Chapter 11: S1, Ep 11: The Hunt Begins (1)
[The Hunt Begins – Part 1]
There were only a scarce few things that Luz, quite frankly, detested. The first of those things, and the most prominent one applicable to this situation, would be being woken up. It was never for something good, and the few times it was, those were on her birthday. Even then, her Mama was drunk for most of it, and it primarily consisted of her having store bought cake and taquito's, since the last time her Mama made them, she burnt them.
Another thing that Luz detested was, if it hadn't been made obvious, were bullies. In all their forms, bullies were less than human—wastes of skin that deserved nothing but what was coming to them. Every second they breathed they were stealing oxygen from those who deserved it.
Was it extreme? Yes, yes it was.
Did she care? No, no she didn't.
The last thing that she utterly loathed, and wished never existed, was alcohol. It was quite literally poison, and yet, people still drank it. People like her Mama. Anyone who drank alcohol was pathetic in her eyes. Trying to drown out their problems with a substance that would only turn them into the worst version of themselves.
Frankly, if she could wipe out all alcohol, she would. It would probably save a lot of money and lives, too. Would do the world a massive favor. Prevent people like Mama from ruining already strained relationships….
Regardless of that, someone was shaking her awake, and she could tell there was urgency behind it. How? Well, usually when someone tried to wake her up, it was usually whispering her name or asking her to wake up. Being shaken awake usually meant that it was urgent. Still, that didn't mean she had to like it.
Her eyes slowly peeled open, with the first thing she was met with sight-wise was Stanley, who knelt in front of her, hands on her shoulders as he shook her in such a way that wouldn't cause her to hit her head against the tree, but enough to where it would wake her up.
Behind him was the care package. It was closed, and it was a big large black box of sorts with the American flag plastered on the top lid. Two clips kept it shut, and strangely there was no lock on it. Though, she guessed it made sense, considering it was a care package. They had finally come across last night when they stumbled through the woods after not being able to rest, and considering what had happened, she wasn't that shocked.
Killing Amber in cold blood like that… after she had given it some thought, she didn't feel as great as she thought she would. When she did it, it made her feel hollow. But now, after a day had passed, she felt bad about it—which was odd, because why would she feel bad for killing her abuser.
"The human mind is a strange place, Luz. Empathy can be given even to those who don't deserve it. You are a very empathetic person, despite your flaws. It is a very admirable trait that you have." Shigaraki's voice echoed in the back of her mind. Frankly, she had mostly forgotten about him. That just went to show how much had been on her mind lately.
Looking over at the care package, Luz frowned. She thought about opening it when they found it, but Stanley advised against it. His reasoning was that it would've been a waste, and that they should only open it when they got back to their base. It made sense, but still, she needed something to eat. She was hungry, thirsty, and seriously not in a good mood.
Thinking about it, Luz came to the conclusion that it really hadn't been worth it in the end. Six people died, all for the sake of some food and water. Needless bloodshed that didn't need to happen, the loss of life that wasn't fully deserved—Amber excluded—all from people who had been pushed to their wits end.
This place—this living nightmare…. She likened it to a reflection of the state of the world. Luz didn't typically have deep or intrinsic thoughts. She didn't like troubling herself with the hymns and mantras of the world. She liked being in her neat little bubble, where it was only her, her nerdcore stuff, and her tranquil safe space.
But this camp made her think; really think. Just how much of the world was like this? How many people were dying each day. How many poor, innocent people were being forced through similar situations.
What did the others think about this? What was the world outside thinking? Did they even know what was going on? Was it being repressed—the Governor was the one who was hosting this nightmare, so in all likelihood no one knew.
But that was beside the point.
The point was that she was being woken up, and she really wanted to get some sleep. She had gone multiple days without proper rest, and frankly, she didn't appreciate being bothered.
"What is it… What do you want?" Luz grumbled, slowly sitting up as Stanley took a few steps back. He looked… panicked. Why? Any drowsiness she might have had melted away, narrowing her eyes as she came to her feet. "Stanley, what's wrong, I—"
That was when she smelt it.
Her eyes widened, and when she looked over in the distance, she saw a giant bellow of smoke rising from the direction of their base. They were being attacked, and she wasn't there to help drive away whoever was attacking them. "We have to go," Luz said curtly, looking back to Stanley, who looked hesitant. "Stanley, we have to—"
"I know, but I don't think you'll make it in time if I come with you," Stanley interrupted as Luz raised an eyebrow, confusion painting her expression.
