So, it's been almost a while since the last chapter. Not gonna lie, I've been busy, and with me getting a job, updates are probably gonna be fewer and further between. That being said, that won't stop me from writing this chapter. Even if it means that it'll take longer. Hope this helps tide you guys over for a little while longer.
Also, do keep in mind that I said that every arc in this will have five chapters or more. It depends on how long each chapter is, and how I should pace this out. I know a lot of you who are coming from the old version of the story want to see Luz at her peak, but that won't be for a while now.
ALSO! One more thing before we start the chapter:
Osmosis (imaginary) VA! Yes, I was going to put this at the end of the last chapter, but I never got around to it. For JP it's Naoya Uchida, who is most known for voicing Nobunaga Hazama from Hunter x Hunter and Madara Uchiha from Naruto! For an English voice, it's Kellen Goff, particularly his performance as Overhaul/Chisaki Kai, but he is most known for Funtime Freddy from, you guessed it, Fnaf!
From now on, unless the characters have much more staying power than a chapter or two, or don't have any lasting consequences, then I'm not going to assign them VAs (unless they already have one in which case you guys should already know them)
[Opening Song: Bokurano – By: Eve]
*The scene opens with the strumming of a guitar in a slow, methodical rhythm, as Luz–dressed in a white bodysuit with a red cape attached to her back, kind of like a hero costume you'd see from a comic book, with her back facing the camera–slowly rises in a void of darkness, a bright white light in front of her; all the while a quiet choir-like voice hums alongside the strumming of the guitar. Luz looks over her shoulder, a lone brown eye looking back at the camera before it zooms in on her eye as the beat drops.*
*The drums kick in, continuing the same beat before, but this time more intense alongside an electric guitar. The camera zooms past her shoulder and into the bright light, as a cityscape looms underneath, the title of the story appearing once again, "The Owl House - All For Luz" appears, with the Japanese Kanji " フクロウの家 - すべてはルスのために！ " Underneath it, and in smaller font. This time, there's a large bright yellow 2 next to both English and Japanese.*
*The guitar riffs, causing the scene to change to the same Luz from the beginning standing atop a building, overlooking the city of Waterbury with a solemn yet hopeful expression on her face. She takes in the scenery around her, a smile taking up her visage as a hand touches her shoulder. She turns around and sees Julia, who is also wearing a costume consisting of a white shirt, a large pink feather coat over her shoulders, a purple corset, brown shorts and sandals, along with red goggles on her forehead. Next to her is an older black-haired woman in a skintight futuristic suit with purple streaks going through it, resting an elbow on Julia's shoulder. Luz smiles, before walking over to them as a disembodied voice sings this opening's song*
"A world that's lacking black and white"
"Where sorrow kills us deep inside"
"I cannot stop myself from falling to the other side again"
"So, are you waiting?"
*The scene changes to two young boys running through a forest, both with white hair. One has red eyes, the other has green eyes. The boy with green eyes has the red-eyed boy by the wrist, both dressed in rags as they're running down the forest to an open clearing at the edge of a mountain. The boy with red eyes has a worried look on his face before the green-eyed boy lets go, getting to the edge of the cliff before turning around, looking at the red-eyed boy, smiling with both his hands behind his back.*
*The red-eyed boy relaxes, calmly walking toward the boy, an honest, caring smile on his face, reaching out to the boy as the scene changes. The boy looks older, a horrified look on his face (the boy was Yoichi) and the red-eyed boy (All For One) reaches out toward him, that same concern as before as the city of Tokyo is in the middle of a burning battle. The scene glitches out to Luz, in her hero costume in Waterbury, where it looks like a large battle had taken place, stumbling forward with blood on her hands as she looks down at said hands, panic and horror in her eyes as a ghost of All For One appears over her shoulder, a reassuring hand on her shoulder, all the while the disembodied voice continues to sing*
"Decayed, we break and stumble while reaching for the light"
"Is there somewhere to search and find?"
"A reason to keep up the lie?"
"When misery will block the way, never cry"
"'Cause I'm by your side through all the hurting!"
*The beat reaches a crescendo, then drops as Luz stands up, the spirit of All For One disappearing as a vengeful look appears in Luz's eye, red sparks burst around her, dashing forward toward a shadowy group of villains, rearing back a punch to gut check the first one. Julia swings in from out of nowhere, wrapping up one of the villains in string, swinging them away into a nearby building. Hunter appears next to Luz, generating a light sword, helping her fight the same villain she's attacking, as an older-looking woman in her mid-20s (Riley) lunges at a taller villain with a purple smog Quirk, her eyes bursting with an explosive energy.*
"Take every single bitter feeling"
"That the future we are reaching…"
"I want to hold you forever through everything…!"
