Building Back Up Again

Part One: The Night

Authors notes:

Hello People! I'm back! I had another Wattpad account but sadly that story will go unfinished. You can check it out and read the Zombie apocalypse story I wrote! (sleepywillow09) But for now, we have part one of an original story with original characters. This will be a vigilante AU, but my other story will be a villain AU with the same characters. The main character (Robyn) Will have the same powers in both, but other characters may have different powers in each story, as well as different characters in each. For now, I hope you enjoy! 

TW: Beating someone, Vomiting, Blood, crying.

There is no true way to define good and evil, It's all a matter of opinion. But society has it so twisted around in your mind, you believed that the Heroes were the good guys. That the Villains of the story were only hurting people to hurt people. That the Villains behind the mask were sinister, evil people who wanted nothing more than to have as much blood on their hands as possible. It is so twisted that you are convinced that Heroes always save the day. They always knew what to do, they rescued everyone in the burning buildings, and they always beat the "bad guys". The Hero's were noble people who did their jobs from the good in their hearts. They put their lives on the line to help. Robyn believed all of this, until the night. That was the moment that Robyn discovered that everything she knew was a lie.

It had been late, 11 pm to be exact. 9 year old Robyn and her mother were rushing towards the local drugstore after she had thrown up more times than she could count. Her mother was dragging her down the street trying to get to it before Robyn could puke again.

"It's all part of the process." Her mother told her as she grabbed her purse off of the counter. "It'll be like this for the next day, but you'll be very dehydrated." Robyn looked at her miserably before hurling into the toilet for the 7th time. It was all part of the process. This is what happens when you are one of the many people of the world who get superpowers. Some are very minor, but in rare cases you could become a hero if you were lucky enough to get a major power. "I'm going out to the drugstore down the street to get you some meds and Pedialyte. It won't take long, just stay here and take it easy." Robyn did not want to "stay here". She jumped up from the floor and grabbed her mothers wrist and sighed. "I'm going with you." Her poor mother was too tired to argue, so she agreed. They raced out of the door, trying to be quick. You weren't supposed to leave your house after 10pm. It was an unspoken rule of civilians. Too many thugs and gangs were out in the night, trying to cause trouble.

    They quickly hurried down the sidewalk until they had to cross the street. In the parking lot of the store there was a commotion. A woman was fighting over something with a younger looking man. As they got closer Robyn realized they were fighting a purse. A very expensive looking purse. Both of them were pulling back and forth, trying to get the other to let go. The man yanked so hard the purse flew out of both of their hands and skittered across the asphalt. The thief scrambled after the purse, picked it up and ran. The woman started to run after him when suddenly a hero materialized out of the shadows, knocking the man off of his feet. Robyn smiled, filled with excitement. She knew this hero! This was one of her favorites. He could materialize from the shadows, earning his name- "S-Shade-!" The man trembled. The man tried to run, tried to get away but the Hero knocked him from his feet. [Oh! This is going to be awesome! The Shade. The real Shade was here and about to save the day right in front of me! This had to be the best night ever.]

   Robyn will never forget that she was wrong. So terribly wrong. Shade grabbed the man and swung. The man grunted in pain as a tooth flew across the pavement. Blood splattered around the two as Shade continued punching over and over ignoring the man's protests. Each hit the man tried to block it but he was helpless. "P-please sir-!" he spluttered. A punch to the face. "I-I have a son! Please! I was just doing it for my-" Another blow to the gut. After a while he just went limp, Taking each and every blow without protest. The purse just sat on the ground, covered in dirt,blood, and scratches in the fine white leather. Robyn's mother tried to cover her eyes, but she pushed her hand away. She needed to see this. All her admiration for hero's suddenly drained from her mind. Every fun fact, movie scene, and merchandise was all a lie. Hero's weren't the same as they were on TV. She no longer wanted to be a Hero. She didn't want a new power. She wanted to be like her parents: Normal.

When Shade decided the poor man had had enough, he dropped the man to the floor, picked up the purse and handed it to the woman, who was standing there in horror. "T-Thank you..." She said quietly. She got in her car quickly and drove away. The poor man had his brown hair sticky with blood on his face,His nose was clearly broken, with blood streaming from it into his mouth. Which was now missing a tooth. His left eye was swollen shut, and his right eye was staring directly at Willow. His face flashed with concern, not for himself, but for her. She had just been trying to get some medicine. She didn't need to see this tonight. She was so small, young and naive.

Shade picked the man up and slung him over his broad shoulders before walking off into the night, disappearing into the shadows.