Before we get into the "episode". Someone reminded me in my other fanfic that is Owl House-based that The Owl House, Gravity Falls, and Amphibia all share a universe. Just like that one, I won't be including those other two series, namely because it takes away from what I want to do with All For Luz. Sorry if anyone wanted to see them interact.
Also, sorry again for the late upload. I've been working on my own original novel, which I've come up with the placeholder name of "The New World." So expect less-than-frequent uploads.
Anyway, with that being said, let's get into the next episode of All For Luz!
[Opening Song: Bokurano – By: Eve]
[Beacon's Of Hope, or Despair? – Part 1]
"So, let me get this straight. He's making you do what?" A husky, rough-sounding yet feminine voice spoke out from an eight-floor penthouse apartment located on the outskirts of Gravesfield. It was early in the morning, with the sun's rays just starting to peek out from a pair of blinds within a large bedroom. There was a queen-size canopy bed sitting against the rear wall with dark purple curtains, which were pushed to the side.
The floor of the bedroom was made entirely out of wood, with a white carpet atop it. Two dressers sat on either side of the room, and there sat a mirror in between the two dressers. Large windows that would normally overlook all of Gravesfield were covered with matching curtains to the canopy bed, and the walls of the room were made of cedar wood.
Sitting on the edge of the canopy bed was a short, red-haired woman, her hair reaching down to the tops of her shoulders styled in a ponytail. She had silver eyes and black sclera. The reason for the black sclera had to do with the fact that she was half Demon, which also explained the two horns poking out of her head and the forked tail.
The woman in question stood around 4'7 and was currently wearing a bathrobe. Why? Well, that was a private matter. It was also why Riley was currently in the shower, which had been attached to the already large and kitted-out bathroom, hidden behind a door.
"He's making me go to Waterbury! It's a few hours away from here, and it's for a solo mission. Otherwise, I would've invited you to come with!" Riley called out from the bathroom, the sound of running water nearly drowning out her voice as the woman sighed, looking down at the floor as she kicked her legs back and forth.
"Well, that sucks. How long do you think the mission will take? 'Cause if it's longer than a week I'm gonna head back to The Boiling Isles for… I'd say a day or so here, and a couple hours there. 'Sides, I need to catch up with an old friend from the war. We haven't talked since… I think a few months ago. Which is a few weeks their time," the woman said as the bathroom door creaked open, Riley sticking her head out, a medical bandage overtop her right eye.
"Uh… It'll probably take a month if I'm lucky. Do whatever you want, Mills. I won't be annoyed. Just check in every so often over the phone if you can," Riley said, slipping back into the bathroom and closing the door. The woman, affectionally called Mills, hopped off the bed and walked over to one of the drawers to get changed into some clothing.
Back in the bathroom, Riley was slipping on a pair of black jeans and already had on a tanktop with a leather vest waiting for her folded up on the sink counter. The bathroom was a standard one with a box shower, a porcelain toilet and sink, a marble counter and a mirror with drawers to put away towels underneath the sink.
Her hair was wet, allowing it to reach down to the start of her back. She had brushed it and was planning to put it up into a bun rather than a ponytail. There was also a pair of gloves waiting for her, which was mandatory to wear around the house due to her power which she had playfully dubbed Bomb Touch.
Essentially, Bomb Touch was exactly as it sounded. It allowed Riley to turn whatever she touched into a bomb. But, there was a catch. The only way the bomb could explode would be so long as she felt some kind of extreme emotion toward that object and or individual, which usually wound up being hatred.
She remembered when she first found out what her power had been. It was a dark memory and one she didn't like to relive.
For some context, Riley's father, Stanley Stewardson, was a piece of shit. He was physically and verbally abusive to her mother and her brother, both of whom she hadn't seen in well over six years. He was the same with her, too, but he also, on multiple occasions, sexually assaulted her.
It started when she was ten years old. Slight touching but it was nothing too heinous—though, all of it was, but this was the tamest it ever got. He said it was normal for a family to behave the way theirs did. Her mother never once tried to stop it. Steve, her older brother, attempted multiple times to stop him. It got him a beating every time, and Riley never knew why.
Well, now she did. But back then, she didn't know why.
It got worse when she was eleven. Her father would take pictures of her in swimsuits and get her to pose provocatively to sell to others. This, along with the touching, had made her feel slightly uncomfortable, but she never said anything to anyone about it.
When she turned twelve, it got even worse. Her mother and her father had begun arguing a lot. The beatings got worse, and it drove Steve to run away. Where he ended up, Riley didn't know. But it was a month after Manny had passed away, so regardless it didn't really matter what the circumstances around the event were.
What mattered was what happened as a result of her mother and father arguing. Despite the troubles, they always slept together. But, until she turned sixteen, that wasn't the case. Her father needed an outlet, and that outlet became her.
She refused to go into detail about what happened. But it was bad. Really, really, bad. When she turned seventeen, she had enough. During one of his many… attempts she remembered grabbing her father by the throat and trying to choke him out. The amount of rage and anger she had toward him was unrelenting.