"Break away, 'cause that's a hero!"
*The scene cuts to a different scene with Vee (in her human form) alongside Camila fighting off a witch (Millie) inside a large penthouse in the human realm who wears the Elite Emperor Coven garb, each taking turns attacking the witch, Camila using a sword on her hip, and Vee shape-shifting their arm into a large mace, both of them missing their attacks, allowing the witch leap back, create distance between them, and to create a magic circle and blast off a fire spell, which acts as a transition for the next scene all the while the voice continues the song*
"Take every prayer repeating,"
"Hold dear to every meaning…"
"My broken body will carry onward through the dark!"
"I'll fly to where you are!"
*The scene changes to Luz standing in front of a blue portal of some kind, a shattered vial of *something* next to her as she looks to her left. The ghost of All for One stands next to her, offering her his hand. For a moment, she looks hesitant, before she takes it. The two glitch out, replaced by shadowy versions of Caleb and Philip, then those two glitch out to be replaced with a menacing All For One, before Luz and the ghost of All For One appear again, as they step through the portal to a place entirely unknown, but not before Luz looks over her shoulder once again, her eye now red, and a smirk on her face, with the opening coming to an end as the disembodied voice finishes the song.*
"Crying out!"
"A heart that reflects the words of the love it found!"
"Never doubting any step…!"
"We'll rise up to see a new end, once again!"
*The beat of the song reaches a crescendo again, before closing out with a final riff, as the portal vanishes–closing in on itself–revealing a familiar cabin in the woods, as the light of the moon shines down on it with an ominous eerie glow.*
[Beacons Of Hope, or Despair? – Part 3]
To say that the last two weeks had been nothing but dead ends was the understatement of the century. Frankly, Luz was starting to get sick and tired of chasing one lead, then finding out it was a dead end, and then going back with nothing but failure.
Sure, she's been able to catch small-time crooks in the meanwhile, and to give credit where credit was due Emelia was busting her ass for days on end without sleep to find where The Order is primarily located, but it's brought nothing but failure.
On the other hand, having Hunter and Riley around was a major benefit. They were taking to the whole Hero thing like champs. By themselves, the pair of them had captured well over 20 small-time crooks, and defeated four major villains on their own. As a group of five, their numbers boosted significantly. Hunter even eclipsed Cross for the number three position in the leaderboards.
Although, Luz was still heavily suspicious of Hunter. He claimed to only have one power, but Luz knew better. She saw better. Hunter had four powers, yet only used one, and lied to her face about it recently.
Not that Luz cared, though. As a matter of fact, she didn't care in the slightest. She just hated that Hunter didn't feel like he could tell her the truth. Either that, or he was doing it on purpose. If he was doing it on purpose… then problems would arise sooner rather than later.
That aside there was also the news that Project N was having problems getting off the ground. Each test subject was worse than the last. The only one that they were making progress with was, funnily enough, the former governor's body. It retained its form well enough to the point where they were able to get it to the incubation phase.
If their first product was using the former governor's body as a base, and it actually succeeded, then it would've been one hell of an ironic fate for the man. Personally, it would be one hell of a way to spite him. A man who hated powers getting turned into a superpowered toy soldier for her to play around with.
It would be comedic justice.
Then, there was the infighting between Hunter and, of all people, Vee.
The moment Vee laid eyes on Hunter, it was on sight with the insults. The remarks. The arguments. It was annoying, and Vee was being incredibly spiteful toward Hunter. When asked, Vee said that "they had a past, and it wasn't a good one." Hunter was genuinely furious upon seeing Vee, so whatever beef they were having apparently went deep.
It reached a boiling point last night when Vee spit boiling hot water on Hunter "on accident" and, in response, Hunter knocked Vee out with a square punch to the face, denting the wall and breaking Vee's nose and lower jaw.
Needless to say, Hunter was put on probation. Luz was tempted to fire Vee for what they had done, but her mother talked her out of it and instead, Vee was not allowed to be on the same floor as Hunter until they sorted out their problems. What those problems were, neither of them would say.
