So It Begins

She lived on the edge between the middle class and poor parts of the city. Her legs normally ached from the walk up the stairs, the elevator has been dead since before she was born, with no hope of ever being fixed, but today she felt fine as she made it to her apartment door.

She expected to see her mother waiting for her, but the apartment was sadly empty. However, that might have been for the best. She shuddered to think how her mom would react if she saw her injured face.

Hope only managed to find a note confirming she would have the house to herself for the rest of the night, as her mom needed to work overtime.

With her mother's absence, the apartment somehow felt even more cramped. It hurt like hell, but she did her best to pop her nose back into the spot it should have been in. She didn't think she did it right, the pain nearly causing her to black out, but it wasn't as crooked as it had been.

With that, she pulled her phone out, dialing a number. "Yo."

"Wassup, sister," Armin asked, picking up. She could hear heavy background noise over the line and some music, making her wonder what he was doing. "You need something, Hope?"

She walked through her house and entered her room. It was a place she didn't like letting people see. It was pretty embarrassing with posters of various heroes ranging from the entire Enforcers team to other teams such as the Watch Dogs. She had many shelves filled with action figures and other hero toys.

"I got into a fight."

"Kevin?"

"Some of his goons." She yawned, collapsing onto her bed and wrapping her arms around a Victorian body pillow. "It gave me an insight into what I'm going to have to put up with when he finds me." She joked.

"Give the word, and I'll jump him."

"I mean, if you want to."

"Yeah, totally. Just not anytime soon. I love ya like family. I don't like my family that much, though, so..."

"You're no help." She huffed, rolling her eyes. "I'm bored so want to come hang out? Watch a movie, or play the new Myth video game?"

Armin started to answer but a loud yell from wherever he was cut him off. "Moore! Get off the phone and get back to work."

"Yes, Sir, Mr. Thaddeus!" Armin hollered at someone in the background. "Sorry Hope, I got to go, otherwise my boss is going to leave me out in the cold." He whispered into the phone.

"You're working?"

"Yeah, sorry."

A feminine voice in the background yelled at Armin "Stop it with the puns!"

She wanted to ask more questions, but he cut her off, clicking the phone off. She set there with a heavy frown on her face. She was alone now, stuck in her house with nothing else to do. She moved back through her home and paced a bit, feeling the pain slowly ease itself down.

She collapsed onto the couch, staring at the T.V. as it flickered to life. It was something about the Victorian stopping a massive wave of water. She found herself focused on it, her mind buzzing as the golden woman danced through the skies, followed by the other members of the Enforcers, such as Ocean Empress, and Old Dog.

What had it been like for them growing up? Had they always had superpowers, or did they gain them at a later date? Being a mere mortal sucked. It'd be so much easier if she could blast all her issues with laser eyes, or bench press jocks.

Instead, she was just ordinary old Hope.

Her thoughts were sent into a buzz when she heard her phone ringing. She wiped sleep from her eyes. It was a number she didn't know, and looking at the time, she realized she must have fallen asleep on the couch, as it was nearing night.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Hope." A familiar voice responded.

"Kyle? How did you get my number?"

"Well, I was leaving the clinic, and I managed to run into that boy that was with you. Armin? Anyway, he gave me your number when I asked. He's a pretty cool guy."

"Oh." Armin and cool didn't really go in the same sentence. She shook her head, getting back on track. "So, uh... Why are you calling?" She asked, hoping that she didn't sound ungrateful.

"That dog." She set up fully. "I wanted to let you know that last I saw it, it was still alive. Rowan and I dropped it off, and his buddy is a really good doctor. Her name is Sky, and she seems to think it'll pull through."

"That's good." She gave a sigh of relief. She wondered what kind of doctor could save it though. She hadn't really expected the animal to pull through.

"Yeah. I was calling to see if you wanted to go check on it or something. I figured it would help put your nerves at ease knowing it's okay and seeing it for yourself. Rowan is keeping good care of it at his place, and I was going to head over there tomorrow anyways so you're free to join me if you want."

"Yeah, I don't mind." Tomorrow was Saturday, and besides chilling out with Armin, she had nothing else planned, so it would be fun to hang out with other people.

"I'll meet you near the park at around two in that case."

"Cool."

And with that, he hung up. She sat there for a second and wiped some droll off her face. "I hope he doesn't think this was a date." Today was turning out to be very interesting.

***

"How are you feeling?" Kyle asked her.

"Not too bad. It only hurts whenever I move, breathe, look, blink, or do anything with my face and body."

"That sounds like everything, Hope."

"Yeah, I'm in a lot of pain." She admitted. "But it's fine. Nothing a few painkillers won't fix."

"Is that healthy?"