She didn't expect anything to come from it.
But then, her father's head exploded, and the resulting explosion horribly scarred the right side of her face, destroying her eye in the process. She was taken to the hospital when she was released, she was kicked out of their home. There was no warning, no chance to collect her stuff, no nothing. So, she was forced to live on the streets across Connecticut.
She never stayed in one place longer than a week, and she did what she needed to so she could survive. Be it robbing stores, banks, or whatever she could. Her power to blow things up with a simple touch made such a thing easier. Eventually, when she turned 19, Tyler found her and took her in as a part of his assassin group, The Witch Hunters.
Ever since then, she's worked for them. It'd been two, nearing three years, and she'd killed a lot of people. Far too many people, but that didn't matter. They were nobodies. Sure, they had lives, but she needed the money more. She needed it to live. To pay for her mother's cancer treatment. To make sure her mother got to live.
While she hated her mother to the very core of her being for allowing what her father did to her to happen, she wasn't completely heartless. With her brother still missing, and with her mother being the only family she had left, she had to have something to connect her to her familial roots. Even if her mother sucked.
And because of that, she made a foolish decision.
She agreed to kill her cousin and destroy Beacon. All to continue to pump medicine and chemotherapy into a woman whom she hated. She was an idiot to think that she wouldn't be put up to a task like this. She was a paid assassin for fucksake.
It always came back to family, didn't it?
It would be family that made her, and it would be family that broke her.
She was put between a rock and a hard place. She didn't know what to do, other than to follow orders. Because at least with her, she knew to make it quick. God forbid Phosphorous decided to take an interest in the job.
She knew Phosphorous's record. He was a serial killer and a rapist, and the oldest member of The Witch Hunters Association. He didn't lead the group, thank God. But if he did, then it would've been a madhouse.
Phosphorous took sexual pleasure from killing his targets. He was very open about it, and while everyone tolerated it, no one liked it. They all played buddy-buddy with him because if they didn't, they feared they would be next. The only one who didn't give a shit was the leader of The Witch Hunters Association.
Or, well, the Figurehead. Tyler was the leader, but he typically funnelled commands through the Figurehead. That was why when he asked her about this job in person, she felt a little off about it. Something about it was personal, that much Riley knew. Otherwise, The Figurehead would've been the one to tell her about the job.
That aside, she feared the idea of Phosphorous wanting to take the job.
The things he would do to her cousin for the sheer sake of it…
She'd seen his handiwork. She'd seen all of the horrible, disgusting things he did to his victims. There were times she had to physically knock him out to get a job done and to put the people who he would torture, rape, and torture again for the sake of hearing them scream out of their misery.
For a split second, she pictured that monster looming over Luz, before immediately dismissing the thought.
No.
She would never let that happen to her.
And it was because of the threat that Phosphorous posed that she felt forced to take the job. Tyler didn't care either way. That was why he allowed Phosphorous to "get creative" as he had dubbed it. Tyler didn't care about what was done, so long as his target was killed.
There was one time that she had been on a job with Phosphorous. Their target was a young woman, freshly graduated, and the daughter of a powerful company that sought a lawsuit against The Wittebane Megachurch for one of the Youth Pastors having done some less than legal things to the woman's father's son.
She remembered seeing the state that the young lady was left in. Alive, covered in "fluid" and deep gashes, crying and begging to be killed.
Riley did the only thing she could've done in that situation she had been in. She did what the young lady asked and put her out of her misery as painlessly as possible by destroying her brain and leaving her there, but not before cleaning the body and re-clothing her.
It was the least she could've done.
For weeks she couldn't sleep after seeing what she saw. Phosphorous was more of a devil than a human, and whatever humanity he had before was stripped from him once he joined the WHA.
Riley didn't know his backstory, nor did she care. All she knew was that he didn't used to be like this. Apparently, according to the people who used to know him, he was a sweet guy. He was kind and looked after people who were down in the dumps. A really nice guy.
But then, he changed. He came home from some kind of camp and was changed. He was bloodthirsty, and he stopped caring about others. In fact, he was arrested for torturing and raping his crush, a girl named Stacey.
From Riley knew, she was paralyzed from the waist down after their encounter, and she lost function in her right arm and had to breathe through a respirator without suffocating.
He would've gone away for a long time, had Tyler not stepped in and said that "he'd take care of him" and because of his deep ties with the state and the police force in Connecticut, Phosphorous was allowed to essentially get away with his crimes.
Phosphorous was merciless, which was why he was Tyler's favourite.
And it was exactly because he was merciless that she was scared to death by him going anywhere near Luz.
Yes, she was being sent to Beacon to kill Luz. But at least she'd just kill her and get it over and done with. Phosphorous? He…
No.
There was no describing what Phosphorous would've done. Riley didn't even want to give that thought any attention. Phosphorous had no limits. Age didn't affect him. He'd do what he would usually do, and have his way regardless of what anyone said.
He was a psychopath. A monster in human skin—and that was doing a disservice to actual monsters.
