Streamers flew through the air, a rainbow of colors decorating the air. Yet more streamers were strung along the beams of the pavilion that sat in the middle of Hope’s backyard, with a litany of balloons tied to their thin crepe paper, the only thing preventing them from flying away and choking some poor creature. Hope winced at the thought, and brushed the idea from her mind. Dad was trying to make up for his frequent absences with this extravagant birthday party. He couldn’t know about her ecological leanings. No, Hope thought, no thinking about that. It was time to celebrate.

     Hope walked forward into the party that was already in full swing, her white dress swishing around her legs with each step. Under the pavilion waited her father, his round belly shaking with laughter as he leaned on his best friend, Falling Star, a Flyer superhero who was the darling of Reed City. Beside him, Hope’s mother chatted politely with Ironhand, a strongarm superhero who was a force to be reckoned with in her own right. Dad’s really pulled out all the stops, Hope thought.

     As she approached the assembled group, dodging other heroes, as well as a few other of her Dad’s friends from office, she smoothed her dress. However, it was hard to do so in the crowded yard. Even the fourteenth birthday party of the sheriff’s daughter seemed to be a political event, as Hope overheard more than one person discussing the new policies of the mayor. The mayor, with Hope’s dad’s prodding, had declared that everyone who displayed typically villain powers, such as Volts, who wielded electricity, and Shifters, who could sneak into almost anywhere with their animal forms, were to be registered. Word was, that such villains were disappearing shortly after registering, but Hope was sure that was just an urban myth. After all, what could possibly have happened to them?

     Hope was almost to the pavilion when she sensed that something was wrong. She felt different. Had she wet her pants? Momentarily embarrassed, Hope quickly slipped back to her house where she ran to the bathroom. Something was definitely wrong now. Everything hurt, especially her head. She wanted to claw at her eyes, but she just barely held out. Groaning, Hope clutched her head, and decided that waiting was best. Yes, surely this would pass.

     Knock knock knock. “Hope, are you in there?” Hope glanced up to hear her older sister, Clare’s, voice.

     “What do you want Clare”, Hope called out. Her pain was beginning to ease, but only to be replaced by a strange pressure.  She could feel it pushing at her skull, trying to find a way out, but there seemed to be none, as the pressure only grew.

     “Everyone’s wondering where you are”, Clare called through the door. “Why are you holed up in the bathroom?”

     Sighing, Hope rubbed her forehead and walked toward the door. “I’m coming out”, she said, somewhat annoyed. Hope swung open the door, and faced her sister, and looked up at her perfect face.

     Clare simply stared dumbfounded at Hope, her mouth open for so long that a fly actually buzzed into her mouth. “What”, Hope asked, irritable as her forehead began to hurt even more.

     “Your, your eyes”, Clare stammered.

     “What?” Hope swung around to glance at the mirror. What she saw filled her with horror. Her eyes, previously a lovely shade of chestnut brown, had turned a metallic silver, to the point where they were almost like mirrors. This could mean only one thing as there was only one way that someone’s eye color could change after the age of 5. The Super gene. Hope turned back to Clare, dumbfounded, only to find her sister backing away as though she were some wild animal.

     “Clare”, Hope said, her voice shaking with all of her pent up emotions. Clare simply stared, and took another step back. “Clare”, Hope repeated, a little more nervous. Why was Clare afraid? She had known Hope for all of her life. Hope took a step toward Clare, hoping to bridge the distance, but as soon as she moved, Clare spun around and took off running at full speed, as though a pack of rabid dogs were behind her. Panicking herself, Hope chased after Clare as the ramifications of what had just happened hit her like a ton of bricks. She would become an outcast, an unwanted. Until Hope’s powers were revealed, she would be seen as a potential villain, a deviant, and treated as such. Dad would never look at her again. There would be no more birthday parties, or hanging out with friends. Just emptiness, scorn, and disapproval.

     “Clare, wait”, Hope screamed, panicked as her sister plunged into the crowd. Hope dove in after her, the crowds parting at first with smiles, and then with confusion. Clare kept going, running straight for the pavilion where their mom and dad stood, still oblivious to the racket their daughters were causing.