Which brought Luz to where she was now, standing on the gym floor, beating on a punching bag in workout clothes. It was remarkable the amount of progress she had made in such little time. Due to what her meal schedule was, and due to the constant working out she did, her body was gaining weight, but that weight wasn't fat. It was muscle.
When she started training to become a hero, she clocked in at around 96 to 97 lbs, combined with her height of 5'2, she was around average weight and while small, had a decent frame. By the end of the last three months, she had gone from that to 110 lbs of pure muscle, and she had even gained an extra inch!
Her upper body and waist had seen the most change. While her noodle arms were long gone, they had still been slightly flabby. Not anymore, though. They were sturdy like rocks, and if she flexed, it looked like she had tiny little hills! While her stomach region wasn't that defined, it was better then what it was before.
She wouldn't lie, she was a little insecure about how her body looked. For a while, it didn't feel right. To have muscle. She always pictured it as a guy thing. But her personal trainer had told her it was normal to feel that way at first, but that as she continued to work out, that feeling would go away.
It still hadn't gone away yet. But she was getting used to looking at herself in her mirror and seeing her arms look larger than what she was accustomed to.
Though, speaking of appearances. That was also changing too.
Puberty sucked. It often got in the way of things. She had changed, especially within her own body. She wouldn't go into details, but things just hadn't felt the same. Then again, that was what growing up was about. Change.
So much change, and such little time to take it all in. Even if her lifespan had been extended, that didn't stop her body from aging internally. At least, up to a certain point for a while. Probably once her body finished developing would be when most progress stopped—which, if she remembered correctly, was around 25 years old.
But… this was only going to be a small, very minor part of her life. If she had as long as she thought herself to have, then this brief moment of change would be extremely inconsequential to her.
And yet, it still sucked.
"So, Luz. Have you checked your emails yet? Governor Rodgers said he was going to message you there about your next event," the voice of her mother cut through her thoughts as she jolted from the surprise. Turning around, she faced her with a semi-confused expression. She had an event?
"Oh, right. The converging of every Super Hero Team. It was supposed to be scheduled for sometime next week, but he wanted to go over some things with me before it happened," Luz thought, frowning. "Oh, yeah, I remember now. Why?"
"Well, I just thought I'd remind you. That's all," Camila answered, a small smile on her face. That smile quickly shifted into a slight frown, though, as she continued. "And… I also wanted to make sure you were doing okay. I know you tend to come down here to vent frustration. You know that if anything's bugging you, you can come talk to me about it."
Luz felt the corner of her lip twitch with annoyance. Why now? Of all times? Why try and be better? She never understood the sudden shift in her mother's attitude and demeanour. Why was she trying to "make things better" as she had put it after the first few days of being out of the hospital?
Did she not know how demeaning it felt? Did she not know how stupid she looked? Sure, she was trying, but trying wasn't good enough. She shouldn't need to try because she should've never been that way to begin with.
She should've been there for her.
Period.
"I…" Luz paused, narrowing her eyes in thought. What was she going to say? What did she say to that? Her mother looked at her, concern in her eyes. Luz looked away—no. She didn't need her pity. She didn't want her pity. "I'm fine. Thanks."
Camila nodded, before silently turning away. As she left, Luz just stood there, frowning as she did. She felt All For One bristle within, red sparks jumping from her palm. She was getting worked up for no reason. Calming herself, the sparks stopped, and she turned back around to face the gym equipment. A part of her wanted to keep beating on the punching bags, but she decided against it.
She'd save that energy for any villain she happened upon.
Deciding to call it a day, she walked to the changing rooms to get into something more comfortable. When she came back out, having a shower to rid of the sweat build-up, she was dressed in a much more relaxed, loose-fitting pair of black pants with an elastic waist and a baggy blue t-shirt.
Her hair was messy and all over the place, with some white hairs popping up around her roots. She didn't know where they were coming from. If anything, it was probably all the mounting stress she had been feeling recently.
Taking the elevator up to the living area, when she stepped out, she was greeted by Emelia and Riley playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with Riley playing Joker and Emelia playing Pirahna Plant. Riley was losing, which was to be expected. Joker wasn't nearly as good as Pirahna Plant. Luz silently watched as Riley kept cursing under her breath every time Emelia would get a combo off on her.
After a few minutes, Emelia won—predictably—and Riley was about to toss her controller when Luz said "You break it you buy it" completely freaking Riley out as she leapt up from the couch, startled by her face losing a lot of its girl.
