Trigger warning for a certain scene in the chapter.
The city of New York was as busy as it ever had been, traffic roamed the streets and the local super population had been as busy as ever either fighting crime or causing it, but it was on this hot spring day that the lives of two residents would be changed forever.
"Katrina are you ready yet?" A Chinese woman's voice rang out from the other side of the teenager's door and the Chinese girl glanced up as she put her top on, standing at five foot six Katrina was an athletic girl with shoulder length black hair and brown eyes who was currently getting ready for school. "Your going to be late for school!"
"I'm dressed mom, just grabbing my things." Katrina sighed in response before going over the stuff she needed in her head. "iPhone? Check, textbooks? Check dawdles of who I'd be if I was a superhero?" Katrina thought as she glanced down at the drawings in her notebook and sighed. "Super Strength, Flight, ability to breathe fire without burning the insides of my mouth and a genius level IQ? As awesome as that would be I don't see me getting super smart overnight." The eighteen-year-old thought with a sigh before putting her school stuff in her backpack and pocketing her iPhone and charger. "The other abilities though? Yeah, that would be awesome!"
"Katrina Sheng Lao, I would like to remind you that we are no longer living in a small town!" Katrina's mother's voice rang out and Katrina winced before quickly opening the door. "You'll have to walk to school but fortunately it's not that far from the restaurant." Katrina's mother added, and Katrina sighed.
"Well, it was your idea to move here and open up a Chinese restaurant mom." Katrina reminded her, and her mother nodded. "Can't blame me for still being used to the old routine."
"Old routine or not, I still expect you to make a good impression on your first day at mid-town high." Her mother responded before stepping aside to let her daughter pass. "And if that boyfriend of yours comes by to pick you up, remind him that he still has to pay you back for that incident."
"Marco's not my boyfriend!" Katrina asserted with a furious blush and she turned to her mother. "He just happens to be a boy who's my friend! Besides, he paid me back last week!"
"If you say so dear, I still think you two make a cute couple." Katrina's mother responded, and Katrina rolled her eyes before her ringtone went off and she answered it.
"Hello? Oh, hey Marco!" Katrina answered before turning her attention away from her mom. "Your waiting outside? Great, see you outside."
"You say he's not your boyfriend, yet you have his phone number?" Katrina's mother asked with a knowing grin and Katrina shook her head.
"Yeah, him and several other boys who I know through Facebook." Katrina responded before heading off. "Can't talk, got to go meet Marco!"
"Be safe Katrina!" Her mother called out to her before her daughter disappeared from site. "New York City might be a lot bigger than the town we lived in, but I don't think things will change too much." Katrina's mother thought as she grabbed a broom and started brushing through her daughter's room stopping a moment to look at a family picture on the wall taken from when Katrina won her last athletic competition. "Katrina's at school, her father has started his job with the local police force, sure there's a lot more superheroes here but I doubt we'll run into them."
*meanwhile outside*
"Come on Kat, I don't want to be late." Marco muttered under his breath as he drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, he was taller than Katrina and off Italian heritage with shoulder length brown hair and blue eyes, whilst he was a handsome guy for sure he wasn't as athletic as Katrina was which was mostly owed to him being in IT class. "Great, first day in New York and we're already late, at least I passed my driving class before moving here."
"Hey Marco, can't talk, late for school!" Katrina said as she opened the backdoor and put her backpack on the backseat, quickly closed it and hopped in the passenger's side. "Surprised your dad let you use the car again."
"Well, he did say that it was only in emergencies and being late to my first day of class? Yeah, he thinks that's an emergency." Marco responded before locking the doors and driving off as fast as the speed limit would allow him too. "So, do your parents still think we're an item?"
"Yep, no matter how many times I say that we aren't." Katrina responded as she shook her head and glanced out the window. "Same thing with your dad?"
"You know it." Marco sighed as he continued to drive along. "I mean come on, we've been friends since childhood, it would be weird dating a girl I've known for that long."
"I tried telling my parents that, all they said was that that was how they met." Katrina sighed as she shook her head. "At least being late will be the least of our worries, right?"
