Spectacular World

A Nightmare Of Fighting

Hope 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 Hope 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."

Hope 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. Hope 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.