"Motherfucker! You scared the shit outta me, Luz!" Riley said, putting a hand to her chest to calm her beating heart as Luz smirked, standing up straight before shrugging.
"Eh, it's a talent of mine," Luz replied nonchalantly, looking over to Emelia. "Yo, I'm gonna be in mine and Julia's room. If you two or Hunter need me, I'm just gonna be in there to check my emails. Knock just in case, though. You know Julia hates getting spooked by people just barging in."
"Gotcha, boss," Emelia said as Luz walked off. The pair waited for Luz to be gone, and when she did, Riley raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Really? You're gonna buy that?"
"They're kids, Riley," Emelia said, frowning, as Riley scoffed.
"So was I. That didn't stop shit. Not unless it was outright stated," Riley replied, waving the comment off as Emelia huffed.
"What would make you even think that in the first place?" Emelia asked, crossing her arms and putting all of her weight on the right side of her body as Riley shrugged.
"Well, let's see here: Blonde, Lesbian, eccentric, energetic, constantly demands cuddles, and their room—specifically—has soundproof walls to stop noises from coming out, unless it's the walls being knocked on. So, ergo, unless they get into really deep arguments about physics, and that crashing around isn't them just wrestling when they bump into walls and all that, then what else am I supposed to think it is?" Riley answered as Emelia sighed.
"Luz hates being touched—"
"By strangers. Last I checked, Wittebane, Delmissio, whatever the hell her last name is, ain't a stranger to Luz. Matter of fact, last I checked, they were dating and have been for months. Again, unless they're having the world's best pillow fight, then…?" Riley said, leaving the sentence open-ended as Emelia groaned.
"You Americans. Always so perverted…"
"OI! Piss off, we are not! Last I checked your country's age of consent was like, what 14? 15?" Riley retorted as Emelia sighed.
"Yeah, with people of the same age. I would hope it's the same in America. But given what I've read, it isn't. Which is sad. Gross. Perverted." With that, Emelia walked away and entered the elevator. She turned to face Riley and smirked. "Anyway, wanna go to the local pub and get drunk?"
"You sure that's a good idea?" Riley asked as Emelia shrugged.
"We've got Camila, remember? Her Quirk works with healing people. Technically, Alcohol is poison, so Repair should work on us if need be. So…?" Emelia said, gesturing toward the elevator as Riley smiled.
"Fuck yeah!" And with that, she entered the elevator, the doors closing behind them as the elevator descended.
Meanwhile, back in Luz's and Julia's room, Luz punched a wall out of frustration, whilst a string zipped back in from under the doorway. These were for two very different reasons. Luz, for what she had just read in her emails, and Julia because she was curious as to what kind of conversations were going on in the living room. It was why her face was redder than red velvet cake at the moment.
"GODDAMNIT!" Luz shouted, frustration in her voice as she glared at the wall, red sparks jumping all over the place. Fury painted her features as her eyes roared with anger. After reading what she had just read…
It was obvious.
It was so. Fucking. Obvious.
How did she not know? She should've. She should've known. But, of course, she had let the good side of her determine what the truth was. It was a problem, really. Especially when it came to giving certain people the benefit of the doubt.
She was sent an email, alright. But it wasn't the one that she had been expecting. She was expecting one from Governor Rodgers. Instead, she was given one by an anonymous user, who claimed to be the leader of The Order.
She didn't believe it, at first. But then, she was given a list of exact quadrants of places she had been during her hunt for The Order—none of which were public. So, ergo, it had to be them. It was two parts annoying because not only was the email triple encrypted, meaning it would take far too long for Emelia to figure out where the IP was coming from, but it was also from, assumedly, a burner device.
The email read as follows:
Dear Luzura, or should I say Luz Noceda? Frankly, to me, it doesn't matter. Either name works, does it not? I know you must be confused: Who am I? Why have I reached out to you? What do I want? How did I get your email address?
All of that hardly matters. Simply put, I am the leader of The Order. You may know me as Osmosis. I am contacting you because I would like to applaud your efforts in trying to track us down. Truly, you really are a dedicated hero; something I would've never thought myself saying at all.
As a reward for your efforts in trying to track down my organization, I would like to give you a list of names. A list of names of people who I am willing to give up, should it mean that you leave us well alone. After all, I think you deserve something for your efforts.
