The New Kid

Humans have always had a strange addiction to telling stories. If you look throughout history, you'll find it. Poets, playwriters, authors. They've existed as far back as we can recall. Storytelling is a job that will likely never vanish off the face of the Earth.

There is one brand of storytelling we've seemed to be truly addicted to as a species in particular.

Heroes. You can find any number of them. Hercules, or Adam, the legends of Thor, tales of knights saving their kingdom, or even of just simple cowboys fighting for what's right. When it comes to heroes, we can't seem to get enough of them. We needed more. The heroes needed to be more. We needed them to be Super...

"She was so cool, Dad! Like, I've seen her on shows. I mean, I have her action figure, but this was different like seeing her in person was-"

"Hope, you need air." Her father chuckled.

She slowed down, her face red as she nodded and took several deep gulps of air. It was a few hours after the bank incident. Due to everything that had happened, her mother never got to speak to anyone about that loan. That was okay, though. Or at least that's what Jane kept saying, but she could spot the worry behind her mother's eyes.

She silently pushed her glasses further up her face and took in the sight of her dad. The hospital room was pretty bland; he had used to get a ton of 'get well' stuff, but when weeks turned to months and those turned to years, people stopped asking for him to get better... He was once a big man, and she remembered he would carry her on his shoulders. He was frail now, though. His beard was gone, as was most of his hair, and his eyes always looked tired, and there were so many wires, too many, all connected to him, weighing him down.

Still, he had a large goofy smile on his face as she sat on the bed next to him, and he held her like old times. Her mom and Armin were in the waiting room. Only one person was able to be with him at a time.

"Mom and I are fine. She saved us and everyone else." Hope finally said.

"I'm glad. I can't believe villains are still robbing banks in this day and age." Her father sighed, shaking his head. "When will people learn."

"Where do you think it comes from?" That caused her father to look back up at her. "Their powers, I mean. Do you think they always had them or did something give it to them? Why are some people heroes, and why do some people decide to be villains?"

"Why do you ask? You want superpowers?" Her father joked.

"Well, yeah! What kid wouldn't." She said, rolling her eyes. 'But it's more than that.' It went unsaid, never leaving her lips.

For a second, he had a debate with himself, a debate he had dozens of times. Should he tell her the truth? Tell her about the 'pod'. About where she came from. But in the end, like all times the thoughts crossed his mind, it was squashed out by the fear of how she would react. For just a little longer, he would keep it secret. She would still be his little girl for a bit more time.

"If you had powers, which side would you be on." He joked, grasping her hands.

"Obviously, I'd be a good guy." She huffed, causing him to snort.

"Yeah. Obviously. What powers would you have?"

"Something that lets me fly. I'd love to fly around the planet with Victorian helping her kick evil's butt!"

His grip got tighter around her hand as he chuckled once more. "Well, sorry to say, but you're still a mere mortal like any of us. Besides, I don't think my heart could handle you doing something like that. Let's stick with just being a fan of the Victorian instead of her sidekick, okay?" Hope winced but nodded, and he felt a little bad about hiding the truth. "I do have some good news."

"Yeah?" She perked up at that.

"Do you know the superhero team called Reservoir?"

"Yeah. They're a group of heroes with water-based powers who work under the Ocean Empress, and-"

"Air, Hope." He chuckled. She breathed in deeply, and he broke into a fit of laughter. It took him a moment to calm down as he grinned. "Well, Reservoir recently got a new member who has a healing-based ability. She lives in Lillian, but the hospital made a deal. She'll be stopping by in Oleander and trying to heal all the critical patients, and I'm on the waiting list."

"You're going to be able to leave!"

"I didn't say that." That caused her to go silent instantly. "I don't want you getting your hopes up, pun intended. We don't know if it will work, but she should be able to do something with any luck."

She reached down and gripped her father's hand, smiling brightly. "Then I'll be sure to thank her when you're up and walking again."

She wasn't sure how long they had been there, but soon enough, it had gotten late, the stars shining through the window. She was forced to say goodbye as a doctor came to give her father medication that would let him sleep despite the vast pain he was constantly in. She said bye to Armin as they dropped him off at his house, and soon enough, they arrived back at the small apartment that Hope and her mother called home.

They had been forced to sell their house early on into the bill issues. The apartment itself wasn't that bad in the grand scheme of things, with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. A cramped space that had caused her nerves to boil more than once, but it was home.

Her mom took the time to tuck her in, and it didn't take long for sleep to claim Hope. That night, she dreamed of soaring across the stars.

Unknown to everyone, in a storage locker that held the last of the Lauren junk from their old home, a large metal pod began to glow with a faint blue light...

***

The bell tolled through the hallway, and students ran around in an effort to get seated.

