#incredible dispatch

“We’re dispatchers for the SDN.” Answered Mandy, “This is the Parr home, right?”

“Violet, who’s at the door?” Came a woman’s voice, before a woman with auburn hair appeared behind the girl, “Who’s this?”

“You’re Helen Truax,” Asked Robert, looking at her, “right?”

Helen paled, before she tried to shut the door, which Robert prevented by putting himself between the door and the door frame.

“Ma’am, trust us, we’re not here to fight.” Grunted Robert, “At least give us five minutes.”

The pressure on the door lifted, allowing Robert to push the door open, “Five minutes.”

“We’re dispatchers working for the SDN,” Said Mandy, choosing to leave out that she and Robert were also heroes, “we’re hoping—”

“We’re not interested.” Helen shut the door in their faces.

“Okay, that wasn’t five minutes.” Said Robert, looking at Mandy.

“Well, they do frequently relocate,” Sighed Mandy, walking back to Robert’s car, “it makes sense that they’re jumpy.”

“Yeah, I just didn’t expect her to shut the door without hearing us out.” Mused Robert, as they got into the car, “Does this mean we get to keep Mr Incredible’s car?”

“No, Robert.”

I

Helen kept herself busy with household chores, those dispatchers turning up to, presumably, recruit her and Bob for hero work.

“Another save by Blonde Blazer and Mecha Man,” Helen glanced at the TV, which Dash probably left on before she sent him to do his homework, “Despite the scepticism of many, myself included, the SDN has restored the image of Superheroes around the world, with their latest team, the Z-Team, taking down Red Ring and Shroud in a climactic battle at the SDN headquarters in Torrence, a battle that saw the return of Mecha Man, as well as Track Star, loaned the powers of Blonde Blazer.”

Helen watched as footage from the battle played out, she recognised Punch Up, a villain that had almost beaten Bob back before the ban.

“The Z-Team is the flagship result of SDN’s Pheonix Program,” Continued the newscaster, “the most famous member being Prism, a pseudo influencer who live streams most of her patrols, and her regular torment of the Z-Team’s dispatcher, who was in the news recent for being hit by a bus three times over a four-day period.”

The footage changed to one of the dispatchers that visited their house a couple of days ago, just as he crossed the road, and was ‘body’ slammed by a bus, sending him skidding a few feet, coming to a stop outside a door, before he got up, brushed himself off and nonchalantly sauntered into a bar. The scene then changed to Blonde Blazer, with Mecha Man crouching in front a child a few feet behind her.

“The SDN has started to recruit older heroes, like Mr Incredible, Frozone, Elastigirl, Gazerbeam and Plasmabolt to work as dispatchers,” Said Blonde Blazer, “their experience would be a great benefit to the younger heroes.”

“I understand that some of SDN’s dispatchers are former heroes themselves?”

“And current,” Confirmed Blazer, “Those of us that have secret identities work for SDN at various levels.”

“Mainly because the actual pay we get in the suit is crap!” Yelled Mecha Man, after he’d sent the child over to their mother, “I get paid twice as much while working in the basement!”

“We actually work at SDN as civilians because it’s easier to respond to a crisis if we can reasonable explain why we vanished for a few hours.” Corrected Blazer, giving Mecha Man a look, “He just likes to complain.”

“How do they know if you’re telling the truth?” Asked reporter.

“We use timesheets and track our comm links during the period in question,” Answered Mecha Man, “I did have to deal with one of mine going out for a sandwich while there was a fire going on downtown.”

“I understand that you work closely with the Z-Team?” The reporter redirected their attention to Mecha Man.

“I do,” Mecha Man looked slightly embarrassed, “Although… it is a bit weird to work with a guy I put behind bars… after I cut two of his fingers off.”

“You also burnt off Flambae’s eyebrows,” Added Blonde Blazer, “although that could be argued as self-defence.”

Helen put the laundry basket down and watched the rest of the interview, before deciding to bring the matter up with Bob that night.

I

“Still think this is a bad idea?” Asked Courtney, glancing at Coupé.

“They’ve been retired so long that they won’t know how to work the most basic of equipment.” Said Janelle, “How did we get stuck with Gazerbeam of all people?”

“Because Robert and Mandy were going to handle Lawsuit and Mrs Stretch Armstrong and Prism and Flambae got the only cool one?” Responded Courtney, getting a smirk.

“Heh, cool one.” Janelle chuckled to herself.

“Say, did Sam ever get back from that special assignment?” Asked Courtney, looking at Janelle.

“I know that both Mecha Man and Blonde Blazer have brought up their concerns.” Answered Janelle, “Waterboy and Phenomaman have been dispatched to look for him.”

“Somethings not right.” Said Courtney, “I don’t know why, but my gut’s telling me something’s wrong.”

“It’s probably all those processed foods you’ve been eating.” Responded Janelle, “It’s giving you indigestion.”

“Are you fucking--?”

“We’re here.” Said Janelle, bringing the car to a stop.

“Great.” Muttered Courtney, as the pair got out of the car and walked to the front door, “So, how’re we doing this? Direct or acting like Jehova’s Witnesses?”

Janelle raised her fist and knocked on the door. After a couple of minutes, the door opened and a older, somewhat muscular man with blond hair stood in front of them.

“Can I help you?” Asked the man, looking between Courtney and Janelle.

“…Simon Paladino?” Asked Courtney, after a moment.

“No, I’m his partner, Jack,” Said the man, looking at them, “he’s away on a business trip.”

Janelle frowned, before Courtney gasped, “Gamma Jack.”

Jack’s face started to sour, “I’m not interested in talking to journalists.”

“We’re with the SDN.” Janelle, before looking at Courtney.

When the other woman didn’t move, Janelle flicked a knife at her, jolting Courtney out of her silent hero worship, “Oh, right.”

Courtney vanished, getting Jack to raise his eyebrows.

“I can see where you’re standing on the grass.” Said Jack, as Courtney reappeared, “Which you’re not supposed to be standing on, by the way.”

“Sorry, you were my favourite hero back when I was a kid.” Confessed Courtney, “Broke my arm in three places after I jumped of my house roof trying to fly.”

Jack frowned, before he looked at Janelle, “Is she usually like this?”

“No,” Answered Janelle, “this is new.”

I

“I hate being incognito.” Grumbled Alice, as Chad knocked on the door.

“Well, you were warned that we had to keep a low profile and you still chose to come.” Said Chad, before impatiently knocking on the door again.

“Alright, alright, I heard you the first time!” Yelled a man’s voice from inside the home, before the door swung open and a black man looked at them, “Can I help you?”

“Mr Lucius Best?” Asked Alice, looking at him.

“And if I am?” Asked the man, giving them a suspicious look.

