She tried to keep her calm, but she knew that she wasn't doing a very good job. This wasn't like messing with a school bully. The situation had just become real.
She was on the floor, attempting to roll Kevin off of Kyle, who was also screaming. With shaking hands, she managed to stop and place her hands on Kevin's neck, feeling his pulse. He was alive but out cold, with a nasty red spot on the back of his head.
"Quit yelling." One of the men screamed, and it caused them both to shut up. "Stand up and step back slowly."
They both did as told, backing away from the groaning Kevin. The leader of the group had his arms folded with a smirk on his face as he eyed them up. The one with the bat crouched down and began going through Kevin's pockets, taking the boy's wallet and phone.
She could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest, and she couldn't help but curse herself over and over again for getting Kyle into this mess. Kyle, for his part, had seemingly calmed down and had a hand on her shoulder in an effort to comfort her.
It helped a little, and she was calm enough to study the three men. They were all in their late forties to fifties, covered in battle scars and tattoos. All of them wore black leather jackets with the letters 'BT' carved into the front and back.
The Bad Timers gang. The same people who had robbed the bank earlier that week. They were a group that existed only to cause chaos and make everyone have a bad time. Though she doubted any of these guys had superpowers, it was likely they were just low-level henchmen who were tired of the lack of work due to the last failed bank heist the Victorian had stopped.
"You think they know?" One of the Bad Timers goons asked.
The leader of the little squad rubbed his chin and stared at the two shivering kids. "Nah. No way. They got no clue about our hideout around here. This big one was chasing them. I think it was just bad luck that they stumbled into our den." The man smirked.
"So, then what do we do, boss?" The third one flicked a switchblade and gave a sly grin.
"Here's the deal." The leader said after some time. He eyed them both up, slowly taking them in. "I ain't really one for trying to hurt kids."
"You nearly killed Kevin-"
She was thrown off her feet and crashed into the floor when he backhanded her. The force of it left a large red handprint on her face, and she sat there stunned, feeling the stinging pain of tears in her eyes. Her vision turned blurry as her glasses shattered and fell off her face.
"Hope!" Kyle bent down and helped her back to her feet.
"Next time, let the adults talk." The leader said, giving a grin. He moved his jacket a bit, and her beating heart sped up when she saw the handgun he had holstered. "Now, as I was saying, I ain't one for hurting kids who behave. So, let's make this simple. You two empty your pockets. I want your phones, wallets, and anything else, and then we'll let ya go."
"Just like that?" Kyle frowned.
"Just like that," the man grinned. "I'm no monster, after all. Not like my bosses anyway. Polaron, Demonica, and Mars King—those guys are the real monsters. Me. I'm a human—a runt forced to work for them. I'm like you, so I like you. Enough to make a good deal."
"Yeah, some good deal," Kyle said sarcastically. "You're still robbing us."
"Keep talking, and I'll do worse."
"Okay, okay." She held her hands up in a way to calm everyone down. "I'm not looking for trouble. I'll do what you ask." She tried to get her voice to not crack and slow her beating heart down. Her shaking legs gave her away, though.
"Me, too." Kyle sighed. Reluctantly, he emptied his pockets, following her lead. She laid out her wallet, phone, and anything else she had that looked like it could be valuable. Better safe than sorry.
She breathed in relief as the thug bent down, picking up the stuff, and began going through it. He had moved his hands away from the gun and looked like he was willing to let them go, though she wouldn't risk anything.
"Okay." The leader said, after some time passed. "You two can scram- Now, wait a second. What do we have here?" She was a little surprised when he opened Kyle's wallet and whistled, pulling out several hundred-dollar bills. Her own wallet had a few ones and some wrapped-up gum. "Kyle Brenner." The thug muttered, staring at the boy's library card. "Ah. You're Officer Brenner's boy, aren't you?"
"Brenner?" One of the thugs asked, the one with the bat, when he noticed how Kyle froze.
"Police Commissioner." The leader explained. "He was a big shot in Lillian. I had heard he moved to Oleander, and I guess it's true if this boy is his brat."