"Alright, alright. Butts in seats." A loud voice said as an older man entered the classroom dressed in the typical bland gray suit all teachers had, one hand holding a large briefcase, the other a cup of coffee which he kept drinking from in a vain effort to wake up. Thankfully, the day was almost over, as this was the last period of the day. This man was Mr. Pluto.

Mr. Pluto was a strict man, yet also kind to an extent. It wasn't that he was ever mean, just that he was tired all the time. His hair was always messy, and the black locks seemed filled with more gray every day.

He stood in front of his desk, letting out a tired sigh as he set the coffee and case down as he pinched his nose, getting himself ready for the last period of the day. Next to the man, a young sixteen-year-old brown-haired Indian boy stood waiting on what to do as the teacher let out another sigh, trying to gather his scattered thoughts.

Finally, the teacher removed his hands and set his cup down. "Okay, I'll make this quick since I'm tired. We got your tests back." He sighed, shaking his head for a moment. "And... Well, they aren't good. Most of you won't be able to meet the grade average. I understand that things have been harsh these last few years, but I am still very disappointed in all of you."

As he spoke, many of the kids looked away awkwardly as his eyes roamed the classroom.

"I expect you all to do better next time. In fact, only one of you managed to score above average. Of course, I'm talking about our local hero nut, Ms. Lauren." An awkward silence filled the classroom, and a quiet cough could be heard for a moment. "I said... Our very own Ms. Lauren."

"I think she's asleep in the back." One student said.

In the back of the classroom, with her arms folded and her head face down, Hope Lauren tried to get in a few extra moments of sleep, going back to the dream world, where she got to fly around and fight crime with the world's greatest superhero.

"Wake up!" The teacher yelled, hitting the desk and causing her to let out a loud squeak as she shot up and tripped over her chair, falling back. She laughed nervously when she saw that everyone was looking down on her.

"Hey, Mr. Pluto. Long time no see. Am I in trouble?" She asked sheepishly. Her teacher stared blankly at her, causing her to shrink further into the ground.

"Now that sleeping beauty is awake, let's go ahead and start class." The teacher said, moving back to the front of the room. He gestured to the boy who was still standing awkwardly near the entrance of the room. "Everyone, this is Kyle Brenner. He's your new classmate, so treat him nicely. Mr. Brenner, you can take a seat near the back next to Ms. Lauren. If she bites, we found that hitting her over the head a few times will get her to stop it."

Kyle laughed at that but stopped when he saw the teacher still had a serious look on his face. "That was a joke, right?"

"No. Not in the slightest."

"Oh? So, like, has that happened before or-"

"Sit."

"Yes, Sir!"

Hope frowned as Kyle took a seat next to her. She eyed the new boy up for a moment. She had to admit that he was handsome. The kind that would join a popular clique in no time and likely even get Ashley to pine after him.

"You aren't about to bite me, are you?" Kyle snorted, causing Hope to jump and look away.

"I'm just wondering why someone would transfer into this school so late." She shrugged. The year was almost over. Soon, it would be summer. There was only about three months of school left, so it was odd. Most people would likely enroll next year.

"My dad just moved, and he's sort of into staying in school." Kyle shrugged, giving her a smirk. "Plus, he wants me in public places surrounded by people for my protection."

"Protection? What do you mean by-"

"Ms. Lauren, please refrain from talking while I'm teaching." Mr. Pluto barked. "Now, let's begin today's lesson. Can anyone tell me the name of the hero that ended the war between Lucifer and Mr. Sini?"

***

Once more, the day soon ended just like any other as the bell rang. She felt exhausted as she slowly walked down the stone steps and out onto the sidewalk.

Like always, the homeless man was back, already being dragged away by security as he screamed up a storm. "The Emperor lives! He walks among us. Soon, his challenger will return!"

"Think that guy will ever be arrested?" Armin asked. Her and Armin didn't share any classes, so they only got to see each other either during lunch or when school got out, which wasn't too bad. She liked privacy every now and then.

"He's not hurting anyone." She shrugged. "Besides, with a few more lines, I think I can create a bingo game out of threats that he yells. Anyways, we didn't get to yesterday cause of the bank, but you up for the comic shop? I hear there's a new hero debut, some ice guy called Snowdawn."

"Hey, wait up." A voice called out, causing Hope to nearly trip mid-step down the stairs. She turned to find Kyle pushing his way through the crowd of students and making his way towards her.

"Hey, isn't that the new guy?" Armin asked.

"Yep."

"And he wants to talk to you?"

"Yep."

"What deal with the devil did you make." He asked, shooting her a look.

"Cut it out." She jabbed her friend in the ribs. "Uh, sup new kid." She said dumbly when the boy finally reached her.