But, outside of him and Riley, who else would Tyler send? For as disgusting and as repulsive as Phosporous was, he had a sure-kill ability that worked regardless of others' powers. Same with Riley. All she needed was a touch and wham, a corpse.
The others, while powerful, were situational at best or pure support at worst. Transporters ability was to teleport people from one place to another, so that would do nothing. Mills had magic that couldn't nor would it ever compete with Luz's abilities. The only other people who she even considered to have the chance to take out Luz would be The Honoured One and the "Leader" of The WHA.
The Honoured One was off the table due to her Battle Lust, and the "Leader" was too busy dealing with Tyler and his more secretive needs. Transporter was support only, and Phosphorus was the nuclear option as far as Riley was concerned.
Which left her.
Because it always came down to her.
As Riley stepped out of the bathroom, she grabbed her phone off the side of the dresser and saw that a text message had been left for her. It was from one of Tyler's many burner phones, and it mentioned something about her partner waiting for her outside the front of the building she was in.
"Partner?" Riley thought, narrowing her eyes as she pocketed her phone. "I thought this was a solo mission? I swear if Phosphorous is downstairs waiting for me…!" She'd have a meltdown. He would never be allowed even within a mile of her family. Even if she was assigned to kill her, she could at least spare her from that fucking psycho.
Riley was already dressed and ready to go, so all she had to do was make it to the building entrance. Exiting her bedroom with her suitcase behind her, she walked down the hall that connected her shared bedroom to the rest of the suite and made her way to the front door of her home.
Speaking of her home, it was a fairly lavish one. Well, for as lavish as a suite could get. Top-of-the-line furniture and appliances, smooth granite counters in the kitchen and stainless steel sinks. Lights that all you had to do was clap to turn off—which she did to conserve on the electricity bill—and indoor waterfalls to keep the air damp and not stuffy.
Wooden floors that were laminated so that they couldn't be scuffed. Carpets that were easy to clean and looked good. The best electronical devices money could buy, and to top it all off, a gorgeous view that overlooked all of Gravesfield.
Usually, Riley would stay a while to admire it, but she had a flight to catch. Not to mention she was a little worried about who her partner was. She just hoped it was The Honoured One or Transporter. That was her best bet.
Exiting her suite and making her way down the stairs as fast as she could, suitcase clacking and slamming down with her, in the time it took to pour a glass of water, Riley was already at the front entrance of her building. When she made it outside and scanned the area, looking for the person who was supposed to be her partner on this mission, she looked around for any familiar faces.
But found none.
What she found instead was the face of someone who she had only ever seen in group meetings. Someone who she never thought she would get to meet in person. Someone who she knew basically fuck-all about.
That someone having been the Figurehead, or his codename, Golden Guard.
The person in question was a boy, maybe somewhere around 16 to 17 years old. He had ear-length long ashen-blond hair that was shaved at the top with a jagged forelock, with said ears being pointed like Mills' ears. His eyes were crimson red, with a scar just underneath his right eye. One of his ears had a notch in it, and his expression was one of both calm and frustration. The latter wasn't directed toward her, mind you, but to something else, it seemed.
He was dressed in a white tunic and black pants held up by a belt with an owl-face-themed buckle. Despite looking to be around fifteen, to maybe sixteen, he carried a far more aged air around him. The kind of air only a war veteran would have.
What Riley saw in those eyes was a disaster. Death. Pain and suffering. Some of which he committed and others that he had bore witness to. The eyes of a remorseful killer. The eyes of someone who hated their job but did it anyway to appease their boss.
Someone like her.
His physique was the next thing that caught her attention. He appeared scrawny, at least to the untrained eye. But she could see the muscle that he had. It was impressive for his age. He had the type of build someone would underestimate in a serious brawl. He looked weak, but there was a chance that he would kick your ass. Not could. Would.
He glanced at her, his neutral expression unchanging. He didn't say a word, he just stared. He looked her up and down, before turning away from her. "Bombardier or I guess Riley Stewardson, seeing as we're going undercover. Good to see you. For now, you can call me Hunter. Now, let's get going. We're going to be late."
"W-Wait—"
"No. We'll talk more once we get to Waterbury. I've gotten no sleep, and Dimension Lag isn't doing me any favours. Move it." He left no room for argument. So, with a sigh of annoyance, Riley followed after him as an airport cab pulled up to the sidewalk. She loaded her luggage into the back, as did Hunter. Once that was done, the two got themselves into the cab, and once they put on their seatbelts, the cab driver spoke.
"You're ride has already been paid for. It'll be 30 minutes before we get to the airport."
"Thanks," Hunter said, yawning as he did. "I'm closing my eyes for now. Riley, if I fall asleep, wake me up once we get to the airport." As Hunter said that, he closed his eyes. The cab driver shrugged, turning to face the road. When they started moving, Riley crossed her arms.
She hadn't expected to be paired with Hunter of all people. But, she was glad it was him and not the others.
