COVER: Volume 1.0 (Origin Arc) By NRB_Quill
"Another fight at school again, seriously?" Madison Delacroix declared, her face showing clear disappointment as she looked at her younger sister, Stephanie, who was covered in dirt and bruises.
Stephanie, who was being scolded, was sitting on the kitchen counter of their home with her arms crossed, looking to the side, careful not to make any eye contact with the lady. Madison's eyes caught the bloody nose first, which Stephanie wiped with her jacket, but it didn't hide her bruises—something she knew was not going to disappear. "You can't blame me. They threw the first punch," Stephanie said, giving her a quick side glance. "I was only protecting myself."
Madison sighed. "Steph, for crying out loud, you should've just called me. First, I get calls from your teachers saying you've been skipping classes and going who knows where. Then you come home late, say nothing, and don't even eat the dinner I make. Steph, please, you need to stop this."
Stephanie looked back at her older sister, seeing not just disappointment but sadness. She felt nothing but guilt in that moment, thinking about how their lives had turned out. Ten years ago, they were orphaned when villains killed their parents. Stephanie had been only five, and Madison sixteen. They had been through many hardships and promised to stick together—until Madison got her powers from a strange accident involving a villain and a reckless hero.
As the memories flooded her mind, Stephanie opened her mouth to speak. "Maddie, I—" she started, her voice shaky.
(Beep! Beep!)
The sound of an alarm came from the grocery bag Madison had just brought in, cutting off the rare quiet moment they were sharing. Stephanie already knew what it meant. She sighed as Madison reached into the bag and pulled out a watch she had accidentally left inside.
"Look, Steph, we'll talk later. Something is going on at the nuclear power plant miles from town," Madison said, sighing as she put on the strange watch. It seemed to stick to her hand like it had a mind of its own.
Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever, go save some strangers from their problems, like you always do," she muttered.
Madison pressed the watch's face, and a bright golden light burst out, covering her in its glow. Stephanie watched without much interest—she'd seen it all before—as Madison's clothes tore away, replaced by a skin-tight orange leotard with a red cape and red shoes. On her chest was the "SM" emblem, the mark of Steel Maiden, the greatest heroine in the country. She could turn her body into solid metal, merge with metal objects, leap through the air, and use smaller abilities to control her power.
After that long day, and a few more that followed, the fight between the sisters was forgotten. Stephanie had been lucky her beating happened on a Friday after school—it gave her the weekend to heal. Most of her injuries faded, but small bruises remained, forcing her to hide her face with a baseball cap and sunglasses.
Standing in front of the entrance to New Faith Academy, she took a deep breath. She knew exactly what waited for her inside, and once she stepped in, there'd be no avoiding it. Like in every typical high school story, there was a group of mean girls—but these weren't spoiled, soft types. They were ruthless. Their leader wasn't your cliché blonde cheerleader but something far worse.
They weren't physically strong, but they knew how to pick up weapons and strike without hesitation, making them dangerous. They didn't have parents who could bail them out of trouble, so they took their punishments—and kept on causing chaos.
Stephanie's heart pounded as she thought about everything they had done to her: slapping, kicking, and threatening her.
"Excuse me," a soft male voice said from behind, making her jump. She turned and saw a boy—just as young as he sounded—wearing glasses, his blonde spiky hair smelling faintly of cheap shampoo. His brown eyes seemed to be looking at her chest.
"Hm?" Stephanie replied softly, seeing he was unfamiliar.
"Sorry for bothering you, I'm new here… do you know where biology is?" he asked.
"Oh," Stephanie muttered, shaking off her deep thoughts, as she laid eyes on the boy before her. This was her chance to escape her bullies—maybe if she introduced them to new prey, they'd leave her alone, seeing how small and vulnerable the boy was. "Yeah, sure. I'm actually in the same class as you," she answered with a smile that hid her bad intentions, before stretching out her hand.
