PROLOGUE: The Girl and the Ghost

A girl sat playfully in a field; a smile resting on her small face as the sun shined down on her. Such a perfect day shouldn’t be possible, and yet there she was, with it all to herself. Or so she thought. She held up a hand to block the sun as she peered further down the field and realized someone was coming towards her. The girl became upset, this had always been her own special place, how did someone else find it? The figure was quickly approaching, but held their hands up, indicating they meant no harm. However, their appearance was not exactly trustworthy looking �" this strange person was wearing, on a warm day, a dark grey trench coat, his hood up, clean white pants, dark grey gloves with matching color shoes �" but most worrying of all was the mask they wore �" it was almost like a stark-white skull.

                Eventually the figure worked their way up where the girl sat and joined her. Their outfit didn’t seem to fit at all with the cheerful green fields, nor the vibrant blue sky, and they overall didn’t seem to be entirely there as well. After a moment, they spoke.

                “Nice little spot you’ve made here, Samantha.” The figure turned out to be male, his voice surprisingly tender, considering what Samantha was expecting. Yet it also sounded weary. Except, how had he known her name? And why did he make it sound like she’d made the area they were sitting at? She’d found it, hadn’t she? Not made it.

                With a slight tremble to her voice, for she was raised not to speak to strange men, Samantha asked the man how he knew her name and what he had meant. The man got a strange look on his face and instead asked if Samantha would like to hear a story about super heroes.

                Samantha looked a little more interested, despite how she felt about the strange man. She mentioned she’d always liked stories about heroes, her favorite being one named Baby T. The man nodded, he’d met Baby T once, a long time ago. But this story would not be about a single hero, and instead would involve many, a story that began about two hundred years ago.

                He glanced at the small girl, “Don’t fall asleep during my story, for I think you’ll find it to be quite important, Sam.” Samantha nodded, waiting for the man to begin.

                “Allow me to set the scene: the year was 2124 or so, and something interesting was happening. Children were being born with unique abilities no one had ever seen before. Imagine the nurseries �" children flying, their hands shooting flame �" as if regular toddlers weren’t bad enough.” The man chuckled. “Mind this was happening around the world, and no one was quite sure why. Eventually, governments attempted to calm fears by making specific neighborhoods for those with powers, to keep them away from the normals. Of course segregation would work �" it always does, right? Since they were kept separate, people began to demonize those with powers, even though powered children couldn’t help how they were born, as well as ignoring the fact the schools powered children went to attempted to teach them control �" not to use their abilities on others.” The man waved his hands. “Time passes, it’s been about thirty years or so, and the first powered generation is all grown up �" living in among the regular people. For a while it’s fine, can’t pick them out of a crowd. Except as always, there’s a turning point: one powered person, whose name has been long forgotten, decided they were tired of playing by the rules and went on a rampage.”

                Samantha looked concerned with where the story was going as the man leaned back to lie on the hill.

                “All it takes is one person, and others begin to do the same. Why not? The police don’t know how to even begin to fight them �" the world is theirs. However, some other powers decided they needed to step in �" to fight against those who abused their powers on an even level. Thus began the first generation of heroes and villains.” The man paused for a while before beginning again. “The world turned, and after about fifty years, people became used to the thought of super powers and those that had them. Heroes became celebrities, villains the topics of many dedicated news stations. Yet while people focused on such things, a problem was growing in many ways: over population.”

                Samantha gave the man a puzzled look at the twist in topic. The man noticed her look and chuckled. “Stay with me a touch longer, I’m almost done. Various governments, in realizing this problem, held a large conference in an attempt to figure out what to do. Natural resources, at that point, were drying up �" land was becoming scarce. In the end, they decided to play god and create their own continents in the ocean with what they had left.  It was a huge task, both in cost and engineering and took twenty years to finish. They built a grouping of large islands, anchored to the ocean floor, and once finished, it was christened as The Golden Isles. If that doesn’t sound familiar young Sam, don’t worry. A mere ten years later, it was over-run by the world’s strongest villains and turned into their very own country. Soon after, it was nicknamed The Rogue Isles, and it stuck ever since.”

                “The Rogue Isles became the stomping grounds for many villains, making life hell for the normals that lived there and had no other place to live, as well as sending the various groups of heroes who promised to ‘Make the Isles Golden again’ home in small boxes.” Samantha winced at the imagery. The man shrugged. “They were villains, many of them insane �" they had no intention of giving up their castle. Regardless, the Isles were lost. Investors were none too placed, nor were the governments who faced critics claiming the Isles to be an unforgivable waste of funds and precious resources. They decided to try once more, and it took nearly fifty-five years for it to be finished and finally open for people to live there. There was a waiting list nearly five feet tall, with very small print, and entry was extremely difficult to gain. Yet it was worth it: the new mini-continent of Renard was a man-made paradise �" self-sustained and floating on the ocean waves. A geo-thermal core provided more than enough power for the entire island, which was a perfect circle, nearly the size of Iceland. However, this time it came with a guard dog: the Blu Tide. They were the police and the government all rolled into one and their specialty was the removal of powered beings, regardless of morality �" past or present.”

                The man sat up as he began to finally finish his story. “Their plan worked, in its own way. They kept the peace, and everything seemed perfect, even though they controlled everything on the island. Yet there have still been powered sneaking into Renard, hoping for a better life despite the risks. I’ve even heard of a resistance hoping to get rid of the Tide and make Renard open for all.” He turned to Samantha, “Wasn’t too boring of a story, was it?”

                Samantha shrugged, although she wondered why he’d bothered with the story to begin with.

                He stood up and began to walk down the hill as he replied: “Because, dear Samantha, the year is 2284, and you’re truly in the cell of the Tide on Renard.”

                A panicked look came over Samantha’s face as reality flowed back. The sky began cracking like a broken window, as the grass died and the trees wilted. The man turned back one last time to Samantha as he began to fade: “Welcome to life Under the Tide.”

 

                In a dark dingy cell, a small girl woke up, tears streaming from her eyes as she remembered where she was. She wanted to scream �" to call for her parents to comfort her, but her mouth was covered: she had sonic powers. The others in the cramped cell, prisoners of many ages ignored her. There was no life left to anyone there, the Tide had eroded it away.

 

                Elsewhere, on the actual streets on Renard, out of an alley’s shadows stepped the man from Samantha’s dream world. He stood for a moment, leaning against the dirty wall. He had managed to hide for most of the day in Samantha’s dream, but he needed somewhere else to hide for now. He pushed off the wall and began working his way to a local bar that took customers of many types.

Author's Note

I realize it's a slow start, but please hang with me. It's only in later chapters I really start to hit my stride, and hopefully, readers will be willing to stick around for them.