And it wasnt bad.
Mostly.
In a City of Heroes, even the story of a newly reformed Archvillains daughter attending kindergarten doesnt make the news for long. After a month or so, the reporters went away and I was able to live my life in something like anonymity. More or less.
After about a month, I knew that I would never be accepted by most of my classmates. Most of them talked to me, and no one really picked on me. No one called me names or tried to get me in trouble with Mrs. Robinson or any of the other teachers.
But they didnt ask me to come home and play with them. I didnt get invited to birthday parties or weekend outings. They always picked me last for teams. I never had trouble finding a table to sit at for lunch because they would all get up and move away when I sat down
Except Colin.
No matter what Jill or the others said, he would still sit by me at lunch and was my buddy when we went on field trips. He told me jokes. He invited me to his house to play video games with him. He would come home with me after school and would eat an ice cream cone at Grandpa Yins store while I ate AAA batteries.
He even met Daddy.
By the end of first grade, I knew just how special that Colin was to me.
I didnt tell him, of course.
It all came down to the fact that I was my Daddys little girl.
Mama and Auntie Nette could work their fingers to the bones modifying the prettiest little girl dresses they could find, but that still wouldnt make me look anything like Jill. I wasnt human. Nothing could change that, and nothing could disguise that.
My eyes didnt blink. My facial features never changed expression. My mouth didnt move when I talked. My body was hard metal, not flesh and blood.
But I didnt move like a Clockwork. I didnt sound like a Clockwork. I ran and played and laughed like all the other little girls on the playground.
I wasnt human, but I wasnt a Clockwork either.
I was my Daddys girl, but I was my Mamas too. I was born of two different worlds, and I was equally at home in both.
But I didnt belong to either.
It hurt, at times. But I was loved. As long as I had my family and Colin, I was happy.
I didnt know that someday I would lose them all.
My COX Fanfiction:
Blue's Assembled Story Links
[ QUOTE ]
I didnt know that someday I would lose them all.
[/ QUOTE ]
...
I have nothing to say to this... but I'm going to heavily imply that your back might run into my stabbing knife many, many times if you shaft this little girl.
"I'm sorry, how did they all die?"
"Die? I didn't say they died. I said we lost them... and now we cannot find them!"
Players' Choice Awards: Best Dual-Origin Level Range Arc!
It's a new era, the era of the Mission Architect. Can you save the Universe from...
The Invasion of the Bikini-clad Samurai Vampiresses from Outer Space? - Arc ID 61013
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I didnt know that someday I would lose them all.
[/ QUOTE ]
...
I have nothing to say to this... but I'm going to heavily imply that your back might run into my stabbing knife many, many times if you shaft this little girl.
[/ QUOTE ]
Thank you.
I consider that a compliment.
My COX Fanfiction:
Blue's Assembled Story Links
Humans can forget.
Thats one thing Ive never been able to do.
I can remember the first words ever spoken in my presence. I can recall every moment in my childhood, no matter how embarrassing. I cant forget anything
no matter how much I want to.
I can remember the night that Colin broke my heart as though it were happening right now.
And it hurts as badly now as it did then.
It was graduation night. In the fall, I would be starting Paragon University. I didnt know what I wanted to do for a career, but I knew that I wanted to tell Colin at last how I felt. He had enlisted in Longbow to pay for college and he would be starting basic training the following week. I wouldnt see him again till the holiday break
the longest separation we had ever had.
Our senior year had been rough for Colin. His father had lost his business. His mother had been very sick. He had been forced to spend long hours working. We hadnt seen nearly as much of each other as we used to.
I had never told Colin that I loved him. He was the only boy to ever hold my hand. He was the only one outside of my family to ever give me a hug. If it was something that I was capable of, he would have been my first kiss
But I cant kiss. Or
you know. Im not built that way.
So I didnt tell him. I didnt object when he took other girls to dances. I didnt say a word when he told me about his first kiss. I went home and locked my door and curled up into a little ball and wanted to die, but I didnt say a word to him.
I wanted him to be happy.
But now
now I wanted to tell him. I didnt know what would happen next, but at least he would know how I felt.