“We’re with the SDN, who want to recruit you as a dispatcher.” Said Chad, “We, being actual heroes, took some valuable time from our incredibly pack schedules in the hopes of recruiting you.”

“You really want to be here, don’t you?” Asked Lucius, looking at Chad, “Chase has already convinced me.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Alice blinked, before Chase hobbled out of the sitting room.

“Your brother’s going to be fine.” Violet turned and looked at Robert, at Mecha Man, “We’ve got people we trust watching him and, even if he does have the issue that Track Star has, it’s early enough for us to figure out a fix.”

Violet gave him a meek nod, she knew that all her classmates, including Tony, would kill to have Mecha Man, the powerless Superhero, talk to them. But, with what Dash could be at risk of, she found it difficult, and having the urge to throw up wasn’t helping either.

“Your parents,” Said Robert, sitting down across from her, “said you have a few… problems.”

“L-like what?” Asked Violet, looking at the man.

“Your teachers have told them that you stutter,” Said Robert, “and your Mom has said that your force fields are hit a miss at times, especially if you’re feeling pressured. In fact, the only power you don’t have a problem with is turning invisible.”

“I-I j-just want t-to be normal.” Violet tried to sound less like herself, since this was Mecha Man she was talking to, the only hero with enough bravery to go out without powers and do the right thing.

“Violet,” Said Robert, “you are normal, having powers, not having powers, neither of those things choses what normal is. I’m going to tell you, what I told one of my team, you don’t have a stutter or a problem controlling your powers. You have a confidence issue.”

“H-how a-am I s-supposed to be con-confident w-when I-I’m l-like t-this?” Asked Violet, getting a sigh from Robert.

“Violet, to be confident, you need to be comfortable with yourself,” Said Robert, “so, I want you to tell me one thing that you want to do, that you’re scared of messing up.”

Violet blinked, before her mouth moved on its own, “Prism’s autograph.”

Robert froze, before slowly nodded, “Okay…, I thought it was going to be something a bit more risky, but, hey, Prism loves having her ego stroked.”

“Hey!” Prism called over from the other side of the floor, “Fuck you, Roberto!”

“She’s joking.” Said Robert, getting to his feet, “Alright, let’s—”

One of the computers started wailing, cutting Robert off. Obviously recognising the tone, Robert paled and bolted to the computer.

“W-what’s going on?” Asked Violet, as Prism rounded the office space and guided her out.

“Don’t worry about it.” Said Prism, obviously knowing what it was, “Let’s go to the gym and other recreational shit.”

Robert, now with Mandy and Brainbook joining him.

“Who is it?” Asked Mandy, as Brainbook looked over Robert’s shoulder.

“Waterboy,” Answered Robert, as Brainbook frowned, “his vitals just spiked, then they stopped.”

“They stabilised?” Asked Mandy, glancing at Robert.

“No,” Corrected Brainbook, “they stopped. As in, the monitoring system isn’t detecting anything to monitor.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Said Mandy, frowning.

“It’s the same thing that happened with Pom-Pom, Bullet Train, Quake and Inferno.” Said Robert, turning his chair around, “I’m going to check on Phenomaman, see if he can find Waterboy.”

“I’ll handle that,” Said Brainbook, “you keep trying his comm, the monitoring software could simply be damaged.”

Robert frowned, before nodding and turning back to the computer.

I

“Sweet Talker, Pom-Pom, Bullet Train, Thunderbolt, Echo, Quake, Inferno, Boomerang, Waterboy, and, now,” Robert tried not to wince as Daniels listed off their MIA heroes, “Phenomaman. All missing in action, after being sent to an island in the middle of nowhere.”

“It’s near the Easter Islands,” Said Evelyn, resting her goggles on her head, “but, given that their vitals spiked and then, just as quickly, stopped, we may be looking at a trap situation.”

“We’ve also failed to contact Universal Man, Psycwave, Blazestone, Downburst, Vectress, Blitzerman, Apogee, Phylange, Everseer, Macroburst, Gazerbeam, and Hypershock,” Sighed Robert, “we managed to recruit Tradewind, but he went AWOL.”

“But, we have found Gamma Jack, Stormicide, Frozone and the Parr family.” Stated Mandy, “We also have leads on Plasmabolt and Fironic.”

“Two of your… ‘additions’ are children.” Said Daniels, raising an eyebrow.

“One of whom has the same problem Track Star did.” Added Evelyn, leaning back, “I fitted an inhibitor cuff to him, until we can figure out a fix.”

“So,” Said Daniels, frowning, “more bad news.” He glanced at Mandy, “Any more for the second round of the Phoenix Program?”

“Yes,” Mandy seemed to be more than eager to change the subject, “We’ve managed to collect Bulbox, we offered placement for his daughter at a school not too far from here.”

“He’s a super?” Asked Daniel, getting a nod from Mandy, “What about this… daughter?”

“She’s…, got powers,” Said Mandy, after a moment, “She’s roughly the same age of the oldest of the Parr kids, Violet.”

“Two flowers,” Mused Daniels, “is there going to be a third for this ‘bouquet’ you’ve started to build?”

“Oh, I didn’t mean,” Mandy tried to cover, “I just thought that they might make good friends.”

“Might be worth seeing about organising lessons, for them,” Suggested Robert, “teach them how to control their powers, just as a precaution.”

Daniels sighed, “Which means we will have to do a Psych-Eval on them. Speaking of,” he pulled a file from his desk, “I have some concerns about one of the dispatchers you’ve brought in.”

“If this is about Gamma Jack’s… opinion, we’ve already taken that into consideration.” Said Mandy, sitting up, “He didn’t allow it to colour his opinion on the training simulation and—”

“It’s actually about Robert Parr.” Interrupted Daniels, “It took a while, but Cummings managed to get him relaxed enough to talk. Parr has some deep-seated fears about keeping his family safe, believing that if he isn’t strong enough to protect the public, he would not be strong enough to protect his family.”

“Shit,” Swore Robert, leaning forwards, “I can talk to him, see if I can help.”

“While that is noble, Robert,” Sighed Daniels, “you are not an officially licensed psychologist or counsellor, which reminds me, CSPP need an address to send your diploma to.”

“You went to university?” Asked Mandy, looking at Robert.

“Started, I only finished recently.” Answered Robert, before looking at Daniels, “Bob might be more open to me than anyone else, he was able to figure out my identity within thirty minutes of meeting me outside of the mask.”

Daniels frowned, but said nothing.

“There also the issue of how we’re going to address nine of our heroes suddenly going missing.” Added Evelyn, “I mean, if I was trying to erase heroes from the world, I’d ruin their reputations to the point of all of them giving up.”

