Pride (Short Story)

Pride is a short story in the Just Cause series. It appears in JCU Omnibus, Vol. 1.

Characters

 * Richard Lyons (Lionheart)

Summary
Richard Lyons grows up bullied and beaten for his appearance. After a bullying incident when Richard is eleven, he and his mother flee Mercury, Nevada for Las Vegas. After an incident in high school involving Hell's Angels, Richard leaves town. He wanders rural America, working odd jobs and sending his mother post cards.

October, 1972

A biker gang called the Demon Lords arrives at the diner where Richard has a job washing dishes. Their leader is a parahuman with thick, knobbly skin and pronounced teeth and claws. To stop them harassing the folk in the diner, Richard calls out the gang leader. When the gang leader refuses to 'step outside', Richard goes outside and knocks over the gang's motorcycles.

In the following fight, Richard manages to hold off the gang for a while, but eventually ends up taking a thorough beating, ending with the gang leader pulling a gun. He is saved by an elderly man named (name) who invites Richard to travel with him.