Kyle puffed his chest out and took a step forward, seemingly gaining some extra confidence. "You said you knew who my dad was? Then you know how screwed you just became, don't you? Anything happens to me, and he'll hunt you all down one at a time. My dad's going to have you all locked up before the end of the week."
She really, really wanted to sucker punch Kyle in that moment when he opened his mouth to speak. It took all her willpower not to facepalm. "Idiot." She whispered.
The leader nodded his head. "Yeah, I bet your dad would pay a load of cash to get you back." That caused the look of smugness to instantly fade from Kyle's face. The thug's gaze then turned to look at her, and she felt as if her heart was about to explode. "And now that I think about it, the big bosses are kind of pissed that they missed out on a haul. I mean, look at this girl here, though. We could sell her for some cash, right? She's a little pretty after all."
"You can't do that," Kyle said in horror.
"Yeah, we can-"
She knew it was dumb, but she lunged forward, going for the handgun the thug had in an effort to catch him off guard while he was still talking. She even managed to get her hands around it, but unlike in movies, the thing didn't come out of its holster so easily.
"Bad idea." The thug smirked, and he pulled his fist back.
"Wait-" And a second later, everything went black...
***
"What did my daughter do?"
The kindergarten teacher sighed, leaning forward on the desk. "The other kids saw it, Mr. Lauren. Ms. Lauren broke Mr. Bruno's nose during recess."
"He started it!" A young Hope whined, arms folded, as she sat on her father's lap. "He was being a big jerk. He shoved Armin in the mud and laughed at him!"
"Daddy will handle this," Alex assured, ruffling his daughter's hair. "Did the boy hurt her friend?" Her father demanded.
The teacher tapped a finger on the desk. "Mr. Lauren, a shove is hardly an excuse to use the force your daughter used. As it stands, Mr. Moore was fine, if a little dirty, whereas Mr. Bruno had to seek medical care, with his parents demanding your daughter be punished."
"I see." Alexander nodded. "I'll speak to her when she gets home; believe me."
"That'll hardly be enough."
"What are you trying to say?" The teacher slid a picture over, and her father got a look at the Bruno kid. His face paled as he stared down at the picture. "There has to be some sort of mistake." This wasn't some childish fight. The boy's entire face looked more like a squashed tomato. His jaw looked to be shattered, and his nose would likely be crooked for the rest of his life. It was clear the child would have had to seek immediate medical care. "This is…"
"Daddy?"
Slowly, his eyes trailed down to his daughter. She stared up at him so innocently. Yet apparently, hours before, she had nearly caved in another boy's skull. She smiled at him.
The rest of the conversation went by in a blur. Alex barely understood what the teacher was saying. What he did know was that it wasn't good. Hope was no longer welcome at that school, and the other family would be pressing charges. He numbly left the building, clutching his daughter's hand. He would have to find a new school for her, and she would be required to see a therapist for violent tendencies.
"Am I in trouble?"
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry."
"I know you are, sweetie." He put her in the backseat and made sure she was strapped in before he got seated and pulled out of the school parking lot. "Do you know why you're in trouble?"
"Because that boy was a jerk?"
"Hope!"
She sighed and folded her arms. "Because I hit him."
"Because you hit him too hard." There was a silence as he drove down the busy street. "There's nothing wrong with protecting a friend, but that doesn't mean you should be as mean to the bully as he is to you."
"But why?"
"Because that's just how the world works."
Alex looked into the mirror, seeing how she quietly stared out the window, her thoughts scattered around her. She wasn't answering him. For a few minutes, they drove silently home. Spring was coming, and the trees were becoming green again. They could head to the nearby beaches in a few weeks, which would be fun.
"I like the colors." She finally said. Her eyes were locked on the sky, watching the clouds twirl about in the endless sea of blue.
"White or blue?"
"The other ones." She said, shaking her head.
"Other ones?"
"The real sparkly popping ones."
He felt himself twitch a bit. He always knew his daughter wasn't normal. He knew there was something special about her. She was a Super, the kind he saw on TV or in the skies flying around—people like Full Monarch. Her firing laser beams out of her eyes made it pretty obvious after all. There were always times like these when she seemed so far away from him. She was able to see things he couldn't and do things no parent would ever consider their child capable of.