“We don’t need you to run another Screen Slaver program, Evelyn.” Said Daniels, glancing at her, “But, you do bring up a good point.”

“Let me bring up Waterboy and Phenomaman with the Z-Team,” Said Robert, getting up, “they’re both part of the Z-Team and, if anyone else were to tell them…”

Daniels sighed, before nodding, silently dismissing Robert and Mandy.

“Well, if they’re going,” Said Evelyn, getting up, “I’m going to pick apart that piece of tech that Robert brought back from that Kronos gang bust.”

Daniels nodded, before looking at a file, “Evelyn, while you’re at it, see if you can find Buddy Pine.”

I

Helen blinked at the heroes in front of her, she’d been given six heroes as her ‘dispatchees’, as Robert called them, the first one was Voyd, a young woman who could create portals, she reminded Helen of Violet, with the confidence issues she had, the second was He-lectrix, a musician that could control and absorb electricity. Krushauer, the third hero assigned to her, had telekinetic powers that allowed him to ‘crush’ objects, he also had superstrength and superhuman durability. The fourth hero, Brick, was similar, as she also had superhuman strength and durability, she could also jump large distances and her file said ‘metamorphosis’, whatever that meant, Brick’s main problem was that, while she was a strong as a sack of bricks, she was as smart as a sack of bricks. Screech, Helen’s fifth dispatchable hero, could fly, see in the dark and release a supersonic screech, although he also seemed to be nocturnal, which was something to work on. Reflux, the last hero Helen had been assigned, had a molten stomach and regurgitation, which more or less translated to that he could throw up lava and not get hurt.

“S-sorry if I-I was too, y’know, over eager,” Voyd tried to laugh, “b-but you’re… you, a-and I-I’m me, s-so…”

“That’s… alright, Voyd.” Nodded Helen, “It’s alright, you don’t need to apologise.”

“Yeah,” Snickered He-Lectrix, “leave that for Reflux.”

“It’s a genuine medical condition.” Said Reflux, just as Mecha Man ducked his into the room.

“Hey,” Mecha Man’s voice of everyone’s attention, “it’s past clocking out time, so you can all go home for today.”

“Why’re you suited up?” Asked Helen, getting up.

“Press conference,” Answered Mecha Man, looking around, “the uppers think I’m a safe bet, since I don’t have powers, so the crowd might listen to me more than the others.”

Helen blinked, “Okay, good luck, I guess?”

Mecha Man nodded, before leaving the room. Looking at the clock, Helen sighed, “He’s got a point, let’s head home and resume tomorrow.”

I

Courtney carefully spooned some mashed-up apple and banana into Robin’s mouth, the baby, caught mid-giggle, gummed on the food, just as she heard the front door open and close.

“How’d the press conference?” Asked Courtney, looking towards the door.

“The less said, the better.” Grumbled Robert, hanging his coat up, “Mandy’s making sure Sansweet’s still alive.”

“The asshole behind the lawsuit that made heroes illegal?” Asked Courtney, twisting to look at Robert, “Why was he there?”

“No idea.” Sighed Robert, before focusing on Robin, “Now, why do you let Mommy feed you, but not Daddy? Huh?”

Robin squealed and knocked her bowl to the floor, laughing as she reached for Robert.

“Sansweet’s not going to sue.” Mandy’s voice from the door made them look up, “Brainbook and Daniels somehow managed to convince him not to.”

“Daniels probably offered to throw him off the roof.” Said Robert, picking Robin up, with the baby grabbing his nose.

Mandy looked around, “Where’s Bertie?”

“BOO!” A small boy appeared behind her, making her jump, “I gots you, Momma.”

“Yeah,” Laughed Mandy, picking him up, “you did.”

“He’s managed to get turning invisible down,” Said Courtney, getting up, “especially when it’s bathtime.”

Bertie, freezing in Mandy’s arms, looked at his mother, and vanished, turning Mandy invisible in the process.

“You do realise I’m going to help bathe you, right?” Came Mandy’s disembodied voice, before the bathroom door opened and the two of them reappeared, with Courtney joining them. Robert, not for the first time, wondered if Bertie and Robin liked having two Moms.

I

“An SDN press conference went awry last night, after Oliver Sansweet, a former president of the Municiberg Bank, who sued Mr Incredible for quote-unquote ‘saving’ his life fifteen years ago, tried to go head-to-head with Mecha Man, who’s last press conference ended with him throwing a journalist out a window.”

Helen reached over and turned the TV up.

“As the footage shows, Mr Sansweet brought up Mr Incredible’s actions against him, as well as bringing his lawyer with him.” Said the news caster, as Sansweet and his lawyer stood and postulated, “Mecha Man had this to say;”

“For someone who was suicidal,” Mecha Man’s voice was his signature mix of cold and dry sarcasm, “you really found the will to sue a guy, when you could have done us all a favour and gone back up to the roof and thrown yourself off.”

“Mr Sansweet then threatened to sue Mecha Man for harassment and slander, which produced this response;” Helen watched as Mecha Man sauntered off the podium and up to Sansweet, and punched him square in the face, before dragging him to a stairwell and returning without him a second later, “SDN has already closed it’s ranks, with the rehabilitated villainess Prism ‘offering’ to ‘flash’ Mr Sansweet, which is what she calls blinding someone. SDN has also refused to cover Banks, Insurance Firms, and Chain locations, with Mr Gilbert Huph protesting the decision, claiming SDN had ‘poached’ Insuricare’s employees and customers.”

Helen didn’t find that surprising, since Bob had mentioned the Insuricare often refused to pay out on their policies, which was why Bob had been temporarily seconded by the SDN upper management to help set up the SDN insurance office. Allison and Jack had gone with him, since Allison was good with computers and Jack was, somehow, very proficient with legal paperwork. He’d suggested that he go into SDN Legal, since he was a fully licensed attorney, which was a shock to the rest of them.

“You’ll never guess who turned up to work today.” Bob’s voice made Helen look towards the door.

“Sansweet?” Guessed Helen, making Bob shake his head.

“No, Gazerbeam.” Bob put his brief case on the table, “Apparently, he heard that SDN were looking for him.”

“Jack must’ve told him.” Reasoned Helen, looking at the folder with her heroes files in it.

“No, Jack was as surprised as we were,” Said Bob, “but he’s on board, which I think is great.”

Helen looked at Bob, since starting at SDN, he’d started to lose weight, and he seemed much happier in himself.

“How’s getting to know your team going?” Asked Bob, making Helen sigh.

