"The dawn of summer is a time of relaxation and fun, yet marks the beginning of a certain end."

- UNKNOWN TO US

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Date: June 5, 2092

Location: Unknown

The sub shined brightly as morning approached the city of San Francisco.

And Zach stood right outside an old-fashioned building, and he sighed. He pressed forward, approaching the front door, nervousness forming in his throat.

He paused when he was a foot away from the door, raising a fist to knock lightly on the door.

Silence greeted him initially. Zach looked around, then at himself- he was currently dressed in a dark orange sweater with a pair of faded jeans and a pair of black sneakers. On top of his head had rested his familiar dark bowler hat, covering his dued locks slightly. His arm was tucked in a sling.

After a few seconds, the door opened, and Carrie's smiling face was what he saw first. "Hey Zach," she greeted, her expression dropping once she looked down to see his arm, "What happened to your arm?" she poonted at his arm.

"Oh this?" Zach scoffed, "I may have dislocated it... Again."

Carrie sighed deeply, "What did you do this time?" she stepped to the side, inviting Zach inside the house. He obliged.

"I fell." was all Zach offered, and Carrie closed the door. Silence fell over the two.

"Is your dad home?" he asked after a while.

"He's visiting one of his uncles today," she sat down on the couch, "One of his sick ones."

"And you didn't go with him?" Zach sat down next to her, almost sounding worried.

"Well, I promised that I'd hang out withbyou today, so I politely declined." she smiled at him, grabbing a pillow and moved it into her lap.

"How... Thoughtful of you, but we could've rescheduled our meeting. He's a part of your family after all. Not for me."

"No," her grip on the cusion tightened, and Zach silently watched her, "A promise... Is a promise. And I keep my promises."

"I see." Zach replied softly, his eyelids drooped a bit before he stood up, and Carrie tilted her head towards him. He held his available hand out, "You ready to go?" he asked her.

She smiled, her gaze on his as she placed one of her hands in his, and he helped her up. "I thought you'd never ask."

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"Do we really have to go?" Melissa ssked, and Leotard nodded.

"It's not every day that you get to go to the water park," Leotard smiled at her, "And for free at that."

"I still don't understand how exactly Sakura got these tickets."

"It was from a friend." came the familiar soft like snow, gentle voice of Sakura, and Melissa turned around to look at her. Melissa gave a sigh of surrender.

"Fine, let's just get this over with. The park is nearby, correct?"

"Yes," Leotard began, "It's only about three or four miles."

"Cool," she reachedover to grab her light cerulean hoodie, "I can walk there." she replied while she pulled the hooded sweatshirt over her head.

"I don't quite recommend-" Leotard began.

"I'll be fine," Melissa adjusted her sleeves, "Besides, it's not like anyone will try anything funny. I can takecare of myself."

"I have no doubts about that," he agreed, "But it's better if you all went together, if its not too much to ask."

Melissa thought for a moment. 'It would be much safer.' she thought. "Fine," she conceeded, "I'll wait for the rest of them."

Leotard smiled at her again in response, "Head out to the cars, and me and the others will take you there."

Melissa huffed softly, and she left the other room, quickly gathering her things, and she paused for a moment when she saw her necklace. She stared into the glassy surface of jer necklace, wondering of she should take it. It seemed to pulse in her hand. "I guess it couldn't hirt to bring it." she reached out afyer a moment, grabbing the pendant in a hand, and she tucked it inside her pocket.

She quickly ran out in front of the mansion, where several cars were parked, and the other teenagers were separated into groups of four or five.

Melissa approached Dylan, who was standing near to Carson and Mike, who smiled lightly at her as she approached. "Glad you decided to come. I thought for sure that you'd stay behind." Mike remarked as she stopped next to Dylan.

"Yeah, well Leotard 'convinced' me to come with all of you," she replied, "So I'm here just because."

"You just didn't want to be left alone." Dylan teased.

"Like I'd care about that." Melissa scoffed, folding her arms.

"Mhm... Keep telling yourself that."

Melissa proceeded to jab an elbow into the dirty blonde boy's ribs. Dylan let out a groan, and Melissa smiled. "Best leave it at that." she smugly mentioned.

The teenagers entered the several cars, and the group that Melissa was in entered their car last. Melissa sat in the passenger seat, where a man in a dark suit sat in the driver seat.

They buckled their seatbelts, and the driver reved the engine to life. They pulled away from the curb, and they began the drive to the water park.

She was surprised to find that due to traffic, it took nearly two hours before they areived at the water park. The teenagers barely spoke on the drive, only saying "Thanks." to the driver, who just nodded before driving off.

"'Three or four miles' my rear." Melissa mocked Leotard.

"That couldn't have been more awkward." Dylan spoke up, and the other teenagers didn't mention anything in response, and they walked in front of the gate.

There was a rather cheery young woman manning the front gate. "Welcome to Poseidon's Realm," she greeted, "May I see your tickets please?"