Graduation night had already been special for me; Daddy had come.
Even years later, the people of Paragon City still feared my father. He had withdrawn his Clocks from the rest of the city, leaving a presence only in Faultline to protect Mama and me. He had fought beside the Freedom Phalanx more than once when disaster threatened, but people still did not trust him and were not comfortable in his presence.
Because of this, Daddy kept away from the public as much as possible. He hadnt said a word about showing up, and I didnt expect him to.
But he did.
Mama, Grandpa, Uncle Line and Auntie Nette cheered and clapped when I walked up to get my diploma. I turned to wave at them, and saw someone wave to me from the balcony.
It was Daddy!
He couldnt see me very well, of course. Daddys eyes arent very good. But he didnt need them to know where I was.
Congratulations, Hope. You have done very well. Your mother and I are very proud of you.
I didnt have Mama or Daddys powers. I couldnt read minds or project my thoughts. As near as Mama or even Sister Psyche could tell, I had no more mental power than an ordinary human girl. Still, I knew that Daddy could read my mind.
Thank you, Daddy. I love you!
I love you too, Hope. Never doubt that your mother and I love you more than anything else in the entire world.
He wouldnt be at Grandpa Yins when I went home, I knew. It had taken everything that Daddy had to just come to graduation. I couldnt ask for more.
But it was definitely something I was going to tell Colin about when graduation was over. I took my place on stage and turned to look at him
And saw that he was looking at Jill.
Why was he looking at Jill? Why was she looking back at him like that? It made me nervous. Jill still wasnt my friend; she had just gotten more subtle in the ways that she tormented me.
I was going to have to ask Colin about it.
After graduation, Mama, Grandpa, Auntie Nette, and Uncle Line were waiting for me outside. They hugged me and took pictures and said they were proud of me. I hugged them back, but I kept on looking for Colin, hoping to get a chance to see him before he went home with his parents. For the first time in my life, I knew what people meant when they said they had butterflies in their stomach.
And then I saw him.
Ill be right back, Mama. I hugged her one more time and ran after Colin. For some reason, I didnt cal his name
the words seemed to stick in my throat. If I had a heart, it would have been pounding.
I was going to tell him! I was actually going to do it!
Colin turned the corner.
I stopped. Could I do this? Could I really tell him after all this time? Maybe it was better if I said nothing
No. I had to see this through. I had promised myself.
I turned the corner. Colin, can I talk to you?
I stopped in my tracks.
Colin was kissing a girl.
A girl with the same golden blonde hair she had had as a child. A beautiful girl who was soft and warm and human and all the things I could never be. Jill.
Colin
He broke the kiss and looked at me. Hope
There was guilt in his eyes. Guilt, and maybe shame too. For a long moment, we looked into each others eyes.
And then he looked away.
Hope. Jill sounded nervous. Hope
My hands were crackling with energy for only the second time. For the first time in my life, I felt powerful. Dangerous.
I could hurt her, I knew. I could hit her with my metal hands that blazed with power. I could hurt her like she had hurt me. I could take revenge for everything she had ever done to me, for everything she had ever stolen from me
The energy faded from my hands.
No. I was still my Daddys daughter. I wouldnt follow that path. I wouldnt let her make me into a monster.
No matter what I looked like. No matter what people thought of me, I wouldnt be a monster.
I turned to walk away.
Hope! Colin ran to me and grabbed my hand.
Let go of me, Colin.
Hope, I wanted to tell you earlier
I just couldnt. Believe me, I never wanted to hurt you
Dont touch me, Colin. Dont touch me ever again. Stay away from me. I looked over at Jill. She was hugging herself, and looking at me.
She had everything I wanted and could never have. Now she had Colin.
Dont break his heart, Jill.
And I walked away from both of them.
I would never speak to Colin again. The next time I saw him
the next time I saw him
The next time I saw him would be at the end of the world.
My COX Fanfiction:
Blue's Assembled Story Links
I have two questions...
Have you made Hope in-game?
If you have, what powers does she wield?
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
[ QUOTE ]
I have two questions...