"Ha! No."

True to his word, Kyle had been waiting for her at the entrance to the park. The two of them walked down the bustling streets of Oleander. Being that it was a Saturday, and most people had the day off or no school, there were a ton of people about, so her nerves were at ease.

She had to sleep in a bit later than she would have liked, hiding under the covers so her mom didn't see her face. She would've gone feral if she had seen what had happened to her daughter's poor nose.

She knew she couldn't hide it forever from her mom. She had busted that kid's lip, and he had repaid her ten times over. She sported a black eye, a crooked nose, a busted lip, and dozens of other bruises all along her body.

It seriously did hurt.

"So, what was up with that bodyguard?"

"It's a long story."

"Yeah, you said that. Is he actually your bodyguard?"

Kyle shrugged. "Yeah. I guess. Not like a cool one, though. I told him not to bother you, so you don't have to worry about him. My dad's kind of protective and hired him to follow me around. It helps that he lets me hang out at his place."

"Shouldn't he be here with you, then?"

"Nah. I don't like hanging around him if I can help it."

"Fair enough." The two of them cut through an alleyway heading towards the more affluent part of Oleander. They were so busy talking that neither of them even considered the risk it could bring. Hope would come to regret that as a voice cut them both off.

"There she is!" A familiar voice rang through the end of the alleyway, causing her and Kyle to come to a sudden stop.

She groaned, and she felt Kyle next to her twitch as he frowned. When she looked up, she wasn't shocked to see Kevin standing at the end of the alleyway, and of course, flanking him were two goons from the football team. One of the boys rubbed at his busted lip and glared at her.

She couldn't help but let out a snort. "I punch you once, and you run crying to Kevin?"

"Shut up." The boy growled.

"We're a crew. You mess with them; you mess with me." Kevin eyed her up, and suddenly, recognition appeared in his eyes. "Aren't you that girl from the hallway? I would have thought you would have learned your lesson."

"Sorry, I'm a slow learner." She shrugged. "Besides, your friend had it coming. He was harming an animal. We're on the way to make sure he didn't kill it. I'm not a cop, but I'm pretty sure what he did was illegal."

Kevin looked back at the 'friend' in question, raising an eyebrow. "Come on, Kev. You know me. I would never harm an animal. She's lying." The football player said. With that, Kevin nodded and turned back to look at her, cracking his knuckles.

"Stay behind me," Kyle whispered to her and attempted to step out in front of her.

"It's fine." She said, stopping him with her arm. She looked at Kevin and then at the other two boys. "So, you brought your boyfriends with you to pick on me?"

Kevin nearly charged at her then, and there, but was held back by one of his friends. It was a good thing, too, because she wasn't ready for her plan.

"I told you, you'd be dead," Kevin growled. "I'm going to beat your ass. New kid. Beat it. This doesn't concern you."

Kyle gestured at his black eye. "Your friend already made it part of my business, so I think it does concern me."

She went to push her glasses further up on her face, only to remember that they were broken. She played up her confidence, crushed some of her nerves, and attempted to put on a brave face. "Okay then. Well, since I have the new kid here, and you have two goons, let's make this even. Me versus you! One v one, coward!"

That seemed to catch him off guard. He looked her up and down. Sure, she was tall for a girl her age, but she had no muscle or meat to speak of. "I am going to crush you into the ground." He decided, nodding.

"Are you sure about this?" Kyle asked with wide eyes. "Like, I'm pretty sure that dude is going to straight up fold you in half, Hope."

Hope only grinned and slowly took her backpack off, setting it on the ground, but she kept a grip on it just in case. "Remove the bag so it's fair, no weapons, just straight hands, man to man!"

"You're a girl." Kevin began to take his back off and set it down. "You're also a massive idiot if you think you can beat-"

She swung her backpack by the strap as soon as he bent over to place the bag down. She put all her force into it smashing him in the nose and causing him to collapse on the floor. His two friends stared in shock, but she didn't give them time to react, bolting forward, and using Kevin as a bridge. She jumped past them and ran like her life depended on it.

It did now...

Kyle caught on quickly and smashed his shoulder into one of the boys, shoving them down. They tried to grab at his foot, but he jumped the grab and took off after her, letting out a laugh the entire time.

"I'm going to kill you!" Kevin screamed, already standing back up. He wasn't hurt in the least, just very pissed off at her.

"This was a bad idea, you know!" Kyle laughed as he caught up with her, and they sprinted out of the alleyway and onto the street, startling several people.

"Oh, I am well past bad ideas, trust me!" She smirked.

Kevin flew out of the alleyway like a bat out of hell, screeching like a demon as he quickly caught up to them. "Any plan or do we just get the beating of a lifetime?" Kyle questioned.

