chapter 2 : FEAR

Seeing the situation completely tense, Mark began to calm everyone down,

 « Listen let's calm down, OK ? Lucas and I got our powers today, it's an occasion we should celebrate, right ! »

 Deborah : You're right darling, sorry about all that. (looks at Lucas) you must be hungry after all that, come sit next to me and eat. I made for your favorite dish, beef tenderloin.

 Lucas: Thank you mom (he kissed her on the cheek).

 Nolan: (Sighs) If you want Lucas I could teach you how to use your powers tomorrow morning with Marc. If you want of course.

 "I appreciate the gesture but no thanks ! I'll manage !!" he replied while filling his plate.

 Mark: Lucas he just wants to help us you know it's new for us and it won't be easy at all.

 Lucas: I've always managed on my own with mom as my only support, she doesn't have superpowers like us but her presence can help me. I 've always learned everything quickly when she encourages me, like with the bicycle . Do you remember mom?!

 Deborah : Yes darling, it's true that it was quick. (with a nostalgic smile)

 Nolan watched their interaction and frowned, Lucas turned out to be a real Viltrumite despite his condition when once he thought he was a failure.

He was his son but through his fault Lucas did not want to learn anything from him. Although upset, he calmed down thinking about Mark who could at least train and he thought he had nothing to lose since Lucas was sick anyway.

 At 5 a.m., Lucas came out of his bedroom window wearing a sports shoe and a jogging suit. He was planning to go practice flying when in front of the house he saw a small crater, it seemed that Mark had also been practicing flying all night.

 He tried to fly several times but it was only big jumps which each time brought him back to the ground with superheroes' landings and not falls like Mark.

 After several failures, Lucas decided to trust the only thing he could never doubt in his life, it was his Instinct and he was right because Clarion, the soul that inhabited him without his knowledge knew how to fly and the sensation remained in the instinctive memory bequeathed to Lucas.

 He concentrated for almost two minutes before he began to float slowly, rising little by little and then taking flight.

 « I knew it. » he said with a smile as he slowly moved through the void. He adapted very quickly thanks to his Instinct and with each second that passed, things seemed very natural to him, as if he had been doing this for years.

 the feeling was incredible, the wind caressing him, this ability to move quickly through the air, everything was magnificent! The only word that could describe this feeling was "freedom".

 After more than an hour of flying and practicing aerial movements, Lucas returned home and encountered his brother and Nolan who was giving him advice nearly 100 meters above the house.

 He wanted to avoid them but Mark had already seen him, he was surprised by the ease with which his younger brother flew and even Nolan was surprised by his presence.

 Mark: Eeeeeeh Lucas, over here. Come join us, dad will teach us some things.

 Lucas: Nope, I'm doing fine on my own. Is mom awake ? I went to France to get him some pastries for breakfast.

 Mark: I think she's taking a shower! Wait, FRANCE ?! How fast did you fly?! 

 « I don't know ! » he responded as he landed with ease and elegance, one hand in his pocket and the other with the pastry bag.

 Seeing this landing, Nolan and Mark were quite impressed, Mark couldn't even fly properly and his landings were disastrous.

 Nolan for his part knew that when a young Viltrumite gains his powers, it takes him a few days of adaptation to better fly and land but seeing the ease with which Lucas did everything, he realized that the child that he had rejected was perhaps talented.

 Lucas went to take a bath and had breakfast with his mother with whom he chatted and laughed. An hour and a half later, Mark came home with his father, he was all dirty and angry.

 Lucas looked at his brother's state and shook his head, he took his bag, gave his mother a kiss on the cheek and flew off to school.

 He was dressed in dark gray Battle pants, light black boots and a black long-sleeved t-shirt. He always liked a slightly military style, it was simple but ready for any eventuality.

 Since awakening his powers, Lucas has felt his muscles becoming thicker, stronger and more visible. He noticed the same thing with his brother.

 Near his school, Lucas landed in an alley after removing the fabric mask he wore during his flight which lasted only a few seconds because he was going so fast, too fast even since his hair was completely disheveled but even like that always had a special charm.

 « Hey Lucas, please wait!! »

 As he was walking to his class, he heard someone calling his name. Turning around, he saw the girl his brother tried to defend yesterday. He wondered how she knew his name but quickly ignored the question.

 Amber: Hi, sorry to bother you!

 Lucas: Don't worry, there's no harm. You need something ?!

 Amber: Nothing in particular, just to know how you are! I know you're Mark's little brother, I asked about you and was told you were sick so I wanted to know if you were feeling better.

 Lucas: Oh, that ? It's true that I'm sick, but it's from birth. I was born prematurely and because of that there was something that made my health more fragile than the others but I'm fine, thank you.

