Failure

"-the villain known as Intake after causing a massive scene, seemingly vanished after he was defeated in battle by an as of now, unknown Super."

Hope groaned as her eyes slowly began to open. Her head ached and the lights above really didn't help. In fact they made it all so much worse. She could hear what sounded like a TV, the newswoman that was always going on about heroes talking.

"Hope?" Her eyes fully snapped open at the sound of her mothers voice, and she set up. "Oh thank God you're awake!" She didn't have time to process anything, as she was suddenly pulled into a hug so tight that even with her enhanced durability it caused her to wince and groan. "Don't you dare scare me like that ever again young lady!"

"M- Mom?" She slowly pulled herself out of her mothers grip. Her eyes finally adjusted to the light, and she looked around.

"Hey Hope." Her head turned when she heard Armin. Her best friend had a smile on his face. It wasn't a joking smile, or the sly kind he always had. It was one of genuine relief. "You owe me big time for the years I lost off my life. You have no idea how much stress you caused me." It was his turn to pull her in for a hug.

"Sorry, I guess?" She was a little confused. Slowly though her mind raced back to everything that happened. She was in a hospital. A room very similar to her dad. She was also dressed in a gown. The memories of the beating she took raced through her head. Despite it, she didn't feel that bad. In fact she felt mostly fine. She ran her tongue through her mouth confirming all her teeth were still there as well despite having lost a few in her battle. "What happened?"

"We were sort of hoping you could tell us that." Her mother sighed. The room wasn't very big, just having a table, two chairs, a bed, and a TV on the wall. Her mom muted the TV which had already stopped talking about the Intake story and instead focused on a story about the Victorian stopping an asteroid the size of Texas from hitting planet Earth, with the help of another hero named Boy Genius. "Do you remember what happened Hope?" Her mothers words drew her attention back to the situation at hand.

She did of course remember what happened. Most of it at least. Intake had nearly killed her and then that red haired man showed up out of nowhere. He was strong. Way stronger than she was at the moment. Then everything had gone black. Of course she couldn't exactly say all of that. Her mom would kill her if she found out she had tried to fight a monster like Intake.

"I- I don't know." She finally said. "I left the house and was walking down the street. Then-" She trailed off. She didn't really have a good lie to say, but thankfully Armin saved her.

"Intake." Armin nodded. "I bet she got caught in the blast. That villain bombed an entire street. I heard a lot of people died. The entire floor below us is filled with a ton of people that were on the street when it happened, all needing help."

"Y- Yeah." She would seriously have to thank Armin later. He just gave her a golden excuse. "I was walking down the street and I remember just a lot of pain. Then I blacked out."

Her mother nodded slowly. "We were told someone dropped you off at the hospital. I'm guessing you don't remember though, do you?"

"No. Sorry." She winced. She wondered if that strange man had been the one to drop her off. He had seemingly been the one to knock her out. Either way with how many people had been in the buildings Intake had destroyed, and with her makeshift costume destroyed it was safe to say that no one knew she had been the one to lead him away at least. She had made sure to not let anyone get too good of a look at her with their cameras.

"Why were you that far from home late at night." Her mother folded her arms and began to scold her. "That was miles away from home. You know you're not allowed to leave the house at that time."

"I uh- Well um- I-" She shrugged and shot a look towards Armin pleading for his help.

He caught on to what she wanted, and gave a sly grin. "I bet she went out to see someone." He announced. "I'm right, aren't I Hope! Admit it you were sneaking out of the house for a date or something! Come on, tell me what their name is! Who's the lucky person!"

"That's not it at all!"

"Hope." Her mother spoke up. "I was young once as well. That said there should be no reason for you to go out late that night. Next time just invite them over to our house."

"You're as bad as he is!"

"I wish that hero was still here though." Her mother finally decided to change the subject. "I'm sure you'd love to thank her."

"Hero?" For a moment her thoughts went back to the strange man, but her mother said 'her' so it couldn't have been him.

Her mother reached out and held her hand, squeezing it softly. "We still don't know who brought you here, if it was a hero or what, but you, like many others, were in a bad condition. Apparently a hero from Lillian came down and is the reason you're unharmed. Her name was Paragon. She spent all night healing every patient she could."

"Lillian... That's where team Reservoir is. A healer from there. Could she be-"

"Yes." Her mother cut her off and smiled. "She's the hero your father told you about. Once she's finished with all the people who are critically injured she's going to get to work healing everyone else in the hospital. Your father is on the waiting list. He should be out of here within the week."

Armin turned away sheepishly feeling a little out of place as the mother and daughter hugged each other tightly. "Anyway." He spoke up. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I promised Mr. Thaddeus I would help him move some stuff so I need to head out."

With everything that happened she had totally forgotten her friend was working now. It wasn't like he needed the money, his family was rich, but she was still happy he was doing something with his life at least. More than she had been doing anyways...

