Spectacular World

Know Each Other

Hope collapsed on her couch with a groan, happy that her mom was coming home and that she'd be unable to leave the house.

After the fighting, the running around, the broken bones, and the lasers, she was tired, and after having their talk with Myth, she nearly collapsed then and there. It took all her super strength to carry Mr. Larison home and then get back to her own house. And tomorrow, she'd have to do it all over again and help the man get back to the car, which they'd left hidden in the alleyway.

Her backpack contained her costumes, which she held tightly. She couldn't help but stare down at the helmet that rested in it. Mr. Larison had gone all out, shaping and washing it while it was being remade. It had a silver color, smooth enough to reflect her face, but now, after her battle, it had a few dents, and part of the metal had smudged with ash.

Her hand brushed it, and she sighed, setting the backpack down. It wasn't the only thing that was damaged. Paragon had reversed her wounds when she was in the hospital. All her scrapes and bruises had simply faded. Battery, however, was the one to heal her this time after she refused Paragon's help. The man's healing was slower and a lot rougher.

Her fingers traced the wound on her stomach. Her skin beneath her clothes was covered with bruises, and she didn't think her bones had fully healed.

Battery's method was more like speeding the healing up than properly fixing it. Despite how much pain she was in, they had managed to do it. They made it out alive in a fight with some of Oleander's worst. Not to mention she had gotten to understand more of her fire power.

Her hand slipped into her pocket, and she pulled out a small lighter. She had swiped it from Mr. Larison when she had been carrying him. Hopefully, pun intended, it would stop him from smoking for a bit. Hope flicked the lighter on, allowing a small flicker of fire to pour out.

When she fought Red Ape, breathing fire had nearly killed her. Again, she used that power on White Lamb. It had hurt like hell, almost as bad as all the broken bones she got, but it wasn't nearly as harmful as when she used it on Red Ape. Her thumb hovered over the fire, feeling it flicker on her skin. It didn't burn. It wasn't even that warm, honestly.

"Am I finally fireproof?" From what Mr. Larison told her, her body was still adjusting and becoming a Super that could keep up with her powers. It seemed her body was finally starting to adjust to the fact she could blast out intense heat. If she used that breath attack a bit more, she could reach the point where she stopped getting hurt by it at all. At least that was a theory. There was also the chance she could get some other power too quickly before her body was ready and accidentally kill herself...

Luckily, Hope didn't have to think about that for very long as the door opened and her mother finally returned from work. "I'm back! And I brought pizza."

"Yay, pizza!" She ignored the sore spots as she stood up, but her hand was swatted away before she could grab a slice.

"Did you leave the house?" Her mom asked.

"I would never disobey you, mother."

"I asked the old lady in the next apartment to watch our door."

"Yeah, I totally left."

"Damn it, Hope." Her mom complained but didn't sound that mad, all things considered.

"I had something important I needed to do. And look!" Hope held her arms out and stretched, ignoring the flare of pain in her gut. "No damage! I didn't get into a fight this time." 'That you can tell' was left unsaid.

"That's good." Finally, her mom stopped her from trying to get a plate. They didn't bother sitting at the table. They just stood there holding their plates and ate quietly. "So, what was so important that you had to sneak off?" Her mom asked.