Spectacular World

Oxide's Promise

Several Months Earlier...

"I got invited to join the Sub Enforcers."

"Neat." The campfire burned harshly as Kevin tossed some firewood into it.

"Neat?" Ashley frowned and shot a look at her boyfriend. "That's all you have to say? I have freaking superpowers; I am one of the only people at our school to have them. I was the only one in my family born with them, and I was just invited to join the Sub Enforcers, one of the greatest teams in Oleander! This practically gives me a guaranteed spot on any other hero team once I turn eighteen. Just neat? That's seriously it?"

"Okay." Kevin shrugged. "It's really neat. Is that better?"

"No!" Ashley sighed and folded her arms. Metal twisted and formed over her shoulder, taking the shape of a small cat. "Why did I even agree to come out here? I should be training right now."

"Yeah. Why did you come?" Kevin stared down at the fire, his lips forming a thin line. There weren't many spots left in Oleander that had a forest feel to them. It was a big city, one built on top of the ruins of fallen lands. Parts of it were abandoned due to a villain attack that the Cleanup crew couldn't fix. They were in one such part of the city. Trees had grown back, and grass was taking over the buildings as nature ate away the ruined part of the street. "I didn't ask for you to come. You invited yourself."

"Because we haven't gotten to spend any time with each other!"

"Yeah. You've been too busy dealing with your new powers."

"Oh, don't act like you've been any better! You've been busy dealing with tryouts!" Ashley hissed back.

Kevin stared down at the fire softly. "Well, we have time now, don't we?"

Ashley was about to say something but stopped when they heard a noise echo down one of the alleyways. Footsteps came toward them, and the branch of a tree was moved away as a group of men seemed to step out of the alleyways. Ashley felt herself grow rigid, and Kevin stood up but froze suddenly when he saw the handgun that one of the men had strapped to his waist.

All of them had the letters 'BT' woven into their suits. Bad Timer grunts had appeared. "Well, well, well." One of the men said, letting out a soft whistle as he saw them. "What do we got here? This is our turf, yet a couple of kids think they can come in and throw a party."

"Some party. There's just the two of us." Ashley snorted. "You guys aren't very smart, are you?"

"What was that?" One of the grunts growled out.

"I called you stupid. Are you deaf also?" The girl asked, frowning.

"Don't-" Kevin grabbed her arm, but she slapped his hand away and stepped forward with a confident look in her eye.

The men looked down at the teen girl and frowned. There were eight of them in total. They likely noticed the smoke from the fire. Kevin almost cursed himself for putting Ashley in danger. "Why don't you guys buzz off?" Ashley said, casually rolling her eyes.

The man smiled, then drew his knife, flicking it at her, but she didn't back down. "Do you really want to do this-"

The man was cut off as a glob of metal suddenly blasted out of thin air, forming from nothing. It wrapped around his head and solidified, causing him to scream and crash to the floor below. The others all stepped back in shock and stared at Ashley as a dress made out of liquid metal flowed over her.

"Yeah. I think I want to do this."

That had been several months ago...

It was hard to think that time could change so fast, yet here they were in the present. Only a month or two later, he had to be saved from the Bad Timer crew again, this time though it was Hope coming to his rescue. That had been the day the girl got her powers. He vowed he wouldn't have to be saved ever again. Sadly, his promise didn't mean squat in the current world, as it took less than a month before he had to be saved yet again from both the Bad Timers and the Wandering Coin by Cinder and her team.