Kyle gave her a slight grin, stuffing his hands in his pocket. "You two walking home together?" He asked, shooting a look from her and Armin. "If you are, I'd love to tag along if you don't mind."

For a moment, Armin looked as if he was about to say something, but a loud buzz pierced the air, and the boy winced, going for his phone and reading a text. "I forgot something in school. Hey, Hope, head out without me. I'll catch you later. We can check out that new Snowdawn guy, sometime. it'll be ice to check out his comics. Ice? Eh?" He nudged Hope in the ribs, being met with a blank stare from the girl before her ran off, leaving her helpless in front of the new kid.

"Well, that was odd." Kyle snorted. "I guess it's just me and you."

"You want to walk with me?"

"I'd like to talk with you, actually, but I guess we'll be walking too." Kyle grinned.

"Why?" She regretted saying it; it might have come off as rude, but she knew for a fact her hair was ugly, and she didn't have makeup on.

Kyle gave a half-shrug and then pointed. "I like your shirt. I guess that was enough."

She looked down and felt her face turn red. She was wearing another Enforcers shirt, all ten heroes frozen in a battle with masked goons.

Kyle pointed at one hero in particular. "My favorite is Ocean Empress. She's badass." He grinned.

"You know what? You're cool." She smiled. "What did you want with me anyways, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I just wanted to talk?" Kyle shrugged as they began to walk. "I recently moved here, so I'm just looking to get to know people. Trying to find a new group, I guess. I live a few blocks away. Mind walking with me?"

"I wouldn't mind that." She shrugged.

"Thanks." Kyle smiled. "So, I take it you're a fan of heroes."

"Isn't everyone?"

"Well, I doubt the bad guys are." They shared a laugh at that.

He broke out into a light trot; she kept her pace even with the boy as they hit the end of a street. "So, you said you moved here recently. Where were you from before?" She asked. "If you don't mind me asking, of course."

"No, it's fine. I used to live in Lillian." Kyle explained. "It was... Let's say different. That's a good word."

"Well, welcome to Oleander City." She joked, waving her arms around.

Oleander wasn't the biggest city in the world, but it was still massive compared to some places, with glimmering skyscrapers, run-down neighborhoods, and a great view of the beach. It was a pretty nice place, if a little too much like a cliché action movie city.

"So, I noticed school wasn't as exciting as it had been yesterday?" Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

"The hallway."

"You were there?"

"Well, I saw the end of it when the principal was showing me around. It's pretty badass how you threw hands with that guy. Seeing that is one of the reasons I convinced my dad I wanted to join today instead of next week like we had planned."

Throwing hands wasn't really the word she would have used. Either way, Kyle seemed excited about it.

He gave her a slight smile. "So, I don't suppose you're-"

She never got to finish as she was suddenly cut off. A loud cry could be heard from up ahead, making them both stop. It didn't sound like a person, though. Instead, it was more like a dying animal. Kyle didn't have time to process it, though, as Hope took off running. He did his best to keep up with the girl, but Hope was surprisingly fast. Both of them rounded a corner, ending up at the entrance to a small park, and came to a sudden stop.

At the end of the park, three boys could be seen. They were all swarmed around what appeared to be a wounded dog which they were poking and kicking at with sticks. The poor thing was letting out several loud cries but seemed to be hurt too bad to move, its leg twisted at an odd angle, as well as several other issues.

"What the hell are you doing? You're hurting it!" Hope yelled out with wide eyes. She barely registered the fact that the trio were members of the football team and were some of the boys that usually followed after Kevin, though he wasn't present, thankfully.

"Well, well, well." One of the boys, the biggest one, almost as big as Kevin was, in fact, turned when she yelled. "That's the girl that Kev was talking about, right?"

"I said, what are you doing!" She repeated it louder this time, and if looks could kill, the football player would have already been six feet under.

"Oh, relax." One of the boys said, letting out a dark chuckle. "We aren't the ones who did this. We found it like this. It was hit by a car or something. It's going to die anyway."

"So!! Why does that matter? You're still hurting it!" Hope cried out, her glare growing larger.

"Geez, just calm down. It's not like we're going to kill it ourselves. Besides, it's too far gone. Its back side is crushed, and its legs are all twisted. I doubt it'll live much longer anyway, and it can't be saved."

"That doesn't matter!" Hope hissed. She shook her head and clenched her fists as her mind raced. "If it has no chance to survive, then either leave it alone or put it out of its misery. You're just hurting it worse!"

"So now you want us to kill it?" Another of the boys asked, giving her a frown. "You don't make a lot of sense."

Kyle's lips were pressed into a thin line. He placed a hand on Hope's shoulder. "Hey. I'll handle this; you step back-"

"No," Hope said, shaking her head. "I'm not walking away from these jerks." She pulled her way out of Kyle's grip and removed her backpack.

