Chapter 47: Lucas Disappears!

Let’s go back in time. A few months ago, right after Lucas had left Tamaran.

At that time, Starfire’s father had given her an important mission. To bring Lucas back with her to secure his power.

Blackfire protested at that time, saying that she could go instead of Starfire. However, their father refused as Blackfire was needed elsewhere.

Starfire didn’t want to go, but under her father’s glare, she had no choice but to nod and accept her mission.

Hence, she started out on a journey towards Earth.

Of course, she wasn’t alone. Her father had assigned her a group of guards to follow her in a huge spaceship.

Things were going well for a while and they didn’t encounter anything dangerous.

That peace only lasted for two weeks.

By some crazy stroke of misfortune, Starfire and her guards...encountered Darkseid’s Elite, Steppenwolf!

Steppenwolf led an army of Parademons with him and it was impossible to fight them with their meager numbers.

Starfire’s guards had opted for the most successful plan instead. Buy time.

They all realized that based on Steppenwolf’s trajectory, they were bound to pass Tamaran sooner or later. Darkseid was beginning to consume worlds once more.

Starfire wanted to flee together, but her guards knew it was impossible so they had to send her away alone while they diverted attention onto themselves.

Seeing their expressions, Starfire knew that there wasn’t anything she could say that would let them change their mind. She gritted her teeth and left in a small pod.

As Starfire escaped, albeit very narrowly, she found herself stranded on an unknown planet.

On that planet, she was captured and was about to be turned into a slave.

It seems her beauty had captured the interest of the ruler of the planet. Though Starfire refuses and threatens the ruler, he didn’t pay it any mind.

Starfire grew angry and impatient. Her world was about to be destroyed by Darkseid, yet she had already wasted so much time in that planet.

In her anger, she unleashed her full potential, nearly destroying the entire palace.

Though shocked by her own power, she was aware it wasn’t the time to gawk so she fled. She didn’t think that the ruler would still survive it and would send a bounty on her life.

The ruler was still full of lust. Not just because of Starfire’s beauty, but also her power. He wanted her power for himself and for his children! For that, he must capture her at all costs!

With a huge bounty, the bounty hunters in the galaxy were moved.

This brings us to why Lobo was pursuing Starfire in the first place.

As Starfire continued to escape her pursuers one after the other, she realized that she had really wasted too much time. And she was still far away from Tamaran. At this rate, even if she were to make it back, it would all be too late!

However...if she goes to a certain planet...the situation might just change!

Starfire recalled the man her sister Blackfire had described.

If it was him...maybe...just maybe...he could deal with Darkseid!

No, the army attacking only had Steppenwolf...this is even better!

If this Lucas was able to match Darkseid in the past, then surely, defeating Steppenwolf would be no problem for him!

As soon as she thought of this, Starfire quickly changed course and headed for Earth, her original objective.

Though she managed to shake most of her pursuers, Lobo continued to catch onto her tail and wouldn’t let go, leaving her no choice but to simply continue on her direction to Earth along with him.

After crash landing and somehow staying alive, she still needed to deal with Lobo after all.

Ah...maybe this is fate...even if I reach Earth, I’ll still be taken away by this guy…

Starfire despaired.

It took her a great deal of effort and had encountered numerous life and death situations on the way. Yet it was all for nothing.

But...she still needed to fight for a chance.

“You can’t escape the Main Man. Be good and let me chain you up. Your bounty is only good with you alive.”

“Kh...Lobo! If my father finds out about this, don’t think of being able to escape as well!”

It was a bluff, her father is probably going to die when Darkseid’s army attacks...

“The Main Man isn’t afraid of anything.”

“Well, we’ll see about that.”

Suddenly, there was another voice besides them from behind Lobo.

Surprised, Lobo turned around and saw Lucas floating down.

“Who are you?”

Lucas grinned.

“Someone who will make you very much afraid of.”

Starfire stared at the man who floated down in front of him.

Looking at his back, she felt relieved.

She was shocked at that. Why would she feel relieved? She doesn’t even know this guy?

The man turned around halfway and smiled.

Then, he spoke in the Tamaranean language.

