Chapter Text
A hard buzz rang through Lukeys apartment—The sun softly settled against his blinds, the echo of car engines starting and bike bells made the same, irritatingly familiar sound—and now, his alarm. Lukey messily tapped his hand on his bedside table, his palm reaching the turn-off button as he shook his hair out his eyes. The alarm came to a stop as Lukey groaned. Mondays were never ideal, and every time it felt a little harder to drag himself out of bed; But, at the end of the day, this is what Lukey went to university for.
Not every over-passionate nineteen year old manages to pull the job of their dreams, despite his dream being somewhat controversial, he took pride in helping others, especially in a city as large as his own. Yet, Lukey felt better off sinking deeper into his bed then helping civilians right now.
RING, RING
Lukeys ringtone began—he brought his hands to his eyes, and regardless of his exhaustion, managed to bring himself to talk. “Hey, Siri,” Lukey yawned, sitting up against his bed frame. “Send a message to Aimsey,” he mumbled.
”What would you like your message to say?” Lukey took a moment to think before,
‘Tell them im almost there, the traffic is crazy,” Lukey pushed the bedcover of his legs, running his hands through his hair, his head aching at the brightness of the sunlight.
”You have a new voicemail from Aimsey, would you like to play it?”
”yes,” Lukey pulled open his closet of strictly white hoodies.
“okay. Playing Aimsey’s voicemail,”
Aimsey voice cracked its way through Lukey phone speakers.
“MOTHERFUCKER I—“ Aimseys voice cut out for a moment, “—KNOW YOUR STILL IN BED—“ Lukey paused what he was doing to stare into his phone momentarily, swallowing, before Siri continued,
”Would you like to respond?”
There was a long, beat of silence.
“…No,”
Lukey tugged a hoodie out of his closet, along with an old pair of black jeans, opening his blinds to glance out his window at the array of buildings across the horizon. He threw some clothes on, neatening them out to hide its visibly unironed. He tightened a belt around his jeans, glancing to his calendar; under today’s date was “the fog comes :(“. Lukey laughed to himself.
After concluding getting ready, he scrambled to his front door, slipping his phone into his back pocket—his watch reminded him it was 9:30, and Lukey winced at the idea of explaining this to Bad. He stuffed a small notepad into his bag, and after a breath in, creaked open the door.
Lukeys job was what was considered a “hero” by the public, but he himself would never use a term like that. The idea was that heroes are trained in combat; hence the university, specifically to take care of villains, as well as the areas the police ‘struggled’ to get to. In the beginning, the villains would simply kill anyone who made an attempt to stop them because no one could skill match them.
Thats why Lukey was trained as strictly as he was.
And it was a dream come true—despite its downsides.
“Heya, could i head to TRHQ, please?” Lukey slipped into the back of a uber, the driver adjusted her mirror, her eyes landing on Lukeys, Lukey watched as the her eyes flickered with recognition, she smiled sweetly before responding,
”Of course, sir,” the engine rumbled the car as Lukey quietly put on his headphones, opening the several missed notifications from Aimsey. His eyes skimmed over the text before closing his phone.
”So, what’s it like being famous so young?” The lady in the seat ahead asked, looking at him through the mirror, Lukey looked up, Just to break eye contact again.
”Im not that young, but i suppose it can be overwhelming—“
”How much money do you make?” She cut off, glancing at the road for a moment to make a short turn.
“Well—“ Lukey began,
“If you were to get robbed right now, how would you approach that?” The lady asked, her smile overly-sweet. Lukey stayed quiet, his eyes landing on his phone once more.
Yep, definitely overwhelming.
After a overly awkward conversation or two, the car came to a stop outside a tall, white building—the logo on the front Lukey was all too familiar with. He gave a short nod to the driver as he shuffled out the car, who responded with a short gentle wave.
Lukey fidgeted with his hands, pushing past the entrances automatic doors, his eyes stuck to the white plain flooring, before a voice called out from the reception desk.
”Lukey! You come in late everyday, quit acting embarrassed,” Krows voice startled Lukey slightly as he dragged his feet towards the counter.
”Lucas…” Krow trailed off, clicking things on their computer, “You’re all signed in.”