Hunter, or Golden Guard, as he was known, was a bit of an anomaly. He was from The Other World as Tyler called it, but Tyler also mentioned how he was like them. How he had powers. Not a power, powers. She didn't know how that was, nor did anyone know what those powers were. But, he was often seen wielding a sword made entirely out of light and nothing else.
What other powers he had under his belt, he kept to himself. For a moment, she thought that maybe he was like Luz, but after glancing at his palms and finding that they didn't have holes in them, she was left even more confused.
Everyone at the Headquarters knew that Luz's power to take and give powers was done through her hands. If Hunter had multiple powers, then how did he get them? No one asked, of course. No one really cared that much about it, but still, it was something that she was interested in.
Regardless of how it didn't matter. Hunter was considered the strongest among them. Both because of the training he had under his belt, and the fact that after fighting among one another to see who would lead, Hunter was the clear and obvious winner, having dragged them through the mud with one of his powers, of which he dubbed Lightbringer.
That was the only power that she knew of regarding his self-noted four powers. He could control, manipulate, create, and turn into light. Any wounds he had he could turn into light and reform without having, and he was easily the fastest out of everyone there.
At first, when Hunter had said he was the fastest out of all of them, no one believed him. So, they put him to the test. They had set up a large flashlight and were going to test just how fast he was.
Transportor set up the flashlight, and counted down to three. When the countdown was finished, and when the flashlight was turned on, Hunter got to the wall before the light of the flashlight had without breaking a sweat. As a matter of fact, he reached the other side of the room far before the light of the flashlight even so much as made it past the glass.
Hunter even gave them a chance to redo the test, and each time, the result was the same. Hunter was, by all metrics, faster than light.
That meant that he was travelling faster than 671 million miles per hour.
What was even crazier was that, if he had truly been travelling faster than the speed of light, then that meant he must've practiced it a lot, because otherwise, the planet would've more than likely been ripped apart by the sheer speed and force that it would require to travel that fast.
However, there was also the fact that because Hunter was a being made of pure light he could've just been naturally that fast, and therefore had no need to practice having to control that kind of speed.
This brought into question just how strong Luz needed to be for Tyler to bring out someone like Hunter. Did he fear her that much? Or was it more of his way of saying that "they cannot fail this mission because you have Hunter with you."
Riley was a smart person. Or at least, she'd like to think so. A part of Riley was confident now that Hunter was with her. But, there was the lingering idea that not even Hunter would be enough.
Not that Riley wanted to kill Luz, mind you.
It was just a job to her. It had to be because if she thought about it any longer she'd abandon it, and then that meant Tyler would send someone else.
She couldn't allow that.
As the car pulled away from the building, and as Hunter snored quietly, Riley looked out the window with a frown.
Today and the next few weeks were going to suck.
[XXXX]
The chilling, downright disgusting air of the morgue was something that Luz knew she would never get used to. One would think that after she had been here more than once she'd have gotten used to the smell. Unfortunately, it wasn't like that.
The smell of death was a special kind of order. It was the last remnants of a person, and it burned. That was why she wore a mask over the lower portion of her face when she came down here. Not only because she didn't want to get sick, but because she didn't want to smell rotted and feted corpses.
The morgue had become an all too familiar location for Luz. Every other day she'd come down here, and it had to do with an investigation that Beacon had been digging their claws into at the behest of the Federal Government.
Since this was a work-related meeting, Luz was dressed in her hero costume, just without the cape. There was no need to drag that thing around constantly. Not unless she was on duty actively patrolling to keep up with the public image.
As she walked down the long hallway, passing by the several dimly glowing red lights meant to keep the underground morgue warm, Luz couldn't help but wonder what would greet her this time around. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, though, given that this was a morgue, and given the past month or so of these visits have turned up being even more disgusting than the last, she was less than optimistic.
"You aren't going to like this one, Luzura," the voice of Dr. Rodriquez filled her ears as Luz looked over to him, a nonchalance in her eyes.
"I never like looking at the corpses, Doctor, but all the same; How can this one be any different?" Luz asked as they turned the corner. Dr. Rodriquez said nothing, his eyes slightly narrowing as he frowned. That worried her. Dr. Rodriqueze was usually quite the talkative person, even in the most morbid of situations. But this was different, and she didn't like it even one bit.
Her job as one of America's first superheroes and leader of a hero team exposed her to the dirtier side of the world. Humanity had merit, and always would. But every day that merit got chipped away as she was exposed to the type of things that the police had to deal with daily.
Criminals with no regard for human life. Serial killers who murdered for the sake of their ego. Rapists who enjoyed hurting people in some of the worst ways imaginable. The less she spoke about those who did the above to children, the better. Those got a very special, very brutal treatment from her.
In many different ways, humanity was horrible. She got to witness firsthand the dark side of humanity—experience it thanks to the actions of one Rodger Maxwell. She knew full well just how bad humanity could be. Humans were not harmless, and they were most certainly not kind, regardless of one's outlook. Humanity, for all of its worth, was not to be taken lightly.
Which made it even more unfortunate that she shared oxygen with the people who would go out of their way and harm those who didn't deserve it.
At fifteen years old, she had seen it all.