“Voyd’s a lot like Violet, if they were closer in age, I would suggest they spend some time together,” Said Helen, “He-Lectrix seems a bit haughty, but he’s a guitarist in a band, Reflux seems nice, but I wouldn’t put him out on… heavy calls, you know? Krushauer can, well, crush things, but he can’t reverse the damage, which could be a problem. Screech is, well, interesting, to say the least, but he’s primarily nocturnal, meaning he’s more or less useless in the day, and Brick’s… she’s…”

“As dumb as her name implies?” Violet’s voice made them jump, before she appeared at the table.

Violet looked different, the main difference was that she had her hair tied back, but she seemed to be slightly uncomfortable.

“The only one I didn’t have the pleasure to work with was Mecha Man Prime.” Continued Helen, “Since he died when I was just starting out.”

“Yeah, I heard he was a great guy.” Said Robert, his eyes falling to the carpet and spotting a baby, “Whoa, where’d you come from, huh?”

Helen frowned, before looking under the table, “Jack-Jack?”

“Is that his name?” Asked Robert, looking at Helen.

“Yeah, I thought I left him in his crib.” Frowned Helen, before sighing, “Give me a minute, I’m going to put him to bed.”

The pair watched Helen pick the baby up, before she vanished upstairs.

“She’d make a good mentor.” Said Mandy, looking at the stairs.

“Most parents have that skill,” Responded Robert, “Honestly, I thought she wasn’t going to let us in.”

“Why?” Asked Mandy, looking at Robert, “Because of last time? Or because all of us ignored the Superhero Ban to the extent that the Deavors stepped in and founded the SDN?”

“Both, I think.” Said Robert, “Dad was killed just before the ban came into effect, I was just lucky enough that LA loved Mecha Man more than they did the law.”

“To the extent that they’d ignore you beating a guy while you were injured.” Snarked Mandy, giving Robert a smile.

“Hey, if that asshole had talked about your family that way,” Responded Robert, “you’d probably have had the same reaction.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Said Mandy, as Helen rejoined them, “Mrs Parr.”

“Sorry, about Jack-Jack,” Apologised Helen, “I don’t know how he keeps getting out of his crib.”

“It’s fine,” Dismissed Robert, “You’re probably wondering how we found you.”

“Yeah,” Helen nodded, “I was under the impression that the SDN was invite only.”

“It is.” Said Mandy, leaning forwards, “Do you remember a Heroine called Stratogale?”

“She’s alive?” The dispatchers didn’t miss the hope that coloured Helen’s voice, “I heard that she got sucked into a jet engine.”

“Almost was,” Nodded Mandy, “fortunately, Mecha Man was also at the scene, but she’s working as a dispatcher at the SDN, since flying makes her…”

“Nervous?” Supplied Helen, getting a nod from Mandy.

“She’s seeing a licensed therapist, and she’s helping younger super-powered individuals learn to control their powers,” Said Mandy, “she’s actually the one who vouched for you, as well as a number of other heroes, which we’re still trying to track down.”

“Track Star,” Said Robert, looking at Helen, “he’s also vouched for you and Mr Incredible… he’s also the reason we have your husbands old car.”

“The Incredibile?” Asked Helen, frowning, “The mechanics said it was destroyed.”

“Well, that was a fucking lie.” Said Robert, bluntly, “Please excuse my language, but SDN managed to outbid some idiotic collector for it.”

“I’m… sure Bob will be happy to heat that.” Said Helen, as the front door opened.

“I’m back.” Robert leaned around the chair blocking his view to the door and looked at the massive blond man in the doorway.

“Bob,” Helen got up, “these two are Robert and Mandy.”

Bob looked at them, before he looked at Helen, “We’ve got new neighbours?”

“No, they’re,” Helen glanced at them, “with the SDN.”

I

“This’ll be where you’re working,” Malevola silently watched Allison look around the office, “We’re working on getting some of your older colleagues to help but—”

“Clara!” Allison darted towards one of the dispatchers, enveloping her in a tight hug, “You don’t know how much I’ve missed you.”

Clara, returning the hug, laughed, “Well, I did suggest you and the others be recruited.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to see Deborah and Roger.” Grinned Allison, “Oh, Lucius got married.”

“He did?” Clara started to float, before she quickly grounded herself, “Who’d he marry? It’s not Blazestone, is it?”

“No, he married a normie,” Answered Allison, “her name’s Honey, last I heard, she’s constantly hiding his suit.”

“What about Bob and Helen?” Asked Clara, “Sam mentioned seeing them at a store getting a crib.”

“Sam’s here too?” Allison looked around for him.

“No, he’s… missing,” Winced Clara, “Mecha Man and Blonde Blazer have Waterboy and Phenomaman going to the island that his ‘special assignment’ was supposedly on.”

“O-oh.” Allison swallowed before looking around, “Have you heard about anyone else?”

“Frozone, Plasmabolt and Fironic have accepted the offer,” Said Clara, “We’re still working on Bob and Helen, and Coupé and Invisigal managed to recruit Gamma Jack.”

“Ya-what?” Allison looked at Clara, “Mr Megalomaniac?”

“I preferred ruthless, but, I suppose that works.” Jack’s voice appeared behind her.

Like the rest of them, he’d aged, his thick blond hair was shorter and had grey flecks, he wasn’t as toned as he used to be and he’d grown out a beard, but what drew Clara and Allison’s attention was the wedding ring on his left ring finger.

“You got married?” Asked Allison, frowning, “What’s her name?”

Jack blinked, before squinting, “Stormicide?”

“Allison,” Corrected Allison, before stepping away from Clara, “you remember Clara.”

“Stratogale,” Jack had a fond half-smile, “we never did have that race.”

“No, we didn’t.” Clara gave a half-hearted smile in return, before sitting down, “Things are still being set up here, but the turn out isn’t what we hoped.”

“What do you mean?” Asked Jack, sitting in a chair across her and Allison taking the seat next to him.

“Well, we tried to find twelve heroes before you, you know, Universal Man, Psycwave, Apogee, Phylange,” Clara listed off, “but, there no trace of them, a-and I don’t mean that they’ve gone to ground or-or been relocated, they’ve just… vanished. We even used that supercomputer Technowizard made and the government databases, they just, vanished. We briefly got in contact with Vectress, but she vanished too, Tradewind, I mean Sam, joined, but he’s disappeared.”

“Seriously?” Asked Jack, “Wait, you said ‘island’?”

“Yeah, Sam got this ‘secret’ assignment that was on some island,” Nodded Clara, “one of the janitors found some notes in his handwriting, something about a ‘top secret’ matter that needed ‘special’ skills. I brought it up with Blonde Blazer and Mecha Man, who then dispatched two of their own to the island in hopes of finding him.”

“Simon mentioned that he was going overseas for a business trip.” Said Jack, leaning back in his chair, “Said we wouldn’t be able to talk for a few days.”

“You’re still in contact with Gazerbeam?” Asked Clara, frowning.

