Sorry guys, I took a bit longer with this chapter than I would've liked, but time just got away from me. It gets dark really early here, and that just throws me off.

But, chapter 6 is done, you're looking at it now :) I hope you guys enjoy.

November 17th

"…Class dismissed," the teacher sighed. It was the last class of the day for both Colette and April. The students murmured amongst themselves while they collected their things, packing them away. Many stood up from their desks, their usual enthusiasm gone. The teacher could see it. She wasn't the nicest, it wasn't her job to be, but she always saw it. Her students would usually be smiling somewhat, getting out of her class…

She adjusted her glasses, "Class, please wait before you leave…" the student at the classroom door stopped just as he was about to turn the knob. All eyes went to her.

"In light of recent events… With the very real threat of this Johnny Rancid…" The name left lips laced with venom, "Please, do not fret over it. Jump City's police force will take care of them." She glanced around the silent room. She could see the students staring at her.

She cleared he throat, "That'll be all, now go home," She said sternly.

"Bye / See you tomorrow, Ms. Irons," a few of the students said as they filed out of the room. The middle-aged woman closed her eyes. She took her seat and waited until the door closed to bring out a couple stacks of papers, beginning her grading of their tests.

"This city is going to hell in a hand basket," She murmured to herself, shaking her head. She remembered when there was constant danger, all of the villainous evildoers, super or not, running around and causing mayhem. Cinderblock, the concrete monstrosity. Control Freak, a couch potato, but a deadly couch potato. Dr. Light, Plasmas…

"Johnny Rancid…" She stopped in the middle of her work, she took off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Oh my…" Johnny Rancid was another destructive deviant; she remembered vividly seeing his creation, Wrexzilla, run rampant for a short time until the Titans dealt with it. She was worried for her students.

She remembered all of the villains running rampant in the city, but she also remembered the Titans. They did everything in their power to protect them, and they did a damn good job of it.

"You never truly appreciate what you have until it's gone… And just when we thought we'd be safe."

She jumped slightly at the sound of knocking on her door. She quickly slipped on her glasses and adjusted them, "Come in," She stated. She glanced towards the door and saw that it was two of her colleagues, Darius Porter, a rather portly man who kept himself neat and trim, all except for the stubbly beard he kept, and David Seele, a tall man with a lean frame and spindly limbs.

"Abigail, the teachers are meeting to hopefully come up with some plan if the police are unable to detain Johnny and his gang," Mr. Porter stated, loosening his tie.

"I see," She replied, "Well, give me a few minutes and I'll join you," She told them, and David nodded.

"And Abigail…" He started, rolling up his sleeves. She glanced toward him out of the corner of her eye, "Don't be too long."

She nodded, "All right." And with that the two male teachers went on their way. They left the door to swing shut on its own, but Ms. Irons noticed it stop abruptly. She looked up, "Yes? Come in."

The door opened more so, and a young man poked his head, "Ms. Irons?"

"Yes, how can I help you, young man?" She replied.

He smiled at her, "My name is Everard Ashken, I was told to give this to you."

April placed her things inside of her locker rather quickly. She just wanted to return home as quickly as she could. She took quick, sidelong glances at the students around her, at least the one's she could see. They looked as worried as she was normally, some looked positively frightened, but their friends were trying to comfort them.

Johnny Rancid was bad news, and people knew that. The Police did all they could, but they had all of the other normal, everyday thugs and lowlifes to deal with around Jump City, and even with their numbers crime was still a big problem. They very well couldn't devote their time to Johnny and his thugs and leave the rest to do as they please.

Her eyes shut tightly. Every villain that had terrorized Jump City left their own impressions that the people talk about, Johnny included. She leaned her head against the cold metal of her locker, trying not to think of what would happen if Johnny Rancid and the supposed crew he was bringing with him were left unchecked.

Her hand came up and wrapped around the silver pendant around her neck. Her thumb lightly traveled over the button on the back. It was like she jolted from the touch, her hand jerked away.

'No! Dad said so… No deactivating it… I want to live a normal life…' She thought.

April waited until there were a few less people in the hallway before she started for the stairs that lead to the ground floor of the school.

"Nice necklace… Looks expensive…" April froze. An older boy, possibly an upperclassman stepped out from around the corner leading to the stairs. His lips were curled in to a crooked smirk. He reached forward and gently grasped the silver pendant around her neck. He leaned down to examine it, and then glanced in to her frightened eyes.

"I'll think I'll take it… You do mind, do you?" His hand tightened around it, and the moment there was a slight tug, she gasped and she dropped whatever she was holding, both of her hands shot up to grab his wrist.

"No!"

The upperclassman's smirk twisted in to a sneer. April tried to pry his fingers from around her pendant, but to no avail.

"Give it up; you don't want to get hurt over some stupid pendant, do you?" He asked, shaking his head at her feeble attempts. He gave a sharp tug but she quickly stepped forward.