"Please don't jinx us, last thing I want is to be caught in a Supervillain attack on my first day in New York City." Marco sighed as he continued to drive along. "I don't think there's any explaining the car being blown away or turned to stone or being smashed to smithereens or sent to an alternate dimension where you're a genius whose mom runs a chemical company who gained dragon like abilities in a freak accident and I'm your tech support."
"Sad thing is? That last one sounds tempting." Katrina responded with a grin getting a laugh out of Marco. "But no, I'm stuck being an average girl whose mom runs one of the many mom and pop Chinese restaurants in the city, about the only consistent thing is the fact that you're my tech support and my dad still works for the police."
"Well, that and your beautiful." Marco added getting a grin out of Katrina. "No wonder everyone thinks we're a couple."
"Yep, and I bet showing up to high school in the same car won't help that perception!" Katrina responded before Marco pulled into the high school parking lot. "See? That wasn't so hard, first day in New York and nothing weird happened."
"I wouldn't hold your breath on "nothing weird happening", this is superpower central after all." Marco responded before reaching back and passing Katrina her bag. "Don't think I'll be able to do this tomorrow, car has just enough fuel to get us both back home but it's going to need topping up tomorrow and guess who has the money for it?"
"Your dad?" Katrina asked, and Marco nodded. "We'll find a way to make it work, for now let's worry about getting to class in time." Katrina added before exiting the car and rushing off towards the building.
"Don't need to tell me twice." Marco responded before grabbing his stuff and following Katrina.
*meanwhile across town*
For Marco and Katrina, it was their first day in New York and their first day at school, but for the regular residents of New York it was just another day.
"That's it, load all the money into the bag." The insane Supervillain known as the White Rabbit ordered her henchmen, dressed as several characters from Alice in Wonderland, as they robbed a bank at gunpoint. "This is so easy! It's not like Spider-Man's going to show up to bother little old me!"
"What about that Frog guy?" One of the henchmen asked as they started to leave, and the White Rabbit scoffed.
"What about him? He hasn't been active for years." The White Rabbit responded before she and her goons left the bank and started heading down an alleyway that led them to their getaway vehicle. "Who cares if I used up all the money I inherited." The White Rabbit muttered under her breath not noticing that one of the patrons from the bank was following her. "After this heist? I'll rich again!"
"Wait, what do you mean you have no money left?" One of the henchmen asked as he turned to her. "You said we'd get paid!"
"And you will, with a percentage of the money from the heist!" The White Rabbit responded with a reassuring grin and the henchmen shared uneasy looks. "Don't worry, I'll pay…..."
"Oh, you will pay!" The patron's voice rang out from behind her and she stopped midsentence. "For all the crimes you've committed."
"Who…." The White Rabbit was cut off by a single shotgun blast that went in through her back and out the front, the insane supervillain had just enough time to look down at the gaping hole in her chest before she dropped to her knees and then fell face-down dead.
"Let's get out of here! That bitch wasn't going to pay us anyway!" The henchmen said quickly before they ran off in different directions.
"Justice is served, White Rabbit!" The patron said simply before pocketing the shotgun and leaving the scene of the crime.
*later*
It was now the end of the school day and the students at mid-town high where leaving for home, including Marco and Katrina.
"I swear, if Katrina wasn't living with her parents she'd be late to everything." Marco sighed to himself as he waited for Katrina to emerge from the high school. "Well, at least I have something to listen too whilst I wait for her." Marco commented before he turned up the radio and started searching for stations. "Come on, I know I found a really good metal station earlier!" Marco thought as he continued to mess with the controls.
"In late breaking news, a Supervillain was found murdered earlier today in Manhattan." The news anchor's voice rang out giving Marco pause. "The villain known as the White Rabbit, real name Lorina Dodson, was gunned down as she and her associates fled the scene of a bank robbery by a patron of the bank who exclaimed "Justice is Served, White Rabbit" before leaving the scene of the crime, the police have yet to comment on if this is a copycat of the Scourge of the Underworld's murder spree in the 80s or a resurgence of the vigilante organization."
"White Rabbit? Who?" Marco wondered before looking her up on Google. "Fought Spider-Man and some guy called the Frog once, was recently released from Ryker's Island, wow, that costume is bad, I hope Katrina doesn't go for that look if she does get powers."