He'd need to speak to his friend about getting the 'special' glasses so he could try to stop all the weirdness.
He shook his head, getting rid of the negative thoughts of what was to come. That could wait. For now, she was still his little girl. "How about we surprise Mom by picking up supper tonight? Does that sound good?" He stared at his daughter through the mirror and smiled.
"Yeah." Her grin was large now. "Can we get-"
Glass exploded, and metal screamed as something slammed into the front of their car. The world spun, and her head jerked around so much that she thought it was about to snap in two. Sparks flew off of the road as their car skipped across it.
Her father took the worst of the damage, as he was upfront. Countless shards glass and pieces of jagged metal found their way into his body. Her own ears rang loudly from her screaming as the car spun and finally came to a crashing stop with a jerk that flipped the car onto its roof. They were now totally upside down, and she breathed heavily, her heart settling. Somehow, she had remained unharmed. More than that, she was fine. Not even the seatbelt, which was trying to dig into her skin, was able to harm her, and with ease, she managed to kick her little legs out, shattering the car seat as she snapped the belt with strength she shouldn't have had.
Her belt snapping caused her to fall forward, and she hit the roof of the car with a soft thud. It still didn't hurt. Neither did the shards of glass that were unable to cut her as she shuffled forward numbly to her father. He was upside down, his arms hanging above his head, blood pouring down his body.
"D- Dad?" She said weakly, trying to shake the man. He didn't respond. "Daddy!" She clutched onto him, but still nothing.
She wasn't sure how long she had been trapped in the car, sobbing quietly as she clutched onto her father's bloodied form. Her head perked up, though, when she heard the sound of metal being torn, and the driver's side door of their car was easily ripped off. Something had rammed into them. The crash hadn't just happened out of nowhere after all. That something, as it turned out, happened to be a person.
She nearly let out a sobbing gasp when she saw the man. His skin was the color of ash, and he was covered in dozens of stitches and scars. His hair was long, and the color of tar, and his eyes were pure gold. He had no expression on his face as he stared at her.
"Ah. So, you're alive." He hummed to himself, his voice husky and hollow. He reached out slowly, his finger beginning to glow with some kind of black light. "I'll deal with you now before you become a nuisance to me later."
"H- Hope." Her father groaned as his eyes began to open, just in time to see a hand grabbing at his daughter's face. His instincts kicked in, and he let out a pained yell of rage, swatting out with his hand. "No!" His hand came down, blocking the finger and stopping it from touching his daughter. Instead, that strange colored light that came from it forced its way into his palm.
Alexander let out a loud scream, and his body began to rapidly shake and twitch. He began foaming at the mouth, and blood started to gush down his face, dripping out of his eyes and nose as he spasmed.
"Daddy!" She sobbed in horror.
The pale man watched the two of them with a cocked head. "That wasn't meant for you. You'll suffer a slow and painful death for getting in the way of destiny. Now, where was I?" The man reached down for her once more. "I'll kill you before you can grow-"
The fist that slammed into the monster's face caused a loud crack to echo out, and every window shattered to pieces. Hope looked up wide-eyed at the golden woman who had just saved her. The woman's red cape flowed, and she folded her arms, glaring in the direction where the villain had been sent flying.
Slowly, though, the woman turned to look back at her, and her face softened. "Are you okay?" The woman went dead quiet when she saw the man who was still dangling from the seat. More specifically, his flesh, which was starting to turn black from the spot where the villain had touched. Alexander's entire hand had changed, the color steadily spreading through the rest of his arm. The Victorian sighed. "The Dead Virus. Damn it."
She opened her mouth to speak but was silenced when Victorian placed a finger on her head. She felt her eyes grow heavy, her vision blur, and then she was asleep.
***
"Hope!"
Her eyes shot open, staring up at the sky above, and she realized she had blacked out. For how long, she didn't know. Everything was blurry, and her face ached. If she had to guess, the man had likely sucker-punched her on reflex.
Man?
That was when her mind came back to her as she remembered what was happening moments ago. "Aw, damn." She groaned, pushing herself up slowly, and looked around. She was still in the maze of iron, and it didn't look like she had been moved yet. She was likely only knocked out for a few seconds, or minutes at most, if she had to guess.