Jack fiddled with his wedding ring.

“You’re married to Gazerbeam?!” Exclaimed Allison, “When the hell did that happen?!”

“A small register office about ten years ago.” Said Jack, “Our anniversary is next week.”

The two former heroines stared at the man, before Clara got up, “I-I’m gonna get some coffee, because I’ve got to be dreaming.”

Allison and Jack watched her leave, before Jack looked at the woman, “Did you know they’ve got Mecha Man?”

I

Robert looked at Bob, who was frowning at him.

“I understand that what we’re offering is…” Mandy looked between Bob and Helen, “strange, but it’s the same offer we—”

“Mecha Man.” Bob snapped his fingers.

“Sorry, what?” Asked Mandy, looking at Bob.

“Bob?”

“Look, the scar on his jaw,” Bob pointed at a faint scar along Robert’s jaw, “he got that when debris from Bomb Voyage caught him when he was out of his suit.”

Helen focused on the scar, before she sat back.

“Are you usually in the habit of out secret identities,” Asked Mandy, as Robert pinched the bridge of his nose, “or is that a new thing?”

“It’s new.” Said Robert, looking at Mandy, “It was one of my first jobs in the suit.”

“How come you didn’t say anything?” Asked Helen, getting a sigh from Robert.

“We didn’t want to pressure any of you into this,” Said Robert, “we’ve actually had to track down most of the supers that went into hiding. We’re still looking for Fironic and Plasmabolt, but every time we try and get in contact with our codenames, we’re met with silence. I managed to track down Stratogale and we worked from there.”

“Who else have you tried?” Asked Bob, looking livelier than he did a few minutes earlier.

“We managed to recruit Tradewind,” Said Mandy, “but he’s gone… missing, we’ve got two of ours looking for him right now. We’ve managed to locate Stormicide, and we’ve got people out looking for Gazerbeam and Frozone.”

Robert looked towards a chair, before he stood up and walked over to it, when he got within a foot of it, his arm shot out and grabbed something, a moment later a teenage girl appeared and a small blur shot towards Robert, who, acting on pure instinct, raised his foot and let it barrel into the bottom of his show.

“For god’s sake,” Groaned Helen getting up, “you two are supposed to be doing your homework!”

“I didn’t have any.” Said the source of a blur, which turned out to be a ten-year-old boy.

“I’ve already finished it.” Protested the girl, before Robert let go of her arm, “How’d you know I was there?”

“I actually thought you were someone else.” Said Robert, walking back to the couch.

“One of our heroes goes invisible every time she holds her breath.” Explained Mandy, “Robert’s her dispatcher.”

“You’re Bus Guy!” Gasped the boy, zipping around Robert.

“Dash!” Reprimanded Helen, just as someone knocked on the door.

Quickly making sure everyone was behaving, Helen got up and walked over to the door and opened it. Lucius stood in front of her, looking tired, before an old voice said, “About fucking time someone opened the door.”

Chase shuffled inside without waiting to be invited, “It’s the start of winter and it’s cold as a motherfucker out there.”

“Chase.” Scolded Mandy, as Robert stood up.

“Is this another one of your dispatchers?” Asked Helen, looking at Robert.

“Sort of,” Answered Robert, “he’s also one of the people vouching for you.”

Bob frowned, looking at Chase, “I’m sorry, I’m having trouble remembering.”

“Oh, that’s it?” Scoffed Chase, “First this bitch doesn’t recognise me and now you two? What? You not see someone for fifteen fucking years and then you don’t fucking remember them?!”

“Could you please stop swearing?” Asked Helen, trying to remember who he was.

“Alright,” Chase struck his running pose, “this jog anything?”

“Track Star?” Bob was on his feet, “How, when, what happened?”

“Yeah, why do you…?”

“Look like black motherfucking Einstein?” Finished Chase, “My powers let me move fifty times faster than the average person, wasn’t ‘til I looked like this, that I realised that they made age fifty times faster too.”

“Oh, god.” Helen’s hand covered her mouth, before she looked at Dash, “Is… is that the same for all speedsters?”

Robert catching on, looked at the boy, “We… we can do some tests back at SDN, just to make sure.”

“We only noticed because I sent them together.” Added Robert, “Which is all manners of fucked up.”

“Did…” Invisigal’s voice spoke up, “did any of them have a tablet appear in their things before they went?”

Robert frowned, “Phenomaman had one turn up, it’s why he and Waterboy were dispatched.”

Invisigal put a bag on the table in front of her, “I found this in my locker this morning, I thought one of you guys had put it there.”

Mandy walked over to the object and picked it up, “It’s the same type as the one Phenomaman was given.”

“How did it get in?” Asked Coupé, giving the object a suspicious look, “You need an SDN keycard to get into the locker rooms.”

“I’ll check with security.” Said Mandy, getting up, “Maybe we’ll be lucky and catch whoever it is.”

Robert gave a nod, before looking at Invisigal, “We should take the tablet upstairs, know what we’re dealing with. Prism, Flambae, can I trust you with Violet and Rose?”

“Fuck yeah.”

“What do you think, bitch?”

I

Violet didn’t know what to make of Rose, except she was the daughter of a former villain.

“So,” Said Prism, loudly over the speakers, “we know your powers, time to show us if you can use them!”

“Is she being serious?” Asked Rose, getting a shrug from Violet.

“First up!” Yelled Prism, as a robot appeared from the floor, “One bitch-ass opponent!”

“So,” Rose looked at Violet, “what can you do?”

Violet responded by turning invisible.

“Seriously?” Asked Rose, before a beanbag hit her side, “Oof.”

The next beanbag was intercepted by a forcefield, before Violet reappeared.

“You can make forcefields?” Asked Rose, getting a nod from Violet, “Why the hell didn’t you lead with that?!”

“Because they’re—” A beanbag hit Violet in the face, “spotty.”

“That’s an understatement.” Said Rose, before holding her hand out and firing a sonic blast at the robot, “How do they work?”

“I-I don’t know.” Said Violet, “We kinda had the whole thing of not using our powers and, I didn’t—”

“Practice?” Asked Rose, before looking at the robot, “Think you could throw a forcefield ball at it?”

Violet frowned, before making a ball and lobbing it at the robot, with Rose hitting the ball with a sonic blast to speed it up. Up in the observation room, Prism and Flambae watched as Rose helped Violet become more comfortable with her powers.

“Well,” Daniels’s voice made them turn around, “I was certainly expecting a bigger mess.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Asked Prism, as Violet lifted the robot up and threw it at Rose, who shattered it with a sonic blast.

“Increase the number of robots.” Said Daniels, folding his arms.

“Okay.” Shrugged Flambae, twisting a dial.

