Cybil (2018) #projectsuper

Chapter 74: Trip Into Madness

Luke would have liked to think that he had gotten calmer and more patient over the years since his childhood.

That certainly wasn't the case as he found himself racing across the skies in a chopper chasing after two of his charges. Or, at least, that was his original reason for doing it.

Now...

"Luke... Luke!"

His furious thoughts were interrupted by his secretary.

"What?" There was an unnecessary bite to it.

The young woman's voice had a reactive "bite" to it itself. "Did you forget Rae's message to us? They're fine, remember. They're at that..."

"Don't you think I know that?!"

"Then why are we not back home?"

The commander clenched his fists. It was a good thing that most modern aviation could be put on autopilot. He wouldn't trust himself not to dive bomb this plane.

"I have something I need to take care of," Luke mumbled.

***
The world around Luke was a blur of fear and rage until he got to the holding cell of a certain...creature. He would never call what he was going to confront human.

Thankfully, he didn't have to say much to get clearance from the officers posted in the tiny desert jail. The Guardians, while left in an unclear limbo as to their sanction by virtually every government they were under, were informally lauded and trusted for giving those with special abilities and those with mutations a home (or, speaking more cynically, to get the two groups out of the faces of "normal" people).

Soon enough, he was staring at the disturbing calm face of Power Trip. Like the Joker of Batman fame, capture for him was merely a rest stop in between schemes.

"If it isn't little Lukie. How many years has it been since we last met in person?"

The most frightening thing about how he asked that question was just how much he saw an old college buddy in the voice that asked it.

"Not long enough."

"Is that any way to speak to an old friend?"

"You're no friend of mine," The commander hissed, looking through the bars. "Especially when you try to kill..."

"Oh, right. The kiddies you babysit, right? Even I'll admit it was pretty cool playing with the ninja, even though the two 'artificial additives' were a big cramp in my diet. I look forward to...dining with all of them again, nonetheless."

"I'll kill you before I let that happen!" Luke was clutching the bars of the cell with an iron grip. It took everything in him not to melt the bars and sear the madman in front of him to nothing.

Power Trip just smiled. "You couldn't kill me. Even that boy with all those delicious powers couldn't kill me..."

Luke knew exactly who he was talking about. "If you hurt one hair on Moonie's head..."

"Moonie? That's his name?" the creature laughed. "How adorable. Even more so since he wanted so badly to play the hero. Too bad life isn't a comic book, eh Lukie?"

He was barely able to keep control of himself at this point. Unfortunately, Power Trip was in no hurry to be quiet.

"You can come out, little girl. I can smell your fear..."

Lisa, having tailed her boss all this way, was finally forced to became visible again. While she desperately tried to appear stoic and unmoved, fear shone unmistakably in her eyes."

"So this is your girlfriend?"

Luke tried to disguise the fear creeping into his voice. "Leave her out of this..."

"Why would I do that? She's hot. A hot meal, that is! I don't think I have invisibility yet, anyway..."

He had told her to stay in the chopper for this very reason. Why didn't she listen?

"Tell you what," the maniac continued, a wild look in his eyes. "Arrange me a little meeting with 'Moonie', and I won't lay a hand on your girlfriend. After all, he's got a lot for me to munch on..."

Luke opened his mouth to scream at him before he realized that he was playing right into the hands of this freak.

He held Lisa close, turning away to leave.

"You're leaving already? You know you can't run from reality forever. Not with your power set."

"It's not the powers that make the man, Trip. You would know that if you weren't so addicted to it," Luke remarked almost sadly. Behind the depravity, he knew that an old friend used to be there at one point. "Moonie might have been reckless to face you, but at least he understood that we could use these powers to help people."

"Power is its own end, man!" Power Trip called out from his cell as Luke left hearing range. "If you've got it, you'd better use it any way you can!"

Luke growled upon hearing those words. He could've used his own ability to create corrosive acid to easily take power, but with what he'd seen, especially of these kids that he spent most of his adult life taking care of, that was never going to happen.

I'll never be like him, he thought. I'll be a hero in my own right.