 Amber thought about it and quickly apologized « I'm sorry, it was really personal and I shouldn't have asked you that. I now understand why you look so pale! »

 Lucas: Don't worry, I'm neither the first nor the last premature baby on this earth. It's not extraordinary to the point of making it a vital secret, it's just that my case was accompanied by an illness or rather a syndrome. It's quite generous already to ask how I'm doing.

 Amber: Wow, you're pretty cool ! By the way thanks again for yesterday, Todd is an idiot.

 Lucas: Once again I tell you, it was Mark who defended you. He's the one you should thank, not me. It was cool talking to you but I have to go, see you.

 He left waving at her, Amber stood there with a really surprised expression because usually it's the boys who rush to approach her but apparently for Lucas it was different.

 Once classes were over, Lucas didn't even try to see his brother and he flew straight away after putting on his mask.

 He walked around town and then lay on top of a skyscraper watching the sky until he fell asleep.

 Nearly two hours later, he was awakened by the sounds of explosions. He immediately headed towards the source to see a man throwing explosions with his hands while laughing. He was carrying a bag with banknotes spilling out of it.

 "AHAHAHAHAAH!! You will never be able to catch up with me, I Boom-Boom I will dominate this city" (character created by the author) he shouted while propelling himself through the air in a crude manner thanks to the explosions he made with his hands, injuring several people and even causing a few deaths.

 Lucas frowned while watching this, this idiot was hurting innocent people, including children, even without caring and it had directly pissed him off.

 As the terrorist propelled himself forward, laughing, he heard someone speaking right above him.

 "Dude, in addition to having a completely stupid pseudonym, you do anything with your outbursts just so you can attract attention even if it means hurting innocent people."

 Boom-Boom looked above him to see a masked young man staring at him with intense anger.

 "Wow kid, you want to play with...ARPF" he hadn't even finished speaking before he was grabbed by the collar and thrown high into the sky.

 « AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! » he shouted before his ascent was stopped by a hand that grabbed his neck. When he looked at his attacker, it was the same young man from earlier.

 "YOU DIRTY LITTLE FOOL" he shouted before putting his hand in front of Lucas' face, he wanted to cause an explosion directly in his face but in a split second, Lucas' hand was already gripping his arm.

 *CRACK*

 Lucas mercilessly broke the man's arm, even shattering his bones which came out openly. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! MY arm" the man screamed while groaning in pain.

 *POOF*

 Lucas gave him a very light punch to the face which completely destroyed the bones on his left side.

Boom-boom couldn't even scream properly anymore and while he thought his ordeal was over, Lucas also broke his three other limbs making the man cry in pain.

 "You didn't think about the innocent people who were hurt by your outbursts but now you feel a little of what they suffered because of you, asshole. I'm going to take you back downstairs but if the next time we meet in similar circumstances, I won't hesitate for a second to kill you" he said to the man who was crying in pain.

 Lucas brought him back downstairs near the police before leaving immediately, when people saw Boom-Boom's state they were literally horrified by Lucas' brutality. However, they could not clearly identify him because he was too fast.

 Lucas returned to the top of the skyscraper to collect his bag when he immediately frowned, "What do you want?!" he asked, noticing Nolan watching him.

 Nolan: You could have noticed me so quickly !! You really have a lot of talents Lucas.

 " WHAT do you want ?!" Lucas said turning around to face Nolan.

"If you have something to tell me, say it!" 

 Nolan: I...I just wanted to chat with you! By the way, well done earlier with the terrorist but I don't know if you needed to be so brutal.

 Lucas: He hurt and killed people with his explosions, I wanted to kill him too but I preferred to give him a warning that he will remember.

 Nolan: Kill ?! Have you ever done this before?!

 Lucas: No, not yet, but I have a feeling that it won't do much for me. As if I had only done this for centuries and my mind was used to it !

 Nolan: hmm quite strange ! Listen Lucas, I know it's too late and you'll never forgive me but I want to apologize. I haven't been a good father to you and I admit my mistake. Maybe it's too late for that but I want you to know that I'm here if you need me.

 Luke: Wow! All of a sudden you want to be there for me huh?! Ahahahahaha! Excuse me for laughing like that (laughing) in fact I'm laughing because I'm so annoyed by the bullshit you just threw at me.

 Nolan: Son, listen…

 "I FORBID YOU FROM CALLING ME THAT!"

Lucas : For 16 years of my life you constantly ignored and belittled me with your indifference towards me and my illness, when I was a kid I was always trying to please you so that you would recognize me or consider me like Mark , like your son.