She had seen twisted corpses. She saw and met children who would never have their innocence again and listened to their stories so that she could find the perpetrator who wronged them. She had beaten many villains to near death on several occasions, all because of the crimes they had committed, so much so that it took Julia pulling her off of them to stop her from killing them…
If she could go back in time and prevent all of this from happening, she would.
Luz desired the old days. When she was essentially a shut-in. Hell, even before the Amber Incident, despite her opinions on that. To talk herself out of going to the lengths that she did, just so that she wouldn't put her mother through the financial hell that dragged her back into the alcoholic depression she had gone through after her father died.
But, unfortunately, no matter how much she desired or wanted to go back in time, that was not how time worked. That was not how life worked. Even if superpowers were now a thing, that didn't mean the laws of reality could be bent so frivolously.
Oh, yeah. She was fifteen now. As sad as it was to say, she nearly forgot.
Her birthday was today, August 17th, and she had plans with her mother to go out to the movies, but this had just come in, and she was told to go down to the morgue to confirm the death. Why her, she didn't know.
Maybe she used to know this person?
Probably not, all things considered.
Dr. Rodriquez stopped at the door to the morgue proper and pushed it open. Before he let her walk in, he spoke. "When you walk in, Luz, I want you to try and keep calm. I know the last few bodies we've shown you have been rough, but this one… It's bad."
"Got it," Luz said as she walked in, stepping past Rodriquez, and immediately stopped dead in her tracks. For a split second, she saw nothing but red as rage flowed through her body, but with an exhale, it faded away as she tried to push down everything in her body screaming at her to lash out.
The body on the table was a five-year-old child, gender undertimed due to their lower body covered for their remaining dignity—not that Luz particularly cared.
The first and more notable thing that she saw about the body was their face. Or, she guessed, lack thereof. She could see everything, and it made her want to puke, but for the sake of remaining professional, she also pushed that feeling down.
The next thing that she noticed was that there were small stubs on their upper shoulders that like the beginning of a pair of wings, had been forcibly removed. Their skin was covered in small cuts, and what looked like bruises. The kid didn't die peacefully, that much was obvious.
Finally, there was the last thing that pointed to the culprit of the crime. Or, rather, culprits. There was a brand was put in the center of the child's chest. One that she had become far too familiar with for the last month or so. It was a swastika, and it was seared right where their heart would be.
"It's The Order again," Dr. Rodriquez said curtly, the sound of the door closing shut behind them as his tone filled with disgust. Luz clenched her right hand into a fist as she visibly sneered. Of course, it was them. Because why wouldn't it be?
For the last month, Beacon had been trying to track them down. But at every turn, The Order seemed to be one step ahead of them. Every week, they would kill someone, and deliver the body to the hospital's doorstep. Each of them is more gruesome than the last. All to taunt Beacon into saying "You still haven't caught us, so when will you?"
So, as she had expected, this was from The Order. What she hadn't expected was for them to stoop as low as to kill a child. But given that they were a neo-nazi group, then she really shouldn't have thought of them to not do such a horrible thing.
"Have you found any leads," Luz bit out, calming herself before looking up at Rodriquez, who shook his head in decline.
"No. What about you?"
"No…"
This was becoming a problem, though that should've been obvious.
For a bit of history regarding the group in question, The Order was a group of neo-nazis who, before the Mass Power Awakening, or the MPA as the Federal Government had begun calling it, were just a group of goose-stepping idiots who were now a group of super-powered goose-stepping idiots.
Because of this, they needed to be hunted down. Before, they were just a bunch of idiots running around and getting arrested by the police. But now? Now they had actual power and weight behind their words, and they chose Waterbury to be their main target. Because of that, they were now Beacon's problem.
There was just one small, teensy little problem. They were about as illusive as Bigfoot, meaning that they had their work cut out for them. To make matters worse was that, no matter how many security cameras Emelia hacked into, they either had an EMP device to block her out or, by the time they got to the location where Emelia flagged, they were already gone.
For a month, Beacon had been going on a wild goose chase, and with no results to show of it. Just a pile of bodies and a river of blood with Nazi iconography burned into the corpses. The public was getting nervous, and with each attack, more damage was done. Mixed in with the small crime dotted all about Connecticut, and with constant dead-ends, Luz was about at her wit's end.
"I don't know if I can keep doing this, Doctor…" Luz muttered as Dr. Rodriquez looked back at her. "This is just… awful…"
"No one ever said playing the role of the hero was an easy one, chica," Rodriquez replied, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I wish I could say it gets better, but it doesn't."
"I need to find them…" Luz replied. "I don't care how many buildings I have to upturn to do it…" Luz said, her anger flaring as her eyes flashed red, before returning to their usual colour. "I can't go another week seeing another dead body. I can't, and I won't stand for it…"
"I know," Rodriquez said, squeezing her shoulder before letting go. "You can go now. The family asked for a cremation. I don't blame them…" As Rodriquez said that, he blinked, before chuckling. "Oh, and we got the green light for Project N, by the way. The Federal Government is interested. We're going to get a shipment of inmates from various maximum security prisons, all of them death row inmates. Those notes you were able to get for us… uh, where'd you get them?"
