for what they did, after having been told the full picture by what was discovered by Governor Rogers, and now that she was in the correct headspace to think about what had really happened there, it made what she did look even less justified then she had originally thought.
Yes, she had every right to be angry about what they had done to both her and her team—her friends. Yes, a lot of it was self-defence. But she didn't have to kill any of them. All she had to do was de-power them and move on. She blamed Shigaraki for influencing her to do that.
The only person there that she was glad had died was Amber. After all of the torment she had put her through and the lies she spread, mixed with everything else in between… To her at least, it was more than deserved.
Finally, after what felt like forever, they made it to their new residence, which Luz had taken to calling Beacon based on one of Julia's favourite shows, RWBY. Luz wasn't exactly a fan of it, but she liked the name, so it stuck. And considering just how tall the building was, and considering it looked like a Beacon poking into the sky, it made sense.
Landing on the porch of Julia's bedroom, Julia hopped off Luz's shoulders, before pecking her on the cheek and disappearing into her bedroom, closing the drapes, prompting Luz to head to the roof, which had a landing pad specifically built for her.
As her flame wings folded back into her body, waiting for her on the landing pad were her mother and Emelia, who had changed out of her Sensor Suit and into a white short-sleeve shirt with torn edges and black jeans with tears in the knees and lace-up ankle boots.
As for her mother, she had lost some weight, having taken to the gym on the 25th floor. She went from 230 lbs to a slimmer 180 lbs. She had also gained some muscle, more around her lower arms and core, and she had been relearning how to fence, as it was one of the things that she used to do growing up. Currently, she looked as if she had just finished a workout, what with her being dressed in a sports bra and a pair of yoga pants. Sweat had built up on her forehead, and she looked tired.
"Welcome back, Mija!" Camila greeted as Luz wrapped her arms around her in a hug, Camila doing the same before parting. Ever since her explanation, and after about a few weeks of distancing herself from her mother, they had gradually repaired their relationship, and things were back to before her mother had picked up the bottle all those months ago.
They were back to watching movies together, though this time with Julia included. They were back to playing games and having regular conversations again. They were back to being daughter and mother again, and she couldn't have been happier.
Even better, Luz no longer had to go to school. Not only was she far too busy for that, but before she had agreed to become a hero, she was forced to take a General Education Exam. She passed it with flying colours, as she had been given a week to study for it, essentially allowing her to graduate a whole three years early.
Turns out, she wasn't a total idiot. Shock of all shocks, who could've guessed that? She'd have to rub that one into Mr. Hickson's ugly, placid, neckbeard of a face when she got the chance.
All in all, things were looking up.
But, in the back of her mind, she knew that this was too perfect. Maybe it was her paranoia doing all the thinking, but she couldn't help but shake the feeling that something bad was right around the corner. Her life had basically turned into that of a comic book character, and right now, she had been coasting on all of the perks that came with being a superhero.
Luz was rich, she was famous, and she had everything that she could've asked for. But, she knew that the universe wasn't going to let her have it this easy. Not after all the bullshit it had already put her through. Things might've been good now, but she knew they'd get worse. It always did.
Pushing that thought away, Luz turned to face Emelia, both of whom gave one another a high five. "Great job out there. If I wasn't such a Hühnerscheiße, I would've joined you guys out in the field."
"Yeah, but you're more useful as our eye in the sky or eye on the streets, or… bah, whatever, you know what I mean," Luz said, a half-hearted smile on her face as Emelia patted her on the shoulder.
"Yeah, I get it. C'mon, let's get something to eat after you get changed. Unless you have plans with Julia?" Emelia asked as Luz blushed slightly. If there was one thing that she found annoying, it was that just mentioning having plans with her girlfriend—because whoa, that was a sentence—was enough to get her red-faced.
"I kinda promised her extra cuddles for making her wake up early…"
"Ha!" Emelia barked, shaking her head as Luz shrunk into herself. "Well, we all know she's not a morning person. Not even after her third cup of coffee. I'll let you get to it then. Just make sure you're earpiece is good to go in case we get called out again. Crime never sleeps."