The biggest of the players gave another sneer for a moment. "Fine, you want the damn dog to be put down." He raised his foot up and pressed it down into the animal's back, causing it let out a horrible screeching sound as it howled in utter pain.

Before he could even register what was happening, Hope had already reached him and had swung her bag right into his face. It was a heavy backpack filled with as much books as she could carry just in case, she needed to use it as a weapon like she was now currently doing. As he stumbled back his shock faded to rage as he stepped forward roughly, slamming his fist into Hope's face, easily busting her lip and nose as she tripped and fell back, hitting the ground her glasses going flying off of her face.

The football player paused when he saw her eyes. She was on the ground from his attack, her face bloody, but there was still a fire in her eyes. The same determination she had used against Kevin, the villain. Her foot flew out and she kicked him roughly in the shins causing him to yelp and fall on his butt. She was on him before he hit the ground. He was bigger than her, and a lot stronger as well. He was basically a mini-Kevin. Brute force would never work, so instead she got her backpack behind him as best she could, getting the straps tangled around his arms, and neck, as he thrashed around wildly trying to get up.

Then she went in for the kill. She began to punch, kick, and even bite him. Nothing was off the table. She hit him with everything she had forcing him further into the dirt. She might have even won this fight, if you could call it that, but she was forced to let go of him when one of the other boys smacked her upside the head with a stick, knocking her over. She hit the dirt again but didn't have time to try and form any plan. There were three of them after all, so taking down one really didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.

She felt them begin to wail on her, but she refused to scream out in pain. Thankfully, she didn't have to put up with it for long. "That's enough," Kyle yelled, causing the kicking to stop.

She felt one of the boys be tackled off of her, and she could hear the sounds of fighting. She was too injured to turn, but she didn't have to wait long as seconds later, Kyle crashed into the ground next to her with a groan, having been jumped by the three boys.

"You two are insane." One of them hissed out, wiping the blood from his busted lip that Hope had given him. "I'm going to make sure Kevin puts you in the ground-"

"What's going on here?!" Unlike when Kyle had yelled it, this voice had a solid edge to it. She heard someone walking towards them, and the bullies turned. "Picking on a nerd and a girl, you three are jokes."

She could hear the ringleader growl, and for the third time, the park was filled with the sounds of fighting. It was over quickly. She heard screaming, but not of the new person though. It was the players. One of them crashed into the ground, gripping a broken wrist. The other had his face nearly caved in, and the last, that being the leader, was smashed into the dirt.

She managed to push herself up and watched as the three boys began to crawl away, followed by quickly running, scared of whoever had just given them the beating of a lifetime. "You, okay?"

She felt a pair of arms wrap around her, and she was pulled into a standing position. She looked up at her savior. He was a tall, athletic boy in his late teens. He was of Asian descent, and his hair had been dyed blonde.

"Rowan?" Kyle stood up, wobbling slightly.

"Sup K. Your dad sent me to look for you. It's a good thing, too. Those guys were given you the beating of a lifetime." Rowan gave the boy a large grin while Kyle sighed and shook his head.

"You two know each other?" She asked. The boy wasn't someone from her school, so either he was also new, or he was at a different school.

"Sadly, we do." Kyle nodded. "Hope this is my... Well, I guess you can call him my friend."

"Your words hurt, K." Rowan snorted. He held a handout to her. "I'm his bodyguard."

"Bodyguard?" She didn't take his hand, just staring at the two boys.

"Long story," Kyle grumbled, seemingly not happy with Rowan's words.

The Asian boy just shrugged and moved past them. He removed his jacket and wrapped it around the dog's body. She was ashamed to admit that in everything that had happened she forgot about it. "What are you doing?" She demanded. The puppy was hissing and moaning as Rowan lifted it.

"There's a vet clinic nearby. A buddy of mine works there." The boy explained. "I know it's a long shot, but I'm going to try to get this little guy over there. I have to try at least."

"I'll go with you." Kyle didn't sound happy when he said it but still stepped forward.

"Me too-"

"No." She nearly jumped when both boys spoke at the same time. "You should head to a hospital or at least a doctor's office," Rowan explained.

"He's right." Kyle groaned a little, rubbing at his eyes, which had become swollen. Still, he was in far better condition than Hope. She had taken quite the beating. "I'll make sure the dog is okay. You worry about yourself."

She wanted to argue, but honestly, she was in way too much pain. "Sure." She finally said.

The boy chuckled but stopped when he noticed something. "Oh, hey, don't forget this." He reached down and grabbed something, handing it to her. She looked down at her broken pair of glasses. "You'll need these if you want to see your way back home." He joked.

She gripped the broken glasses, giving a fake smile. "Yeah." She decided to keep quiet about the fact nothing had changed when they snapped off her face.