(A/N: Hey everyone! This is the first chapter of my new story, Premonitions of the Night. I really hope that all who read this enjoys the story. If you like it, please review or send me constructive criticism, because I can always improve my work. Thanks guys!)
Chapter 1- Black Dreams and Bad Days
To Lucy, being a superhero was both a blessing and a curse. She loved the feeling of being loved by other people, the appreciation they felt when she saved another life. She knew that that was messed up, that she should enjoy helping other people, not being loved, but she had her reasons.
But she also hated it more than anything, being a superhero meant sleepless nights, countless bathroom breaks at school, and the stress that she might not be able to save everyone. That she might not live up to the people of Magnolia's expectations. Those thoughts sometimes left her staring at her ceiling at night, contemplating if becoming a superhero was ever a good idea.
However, on most days, she would walk into school with a pep in her step, hoping that evil wouldn't rear its head. But if it did, she would take it gracefully, still saving the day no matter what. After all, the people of Magnolia expected Timestream to always be there to protect them. To always drop everything and come running to save the day. That was how it was supposed to be.
Right?
Lucy's brown eyes snapped open, her forehead drenched in sweat. The dream she had replayed itself in her mind. The sight of Magnolia, burning underneath black flames, haunted her. She'd had the same dream for weeks now, each morning waking up remembering more. By now, the blonde already knew that it was a time thread, a little piece of a possible future. Time threads were part of her potent abilities over time, although they were the least known of all her powers She could see them at any given time, all she had to do was reach out and touch one, but sometimes, bigger, more powerful threads could only be seen in her dreams. The larger the likelihood of a thread coming true, the more powerful it was.
The girl sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, her feet touching the cool floor. The bedroom in her apartment was filled with gray morning light filtering in through the windows. The sun was nowhere to be seen, hidden behind and impenetrable wall of grey clouds. Looking at them made Lucy feel uneasy, and she got the feeling that today was going to be long. Sighing, the blonde trudged into her little kitchenette, pulling out a box of cereal from the cabinet and some milk from the fridge.
As she sat, munching on a mouthful of milk and cereal, Lucy mulled over the dream, nitpicking it for any detail she could remember. All she really could remember perfectly were the flames, how they consumed everything in their path, and the dark coloration that made her skin crawl. The blonde threw a casual glance at the clock hanging up on her wall, nearly spitting out her cereal as she saw the time.
It's already 10? Lucy thought as she scrambled towards her bedroom, her breakfast forgotten on the counter.Levy's probably already waiting for me!
It was the last week of summer break, and Lucy had made plans with her best friend, Levy McGarden, to go to a nearby amusement park, followed by a sleepover at Levy's house. Lucy hated to make the girl wait, tripping around her room in search of an acceptable outfit.
As she brushed her hair, she glanced out the window, and the uneasy feeling returned again. She looked away, walked out of her bedroom, and left her apartment, sprinting towards Kardia Station, the subway station where she was meeting Levy.
"Lu-chan, hurry up!" The blue haired girl called out, seeing her friend approaching at breakneck speed. "The bus is about to leave!"
Not without me, it isn't! Lucy thought, increasing her speed and nearly plowing straight into the man standing next to Levy. "Sorry I'm late Levy!"
The girls engaged in playful conversation as they boarded the bus bound for the amusement park, Levy making fun of Lucy's mussed up hair, Lucy snapping back with a witty remark.
"I can't believe you slept in though," Levy said with a smile as she plopped down in one of the seats in the back of the bus, Lucy sitting in the one next to her. "You never oversleep."
That was true. The last time Lucy had overslept was almost three years ago, on the first day of high school. She was almost late to her first class, and she had vowed never to oversleep again on that day. She began to regret that promise when she became Timestream, but Lucy never breaks promises, be it to herself or other people. So she woke up promptly at 9 on weekends and vacations, and 7:00 on school days. Levy was right, it was odd that she overslept.
"I guess we all have our firsts, don't we?" Lucy said with a laugh, settling down in her seat with her purse in her lap. "But forget about that, tell me about the guy you met at the park yesterday!"