"Follow me!"

She didn't know how long they were running for. She wasn't very athletic, and neither was Kyle, it seemed, she guessed from how heavy he was starting to breathe, quickly catching up. Honestly, the sheer fear factor was the only thing that kept her ahead of him. That and he wasn't used to running where she had taken them.

Oleander City was divided into many sections, but it mostly came down to the upper, middle, and lower classes. The upper-class zone was massive, with many towers, and the roads were filled with a constant stream of cars. The middle-class zones still had many buildings but also began to break into more urban areas, with stores and malls, as well as a few parks and theme resorts. It was always busy during the day, but at night it was calmer. The lower-class zones could hardly be called Oleander City.

It was an outlier. It was at the edge of the city, nearly connecting to the beach covered in garbage and trash and had become a junkyard. There were a few stores, but most weren't successful. Many of the houses were wrecked, and most streets were empty. Even during the day, there wasn't much traffic.

It was here she had taken him, to a rocky trash heap somewhere on the beach. He hesitated for a bit, which gave them a head start, but eventually, he kept going. The plan was simple enough. With how many piles of trash there were, it could barely be called a beach.

It was practically a maze with many twists and turns, so all they had to do was lose him in it.

But, of course, that would have been easy. "Just a little further." She announced, making a sharp right turn. She came to a sudden stop and had to catch herself when Kyle slammed into her from behind.

"Why are we stopping!"

"I think I made a wrong turn." She trailed off.

"What!"

Kyle looked ahead and felt his blood run cold when he saw that it was a dead end. Piles of discarded boats and scrap metal formed a large wall of rust, blocking the path they had been heading down. The only way out was behind them and of course...

Kevin stumbled around the corner. His eyes looked almost pure red from the sheer amount of rage coursing through him. "Well, we're dead." Kyle lamented.

"My bad."

"You're forgiven. Only because you're going to die with me."

Kevin gritted his teeth and cracked his knuckles, glaring at them both. "I am getting sick and tired of you. You know that." He said through clenched teeth.

Hope rubbed her head sheepishly and let out a sigh. "Kev look. Man, just let this guy go. I dragged him into it. Just do what you got to do to me."

Kevin looked Kyle up and down and shook his head. "Nah. I'm giving ya both the same treatment."

Kyle seemed to notice something and smirked. "Actually... Your friends didn't follow you, did they? Looking at you now, it's a two on one." That caused Kevin to take a step back.

It didn't last, though, as he recalled the fact that he was double both their weight and built like a gorilla pretending to be a human. Hope was almost certain he was on steroids, one way or another. He cracked his knuckles and stepped forward, and this time it was her, and Kyle who stepped back. "So what? I got two hands, dumbass. I'll just cave both your skulls in."

"Any more plans?" Kyle whispered.

"I'm thinking."

"Well, we could use one."

"I'm thinking."

"Hope-"

"I'm thinking!"

Kevin stepped forward, and Kyle threw himself in front of her and attempted to fight back, but it took Kevin a simple shrug to push the Indian boy to the sandy floor. His gaze settled on her, and she groaned once more and awaited the punch.

The sound of the bat as it smashed into the back of Kevin's head sent a wave of fear into her. The older boy collapsed face first on top of Kyle, and she didn't realize it, but she was screaming.

"Well, well, well." Standing at the entrance into the mini maze, three men stood all decked out in matching jackets, one holding a bloody bat. "What do we got here? Looks like we got quite the catch, boys!"

She tried to keep her calm, but it wasn't showing on her face. 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. She had managed to stop and placed her hands on Kevin's neck, feeling his pulse. He was alive but out cold, a nasty red spot on the back of his head.

"Quit yelling." One of the men screamed, and it caused Kyle to shut up. "Stand up and step back." He growled.

They both did as told, slowly backing away from the groaning Kevin. The leader of the group had his arms folded 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 of them.

The Bad Timers gang. The same people who had robbed the bank. They were known for appearing any time someone complained or bragged about how good or bad of a time they were having.

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.

"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.

"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 that behave. So, let's make this simple. You two empty ya 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 anyways."

"Okay, okay." Hope 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, Hope doing the same. She set her wallet, phone, and anything else she had that looked like it could be valuable. Better safe than sorry.

Hope breathed a sigh of relief as the thug bent down, picking the stuff up and 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, nodding. "You two love birds 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 candy. "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 that boy is standing here."

"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 gave a nod of 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 pissed that they missed out on a haul. I mean, look at this girl here, though. We could sell her for some cash, right?"

"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 he 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 just come out.

"Bad idea." The thug smirked, and he pulled his fist back.

"Wait-" And a second later, everything went black...