She lived on the edge between the middle class and the poor parts of the city. Her legs normally ached from the walk up the stairs. The elevator had 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 about how her mom would react if she saw her injured face.

She 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 caused 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 and some music over the line, 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 sort of 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.”

“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 you 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 have to go. Otherwise, my boss is going to leave me out in the cold,” he whispered into the phone.

“You’re working?” His family was one of those rich ones that owned a really big house. Armin’s dad always gave the boy a huge allowance, so it was weird to think he’d be forced to get a job.

“Yeah, sorry.”

She wanted to ask more questions, but he cut her off, clicking the phone off. She sat 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 TV as it flickered to life. It was something about the Victorian stopping a massive tsunami. 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 Lauren.

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 sat up fully. “I wanted to let you know that the last time 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 with the condition it had been in.

“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 taking good care of it at his place, and I was going to head over there tomorrow anyway, so you’re free to join me if you want.”

“Yeah, I don’t mind.” Tomorrow was a 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 her face. “I hope he doesn’t think that 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.

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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. The woman 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, but that was a bridge she could burn later. 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.

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. She 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. 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 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 a dog. 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. He trusted his crew more than her word.

She was about to turn around and make a break for it, but she froze when she saw two more of Kevin’s goons waiting for her in the spot her and Kyle had entered. That meant there were now five in total, two behind them and three in front of them. They were surrounded. “Stay behind me,” Kyle whispered to her, and he attempted to step out in front of her.

“It’s fine. You don’t need to go all white knight on me. I can handle myself.” 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 that you’d be dead,” Kevin growled. “I’m going to beat your ass. New kid. Beat it. This doesn’t concern you.”

Kyle rubbed the back of his neck and finally shrugged. “Nah. I’m not the kind of guy to sit by and let a girl get beaten up. I’ll make myself involved if you don’t mind.”

She pushed her glasses further up on her face. 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 four goons, let’s make this even. Me versus you! One on 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.”

She 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 me-”

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 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; he was 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. Honestly, the sheer fear factor was the only thing that kept them ahead of Kevin, who was quickly catching up to them. 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 Kevin—to a rocky trash heap somewhere on the beach. The football player 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 two on one.” That caused Kevin to take a step back and look at how alone he was. So much for his crew.

It didn’t last, though, as Kevin recalled the fact that he was double their combined weight and built like a gorilla pretending to be a human. She 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 with one punch for each of you.”

“Any more bright ideas?” Kyle whispered.

“I’m thinking.”

“Well, we could use one.”

“I said I’m thinking.”

“Hope-”

“Let me think!”

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 dark-skinned 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 caught her totally off guard. 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 to the mini maze, three men stood all decked out in matching jackets, one holding a bloody bat. “What do we have here? It looks like we've got quite the catch, boys!”