"What are you talking about?"
"Luz, you have that fire ability, right? You can get there faster than I can run. Besides, I can stay here with the supplies. Everyone else over there needs you, yeah? And, if the worst comes to pass…" Stanley said, frowning. Luz immediately knew what he was implying. She understood what he was getting at, but that still didn't make any of this better.
She also knew that he was right. Even with just having Pyrokinesis for a short amount of time, she knew that she could run really fast with it. Faster than even a speeding train if she put enough effort into it. Luz stared at Stanley. If she wanted to, she could just drag him, even use Vines to tie him to her back and sprint off using Pyrokinesis. And if he got injured, Repair could heal him just fine.
"I can take you there, then. My Vines can—"
"No, Luz. Just leave me here. Besides, we're being watched," Stanley said as Luz looked around. There was no one where. So what was he talking about? Did he know something that she didn't?
"What are you hiding?" Luz demanded, only for him to shake his head.
"No, Luz. It'll be alright. Oh, but, one more thing, before you go…" He reached out to her hand and made sure to grip her wrist tight enough to where she couldn't force him to let go. He then placed her hand on his forehead and smirked. "Take it. I'm not going to need it."
Luz stared at him with an incredulous, confused glare. "What are you doing?"
"I'm gonna try and escape this place. And if I fail, I'd rather die," Stanley said as Luz tried to take her hand away from his forehead, but he didn't let go. He kept it there and narrowed his eyes. "Take it. I don't need it."
"You'll die!" Luz spat, panicked and upset as Stanley nodded.
"I'm aware. I don't care, though. Besides, my only family is responsible for that attack. This is something Kennedy would do, and I don't want to live in a world where my family and my friends fight to the death. Besides, I want to be with my sister again." As those words left Stanley's mouth, Luz felt the implications clearly.
Luz didn't know much about Stanley. All she knew was that he was an orphan, and had lost his family. To what, Luz didn't know.
Deep in his eyes, there was a longingness, and she could guess as to what that longingness was for. That could've also explained why he smoked. It also gave context to why a car ran into him, why he volunteered to go out into the forest, and why he wanted her to take his power.
He wanted to commit suicide.
He wanted to die.
Luz was always one to respect one's wishes. No matter how stupid they might've been, and no matter how redundant they wound up being. She was a firm believer that if someone wanted to do something, so long as it didn't hurt others, then it was okay.
But this… this was not okay.
She didn't want to lose another friend. She couldn't. If she lost another person who she was close too… Stanley, Julia, hell even Judy! She didn't want any of her comrades to die, much less be responsible for one of their death's.
Killing her enemies, alright, fine.
But indirectly leading to the death of her ally?
No.
But, then there was that look in his eye—that blooming desperation that gave way to demand. It was clear that he didn't want to live anymore. This camp… it was probably the thing that pushed him over the edge. He and Judy had gotten incredibly close, to the point of them even being extremely intimate together.
When Judy was brutally killed in front of him, that could've been the catalyst. Could've been the trigger for this. Could've been his final tipping point.
He wanted out.
Luz was his ticket to get out of this hell.
"But… I don't want to—I can't! I can't do this! Stanley, I—"
"Luz. Do you remember what I told you?" The voice of her father echoed throughout her mind, causing Luz to flinch. Another memory? Of her father? But why—
"Yeah, I did, papa!"
"And what was that?"
"Be the… uh… change you want in the world?"
"Exactly. And how do you go about making that change?"
"By being kind and selfless! Just like Azura!"
"Exactly. Just like Azura. Don't forget it, okay? If you're ever in a tough situation, just ask yourself. What would Azura do? And I promise you it will never lead you astray."
Luz felt the corners of her eyes burn. Her father was right. Back then, she didn't understand why he wanted her to remember that. Now, she understood.
Be like Azura. Do what Azura would do.
And Azura would not accept this.
"No. I'm not doing it," She said, shaking her head as she glanced at the ground. She couldn't bare herself to do it, even if she wanted to. She did it for Julia because she didn't want to kill herself, and even then, she was still iffy about doing it. Luz wasn't going to do it again.
Stanley stared up at her, a borderline scowl on his face. "Luz, just do it, please!" Stanley practically begged, to the point where he was growling. Luz was taken aback. Why was he being like this? Why didn't he want to live? What was the point in any of this?!
