As they climbed down Jesse wondered what was next for them. She wondered when she was going to go "badass". Oh, she couldn’t wait.
"When do we start training Luke!?" She asked intently as she reached the bottom
"Not now, besides we need to do other shit" he responded while looking at his phone, "Alright we got two and a half hours before our parents start worrying 'bout us"
"Wait where are we going," she asked quite confused
"Business..." He responded mysteriously
They walked towards their home passing their usual spots, but they took a turn into a weird place. Everything started to change, maybe it was because of the time, no wait it was still sunning out. Why was everything dark?
"Where are we going?" Jay finally asked
"Welcome to the ghetto" he stated as if it was a very popular tourist spot
They continued walking and getting some glares from some strangers.
"What are we doing here exactly?"
"We're here to meet an old friend"
They continued until a man came up to them stopping them in their tracks.
"You seem to be a little lost ain't we," Said the man menacingly
Luke and Jesse stayed quiet.
"All your cash, phones, and whatever-ma-jigs you have or..." He said before taking out a knife
Jesse was starting to panic and she was about to start to use her powers until Luke began to speak.
"Ah, I thought you looked familiar. Guess they let you out on parole huh?"
"What?" The man asked now confused
"Come on don’t you remember me? Mickey, you know how I feel about knives"
The color drained from the man's face after the word "Mickey".
"I-I thought..."
"Yeah, you weren't much of a thinker" Luke stepped forward
"I'm sorry please, if-if I go back, it-it's for life man"
"Good... then I better not see you again," he said menacingly
Mickey ran away as quickly as he could. What just happened? Is the only thing that can remotely describe what just happened. She wanted to question him but he continued walking towards what looks like an abandoned building to which he walked inside. Jesse quickly followed suit.
"Is your friend here?" She asked nervously
"No. Also, stop being nervous you're going to attract attention" he responded
They climbed several flights of withered stairs and Jesse felt like she was starting to feel like they were walking into a horror movie. She tried to remain calm but every little sound was setting her off.
"Here we are" Luke exclaimed on the final floor
"Why are we here?" Jesse asked
"Well, we need money," he said before he started running up the wall.
He ran and jumped upwards until he reached what seemed like a random hole in the wall and climbed up and pushed the roof up. He went inside and stayed in there for a bit. A bit too long for comfort in Jesse's mind, but eventually he threw down a big duffle bag. She backed up and Luke came down.
"Alright let's go"
They climbed down the stairs and headed outside. They turned to the right and headed to what seemed like a rundown suburb. They headed towards a house that had no fence, but it did have a patio. Jesse walked towards the front door but Luke headed towards the side of the house. Jesse followed him to the backyard. There was a pretty small shack. At this point Luke decided to open his eyes, Jay felt best not to point it out. Luke opened the door to stairs that headed down to a metal door, wait, is that bolted shut.
"Before you ask, yeah its nuclear-proof," he said smiling as if he was proud instead of confused
"What are we getting ourselves into?" She asked frantically
"Calm down I helped build this thing, come on let's go"
They walked down and knocked on the door. Jesse was already nervous, it did not help the door behind them slam shut by itself and red lights brightened the room.
A deep robotic voice came up, "WHO DARES TRY TO ENTER THIS SACRED FACILITY"
"Minx open up," Luke said while holding in a yawn
"WHO DARES TRY TO AP-" the robotic voice said before Luke interrupted it by pressing a button on the bottom left corner of the door which unlocked the bolts of the door.
The door swung inwards and Luke stepped inside the bunker and inside surprised Jesse to a whole new extent. Gadgets were filling the room in every table either finished or not finished. Some of the gadgets looked like weapons and guns and bombs... wait, BOMBS!?
"Where the hell is we!?" Jesse asked even more scared
"Minx's place," Luke said, but as if on cue someone came into the room holding a gun-like weapon
"ALRIGHT, WHO ARE YOU AND HOW'D YOU GET IN!?", "Minx" yelled
This woman looks quite young she must've been at most 19. She had quite the outfit going. A short top leather jacket, a black shirt with a skull, (how cliché). Her pants were some bright blue jeans and she was wearing red socks. Her face was quite... cute actually. She had a bit of cheekbone going for her, and her eyes weren't that big but noticeably amber. Her hair was quite curly but she cut her sides short. It was almost like Luke's but way nicer.
Luke snickered before saying "Cut the crap and give me a hug you moron"
She lowered the gun and looked closely "Luke? Is that you? Holy shit"
She quickly jogged over and hugged him tightly, while also dropping the gun.
"Man, it's been like what a year now since you last visited," she said with a smile, "What's with the sudden visit."
"Whelp, sorry to ask this of you, but I'm going back into the world"
They paused and Minx took a step back and crossed her arms. She gave them a look of disbelief and disapproval.
"Really? You disappear for a year, here I was thinking you up and died" she said dramatically "Now you're asking me to make your equipment as if nothing happened!?"
"Yes"
"Dope, I'ma need some dough, though you know the drill," She said while her expression had softened.
Luke picked up the duffel bag and opened it revealing several stacks of cash, wait, are those hundred-dollar bills. Where did he get that kind of money!? How come he always said he was broke? Oh, I'm going to chew his ass out.