They didn't stay in the hospital for much longer. Armin had been the first to leave, and eventually a doctor stopped by to check up on her. She was given a look over, and they decided she could go. Her wounds should have been far worse, but there wasn't a single scratch on her. All thanks to that hero called Paragon. She'd seriously have to thank that superhero if she ever got a chance to meet them.

With a healing power like that she was confident the nightmare of her fathers illness would finally come to an end.

She was wheeled out of the hospital in a chair, despite the fact she felt fine, and soon enough she climbed into the back seat of her mothers car. "Can I borrow your phone?" She asked.

"What happened to yours?"

"Broke." She had been given a change of clothes from her mother, but her phone had been in her jacket pocket during the Intake fight, so needless to say it was shattered beyond belief.

"Ah."

Her mother didn't say any more; reaching in her pocket and tossing the device to the backseat, Hope caught it and began to fiddle with it. She put it on the news, and they were showing off various heroes from all around the world, as well as what they had been up to. She stared with wide wonder filled eyes.

But all good things must come to an end.

The screens changed as a newswoman came into view. The same newswoman who was always talking about hero news. The woman stood behind her desk and had a somber look on her face. "Breaking news. Earlier today, the body of Officer Paige Scott was discovered. Currently, her death is being investigated as a murder, with the believed suspects being members of the group of villains known as Zoo. Just days prior, Mrs. Scott had convicted a superpowered terrorist, calling himself Red Ape, for over three hundred cases of murder, including the husband of Mrs. Scott. It is believed this is the reason Zoo-"

Hope clicked the phone off, no longer interested in the news. With a sigh, she stared out the window up to the clouds. "Someone needs to do something."

"What?" Her mother asked.

"Nothing. I didn't say anything."

***

"You doing okay?" Armin asked.

"Nope." They currently sat in the cafeteria of the school. Several people had shot her looks, and she did her best to ignore them, playing with her broken glasses. She didn't need to wear them anymore, but she kept that detail secret from her mom, and Armin. It'd be too weird to have fixed eyesight overnight.

It had only been two days since she tried her luck at being a hero. News of her being in the hospital had gotten around it seemed. There were no mentions of her in her bad costume or anything. Rather most of the rumors were tied around her having gotten to see the new hero Paragon.

"And you're sure you feel fine?" Armin asked for what must have been the tenth time. She didn't expect him to be the mama bear type, but ever since she had gotten out he seemed dead set on sticking close and making sure she wouldn't randomly explode or something.

"For the last time I'm fine! I was fully healed, remember."

Armin gave a slight nod. "I covered for you in the hospital but I seriously got to know. Why on Earth were you running around that part of town late at night?"

She shot a look towards all the other kids that were scattered about the school. To many that could be listening to drop her bombshell. Instead, she shrugged. "I mean in a way I guess you were right."

"You really were seeing anyone!" Armin nearly spat his drink out and stared at her with wide eyes. "Seriously! Do they go to this school? It better not be a student at our rival school, I swear I've had enough Romeo and Juliet issues for a lifetime! Is it a boy? A girl? An eldritch God?"

"I'm not dating anyone!" She hissed. She calmed down and folded her arms. "I was hanging out with Kyle."

"The new kid?" Armin's voice had a bit of a dangerous edge to it now as he looked from her to the other side of the cafeteria. "I don't recall him being sent to the hospital. Did he leave you when the attacks started? Give the word and I'll take him out."

She followed his gaze and saw Kyle had a bit of a crowd around him, primarily girls. He still was pretty bruised up from the gang incident, unlike her, but that seemed to actually work out in his favor. His popularity had skyrocketed in a day. Perks of being the hot new kid, she guessed, though he did look uncomfortable with the number of chicks that were flirting with him. "Armin, I'm pretty sure Kyle would fold you in half if you fought. And no, he didn't leave me stranded. I had already left him and was heading home when it happened."

Kyle seemed to notice her looking and gave a half-wave. The crowd that had formed turned, and she suddenly felt very self-conscious at the many eyes that were set on her. Then her eyes settled on Kevin. He was seated at a table and staring right at her. "I'll talk to you later, Armin. I'm going to scram before anyone else gets the wrong idea." She muttered, standing up.

Armin gave a faint nod. "Okay." He stood up grabbing his tray. "Oh yeah, sorry but I can't hang after school. I need to go do something with a friend of mine."

"You have other friends?"

"Don't be mean!" He huffed. "Listen, in case we don't see each other for the rest of the day, try and stay low. I heard Kevin was looking for you. I'll try to throw him off if I can but stay careful okay."

"Right. I'll see you around bro." She stumbled out of the cafeteria and into the hallway, dodging the crowds of students. It took all her willpower to not just throw the crowds to the side with her super strength, but with the cameras and many kids walking around, she knew she'd be outed worse than she already was. She didn't know if Kevin would follow after her or not, but she wasn't going to risk it.