"You can't make me, now let go of me," Luz said, her tone firm, narrowing her eyes as Stanley slumped. But he didn't let go. What was he doing? Why was he so adamant that she do this? Why did he want to die so badly? What was his angle here? "Why do you want this so badly?"
"Because this is probably all my fault…" Stanley said as Luz raised an eyebrow. What was he going on about? How would their base burning be all his fault? He was here with her the whole time, so it wasn't like he could've run off and told anyone where anything was. Besides, she had no reason to suspect that he had betrayed her.
So, that left only one possibility.
"Are you seriously trying to tell me that because you were friends with Kennedy the base being attacked is your fault?" Luz asked as Stanley narrowed his eyes. That was when she realized that he did, really, truly, honestly think that way. He actually did think that because he was friends with Kennedy he was at fault.
But why? That made zero sense. How could his being associated with someone therefore make it his fault that something bad was happening? It was stupid—no, it was foolish to think that way. "Are you serious? Are you seriously saying that you're at fault for this because you were friends with him?" Luz said, dumbfounded as he nodded. "You're stupid. You're not at fault for anything that's happening. Now let me go! We have to leave, now!"
"I'm not going with you. I'll just slow you down, take my power and leave me here. Just do it! I'm not letting you go until you do!" Stanley demanded back, glaring at Luz, who flinched. She couldn't believe this… this moron would do that! She gritted her teeth, closing her eyes. Why? Why did everything have to go to shit!
She bit back the building tears in her eyes. "You're being an idiot! Why don't you want to live?! What about everyone else! Did their sacrifices mean nothing to you!? Arla and Judy, they died, and you lived! We both lived! If you die, you'd be spitting on their graves!"
"JUST DO IT!" Stanley roared, his grip intensifying on her wrist as Luz hissed.
"But, papa… what happens if I can't be… uh, whatever you said?"
"Then, if there's no way forward, do what you believe is right. Do what you think will help the most. Even if it doesn't seem like it would help."
"Okay, papa!"
"Fine!" And without saying another word, she activated All For One, and as the red sparks began to travel up her arm, past her hand, and onto his body, and as he screamed in pain, and as she felt the power transfer to her, she couldn't help but get angry. Angry at his selfishness for all but forcing her to take his power.
She didn't want this.
She didn't ask for this.
And yet, here she was.
When it was all said and done, only when the transfer was complete did Stanley let go of her hand. Only then was Luz able to stumble back and stare at the now slumped-over Stanley, who had fallen to his knees, his head low and his chest slowly moving up and down, signifying that he was breathing. That was the only silver lining in this whole scenario. Him still alive, and her not accidentally killing him.
"You idiot…" Luz said, her voice hollow, devoid of emotion. The only thing that lingered in her voice was shame directed toward Stanley, who cracked a grin.
"No… I'm not stupid. I'm ensuring your survival. Besides, I don't need it anymore. I'm a dead man walking…" Stanley said, slowly standing up as he pulled out his pack of cigarettes. She couldn't believe he still had it on him. Once he pulled it out, he opened it, and put the last cigarette in his mouth, before grabbing the lighter in his pocket.
He flicked the piece of plastic once, but nothing came. He hit it again, but there was still nothing. He glanced at Luz, and she knew exactly what he wanted. She chewed on the interior of her lower lip, before sighing. Walking up to him, she ignited the tip of her finger, and pressed it to his cigarette, making sure it caught on fire. Once it was lit, and once she had pulled her finger away, he took a long drag from it.
After he was done, he took the cigarette out, before tapping the ash to the ground. "Thanks, Luz. If I don't find my way out of this place, then it was nice getting to meet and know you."
Luz didn't say anything in response, but Stanley knew from the look in her eyes that she felt the same way. She turned to the chest, and looked it over for a moment, before turning away. She would be fine with what she was wearing right now. There was no need to change. She could change once she got back—because she was going to be back. She wouldn't leave him alone. She refused to.
She wasn't going to let this idiot die.
Once she helped everyone back at the base, she would come back for him.
And so, after getting into a crouching stance, Luz activated Pyrokinesis as flames began to build on the edge of her feet. They rose and rose till they reached up to behind her knees, and then, she kicked off and burst forward, leaving a small burn mark in the ground as wind and dirt kicked up where she launched off.
Stanley stood, watching her form shrink and shrink. He looked back at the chest, walked over to it, and opened it. There was a reason why he had gotten her to take his power. For what was inside the chest was not what he had expected.
