Renegades Stories

Chapter 2: Caroline

Caroline was waiting by the warehouse door when the float finally came back.

Ruby, Oscar, Danna, and Narcissa hopped down, while Adrian and Nova climbed down a ladder that someone brought them.

"So, how did we do?" Oscar asked, grinning.

Caroline held up her thumbs. "Great!"
"It's hard to imagine just last year, Nova tried to assassinate Hugh, stabbed Adrian, put Ruby to sleep, Adrian burned Danna, and Oscar... well... Oscar did Oscar things," Andrew said.

Nova scowled at him, though Caroline could tell her heart wasn't in it.

"And look at her now," Ruby added, swinging her arm around Nova.

Adrian smiled. "You did great," he told his girlfriend. "You all did," he clarified.

"Where's Simon and Hugh?" Caroline asked, glancing back to where the floats would come in. Simon was her uncle, and her father had called her that morning, asking her to make sure that his brother didn't die.

Caroline had pointed out that it had been Uncle Hugh who had almost been assassinated last year, but he'd ignored her. After the Battle for Gatlon, her parents had sent her to live with her uncles to help with getting the city back on track. They had lost a lot of Renegades during the fight at the arena, where Ace Anarchy had regained his powers. It had been a bloody fight, with lots of fatalities.

She lived with her uncles and cousins, and Nova, who had moved in a month or two after the battle. Caroline, along with Andrew Cox, another transfer, had joined Sketches team.

"Their float was a bit behind ours," Nova told her. "They should be here in a couple minutes."

Caroline modded, and glanced at Adrian. "What's wrong?" She asked. Her cousin was gazing at the wall, lost in thought, looking a little troubled.

"Huh? Oh, nothing."

She raised an eyebrow.

"I'll tell you guys later. Come on, let's go get some lunch."

~~~

Later that night, after Caroline and her friends had had dinner at the Mayor's mansion, the team and Max gathered in Adrians room in the basement. Nova and Adrian sat on the couch next to Ruby and Oscar. Danna and Narcissa lay on the floor, chatting, while Caroline and Andrew sat in the two beanbags.

"Adrian," Narcissa said, redoing her ginger braid. "You said you had something to tell us."

"Oh. Right. Well, during the parade, towards the end of the parade, I saw two girls. They looked angry. I got... I don't know, bad vibes from them."

Oscar nodded. "I think I saw them too. The tall blonde one, and the shorter red haired one?"

"Yeah. We should keep an eye out for them, just in case they cause trouble."

"Why would anyone want to cause trouble?" Ruby asked, leaning her head on Oscars shoulder.

"Exactly," said Danna. "We've had a year of peace. No more villains, Ace Anarchy is actually dead this time, and the Renegades are thriving!"

Caroline shared a look with Andrew. They had both joined the team after HQ had requested more units. They had also been present during the Battle for Gatlon. Well, not where all the action happened. Just the charging for the Cathedral and watching Captain Chromium launch the Silver Spear at Ace Anarchy as he had tried to throw Nova off the roof.

Caroline shuddered. She still remembered Novas screams.

Andrew's voice broke Caroline's train of thought. "What are we going to do about them?"

Nova spoke up. "I think we should keep an eye out for them. They might not actually be a threat. But, then again, they might me. We need to keep our guard up."

Caroline nodded. "That makes sense. I agree with Nova."

The rest of the team agreed too. Ruby lay her head on Oscars shoulder. "Can we watch a movie now? I'm exhausted."

"Sure," Adrian said, taking his arm from around Nova's shoulders and standing up. He took out a random disk and popped it in the DVD player.

Ruby let out a yawn. "I'm exhausted. Sketch, this better not be too boring, or I'll fall asleep."

"I chose a Disney classic. I figured since Nova hasn't seen any... we need to get her up to date," said Adrian, returning to the couch. Nova curled up next to him, resting her head on his shoulder.
Caroline smiled, remembering how just a couple of months ago, this very same girl was a broken mess, trying to recover from the traumatic events of the last ten years.

The movie started, with the Disney castle showing on screen. The opening song began.

"I will never feel the same about ice powers again," said Nova. "All I can think of is..." she trailed off, blinking tears away.

Caroline knew what her friend was thinking of. Genissa Clark, alias Frostbite, had used an icicle to try to kill Nova during the battle at the arena. Winston Pratt, formerly the Puppeteer, had given his life for her.

"Nova, I'm sorry, I chose this movie because I thought I would be fun. I can change it if you want me to..." Adrian said apologetically.

"No, it's fine. I'm fine. I'm sure it will be fine."

Caroline shared a look with Andrew. They all knew that Nova wasn't fine.