"Unfortunately…" Luz groaned, chuckling under her breath. Once she had a shower and got changed, she would join Julia in her room to continue their binge of a new show that had caught her attention. Something called "Baki: The Grappler." She saw it on Netflix and wanted to check it out with her, so that would be what they would do.
She just hoped nothing else would happen today, though, knowing her luck, this was probably just the beginning.
[XXXX]
"This just in! The recently introduced hero team, Beacon, who had made their debut just two months ago, just stopped a bank robbery in Gravesfield, Connecticut! Can you believe it, folks? We live in a time where superheroes are a reality, and frankly, I couldn't be more excited! We'll have more details after the break. But, until then, here's the weather forecast for today—"
The sound of a TV shutting off echoed throughout the second floor of the Wittebane Megachurch located in the backend of Gravesfield, Connecticut. A man with a head of dark brown hair, golden yellow eyes, and slightly sunkissed skin sat in a recliner staring down the TV with a scowl. He was dressed in a Victorian-styled shirt with a frilled collar and cuffs, along with a pair of black pants held up by a black leather belt with a golden buckle.
The room he was in was the second floor's study. Within the study, the walls were lined with bookshelves, all of which were filled with various versions of holy scripture and historical books recalling events of the past from various angles and sides—all translated into English, of course. The floor was made out of polished cedar wood, as was the stand that the flatscreen TV sat on.
Underneath the man's favourite recliner chair was a brown bear pelt carpet, something he had hunted for and skinned himself when he was still in his mid-20s, and before he had married his wife. He was quite the proud man, both in himself and his abilities and with his current standing in life.
But, today, he was rather annoyed. Both with the world around him and with the fact he had let all of this snowball into what it was now.
"This is possibly the worst, if not the worst thing, that could've come from any of this…" Tyler Kirkman Wittebane drawled, pinching the bridge of his nose. He thought he had spread more than enough propaganda against these demons in human skin, and yet, here they were, becoming public celebrities.
This "Beacon" team was not the only superhero group in the country, much to his chagrin. There was another in Washington called "The Children Of Hope" and another in Texas that had begun to call themselves "Heroes Of Christ" which made him physically sick to think about.
Now, more than ever, he had begun to realize that humanity was slowly falling more toward sin than it had ever before. No matter how many cleanses he tried to fund, with the Federal Government more aware of these groups and militant "terrorist" cells he had been funding using false names and fake bank accounts, the more he began to realize that a more direct approach would be needed.
Hence why he had reformed The Witch Hunters Association under the false name of Marcus Black, and then was quick to publically denounce them when they began to do "acts of terror" as the media were calling it.
Acts of terror… What a joke! He was doing the work of the Christian God, their God, the God of all humanity, and they dared to call what he did and funded as "acts of terror?!" He was doing what was supposed to happen. He was saving souls from God's judgment and cleansing them of their sins. But, of course, the world had become more sensitive and pathetic. So, his actions were seen as disgusting and reprehensible.
It was precisely why he had that false messenger Domenico Jacobson killed all those months ago. God did not need someone who lied about the word of God saying he was His messenger. It was all a cruel and sadistic joke.
Regardless, he needed to come up with something. Out of all of the "Hero" groups that had been popping up around America to wrangle in all of the pesky riffraff, Beacon was by far the most annoying. Especially given their leader, the ever-dangerous and powerful Luzura, otherwise known to him as Luz Noceda and her true power, All For One.
His benefactor had made it very clear to him that she needed to die. She would be the biggest threat to all of them if not stopped. Why that was, his benefactor would never say. All he would say would be vague sayings and mentions of feats of strength that the previous wielder of such a power had.
According to his benefactor, in the world where he resided, a whole mountain range was obliterated by someone who had been dubbed "The Interloper." Tyler didn't believe it at first until his benefactor showed him. That had been his kick in the arse he needed to realize just how brutal and dangerous these superpowered freaks were.
That even Demons and Witches feared them was saying something.