It wasn't food, clothing, or anything of the sort. He had already opened the thing when Luz was asleep last night. He had already discovered the truth of the care package.
It wasn't a care package.
Maxwell never planned for any of them to live past this week. Because what was inside the care package was nothing tangible. It was a timer, and it was counting down to the very second. It was a bomb, and only thirty seconds were remained before it detonated. Stanley stood in front of it and smiled. He took one last drag of his cigarette, as the timer continued to tick down.
He sighed.
Stanley Richardson lived a good life, or so he believed. Growing up in what most would label as "The Hood", he had seen horrible crime after horrible crime. He grew up in an underfunded area, and was witness to some of the worst shit humanly imaginable.
He saw hookers, he saw gangs, he saw drugs—so much drugs. His mother was a crack addict and his father was a member of the Crips. To cut a very long story short, his childhood growing up wasn't the best, but at least his parents loved him, and did everything that they could to support him with what little they had.
However, that had all changed on fateful Thursday evening. When Stanley was twelve years old, a tragic event would occur. His father had fucked up, and had killed a member of a rival gang, and they were out for blood.
That night, Stanley was forced to watch as his 38 year old mother and eight year old little sister were brutally assaulted, raped, and finally killed in front of him. They had already killed his father, but decided to kill the rest of his family, too.
The only reason why Stanley lived that day was because on of his father's friends had overheard the commotion, and shot the rival gang members dead. Not wanting Stanley to be apart of that life, said friend drove him out of the neighbourhood and took him to an orphanage, telling him to never come back, and to never get involved.
From that point forward, Stanley had lived a life of lament and sorrow. He got addicted to smoking cigarettes at thirteen, tried multiple times to take his life but chickened out before he could fully go through with it. Things got marginally better when he met Kennedy, but now that was starting to show that it had been a mistake.
And now, he was here.
Standing in front of a literal ticking time bomb.
A part of Stanley was scared. Deep in the recesses of his mind, he didn't want to die—didn't want to give up. But this camp, this place… it had pushed him to his breaking point. Besides, it wasn't as if he had anything to go back to, especially now.
Kennedy had betrayed him.
Judy was dead….
A mirthless chuckle escaped his lips as he looked up toward the sky. "Don't worry, Jessica. Your brother's coming home…" Stanley said as he closed his eyes.
[Five Seconds Remaining]
Stanley Richardson was a good man.
[Four Seconds Remaining]
He might not've achieved a fruitful life like his parents wanted….
[Three Seconds Remaining]
He might not've believed he deserved to have lived as long as he had…
[Two Seconds Remaining]
But, if there was one thing that he was glad he got to do….
[One Second Remaining]
At least he got to die knowing that he wasn't a virgin anymore.
[Zero Seconds Remaining: Initiating Detonation]
A massive, powerful explosion tore through forest, uplifted the ground, obliterating trees, and sending natural debris flying in every direction. As Luz sped through the forest, she heard the resounding bang of the bomb going off in the far distance, and it forced her to stop dead in her tracks, turning around to face the direction that she had just come from.
"No…" Luz thought, her shoulders slumping as she stared with her jaw a gape. The shockwave of the bomb hit her like an oncoming truck, but the force didn't make her budge even in the slightest, all thanks to her new power. "Stanley…" She closed her eyes, blocking the tears from building up.
She had to focus.
She couldn't get caught up in her feelings now.
The longer she stood here, the worse things were going to get.
"Damnit!" And without another thought, Luz bolted back toward the base. She could smell the smoke getting closer and closer, her heart pounding against her chest getting louder and louder.
Only a few questions were bouncing around in her mind right about now, all of which related to whether anyone who remained in the base was okay. Her mind flashed to Julia, and the smile she had on her face when they departed yesterday. The promise she had made to her, and that kiss on the cheek. Even if it was brief, it signified something more than just a simple smile and wave goodbye.
With a determined gleam in her eyes, she put everything she had into the next burst of flame, causing a sonic boom to erupt from the bottoms of her feet, sending her flying in the direction of her base. Her eyes narrowed the closer she got to the base, to the point where she could see it in the distance, and once she got within a kilometer of the base, she slowed down drastically to avoid slamming into the wall.
When she came to a full stop, she just was a few feet away from the entrance. The door was gone, destroyed, and she could see just a small amount within the base. And when she entered the base through the destroyed entrance, her mind ground to a halt.