I am not a cruel man, in reality. I loathe this whole "Neo-Nazi" thing. I only sit at the top with the reigns in my hands due to trickery and bribery. But that is beside the point, and I'm sure you hardly care. Given your brutal execution of one of my employees I bore witness to on live TV, I'm fairly certain a similar fate is what's going to happen to me and my kinsmen when you find me.
Anyhow, here is the list of names:
Derreck Winchester – Location: Eastern Waterbury, Mutation: Multi-Arms
Christopher Lawernce – Location: Eastern Waterbury, Mutation: Sludge Body
Jerry Kopke – Location: Waterbury, Western Mutation: Disintegration
Jacob Hopkins – Location: Gravesfield, Mutation: None
Martin Johnson – Location: Gravesfield, Mutation: None
I will contact you once all of these people are deceased and or have been imprisoned. I will watch the news with great fervour. I apologize for taking up any time in your day. If it means anything to you, you are doing me a great service by ridding the world of these people. While I do not personally believe in the ideals or ambition of A Fourth Reich, these people do. We can align ourselves in the belief of their death and their wretched ambition.
Good Day to you, Luzura
Sincerely: Osmosis.
When she read that, she felt personally insulted. It was a massive insult and a taunt to bait her into something. She didn't know what, but it was clearly something. Though, at least she had names and locations; general locations, but locations nonetheless.
But it was those last two that made her blood boil. Jacob Hopkins was the town library and local conspiracy nut. He was a little on the strange side, and… he was very anti-LGBTQ, and… well, now that she thought about it, yeah, it made sense that he was a member of The Order. But that still didn't mean she wasn't disappointed in that.
Then, there was Martin. He should've been obvious. He was a pig, a racist, and partially sexist. Also a white supremacist. So, it made sense for him to be one of those awful, pieces of dogshit. She always thought he was a nazi. Now, he really was one.
In the last two weeks, she had gained a couple of new powers due to hunting down those villains. She hadn't had a chance to try them out, and what better way to try them out than in the home of two of the most evil people she could think of at the moment?
"Uh… Luz?" Julia's voice cut through her thoughts like a knife through butter, drawing her attention immediately. A confused expression made up her face when she saw Julia's, which was bright red and flustered.
"Yeah…? What's wrong? You got a cold or something?" Luz asked, tilting her head to the left slightly.
"You really gotta stop, um… smashing yourself or other things against the wall when you're angry at something… or when you get too excited watching a TV show… like… sooner rather than later," Julia muttered, looking down at the floor as, once again, Luz was confused.
"I said I was sorry about breaking that vase you bought…" Luz replied, walking up to Julia and patting her on the shoulder.
"No… it's not that. I just, um… used by strings to overhear a conversation between Emelia and your cousin, and, um…"
"What? Were they upset about that? I mean, I can apologize later when they get back from whatever they were planning to do," Luz said as Julia chuckled nervously.
"No… that's not it. They, um… they thought that we were… uh…." Now her face was really red, and honestly, Luz didn't know why. The gears in the back of her head weren't working, and it showed how confused she looked.
"There is no possible way that you cannot put the pieces together…" Shigaraki grumbled in the back of her mind, further confusing Luz.
"I, uh… don't get it," Luz answered Julia looked up at her, her face no longer beat red, staring at her dumbfounded.
"You… you can't be serious."
"I'm quite serious," Luz said, crossing her arms. "I have absolutely zero idea what you're talking about," she continued, prompting Julia to blink multiple times in a row before shaking her head, dumbfounded.
"There is no way you are that dense. C'mon, Luz, think about it! Use that smart brain of yours! What do adults typically think about young people and their being together? Ya know, movie stereotypes?" Julia said as Luz furrowed her eyebrows together in thought.
"They get into trouble…?"
"Oh. My. God. You really are that dense…" Shigaraki remarked, almost in total disbelief. Luz frowned, sighing. What was she missing here? She honestly didn't know, and frankly, she had more important things to be thinking about right now than this.
"Look, can you just tell me? I'm a little preoccupied and I can't waste time right now. I have to fly out to Gravesfield—actually, it would be helpful if you go to eastern Waterbury and deal with a couple of villains I just got a report about. Tell Hunter about the one in western Waterbury, too. I've got a couple of people I gotta deal with in Gravesfield. The same email, by the way," Luz rattled off as Julia blinked, clearing her throat.
"Look, it's not important then, I'll handle the villains in the east, and I'll contact Hunter so he can go to the west. I'm pretty sure he's actually already there picking up groceries for dinner tonight. Who does he have to look out for?" Julia asked as Luz shrugged.