"That's more than usual"
"Yeah, I need two suits, both light and bulletproof like before"
"So, you've finally got yourself a girl," she said with a saucy open-mouthed smirk
"No," Luke and Jesse said simultaneously
"Alright, no offense to you sugar, but why her instead of like, I don’t know, that ninja chick"
"Well, we ain’t that close and, Jay show her"
"Are you sure? You said not to show anyone" Jesse asked nervously
"Almost everything in here is illegal, she blows your cover I'll blow hers, mutual trust" which prompted both Luke and Minx to chuckle, "Besides she needs to know what she'll need to work on"
That was enough convincing on Jesse's mind so she placed her hand on the wall and just like before it started to spread, freezing in multiple directions.
"HOLY SHIT! WHAT THE HELL! That is so awesome" she said while staring with a face of pure wonder and excitement, "Woo we, ya sabia! The moment you walked in you'd have something so-EXCITING!"
"I need to run some tests," she said... starting to drool "Wait, that reminds me!"
She ran off to the back while also wiping off the drool that had come out during her excitement. All you could hear was stuff getting thrown, glass shattering, and out of nowhere, a knife comes flying out of the room towards them. Luke caught it, afterward Minx's head comes out as Luke was putting the knife down saying "sorry". She continued the clattering of everything she owned until she ran back holding a piece of, cloth?
"Here, stretch it firmly," Minx said almost giving it to Jesse but instead Luke grabbed it almost as if he knew something bad was about to happen. He held it with both his hands and stretched it with quite a bit of force. Was this a test of ripping? While they weren't paying attention, Minx had grabbed something.
"Firmly!" She said before shooting five bullets at Luke
Jesse freaked out, Luke pushed out his arms out and stretched the cloth even stronger. The bullets hit the cloth and bounced off and dropped the floor. Luke stared at the cloth with disbelief and started to smile hysterically.
"What the hell is this!?" Luke asked admiring it more
"It's sort of like Kevlar"
"No, the hell it isn't"
"I know, this is Kevlar but my version," she said with an insane look in her eyes "You see there are stronger fibers like carbon ones, but I decided what if I tried something stupid and mix it with different types of metal, or polymer fibers, and I kept trying. It was a pain in the ass but I was able to intertwine them. Like, mix and matching Legos. They are molecule-sized so they weigh virtually nothing, and-and, not only that I was able to add some hyper-elastic polymer framing giving it that stretchy-ness. Are you proud of me or what?"
"Wait a second" Jesse said " Hyperelastic... You mean like the Purple Mattress, how is that even possible? How did you tangle them up and still be able to make it stretchy let alone bulletproof?"
"Wow, how observant. What's your name?"
"Jessie"
"Sweet name, to put it in simple terms it's like noodles, you just need water to wear them down, softened them up before you get to enjoy it" she said "See, I got the metals and after several hours of making a machine, over there, that cuts the metal in just the right fashion, I got this weak acid and raised the temperature to boil, that made the materials weak and mixed them up randomly. I can't plan how to mix them since having them inside the acid for too long would just burn them into not being useable anymore. So, after many trials and errors, I was able to find the right temperature, the right acid, and the perfect size for the materials."
"How come you've never used this type of gear with me?" Luke asked narrowing his eyes
"I was going to show you before, but like I said you disappeared," she said in an indignant voice, "besides this works out for the better, I had some time to practice and now I could make lots in a few days"
After that whole conundrum had passed. Minx got Jesse and started asking her several questions about her powers. She sat Jesse down while holding her hand. Luke was walking around, messing with some tech. She's going through several gloves, trying to find one that would be the best to be based off. She asked about her aesthetics, and Jesse gave some ideas and Minx helped fill in the blanks. Minx went off and grabbed a small sketchbook, making several quick sketches. She asked Luke if he was going to change anything about his costume, he just said: "If it'll make it better to go for it". She went back to Jesse measuring her arms, waist, legs, head, and almost everything else. Jesse was freaking out at first but this felt, odd. Like it was natural or something. They all talked, cracking some jokes, she calmed down for the first time today. But, alas everything must come to an end.
"Alright, you got everything?" Luke asked
"Yeah, and more" She looked satisfied as if she hasn’t talked to another human being in months, "Oh, wait! I need to give you something"
She walked to a wall of different types of guns, mini-cannons, and some weird looking weapons. She pushed a button at the bottom of the table. The wall opened up and started to reveal several types of weapons, gadgets, and a mask. Minx grabbed the mask and looked at it for a bit.
"I thought you'd want this back"
Luke grabbed it, it was originally a normal bandana but something seemed different. What hadn't changed was the design, which was the mouth of a demon, sharp teeth, and a long tongue to boot. It was already light but it was still heavier than what Luke remembered it to be.
"It's different," Minx said " Here put it on"
Luke obliged and he wore it, laying it down around his neck. He was a bit confused until Minx pressed something on the back-side of it. The thing sprang to life folding out and sturdy, the mouth lit up. Some sort of neon lighting. The same bulletproof material he was holding before is inside this.
Jesse looked at him and he looked so menacing that it was seriously not funny. The way he stood just emanated power, the scariest part was his eyes, this is what a demon would look.
Luke looked back and pressed the button Minx had pressed and it flopped back down his neck. He places the bandanna in his back pocket. He began to take off his hoodie.
"I need you to upgrade this as well," he said giving the hoodie to Minx
"Really, but you love this sweater" she responded
"So, don't fuck it up"
They both smiled and said their goodbyes. Jesse and Luke walked out. Jesse hadn't necessarily looked at Luke's body without his sweater on. He seemed different. Luke proceeded to say something that gave Jesse the excitement of a lifetime...
"Alright tomorrow, we start learning"
After a few seconds of silence...
"So, remember that twenty you borrowed?"
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