“Right, thank you,” Lukey adjusted the bag resting over his shoulders and began to walk.
”Oh! Lukey, before you go,” krow called out, Lukey turned. “It says here Aimsey wants to see you,” They glanced at him, the promptly back at the screen.
”When?” He watched as Krow hovered their mouse over his name.
”it says eight-thirty,”
”What time is it now?”
”Lukey, its ten AM,”
—
Lukey swayed on his feet as he stepped into the elevator, soft music played from the speakers as he pressed on a button to his usual floor. He hummed to himself, brushing down his hoodie once more—if he was going to get lectured, he didn’t want to look a mess. A small ‘ding’ rang through the small area before the doors slid open.
“Good morning, Lukey!” Ros stood to his right, smiling as she organised each of her books in alphabetical order, her tone was enthusiastic and positive while her long purple hair was braided neatly by her shoulders. Lukey warmly smiled and waved, keeping on his usual route. “Oh, Aimsey wants to see you!” She called.
“Boy do i know, ros!” Lukey shouted back, to ros’ laughter.
Lukey paced throughout the halls, only pausing to wave or say hello to the usual people in the headquarters, he laughed as another person from the healing department made a joke about his recent struggle to be on time—silently hoping he’ll keep his job after this, quote, “incident”.
He found himself hovering outside Aimseys office door, he took a breath in, lifting his hand to knock, a muffled voice came through the wall, “One moment—sorry!” Aimee called out, a clatter of papers hitting a desk and the closing of cabinets, before othe door handle rattled.
”Oh— Lukey, did you—“ Aimee paused, then hesitated before stating, “Please dont tell me you just got into work,”
There’s a beat of silence.
”Aimsey, i just got into work—“
”Oh my god.”
Lukey was sat quietly in the dark wooden chair opposite Aimseys desk, glancing over old reports and folders while they pace from left to right of the office, spiralling about his job. “Lucas—do you know how long it took me to even do as much as convince bad to have you here?” Aimsey questioned, brushing their light brown hair out of their eye for a moment, “No, seriously,”
”i know it looks bad on paper—“
”Lukey, this is looking terrible for you—“ Aimsey stopped themselves, their eyes landing on the whiteboard that was pressed against the wall in the office. Something shifts in the air.
”Look, this isn’t what i called you here for,” They skimmed through a cabinet of folders, landing on one in particular before sliding it into Lukeys hands. “Our crime rates have doubled,” Lukeys eyes fall onto the spike in a graph on a labelled sheet of paper. “Some new villain company, it’s complicated—we have little to nothing on them,” They took a breath in, “People are seriously dying, this is past the usual robbery,” Aimsey tapped their pen on the table, leaning against the wood of the chair behind them.
”What’s the job?” Lukey murmured, resting his elbows on the desk infront of him, “Do you want me to find them?”
“Well, ideally,” Aimsey seemed somewhat apprehensive, “Listen, as much as i banter and mess with you,” They took a shaky breath in, standing up slowly, bringing their eyes to the whiteboard. “I dont want you to die, Lukey,” They popped off the cap of a whiteboard marker to Lukeys quiet laugh.
”No i mean it, these people are scary. I know it isn’t like you to take things seriously, but i need you on this,” Aimsey rolled up their sleeves, “Either that or I have to get Bad involved,” They scribbled down a diagram on the board.
”So, they’ve only been spotted to the west of the area,” The marker made an irritating scratch sound that made Lukey wince.
“They could certainly be tricking us, afterall we dont know these people—“ They began, “I dont even think Bad has looked into this,”
”Right,” He pulled his sleeves over his palms, tapping his fingers against the arms of his chair. “Do you think i go out there tonight?”
”The sooner the better, you’ll need ros to give you comms,” Aimsey replied, meeting eyes with Lukey. “You’ll listen, right?”
”Of course, why wouldn’t i?” Lukey questioned, Aimsey shot back a disapproving glare. “What?” He laughed.
”Tonight, Lucas. Go tonight.”
—
The moon rested peacefully in the sky that evening. The quiet was almost eerie—the cold stung his skin through his armour while he dragged his feet against the sidewalk. The stars dotted around the dark sky was almost comforting. His earpiece hissed with static before ros’ soft voice broke through.