“You must be Komand’r’s little sister? Koriand’r, was it?”

“You...know my sister?”

“Hehe, we go waaaay back. She picked me up while I was drifting through space and gave me accommodations for a few days.”

Starfire’s eyes widened as she heard that.

“You’re Lucas!”

“Yep! Did she speak about me?”

How nice, seems like the princess hasn’t forgotten me yet.

Lucas chuckled at the thought.

Seeing their casual atmosphere, Lobo was angered.

“You dare ignore the Main Man!? DIE!”

Lobo swung a huge chain towards Lucas who calmly caught it with his hand.

Lobo acted as if he didn’t care that his attack was caught. He grinned and prepared to pull the chain back to pull Lucas along. However…

Lucas grinned as well and pulled the chain faster than he could.

Since Lucas’ strength was above that of Lobo’s, Lobo had no choice but to be thrown in his direction!

Seeing the situation was bad, Lobo pulled a huge shotgun from behind him and blasted it right in front of Lucas’ face.

*BANG*

Numerous shells scattered in front of Lucas, only to be stopped an inch in front of him by a white hard light shield.

Lucas didn’t give Lobo any more time to retaliate and sent a fist towards his face.

*BOOM*

The sheer force was enough to blow Lobo back away as Lucas loosened his grip on the chain.

When he was far enough, Lucas gripped the chain again and pulled Lobo back towards him!

“SHI-!”

Lobo didn’t even have time to finish cursing as Lucas’ fist was once again on his face.

Just like that, Lobo was punched, blown away, pulled back in, and punched over and over.

Lobo could hear Lucas chuckle from time to time and it felt like the devil’s laughter in his ears.

Lobo thought he was brutal enough. But this...this is damn evil!

He wanted to cry but no tears could come out with Lucas’ repeated bashing on his face.

Every time Lucas punched him, the force was enough to make his mind go blank for a few seconds. There wasn’t any time for him to retaliate at all!

He wanted to let go of the chain in his hand but at some point, the chain had already been tied around him instead!

This continued for a few minutes.

Even Starfire, who was watching the whole thing, felt deeply afraid.

Sister...did you really fall for this demon!?

Looking at Lucas grinning while beating up a seemingly powerless man, Starfire had already convinced herself that this man was a demon!

After a while, who knows if it was because Lucas got bored. But he finally stopped beating Lobo.

Lobo was still a bit conscious. Feeling that the beating had stopped, he tried to stand up and flee but before he could do so, he felt his whole body being pulled again.

But this time, he was being dragged on the ground.

Starfire watched as Lucas created a white hard light motorcycle, attached the chain on it, then...he drove off!

The motorcycle’s engine revved and roared as he drove around the island and dragged Lobo everywhere.

After driving a couple of laps around, he stopped and tossed Lobo back to his ship.

With his powerful telekinesis, Lucas dismantled the ship and reformed it around Lobo, creating a prison to hold him down with no way out.

When all that was over, Lucas breathed out and wiped the single drop of sweat on his forehead.

“Whoo, that was some workout. That guy sure is though, normal people would’ve died already.”

“...”

Starfire could only blankly stare at him without saying anything.

Lucas chuckled and turned back at her.

“Right. The nuisance is gone. Care to tell me why this intergalactic bounty hunter is chasing you?”

Starfire paused for a moment before sighing.

She then began to explain.

Listening to her story, Lucas fell silent.

After Starfire stopped speaking, Lucas was still silent.

Darkseid...so he’s back and destroying other worlds now…

Lucas was reminded by what Lex had said.

Though Lex said he didn’t mean what he said back then, it didn’t mean that what he said was wrong.

That’s right. I have all this power...and what exactly am I doing?

Darkseid…

Lucas thought for a moment and shook his head.

There’s no need to bother the others about this. I alone am enough. I’m already powerful...even though it was impossible back then, right now…

Lucas’ eyes grew cold.

Slowly, he took a deep breath, and exhaled.

He turned towards Starfire and smiled.

“Don’t worry about this. I’ll handle it. I’m sure you’re tired from your journey. For now, you rest while I plan on what to do next.”