That their ruler, the supposed strongest man in all of their lands, which was terrifying enough given how Tyler had already viewed him as a threat, had been weaker than this supposed Interloper individual who had the exact same power as described to his benefactor as Luz Noceda.
That had lit a fire underneath Tyler. It had told him that, now more than ever, Luz Noceda needed to die. The question, though, was how? How to kill someone who could not only regenerate from any wound, had skin as tough as steel, and was powerful enough to level buildings—which yes, had been recorded due to her fight with a particularly nasty individual having gone by the name Wrecker.
Wrecker's power had something to do with building constant energy by moving, which was why he had been able to dish out a lot of damage. This was during Luzura's debut, and the cost of the fight had been a deadly one. Over 20 casualties thanks to collateral of the clash between the two superhumans, along with the destruction of the Trump Parc Tower located in Stamford.
Granted, most of the destruction was thanks to Wrecker, but still. The point held firm. Someone of that calibre was not one to go against lightly.
That was why deception needed to be used.
"You called for me, Boss?" The voice of one of his most prized agents, Bombardier, filled his ears as Tyler stood up from his recliner, before turning to face her.
She was dressed in a black varsity jacket with red sleeves and the number 19 stitched into the left corner of the jacket. The jacket was unbuttoned to reveal a black and white striped shirt underneath. The outfit was complete with a pair of black yoga pants and black lace-up combat boots.
Then, of course, she wore a golden cross necklace around her neck, and she had two golden ring earrings in her ears. She also had on an eyepatch over her right eye, and her ginger hair had been done up in a ponytail, kept in place by a black scrunchy.
"Why yes, I did. I was wondering if you could do something for me," Tyler began as he picked up a wine glass that had been sitting on a table next to his chair. It was half full of Cherry Wine, his favourite. It was seven years aged and had been sitting in a barrel in his mansion's basement in Florida. "Have you been paying attention to the news at all?"
"I'll be honest, not really? Been too busy with training my power as you requested me to do," Bombardier replied, brushing a hand through her hair before adjusting her eyepatch.
"Well, at least you were doing something productive and not galavanting with your girlfriend," Tyler spat, taking a sip of his wine. "Of which, mind you, I disapprove. Especially given—"
"Yeah, yeah, I know the spiel. You don't need to recite it, Boss," Bombardier interrupted, earning a scowl from Tyler. It was annoying when she interrupted him, but there wasn't anything that he could do without irking the woman. Oh, sure, he was her boss, but she was a superhuman. Making them angry was like making a caged bear panic. One wrong move and you were dead.
"Very well. That aside, you didn't answer my question. Would you be willing to do something for me?" Tyler asked as Bombardier sighed.
"Only if you pay me. I don't work for free, and you know that. We had this argument before, and you know my stance. If you aren't willing to do that, then forget it," Bombardier answered as Tyler bit back the urge to lecture her. For the sake of his sanity, he chose not to.
"Very well. We'll start at your minimum price of $50,000. If you manage to impress me, then I'll bump it up to the standard $1,000,000. Is that fair to you?" Tyler asked as Bombardier smirked.
"You got it, boss. So, whaddya want?" She asked, stuffing one of her hands into her jacket pocket, whilst in the other one she held a pack of cigarettes. "You don't mind me smoking in here, do ya?"
"Not at all," Tyler said. He'd be more than a hypocrite if he was. After all, he often smoked his pipe in here, so if he had a problem with Bombardier smoking in his study, then she would more than likely call him out for it. With his permission granted, Bombardier pulled out a lighter and a cigarette, popped the cigarette in her mouth, then lit it.
She offered him one, which he had declined with a simple motion, prompting her to put it back into her jacket pocket. "To answer your question, Bombardier, I would like you to infiltrate Beacon and kill its leader."
Bombardier blinked, taking the cigarette out of her mouth before she could even take a puff out of it, her jaw dropped slightly, before shaking her head and narrowing her eyes. "You want me to what?" She hissed.