"Looking up Playboy models at school Marco?" Katrina's voice rang out and Marco looked up seeing that he had somehow missed her getting into the car. "Sorry for the wait, had to get myself signed up for the track team before I left."
"No worries, and no I wasn't looking up Playboy Models at school, that was just a one-time thing and I'd rather forget about it." Marco responded before pocketing the phone and starting up the engine. "So, what do you know of the Scourge of the Underworld?"
"Scourge of the Underworld? Not a lot, I know my parents watched a documentary on the original Scourge of the Underworld last night, but I wasn't paying attention." Katrina shrugged her shoulders as Marco pulled out of the parking space. "Why?"
"From the sounds of it there's a new Scourge in town, already gunned down some Spider-Man enemy I've never heard off called the White Rabbit, the playboy model you saw." Marco added as he continued to drive along. "Not that it concerns us, I mean we've never been in trouble with the law, right? And if these murders make the streets safer that's fine by me!"
"Marco, have I ever told you something my dad taught me when I was a little girl?" Katrina asked, and Marco thought for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "He taught me that all life is precious and that even criminals deserve a second chance, it's the whole reason he wanted to become a cop in the first place, so I'm not that comfortable with you being so casual about some insane woman being gunned down, Supervillain or not."
"I guess your right, how about we just forget that conversation ever happened." Marco commented before turning his attention back to the road. "Huh, I don't recognize this area from the drive to school."
"Great, first day driving in New York and your already lost." Katrina sighed in annoyance before glancing around. "And it looks like we're in a rough neighborhood, can you get us out of here?"
"Shouldn't be too hard." Marco responded before he glanced at the fuel meter. "Scratch that, we're running out of fuel."
"What do you mean "we're running out of fuel"?" Katrina asked as she turned to her friend whilst the car crawled to a stop. "I thought you said that we had enough fuel to get us to and from school?"
"I did, so I don't know why…." Marco commented before face-palming. "Ugh, I'm such an idiot!"
"What did you do?" Katrina asked before glancing out the window. "Seriously Marco, there's some guys coming our way and they don't look friendly! What did you do?!" Katrina demanded as she saw several thugs approach the car.
"I didn't like the look of the food on the menu at lunchtime, so I snuck out to grab something from a deli." Marco responded as he ran a hand down his face. "I was more concerned with getting back before the staff noticed I was gone than I was with fuel and I wasn't paying attention to the fuel gage."
"Let me get this straight, we're about to get carjacked and possibly worse, because you are a picky eater?!" Katrina responded with a face-palm and Marco nodded with a wince. "Marco, if we survive this then you may as well rip up your driver's license because I don't see your dad letting you drive ever again!"
"Get out of the car! This is a carjack!" The lead thug demanded as he pointed his gun sideways at the window and Katrina winced. "I said get out of the car!"
"Okay, okay!" Marco said before quickly opening the car door and Katrina followed suit, they didn't even get a chance to step out before they were grabbed and dragged out by two thugs each.
"Well, well, who's your lady friend?" The lead thug asked as he laid eyes on Katrina and the rest of the thugs eyed her up. "Be gentle with her boys!"
"You leave her alone!" Marco demanded only for the lead thug to point his gun to his head whilst the other thugs dragged Katrina into a nearby alley. "You won't get away with this! Her dad's a cop!"
"Do I look like I'm scared of her daddy?" The lead thug scoffed, and the other thugs laughed.
*meanwhile in the alley*
"Don't worry little lady! We'll be gentle." The thug said as he threw her to the ground and got on top of her before producing a pocket knife. "Off course, that's what I say to all the ladies I meet!"
"No wonder you can't get a date!" Katrina responded before kicking the thug in the balls causing him to drop the knife, the thug rolled to the side allowing Katrina to scramble to her feet and try to get away only to realize that it led to a dead end. "Fuck me!"
"Well, why didn't you just say so?" One of the other thugs said as he grabbed the knife. "Don't worry, we'll still be gentle!"
