5th Column Comics: Lex Hard #18

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#1  Edited By johnjo719

Outside of the Town Hall, in front of all the news teams and hungry journalists, Rodrick and the other carriers who were captured with him were all shoved unceremoniously into the back of one of the CBTF's latest toys. It was basically what amounted to a huge mobile prison. Capable of holding up to twenty prisoners and two guards for each, it was arguably one of the largest toys in the CBTF's playpen. The Carrier, as it was ironically nicknamed was specially designed to transport large groups of Carriers so that what ever agents on duty wouldn't have to make several trips to the Detention Center for Criminally Inclined Carriers. Or at least that was the idea, since it seemed there was a significant uptick in crimes by carriers.

Oddly enough, Rodrick and his friends seemed very calm and relaxed for a group of criminals who were about to face some very serious charges. Especially since they had no access to their powers. As a matter of fact, Rodrick was sitting with his back leaning against the wall in his cage, a shiny new anti-Carrier collar around his neck, smiling.

"What's so funny?" One of the CBTF agents growled at Rodrick.

"Oh nothing. It's just, my nephew and his friends think they've won, when in fact, I'm exactly where I want to be." Rodrick said with a smirk.

--------

*A FEW HOURS AFTER BONE's RESCUE

Lex Hard, Kira Nowasaki, The Loup Garoup, Speedy, and the newly returned Bone all sat inside of Lex's office, waiting for their meeting to begin. Lex sat behind his desk with his hands interlocked in front of him. Kira sat on the edge of the desk by his side while the others sat in chairs in a semi circle around Lex's desk.

"Now that we've retrieved Bone, we can resume our plans. Nothing has changed." Lex began.

"What about The Cabal? And the Nowasaki Group? What are we going to do about them?" Bone demanded.

Lex raised his eyebrow at the unusual outburst, but ultimately decided to let it slide. Bone had been through a lot. "I've had Rico with his ear to the ground ever since we pulled you out. There is no trace of either group. They've left the city....for now. They will be back, and when they return we will crush them. They won't get away with what they did." Lex declared.

"But moving on to what we have planned next." Kira interjected. "We still have phase 2 to complete."

"And what is Phase 2?" Speedy asked. He had only recently been called to join Lex's inner circle and he wasn't as up to date as Bone and Kira.

Lex smiled ominously. "Phase 2 is when we begin to garner good will from the good people of Indigo City. I want you guys to start taking the vigilante stuff seriously."

"Why do we care what Indigo City think?" Speedy asked. "We're criminals!"

Lex was starting to get irritated by all the questions, as evidenced by the tightening of his fists. "Because, Rodriguez, I'm going to run for mayor of our Fair City. And it would be good for the team that Eisenhardt Industries sponsors to actually be heroes."

Rodriguez nodded his head, getting the picture now.

"So now what I need you guys to do is go find some carriers who are independently committing crimes and take them down. No one associated with any of the actual organizations. And come up with a name for yourselves."

The carriers before Lex all nodded their heads and stood up to leave, recognizing a dismissal when they heard one. Kira however, stayed behind. She went over to Lex and turned his seat around, forcing him to face her.

"What's wrong?" She asked. "You're acting....strangely."

Lex looked her in the eye and contemplated feeding her a line of bull manure, but he was smart enough to know that that wouldn't go over very well.

"Well for one, your family members are trying to have me killed for some reason. And now I have The Cabal to deal with." Lex revealed. "All while I'm finally within reach of everything I've been working towards."

"You're worried about my brother?" Kira asked. "Look, if the Nowasaki group truly wanted you dead, they would never send in a lone warrior. They respect your skills too much. And they'd never attack you here in Indigo City where you hold the advantage. That would be stupid. Whatever my brother said, or what you think, that is the truth."

Lex leaned back and sighed, closing his eyes."Truthfully. I'm not too worried about them. They're dangerous as an enemy, but they're not a threat to me. Not while I'm in my city. You were right on that one."