Luz's eyes widened. Her breath caught in her throat.
"No…"
The world was cruel. That was a fact that Luz was forced to understand the moment she came to this awful camp.
"No, please no…."
In the back of her mind, she knew this would happen eventually. She knew that something bad was going to happen—it was only a matter of time.
"No…" Luz whimpered, taking slow, methodical steps into The Alpha Squadron base.
Blood….
There was so… much… blood.
It decorated parts of the ground like a fine carpet, one of the cabin's had giant splatter of blood against the walls, while most of it was haphazardly thrown around as if it meant nothing.
She looked to her right and saw Johnny, lying on the floor with a giant hole blasted through his torso as a look of shock and horror marred his face.
In the distance, she could see Carla's panther form without a head, blood oozing from the stump that used to be her neck.
Ronny's body was in tiny little chunks. The chunks were so small that she knew the culprit behind it was the person who had that string power. There was no other person who could've possibly done that.
Theodore had several puncture wounds going through his neck, chest, and forehead. She couldn't find Giovanni's body anywhere, but maybe that was for the better.
Jean's head looked like it had been crushed, but not destroyed. Coincidently, it was where the massive blood stain had been, so that had probably been its source….
And then, off in the distance, tucked away by the main cabin, was the headless body of Julia. And that… that was something that finally caused something in her snap. All mental facilities ground to a hideous halt.
"Be safe."
It was ironic, really… That Julia's last words had been to tell her to stay safe, when it was Julia that needed to consider that more.
A small, barely audible giggle slipped out from her lips. As the seconds drew on, that laugh grew louder, and louder, as she clutched the scruff of her shirt as if it were a life line. Her knees buckled as she fell down to her knees, hunched over slightly as her laughter grew and grew, before it slowly transformed into sobs, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Luz Noceda had always been given the shitty end of the stick. Her father died when she was young, and she got to personally view it. Her mother was a neglectful drunk who Luz was convinced hated her. She had been relentlessly bullied, abused, and even sexually assaulted at school, and when she couldn't take it anymore, she was painted as the villain.
Finally, when she makes a friend in Julia, with said friend even asking her out, she thought that maybe, just maybe life was finally starting to turn around. That maybe, she could have some semblance of normalcy in her life.
And now, here she was, sitting in her team's base, having lost both her scout team and everyone else, a crushing truth came collapsing down on her like a toppling skyscraper.
She failed them.
She failed them all.
If she had just been there, none of this would've happened. Or, maybe, the death toll would've been lessened, or something! If she had been here, then maybe she could've saved them! Maybe, just maybe if she—
"No. You wouldn't have."
Shigaraki's voice pounded against her head like a rumbling earthquake. Luz screamed in agony, as she clasped her hands around her face, her fingers digging into her forehead and scalp as she looked up to the sky, letting out a bloodcurdling scream the likes of which would be heard for miles. Black and red sparks of lightning jumped off her body as they struck the ground, singing parts of the terrain as pure, unadulterated anger rolled off of her body like a heatwave.
Something in the back of her mind snapped. A damn of pent-up aggression cracked, then exploded, allowing a tidal wave of rage to overcome her. A deep, dark realization found itself in her mind as her tears transformed once again into hysterically laughter.
It all made sense!
The suffering that she went through, the agony that she had experienced first hand, the traumatic incidents that piled and piled atop themselves, all culminating in this very moment!
A picture had been painted.
Life itself was finally telling her what it was that it wanted from.
It wanted her to be its punching bag~!
Her eyes, bloodshot and wide, her laughter psychotic, her mind broken, her emotions unchecked, Luz had lost it. Lost it worse than when she had attempted to murder Amber. Even after breaking when she attempted to kill Amber all those months ago, she had no idea that she could break further!
It was fascinating, really, how resilient she had truly been.
But a punching bag could only be punched so many times before it wore out and snapped. A person could only handle so much before they launched themselves off the deep end.
Luz, after what felt like forever, stopped laughing, having gone dead silent, eerily so. But just because she had stopped laughing, that didn't mean that Shigaraki had.
Because, to him….
He had won.
"Yes, Luz! Show them the real you. The one that you had buried for so long! You allowed them to control you for years, allowed them to tell you what you cannot be, or who you want to be! Let that anger boil to the top and flow over! Let it be one with you, let it become you. Unleash it! Unleash your true self upon those that took, and took, and took from you! You are above them all, and will forever be!