The rest of the bus ride was punctuated by the excited whispering that went between the two girls, with the occasional gasp and laugh to change things up. In a flash, the bus had stopped in front of the amusement park, opening its doors to let out its passengers.
"Wow, look at that crowd!" Lucy said, looking at the massive line leading up to the entrance to the park. "I'm surprised to see that, seeing how cloudy it is today." The girls began to walk through the parking lot, dodging cars as they drove by, prowling for a non-existent parking spot.
"Lu-chan, maybe we should go home and come back later this week," Levy said uncertainly as they approached the line, eyeing it with dread. "We could be stuck in here for hours, and I'd rather not waste our day waiting in line."
Despite wanting desperately to go into the park and ride all of the rides with Levy, Lucy could see the truth in the blue haired girl's words. There was no guarantee that they would even be able to get into the park before it closed. The blonde gave the gates of the park a longing glance before turning back to her friend. "You're right Levy. Let's come back later this week, when it's less crowded." Lucy said, masking her disappointment as best she could.
The girls turned their backs to the park, trudging back to the bus stop, annoyance and disappointment practically radiating off of them.
"Oh how absolutely wonderful!" Levy said sarcastically as she checked over the bus schedule at the stop. "The next bus isn't due for another 40 minutes! Now what?"
"I guess we just sit here and wait," Lucy said with a sight, flopping down on the bench. "We can't do anything else can we?"
Levy sighed as well, sitting down next to Lucy and pulling out her phone, probably to check social media. Not only was Levy a book nerd of the highest order, but she was also the type to put everything to ever happen on social media. Lucy knew that she would probably be getting notifications about tagged posts any minute now, so she pulled out her phone to see what kind of witty remarks would be made.
Lucy barely had her phone unlocked when the screams started. Bolting up from her seat, Lucy turned to see a plume of smoke billowing from within the amusement park. Internally, Lucy groaned. She knew something like this would happen. The superheroes gut feelings never lied. So now the park was on fire and Lucy needed to go and save the day. Again.
Joy to the world.
"What happened?" Levy exclaimed, staring at the smoke in horror. "Is it some kind of attack?" The girl was shaking, her eyes wide. Lucy hated to leave her, but it had to be done.
"I'll be right back Levy! I'm gonna see if people need help!" Lucy yelled, sprinting off towards the park. Lucy could hear Levy yell her name, but she ignored it, instead searching for a bathroom. Spotting a bathroom right by the gates of the park, she sprinted into it, checking to make sure she was alone before locking the entrance. Out of her purse, she pulled out a glowing circle which pulsated with a bluish-white light. The blonde pulled off her shoes, watch, and tee-shirt, leaving her in a white tank-top and yoga pants.
The blonde placed the circle of her chest, where it immediately began to expand, covering her body in a silvery armor, leaving her arms and upper face uncovered. The circle was actually a regulator that kept Lucy's more unpredictable abilities controlled. The silver plating was bullet and fire proof, providing her with a high level of protection. The plating covered her mouth and nose, leaving her eyes and hair uncovered. Over her arms, Lucy pulled on fingerless black gloves that stopped at her upper arms. She pulled a utility belt with a silver plated whip and a few knives attached to it out of her backpack, buckling it on. She pulled her blonde hair into a low ponytail in order to keep it out of her way. Giving herself a quick glance in the mirror, she sprinted out of the bathroom, using her whip to swing to the top of the amusement park's gates.
The scene below the superhero was chaotic. Three or four men were chasing a bunch of civilians into corners, all holding guns aimed at the people. All of the smoke was coming from a shop that had been set on fire. In front of the burning store was a man that Lucy had seen on wanted posters inside police stations. It was Bora the Prominence, a crime kingpin who was wanted for multiple counts of kidnapping and human trafficking. Like Lucy, he had powers as well, although he wasn't nearly as strong. At best, he possessed mediocre fire powers, not even comparing to the likes of those belonging to Dragonclaw, a famous superhero who protected Magnolia before Lucy became Timestream two years ago. He had probably used a bomb to create the amount of damage that was there. He would be easy.
Lucy jumped down from the gate, deciding to go after the goons before she took out Bora. Lucy's powers over time allowed her to control her own time and the ability to stop the time of plants and animals, but not the time of other people. Using this, she compressed her own time, allowing her to reach the first goon instantaneously.