Down in the training room, the two girls stopped when twenty robots suddenly appeared.

“Nothing changes,” Said Rose, confidently, “just the same buckets and bolts, just a different number.”

Violet, swallowing, nodded, before she and Rose started to repeat what they were doing. The first five went down easily, with Violet using her fields as buckets and throwing the remains at the others, before she, unintentionally, launched her forcefields as discs at the robots.

“You can do that?!”

“I guess?!”

“Great!”

Five more robots fell, before twenty more robots appeared behind the remaining ten.

“Oh, shit.” Said Rose, as the pair were bombarded by beanbags.

Violet raised a forcefield, which turned into a dome, as Rose backed up.

“The forcefields, they are one way, right?” Asked Rose, getting a shrug from Violet, “Okay, I hope this works.”

Rose fired a sonic blast, which bounced off the inside of the forcefield and rang both girls ears. They held for another thirty seconds, before both of them passed out.

I

“I think she’s waking up.” Violet groaned at the bright light.

“What happened?” Asked Violet, as her eyes adjusted. Looking around, she noted that she was in the infirmary, her parents and Dash were beside her, with Rose occupying the bed across from her.

“Rose,” Said Robert, drawing Violet’s attention from her family, “let loose a sonic blasé while the two of you were encased in your forcefield. You both had about 100 decibels pounding you for a total of thirty seconds.”

“It that why my head hurts?” Groaned Violet, trying to sit up.

“Pretty much.” Confirmed Robert, before glancing towards the door, “Violet, I’ve discussed it with your parents and, since it may help you learn to control your powers, you’ll be here as a part-time dispatchable hero.”

“What?” Asked Violet, looking at Robert.

“You’re going to be placed with Clara, until we’re satisfied with your progress and move you to another team.” Explained Robert, “After that… we’ll probably discuss who we’re going to place you with when it happens.”

I

“Now, behold.” Violet wasn’t sure what to make of Galbaki, she wasn’t very big in terms of fashion, but she’d seen her parents’ suits and they didn’t look like… underwear, although that would be being generous. Rose’s suit was sky blue fading into white with a speaker symbol on the chest, Rose had taken one look at it and said it looked like a sports bra with a pair of bikini bottoms attached by pieces of string and that wasn’t even covering the stiletto heeled combat boots he’d given her.

“Light and breathable.” Said Galbaki, “Seamless and seductive…”

“She’s…” Clara spoke from the doorway, “she’s fourteen.”

“She had much growth and development,” Galbaki paused dramatically, “ahead of her.”

“What if someone shoots me in an area that’s uncovered?” Asked Rose, “I’m, I’m not bulletproof.”

“Yes, but,” Dismissed Galbaki, “with your forcefields—”

“She,” Clara pointed at Violet, “generates forcefields.”

“Oh,” Galbaki didn’t look happy, “oh well, onto her suit then.”

“If it can be called that.” Muttered Rose, as Galbaki pulled the cover off the other mannequin.

Violet felt the sudden urge to throw up, or turn invisible. Her own suit, if it could be called that, looked more like a racy swimsuit, it was solid purple and it literally looked like a pair of bikini bottoms with a six inch wide strip of silk that wrapped around her chest and finished as a cape, with a stylised ‘UV’ on the chest and cape. Like Rose, she had stiletto heeled boots, but unlike Rose, the boots went up to her thighs.

“What the fuck is that?” Sputtered Clara, “They’re fourteen, why the fuck would a child wear glorified lingerie?!”

“They’re going to grow and develop.” Said Galbaki, “They should at least try them on, before outright rejecting them.”

I

Clara sighed as she watched Violet and Rose train, they were wearing the basic training suits instead of their Galbaki ones. The fashion designer had insisted on taking pictures of the girls in their ‘suits’ before he left, something about showing up Edna Mode, Gabriel Agreste and Audrey Bourgeois, the dispatcher had thought it fortunate that the girls were wearing masks, since she could tell that both girls felt completely humiliated. The pair worked well together, especially once Violet managed to control the phasing of her forcefields. From what they could gather, Violet’s powers were psionic, which provided the question, how developed were her powers? Was she limited to forcefields or could she use telekinesis or telepathy? They knew that Violet could form multiple forcefields at once, since she’d torn a robot apart in the training session immediately after the suit reveal.

“How’re they doing?” Asked Daniels, getting Clara’s attention.

“They’re progressing,” Said Clara, looking from Daniels to the two girls, “I’m still trying to figure out how I’m going to suggest Violet expanding her abilities to Helen, but it’s starting to appear that Violet is only using a fraction of her powers.”

“Hmm.” Nodded Daniels, watching the girls, “I don’t suppose you seen the suits that Galbaki made for them?”

“You mean the barely one-piece lingerie that show more than they cover?” Asked Clara, getting a nod from Daniels, “He knows that they’re just kids, so why make it look like something that belongs in a strip club? They’re fourteen and he gave their suits boob windows, and before you say ‘Malevola wears something similar’, she’s a six-foot tall demon who can break people like twigs.”

“We’ve already reapproached Edna Mode.” Said Daniels, “We’ll show her the suits and see if she’s now willing to help.”

“Right.” Clara’s shoulders slumped, before she realised that she was floating, “I’ve got to stop doing that.”

“Hmm.” Daniels started towards the door, “Oh, by the way, Thunderhead’s back.”

“Really?” Asked Clara, as she observed Rose using her sonic blasts to launch herself into the air, while Violet used her force fields to make a set of steps appear in front of her, before she made a half-dome and used it like skateboard, “As a hero or as a civvy?”

“Civilian.” Answered Daniels, “Apparently, Scott threatened to divorce him if he almost died again.”

“Okay.” Said Clara, as Violet made Rose into an unconventional catapult, by having Rose launch her but hitting the underside of her forcefield with a sonic blast.

“Oh, by the way,” Said Daniels, just before he left, “Mr X has been in contact.”

Clara stiffened, before looking towards the door, only to find Daniels gone.

I

Helen sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, Voyd had accidentally opened a portal into a sewer, Reflux had sealed He-Lectrix in a container unit, Brick had destroyed a wall at a bank and Screech had flown into a powerline that cut out the power to half the city, which had to be fixed by He-Lectrix acting as a power source until it could be fix.

She glanced at her husband’s desk, Bob had to be sent on a call today, viewing some of his team in the field, he didn’t like observing, but he did help out when needed. Of course, his team consisted of four people, Bulbox, a man whose powers were similar to Bob’s, Velocity, a speedster that didn’t suffer from the condition that Dash and Chase had, Megaton, a radiokinetic woman with powers similar to Gamma Jack’s, and Screensaver, one of the heroes who didn’t have powers, but used her tech and martial arts training to help.