 When the other kids made fun of me and I wanted to find comfort in you, you always sent me back to mom who luckily was there for me. God only knows how many hurtful things I've heard about me come out of your mouth.

 Despite all that I hoped, I hoped that one day even out of pity you would recognize me but in vain. During my attacks, only mom was at my bedside, praying and crying for me while you didn't care at all.

 One day, during one of your arguments with mom, I heard you say that it would have been better for me if I had died at birth. There I understood, I understood that you had already killed me in your mind and that I was worth nothing to you because of an illness that I didn't ask to have.

 You erased me from your life and now that I have powers, you dare to call me "SON" ?! I don't care about your excuses because I don't even hate you, that would be giving you importance and I refuse to do that because you are nothing to me like I have always been in your eyes. Forget me, Nolan. 

 He grabbed his bag and headed straight for the house, leaving Nolan there in the air with a slightly cold face.

 Once home, Lucas ate before going to sleep. He slept until he was awakened by loud noises coming from the garden as if a heavy object was falling from the sky.

 He went out to see who was making so much noise and saw Mark and his mother talking.

 Mark: Sorry about the garden mom, it's just that I need to practice landing if I want to be ready.

 Deborah : Mark I know you want to be up to the task but it's late.

 Mark: I want to train.

 Deborah : No, it's late, I work tomorrow and you have school. Go to bed right away.

 "Go ahead, force me" Mark said with a burst of arrogance before seeing Lucas standing right between them and looking at him with an annoyed look.

 Lucas: What did you just say?! Just rehearse a little to see my brother.

 Mark: Wow, look who's here! He has a minimum of talent and he thinks he's the strongest ? You forget who your elder is, you, daddy's rejected sickly little brother!

 Deborah : MARK!!!

 When he realized what he had just said he was shocked at himself, Mark tried to speak but Lucas immediately cut him off by turning around. "I'm going back to bed mom, I'm going to spare you a horrible spectacle tonight, you won't see your sons fighting !" he said before leaving.

 Lucas knew he had to leave because of his anger, he knows that deep inside him there is a violent side and in blind anger he would not want to unleash himself on Mark, not in front of their mother and what's more, Mark was his older brother.

 For the next days, Lucas did not speak to his brother or Nolan and only his mother was the one who saw him because he avoided the others.

 He went out every night to kill criminals and more and more bodies of terrorists, criminals, wanted rapists or murderers were found.

 After just 6 days, he had become quite famous even though no one knew who he was.

People even gave him a nickname, "Fear" because criminals were really starting to get seriously afraid of him.

 For all that Fear did well, he was extremely poorly criticized by the press because of his brutal and expeditious methods but he didn't care.

 In addition, another superhero appeared, he was called "invincible" and it was Mark who with the help of Nolan had a costume made.

 He didn't know that Lucas was Fear, even if they didn't speak he couldn't imagine his sick little brother going out to kill criminals at night.

 One morning, Lucas was getting ready to go out to school when people knocked on the door and it was Debra who went to open the door to see two men in black suits.

Both men said they were government agents working at the Global Defense Agency.

 Debbie asked why they were there, she had a really bad feeling because Nolan hadn't come home the day before. One of them looked at her and said, « Ms. Grayson, your husband is in a coma. He was attacked and seriously injured. We have come to tell you and take you and your children close to him if you wish! »

 In less than 30 minutes, they were taken to the GDA under the Pentagon. They were greeted by Donald who guided them to Nolan's room in the emergency medical area.

 When the room was opened, they saw Nolan lying unconscious on a bed, hooked up to machines and treatment equipment. He had bruises everywhere as if he had fought to the brink of death.

 Deborah : NOLAN !

 Mark: DAD!!

 They rushed to him and started looking at him, Debbie started crying and Mark was both sad and shocked his father was literally the strongest man in the world but someone or something had managed to put him in this state.

 Lucas:…

 "We found him in this state, Debbie I'm sincerely sorry for what happened to Nolan." a voice was heard and everyone turned around to see a thin, older, bald man with a scar near his mouth.

 Deborah : Cecil ! You've some nerve telling me that...

 Cecil: Someone assassinated the Globe's Guardians yesterday. We tried to resuscitate them all but only Nolan survived.

 Everyone was shocked by this statement, even Lucas because these superheroes were not weak, especially since Nolan was even more powerful than them.

 Mark: Do you have a suspect?!

 "No but I can promise you that we will find him and make him pay for this" he replied, holding out his hand which Mark then shook.

 "Cecil Stedman, Director of the DGA" he introduced himself to Mark.

 Cecil noticed Lucas who had shown no reaction even seeing Nolan in this state was shocked but said nothing. He also introduced himself to him and Deborah asked him for more details about what happened.