"Dunno. Just got a name, Jerry Kopke. He's got some kind of disintegration power? So maybe look for someone with gloves on his hands. Sounds like a hand power, ya know?" Just as Luz said that Shigaraki spoke up.
"Wait a minute. Disintegration power? Luz. You should go get that. Immediately. Dump a Quirk if you have to. That power—if it is what I think it is—is immensely powerful and should not go to waste."
"Or, I can get Hunter to capture him alive and bring him here. Shouldn't be too hard, right?"
"Yes, that would do."
"Oh, and inform Hunter to capture not kill, and to bring him here, too. I want him alive," Luz said as Julia raised an eyebrow.
"So you can have it?"
"So I can have it, yes," Luz said, smirking, kissing Julia on the forehead before ruffling her hair and moving past her. "You know me so me so well, Jules. See ya in a bit. I'll come to help with the villains in Waterbury when I'm done with the guys in Gravesfield. Shouldn't take too long!" Luz said, walking out of their shared bedroom and leaving Julia all by her lonesome.
Julia, for her part, was a little annoyed. Lately, Luz had been far too busy to spend even a modicum amount of time with her. Though, given that she was the current top-ranked hero in America, she supposed that made sense. At least she's never had to go to the west side of the US. Even with the flight portion of her Pyrokensis, it would still take three hours to get there if she was moving at top speed, which was roughly the speed of sound.
She was faster on foot, but she chose to fly to avoid the hassle of accidentally running through people—literally. While it hasn't happened, she didn't want to risk it. So, flying was the option she went with. Unless, of course, it was in combat. In which case, she ran.
Sighing, Julia walked over to the bedside table next to her and Luz's bed, before picking up her phone and dialling Hunter's contact. It took a moment for him to answer, but after a moment, he did.
"Hunter speaking. Who is it?"
"Hello, Hunter. You're in Western Waterbury, yes?"
"O-Oh! Ms. Delmisso, my apologies I, uh—"
"Drop the formalities, Hunter. You might be working with my father, but that doesn't mean you have to tip-toe around on glass when speaking with me. I'm not connected to him anymore, and for your sake, you had better report to me about what he's doing this week. Or else."
"R-Right! Yes. I am in Western Waterbury."
"Good! There is a villain there that I need you to capture for Luz. A man by the name of Jerry Kopke. Keep an eye out for someone with gloved hands. He has a power that Luz wants and is a part of The Order."
"Understood."
With that, Hunter hung up on his end, as Julia smirked. That boy was whipped to hell and back, and she loved it. He was more scared of her than he was of anyone else—even Luz. Because while Luz was the strongest, Julia, in a sense, was much more like Tyler. And by that, she meant that she was rather… rude when it came time to be.
Hunter hated being talked down to, and the best part? He never spoke up for himself. So, she used that to her advantage. Apparently, Tyler had sent both him and Riley to kill Luz and "get rid of" Beacon.
"Heh. Fat chance. You can try all you want, Tyler. But even if you do kill me and the others, that just means you'll have a very, very pissed-off Luz to deal with," Julia thought, putting her arms behind her back. "And that will be a shitshow."
Julia had long since known that she was going to die, and it was going to be sooner rather than later. She already should've been dead. God always came to collect his dues. It didn't matter if you cheated death, because death couldn't be cheated. Not like that, anyway. Once you did, it came for you faster than it normally otherwise would have.
Considering that she was still alive, and considering that she was supposed to die almost four months ago? Chances were she had maybe three weeks left to live.
She hated thinking like that. She hated knowing that, at some point, she was going to die for real this time. She knew her life was up. She constantly had night terrors about it. It was why she constantly clung to Luz every moment she had. She knew she was going to die.
She didn't want to die.
She really didn't want to die.
But she had to. God was angry, and he needed to fix the error he had made. God was a wrathful deity, and those who cheated him usually got the worst of punishments before being let into the light of heaven down in the mortal plain.
Julia shuttered, clasping both arms together against her body as she walked over to the balcony, and looked out over the city. Out there. Somewhere. She was going to die. It might have even been today that she was going to die.
She would just have to find out.
But first, she needed to suit up in her Hero Costume.