They toyed with you, made you their plaything, and when they were done playing with you they discarded you and threw you into this camp and left you to rot! This is all their fault! It was their hubris and their desire that brought you here. Their desire to control the uncontrollable!
Let the anger you've let sit for years rise. Here, in this domain, you are free to do whatever you please! Do unto them what they did to you! Show them how they messed up! Show them what happens when you toy with God! Luz Noceda, do what you know you have to, and KILL THEM ALL!"
For a moment, for just a brief moment, the rational side of her tried to play reason. Tried to play devil's advocate; but the more ferocious, angry, vengeful side of her—the one that wanted repentance—ignored that side and pushed it away into a corner that it could not be heard from. Slowly, she stood up, her bangs covering her eyes, and allowing for a shadow to cover them.
A small, malice-filled grin made itself appear on her face. It looked… inhuman, devilish, and filled with nothing but contempt. She walked over to the nearest intact body, that being Ronny's body. She stood in front of it, stopped, then lowered her hand down to touch his head, before activating All For One. Red and black sparks jumped off of her body and onto what remained of Ronny.
And then… power.
Pure, unmitigated power surged through her, just like the last time when she stole Julia's, Cody's, Arla's and Stanley's powers, she felt the transfer to herself, and it made her feel excellent. But she wasn't satisfied with just this—oh no, she had a mission in mind, so she needed more than just this.
Luz looked over at Carla's body, and frowned. There was no string, meaning that her power had been destroyed by whatever had blown off her head.
She looked at Theodore's body, saw the string, walked over to his corpse, and took his power. She did the same to Jean, and once that was done, every power that she could collect here was taken. There was also a random head, and it gave her a strange, gross power to shoot her blood like a beam. She called it Projectile Blood and left it at that. It was upsetting that she gained so little, but it was better than nothing, she supposed.
Vines, Pyrokinesis, Repair, Kinetic Absorption, Strength Enhancer, Blade Arms, Sword and Projectile Blood. She had seven powers nestled within her, and just by looking at her arms, slight muscles forming when she clenched her fists, showed her that at least Strength Enhancer was passively working as it should. She assumed the same as Kinetic Absorption. The others she had to "pull" the "strings" for them to work, put regardless, she could feel them within her.
She could tell each power apart, too and she knew how they activated. A part of her wondered what would happen if she combined some of the powers, but right now, that didn't matter. What mattered was getting revenge for the dead.
She was the only one left in The Alpha Squadron.
She would make them regret making her the sole survivor.
A sinister smile made its way onto her face, as a rage-filled gleam made itself known within her eyes. It carried no real emotion other than madness, wrath, and a desire for revenge. Her eyes had changed colour from golden brown to crimson red.
All she desired, as of now, was vengeance. And vengeance was exactly what she was going to get. For Julia, for Stanley, for Arla, for Judy and for everyone who died at the hands of Kennedy and those who followed him. And then, after that, once it was all said and done, and the dust was settled…
She would kill that pathetic excuse of a Governor~!
But, she wasn't going to hunt them. No. That would be a waste of her precious energy and time. Heathens like them didn't deserve to be hunted. She would wait for them. All criminals, no matter how smart they believed themselves to be, would come back to the scene of the crime.
And thus… she waited.
And waited…
And waited….
The fires from whatever caused the blaze around her began to die down once it couldn't spread to anything else. Charred walls and piles of ash surrounded her, as flies began to swarm the bodies of the deceased. She kept her head lowered, and her breathing slow to conserve whatever energy she had left in her system. Occasionally, she found herself drifting to sleep a few times but woke up at any noise that echoed throughout the base.
Unfortunately, none of them were footsteps.
There was a part of her that considered the idea that maybe they wouldn't come back here. After all, if their goal was to rid of her team, then it would only stand to reason that they had no reason to come back to their base. Especially after razing it to the ground.
But, if they were actually trying to wipe her team out, and if they couldn't find her, then they'd come back here looking for her. That was how any group of hunters worked. If they couldn't find their target, they'd come back to where they "set their trap" so to speak.
Except, she had flipped this whole endeavour on their heads. She was not the prey and they were the hunters. It was the other way around. They were the prey, and she was the hunter, luring them into a trap.
After all, the best hunters were the patient ones. The ones that halted their movements and waited for the prey to be stupid enough to backtrack to their "home."