"You heard me. I don't need to repeat myself," Tyler replied, taking another sip out of his wine. Just as she was about to open her mouth, clear anger in her eyes that Tyler picked up on immediately, he spoke up. "If you don't want to, I can always have The Honoured One or Phosphorous do it. We both know that they'll do it in a heartbeat. Besides, I heard you and Luzura were related. Wouldn't it be nice to see your family again?"
"Only to fucking kill them afterward!" Bombardier spat, glaring at Tyler, vitriol coating her every word as Tyler shrugged.
"Then how about we start at $1,000,000, and if you impress me, I'll bump the payout to $30,000,000? Will that change your mind?" Tyler said as Bombardier faltered. Tyler smirked, taking another and final sip of his wine for the night, before putting his glass down back on the table.
"You see, Riley, I know how the human mind functions. Greed is a natural part of an individual, be they man or woman. It is why there is a lot of work needed to be put into cleansing such a sin from an individual before they can make their way to Heaven. You, Riley, are a very greedy person. Living in poverty, and now suddenly coming away with enough money to make you and your future bloodline as rich as possible. Why, what other person wouldn't want prosperity for their family in the future?" Tyler began as he approached Riley.
"I know you'll accept because anyone would drool at the idea of getting even $1,000,000. Why, I remember when I first hired you and said that was the minimum payout, you were so flustered that you lessened your worth by two whole decimal placements. You were humble back then. Back when you were just 19. But now, you're 21 years old, and you've become a lot more accustomed to getting bigger sums of money. But $30,000,000 is an amount you'd only make in a year. Not in a single payout."
Tyler placed a hand on Riley's shoulder, causing her to shiver. "So? Will you do it? You and I both know that Luzura will only continue to be a thorn in our side. God forbid that she finds us out. If she does, then we can kiss our futures goodbye. Besides, aren't you still trying to treat your mother's breast cancer? I heard it's come back a thousand times worse, and cancer treatment is only getting more and more expensive."
Riley's eyes widened, as Tyler slipped his hand off of her shoulder and walked past her. As he walked away, he glanced over his shoulder and smirked. There was a gleam in his eye that almost made it seem like a skull was reflective in there. "I await your response. You have 24 hours till—"
"Alright! I'll do it, for fucksake!" Riley shouted as Tyler's smirk turned into a toothy smile.
"Good girl," Tyler hummed, which further made her shiver. "Well? What are you waiting for? I'll book you a flight to Waterbury. You, my dear Bombardier, need to start packing. You've got quite a lot to work with on your plate if I do say so myself."
The sound of a door closing echoed out from behind Riley Stewardson, who stared at her half-burned cigarette, before tapping it and letting the ash fall to the wooden floor, before promptly stomping it out before it caught on fire. Taking a drag out of her cigarette, Riley blew out a puff of smoke, looking up to the ceiling.
Today had been a good day until right this second. Millie was showing signs of finally getting used to "The Human Realm" as she called it—which was strange, even though she knew that Millie was a Witch from another dimension, but still—and they had planned to go on a walk in the park and enjoy the day.
Millie Ravenclaw, despite being twenty years her senior, had been one of the only people that had truly understood her. She was a sweetheart, and her sage wisdom had helped her time and time again and stopped her from making stupid mistake after stupid mistake.
But this time, Millie wouldn't be able to help her.
This time, Riley had already made the dumb decision.
This time, Riley had to lay in the bed she made.
Taking the cigarette out of her mouth, before throwing it on the ground and putting it out, Riley made her way out of Tyler's study, eyes narrowed with her head filled with self-loathing.
It's just a job.
That's all this was and all it would ever be.
It's just a job.
She was going to visit her family whom she hadn't seen in well over a decade.
It's just a job.
She was going to reunite with Luz for the first time in a decade.
It's just a job.
And she was going to kill her.
[-To Be Continued in – Beacon's of Hope, or Despair – Part 1]
[Ending Song: Where Our Blue Is/青のすみか – By: Tatsuya Kitani]
Originally, I was going to write a few more chapters to "Season 2" before posting this. But, because I'm nice, I'm going to post this now. I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you in the next "episode." Peace out!