"Wha-?" The goon shrieked as the superhero known as Timestream materialized in front of him. Lucy smirked, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and punched him in the face. While he howled in pain, the superhero wrapped her whip around his body, using it to slam him against a wall.
Timestream, one. Bad guys, zero.
One of the people who had been held hostage, a little boy with a mop of brown hair, looked at Lucy and exclaimed, "Look! It's Timestream! I bet she's gonna beat up all the bad guys!"
The boy made Lucy smile as she took off to find the other three men, taking them out as easily as she did the first man.
Timestream, three. Bad guys, zero.
Lucy had just finished off the last man when maniacal laughter echoed throughout the small building that she and the hostages were in. Bora walked through the messed up shop, not giving a second glance to his downed associate, out cold after having his head slammed against the marble floor.
"Here before me now stands the infamous Timestream, known throughout the country for her heroic deeds. How honored I feel." Bora said, his silky voice dripping with sarcasm. He picked up a commemorative plastic snow globe off the floor, examining it as he spoke. "How on earth did you get here so quickly? Were you here for a little fun when I arrived?"
"You are the worst kind of person, Bora," Lucy spat, crouching low. Mentally she began to prepare herself for a fight. She was too tired to use her time-compression on herself now, which meant her only option was hand-to-hand combat, which was not ideal due to her lack of upper body strength. "Only the lowest of the low would attack a place where entire families come to have fun, not nearly get killed by insane maniacs!"
"'Insane maniacs'?" Please." Bora said, taking his eyes off of the snow globe and fixing them on the superhero. "We're hardly insane. We just like going big and bold when we search for more merchandise!"
Lucy knew that by 'new merchandise,' Bora meant people to kidnap and sell on the slave market overseas. Slowly, she began to reach for her throwing knives.
"Well, I guess that it's time to end this little talk," Bora said, and suddenly the room became unbearably hot. "How about you go 'boom' like that other store?"
"No!" Lucy yelled, launching herself at the criminal, both hands clutching knives. A manic look in Bora's eye told Lucy that she had made a mistake. A moment later, she was engulfed by fire. The blonde screamed, her glove on her left arm had caught on fire, burning her skin. Tears from pain escaped her brown eyes, and she could hear cries of fear from the people behind her.
"Time to go bye-bye, little girl!" Bora snarled, a ball of fire growing in his hand. Lucy could tell that it would be strong enough to obliterate the building. She cursed herself for underestimating the kingpin. Maybe if she hadn't, she wouldn't be in her current situation, with her left arm basically unusable.
Steeling herself for the worst, Lucy was prepared to face her death when a nonchalant voice called out from the front of the store. "Is that really the extent of your powers? Big balls of fire?"
Lucy couldn't believe her eyes. A boy around her age was leaning against the doorway, looking in at the scene as if it was the most normal thing in the world. The bottom half of his face was covered with the mask of Dragonclaw, the legendary superhero. The boys shockingly pink hair spiked up in all directions, his dark eyes held a look of mischief. Lucy couldn't believe it, not at all. Why on earth was the legend here now? Where had he been the past two years, after he left and dumped he responsibility of keeping Magnolia safe squarely on her shoulders.
"Y-you're… Dragonclaw?" Bora asked, uncertainty ringing in his voice. The fire in his hands dimmed slightly, and Lucy prayed that Dragonclaw would be able to beat the kingpin now that she couldn't.
"Damn straight," The ex-superhero said, walking into the building and setting his hand on fire. "But that isn't the important thing to talk about right now, is it?"
"It isn't…?"
"Nope. I think it'd time you evaluate how you're supposed to treat girls,"
Bora gulped, and Lucy began to feel very sorry for the man. She had a feeling that this was going to hurt.
(A/N: Aaaaaand cut! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, and I apologize for the sloppy writing, I just finished this and its just past 2 in the morning where I live, so I'm a bit tired. I'll try to put the next chapter up in the next few days, so check the tags frequently! Au revoir good people, got don't forget to leave suggestions on what I can do better in an ask!)