#light powers

Shauna didn’t move. “Don’t sound so surprised. I don’t ignore threats just because you’re involved.”

The words cut sharper than Jackie expected, but she forced a smile anyway, the one she used to hide the sting. “Still the same, huh? Brooding on rooftops, glaring at anyone who gets too close.”

A shadow curled lazily around Shauna’s wrist, like it was alive. “And you’re still blindingly optimistic. Some things don’t change.”

Jackie flinched at the edge under the words. She wanted to bridge the space between them, to step forward and say I’m sorry, but then the rooftop seemed to tilt, the old memory hitting like a punch: the fire, the screams, the way their powers had collided instead of saving him.

She shoved it down. “We need to work together. This new villain, whoever’s behind the mind control attacks, they’re strong. Too strong for either of us alone.”

Shauna finally stepped into the half-light, her eyes unreadable. “Work together?” she repeated, like the words were poison. “Last time we tried that, people died.”

Jackie’s chest tightened. “You think I don’t remember? Every day, Shauna. Every. Day.” Her hand glowed brighter, the light trembling with the force of her emotion. “But if we let the past stop us, more people will die.”

For a moment, the only sound was the wind. Shauna’s shadows twined tighter around her like armor, but her voice dropped, softer now, almost reluctant.

“You always were too damn stubborn,” Shauna muttered. Then, almost against her will, her eyes flicked up to meet Jackie’s and something unspoken passed between them, heavy and sharp, but also fragile.

Jackie let out a shaky breath. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

The rooftop lights buzzed faintly, caught between brightness and shadow, just like the two of them.

Neither moved closer. Not yet. But for the first time in years, they weren’t walking away either. 

____

The old gym smelled like dust and rusted metal. Shauna had picked it, of course, out of the way, half-forgotten, shadows thick in every corner. Jackie’s light illuminated the space, spilling across broken mirrors and old punching bags.

“You sure about this?” Jackie asked, stretching her fingers until they shimmered faintly. “Training together again?”

Shauna rolled her shoulders, stepping into the ring like she belonged there. “Better we screw up here than in the field. Besides..” her mouth curved in a dry smirk, “I want to see if you’ve gotten sloppy.”

Jackie forced a laugh, though her stomach twisted. The last time they’d “trained,” it had ended in disaster. Still, she raised her hands. “Fine. Don’t hold back.”

Shauna didn’t.

Shadows lashed forward like serpents, forcing Jackie to throw up a glowing shield. The impact rattled through her arms, the darkness hissing against the light. Jackie countered with a burst, brilliant and sharp, but Shauna was already gone, melting into the corner, reappearing behind her with a sweep of darkness that nearly knocked her off her feet.

“Still predictable,” Shauna said, her voice echoing from everywhere and nowhere.

Jackie spun, frustrated. “Still dramatic.” She flared her palms, flooding the room with blinding radiance. For a second, all the shadows vanished, Shauna included.

But then a tendril of darkness wrapped around Jackie’s ankle and yanked. She hit the mat hard, breath punched from her lungs.

Shauna was suddenly over her, one knee pressing into Jackie’s side to pin her down, shadows curling like chains. Jackie’s light flared instinctively, fighting back, but in the tight space between them, it was too much, too hot, too close. The air crackled with tension, light and shadow colliding and sparking like electricity.

Jackie froze. Shauna’s face hovered inches from hers, eyes hard but glinting with something else, something Jackie didn’t dare name.

“Careless,” Shauna murmured, but her voice had lost its edge.

Jackie swallowed, her light dimming, softer now, more like a glow than a weapon. “Or maybe…” she whispered, breath shaky, “…I just trust you not to finish the hit.”

For a heartbeat, Shauna didn’t move. Her shadows loosened, curling back like they’d heard something private. The distance between them felt unbearably thin, old anger, old grief, and something more dangerous simmering beneath it.

Then Shauna pulled away abruptly, standing in one smooth motion. “Don’t trust me,” she said, too quickly, too sharp. “Not yet.”

Jackie lay on the mat, heart hammering, the ghost of Shauna’s touch still burning against her side. She pushed herself up slowly, her light flickering uncertainly.

“Maybe,” Jackie said softly, “but I want to.”

Shauna’s shadow rippled across the floor like an unspoken answer.

____

The abandoned subway tunnels stank of damp concrete and rust. Jackie’s light cut through the darkness in wide arcs, bouncing off twisted tracks and broken tiles. Shauna moved ahead like a phantom, shadows wrapping around her like armor.

They’d tracked the villain here the illusionist responsible for turning allies against each other. But Jackie could feel it: the oppressive weight in the air, the way her light faltered against something unnatural.

“Careful,” Shauna said quietly, her hand brushing the wall. “This place isn’t what it looks like.”