Eventually, one day passed. She was hungry, and tired, but never really let it get to her. She was dehydrated, but even then she didn't quite care all too much about that. The only thing that was on her mind was wanting revenge. And if worse came to worse, and they didn't come back and had truly decided to move on, then she would just track them down like the rodents they were.
It wouldn't be that hard. While the forest was large, it wasn't large enough to where she couldn't clear it in a few days. And by that time, they would've more than likely been starved and weak.
In her stasis, whilst she waited for her prey to come back around, she found out that Repair could somehow make it so her stomach didn't think itself hungry. Maybe it was because of how Repair worked, but either way, it didn't matter.
Although, it was strange. Arla had said that Repair didn't work on her. Maybe she never used it on herself before and believed it was unable to work on herself. If so, that was foolish. Or, maybe she just didn't want to test it and assumed that it didn't work on herself.
Oh well, at least she was able to correct that mistake.
Another day passed, and nothing happened. Her eyes opened, and she was met with the darkness of night. She was about to call it quits and begin to walk through the forest when she saw something in the distance. Specifically, man-made DIY torches.
Standing up, she got into a balanced stance between defence and offence, and narrowed her eyes, while keeping her head low. Footsteps filled her ears, and then, a laugh. She glanced at who was in front of her, and lo-and-behold, her hypothesis was right. Standing in front of her was a Kennedy, with a white pullover, black jeans, and black runners.
Next to him, on his left and right respectively, was the boy who had the string powers, and a girl with orange hair, but unlike Amber, she had pale skin and vibrant emerald eyes. She was wearing an open-faced white leather sleeveless vest, a black shirt underneath the vest, a pair of brown slacks and red runners.
"Well, guess my hypothesis was right! We couldn't find you in the forest, so we came here, and lo and behold, here you are!" Kennedy said as Luz stared at him, eyes still narrowed, but she did not move. She wasn't going to move unless she had to.
She had to lure them in. Or, one of them.
Behind the group of three was, at her count, 16 other individuals. All of them, like she had predicted, had strings attached to them—why wouldn't they? They were all super-powered here. It made sense if they also had superpowers.
"You're rather silent. Still in shock then, I suppose? I don't blame you, after all seeing everyone care about, dead and wasted… it's gotta be horrible, right?" Kennedy continued as Luz kept her expression neutral, save for the narrowed eyes. "But, you have to understand, Luz. I did this because I am trying to protect the ones I care about. And for that to happen, The Alpha Squadron, which includes you, has to die."
As Kennedy continued, he gestured for someone to walk up to the front with himself and the two that flanked his left and right. He was tall and had a similar complexion to Ronny's diced-up corpse. He was dressed in an orange and white striped shirt, blue shorts, and black sandals.
"This, Luz, is Thomas. He was Ronny Armstrong's Cousin. He still participated in his cousin's death, because he too shared in my ideals. We are all victims here. But, we decided to do what we needed to do, over our morals. If you were in the same situation as we were put in, you'd do the same, would you not?"
Luz did not say anything. She simply stared. Kennedy's right eye twitched, sighing. "Are you going to say anything? Or are you just going to, ugh, you know what? Fuck it. Thomas, kill her already. I'm not going to waste my time on this anymore."
And so, without so much as saying a single word, Thomas walked up to Luz. As he closed the distance between himself and her, she could see the look of contemplation clear as day on his face. It was clear that he wasn't exactly too fond of this, either.
Unfortunately for him, he was on the wrong side of history.
As he got within striking distance of Luz, he stopped dead in his tracks. She watched his chest heave up and down, taking what she knew to be his last breath. Then, he reared his arm back and threw it toward her as his hand balled into a fist mid-swing. She did not intervene, she let it get thrown, and she let it connect.
The result of the impact was a loud booming shockwave that, not unlike the strike that Ronny had thrown at Stanley, caused the grass to be uplifted from the ground, but unlike Ronny's strike, the force of the shockwave was strong enough to not only crack the walls of the cabins behind Luz, it was also strong enough to rip the top half of the buildings and send them flying.
Luz, frankly, was astonished by just how much strength was thrown into that attack. But, just like what happened between Ronny and Stanley, Luz did not so much as move an inch. Kennedy and the rest of his goons couldn't help but stare in disbelief, because frankly, what they were witnessing did not make any sense. Especially to Kennedy.