"Why bother?" The thug Katrina kicked in the balls said as he got up to his feet. "After what she did to me? Why don't we make it so not even her own mother will recognize her?"
"That sounds like a good idea!" The other thug said before shoving Katrina against the wall and holding the knife to her throat. "Your going to wish that you had never hooked up with your boyfriend! Not even your dad can save you now!"
"Mom, dad, I probably won't see them again." Katrina thought as she closed her eyes. "All because Marco didn't like the school cafeteria food! Granted, it wasn't great but if he hadn't snuck out I wouldn't be in this situation." Katrina thought before taking a deep breath…. only for her train of thought to be interrupted by screams of pain and surprise and she looked up seeing that she had set the thugs sleeve on fire causing him to back away. "What the…."
"That bitch can breathe fire?!" The lead thug exclaimed in surprise as the other thug quickly took off his jacket. "She's a mutant! Get her!"
"I don't know what just happened, but I'll take it, let's see what else I can do!" Katrina thought as the first thug swung with his fist only for Katrina to duck under it and punch him in the stomach sending him flying backwards into the other thugs and knocking him out, another thug tried to tackle her from the side, but she flew over him causing him to crash into a trash can head first, the three remaining thugs shared a look before sprinting out of the alley.
*back at the car*
"Boss, the car isn't moving!" One of the thugs said as he tried get the car moving to no avail. "Maybe the kid's telling the truth!"
"I tried telling you that we were out of fuel!" Marco protested as the lead thug kept his gun trained on him. "So maybe you'll let us go? Call of your thugs from whatever they're about to do to Katrina…." Marco never finished the sentence as the lead thug pistol whipped him.
"Shut it! We're not letting you go, not after you've seen our faces! Same goes for your girlfriend!" The lead thug said before going to shoot Marco in the head, however he was distracted by the site of the three thugs fleeing the alley. "Oh shit! A Superhero's showed up, hasn't he?"
"No man, it's the girl, she's a mutant!" The thug responded as he caught up to the leader. "It's the only way to describe it! One minute she's our victim, the next she's kicking our asses!"
"Katrina's a mutant?!" Marco thought as he closed his eyes. "Well, maybe we won't be leaving here in body bags after all…" Marco's train of thought was interrupted when a loud clang rang out and he looked up realizing that the lead thug had apparently been knocked out with a flying trashcan lid. "Did I do that? But how?!"
"They're both mutants, lets get out of here!" One of the thugs said before they all ran off and Marco got back to his feet.
"Marco!" Katrina's voice rang out as the Asian girl ran up to him and took several deep breaths. "Are you hurt?"
"You first, they dragged you into an alleyway and from the look of things they were ready to gang rape you!" Marco responded, and Katrina shook her head.
"All things considered? I'm fine, they didn't even get my top off before my powers activated." Katrina responded with a shudder before turning her attention to Marco. "What about you?"
"That asshole pistol whipped me, but my powers activated before he could kill me, looks like I've got telepathy of some kind." Marco responded after thinking for a minute before noticing Katrina's eyes lighting up. "What about you?"
"Oh, just the powers I've always dreamed off!" Katrina responded with a big grin on her face. "Granted, I can definitely think of better scenarios for me to get them in but I'm not complaining, we need to get out of here!"
"Agreed, I guess we'll have to walk home." Marco responded as he glanced at the car. "I'll explain the situation to dad, hopefully he'll go easy on me all things considered and I'll leave out the powers bit, probably claim that we were saved by superheroes."
"Yeah but that can only take us so far." Katrina said as she glanced towards the car. "Okay, how about after school tomorrow we'll meet up in a quiet spot and see what our powers can do without hurting people."
"A quiet spot in New York City?" Marco asked as he scratched his head. "Katrina, we're not in a small town anymore, this is a major city, trying to find a quiet spot here is not going to be easy."
"Would you rather test them out in full view of our parents?" Katrina asked, and Marco shook his head. "Thought not, let's get out of here, and see if you can get your sister to sow us some costumes, if your dad asks, just tell him that there for a Halloween party."
"In Spring?" Marco asked, and Katrina sighed.
"You figure something out, for now I just want to get out of here!" Katrina added and Marco nodded before they left the area.