Heroic Villains: Super Normal

Chapter Six: Trading Card Idols

"...Scary," Lukas bit his lip.

"Very scary, what if the labs get a hold of her?"

"...They'd have finally stopped a criminal?"

"...Yeah... maybe... I just... I like being a hero but, sometimes I'm scared of the Labs." Alistair looked down at the faint scars at the bend of his arm. Lukas had always been thankful he'd been spared from that. Testing on him only lasted for about a year before they shuffled him off to begin practice being Alistair's double.

Then they were interrupted before Lukas could pester his twin with more questions. Like why don't they just leave if Alistair was so scared?

"Alistair, Lukas!" Josh greeted as he walked up to them. "Today's the day I'm heading out."

"We know." Lukas rolled his eyes.

"We're here to wish you luck in New Orleans."

"Thanks, I wish you could come with right away. It'll be hard to get used to a new side-kick just for you to come back." Alistair visibly deflated at this.

"Do you know who your new side-kick will be?" Lukas asked changing the subject of Alistair leaving the city he loved.

"Not yet, I'll be meeting with a few fresh faces after I get there."

"So, you both will be meeting your new partners whenever they, or you, get there. Kind of cruel."

"It's not so uncommon, if you want to be a part of a group as big as the Labs you gotta get used to working with all kinds of people on short notice." Josh dismissed his comment with a wave of his hand. "Come on, Jean wants to speak with us before I head out. Excuse us Lukas."

And then they left Lukas alone because he wasn't allowed where they were going. So, Lukas went to find any heroes around; his best shot were the lower floors where living quarters could be found. Even if no one was around Lukas could still go to the apartment space he, Alistair and Josh used on occasion; though now that Lukas thought about it, they'd be sharing that space with the new hero now.

As soon as Lukas stepped out of the elevator and into the common room, he found four older heroes hanging out. None of them were on active duty, in fact they all lived in the tower where they also trained the younger heroes and advised on cases.

Two were twins, were both well into their sixties, or at least that what Lukas figured; they had faces full of well-earned wrinkles. Their powers were like most twins, at odds with each other. Dorcus could project her emotions onto others and Demetrius could feel the emotions of those around him. They were technically still active heroes though they never went out on patrol or had territory to call their own; they're powers were best used for interrogations and crowd control.

The elders were sat near one of the large windows sipping something from big mugs. They both wore simple cozy clothes, Dorcus' long sleeve shirt matched her pink track pants and Demetrius in baggy jeans and a simple button down. Neither wore shoes.

Then there was Roman, and Silas, a retired hero and side-kick duo. Silas could replicate skills he saw, including some supernatural powers, like Roman's extreme speed. When they were on active duty, they held one of the largest territories that had since been broken up into seven smaller ones.

Roman was a bald man, even missing his eyebrows and lashes, he claims it's because of the extreme forces his body goes through when he uses his power, but Silas' mop of blond curls would beg to differ.

When the group of retired heroes noticed Lukas, they greeted him warmly. "Alistair, we were just talking about you. Come sit with us."

"Maybe I should go then?" Lukas asked without correcting them but took the seat offered.

"No, no not at all. We heard you were getting briefed on your new hero, we wanted to know if it's true that he's from out of town." Silas explained as he offered Lukas some coffee.

"Oh, not yet Jean was busy so I'm giving her some space. Where'd you guys hear that?"

"Dear, you're smarted than that." Dorcus giggled as she sipped at the dark strong smelling bean juice.

"He was smart enough to finally get rid of Quake." Silas laughed. "Your powers weren't well matched at all. You need someone who can withstand the power Spirit can give off." Lukas thought maybe he should speak up about not really being Alistair but couldn't get a word in.

"I don't think this new hero will be any better, I hear he's a Puppet Master. What good would his mind tricks be with Spirit's energy powers." Roman chimed in with his monotone bored voice of his.

"Puppet master? What I want to know is if he's one from those camps." Demetrius grumbled which earned eye rolls and shakes of their heads from the other elders.

"Should I ask?" Lukas glanced around at the others.

"You're too young to know of it, but the labs aren't without their dark past." Demetrius started in on a rant. "They took kids off the streets, claiming to be givin'em better lives at these enrichment camps. But it was lies!" He snapped, making Lukas jump. "They were usin'em to swap powers, give powers to those without, take powers and give none back! I was there at one of those camps they needed my empathy to see into those kids, to get'em doing what the white coats wanted." Before he could get into much more of his conspiracies Dorcus reached over and patted his arm and in seconds he eased back into his chair and sighed.

"Ehh but... that boy and... that boy was... was monsters..." Then he was asleep. Lukas looked over to Dorcus who just sighed and sat back with a light smile on her lips.

"He doesn't remember things the way they really were anymore. Those camps were quite pleasant. The only experimenting going on was the usual assessments and training the children to be responsible with their powers. They are all closed now, orphanages for super kids took their place." Lukas nodded and looked to the younger retired heroes and got stony uncomfortable stares.

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Dun dun dun...