"A friend," Luz replied, sighing. Project N… The one that Shigaraki suggested. She didn't know if she fully agreed with it, but if it was would go towards further protection of the community… "That's good, though. Let me know when you have the first successful one."
"Will do."
Without another word, Luz turned and left the morgue. The reason why she was interested in Project N, as Shigaraki was calling it, had to do with what happened when she first woke up and dumped a bunch of powers into that corpse.
The body with all of the powers she had dumped into was, somehow, still there. Apparently, ever since she dumped the powers into them, the body stopped rotting. How that was, she didn't know. A week later, Shigaraki suggested that they give Project N a try. He said it would bring a new wave of super soldiers to crack down on crime. To make her job easier.
She knew by now that trusting Shigaraki at his word was foolish. If he was saying he didn't know what information you were seeking, the true answer was that he didn't want to give it to you just yet. If he said he was being truthful, take that information with a heap of salt, because chances were that he was lying.
And if he said he was looking out for your best interests, assume that he wasn't.
But even still, she was willing to give it a shot. Besides, no one innocent was getting involved. Just a bunch of criminals who were going to die anyway. This was for the benefit of mankind, as far as she was concerned. Even if it was a little twisted.
Besides, if it didn't work, then she'd get a bunch of new powers to toy with. So it was a win-win in her eyes.
"You know, Luz. You probably could have—"
"Stuff it, Shigaraki."
"I wasn't going to suggest taking the child's Quirk if that's why you're telling me to be quiet. Mutant-type Quirks aren't exactly the best to take. They permanently alter your appearance, and cannot be shut off without causing immense pain."
"You know from experience?"
"Yes."
"Then what were you going to say?" As Luz thought that, she finally made it to the main floor of the hospital to which the morgue was connected. A few patients in the waiting section saw her and smiled, some of whom were children. A few of the little kids were wearing merchandise of the Beacon brand, like special rings that glowed the same colour as All For One's sparks, or wearing faux goggles that Julia wore.
Some even had action figures…
Luz couldn't help but smile, waving to them, her mood brightening almost immediately. One of the children approached her from where they were sitting. They had scales on their wrists and hands, and they had a large smile on their face. "Luzura! Can I have an autograph!?" The child asked, holding out a picture of a recent press tour that she had gone on, organized by the Governor."
"Sure!" Luz said, looking around for a pen. She saw one on the receptionist counter, and held up a finger, turning to face the counter. "One sec just gotta get a pen," as Luz said that, she walked over and grabbed a pen, before walking back over to the child, got down on one knee, and signed the photo. "There ya go, kiddo!"
"Thank you!" The child said, before running back to their mother. They showed the child the photo, and the mother looked over to Luz and smiled. Luz stood up and turned to walk out of the building. As she did, she caught something in the corner of her eye. Just as she was exiting the building, she rubbed shoulders with someone.
They were dressed in all black, and they had extremely pale skin. Their eyes were a deep blue, and just as she stepped out of the hospital, she saw them pull out what looked like a pipe bomb, with the back of their neck having a swastika tattoo on it.
Before anything could happen, Luz whipped around and grabbed the man by the wrist, who shouted in shock, before throwing him out of the hospital with enough force to shatter the glass doors and crack the wall of the building across the street. All of this happened in less than a second, and as the man was being thrown, she was able to take the bomb out of his hand.
But, because it was a pipe bomb, and because any sudden movements would cause an explosion, the bomb blew up in her hand. The resulting explosion sent her flying backward through the doors she had just walked through, with several pieces of shrapnel scattering all over the place and hitting a few unlucky individuals.
Luz slammed into the wall, and as the smoke cleared, her Regeneration power was working on reconstructing her face. The explosion destroyed the whole left side of her face, though it was slowly coming back. As for her left arm, which had been the one that was holding the bomb before it blew up, it was being regrown from the elbow up, bones and all.
As she healed, and as she stood up, groaning all the while, she marched her way down the hall and back into the waiting room as her wounds fully healed. She looked around the room and saw that everyone was mostly okay. Children were crying, and parents were soothing their children. "Is everyone okay?!" Luz asked, a slight ringing in her ears as she received a few nods.
She looked across the street and saw the man slowly and painfully getting up from being chucked into the side of the wall, with a gaggle of onlookers staring at him, gasping and staring at the hospital where the explosion had gone off.
Luz's eyes flashed red, as with a single lunge, she closed the distance between the man and herself, slamming into him with her right elbow connecting with his gut. The resulting impact forced all of the air out of his lungs, as Luz stepped back and grabbed him by the collar of his black shirt, lifting him off the ground and raising him just above her to stare into his eyes.
"You're with The Order, yeah?" Luz demanded as the man coughed, his eyes narrowing in pain. He didn't have a power, meaning he was more than likely sent in to die with the bomb's resulting explosion.
