The Big Day

"My daughter did what?!"

The kindergarten teacher sighed, leaning forward on the desk. "The other kids saw it, Mr. Lauren. Hope broke Mr. Bruno's nose during recess."

"He started it!" 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. He was the world's best dad if you were to ask her. Tall and built for work, she knew he would keep her safe no matter what. "Did the boy hurt her friend?"

The teacher sighed. "Mr. Lauren, a shove is hardly an excuse to use the force your daughter did. 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." He sighed and nodded. "I'll speak to her when she gets home, believe me."

"That'll hardly be enough."

"What are you trying to say? It was just a fight between kids." The sight of the picture nearly made his blood run cold. Cole Bruno wasn't a small kid. He was large for his age and was already putting on some muscle. He was the kind of kid that would no doubt be a star athlete when he grew up. His face also happened to look a lot like a crushed tomato. "You're telling me she did this?"

He looked down into those bright blue eyes his daughter had. She had a concerned look on her face—the kind that was worried for him and not the poor kid who would likely need surgery.

"I see." He tried to pay attention to what the teacher was saying, but it was all a blur as he nodded. Soon enough he was stepping out of the building carrying Hope. They 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 that hung in the air as they drove down the busy street. "There's nothing wrong in protecting a friend, but that doesn't mean you should be as mean to the bully as he is to you."

"But why?"

"Because you're special, Hope. You're my special little girl. And sometimes people don't like things that are special. So, you need to be normal? I honestly don't know what I'm trying to say." He sighed again, knowing how dumb he was sounding. "You're important to me, I don't want to see you harmed. So, can you act like you aren't so special for me?"

He looked into the mirror, seeing how she quietly stared out the window, her thoughts scattered around her. She wasn't answering him, and for a moment, he thought about telling her what he had found that day.

The Pod.

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 cloud colors." Hope piped up finally, the sadness already fading.

"You mean white?" Alex asked.

"No, the other colors. The swirly things and the stripey things," His daughter replied as if he would suddenly understand what she meant. "I also like the dots on the flowers."

His frown was back thoughts going through his head. His friend had said he would need to get her the special glasses to cover up how good her eyesight was becoming, but he had been putting it off. He'd need to make that stop soon rather than later. At the rate her powers were growing, Marcus would have to hurry up, creating something that would at least halt the growth.

He stared at his daughter through the mirror, dozens of thoughts going through his mind. She noticed his look and gave a bright smile. That could wait for a bit longer, though. She was still his little girl.

"How about we surprise Mom by picking up supper tonight? Does that sound good?" He smiled and shook his head off of what was to come.

"Yeah." Her grin was large now. "Can we get-"

The sound of the truck slamming into the side of them was enough to silence her.

"Are you listening?" Kyle asked, causing her mind to come to a halt.

"Sorry." The memory of the car crash faded from her mind as Hope found herself back in the present time and away from that cursed moment. It had been on her mind all day today. After all, today was special. "I was just thinking about some stuff. I'm paying attention now, though."

Science Class was one of her favorites. Not because she understood it and not because the teacher was any good; the best teacher was still Mr. Pluto.

Mrs. Mars was even more strict, a very old lady who took zero tolerance for fun. What made Science her favorite, and many others' favorite, was the fact that with the addition of weird superpowers, every now and then, you would get a new hero that destroyed the laws of the Universe. Mrs. Mars would slowly go mad trying to explain it before eventually blacking out in her seat and letting them do whatever they wanted.

This was one such day, with the elder lady snoring softly. Hope rested in the back, next to her newest friend, watching funny cat videos on her phone.

"Did you hear that Ocean Empress is apparently in our city?" Kyle asked.

"No. I didn't." She lied, vaguely hoping that he'd buy it.

Much like with Jack, it was kept on the down low that she had almost been killed by a supervillain and saved at the last second only by the Ocean Empress. The woman hadn't stayed long after Mr. Larison had blacked out, simply grabbing onto the two of them and flying them directly to the Hospital. The school had agreed to let her back in when they heard she had been sufficiently punished, with no mention of the attack from Hope or her mother.

That was good enough in their eyes.

"Since Old Dog retired, I guess she'll be keeping this City safe." Kyle shrugged.

"Neat. Hey, you said you lived in Lillian, right? Isn't Ocean Empress the hero of that City?" Lillian and Oleander were two birds of a feather. They were beside each other, separated only by a large bridge. Whenever her school had a large football game, their rivals would be one of the schools in Lillian. Old Dog and Ocean Empress had been close. Both were members of the Enforcers, and both went on patrols together. With him gone, it seemed her patrol expanded to this City to cover up his leave.