Have you made Hope in-game?
If you have, what powers does she wield?
[/ QUOTE ]
Yes. I have versions of Hope on two different servers: Virtue and Guardian.
Right now, she's a willpower/energy melee tank.
I've been holding off on playing her too much because in an ideal world she'd be an electric melee/willpower tank ... or scrapper.
I don't think Electric Melee is going to make it Heroside in I13, though ... 
My COX Fanfiction:
Blue's Assembled Story Links
this is precious.
I know how that girl feels (felt?).
I suspect Jill has powers as well.
I locked myself in my room for three days.
Mama finally broke the door down with an ax she got from Grandpa Yins store. Hope Shalice Yin-King! Your father and I have been worried sickHope! What have you done?!
I was sitting on the floor. Hello, Mama.
Around me lay the ruins of my illusions. Torn clothing. Shattered perfume bottles. Pictures of Colin. Every bit and piece of the human life I had tried to lead.
All gone. All destroyed.
Hope!
Im not a robot, Mama. Im made of metal and energy, but I have a heart. I wanted to be human. I wanted people to love me. I wanted Colin to love me. But he doesnt. He cant. Im not human. He cant kiss me. Or do anything else that humans do when they love each other. I just wanted him to love me.
But I cant have that. No one is ever going to love me, Mama. No one is ever going to want me. No one is ever going to see me as a girl, Mama. To everyone else, Im always going to be nothing more than a Clockwork Princess. And I cant even cry about it.
I have to go now, Mama.
Go? Hope, what are you talking about?!
I have to go away, Mama. I dont belong here in your world. I belong in Daddys. With the rest of his Clockwork.
No! Mama hugged me tightly. Baby, I know youre hurting, but you cant do this. I wont let you do this!
Mama, your world hurts. It hurts me so much. Its never going to stop hurting me. I cant be here anymore. I cant do this anymore. I have to let go.
Your father told me that once, Hope. Mamas eyes were filled with tears and she stroked my metal face. He told me to let go.
I dont understand.
Did you ever wonder how your father and I fell in love, Hope?
No. And I hadnt. Mama and Daddy loved each other. They had always loved each other. It had never occurred to me there could have been a time when that wasnt so.
Your father and I met when I wasnt any older than you are now. At first, he was just a voice in my mind. Someone to talk tosomeone who had obviously been through something horrible. I pitied him.
But I didnt love him.
Mama!
Your father was a sick man when I first met him, Hope. He did horrible things. Things that hes never forgiven himself for. I pitied him, but I didnt think of him as a man. How could I? He was just a brain in a bottle.
I looked at her as though I had never seen her before.
But I did want to help him. And I was the only one who could talk to him. The only one he wouldnt attack outright. After I went to school, I started working with your father, trying to repair the damage. It wasnt easy. But I was sure that I had the power to do itafter all, my power was even stronger than his. Everyone said so.
And then one day I read in his mind his deepest secret.
That he loved you? I guessed.
Oh no. I always knew that. Sometimes I even took advantage of that fact when I needed help. She blinked away tears. I was young and thoughtless, Hope. It took me a long time to forgive myself once I knew the truth
The truth, Mama?
Years ago, a very evil man created a device that could alter time. He used that device to warp history, to change the past of your Uncle Faultlines father. In one stroke Psi-Curse turned the great hero Faultline into a hated villain.
The Lost wanted that device. They kidnapped me to find it. They
they changed me into one of them.
I never heard this story before, Mama.
Thats because it never happened, Hope.
Mama--?
Your father, Hope. He saved me. He used the PCM to restore my humanityand his own. She dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. But it didnt hold. The Lost kidnapped me in the new timeline too, and your fathers human self wasnt strong enough to save me.
So he gave it up. He fixed me. He fixed time. And he gave up his humanity to do it. She stared down at her hands. He used the PCM to restore the timeline. Later on, I destroyed it. CK wanted to be humanhe wanted to be with mebut he couldnt have both.
