The setting sun cast a bloody glow over the glass dome of the tech expo.
Gray Gina Hutchinson stood at the entrance to Exhibit Hall B, her chestnut curls swaying gently in the evening breeze, her tailored suit hugging her curves.
Her striking figure drew plenty of sideways glances from passersby.
But Gray had no time for their attention. She kept checking her watch, muttering under her breath: Where is that guy?
She'd been waiting for a while when—
"Miss Gray."
A low voice came from behind, startling her. She spun around to see Locke striding toward her, pulling Dio along.
"Lionel should've filled you in," Locke said bluntly, his voice hushed. His hand rested on Dio's shoulder as the boy scanned their surroundings, his red eyes glinting faintly in the twilight.
"Yes," Gray nodded, snapping into work mode. "We've got transportation ready!"
"Rrrrr—!"
Her words were cut off by the deafening roar of rotor blades slicing through the sky.
Three helicopters bearing the LutherCorp logo swooped down like giant eagles, their downdraft scattering flyers everywhere.
But what really dropped jaws—
Hanging from the middle chopper, tethered by heavy-duty steel cables, was a sleek black Lamborghini!
A Lamborghini Diablo!
The Diablo—a legendary supercar, nicknamed the Devil or Dark Destroyer! The iconic Murciélago, its successor, would later carry its legacy.
"Holy—"
A vendor's coffee cup hit the ground with a clatter as he gaped at the gleaming, aerodynamic car dangling in the air.
Boom!
The expo erupted into chaos.
TV spotlights swiveled skyward.
The crowd surged like a tidal wave, only to be held back by a wall of black-clad security guards who appeared out of nowhere.
"Good Lord! That's the LutherCorp logo!" a tech nerd in a plaid shirt exclaimed, pushing up his glasses and crushing his energy drink can.
"They're airlifting a supercar?!"
"Cameras! Cameras!" a TV director yanked off his headset. "Get the lenses on that Ferrari! This is tonight's headline!"
"Mommy!" a little girl perched on her dad's shoulders pointed excitedly at the sky. "Big iron bird!"
The crowd burst into laughter, but it was quickly drowned out by gasps and shouts.
"Wait! Who's that guy in the work pants? LutherCorp's secret engineer?"
"Are you blind? That's obviously a farmer!"
"No way! What farmer gets a three-helicopter escort and a brand-new Diablo?!"
The most absurd scene came from the expo's security captain, stammering into his radio: "HQ! HQ! Someone's illegally parking in the air! No, wait, it's a crane! I mean—"
"Make way! Make way! This is LutherCorp's—" Gray's shouts were swallowed by the commotion.
She glanced at Locke helplessly, only to see he looked even more shocked than she was.
Clearly, Locke hadn't expected Lionel to roll out helicopters.
Talk about overkill! Was he trying to make sure every enemy in town spotted them?
"I just asked him for a ride," Locke muttered, his mouth twitching. "A Santana would've been fine."
"Forget it. This works—fast enough. And no one's stopping us, right?" Taking a deep breath, he handed a sulky Dio over to Gray. "My son's in your hands."
"Got it!" Gray nodded solemnly, pulling a key from her briefcase and handing it to Locke with care.
"The boss said two of the choppers are escorts, and one's taking Dio to Luther Manor. This Diablo's from his personal garage. Our engineers tuned it to hit 0-60 in 3.1 seconds, breaking the Diablo's 200 mph speed cap to reach 206 mph. Most importantly—"
"It holds steady at high speeds."
The cool metal of the key snapped Locke out of his daze.
"Thank Lionel for me. I'll reach out when this is over," he said with a wry smile, pulling his flip phone from his pocket. "And… take care of this, too."
Gray took the phone, puzzled. "But how will you—"
"Just in case," Locke said, his eyes scanning the crowd still snapping photos.
Yeah, paranoid Locke even suspected his phone might be bugged.
"You could just come with us—" Gray started.
"You're wondering why I'm not going with you, right?" Locke shook his head. "Thanks, Miss Gray, but this is something I have to handle myself."
"If I were on that helicopter…" He didn't finish, but Gray got the message.
"Good luck, Mr. Locke," she said with a respectful nod.
"Dad," Dio tugged at his father's sleeve, "I swear I won't slow you down."
"Dio, don't be stubborn!" Locke snapped, his voice louder than ever before with his son. Before Dio could recover from the shock, Locke shoved him into Gray's arms, sending him stumbling into the protective circle of two bodyguards.
"Get on the chopper and don't look back!"
"But Dad, you—"
"Do as I say!"
Locke's roar silenced the crowd for a moment.
Seizing the chance, he vaulted over a barrier and sprinted toward the Diablo as its cables were released.
"Dad…"
Dio struggled against Gray's grip, trying to run after him.
But—
Gray quickly wrapped an arm around Dio's shoulders, handed Locke's phone to a guard, and watched the man disappear into the distance. A realization hit her.
An ordinary farmer?
Not even close.
No regular farmer could earn the boss's favor like this. Was he a special agent? A spy? Or even… a superhuman?
Gray swallowed hard, not daring to dwell on it.
"We need to get out of here, little sir!" she said urgently, ushering Dio into the helicopter.
"Rrrrr—!"
The rotors roared to life again, and the cabin door began to close. Through the window, Dio could clearly see—
His dad's black supercar rocketing out of the exhibit area like an arrow.
Am I just gonna sit back again, letting Dad handle everything alone?
I'm not that kid anymore. Neither is The World!
His breathing quickened in the cabin as he stared at the shrinking black car outside.
The World's silhouette flickered behind him, its golden fists clenched as if protesting in silence.
No!
A flash of resolve crossed Dio's red eyes.
He wasn't a kid who needed protecting anymore.
"The World!"
Time!
Stop, now!
Gray was checking the route planner when a faint breeze brushed past—
"Dio?!"
She froze in horror. The boy, who'd been strapped into his seat, had vanished into thin air!
The cabin door was still closing.
The seatbelt hung perfectly intact, as if someone had passed through it on a molecular level.
"Stop! Stop the chopper!" Gray's voice cracked with panic as she lunged toward the cockpit. "Dio's gone!"
The pilot whipped around. "What?! But the door—"
"Shut up!" Gray slammed the emergency brake button, her usual poise replaced by a furious yell. "Tell the ground team to find him! Now, damn it!"
---
The reflections of skyscraper glass flowed like molten lava across the Diablo's black surface.
Locke didn't bother with the headlights—
Because Star Platinum's superhuman vision let him see every detail clearly in the deepening night.
"Turn left," the GPS's female voice chimed.
Locke yanked the wheel hard.
Vroom!
The Lamborghini cut onto Coastal Boulevard at a near-right angle, its rear tires leaving two smoking black streaks on the seawall.
The engine's roar startled a flock of seagulls, their flapping wings drowned out by the twelve-cylinder beast. The speedometer surged past 120 mph, yet the car remained as steady as if it were driving through a frozen moment in time.
That's right—Star Platinum.
Like the car's namesake, "Diablo," his Stand's unmatched precision let Locke weave through traffic at impossible angles, a phantom in the flow.
The salty sea breeze poured through the window as the black streak shot along the coast.
Locke was racing toward the docks.
He had a meeting set with someone there.
If his timing was right, that someone was probably crossing the sea from Gotham to Metropolis right now.
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