"Yeah, I saw her and her team a lot. The Reservoir, I mean. They're the guys she leads whenever the Enforcers aren't called together. It's a small yet strong team." Kyle explained.

"That explains it."

"What?"

"Nothing." She sighed. She recalled her father's words in the Hospital. He had said something about the newest member of the Reservoir coming to Oleander to offer their healing powers, and he was one of the people on the list. That would explain why the Ocean Empress was here if someone that valuable from her team was staying in Oleander. "Hey, so I know we were talking about hanging out and trying out my Powers more, but I'm going to be busy today. My mom and I are going by the Hospital to see my dad."

Today was the big day.

"Ah, that's fine." Kyle shrugged. "Truthfully, I'm going to be a little busy today as well. My dad is officially taking over the Police Department here, and I wanted to celebrate with him. Speaking of powers, though..." He leaned in close to her, and she suddenly became aware of how most of the girls were staring at them. "Have you told your friend, Armin, yet?"

"Not yet. Also, bro, you're a little close. I don't want a repeat of what happened yesterday." She chuckled nervously.

Kyle pulled away and held a heavy frown. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I had a word with that Ashley girl. I can't believe those kids would do a cruel prank like that. I'm not interested in any of them. I'd rather hang out with you."

"I think that's why they're doing it." She sighed. "But I'm kind of glad. It's fun to show those popular kids up. Dorks for life."

A loud bell suddenly tolled through the building, signaling the end of the class. Mrs. Mars jumped up with a loud yelp, her eyes wide. She saw all the kids standing and making for the door and attempted to wipe the drowsiness from her face. "Students! Students! When you get home today, I want you all to write a four-page report on why the hero Poseidon is able to distort gravity with her water while not affecting anything that isn't touching- It doesn't make sense! Gravity doesn't work that way!"

They left her ranting there as the next class entered. "Hey, I'll see you in a bit," Kyle said, waving her off.

She almost shrunk down when she saw more of the stares, especially from Ashley, who stood with wide, angry eyes. The girl stepped towards her and looked like she was about to say something, but she never got the chance.

A hand shoved Ashley away, and the girl let out a cry as she crashed into a locker. Her savior was Kevin, of all people. Suddenly, it got worse. The sight of him had caused everyone to go quiet, even Ashley, who was still flat on her butt from where he pushed her.

Hope sighed and decided to be the first to talk. "Kev, can we just not? I'm pretty sore," Kevin ignored her, wrapping an arm around her and lifting her off the ground. "Help! Someone help!"

No one helped.

Her carried her to a quieter part of the school where there weren't so many prying eyes, and he didn't exactly let her down softly. It took everything she had not to fight back. He glared down at her, and she flinched, shrinking a little. She might have gone up against a legit supervillain yesterday, but Kevin was still a roided out beast. Though she could easily fold him in two.

"I'm going to say this once because I don't want this coming back to me." His breath was still bad. "I already talked to that Indian boy. Not a word about the junkyard, you got that. As far as anyone knows, I went to beat your ass for humiliating me. I didn't lead you into gang territory, and I didn't go down like a freaking sissy and have to be saved. Got that."

"Yeah, crystal clear."

"That was your one free one. I'll consider what the gang did to cover you messing with me. Next time you try something like that, you're dead."

"Right." Kevin spun around and began to march off, leaving her there. "Thanks." That caused him to stop for only a second. "Thanks for not mentioning the gang stuff, I mean. I'd like to keep that stuff secret, too."

"Shut up, weirdo."

"Weirdo!" And then he was gone. "Oh, damn, did my heroic actions cause Kevin to become a good guy? Is this the start of his hero's journey?"

***

The crashing hadn't been an accident. Hope was sure of that. She stared with wide eyes as they were flipped over and crashed, nearly being dragged. Her father took the worst of the damage, as he instantly unbuckled and threw himself into the back seat, grabbing onto her and shielding her from the glass with his body.

She was aware that she was yelling as they finally came to a screeching halt.

Something had rammed into them. She could see it. A large, armored truck. It was like the kind banks would use to transport cash. There was a group of people slowly climbing out of it. Villains that had just recently stolen the vehicle.