"L-Like I'll—"
Luz slammed him into the building, shattering the wall behind him and sending him into the ground. The resulting impact caused a small crater to form as the man howled in pain. Luz slammed her foot into his chest, the sound of his ribs cracking filling her ears as she snarled. "You'll tell me if you want to live."
"F-Fine! Yes! I-I'm with The Order!" The man said through pained tears as Luz pushed her foot down even more, causing him to whimper. "P-P-Please! S-Spare me!"
"Where's your main base of operation," Luz replied, ignoring his plea as the man choked back tears. In response, she drove her foot a little bit deeper as a snapping sound followed by a scream of pain echoed through the area. Luz looked over her shoulder and saw that people were recording. "Great. The media's gonna love this…" Luz thought sarcastically, not that she cared. "Clocks ticking. Answer me, or—"
"I-I don't know!" The man replied hurriedly, coughing as he continued to whine in pain. "I-I work in one of the decoy bases! I don't know! I s-swear!"
"Useless," Luz spat, before driving her foot through his body, crushing his ribs and smashing his heart and lungs. A single pained gasp and scream filled the air, before it died down, the life leaving the monster's eyes as Luz's expression twisted into that of a sneer. If this was a regular villain, she probably would've just handed him off to the police. But a Nazi was a Nazi. They were less than human. Shit on the bottom of her boot who didn't deserve to have the same rights as she did.
She took a step back, turned around, and exited the hole in the wall she created. Several of the civilians who had been recording looked mortified, their faces pale as they pointed their phones at her and recorded her.
"Y-you're sick!" One of the recorders said, catching her attention. Without so much as a response, she grabbed that person's phone, shocking them, and crushed it in her hand in front of them. "M-My phone!" Without another word, Luz crouched down before activating Spring-like Limbs and launching upward into the air while activating Pyrokinesis and creating her familiar flame wings.
"I take it now is not a good time to finish what I was about to say?"
"Yes."
"Then I shall remain silent."
Today was shaping up to be one of the worst ones she's had this month, and on her birthday, no less. As she flew through the skies, her fiery wings generating another powerful burst of motion, she got an incoming call from her earpiece. She tapped it once, sighing. "What is it?"
"You don't sound so happy, Mija."
"Oh, hey Mom. You're right, I'm not. Some prickhead from The Order attacked the hospital with a pipe bomb. I was able to prevent a disaster, but the guy didn't have any useful information."
"Oh… uh, you didn't kill him, did you?"
"Yes, I did. Why wouldn't I? He was a Nazi, mama."
"I know, dear, but we've talked about this. I know this guy was incredibly evil, but we have a justice system for a reason."
"The same justice system that can be exploited. Right, like that's going to help anyone. Besides, one less goose-stepper off the streets, the better. Even better that it's permanent."
Camila sighed on the other end, before speaking again. "Alright, Mija. Look, I'm calling to let you know that we've got two recruits waiting at the front desk to meet with you. I think one of them will be a welcome surprise!"
Luz blinked. A welcome surprise? "Okay… ETA's a minute from now. Be there soon unless something pops up."
"Okay. Also, don't forget, we've booked tickets for the new Avengers Movie you've been wanting to see at 7 pm. It's already 5, and Julia told me to tell you that she wanted some snuggle time before you and I left."
"MA!" Luz shouted, stopping dead in her tracks mid-glide as her face lit up beet-red, earning a chuckle from Camila and a mental snort from Shigaraki, which didn't help in her embarrassment.
"I might not be getting grandchildren due to the nature of your relationship, Mija, which isn't a problem mind you, but that doesn't stop me from embarrassing you."
"MA?!" Luz shouted again as Shigaraki full-blown laughed in her head, which only made her face go a deeper shade of red. Before she could say anything, her mother cut the line, as Luz hovered there, utterly embarrassed as Shigaraki continued to laugh in her head. "Oh, shut up!" Luz practically shrieked, before jetting off in the direction of Beacon Headquarters, which she could see in the distance.
As the embarrassment faded away, and as Shigaraki finally left her alone after another few seconds of laughing at her expense, she landed at the front doors, her flame wings folding away back into her person as she stepped through the automatic doors. She cleared her throat, and looked straight ahead and toward the receptionist desk.
And what she saw made her jaw hang open.
The first person that she saw, mostly due to his very bright appearance, was a boy who looked to be about a year or two older than her. He had ear-length long ashen-blond hair that was shaved at the top with a jagged forelock, with said ears being pointed, which she assumed had to do with his power, although All For One was pointing out to him how he had not one, but four powers. Something that raised alarms in her head, though she pushed the thought aside.
His eyes were crimson red, with a scar just underneath his right eye. One of his ears had a notch in it, and his expression was one of neutrality. Both of his hands were in his pockets as he leaned against the receptionist's desk.
He was dressed in a white short-sleeve V-neck tunic and a pair of black pants held up by a belt with a golden buckle. The exposed portion of his arms showed some muscle, giving way to the fact that he was at least somewhat combat-effective—which was good, but that wasn't what caused her jaw to drop slightly.
No. What caused her jaw to drop was the person next to the boy.