"I thought she only had Cody's power. Since when did she get Stanley's? Did she kill him? There was an explosion earlier in the week on Sunday, but last I checked Cody's power was raw fire. Sure it could help him travel stupidly fast, but not cause massive explosions like that. And even then, Thomas's power was strong enough to knock down whole groupings of trees just with the air it produced! She should at least have stumbled!" Kennedy thought, narrowing his eyes.
"How the hell…?" Kennedy muttered, as, just before he was about to say something to Thomas, finally, Luz spoke up.
"Is that all you've got?" Luz asked, as, without warning, Luz coiled back her arm, and when she thrust it forward, it went right through Thomas's chest. Her small, mostly twig-like arm, rammed through the bulky body of Thomas Oakson with ease, pulling out his heart, and throwing it to the ground like disposable trash. And then, immediately afterward, she grabbed Thomas's collapsing form, as red and black sparks jumped off from her body onto his.
Kennedy never wanted to see her power in action, but now that he was looking at it, he couldn't help but take a step back. It was an instinct, like a prey animal wanting to flee from a potential predatory. It was clear to him now that he had underestimated Luz Noceda. Whatever it was that she had done in the last two days more than likely preparing for their arrival worked out for her. Because Thomas was supposed to be the one to have killed her.
But now? Now that he was dead and his power taken? He had to come up with something on the fly. But, before he could do that, Luz threw Thomas's body to the wayside, outstretching her hand in its direction and dousing it in flames. All the while she stared at him and his group, her eyes flaming a crimson red filled with nothing but contempt and disgust.
Her expression remained neutral, all before she pulled her hand back from where she was dousing Thomas's body in flames, deactivating Cody's power, before a small smile crept up onto her face. And all he could do in response to that was utter a shocked, and horrified "What…?"
"You think you're so smart, don't you?" Luz began, a small, mirthless chuckle escaping her lips as she tilted her head in such a way that it made it seem as if she was judging them. Like an aristocrat sneering at commoners. "Coming here, killing my friends, and then turning around and saying that you're the ones who are the victims in all of this?"
With each word that fell out of her mouth, more and more venom tinged her speech. Her eyes narrowed in disgust, as the smile on her face quickly turned sour, morphing into a sneer. And then, the mirthless chuckle came back, only this time, it devolved into a full-on psychotic fit of laughter.
The kind of laughter someone like The Joker would dole out. Even someone as cold-faced as Lucas had a drop of sweat sliding down the side of his face, and Darlene was positioned to book it. He could feel the tension in the air building for every second Luz laughed, one of her hands, her right one to be exact, resting on her forehead as her fingers combed through her hair.
She looked utterly insane.
And then, her laughter suddenly halted. No warning, no wind-down, just an immediate halt. Like someone slamming on the breaks. She let her hand fall to the wayside, and for her angry, hate-filled stare to go back to being glued on them. Her left hand curled into a fist, red and black sparks flashing, ebbing and flowing, as Luz's eyes narrowed.
"No. You… All of you… None of you are victims here," as she spat that out, a considerable wave of what Kennedy could only describe as killing intent shot throughout the air as Kennedy's breath stilled as if sapped from his very lungs by her sheer presence. "If anything, you've become nothing more than his weapons."
More red and black sparks began to jolt and jump off of Luz's body, as tiny embers began to form on the back of her palms, Vines crept out from her fingertips, and blades began to slowly poke out from her knuckles. It was only then that Kennedy realized that Luz had taken the powers of those who had been murdered.
That was what she had been doing all this time. And, if he were to guess, that wasn't all of the powers she had stolen. It caused a chill to claw down Kennedy's spine, as his fight of flight instinct began to set in. But, instead of doing either, he just stared, like a deer trapped in headlights. He couldn't move from the spot he was standing in.
All he could do was watch as Luz grew more and more furious with each passing second, and the bloodlust in her eyes doubled over time, reaching a crescendo that announced her intentions to any living being in the forest. If he could see them now, he'd half bet that even the animals, predators or not, were all looking in the direction of where this whole scene was taking place.
If The Alpha Squadron had been the prey, and Kennedy and his band of men and women were the predators. Then Luz Noceda was the apex predator there to hunt those who considered themselves top dogs.
And that sentiment had been solidified when she shouted, with all of her anger and rage, a phrase that would outline the rest of the night with a flurry of bloodshed, death, and vindication.
"When I am through with all of you, there won't be enough left to bury! All of you… Every single last one of you…! I AM GOING TO KILL ALL OF YOU!"