To save meto save historyhe gave up humanity and sanity, Hope. He was the only one who knew. The only one who remembered what he had done. I saw it deep in his mind, and thats when I knew that his body didnt matter. He had the most human heartthe most human soulof anyone Id ever met.
And I fell in love with him.
Because he saved you?
Because he did the right thing, Hope. No matter what it cost him, CK knew he had to do the right thing, and he gave up everything to do it. She hugged me tightly. Hope, baby, you are your fathers daughterand mine. We both love you very much.
And someday, you may find love where you never expect to find it. She kissed my metal forehead. Dont give up on love, baby. Dont give up on humanity.
It hurts, Mama. It hurts so bad that I cant stand it. I just want the pain to be over.
I know, baby. I know. She hugged me tightly to her. It will be someday, Hope. I promise you that someday it wont hurt quite so badly. And someday, it wont hurt at all.
I hugged my Mama back and wished again that I could cry. I wanted to believe her. I needed to believe her, but at that moment it felt like my entire world had died the moment that I saw Colin kissing Jill.
I was wrong.
The world didnt end when Colin kissed Jill.
The world ended one week later.
My COX Fanfiction:
Blue's Assembled Story Links
Damn you...now I'm really on the edge of my seat. 
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Good thing the stock market just went belly-up. I want my last check to BOUNCE without having to worry about reprecussions. ^.^
Also, I have to wonder just how the Clockwork King attended Hope's graduation. Did he march up in his brain-in-jar suit or has he had some new suit worked up for him?
Also, what does Hope LOOK like? I've been reading through the whole thing imagining something akin to a Cannon Duke.
Actually, I picture her more as a walking, 5-foot-tall Barbie Doll.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
I'm surprised that no one knows what she looks like.
When the story is over, I'll see if I can post a picture of her. 
My COX Fanfiction:
Blue's Assembled Story Links
[ QUOTE ]
I'm surprised that no one knows what she looks like.
[/ QUOTE ]
Well, if you examine the story, you'll see that the only description you've provided is a girl with no hair who appears to be a robot. That leaves a lot to the imagination.
And has gears on her shoulders. Don't forget the gears!
My COX Fanfiction:
Blue's Assembled Story Links
Hmm...
I need to find a place to post this picture of her ... haven't messed with webpage posting for a long time...
Also, I have an e-comic I keep wanting to post to the RP section too... (not about Hope)
My COX Fanfiction:
Blue's Assembled Story Links
[ QUOTE ]
It's actually a little common in English, too.
I've known a few girls named Hope.
[/ QUOTE ]
In some states; Hope, Prudence, Honor, and Precious are ALL in the top twenty female names.
Okay. I think I have it set to show Hope's picture now.
Hope
My COX Fanfiction:
Blue's Assembled Story Links
maybe i missed it but i'm guessing she grows then right?
oh and great story i saw it yesterday morning and had to read it
Yes. She grows. I have the mechanism in mind for how she does it, but it never came up in the story.
My COX Fanfiction:
Blue's Assembled Story Links
[ QUOTE ]
Yes. She grows. I have the mechanism in mind for how she does it, but it never came up in the story.
[/ QUOTE ]
Hey, I really liked your story, it was great! Can I ask a favor of you? can I use the "daughter of Penny and Ck" part of your stroy in the bio? Everything else is different though, and she looks way different too, by the way, what is the nationality of Penny Yin?
Near as I could deterimine, Penelope is Chinese.
And I doubt that I'm the first person in the game to conceive of Penny and CK having a child, so knock yourself out.
My COX Fanfiction:
Blue's Assembled Story Links
[ QUOTE ]
Near as I could deterimine, Penelope is Chinese.
And I doubt that I'm the first person in the game to conceive of Penny and CK having a child, so knock yourself out.
[/ QUOTE ]
I actually couldn't do it, Clockwork Princess is your story/character, so the name Clockwork Princess is now available on the Freedom Server
Well, I doubt there will be a rush to use that name any time soon. I wouldn't feel right doing so until I read the finish of what Blue is writing.
Maybe it would, but I'd actually prefer to find that out in-game.
My COX Fanfiction:
Blue's Assembled Story Links