She and Bob had gotten into an argument after they got home, Bob was all for going on missions, which cause Helen to accuse him of wanting to relive the glory days, their argument stopped when Violet showed them the suit Galbaki had made, which looked like a six-inch wide length of silk that wrapped around Violet’s torso. Violet didn’t like it, and she told them the Clara and the other SDN higher-ups didn’t like it either, with Bob telling them that he was going to pay a visit to Edna and see if she’d be willing to help.

Helen thought about her own team, but they were usually kept out of the field when she wasn’t dispatching them, the Z-Team, as well as some of the other loaned heroes, had made a positive impression, with Invisigal and Golem foiling a bank robbery by tripping the ringleader into the living dirt that was Golem.

“Strange to see a buncha ex-cons doing good, ain’t it?” Asked Chase, appearing above the cubicle wall.

“It is strange,” Admitted Helen, “but, wouldn’t Torrence be in danger, since they’re here?”

“Nah, Red Ring was taken down five years ago,” Dismissed Chase, “back when Robert took out Shroud. Of course, hearing a dispatcher beat the shit out of a super villain made most crooks turn their lives around.”

“Not all of them.” Said Coupé, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

“What’s got you fucking smirking like that?” Asked Chase, giving her a suspicious look.

“Nothing.”

“Can someone please explain why Retardant is stuck to the ceiling?” Blonde Blazer’s voice came over the headsets.

“What fucking moron chooses a name like ‘Retardant’?” Asked Chase, “Don’t he know the short hand for that is?”

“He was spying on the girls while they were trying the suits Gallipoli made for them.” Said Punch Up, “Chad and me dealt with him.”

There was an extended silence, before they heard Blazer sigh, “He’s glued to the ceiling tiles, isn’t he?”

“Yep.” Punch Up and Flambae sounded a little too proud of themselves for gluing the, previously unknown, voyeur to the ceiling.

“I can run down there,” Said Chase, “I got a step ladder pretty close.”

“And make your implant explode?” Asked Invisigal, “Yeah, no, Robert wants you are Bertie’s eighteenth.”

“I want Chase to outlive all of us,” Said Mecha Man, “Just have him surviving off pure spite.”

“You mean he isn’t already?” Asked Malevola, “He’s what, 2000?”

“Nah, more like eight.” Disagreed Sonar, getting a groan from Chase.

“I wasn’t going to use my fucking powers, assholes,” Said Chase, “I was going to pick it up and walk it down to Blazer.”

“Chase, she can fly.” Said Mecha Man, “I’m coming back, apparently Bertie’s school’s trying to contact me.”

I

Organa silently watched as the children walked into Western View, she made sure Xander was at home, since she wasn’t entirely sure on what her gas would do. Many would call her cruel, or sub-human, for pumping a school full of an experimental gas, just to see what it could do. She hoped that it would turn the people inside into monkeys or chimps, but she’d found some gas in an abandoned lock up not far from the NSA and SDN.

Part of her wondered if SDN would send Elastigirl, but decided not to get her hopes up. Sighing, Organa pressed a button on her wrist, triggering the canisters she’d planted in the schools air vents. Slowly, but surely, the windows became opaque as the gas filled the rooms, for a moment, Organa wondered if she’d just killed a school full of children.

I

By the time Elastigirl, Screensaver and Brainbook arrived, Bulbox, Megaton and Velocity had already created a perimeter, while Mr Incredible and Mecha Man were doing head counts, which was easier said than done, since one of the children could create copies of themselves.

“Some of the kids and staff left before we got here,” Velocity appeared next to Elastigirl, hopping from one foot to the other, “Mr Incredible wants any available speedsters and flyers to go out and find them, before anything bad happens.”

Elastigirl observed the woman, before she spotted Metatron siphoning radiation off one of the students, “Any idea what caused this?”

“Aside from it being done by Organa?” Asked Velocity, before shaking her head, “No, we know it’s a gas, but we don’t know the chemical composition or how much was made.”

“Which means, since she’s one of your old collars,” Said Mecha Man, joining them, “you’re our expert in terms of her motivations and what not.”

“I honestly don’t remember much about her,” admitted Elastigirl, “only that she—”

Mr Incredible was sent flying over their heads, as a teenage girl clapped her hands over her mouth.

“Supersonic scream?” Asked Mecha Man, as Mr Incredible walked past them.

“Yeah.”

“Wonderful.” Mecha Man’s trademark sarcasm made an appearance, “This is just what we need, a bunch of kids suddenly gaining superpowers, with no idea how they got them and how to control them.”

“How many left before we got here?” Asked Elastigirl, looking around.

“Anywhere from fifteen to a hundred.” Said Mecha Man, “An informant called it in shortly after it happened, said he saw Organa personally.”

“Right,” Elastigirl started searching the rooftops, “I’ll case—”

“No.” Said Mecha Man, making Elastigirl pause, “You’re a mentor, if this instance, you take the back seat.”

Elastigirl frowned, before nodding, “Voyd, Screech, search the surrounding rooftops, footprints, cigarettes, discarded science supplies, Organa has a smoking addiction. He-Lectrix, Reflux, Brick and Krushauer, help secure the perimeter and make sure no one comes in or out.”

Mecha Man looked around the team, before he cleared his throat when none of them moved, “Your leader’s given you instructions.”

As soon as he spoke, the team followed Elastigirl’s orders, with Voyd and Screech heading for the rooves and the other four heading for the perimeter. After a moment, Elastigirl looked around, spotting the Z-Team and some other heroes, before she walked over to Mr Incredible.

“Alright, I take it back,” Said Elastigirl, getting Mr Incredible’s attention, “it’s nice to be back in the suit.”

“Yeah, it’s great to be helping people again.” Said Mr Incredible, before he spotted one of the students, “Hold on, that’s one of Vi-our daughters friends.”

“Kari.” Nodded Elastigirl, as the girl started floating, “God, all these kids, some of them are—”

A forcefield appeared around her and Mr Incredible, saving them from a sudden torrent of fire. There was a reverberating hum, that made the fire stop. Once the fire stopped, the forcefield lifted, as Stratogale floated down with Kari’s arm in her grip.

“Sonic, Ultraviolet, help Z-Team search the school,” Ordered Stratogale, “remember to keep close to at least one at all times.”

“Wait, we get to take point?” Asked Sonic, looking up at Stratogale, “Sweet!”

“Is it because this is our school?” Asked Ultraviolet, looking up at Stratogale.

“Pretty much.”

“Great,” Muttered Ultraviolet, “got a proper suit and now I have to go to algebra.”

“Sonar,” Invisigal got the bat hybrid’s attention, “why don’t you take Sonic, I’ll take UV.”