The leader was cursing. "Damaged the goods by mistake. Crazy girl." She groaned and tried to sit up, seeing that Kyle was already on the ground, tackled by one of the men. "Yo, Tommy, drug her up before she hurts herself any worse. I know a guy that's into the whole broken nose look, but I'd rather not sell to him."
A set of arms wrapped around her, and she fully snapped awake, trying to rip her way out of the hold, shaking her head. She felt a pain in her chest from how hard her heart was beating, and for a second, she thought it was some sort of heart attack, but rather, it was closer to her lungs. She was breathing heavily, panting even, as she realized that this was a panic attack.
The man who grabbed her was too strong for her to break out of his grip, even with only one arm wrapped around her. His free hand went to his pocket, and he pulled out a used needle filled with some sort of clear liquid. She tried to scream and thrash, but he ignored her. The pain got worse as he cranked her head up and forced her to look up at the big blue sky up ahead. Then she felt a sharp pain in her neck as the needle broke skin.
This was the moment in comics, right? This was the moment a superhero would swoop in and save her. She waited for the Victorian to come crashing down, but she never did. Instead, all Hope felt was exhaustion as her veins burned and her eyes began to grow heavy. Words slurred around her, and she couldn't focus.
The only thing going through her mind, strangely enough, was that day. The day the pale man looked at her. The day her father got sick. The day everything went wrong.
Across the city, in a particular storage locker the Laurens owned, a metal sphere began to glow with a faint blue light. 'Authorization accepted.' And that was when a moment straight out of a comic happened.
"Uh, boss... the needle broke?"
"What?" The leader of the gang sighed and turned to look at his friend, who was showing off the needle he had tried to stab into the girl. It was twisted. It never actually broke past her skin. The leader frowned, feeling suddenly very uneasy. "Why did it... Oh crap! She's a Super! She has—Look out!"
The thug looked down at the girl in his arms when he noticed she had stopped twitching. She looked at him, calmly wrapping her hand around his wrist. Then, in an instant, she swung him over her body and slammed him down into the ground.
The man was down for the count in an instant, groaning. Somehow, she had easily lifted what was likely four times her weight with ease.
The leader made for his gun and growled. "She's got powers-" She dove at him, grabbing the strapped weapon and ripping it off of the man's belt. She pulled a little too hard, though, as she quite literally tore the man's belt off along with half of his pants in a single pull. The thug stumbled back, tripping on his destroyed pants, and fell over awkwardly, bashing his head on the ground and making him groan in pain.
The other thug, who had apparently let go of Kyle, suddenly jumped her with his bat and swung it as hard as he could directly into her face. Or at least he tried, but he only found himself hitting air as she crouched low. Her hands flew out, and she pushed him as hard as she could. The force of it kicked him into the air, and he crashed several feet away with a loud cry of pain.
He was back on his feet, his legs shaking as he stared at her. Seemingly making up his mind, he dropped the bat and fled from the teenager. She might have given chase if not for the fact that the leader had managed to fish a knife out of his pocket as he pulled his pants back up. She turned just in time for him to scream and stab it directly into her neck with his good hand.
The sound the knife made as the metal bent and broke on her throat was enough to fill the guy's eyes with tears, and she almost let out a dark chuckle. "Please, don't-"
She smashed a fist into his face, and he was out cold. She breathed heavily, feeling as if her heart was about to explode as she rubbed at her neck. The world had become so clear to her. She was seeing better than when her glasses had first broken.
"What?" The voice of Kyle caused a chill to go through her, and she turned, finding the boy staring at her with wide, shocked-filled eyes as he clutched at his bloody nose. "What was that, Hope?"
Before she could even attempt to come up with a good answer, there was a groan as Kevin pushed himself up, turning and staring at her bloody form. He blinked a few times, then blacked out from shock.
Kyle bent down to help the knocked-out boy. "How did you do that, Hope?"
"I have to go."
"Huh-" Before he could even process it, she was already running down the alleyway at a speed he knew he wouldn't be able to catch up to. He sighed and grabbed his phone from one of the thugs, dialing a number. "Hey, Rowan. We may have a slight problem."