Okay, this is the first non-oneshot story I've posted here and also the first involving an OC. I'm trying desperatly not to make her a Mary-Sue (although she does have a special power) and I would appreciate warnings if you think she seems a bit Sueish.

Also, updates will be few and far between 'cause of a little thing called school. But reviews are always good motivation wink wink, nudge nudge

One more thing (sorry) this takes place in Russia but I've never been there myself so it may be a little wrong but we're talking about a world with a flying man in a cape so bear with me.

Prologue

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Anastasia woke slowly, trying not to move too much unless Sergei noticed and sent her out early. Despite the early hour she could hear the sounds of the other kids coming and going. She listened to two teenagers discussing the best streets to beg on, it sounded like Katrina and Oleg. She was almost fully awake and nearly ready to get up when someone stood on her stomach.

“Ow!” She sat up suddenly and caught the boy by the foot. “Watch it, Petrov” She snarled. Ivan Petrov stuck his tongue out at her and scurried off to find Sergei, a pack of stolen cigarettes in his grasp. “Idiot” She muttered under her breath as she got up. Ivan was one of the few kids in the gang who knew his last name and he liked to remind people of the fact.

Ana used some of the water coming down off the edge of the roof from last night’s rain to wash her face before seeking out Sergei to try and get some food. She hadn’t eaten at all yesterday and her stomach had a hollow feeling to it.

“Anastasia, come over here” Katrina called from the corner of the room as she passed. Ana walked over, carefully avoiding the sleeping bodies on the floor.

“Yes?” She asked. Oleg offered her a bag of glue but she shook her head.

“Anastasia,” Katrina smiled, “How old are you?” Ana frowned slightly.

“Seven, I think” She had only been living on the streets for about two years but her mother had always been too drunk to remember anything about Ana except that she made a good punching bag for when she was angry.

Katrina smiled, “Almost old enough to come work with me, don’t you think, Oleg?” Oleg barely looked up and Katrina rolled her eyes. “It’s good money,” She told Ana. Ana didn’t know exactly what Katrina did but it involved talking to old men and wearing cold looking clothes. She shook her head. “No?” Katrina shrugged, “Enjoy the station then” She took the bag off Oleg as Ana walked away.

Sergei was sitting in the next room with several older boys in the gang, he smiled when he saw Ana. “Anastasia,“ He greeted her, “I heard the police attacked a girl at the station yesterday, glad to see it wasn’t you”

“Is there food?” She could smell something nice coming from one of the boy’s bags but Sergei’s smile disappeared as he glared at her.

“How much money did you get yesterday, girl? Not even enough for one piece of bread. Get more today and maybe there’ll be food when you get back,” Ana had learnt the hard way not to argue with Sergei and fled before she acquired more bruises.

The walk to the train station was the same as every other day. She was accompanied by Peter, a large fourteen year old who got his money through stealing from the other kids. Peter was the type of boy that made Ana glad she had the protection of a gang.

Peter left without a word when the reached the station and Ana went off in search of someone who looked like they would have sympathy for a homeless kid. She was getting good at it too. Although apparently not good enough for Sergei.

A television in one of the stores windows was showing pictures of Superman and a big rock but it was all in English and too quiet to hear anyway. Ana didn’t really care much about Superman, he’d never done anything for her and she was much worse off than some of the people he helped.

Her first target of the day was an elderly man who was shuffling towards the door so slowly that a snail could have overtaken him. Ana put on her best smile and skipped up to him.

“Sir?” She tugged on his sleeve “Sir, do you have any spare change? I’ve lost my mother and need money for the phones” The man flipped her a ruble and shook his sleeve out of her hand. Knowing better than to ask for more Ana slipped it into her pocket and was looking around for someone else when a hand came out of nowhere and whacked her head.

“Get out of her you little rat” A policeman snapped at her. She ran out of the station as he yelled after her “If I see you here again I’ll shoot you”

The street outside wasn’t too cold and Ana knew it wouldn’t be long before the policeman was gone. She rubbed her head, feeling the beginnings of a lump. So much for not getting anymore bruises she thought with a sigh.

Ten minutes later Ana had five more rubles from the people on the street and was about to go back into the station when there was a loud bang from the sky. The windows rattled slightly and some people screamed but nothing else happened. There was a moment of silence before everyone stared talking excitedly in low whispers.

Peter came running out of the station and grabbed Ana’s arm. “Are you okay?” She nodded. “Did you see it?” She shook her head. “Fat lot of good you are”

“It was just a loud noise, how can you see a noise?”

“I was thinking of what made the noise” He looked towards the sky, shielding his eyes against the weak spring sun. “How are you going?”

“Six”

He laughed “Sergei’s gunna beat you good” He reached into his pocket and proudly showed her a wallet “Sixty-five and the day’s hardly started” Then he was gone again. People were still talking excitedly but had started to move again.

Ana knew she should probably get back to work but her stomach rumbled loudly. She knew a bakery about ten minutes walk away that threw out whole loaves of bread at a time. Sergei might beat me but at least I’ll be full.

Seven minutes later there was a second loud bang but this one was much closer and this time Ana could definitely what made it.

A huge rock about twenty times the size of a car had just hit the top of an apartment building. People started to scream and run away but Ana stopped for a moment and stared. There was something odd about the way it was moving. Much too slow for gravity. But Ana didn’t have time to ponder, before she found herself caught up in the rush she ducked into a narrow alleyway and ran behind several buildings. There were several more loud crashes and a big rumble before everything settled into relative silence.

Ana looked around and realised with happiness that she wasn’t very far from where the bakery threw out its bread. Hopefully, the big rock had scared off other kids too.

When she reached the dumpster the only other person there was a boy who looked to be 10 or 11. He was holding two sticks of bread and a part of a loaf. He ran when he saw her despite being almost twice her size. Praying desperately that he hadn’t taken it all she looked into the dumpster.

“Yes!” She exclaimed when she saw not one but two big loaves of bread left. Stuffing them both into her top she headed towards an abandoned building she knew was a safe place to eat. She’d never run into another person there but she saw evidence of them in the broken bottles and cigarette stubs that littered the floor.

However, this time was different. She could tell before she’d even opened the door that something wasn’t right. There was a gasping noise, it sounded like a dog Ana had once seen, but that dog had been hurt by a car and there were no cars here. There was a shuffling noise and a loud thump.

Anastasia wasn’t a mean person but she could tell that whoever was inside was in no shape to hurt her and perhaps they had some money she could take back to Sergei. She didn’t want to get beat again.

She slipped inside and made her way towards the corner of the room where she could she a roughly human sized lump on the floor. As she got closer though she began to make out details of his clothes and face and she wondered if her eyes were playing tricks on her. Because there was no way she could be seeing what she thought she was seeing.

She reached the man but instead of checking for money she fell to her knees and reached out a hand to nudge him lightly in the shoulder.

“Superman?” She asked in disbelief.