chapter 24 : Back in the game

A few days later, Lucas had fully recovered and he was now in the bathroom of his recovery room at the GDA in front of a mirror.

 He looked at her bruised and scarred face as he ran his hand over the scar that had taken his right eye with some emotion.

When he woke up, he knew he was in some discomfort but it was only afterwards that he realized he had become one-eyed.

 It was the 4th day of his rehabilitation and everything was moving frighteningly quickly, in fact he wasn't even bothered by his missing eye after a few minutes during his first exercises.

 For Lucas, the term rehabilitation no longer even applied to getting used to his physical abilities again but rather to adapting to the monstrous increase in them that he had gained in his coffin given his intense cellular activity for an entire year .

 He had become much stronger, faster, more precise, All of its capabilities have increased enormously and he had to adapt to it alone, out of sight of the others in a room where he had asked Cecil to remove all the cameras and although the old man was upset and curious, he did it anyway.

 Lucas had gotten much stronger and could now lift tens of thousands of tons without any problem and move at insane speed but all that was nothing compared to the increase in his Instinct. fight which was already monstrous.

 He came out of the bathroom to join Cecil, his mother and the others in the command room to find out what had happened in his absence.

 Deborah had promised to tell him everything when he was fully recovered and today was the day she promised.

 When he came out of the room, Amber was already waiting at the door to accompany him and Lucas chatted with her a little before leaving with her.

 Once he arrived in the room, he greeted the others and immediately asked for things to be told or shown to him straightforwardly.

 Deborah and Cecil looked at each other and it was It was Deborah who began to recount all the important events that took place after her son's disappearance. .

 She recounted every event and problem that happened with Nolan until his destructive fight with Mark under the calm gaze of her son.

 After a few minutes Cecil showed the videos taken during the Nolan disaster and he listened to the recorded conversations between Mark and his father but he was not the only one shocked by the terms and remarks put forward by Omni-man because Saeko, Amber and Eve weren't in this room with Deborah today to watch the recordings so they were experiencing the sights and sounds just like Lucas.

 They watched the video trying to maintain their calm until the scene where Omni-man confessed to loving Debbie but more as a pet than anything else.

 While Saeko and Amber expressed their anger at this, Lucas calmly looked at his mother whose face was serene and she now seemed unfazed by this.

 Although deep inside Lucas was in a murderous rage, he didn't let it show because his mother was now better and was apparently no longer affected by it.

Obviously, he knew that she had certainly suffered from it but fortunately, she continued to move forward and it was all thanks to the people in that room and also to Art who was now his mother's boyfriend even though she hadn't told him anything yet. .

 They also told him what happened after this event until Deborah's kidnapping and the famous video of the torture scene.

 Lucas was unable to watch the video because Cecil had used all the GDA' means to make this video disappear from the face of the earth.

 Upon learning what happened to his mother, Lucas' anger had gone to a whole new level but to everyone's surprise, he was not angry with the GDA and even asked Saeko to apologize for what she had done as a result as innocent soldiers had been seriously injured by her.

 He made it clear to everyone that nothing that had happened was Cecil's fault, whose men had just been incompetent in protecting Deborah and that they had to take into account everything that GDA had it going for them from the start.

 Cecil was certainly an asshole sometimes but that doesn't mean he had already openly acted badly towards them when he always ensured the GDA's support for this family by taking his own case as an example.

 Deborah knew this and didn't blame Cecil because she was at peace now but it was mainly up to the girls to understand this fact and especially Saeko.

 Lucas: Mom?

 Debra: Yes my darling.

 Lucas: Those who did this are dead ?

 Debra: Yes…I-(interrupted)

 Lucas: It's okay, you don't need to say it. This simple confirmation will do the trick and know that I am extremely delighted to see you so strong.

 He thanked Cecil for doing everything he could and they talked for a bit before Lucas finally left the GDA to go home but just as he was about to end the conversation...

 Amber: Lucas...there's something you need to know.

 Lucas:…

 A few minutes later, Lucas and Amber were at Arlington Cemetery in front of a tombstone, it was the grave of little Sally and this time, in front of Amber, Lucas cried while kneeling in front of the grave of this kid for whom he had a lot of affection.

 He felt guilty for not having been there to stop all this but it wasn't just towards Sally but also the other victims.

 He knew that children in schools, patients in several hospitals, and other innocent people had been killed by Omni-man and he cried for them.

 Amber saw him in this state and took him in her arms, Lucas was certainly a powerful and mature being but all that had never stopped him from feeling emotions even if they were weak.

 In fact, seeing him like this only made her fall in love with him even more because for all his powers, Lucas was still more human than many of those she had been around.

 Lucas stood up straight, looking into Amber's eyes for a few moments that seemed like an eternity to both of them before their lips came together to form a long, passionate kiss.

 There was no need to say anything because their eyes spoke better than their Mouths certainly ever could and everything happened naturally on instinct.

 The kiss became longer and longer and they separated their lips before things got out of control, they understood each other and knew they wanted to go further but this wasn't the place for that.

 The two became a couple just like that, without saying anything to each other and even for them it was difficult to explain exactly what was happening but the fact is that they understood each other perfectly. 'other without even opening their mouths.

 Lucas returned with her to his manor where Debbie and the others were waiting. There, for Sally and Nolan's other victims, he made a clear oath.

 "I'm going to kill Omni-man the day he sets foot on earth again." This was his oath and his promise before them.

 Lucas at first wanted to go looking for Nolan to kill him but quickly understood something. Nothing stopped Nolan from taking total control of the planet and forcing its inhabitants into enslavement, but he preferred to leave and Lucas managed to guess why.

 It was a certain awareness on Nolan's part but also the love he had for Mark. He wanted to keep Viltrum away from the earth and his son.