Before Jackie could answer, the ground split beneath them. A wave of shadow surged forward wrong, alien, nothing like Shauna’s controlled darkness. Jackie threw up a shield, but the blast shattered it like glass.

They were hurled back, tumbling into separate corners of the collapsing tunnel. Jackie coughed, pain flaring in her ribs. Through the haze, she saw Shauna pinned under fallen concrete, shadows flickering weakly around her.

“Shauna!” Jackie scrambled, light trembling around her like a flickering flame. The villain’s illusion pressed harder, twisting the space into a nightmare. Jackie’s vision doubled one second, she saw Shauna reaching for her; the next, she saw Shauna turning away, eyes cold, abandoning her again.

It’s not real. It’s not real.

“Jackie!” Shauna’s voice cut through the noise, raw and desperate. “Focus on me. Just me!”

Jackie’s chest tightened. She staggered forward, hand outstretched, her light dimming under the weight of the illusion. Shauna’s shadows surged at the same time, trying to push back the invading dark but alone, they weren’t strong enough.

Jackie fell to her knees beside her, their hands colliding in the debris. For a moment, light and shadow bucked against each other like they always had oil and water, clashing, fighting.

But then Jackie closed her eyes, whispering: “I trust you.”

Shauna’s breath hitched. Her grip tightened.

Their powers flared light and shadow entwining, not battling but weaving, fusing into something new. The tunnel exploded with a silvery glow, shadows dancing within it like veins of midnight. The illusion shattered, the oppressive weight lifting all at once.

When the dust settled, they were both still on the floor, their hands clasped, the glow slowly fading. Jackie realized she was leaning into Shauna, foreheads almost touching, their breathing ragged in unison.

Shauna didn’t pull away this time. Her voice was low, almost a confession: “You shouldn’t trust me.”

Jackie smiled weakly, tears pricking at her eyes. “Too late.”

For a long moment, neither of them moved, caught in the fragile, dangerous quiet. Then, with the world still trembling around them, Jackie whispered:

“Tell me you didn’t feel that.”

Shauna’s shadows stirred, curling around Jackie’s wrist, not pulling away, but holding her there. “I felt it,” she admitted, almost painfully.

The silence that followed was heavy, charged. Neither of them dared break it.

The safehouse was quiet except for the hum of the old heater. Jackie sat at the edge of the cot, hands trembling as she pressed glowing fingertips to the bruises along Shauna’s ribs. The light pooled gently, warm and soothing, knitting skin back together.

Shauna hissed through her teeth but didn’t move. Shadows curled faintly at her ankles, restless, like they didn’t know whether to fight or protect.

“You’re reckless,” Shauna muttered. “Throwing yourself into the illusion like that. You could’ve gotten yourself killed.”

Jackie’s laugh was soft, tired. “Says the one who let half a tunnel fall on her.” She pulled her hand back, the glow dimming. “We both take risks, Shauna. We always have.”

Their eyes met then, closer than either intended. For a moment, the air between them felt fragile, like one wrong word could shatter it.

Jackie’s voice softened. “But today… we didn’t fall apart. For once, we..” she swallowed, “we worked.”

Shauna looked away, jaw tight. “Don’t make it sound like more than it was.” But her voice cracked on the last word, betraying her.

Jackie reached out before she could think better of it, fingertips brushing Shauna’s hand. Not glowing this time. Just… touch. Human.

Shauna froze, shadows rippling like startled birds. Then, slowly, her fingers curled back around Jackie’s, hesitant but deliberate.

“You scare me,” Shauna whispered, barely audible. “Not the powers. You.”

Jackie’s breath caught. “Why?”

“Because every time I get close,” Shauna said, her eyes lifting finally, raw and unguarded, “I remember what it felt like to lose you.”

For once, Jackie didn’t have an answer. She only leaned in, closing the space inch by inch, giving Shauna every chance to pull away. Shauna didn’t.

Their lips met tentatively at first, more question than kiss. But then Shauna’s shadows curled around Jackie’s back, holding her there, and Jackie’s light flared softly between them, not blinding, not burning, just warm.

When they finally pulled apart, both were breathing hard, foreheads resting together.

Jackie smiled shakily. “So… still think we don’t work?”

Shauna’s laugh was rough, almost bitter, but her hand didn’t let go. “We’re a disaster,” she said. Then, quieter: “But maybe we’re our disaster.”

The shadows and light around them settled together, not clashing this time just coexisting.

Disclaimer:

Since Lucas is very much untrained and only very reluctantly using any of his powers, he’s not aware of what he actually can do, and even if he knows a few of them, they’re quite unstable and not very reliable.