She took shelter in the bathroom and found her way into a stall, ready to hide out for the rest of the lunch break. She sighed and pulled out her mothers phone. She 'borrowed' it, and had tried looking herself up on the internet. There were dozens of forums and posts dedicated to Supers. Luckily for her though any search of a brand-new Super in Oleander, didn't turn up any heroes or villains, nothing that could be linked to her.

The closest thing to a mention of a new Oleander hero was some kid who recently joined the Oleander Sub Enforcers Team that was a tech based hero.

It would seem that she had managed to remain under the radar for the time being, an impressive feat, considering how much she had botched it up.

But good things aren't meant to last.

Especially for her.

The door to the restroom banged open, and on instinct, she froze. She did her best not to make a single sound. There were many giggles that filled the small room, echoing around. She could hear shuffling, and even without looking, she could tell they had stopped outside of the stall she was in. There was a knock on the door, making her jump.

"Umm, occupied." Hope called out hesitantly.

"Oh my god, she is in there! You were right." One of the girls on the outside exclaimed with glee. It wasn't Kevin. It was much worse than Kevin. Popular girls. More giggles. There must have been four or five out there. "Yeah, do it."

The liquid that splashed down into the stall burned her eyes. She could also tell it was sticky and felt it foaming on her skin. Grape soda. Lots of grape soda. The stall finally opened, causing her to come slipping out, a dripping wet mess of purple liquid.

It was no longer giggles but full-blown laughter that bounced around her. She had no idea how many of the girls had been in on it; even if her eyes weren't a burning mess, her brand-new pair of glasses, which her mom had specially ordered for her, were stained purple. The smell of the fruity drinks and sodas was sickly sweet.

She couldn't stop shivering from the cold and slowly climbed to her feet. Her backpack had taken the worst of it, and a sick feeling was in her gut. All that money on the textbooks down the drain. Same with her comic. It was already a soggy mess. Her appearance must have been the funniest thing in the world to them because it caused more laughter to echo.

Her mothers phone had also been affected. It had been almost at full charge, yet now no matter how many times she tried to turn it on the thing wouldn't work. Her mom was going to be really, really, mad...

The words of the girls went over her head as she pushed past them and made for the sink cleaning off her glasses. The world came back into view as she slipped them on. She stared at herself in the mirror. Her black hair was soaked, and almost dyed red and purple. Her T-shirt was sadly no longer white. She also saw the bullies' reflection, the sheer glee on their faces.

It had been eight girls in total, though three stood out to her. The ring leaders or the popular girls. Hannah and Paige were the types of girls that fit the 'prom queen' image. But even they were nothing compared to the Queen Bee Ashley. Guess the girl didn't care that she had saved her from Kevin the other day.

"Maybe that'll teach you to stop trying to flirt with the new kid." Ashley's voice caused her eye to twitch, and the girl even attempted to do a hair flip. "He's off limits, got that?"

"You did this because you were jealous a boy waved at me," Hope asked, her voice flat and without emotion. "All of this for a boy I don't even like. What are you, a dumbass?" Ashley took a step back, not having expected that answer.

"Dumbass? I'm one of the smartest girls in this school!"

Hope finished cleaning part of her hair with water and paper towels drying off her face. She winced a little, staring at her shirt. Finally, she turned to look at them, taking her backpack off.

"What's wrong? Got nothing to say." Ashley sneered.

Hope stared the girl in the eye. Then she swung the backpack as hard as she could.

***

"Why would you do that!"

"You don't have to yell. I'm sitting right next to you, Mom."

"I can't believe you." Jane hissed. She always did this when she acted up. She'd go into a state where she wanted to hit something but also didn't want to harm her daughter or scare her, so she would just fume and yell. A lot.

"I said I was sorry." Hope sighed. She had been sent home that day for violent tendencies. So, she sat in the car with her mother as the fighting began. The only good thing about this being that her mom was kind enough to bring a change of clothes, so she wasn't wearing a soaked outfit.

"You attacked a student in school!"

"She started it. I finished it. Besides, you didn't freak out like this last time."

"She dumped soda on you; you tried to smash her face in! This is hardly about you protecting yourself, and you know it."

"It was just a backpack, and I didn't even hit her!" She had missed the swing, Ashley having just enough time to duck down. The girls had run screaming out of the bathroom, and the story had been quickly twisted in their favor. Hope shrunk further in her seat. "Look! I get that I went too far. I just... I just got mad." She knew her mom had a point. With her new super strength, what would have happened to Ashley if that blow had landed.

Her mother finally let out a heavy sigh, shaking her head. "Well, you seem to get mad a lot lately." Her eyes glanced down at her watch, moving her car into the fast lane. "I'm going to be late to meet a friend. You're going to have to come with me." Hope winced at her mother's words. The look in her mother's eyes, though, made her a little nervous. It was the same look she had gotten that time her mother tried to build a new lawnmower. "I just got a great idea."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, my friend was complaining about how he's short on workers."

"Oh no."