chapter 5 : A guy full of surprises

That night, Lucas just went on observation in Africa, his walk was quite pleasant because he appreciated the fauna and flora usually seen in documentaries but he was outraged to see how poor the people were.

 Although the rest of the world was evolving technologically and socially, Africa remained backward because of its selfish rulers and the heel of European influences, its partly corrupt population was also to blame.

Later, he will certainly come back with what it takes to act, evidence about the crimes of these people that he will reveal to the whole world before reaping their lives.

 Two days later, there was the guardians of the globe' funeral , at his mother's request, he took part in this event about which he had absolutely nothing to do.

 There were several superheroes present including Kurr Dragon, Capes, Bolt, Meteor twin and other shits in skintight costumes.

 Nolan made a speech which was interrupted by a guy who came in a high-tech suit allowing him to project lasers, fly and increase his strength at the same time.

 This man was in fact Sanford, the butler of Markus Grimshaw aka "Black Samson" before he lost his powers.

 « NO !! THEY WERE MINE !» Sanford screamed with a face full of furious madness after destroying the memorial to the now deceased Guardians of the Globe in an explosion.

 "Sanford what are you doing?!" Markus Grimshaw, present to pay his respects to his former comrades asked as he stood up with his face filled with shock.

He would never have imagined that his helpful, attentive and kind butler would lose his temper like that.

 Sanford: THEY CANNOT BE DEAD, NOT UNTIL I TAKE MY REVENGE ON THEM FOR WHAT THEY DID TO YOU !

 The heroes present tried to stop him but these incompetents were pushed back before Nolan knocked Sanford out with a light blow to the back of the head.

 The agitator was stripped of his costume and then taken away by the police. Lucas, sitting next to his mother, paid only slight attention to the events as he chatted via messaging with Amber, he didn't know how she managed to get his number but she was friendly and he understood. They even planned to see each other the following day.

 He later returned with everyone for dinner and while he was chatting with Saeko at the table about her progress with Mark who was helping her, even Mark had become attached to the little girl .

 Deborah : I confirm, my little Saeko learns very quickly but speaking of progress, You're ready to get your driver's license ?

 Lucas: Everything is perfectly fine, I've been better than you behind the wheel for a long time, Mom, and you know that. The rest is formality.

 Deborah : Show-off!

 Mark: Why did he learn to drive so early and not me ? It's unfair, he's the youngest!

 Deborah : Your little brother was always more curious than you, he was the one who came to get me to teach him while you collected comics. Plus, he learned everything at a terrifying speed so if you want to learn the basics I'd be happy to show them to you too.

 Lucas: I'll help you too if you want.

 Nolan: Why learn to drive when you can fly ? It's completely useless !

 Lucas: Not "completely" unless someone's life is limited to their superhero or vigilante activity. In my case I plan to put things into perspective, transporting my girlfriend, chatting and laughing with her in a beautiful car remains a little pleasure. If we did extraordinary things all the time like flying then they would no longer be extraordinary things in our eyes.

 Nolan: Flying is nothing out of the ordinary for us Viltrumites Lucas.

 Lucas: I'm not a Viltrumite, I know nothing about these people and I don't want to know anything about them. My blood is also human and everything I know comes from this planet.

 Nolan: (frowns)

 Mark: But if we follow logic, Dad is not wrong Lucas. It is natural for us to fly since our powers are innate even if they take a while to awaken, it's not that extraordinary in the end even if it remains a pleasure . It's like people for whom it is quite ordinary to walk.

 Lucas: Mark, logic depends on one point of view but ask yourself what point of view you are taking. Let's take into account the example you gave about humans. Do you really believe that it is only natural and ordinary for all of us to walk?!

 Mark: YES.

 Nolan: YES.

 Deborah : I agree with your brother on this point my darling, I think there is nothing extraordinary for me to walk, I do it every day and it tires me.

 Saeko:…

 Lucas: Alright, Mark do you remember Stephen from elementary school?