"The Cabal then." Kira guessed. "What do they want with you anyway?"

"My father." Lex said simply. "He was one of them. A founding member actually. But he betrayed them and stole something from them. Been on the run ever since."

"Wow.....I never knew." Kira said simply.

"It's not something one goes around sharing." Lex replied. "And now they're aware that my father was in the city. I doubt they'll let this go easily."

"What happened between them, your father and the Cabal?" Kira asked.

"It's a long story." Lex said. Kira crossed her arms and sat on Lex's desk, waiting patiently. Lex sighed deeply, but there was a ghost of a smile on his lips as he began his story.

"Very well." He started. "It all started on my Sixteenth Birthday."

---------

*LEX'S SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY, A FEW HOURS AFTER HIS BIRTHDAY PARTY*

A young Lex is walking around his father's mansion. A couple hours had passed since his party had ended and he was still basking in the afterglow of being the center of attention. Somewhere along his tour of his home, He wandered over to his father's study. As he approached,he could hear the sounds of an argument brewing between his parents.

He felt an anger building up inside of him and he prepared to burst open the door and chide his parents for fighting on his special day, when he heard his name mentioned.He stopped in front of the door and listened closely to the muffled sounds.

"I cannot allow you to pursue this, Lillian. I can't believe that you even want to. You're his mother for crying out loud!"

"You think I want to? We have no other choice, Alexi!" Lillian exclaimed. "The Cabal knows that his genetic makeup makes him the ideal candidate for the tests. Its only a matter of time before their request turns into a demand. You know that, you're one of the founders! You know how they operate"

"Even so, Lillian. I cannot let you go through with this. What if it doesn't work? What if it turns him into some kind of mutant freak? Or worse yet, what if it does work? Huh? A weapon to be wielded by the other Heads for the rest of his life. Is that what you want for him?" Alexi demanded.

"No! What I want is to keep our family safe from those monsters! Monsters you helped create." Lillian accused.

"I've committed more than my fair share of sins Lillian. Of that, I am the first to admit." Alexi said. "But nothing I've ever done can compare to the life you'd willingly condemn our son to. The answer is no, and that's final."

"You can't do that! You're not-" Lillian started. She never finished because Alexi had risen from his seat, his seven foot frame towering over that of his wife's.

"Enough! This subject is closed for discussion." Alexi proclaimed.

"I'm afraid not, Father." Lex said as he stepped into his father's study. "What the hell is going on?"

"Watch your mouth!" Lillian said, reprimanding her son as she collected herself. "And don't worry about it. Go back to your room."

"No." Alexi and Lex said at the same time. "The boy became a man today. It's time he heard some hard truths." Alexi continued. "Come in and have a seat, my son."

TO BE CONTINUED................

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#2  Edited By johnjo719

@impurestcheese, @cbishop, @alexander_wolffe, @tommythehitman, @knightofthechronicle, @batkevin74, @The_Deathstroker

if I missed anyone, sorry!

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ImpurestCheese

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@johnjo719: So a Thunderbolts style deception. I wonder if Cassie will fall for it...

If you need some independent villains I can consult some up for you

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johnjo719

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She probably won't. But is she willing to risk garnering his attention again? Might not work out as well....

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johnjo719

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And @impurestcheese, I actually would like some help on some like middle level villains they can take down easily in one chapter and then like a higher tier villain that will take a few chapters and need Lex's help to actually get the job done. Shall I pm you?

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ImpurestCheese

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@johnjo719: Sure I can do that, drop me a PM for later discussion

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johnjo719

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Cool thanks. PM sent.

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Just realized this was labeled as chapter 17 but it was supposed to be 18. Just now fixed it.

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FicOPedia

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@johnjo719: Gah! Somehow I missed this altogether. I'll get it straight in the library when I'm back in my cbishop account. :/

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