 That night, Lucas was observing the city from the top of a building when the temperature around him dropped, it was Damien Darkblood who manifested and Lucas saw him appear without saying anything to him.

 Damien: Kid, I see that you-(interrupted)

 Lucas rushed towards him at a speed he couldn't keep up to pick him up. Lucas in his coma was in a rather particular state of consciousness.

 He could faintly, very faintly hear and feel things externally and on several occasions he had felt the presence of the investigating demon whose only friend he was.

 The most surprising thing was that every time Damien's presence was felt, his body received a little energy.

 Lucas: I don't know what you did and don't ask me how I know, but thank you for everything you did for me. Thank you so much.

 Damien in Lucas's embrace was completely silent and his eyes betrayed an incredulous look. Never had a human hugged him since he left the underworld.

 He often saw the descendants of Adam and Eve doing it but didn't really know why they did it. Demons were foreign to affection and it was a first for Damien who didn't even know what to say or how to react.

 Damien: It...it was nothing kid...you...you are a good human...It's good to see you back with us anyway.

 He said before immediately disappearing leaving Lucas alone who was left laughing to make fun of his demonic friend unable to handle a hug but he understood him and was eternally grateful to him for keeping him alive because it was clear and Lucas knew it.

 Viltrumite or not, without medical assistance all this time, he was supposed to die after a while without Damien's help.

 Two days later, an extraterrestrial vessel entered the Earth's atmosphere and of course, this didn't escape the attention of the GDA who contacted forces to make contact with the vessel, to learn the intentions of the occupants for then act accordingly because after recent events, we had to be careful.

 To the surprise of Cecil and the other GDA agents, the ship was occupied by Mark and he was guided to their premises.

Furthermore, Mark was not alone but there was also a young child with human characteristics except that his skin was slightly purple.

 Very quickly, Deborah was made aware and she quickly made her way to the GDA with Eve.

Cecil really wanted to inform Mark of his brother's resurrection but preferred to let Debbie do it because it was above all a family matter.

 Mark could have gone straight to their house but he wanted to share with them what he had seen and done there as well as Viltrum's warning. The earth was affected so the GDA had to be informed.

 Meanwhile, downtown, panic reigned at the city's central bank. It was actually a new terrorist act by the Lizard League who planned a bank heist to cover the costs of their next big project.

 They were no longer active recently because of Saeko aka Blink who since the disappearance of FEAR had taken over, she was even more frightening than him in certain aspects and just as murderous and merciless so they were forgotten for several months.

 Only, for several days, with Lucas waking up from Omnipotus, Saeko was busy taking care of her big brother and Blink had not been seen.

 There were rumors saying that the young anti-heroine had died facing Omnipotus and with her absence, many believed it just like with FEAR so the league came out of its hole to resume its activities.

 "STAY ON THE GROUND EVERYONE, THE FIRST WHO MOVES WILL HAVE HIS NECK BROKEN BY MY OWN HANDS" shouted Komodo, one of the lieutenants of the league, she was a black man with a very large build and superhuman strength in a ridiculous lizard costume, he was the member of the league with the greatest physical strength.

 "It was really starting to get annoying, even with the disappearance of that crazy FEAR we had to have this annoying kid come and piss us off. Luckily she died! Now we'll be able to get back into business but we need money, a lot of money." The lizard king said in his costume while kicking one of the customers to the ground who was crying a little too much while his men of the league guided by the Salamander and iguana carried the money under the terrified gazes civilians because one of the security guards had been shot dead in cold blood by them as a warning.

 The Lizard King watched his men work and asked them to hurry up when he started to get seriously disturbed and annoyed by the sobbing of the woman below him. Angrily, he pointed his pistol at the lady to threaten her when...

 *BLAM*

 A gunshot rang out and the lizard king's head almost completely exploded before the shocked eyes of Komodo who saw his leader die suddenly under the frightened cries of the woman on the ground and the others.

 Komodo looked in the direction where the shot came from and he found no one. His incredulous gaze was interrupted by falling sounds and groans behind him and when he looked, several of his men were on the ground with their throats slit.

 Just as he wanted to ask who did this, he was interrupted by a young girl's voice.

 "So you never get tired?! We go away for a while and you start your stupidities again!"

 He looked towards the speaker to see Blink sitting on a desk while cleaning her small sabers of the blood of the league's men as his gaze filled with fear and disbelief.

 He immediately alerted the others but no one responded immediately, which increased his stress.

 "You…you're not dead?! You killed my lord and our men! ARE YOU NOT AFRAID THAT WE'LL KILL THESE CIVILIANS?" he asked angrily.

 Saeko: Which civilians?!

 Komodo: What do you mean "Which civilians"?! Don't you see-(stops)

 He tried to point out the terrified bank customers on the ground but apart from the corpses of his men, he saw nothing else.

 Shocked, he tried to say something when from his left, two objects were thrown at him. He caught them by pure reflex and discovered to his horror that they were the two heads of Salamander and Iguana, these two colleagues.

 "HUAAAARGH!!" He screamed in fright as he dropped them and backed away in fear.

 "Today, a man who certainly had a family will not come home to kiss his wife and children tonight. A woman will be widowed and children will be orphans because your band of idiots played looters. There will be no survivors of your little sect today." a young man's voice was heard and there, Komodo saw a pale-skinned young man with shoulder-length hair covering part of his face.

 The outfit that Lucas had worn was exactly that of Red Hood from DC except that the copper jacket was not brown but completely black like the rest of his clothes.

 Komodo wondered who this guy was who didn't even bother to hide his face before looking at the red skull drawn on his chest as his eyes were immediately filled with complete denial of reality.

 Komodo: It's...it's impossible!! You…you're…dead!!