 Mark: Stephen…uh yeah, he was in a wheelchair right ? He was your best friend i think.

 Deborah : Oh yes I remember that too, he was very kind to Lucas and as both had difficulties with their health it brought them closer. Have you heard from him ?

 Lucas: Stephen died, mom, exactly a year and a half ago already. Killed by a burglar chasing police in his car. Steph was on the sidewalk with his wheelchair when this asshole came off the road and hit him.

 Debra: Oh my god !!!

 Mark: Damn man, I didn't know!

 Lucas: That's not the point, Stephen was born with this bone deformity which prevented him from walking normally and at school, while we were sitting in our corner, he sometimes watched you play and run around your friends with a dreamy gaze. For him, what you were doing was extraordinary, running and jumping was not part of his daily life. One day he even came with a stupid smile to tell me that during the night he dreamed that he was walking.

 Debra began to get watery-eyed and Mark lowered his head sadly.

 "It's sad, it's life, that's how it is Lucas." Nolan said after drinking his glass of water.

 Lucas: Exactly, he is not the only one without the use of his legs on earth, there are millions of them and each of them would give a lot just to be able to walk even temporarily or even feel their legs. Do you think it's still not extraordinary for a human to be able to walked ? See ? Sleeping on a full stomach ?Having both parents alive ? Not being in a country at war ? I think these are extraordinary things like having stable health for example.

 There was an awkward silence in the room and Lucas sighed to himself "Dude I fucked up one of those vibes. Sorry, forget this topic and let's talk about something else please."

 Nolan: So…how's your superhero life going ?

 Lucas: I'm not a superhero but things are going well enough for the moment. How's it going with Mark's training ?

 Deborah watched them chat and was quite happy to know that Lucas could hold a discussion with Nolan without it getting out of hand, Lucas watched her smile and just shook his head smiling.

 He had no reason not to have a discussion with Nolan since he didn't even hate him, as he said, he didn't feel anything for him at all so it was like arguing with someone in the street or a simple acquaintance.

 Dinner ended and Lucas flew home with Saeko, it was Friday and she was going to spend the weekend at his house. They spent the rest of the evening playing video games before going to bed.

 The next day before noon, someone rang the doorbell and when they went to open it, it was Amber.

She was dressed in a green shirt, black jeans and a pair of black ankle boots, Lucas for his part was shirtless with black jogging pants, he was sweating quite a bit and was doing stretching exercises complex.

 His body had gained in chiseled and bulging muscles, under his thin layer of sweat and his pale skin, he looked like a statue as sexy as it was frightening and the whole thing took Amber's breath away a little.

 Amber: Hi.

 Lucas: Hey, you finally found yourself.

 Amber: It's an area I know well but I didn't know you and your family lived here.

 Lucas: I live here alone, my family's house isn't too far away. 

 Amber: Huh?! A villa just for you separate from your family's house ?!

 Lucas: It's a bit complicated but I'll explain to you later. Sorry for introducing myself like that but I was doing physical exercises, according to the doctors it's good for me and I've been doing it since I was a child . I didn't know you were coming by so soon.

 Amber: So you're really alone here ?

 Lucas: not really at the moment, there's my little sister with me for the weekend. She eats and plays video games in the entertainment room. (looks back) SAEKO COME TO SAY HELLO.

 A pretty little Japanese girl came trotting over and greeted Amber with a smile, who was quick to smile back and greet her as well. Amber wasn't too surprised because Mark and Lucas were mixed race, Debra is an Asian woman (unless I'm wrong, please tell me in the comments)

 Lucas: I'll let you two get to know each other while I take a shower and change.

 He went upstairs and the two girls looked at each other before Saeko excitedly dragged Amber into the villa to show her around.

After several minutes, Lucas returned in a designer black suit, he found Amber sitting next to Saeko holding the controller.

 He immediately flew to a corner of the city only to return a few minutes later with 4 boxes of pizza and a cheesecake.

