Twice in a lifetime: Book 2

Friendship Lane

Once the pink smoke dissipated, the students found themselves not at school, but a long road in the middle of the desert. They could see buildings, but they were at the opposite end of the road from where they were. Jean looked up at the street sign.

"Friendship lane." She read. "Doesn't feel very friendly."

"Why are you being so cynical?" Lucy asked.

"Cynical? I'm not being cynical. We were abandoned in the desert suddenly, ambushed by two murderers, Zen was murdered and we just left him to die, his blood is all over my face, Johnny is unconscious, and I'm so hopped up that a doctor would diagnose me with ADD and ADHD on sight. I literally cannot stop moving."

"Alright!" Ruby yelled. "I'm sorry. I clearly am not powerful enough to teleport that many people. That took a lot out of me, I'm hungry. And tired." She slowly laid down onto the road. "I think.... I'm gonna rest right here." She closed her eyes and fell asleep right on the pavement.

"Oh great, now it's just the three of us."

"Maybe not three!" Eli interrupted, looking out at the road. "There's a car approaching. A police car!"

Jean and Lucy looked, and sure enough there was a police car approaching them. It stopped about twenty feet away, and the driver exited. If it weren't for her badge and car, no one would be able to tell she was a policewoman; she looked just like any other older lady. She leaned her arms against the door, and stared at them through her big oval sunglasses.

"Where do you kids come from?" she shouted.

"Major Tom's school!" Jean shouted back, a little too loud.

"Really?" the woman shut her door and walked up to them. "Why I got a daughter who goes there. but how did you all get out here? This is a whole town away." She then noticed the blood on Jean's face and the two sleeping.  "Now what is going on?"

"It's a long story, one we don't even have all the details of." Lucy answered. "We just need to get back to school."

"You're coming with me first. I do have to file this; I have to file any metahuman that comes into town.

"Why?"

"Wow, you weren't kidding. You don't even know what town your in. well, you're not in Hope, this is Hometown. It used to be a bustling metropolis. But there was some meta terrorist, or something. Some lady calling herself Specter. I don't know how exactly she did it, but you see what's left of the place. She killed some big-name vigilante when she did it too. After that, the remaining people of Hometown outlawed metahumans; all of them, no exceptions."

She took off her sunglasses and looked straight down. "It hurt so much to send Lake away." She sniffed up all her tears and put her sunglasses back on as if to dam the tears into her eyes. "That's why I have to file you all. You won't technically be arrested, since being here isn't really a crime, I just need to record you and get you out here quick. Follow." She turned around and headed to her car.

The six, Eli carrying Johnny and Lucy carrying Ruby, crammed into the back of the police car as if they were clowns preparing to make their big entrance into the circus tent. They had no room to buckle up, and shook about as the car speed into town.