"Stop it!" April all but shouted, she tugged at his hand, but gasped when his grip tightened on the pendant, "Stop that, you'll break it!" She was beginning to panic.

His eyes turned fierce, he glared down at her. April quickly looked away from him. Her eyes landed on several students just watching, but they quickly looked away. They seemed scared…

"Hey!~" A sweet voice reached her ears. She would've jumped had the situation not been so bad for her. Colette suddenly appeared with a bright smile on her face. She placed her hand on the upperclassman's hand, "C'mon now, this is my friend. Don't hurt her…"

April watched Colette with wonder and confusion. She was in danger, a lot of people were clearly afraid of this boy, and yet she was talking to him like he was her friend. But judging from the glare that the upperclassman had trained on her, he likely wasn't. A sweet scent wafted in to her nose and she blinked…

She felt… lighter? A calming feeling slowly washed over her.

The upperclassman suddenly let go of her pendant, "Oh… Sorry about that… I don't know what got in to me…" April looked up to see the upperclassman smiling down at her with a look of apology now. He reached up, and she flinched back instinctively, but he merely dusted off her shoulders.

"I shouldn't have been such a jerk… Again, sorry," He gave them a wave over his shoulder as he turned to walk away. Colette waved him. April's jaw dropped slightly.

"B –b –but… He… What?" She cocked her head in confusion. Colette turned to her, still smiling.

"Hey, April!~" She practically sang. Colette flung her arms around the girl, hugging her tightly. She pulled away, still keeping her hands on April's shoulders, "You didn't get hurt, did you?" She asked.

April slowly shook her head. She was still trying to process what had just happened. First that boy wanted to hurt her since she wasn't willing to part with her pendant, and his attitude took a One-Eighty degree turn for the better…?

"That's good!" Colette stated. April took a couple steps back, she bent down to collect her things she had dropped, and Colette helped her.

"T – thank you," April said quietly. She had finally found her voice, now she could ask, "C – Colette…" She gulped quietly, trying to calm her stutter, "Did you… know him? That boy?"

Colette tilted her head for a moment, looking rather confused. Her eyebrows rose, "Oooh! You mean that boy!" She stated, nodding her head, "Mmm… I think his name starts with a K… Kevin? Kenny? … Uhm… Oh! You mean if I know him like he's my friend, don't you?"

April slowly nodded. This girl certainly was unique.

Colette shook her head, her burnt orange hair that was drawn back in a loose ponytail waving with her movements, "Nope!"

"But then… How did…" April blinked in confusion. That boy seemed to listen to her so easily, or… His attitude did change when she appeared. How odd…

Colette handed April the last of her things, and the timid girl quietly thanked her, "Uhm… Is this school always l – like this? All these… bad people around?" She had to ask. First it was that Russell boy, and now that upperclassman.

"There are a few bad apples, yeah…" Colette admitted, losing a bit of her perkiness, but it seemed to return as quickly as it had left her, "But don't let them get you down! There are a ton of nice people here too! You know Jonathon from our class? Same last name as yours, that one! He knows a lot of funny jokes; you just want to laugh when you're around him!"

Colette carried on about several other members from their class and others, and April just watched the girl talk and gesticulate with her hands as she did so. She was so cheery. Even after what had happened today with Johnny Rancid's announcement, she was so happy…

"April!" the timid girl nearly jumped out of her skin. She leaned back as Colette leaned toward her.

"Y – yeah?" She replied.

"Do you want to walk home? It's waaaay better than walking by yourself!" Colette said with a wide smile.

"Uhm…" April glanced around, "I… I live on the outskirts of town… It would probably be really far out of your way and – Ah!" Colette wasn't having it and grabbed April by her wrist, pulling her along as she descended the stairs.

"I don't mind, really!" the chipper girl replied, "C'mon!"

"A – all right!" April squeaked, her face flushing red.

"Thanks for coming, have a nice day!" Seth waved over his shoulder at the female cashier who had just taken his money. He stated that he'd be back again. He started at a steady jog, a drink in one hand and in the other was a white bag filled with food. The food he promised to Connie.

"Hope she's still there… This food took a good chunk out of my wallet," Seth murmured to himself. He quickly shook his head vigorously, "Ah man! Why'd I say that? She saved my life…" He let a small smile cross his face, but it disappeared almost as quickly as it came.

He glanced around at the people. Many of them were packed together in small groups on the sidewalks, or they were walking along, talking amongst themselves. He didn't focus too much on what any of them were saying. He didn't like to eavesdrop like that. He was far too focused on getting the food to Connie and what had happened in school today…

'Johnny Rancid… That dude is trouble if he's anything like what people talked about before the Titan's left…' He thought. He stopped for a moment to slip on his aviators before getting back on his way. Just because he did not want to listen to what everyone around him had to say, didn't mean he couldn't stop himself from hearing it.

" - Police…"

" - Worthless..."