 "The delivery man came by"

 He said walking back into the room where the girls were, they watched the food come with a big smile.

 Amber: All these pizzas! Do you like cheese cakes?!

 Lucas: My favorite pastry.

 Amber: Me too. But tell me, are there things you can't eat or do for your health ? I would like to know all that.

 Lucas: What a caring friend ! We're just getting started, are you sure things aren't going too fast between us ? (with mockery)

 Amber: Fuck you (laughing). Lucas Grayson making jokes, I'm dreaming.

 Lucas: I'm a guy full of surprises but more seriously, if you want to know, I can eat anything. What I suffer from is a unique syndrome that has never been seen before. To put it simply, my cells are destroyed and regenerated at a crazy pace almost constantly, which gives me great fatigue and crises where I am almost on the verge of death but once all this has passed, I feel fine for a while, it's like my body is pushing its limits on its own but it's an exhausting cycle.

 Amber: I didn't know, you must have had it during your childhood.

 Lucas: A little but fortunately my mother has always been there for me. Without his love, it is clear that I would be dead. In short, what do you want to do ? watch a film or make you miserable with video games ?

 Amber: We're going to have the whole day to ourselves so it's up to you.

 They did a bit of all that and in the evening they were in front of the big screen watching the martial arts/action film "The Raid 2" with Saeko munching on the last slice of pizza, sitting on her own just between the two.

 Amber: This movie is absolutely brutal but I love it, it's as good as the first part even if all these fights are surreal and completely illogical. No one can fight with so many armed opponents without having some sort of superpower.

 Lucas: I can do it.

 She looked at Lucas before laughing out loud, thinking he was joking but seeing that his expression didn't change, it cut her mockery short.

 Amber: Wow you are serious ?! Do you practice martial arts ?!

 Lucas: Somehow, I can analyze techniques quickly and understand them instantly to reproduce them at perfect timing. It feels like I have an eternity of combat experience.

 Amber: Are you kidding me or you're serious ?

 Lucas: (sighs) As soon as this movie ends I'm going to take you somewhere to show you if I'm telling the truth.

Later, Lucas got changed and they left the villa to go to a certain place in the city, a large building under construction where there were several cars parked there and lots of people, many of whom appeared to be thugs, and what surprised Amber was that there were also several people dressed elegantly and appearing to belong to the upper classes of society.

 Amber: Lucas, what is this place ?!

 Lucas: A construction site during the day and the center for organizing clandestine fights at night. All kinds of people come to the underground passages of this building to watch unique fights, sometimes there are even superheroes who compete for money.

 Amber: ARE YOU SERIOUS ?!

 Lucas: It's true, it's not because they fight Crime that they are rich and some are overdrawn almost every month. Their fights are rare, no guy with superpowers has the right to face a normal human for the balance of the match even if all blows are generally allowed.

 Amber: Wait, how do you know this place ?!

 Lucas: I fought here and I'm undefeated so far.

 Amber laughed and slapped him on the shoulder thinking he was joking but was shocked to the core by the attitude people took when they saw him coming.

 They all moved out of his way silently, bowing their heads slightly. Lucas looked at Amber before smiling peacefully while she was still wondering if she was dreaming.

 ** When I watched the animated series "INVINCIBLE", I didn't understand people's hatred towards Amber's character, on the one hand there are racists who rage for obvious reasons and others who accused her of being too demanding or annoying with Mark.

From what I have seen, she is a fairly intelligent, kind, friendly girl who takes the time to help even in charitable associations (All this I don't know if your girlfriends do it ) and who above all was very patient with Mark who didn't know how to distinguish between his superhero life and his normal life.

He wasn't ready to be "INVINCIBLE" or to be in a relationship and he handled both very poorly.

Did you expect her to put up with all of this perpetually or did you just deep down want him to be interested in Eve from the start and took your frustration out on Amber 😏?! **