She felt her heart nearly stop when she saw a logo sown into one of the villain's jacket. A book being held tightly by a pair of bone like arms. A group of villains, called the Immortals, had been the ones to ram into them. The villains were going around for a joyride, hitting everything. They had stopped after hitting them, and she could hear them yelling from outside her car, followed by screaming, as the villains took out anyone they saw.

She wasn't sure how long she had been trapped in the car sobbing quietly, with her father's bloodied form over her. Her head perked up, though, when she heard the sound of metal being torn, and the roof of their car was easily ripped off.

Hope 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, the color of oil, and his eyes were pure gold. He had no expression on his face as he stared at her.

"Ah. So, this is where you ended up. Princess of Cinder." 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 end it here before you have a chance to mature."

"No!" Before the hand could touch her, her father gasped and threw his arm out. The man's finger brushed his hand, and suddenly, her dad's eyes shot wide, and he began to scream as loud as he could.

"Daddy!" She cried out.

"Now, why would you go and do that." The Pale man whispered. "Now all you did was cause two people to get infected."

The fist that slammed into his face caused a loud crack to echo out, and every window shattered to pieces. Hope stared 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 shielding his daughter. More specifically, his hand, which was starting to turn black from the spot where the villain had touched. Victorian sighed. "The Dead Virus. Damn it."

Hope opened her mouth to speak but was silenced when Victorian placed a finger to her head. She felt her eyes grow heavy and blur, and then she was asleep.

"Earth to Hope?"

"Huh?" Hope shook her head and turned to stare at Armin as the memories of 'that day' slowly faded away from her.

Today was the big day. The day that cursed villain's mistake would be put to an end. The day her loving and strong father would have his life back.

The day things would return to the way they should have been.

It was the end of the school day, and once more her and Armin stepped down the stairs of the school. "So, you're going to check on Mr. Lauren again?" He asked when he was sure she wasn't spacing out anymore.

"Yeah." She nodded. Then stopped. "Hey, uh... So where is the homeless guy?" He wasn't at the bottom of the stairs, already being carried off. It was a little odd not to see him. "I was looking forward to his cryptic message."

"He'll be back. Probably." There was a light buzz, and Armin checked his phone. "Oh, sorry, I can't come with you today. I got to go. Hey, I'll tell my dad you're doing better. He was worried when he heard what happened. Stay frosty!"

"Yeah, bye." She wondered how much Armin knew. His dad was aware of the villain attack, kind of hard to hide that fact from the boss. On top of that, Armin's constant vanishing act was starting to get a little weird. "Hey, Mom!" She waved when she saw the beautiful, yet tired looking, woman standing next to the cheap old car.

"Hey, sweetie, how was school?" Her mom asked.

"Fine, I guess. I didn't get into another fight and managed to hide out better than I normally do."

"That's good."

An awkward silence filled the car when they both got seated and hit the road. Unlike Last time, they wouldn't be going by the bank; they were just heading straight for the Hospital. Today was the day. Her dad would be up and walking again, he'd be fine, he would go back to work, they'd repurchase the house, and be a family once more.

Team Reservoir was going to heal him.

She'd have her father back.

She'd tell him she had powers, he'd laugh and have his goofy smile, and help her make a costume, and figure out how to use them, and then he'd teach her, and-

"I'm sorry. I did the best that I could and eased a lot of the pain, but my power wasn't able to affect him." The hero stated in a blunt tone.

It had felt like a blur. The ride to the Hospital, so many thoughts going through her head. The next thing she knew, Mom and her stood outside the hospital room Dad stayed in.

On any other day, the people who stood out in the halls would have been a truly amazing sight for Hope.

Ocean Empress stood. True to her name, she looked as if she was made of water. None of her skin could be seen, and if she did have clothes on, they were covered in thick layers of ice. Next to her was her daughter. Poseidon. Unlike her mom, she did have a basic costume. She seemed to be in her late teens, likely sixteen or seventeen, and had blonde hair tied back into a ponytail. Her costume was silver and looked almost like what you would expect a Spartan to wear. It looked more warrior like, than heroic, and a red cloth was draped over one of her shoulders.

The final person was the one who had spoken those words that had caused Hope's world to almost come crashing down. Paragon was the newest member of team Reservoir, having only awakened her powers recently. Or at least that was the local rumor. Despite how new she was, everyone was talking about her. There weren't many powers able to heal, and she had come to Oleander and managed to cure every patient in the hospital, save for one.