”Lukey! Are you on your way? It’s a beautiful night tonight!” She giggled, Lukey could hear her smile through the radio, “I’m on the lookout, but let me know if you spot anything!” Lukey adjusted his microphone.
”Alright,” He said simply, picking up the pace of his steps. Lukey was familiar with this route, his eyes following the street signs with a rhythm he recognised.
As the stars slowly dotted in the sky, commotion rang to his left, a crash, someones footsteps followed. “Ros—do you know where they were last seen?” Lukey muttered, there was typing on the other end, a click of a mouse before she answered.
”Down the close to your left, there was a murder, a police officer, it says on the report,” Ros seemed tense. “Be careful.”
“Yeah, dont worry, i got it,” Lukey flipped his microphone upward, pressing his back against a wall outside an alleyway to spin a spear into his right hand from his belt. He took a breath in as a voice came from the darkness.
”Dude—The guy fucked me up,” a man, presumably, with a thick accent mumbled quietly before the beep of a radio, followed by a seemingly panicked response.
“Is it bad? just head back, dont fuck around—“ The voice came through, muffled by the radio quality, although it was notably lower.
The sound of blood dripping to the floor and the swift unzipping of a hoodie echoed against the walls, Lukey listened quietly, trying to take in the details, whoever it was was evidently injured—He silently stored that in his head.
”Fuck, Ash,” The radio beeped once more, the sound of fabric pressing against skin and a groan of what Lukey assumed was pain.
”Keep talking, are y—“ The radio cut off, an automated voice rang through the speakers, “Battery is low,” it repeated.
There’s a rattle of metal hitting the concrete before the person in the alley cursed under his breath, wincing slightly, and Lukey couldn’t hold himself back anymore.
“Sir, hands where i can see them,” Lukey held his weapon so it was visible. The man stood weakly in front of him, he had a dark shaded pair of sunglasses over his eyes and his hair was a dark rust-red, a visibly bled through button up shirt, it was torn, he pressed his zip-up hoodie against a wound, his tie loose.
”You’ve gotta be kidding,” The man ahead mumbled, he swiftly reached to his back pocket to draw a gun, Lukey flinched, taking a step back. “Leave me alone,” The red-haired insisted, his hands trembling around the gun. “Fucking heroes…” He muttered under his breath, which Lukey just caught.
Lukey dodged to the ground as the person ahead shot a bullet, the loud bang stung in his ears before he felt himself hit the wall behind him, a hand firm against his upper chest, a gun resting against his forehead. Lukey could just make out the frantic tone of ros in his ears, but all he could hear is a soft ringing.
”Look—Look, i—“ Lukey stammered, each breath getting shorter with his words.
He met eyes with the boy infront of him. He couldn’t be much over twenty, through his sunglasses Lukey could make out the faint outline of his face.
The two met eyes.
The boy in the sunglasses softened his grip on Lukeys collar, still clearly in pain.
”It’s okay, I don’t—i wont hurt yo—“ Lukey slammed into the wall behind him once more, the sides of his eyes fading into darkness—His legs felt more than weak, and he felt the faint taste of blood before hitting the ground, passed out.
—
Pangi rested his palm over his wound, shaking in exhaustion. He glanced over the the body of the boy opposite, tugging his bag off his shoulders. Pangis eyes rested on Lukey for a moment, his blonde hair was falling over his eyes, and his white hoodie rested messily under his armour. Something in Pangi felt somewhat guilty, but he swallowed that feeling, pulling open his bag—silently hoping for any sort of health.
”cmon, anything,” He whispered, clicking on a flashlight, his eyes landing on a small light pink pot, the handwriting on the label carelessly done, it read “instant healing”.
Pangi took a sip—to immediate relief. He looked over Lukey once more. Pangi knew he would be lectured for not ending him, but something in his heart told him otherwise; truthfully, he wasn’t familiar with a feeling like that. Pangi pushed his glasses up to his forehead, getting a better look.
”They’re gonna hate me for this,” he murmured, “i just cant do it,” Pangi made himself certain Lukey wasn’t bleeding, and quietly stood up as his footsteps echoed out of the alleyway.