     The pressure in Hope’s brain grew stronger, until spots danced before Hope’s eyes, and pins seemed to prick at her brain, although never getting deep enough to relieve her. Stumbling, Hope could see through the blotches of color that Clare had reached the steps of the pavilion, where Hope’s dad had turned to greet her, opening his arms. Clare opened her mouth to speak, and at that same moment Hope couldn’t take the pain anymore. Furiously, she took hold of those imaginary pins, and jabbed them into the bubble that encompassed her mind. Simultaneously, she screamed, “Clare, stop speaking”. All at once, the pressure dissipated, and Hope could once again see.

     But, as she looked around from her place on the ground, she only saw horrified expressions. Finally, her gaze fell on the pavilion, where Clare had collapsed, clutching her throat. She sat there, a bewildered expression on her face, as she forced air through her vocal cords, yet nothing came out. Finally, she turned to Hope, her eyes filled with accusation and fear. Hope only felt numb as she studied the scene before her. There, perfect Clare was unable to speak, marred, perhaps for life, because of her. A rush of guilt, fear, and lastly, power, rushed through her veins, so indistinguishable, that she would’ve thought them a single, new emotion all together.

     And yet, they weren’t. Then, the time that had seemed to stretch on for eternity sped back up. Deputies pulled their weapons, heroes got into their signature poses, and it was all focuses on Hope. Hope glanced around in disbelief. “Hope Springs”. Hope turned to the speaker, to find her dad, no father, as his face was cold and devoid of life, spoke. “You are under arrest for being a deviant against the state. You are to be taken to the processing center, where you shall await trial for your crimes”.

     At those words, Hope began to shake. They were taking her away. They were arresting her because of a mistake. She hadn’t meant to hurt Clare. She loved her. And yet, the deputies closed in, weapons in hand, as they reached out for Clare’s arms. No, Clare thought, her first clear thought in what seemed an eternity. No. As they neared, she reached down, to try to find that pressure that had been there before. Where was it? Soon, Hope panicked, as she searched deeper, and deeper, desperately digging through treasure rooms of secrets, and piles of memories, until, there, a shining orb of silver, floating right in the center. Hope felt hands close around her arms like chains, attempting to imprison her, to punish her, for nothing else than living. How dare they presume to arrest her for an imagined crime? How dare they came after her? She was Hope Emma Springs and she would not go down without a fight.

     Mentally clutching that precious orb, Hope reached out her awareness until she felt the officers around her. Sleep, she thought, whispering it a deadly calm voice, murmuring along that string that connected her mind to theirs. Sleep.

     All as one, the officers around her collapsed into piles of flesh, completely ignorant of the world. Shouts began to ensue, people grabbed to take hold of her, Flyers took to the sky, but Hope wove around them, for the first time grateful for her short stature. She ducked between legs, around arms, and leaped over heads, until before she knew it, she had dashed into the trees that surrounded her home. Hope kept running and running, until the house was far behind her, and the shouts distant memories. The pattern of her steps was only interrupted when she was forced to dive behind bushes or trees, whenever a Flyer and Light Summoner passed over the trees, attempting to illuminate the night, the pairs acting as makeshift search lights. After the number of heroes passing overhead ceased, Hope moved slowly through the night, stepping as softly as she could so as to avoid the attention of any other creatures in the night. She didn’t know if she could do what she had done before again. After all, she was so tired.

     Already half asleep, Hope picked a random tree, and shimmied up it, settling in the branches a third of the way up. She fell asleep to the view of the constellations, and the feeling of freedom blossoming in her breast.

     Lady Silver perched on the edge of a building, studying the grand structure before her. City Hall. It had been three years since that fateful day, when Hope Springs had been forced to become Lady Silver, a name feared by every household. As Lady Silver, Hope had helped kids like herself, labeled villains because of powers that they didn’t quite understand, escape detection, and in some cases, the police. So far, it had been minor. A few kids here, a jewel robbery there, just to cover the expenses of housing thirty teens in the woods. But, no longer. Lady Silver had seen firsthand the supposed rehabilitation camps.

     Lady Silver smiled as she gazed down at City Hall, that festering home for corrupt politicians and tyrants. It was time that everyone learned just who they were, and what they did to that kid down the street, who was misfortunate enough to develop villain powers. Lady Silver grabbed a rope on one end of the building and swung down to the alley below. She had to hurry, her bulletproof trench coat swaying around her legs, as she took quick steps. After all, she had work to do.