“But...okay…”

Starfire was quite worried and didn’t want to delay anymore. However, it was true that she was indeed too tired right now. She’ll rest for a day then she’ll leave immediately. That was her plan.

Lucas nodded and led her to Mount Justice.

At this moment, Kara and Karen were also heading back and saw Lucas along with another hot girl.

Kara’s eyes narrowed.

“Lucas! You said you'll be back soon! Sure enough, you coaxed another beauty and spent the day with her!”

Lucas simply smiled and directly explained.

“This is Koriand’r, a Tamaranean. She just landed on Earth today. I wasn’t able to meet up with you guys since I saw her ship crash-landed on Earth along with this guy.”

Lucas pointed at Lobo who was heavily bound by large chunks of iron.

Kara was a bit surprised. Not because of Starfire who was also an alien, but she felt that Lucas didn’t seem the same.

Like something had changed about him…

She didn’t know what it was, but it didn’t feel right to her.

Lucas was unaware of her thoughts and continued to introduce the others to Starfire.

Starfire was unable to understand English so she suddenly kissed Lucas to understand the language.

All thoughts about Lucas seemingly have changed was gone in Kara’s mind and was replaced with rage instead.

“HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”

“Hm? I kissed him? Us Tamaraneans can learn other languages through physical contact.”

“THEN CAN’T YOU JUST TOUCH HIM!? OR ME!”

Kara shouted even louder.

On the other hand, Robin was quick to move.

“You know, I also know several other languages. Japanese, Mandarin, French...do you want to learn as well?”

“Dude! You beat me to it!”

Kid Flash slapped Robin’s back hard and groaned.

Beside him, Speedy scoffed.

“I bet Jesse would be very interested in that.”

“...”

Starfire just shook her head.

“No thanks, English is enough.”

“...”

Robin froze then went to a corner and started to draw circles on the ground.

Raven didn’t seem to care that another girl went and kissed Lucas. Instead, she looked at Lucas in confusion.

If it was Lucas before, he would act flustered and embarrassedly scold Starfire. But Lucas didn’t seem to have any change in emotion…

As an empath, she was very attuned to knowing other people’s emotions. Even if it’s someone as powerful as Lucas...she could still feel them.

Right now, what she was feeling from Lucas wasn’t embarrassment...it was...rage?

However, Lucas still had a smile on his face.

“Kory, people don’t just kiss someone else so casually here on Earth.”

“I know. It’s fine if it's you, aren’t you going to be my brother-in-law anyway?”

“...Then all the more reason why it’s not okay!”

Lucas sighed.

“Forget it. Anyway, as you can see, she still doesn’t know the basic common sense on Earth. So I’d like you all to help her get accustomed for now.”

Kara suddenly zoomed in on him and glared.

“What’s this about being her brother-in-law?”

“Uhh, I just met her sister in the past…”

“Y-you…! Even with women on another planet!”

Kara stomped her feet, pouted, then left.

Karen just chuckled and followed behind her while winking at Lucas.

Starfire frowned and looked at Lucas.

“Lucas, I do not need to get accustomed here!”

“Just relax for now okay? We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

“...Fine.”

After managing to convince Starfire, Lucas left a few more instructions to the others, threw Lobo in the prison, and was about to leave.

Suddenly, Raven grabbed onto his shirt.

“You...are you okay?”

“Hm? I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

Lucas smiled and patted her head.

After that, he left.

Raven stared at his disappearing back for a while and muttered.

“Liar…”

In the sky, Lucas appeared as he looked up with a cold glare.

“Darkseid...I’m coming for you!”

The next moment...Lucas disappeared.

The next day, Starfire woke up and got ready.

She left the room and looked around.

“Where is Lucas?”

“Hm? Haven’t seen him yet.”

Kid Flash shrugged as he answered.

Starfire looked at the others as well and they all shook his head.

Robin smiled and explained.

“Don’t mind it. He’s probably still in the bed after a tiring night. He isn’t always here.”

After he said that, Donna shook his head.

“No, he didn’t spend a night with his woman. I asked Diana and the others just now in our group chat. No one has seen him last night.”

“...You guys have a group chat? Rather...YOU’RE ALSO IN IT!?”