They gave the woman their tickets, and she examined them closely before she moved them over to a small stamp pad, where she stampped them. "Hope you have a nice day!"

"You too!" Dylan returned the wistful statement, and they left the line to head inside the water park.

"So..." began Mike, "What now?"

"Do what you want," Melissa replied, putting her hood over her head, "I'm gonna get out of here. Too many people for my liking." she waved a hand and began to walk away.

"Where to exactly?" Dylan called out after her.

She stopped for a moment. "It's located in the park, don't worry, your not the boss of me." she replied before walking away.

She walked for about five minutes before she found the spot that was secluded enough for her liking, but still in the park. It was an older, worn-out slide that started on a hill at the edge of the park.

Melissa had to go throughsome yellow caution tape, ignoring its warnings, to get where she was at. She sat down on top of the hill, her arms were propped against the pale grey concrete. She looked into the difference, and she sighed.

The nearby beach looked calm- the waves brushed softly against the shore, the ocean breeze blew against her face, threatening to blow her hood off. She pulled her headphones out of her pocket, plugging one into an ear, and she played soft, calming music as she observed her surroundings, and she could smell the salty air that came with the breeze.

She heard a set of footsteps approach from behind her, and she turned around, and she saw a familiar face- her friend.

"Well, I mever thought or expected to find you here in this park of all places." Bryce greeted.

"I mau or may not have been dragged here by... Friends." she replied, the last word seemed foreign coming out of her mouth.

"Can I sit here?" he gestured to the spot next to her, almost as if he would get hurt if he just say down. That was unlikely though.

"Fine Pako, I don't see why not." her friend sat down, and they were silent for a moment.

"So what're you doing?"

"Trying to stay away from an obnoxious crowd." she bitterly answered.

"I've told you, like a million times now, keeping to yourself isn't healthy."

"And I've told you, like a million times now, that I'll be fine." she stood up abruptly, and attempted to make a move to walk away. "I don't need this."

Attempted being the right word.

Because when she had tried to leave, Bryce reached out with a hand to grab her wrist. "We can't keep going in circles now can we?" he calmly asked.

"Then stop bringing it up!" she tugged her arm, but Bryce's grip prevented her from pulling away. "Let go!" she pleaded.

"No," he replied, and he too stood up, "You'll just go off on your own again."

"Just leave me be!"

"Have it your way." he let go of her, and Melissa pulled her wrist back. Bryce sat down.

She sighed before doing the same.

"Do you miss them?" Bryce suddenly asked after a couple minutes of silence.

"Excuse me?" she replied.

"Your parents. Your siblings. Do you miss them?"

She at first didn't know how to answer him. She recalled that the last thing she said to her father was an indult. "I guess I do." she surmised.

"Could you be more specific?" he requested.

"I didn't have a chance to visit the memorial yesterday."

"Why is that?"

"A lot of things kinda happened yesterday. I was too busy."

"I see. Later today, do you want to visit them?"

She shrugged. "I don'tsee why-"

She was interrupted by a large BANG! And she stood up again. "Get up." shegestured towards Bryce. She turned to look at him, but he had stood up with her. "I need you to get behind me."

"What? No way!" he protested.

Melissa heard a click, and she immediately grabbed Bryce by the shoulders and pulled him close to her, the duo barely keeping balance as the fell, Bryce falling first, and a small metal disc whizzed past where he was a second earlier.

She turned her head towards wheee the disc had come from, and she was torn from laughing at what she saw, or to let her jaw drop in pure awe.

Standing at the top of the worn-down and rusty slide was a figure dressed as though he'd come straight from a science fiction video game- they wore shimy silver metallic pads on top of what appeared to be dark gray thermal gear. Metallic gauntlets covered their hands, and there was a blue bar on each as thin blue wires connected the gauntlets to a small pack that was attatched to their back. On their head was a sleek helmet that covered their entire head, and a light blue vizor stretched across where the eyes would be.

The biggest visible detail though- a neon blue logo spamned across the chest pad; the letter "H" in the form of a lightning bolt.

"I missed." they offered, their voice was static-ridden, and it was almost not understandable.

Melissa stood up, dragging him to his feet with her, "Bryce... I'm going to say this once- Get. Help." she hissed. She reached into her hoodie, pulling out a small bromze handkerchief up to cover some of her face.

"What, and leave you here by yourself, that's pre-" he began to argue. He moved in fromt of her, his gaze kept on hers, and she could tell that he was worried.

"We have no time!" she yelled, "Go!" Melissa shoved him roughly, and Bryce stumbled back a bit, not breaking eye contact.

"Fine, but you better not die!" he warned before he ran off.

"Like I'm going to let that happen." the figure began, and he readied another disc.

Melissa then picked up a rock and threw it towards the figure, and it hit them in the hand, and they dropped the disc, letting out a groan of pain.

She stepped in front of the direction where Bryce ran. "If you're going to attack someone," she growled, "It's going to be me!" She raised her fists in a fighting stance.