The person in question was a woman who looked to be in her early twenties. She had shoulder-length orange hair done up in a ponytail with an eyepatch over her right eye. She was dressed in a black leather jacket with spikes on the shoulder, along with a white shirt underneath. A pair of dark blue jeans held up by a black leather belt completed the look, along with a pair of black boots.
The two stared at one another, as a small smile came to the woman's face.
"Sup, Lulu. Been a while, hasn't it?" Riley said as Luz smiled ear to ear.
"RILEY!" Luz exclaimed, rushing over to her and hugging her as tightly as she could, which she reciprocated, giggling in the process.
"Jeez, Luz, you've gotten stronger, haven't ya? Taller, too! You used to only be up to my knee when we last saw each other, and I was shorter then, too," Riley said as Luz skipped back, a large smile on her face.
"What brings you here, Riley?" Luz asked, rocking back and forth, excitement filling every part of her body. It had been so long since she'd seen her cousin, she had thought that she'd never see her again. Yet, here she was, standing in the foyer of Beacon.
"We're here to join Beacon," the blond boy spoke up, gaining Luz's attention. The boy bowed slightly with one arm under his chest. "Hunter, at your service."
"Nice to meet you Hunter, and good to see you again, Riley," Luz said, taking another step back to look at the two of them. "Well, before I approve of anything, I need to know if you guys can fight."
"I take it we'll be fighting you, then?" Riley asked as Luz shook her head.
"No. I tend to get carried away. Uh… it's not a good idea," Luz replied sheepishly. "Instead, you'll be fighting my Girlfriend. Uh… after I change, of course. Follow me, I'll take you to the main living area so you guys can meet, first." As Luz said that, she motioned for them to follow her toward an elevator. The three entered, and as Luz pressed the button that took them to the floor in question, the three stood in silence.
It didn't take them long to reach the floor, and when they did, the group stepped out. The living area was huge, easily the same size as the old house that they lived in squashed onto a single floor. There was a full-sized kitchen in the back and pushed off to a corner, a large living room a few feet in front of the elevator with a large red curved couch, a glass coffee table, and an 80-inch TV strapped to the wall with several consoles plugged in ranging from Xbox to old Nintendo consoles like the Gamecube and Nintendo 64.
And just a foot or two in front of the elevator, Camila stood front and center, a large smile on her face. "Riley, it's good to see you again," Camila said as Riley smiled back. The two hugged, before stepping back from one another as Camila looked over to Hunter. "And it's nice to meet you. Hunter, was it?"
"Yes. It's nice to meet you, ma'am. I was told we have to pass some kind of initiation?"
"Ah, right. One second," Camila said, before turning to face the kitchen where Julia stood, seemingly stirring something in a bowl with a determined look on her face. "Julia! The new recruits are here, can you stop what you're doing for a second?"
"Huh?" Julia called back, before looking up. She saw Luz, Riley, and Hunter and smiled. She put down the mixer in her hand and walked over to them. Before she addressed Riley and Hunter, she hugged Luz, who hugged back. Julia gave Luz a quick peck on the forehead, whispering "You owe me later," before letting go and turning around to face Riley and Hunter.
"Alright, if you two wanna join Beacon, you gotta beat me in combat," Julia said, crossing her arms. She looked the pair up and down, humming. "What's your powers?"
"Bomb Touch," Riley replied, opening and closing her hand a few times. "I can turn whatever I touch into a bomb. It's lethal, so I won't use it fighting you."
"Got it," Julia said, before looking at Hunter. "And you?"
"Lightbringer. I can create, turn into, and manipulate light," Hunter answered as Julia raised an eyebrow.
"So, discount Kizaru?"
"Who?" Hunter asked, confused as Julia huffed.
"Oh, you're so watching One Piece if you get in. I cannot let you walk away after not getting the reference," Julia said before looking back at Luz. "By the way, thank you for getting me into that series."
"No problem!"
"Now," Julia said before gesturing the two to follow her. "This is eating into my private time with Luz before she has to go out with her mom, so I want to wrap this up quickly. Try not to bore me," Julia said as they entered the elevator.
As they disappeared, Luz rubbed the back of her neck, a nervous tick that she did when she was just a little bit worried.
She just hoped that Julia didn't go overboard. The last time she tested potential new recruits, they were in the hospital for at least a few weeks for broken bones and twisted muscles. For as much as she said that she wasn't good at combat, she did a pretty good job at beating people up.
"Oh well, it can't be that bad. Besides, it's a Wednesday. She's usually calm on Wednesday…" Luz thought, before sighing. "Mama, tell Vee to be at the ready with stretchers in case Julia goes all out…"
"Sure thing!" Camila said, her tone chipper as she walked off elsewhere.
All things considered, today wasn't exactly the greatest. But, things were looking up. So long as nothing bad happened in the next two hours, she'd say today would be mediocre rather than awful.
But, knowing her luck, she probably just jinxed it.
[-To Be Continued-]
[Ending Song: Where Our Blue Is/青のすみか– By: Tatsuya Kitani]