Light Speed (Agility):

Running at (close-to) light speed when necessary, even though it’s obviously very dangerous (collisions with people, obstacles and basically any matter could end deadly) and also very exhaustive and energy consuming. So usually Luke cranks it down to a manageable speed where he can safely navigate the streets. It can be much faster than neon, but also a lot brighter as a result, and thus drawing attention in a wider radius.

Luke uses this power the most (to escape and travel long distances) so he’s gotten quite good at it. His reflexes are adapted to the reaction time he needs when he moves so fast. If he moves at normal speed, his reaction time also dials back, to slightly elevated from those of a normal human. (He could be CRUSHING IT at eSports but has zero interest in those types of games)

Photon Bridge (Agility):

A small portion of hard light forms very briefly under the conduit’s feet, to travel short aerial distances, such as moving in a “surfing” motion from rooftop to rooftop. The bridge collapses just a fraction of a second after the touch and disintegrates. In combination with Light Speed it is used to safely leap a certain distance without actually ever leaving a “stable ground”.

It’s very useful for moving through the city so Luke kinda learned to do that, but he’s only covering a few meters of air at a time. It’s still a bit shaky so he prefers just going down and up the other building mostly.

Blackout (Defence):

Basically the other powers’ equivalent of “draining” power, except that (with enough practice) the conduit can soak up all and any light in a certain radius, leaving the area pitch black and void of any light, even reflective/bounce light. Even the rays from flash-lights in this radius immediately get sucked right into this “black hole”.

Flashbang (Defence):

A spherical, heavy burst of bright light (like the name giver) erupts as a defence mechanism, blinding the enemies. Too bright for regular sun-glasses, but manageable with special glasses or shades for welding.

Luke used this technique only four times in his life and has big regrets after doing it, as some of the people he used this against were permanently blinded. He only uses this as a last resort in a life-or-death situation.

Hard light shield (Defence):

A highly unstable, temporary shield of hard light. Extremely difficult to create and even harder to maintain. Consumes immense amounts of energy and is very unreliable, as the light waves constantly fluctuate and break out of the solid shape.

Luke can’t do that and doesn’t know it could work, as it’s way too difficult and energy consuming to try in a stressful situation.

Star Dust (???):

A small orb of glowing light is formed between the palms, then the hands are clapping and the light orb gets “powdered” into millions of small glowing particles, some bigger and some smaller, which look like a nebula with glimmering star clusters. It’s very pretty and the star dust hangs around for a few minutes, slowly drifting apart and dimming down. The specs of stars are very harmless and don’t burn your skin if you touch them, but they rather “melt” like snowflakes.

Luke has done that a few times when he was hiding in creepy places and needed some cheering-up. 

Laser Beam (Attack?):

It’s what to expect. Focused light that gets very hot and with enough focus can cut into all different kinds of matter (yes, of course also human flesh). Usually one or two fingers are used to channel the light more easily. 

Luke used this only sparingly when he needed to cut open and heat up a tin can with food, or break locks to get into a hidden shelter. 

Photon Bomb (Ultimate):

While technically possible, it has never been done and will never happen, as the energy demand for this ultimate would be astronomical. By draining the equivalent energy consumption from, say, a large city, over the time of many days, a sphere of pure photons would be formed, visually stunning, hot as a small sun and just as devastating if released. (Please see the pic with the Seattle skyline for scale. Big oof!) And not only the city would be levelled, but add some 200 miles radius, where not a soul would survive. 

So, this ultimate is not practical at all. Smaller Photon Bombs can be created, but they all need disproportionate amounts of time to form, are extremely energy consuming and become very unstable, the larger they get: they could potentially explode in your face at any moment if you lose focus. So do not attempt at home.

No one knows this even exists or can be done, so of course Luke hasn’t done it, bruh!

Additional side effects of light powers (some of them, at least):

Always an elevated body temperature

In some light conduits a special gene mutation can be found that encourages bioluminescent algae to grow in tear ducts, meaning that tears will glow. The algae doesn't seem to be harmful, other than being a source of embarrassment (and sometimes “emergency light”)

Faster reaction time

Each conduit has a different spectrum of light they can absorb the easiest. Everything below or above the preferred wavelength is less efficient, as it takes more time and strain to fill up the batteries

Sunlight seems to fall into the less efficient category of light for draining and that’s a shame

Xenon lights seem to work very well for most light conduits, it’s like an universal snack

It’s very much possible that there were a lot more light conduits out there, but many of them probably crashed so badly by underestimating the speed they were going, that they were unable to recover from it. At least in 3 cases, evidence was found in a… big, ugly mess. Let this be a warning to you.

Channelling light is quite an undertaking and as the power is immensely unstable it is possible it leaves an effect on the conduit wielding it as well. Not a lot of research went into that suggestion yet, but it seems like light conduits are prone to mental health issues