Kid Flash was shocked!

Since when!?

Donna just smirked mischievously.

“The same time as Rachel.”

“T-th-the...same time!?”

Kid Flash, Robin, and even Speedy was shocked. Aqualad also froze when he heard it.

Static seemed to have gone into shock as well while Beast Boy just tilted his head in confusion.

What are these guys talking about?

Raven just rolled her eyes.

“Alright, stop talking about that...more importantly, Lucas had been acting very strange since yesterday. I’m an empath so I can feel it.”

“Hmm, so it wasn’t just my imagination, huh?”

Kara muttered and frowned.

Sensing that the situation was serious, Robin stood up and contacted Batman.

“Robin? What’s wrong?”

“Batman, do you know where Lucas is?”

“Lucas? He’s not with you?”

“No. He was also acting strangely yesterday and Wondergirl said that he wasn’t with anyone last night.”

Batman fell silent for a moment before nodding.

“Alright, I’ll look into it. In the meantime, can you investigate what he was doing yesterday?”

“On it.”

Robin nodded then turned to the rest of the team.

“Batman’s going to look for Lucas on their end as well and asked us to retrace his steps yesterday. As I recall, he was supposed to go to Metropolis with Kara and Karen yesterday, right?”

Karen nodded.

“That’s right. He was indeed with us yesterday and was acting fine.”

“Right, on our way, we encountered an enemy of Superman and we fought him together while Lucas stayed behind.”

“Who was it? Someone we know?”

Speedy asked.

Kara shook her head.

“It was a new one. A clone of Superman.”

“Clone?”

“Un. But the clone looked weird. It was very bizarre.”

Hearing their explanation, Aqualad nodded.

“So while Supergirl, Power Girl, and Superman fought this...Bizzaro character, none of you knew what Lucas was doing, correct?”

“Well, the fight ended pretty fast with all three of us against him. Superman did the last blow and sent him flying to an empty area. By the time we got there, Lucas was also there already.”

Karen explained.

Kara thought for a moment and frowned.

“Now that you mention it, he did seem strange that time.”

“...Then, after meeting up with him, where did he go?”

Miss Martian asked and felt very tense due to the atmosphere of the group.

Though, Starfire was still quite confused. All she wanted to know is where Lucas is at the moment so they can leave…

Karen answered.

“He said he would take Bizzaro to Lex to see if he can find out anything.”

Suddenly, Slade spoke from the sides.

“If you’re talking about that weird monster that resembles Superman, he’s down in the prison.”

Speedy narrowed his eyes.

“What were you doing down there?”

“Lucas asked me to handle their meals.”

Beside him, Rose glared at Speedy.

“Hey Red! Are you suspecting my father!?”

“Hmph! I was just asking.”

“Actually, I’m also suspecting my father! I saw him snooping around the other day!”

“R-Rose!?”

Just a while ago, Slade felt proud to have his daughter defend him. But now, it seems that wasn’t the case!?

“What!? Don’t think I don’t know those secret phone calls you’ve been getting!”

“T-that’s not what it looks like!”

“Then what is it!? Are you cheating with mom!?”

“That’s not it either!”

“Then what!?”

Rose continued to glare at her father.

Slade hesitated for a while then sighed.

“Fine, fine! I was speaking with Lex Luthor.”

“Lex? Why?”

Robin frowned.

“It was just some dumb plan of theirs to sneak inside the ranks of the Injustice League. I didn’t really do anything that would harm you all. After all, my daughter is here as well.”

“So Lex has a plan to...what? Join the Injustice League and get intel from inside?”

Static raised a brow and asked.

Slade just shrugged.

“I don’t know those details. I was just asked to monitor you all from time to time and pretend that we’re planning something. Why don’t you go ask Lex?”

As he was saying that, Donna was already one step ahead and messaged Lena.

After a while, Lena uploaded a video to their chat along with a message.

“Tell me this isn’t true…”

Lena had found a surveillance camera planted in Lex’s office.

Using that camera, they were able to trace where it was sending feedback but when they got there, the place was empty except for a laptop.

Lena turned on the laptop and saw one file. A video.

It was the video of Lucas stabbing Lex’s heart!