[XXXX]
Martin Johnson sat at his dining room table within his humble abode just a few blocks away from the police station. It was a quaint little place. A black slopped roof, no basement, and a single floor with a kitchen, living room, and dining room. There was a bedroom and a bathroom off in a hallway just to the left of the house entrance. There was a wide, open living room with a couch, a coffee table, and a flat-screen TV with a cable box attached to it.
There was a separate dining room which was just behind the living room, and the kitchen was just behind that. There were standard kitchen appliances in there—cabinets, a dishwasher, a sink, a stove with an oven, and a microwave. Aside from that, there wasn't much else to talk about regarding his house.
"Thank you, for having me over, Martin," Jacob Hopkins said, stroking his goatee as he walked in through the door. Jacob, his associate, was also a close friend. They had known each other since high school and had stayed in close contact since then. They both joined The Order ten years ago which was right around the time it had formed.
Jacob was a tall man, standing around five foot seven, he had slicked-back brown hair and wore a pair of black framed square glasses with piercing blue eyes. He was dressed in a dark brown duster with a mud-coloured button-up waistcoat underneath, and a light green shirt underneath that. It was accompanied by a pair of dark blue jeans and a pair of black hightop shoes.
"No problem, Jack. You want something or ya good for now?" Martin asked, fixing the collar on his black dress shirt as Jacob dismissed the question with a wave of his hand.
"Nah, I had some McDonalds before coming here. I didn't want to trouble you any further," Jacob said as Martin shrugged.
"Aight. Well, there's a football game coming up soon. You wanna stay to watch?"
"Who is it?"
"Dunno yet. Haven't checked," Martin replied as Jacob shrugged.
"Well, I don't work tomorrow, so sure, why not? Heard anything from Osmosis? When's the next rally?" Jacob asked as Martin shook his head.
"Again. Dunno. Why?" Martin questioned, turning to fully face Jacob, who looked a little skittish. He was never usually this worried. Did something happen?
"I just… I don't know, Martin. I feel like I've been being followed since 7:30 tonight. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but… ya never know. Especially with those super freaks wandering around…" Jacob said as Martin nodded.
Ever since those freaky superpowers started cropping up, crime rates have skyrocketed. Thankfully, outside of a few robberies and assaults, nothing much had happened in Gravesfield. It was a small town, so not much occurred crime-wise. But in the cities, it was a mess. Constant robberies, constant homicides, and all those pesky heroes did was make things worse.
A prime example was Luzura.
Any time she got into a major fight with one of those superpowered nutcases, property damage would skyrocket! The government footed the bill, of course—God forbid those freaks have any consequences—and nine times out of time she killed whoever she fought. She never held back, and if she did then she was doing a shit job of it.
He was working on an investigation into her to see if he could dig up some past crimes to air on live TV. Knock her reputation down a couple of points. Maybe even get her out of a job. It was the least he could do for her killing Cody.
Just as Jacob was sitting down at the table, there was a knocking sound at the front door. Both Martin and Jacob stared at one another, confusion painting their faces. "Uh… did you invite someone else over?" Jacob asked, raising an eyebrow as Martin frowned.
"No. I didn't. Who—"
Before he could finish that sentence, there was a bright, orange light standing just in front of the living room window, which peered into the dining room. Martin's eyes widened, but before he could react, two beams of orange energy blasted through the window, shattering it and burning the red drapes, all of which caught on fire and rapidly spread.
Jacob had two holes blasted through his forehead, and a second afterward, Martin was bisected from the waist down. He didn't die right away, screaming in pain as he stared at his own guts falling out of the top half of his body, his legs crumpling to the floor. Not even a second later, he was split lengthwise by the same lasers, which finally did him in.
Luz stood outside of the house, wiping away blood from the corners of her eyes as her regeneration kicked in to repair the damage to her retinas. That was what those two dealt with. She dusted her hands, before walking away as the house slowly caught aflame. Several of the neighbours around the Johnson household came out just as Luz was walking away, and one of them called out to her.
"There's a fire! Aren't you going to put it out?!"
Luz turned to face the old woman who called out to her, a small smirk taking up her visage. It caused the old woman to startle because that smirk… it looked downright devilish as if it belonged on the face of a deranged individual moreso than a hero. The glowing red eyes didn't help things, either.
"Why would I put out something I started? 'Sides, I don't have the power to get rid of it. Call the fire department."
Without another moment to spare, Luz generated her flame wings and flew off without a care in the world.
Two less Nazis in the world was a better world.
Not long after she left, the firefighters showed up and put out the fire in less than a few minutes, and by then the whole house had gone up in flames. Any corpses that were inside the house were burned to an unrecognizable degree.