Her costume wasn't much to look at. Unlike most heroes, she was dressed more like a doctor, wearing a lab coat and rubber gloves, and underneath, she had what looked like red and gold robes. Her hair was a reddish brown and tied back into a ponytail, and she was wearing a plain white full mask that covered her entire face. Hope wondered if the girl could even see. A goofy smiley face and two circles that made the eyes were on the front of it drawn on with a marker. A large red hawk was resting on the girl's shoulder, its eyes darting back and forth. Most of her skin was covered up, but what could be seen showed it was white, not like the skin color, but like actual paper or milk. She was way too pale.

"What do you mean you couldn't heal my husband." Jane's voice didn't have an edge to it or a hint of anger. It was something else. Acceptance, as if she had assumed it would be this way.

"His body kept rejecting my powers," Paragon explained. "I came here today to see what I could and couldn't cure and was able to affect all but him. The Plague he has is called the Dead Virus, and I'm afraid it isn't anything my powers can affect. I tried to help ease him and lessen the feeling for good, but that was all I could do. I'm sorry."

"You don't sound sorry." Hope nearly flinched when all the eyes turned on her. She had practically snarled it, and normally, she'd have felt bad, but her eyes were locked onto the hero in front of her. Despite giving them the news, Paragon's voice had zero emotion in it. The girl couldn't have been older than fifteen, yet she sounded bored. Annoyed even.

"Look, I tried the best I could-"

"Try again." She growled cutting the girl off.

"Hope!"

Her mom attempted to put a hand on her shoulder, but she shook it off of her. "What! So, Dad is supposed to just die because he got unlucky and got infected by a disease some jackass villain created! That's not fair! He said she could help him. She has to fix him. He has to get better!" She sent a pleading look to Ocean Empress. She wondered if the woman recognized her, but if the hero did, she wasn't saying anything about how she rescued her from that rock monster. Then again, the woman saved so many people every day; it was likely Hope was just another number.

"That disease your father got was created by one of the greatest villains alive, I'll have you know." Paragon scoffed. "The Dead Virus has killed some of the greatest heroes within days. It's a miracle he's even lasted this long."

"That's enough!" Ocean Empress's power was instant and notable. Hope felt her ears pop, and judging by everyone else's faces, she wasn't the only one. It was sort of like the feeling you would get when you swam to the bottom of a pool too fast. Ocean Empress had a tight grip on the young hero's shoulder, the water around her rippling. "That's uncalled for."

"Yeah, sis, don't." It was Poseidon who spoke next. She had a lovely voice, the kind you could tell practiced singing. "They're going through a lot. I'm sure they didn't mean to lash out at you."

"I tried the best I could." Paragon sighed. "I'm sorry, okay."

"My Daughter just got her power not even a month ago." Ocean Empress replied. "She's still new at this. You have my word that with more practice, we'll be back and try to help Mr. Lauren. Not just him, but anyone with the Dead Virus."

Usually, she'd be excited to be in the same room with Ocean Empress. She never got that autograph; the woman having run off too quickly the other day. She didn't feel like asking for one today either, her eyes never leaving Paragon. Even behind the mask, she could tell Paragon was staring right back at her. "Whatever." Hope finally muttered.

"Hope!" Her mom tried again, but she dodged her grip.

"I'm taking a walk. I'll head home later." She lied.

Her mom watched her and winced but didn't stop her. "Wait." It was Paragon's voice. Hope stopped only for a second and turned just in time to see the weird bird on Paragon's shoulder leap off and fly at her. For a moment, she thought it was going to attack, but instead, it landed on her shoulder. "There. Now, you can't complain I didn't do anything."

"Huh?" Hope stopped when she suddenly felt a weird feeling in her face and body. It took her a second to realize it was the feeling of pain fading. The headache she had from the villain attack, the throbbing nose, the ringing in her ears, her stinging lip, all of it was gone. She stared into a mirror that hung on the Hospital wall, and her bruises were gone. Her nose had even popped back into place, something she hadn't noticed. "I'm not saying Thanks." She muttered as the bird flew back to its owner.

Paragon apparently didn't take to kindly to her bold statement. "Asshole!" The hero yelled at her. "That's the last time I heal you out of the kindness of my heart, you brat."

For a moment, she stopped and thought about responding to Paragon, but in the end, she didn't. It just wasn't worth it. Instead, she left the hallway, as Ocean Empress once again got onto her apparent daughter. She had known about Poseidon being related, but the fact the second one was as well shocked her. Team Reservoir was supposed to be a team made up entirely of water-based heroes, yet that Paragon brat didn't seem to have anything close to water at all.

Whatever. She really didn't care. Not right now, anyway.