"I'm Stephanie.... Stephanie Delacroix," she said, her hand still left untouched as she waited.
The young man smiled, seeing Stephanie as his first companion in this new term. "Oh, nice to meet you, Stephanie," he said, shaking her hand.
"So," Stephanie began, "What's your name?"
"Oh, sorry I didn't introduce myself," the boy said with an awkward tone, "I'm... Henry"
Stephanie nodded slightly, "Welcome to the best school," she muttered as the school term began, with two souls bound for friendship having just met, and their relationship was about to reach bigger heights.
While Stephanie was dealing with school problems, the heroes were facing a much bigger fight. Four of America's top five heroes, members of the Aegis League, were battling a powerful monster that could absorb nuclear energy and use it as a power source.
The team was made up of:
Gold Sentinel, dressed in gold spandex, he could fire rays of sunlight from his palms, according to the hero module section 112. Grim Hawk, a quiet man who could create weapons from his hands, including bombs, blades, and his signature hawk-shaped daggers. He wore black, matching his name.
Queen Photon was able to move faster than a normal human could follow, though not faster than the fastest humans alive. Chronos, who could change his size, growing as tall as buildings, but at the cost of his durability and speed.
The only member missing from the fight was the final hero of the group—Steel Maiden.
As the heroes struggled, Queen Photon dashing across the area, saving citizens from the liquid chemical that spewed around, with Grim Hawk exploding debris and creating pathways for the civilians to pass while the rest fought agaisnt the monster, they had thought that it was goig to end in their retreat, as a young man was trapped under rocks and sand.
In that instant, something sped past the monster with incredible force as it raised it's hand to crush the civialian.
"It's about time you got here," said Gold Setinel, as he faced the Steel Maiden who had the young, male civilian in her arms.
Steel Maiden smiled, "Sorry, I was late, Ran into a little family touble on the way here," she said.
Minutes had passed since the nuclear power plant came under attack, with the Aegis League doing everything they could to stop the disaster from getting worse. Meanwhile, Stephanie sat in class with the other students, far less excited than some to be stuck in school. Biology had ended, and now she faced her least favorite subject—chemistry.
At the front of the room stood Miss Mary Petrov, a former scientist and now a respected teacher. She introduced the class to something called Cherenkov Radiation, explaining how it was the blue glow that appears when charged particles move faster than the speed of light in a medium, like water.
But then she added something else—something that unsettled the more studious students. Henry Duval, in particular, couldn't hide his fascination.
"Da, analogy of Cherenkov Radiation… is being much like sonic boom, you see? When particles go faster than light in medium, it make blue flash, same as jet making big BOOM when faster than sound." said Mary, her funny accent giving some students trouble to understand, "this is when object makes sonic boom, but this radiation—always it is appearing as light, not sound. Concept itself, it is not dangerous to human, it cannot affect them in any way… but, tell me, what happens if it is mixing with—"
Ring! Ring! Ring!
The school bell rang, ending class as students rushed out for their twelve-minute recess. "I will see you all again tomorrow. Until then, enjoy your recess, eh?" Ms. Mary Petrov said in her thick accent.
Stephanie stayed seated, waiting until the room cleared before standing up. On her way out, she glanced at Ms. Petrov, who gave her a soft smile—though there was a strange glint in her eyes as she watched Stephanie leave. Shaking off the odd moment, Stephanie walked outside, slipping on her sunglasses to cover the small bruises still on her face.
Her disguise might have fooled most people, but not the wrong pair of eyes. Robin Montrose, leader of the notorious group, spotted her immediately. Robin's slick blonde hair framed her pretty face, but her body was different—strong and heavyset, not soft. A bandage covered her nose, a clear reminder that Stephanie had been the one who broke it.
"Found ya, little piggy," Robin muttered, approaching with two of her loyal henchmen. Both wore wide, toothy grins and had their fists clenched, ready to give Stephanie the beating of her life.