Jacob Hopkins of the Gravesfield Historical Society and Sheriff Martin Johnson, both secret members of the Neo-Nazi Organization The Order, were dead, and no one, aside from their families and coworkers, gave a damn.
Within the headquarters of The Order, Osmosis was smiling ear to ear.
When the news aired, Camila caught wind of what happened and was mortified. Both because two people, seemingly innocent albeit deplorable people, were dead and it was at the hands of Luz.
Meanwhile, at the same time while that was happening, battles within Eastern and Western Waterbury would send ripples throughout Connecticut, both with differing results.
One ending in victory, and the other in utter defeat.
[-To Be Continued-]
[Ending Song: Where Our Blue Is/ 青のすみか – By: Tatsuya Kitani]
*The ending opens with the sound of a gong ringing out, followed by the riff of a guitar, playing a calming melody. A series of flashing images of Luz and Julia hanging out, smiling, and enjoying each other's company appears, before it cuts to Luz walking down the streets of Stamford, dressed in a black hoodie and grey sweats, a solemn look on her face.*
*The scene continues with Luz looking up at the sky as the drums kick in, Luz's eyes flashing red, before changing back to normal. She looks across the street, and see's Julia, smiling and waving at her. Luz goes to wave back, but a bus drives through the street, and when it passes, Julia is no longer there. Luz looks away, continuing down the road, this time with a more hurried pace, all the while a disembodied voice sings.*
"No end to the blue, when everywhere I look I see its hue."
"Can't turn from the truth,"
"When I've seen it as clearly as the day I'll have to wake up without you."
*The scene glitches to Luz and Julia sitting in their bedroom, watching TV, with Luz looking downtrodden, and Julia talking happily. Although, it's as if Luz can't hear her, and is seemingly ignoring her presence. That's when Julia seems to fade away, which prompts Luz to get out of her room, stepping into the main living space, where Camila, Emelia, Riley, and Hunter are all standing, looking at her, concerned, as the disembodied voice continues.*
"It rings all around,"
"The song of the cicadas crying out,"
"Makes it so loud, the depending sound,
"Of silence from your mouth."
*The scene changes to Luz, dressed in her hero costume, standing in a void of darkness. Behind her, flashing memories of her, Julia, Emelia, Camila, Riley, and Hunter–all fond and having fun with one another–fading into the background like dust, as Luz looks up from the floor. In front of her, Julia stands, a dark blurry line running over her eyes as she smiles, reaching out to her. For a moment, something flashes overtop of her–a beaten, bloodied, and bruised version of her reaching out for help–but it returns to normal, and makes Luz startle backwards, panic in her eyes as the song brings itself up to a crescendo, whilst the voice continues*
"No matter how hard, I try to hold…"
"Those innocent days will soon fade away and I'll have to let you go."
"Left behind an eternity ago,"
"Even so…!"
*Following along with the riff of the guitar in the background, the darkness gives way to light, as it shows more happy moments between Luz and Julia specifically. Running along the beachside, reading books together, watching movies and snuggling–all things normal couples do to pass the time. Mixed within are times where they're fighting villains with one another, aiding one another, the voice continuing to sing to sombre song*
"But even so..!"
"Blue still lives in me!"
"But even so..!"
"Blue Clear as the sea!"
"Even though a single prayer, a single word"
"Could change our fates, I know it's way too late to be heard!"
*The scene changes to Julia and Luz sitting across from one another, staring into each other's eyes, happiness between them, only for it to break apart when Julia begins to fade away. As she does, Luz frantically tries to chase after her. Just as she fully disappears, Luz tries to say something, but the words are caught in her throat, and instead, she stumbles to her hands and knees, tears burning down her cheeks as she silently cries, gripping at the carpeted floor in despair, all the while the song continues.*
"Just like a love that can never quite reach,"
"Or just like the colours that run down my cheeks, forever burning,"
"I couldn't even whisper to curse you,"
"The words in my throat that I never spoke:"
"You're my one and only, best friend"
"I wish I could have told you then…"
*The ending finishes as it slowly fades into a picture of Julia and Luz happily standing next to one another, behind them being a concert they were recently at. Just as the camera zooms in to capture their faces, the glass cracks in between them, as the voice finishes the song.*
"No matter how bright, no star can burn forever.*
"Tried to hold tight, you slipped through my fingers…"