"Johnny Rancid…"

" - need heroes…"

Seth lowered his head, picking up his pace a bit more, wanting to get away from all of the people. There was that word again. Heroes. His thoughts went back to the day he saved Travis from dying in that explosion. The man called him a hero…

'What the hell is wrong with me? Why am I so stuck on this?' Seth thought, 'I'm a high school student who gets bursts of strength in threatening situations. Nothing more… Dammit!'

You're a hero today, kid!

Hero… Hero… Hero…

" –eth… Seth!" The brunette nearly jumped out of his skin. A hand grasped his shoulder, and he immediately wrenched free. He whirled around, so quickly that he nearly fell, but they caught him. His heart was racing again. He was breathing rapidly, but he finally saw that it was Darren. His friend was giving him a concerned look.

"Hey! Hey, Seth! It's just me, man. Calm down," Darren shook him lightly, trying to make Seth come to his senses.

Seth took a step back to compose himself. He bent over slightly, panting; trying to catch his breath, and calm his heart that he could have sworn was in his throat.

"Geez, you must have been out of it," Darren commented, "I was calling after you, chasing you for a solid five minutes."

"Y – yeah…" Seth replied, "Out of it… Other things on my mind… Sorry…" He said between breaths. Darren waved it off, telling him it wasn't a problem. While his was recovering from his almost panic attack, he took the bag he was holding and looked inside of it, "Wow… You must be really hungry… Mind sharing this?" His friend asked.

Seth shook his head in the negative, taking the bag away, "It's not for me… It's kind of a long story."

Darren shrugged, "Eh, I've got time. So tell me a story."

The brunette knew his friend well enough. Darren didn't let much get by him…

"All right… I'll tell you on the way, let's go," Darren merely nodded and the two of them started walking. Seth began to tell his friend of what had happened: of him being chased by Russell, and once he ducked in to an alleyway, how a homeless women let him hide and how she threatened Russell with a knife, stopping him from searching further, and discovering his hiding place.

"Damn…'" Darren finally said once the story was over, "You sure this is a good idea, Seth?"

"How do you mean?" Seth replied.

"I don't know… She might follow you around and want more, not to sound mean or nothing… but, it's a possibility… She could turn that knife on you!" Darren said, bumping shoulders with Seth. The brunette stumbled a bit, but he recovered.

"Nah… I don't think so… I mean, yeah I think she was about to chase me away, but she was nice enough to keep Russell from killing me." Seth scratched the back of his head, "I'm sure she's okay…"

Darren shook his head, "You give people too much credit."

"And you don't trust people enough," Seth replied.

"Yeah, well all that trust you have in Connie is gonna get you shanked," Darren said, "Wait and see."

Seth shook his head. Sometimes Darren went a little far. He glanced around and stopped, "Hold on, this is it…" He certainly recognized the chunk of missing brick courtesy of Russell, "Connie! Hey Connie, it's me, Seth… You know… From earlier… You saved me… Put a knife to a guy's throat... Connie?" He called down the alley, but he received no reply.

"Maybe she left," Darren said with a shrug.

"Here…" Both of them jumped, and Seth let out a small yelp. They whirled around, and there was Connie, her head titled up, her face still hidden, "You… back…" She said gruffly, almost in disbelief.

Seth nodded, "Yeah, here. I brought you some food like I said," He held the bag out to her, "It's not exactly healthy but I figured you could -" She snatched the bag from him, opened it and immediately pulled out a burger and devour a good portion of it, "Use… the… energy… Wow, you must be hungry."

Connie nodded vigorously, "Yeah…" She finished the remainder of the burger, and she squatted down, setting the bag of food on the ground. Seth set a drink next to it.

"It's all yours, so… Enjoy!" He said, at a loss for words.

"Thank you…"

"No problem…" Seth glanced at Darren, who shrugged, "Uhm… Connie…" Seth squatted to be eye level with her, "If you don't mind me asking… Why did you save me? You could've just let Russell kick my ass, so… Yeah."

Connie stopped, she looked up from the fries in her hand, "You… smelled… good."

Darren snickered and Seth quickly elbowed the side of his friend's knee. He hopped away, holding that same spot. His cheeks reddened, Seth scratched the back of his neck, "Uhm… Thanks, but… that doesn't make any sense, Connie."

Connie shook her head, and pointed to Seth, "You… Smelled… like good… person," She sounded as if she were struggling to speak.

"I… smelled like a good person…?" Seth repeated quietly, confused as to just what she meant by that. He glanced back at Darren, who yet again shrugged his shoulders, being very little help to him. He looked back at Connie, "Oh… All right, Connie. We have to go now… but, maybe I'll see you around," He said with a kind smile.

Connie continued to eat. He stood up and turned to Darren.

"Let's go…" Darren nodded his head.

"Seth…" The brunette stopped, "Thank you."

He turned to the homeless woman, "Yeah… No problem."

And that's all for now. I'll be back again with a new chapter. The setting is going to change, more characters will be introduced, so be ready.

Thank you, Captain Toma, for Everard.

Goodbye, and good luck to you all. Until next time.