Sonar frowned, before nodding, “Alright, we’re going to be going through the second floor.”

“We’ll hit the third.” Said Invisigal, before looking at Ultraviolet, “C’mon.”

Ultraviolet nodded and followed after Invisigal, “Has anything like this happened before?”

“Not on this scale,” Answered Invisigal, as they reached the third floor, “some small instances in Torrence, a couple of rumours from New York, but one on this scale, it’s unheard of.”

“So, it might be dangerous.” Said Ultraviolet, glancing at Invisigal.

“Every day of this could be dangerous,” Said Invisigal, “we have no idea what mission is going to be our last and we don’t know what friends we’re going to lose.”

“Then why do it?” Asked Ultraviolet, stopping, “Why…?”

“Keep going out?” Finished Invisigal, getting a nod from Ultraviolet, “I wasn’t always a hero, I was a thief that could turn invisible, hell, I only got my name after a fight with my Dad, Invisibitch. I then became indebted to a supervillain because I’m asthmatic and I liked to smoke, so when I had the chance to receive implants to increase my lung capacity, I jumped at the chance.”

Ultraviolet stared up at Invisigal, “I was part of Red Ring, then Shroud told me that one job would wipe away my debt and leave me free.”

“What was it?” Asked Ultraviolet, quietly.

“Put a bomb on the back of Mecha Man.” Answered Invisigal, “I quit soon after and joined the Phoenix program the following day, with Shroud turning my implants off. Blazer actually mentored me for a bit, renamed me Invisigal. Then, a few months later, Mecha Man walks into SDN, and the Z-Team was given a new dispatcher. We actually became heroes because of him, although, it was rocky, I almost of Chase killed when I retrieved the Astral Pulse, I was then suspended and then the whole shit with Red Ring attacking the Torrence branch happened.”

Ultraviolet blinked, “Then what happened?”

“Then we got to see why Mecha Man was able to last fifteen years solo,” Answered Invisigal, “we got to fight for something other than ourselves… although, one of us almost crossed the line. It was for a good reason though, Mecha Man, he had a dog, a fat little chihuahua called Beef, he bought him as a puppy just after he became Mecha Man.” Invisigal let out a laugh, “Beef was fed better than his owner was, Shroud threatened to kill Beef in exchange for the pulse, but he got duped, then Mecha Man punched his teeth in… then there was a recovery and a rebuilding period and Mecha Man was able to… convince Shroud to reactivate my lung implants and get a heart for Chase, of course, he still can’t use his powers or it’ll explode.”

“W-what happened to Beef?” Asked Ultraviolet, getting a sigh from Invisigal.

“He’s an old dog, practically the mascot for the team and SDN,” Said Invisigal, before looking at Ultraviolet, “he spends most of his time sleeping under his owner’s desk.”

“So… he’s alive?”

“Yeah, the little asshole’s still alive.” Sighed Invisigal, as they resumed their search, “We think that gas that Organa got hold of belonged to Shroud, he had this thing, giving people powers… there were rumours that he’d made a gas that could rewrite DNA, but we never found it, so we assumed that it was a rumour made up by some loser sitting in a basement.”

“Then this happened.” Said Ultraviolet, getting a nod from Invisigal.

“Then this happened.”

I

Blonde Blazer frowned at the canisters the Z-Team and the two trainees pulled out of the schools vents.

“Is that all of them?” Asked Mecha Man, looking at the team.

“As many as we could find.” Said Invisigal, shrugging, “I guess those rumours were true, who called this in?”

“Mr X.” Answered Blonde Blazer, getting a groan from the Z-Team.

“Him again?” Asked Prism, “How the fuck does he always know what’s going on?”

“Who’s Mr X?” Asked Elastigirl, frowning at them.

“An informant.” Answered Mecha Man, “We don’t know who he is, and he always contacts us, but he’s very big on knowing what supervillain are doing.”

“Okay, anything else?” Asked Mr Incredible, getting a sigh from Blonde Blazer.

“That’s actually pretty much it.” Said Blonde Blazer, “Besides, everyone needs to reconvene at the branch for debrief, and some of us have reports to write up.”

“And schools to visit.” Said Mecha Man, before sighing, “Because those are always fun.”

“Said mr ‘I-dropped-out-of-high-school-to-become-a-superhero’.” Joked Invisigal, before sighing, “We’re gonna be swamped.”

“We’ve got heroes coming in to help train them.” Said Blonde Blazer, looking around, “I’ll see if Daniels is willing to talk to the city council, see if we can use the school and teach the kids, and adults, how to control their powers.”

“Here’s hoping.” Muttered Mecha Man, before heading towards his suit.

I

Robert frowned as Bertie scribbled on a sheet of paper, he watched the toddler hold his breath and vanish, before exhaling a second later, “What’cha working on, Bud?”

“Flower.” Said Bertie, holding it up, “For Momma.”

“Oh, for Momma, huh?” Asked Robert, “And what are you doing for Mommy?”

“Beef.” Bertie pointed at another drawing.

“That’s pretty good.” Complimented Robert, before sighing, “So, Momma told me you got in a fight.”

“Billy said Superheroes are dumb.” Mumbled Bertie, looking down.

“Okay, but you can’t hit them.” Said Robert, silently wondering if he was saying the right thing.

“Mommy said I could.”

Robert froze, before sighing, “Of course she did.”

“And he was being a bully.”

Robert frowned, “What do you mean he was ‘being a bully’?”

“He kept pulling Sammy’s hair and making her cry.” Answered Bertie, “The teacher didn’t listen.”

Robert sighed, before looking towards the door, “Okay… what did you do, exactly?”

“I hit him in the mouth with a bat,” Said Bertie, simply, “than I put his ant farm down his pants.”

Robert blinked, “You… you hit him with a bat? What kind of bat?”

“A small baseball bat.”

“Right…” Said Robert, slowly, “I’m going to be honest, you shouldn’t have hit him, but I understand why you did.”

“Am I still in trouble?” Asked Bertie, getting a sigh from Robert.

“Let me bring it up with your moms,” Said Robert, before looking at the clock, “I’ll come get you when dinner’s ready, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy.” Said Bertie, going back to his drawing.

Robert sighed, before walking out of the room, finding Mandy and Courtney in the living area. Courtney was lying on top of Mandy, with her face in her breasts.

“I’m starting to think you two are only with me for my boobs.” Said Mandy, spotting Robert.

“It was the deciding factor.” Said Courtney, not moving.

“That’s not true,” Dismissed Robert, sitting down, “I’m assuming Bertie told you what he told me.”

“You mean Billy being a dick?” Asked Courtney, her voice still muffled.

“I… really wish you wouldn’t call a child a dick.” Sighed Robert, look at them.

“Well,” Courtney looked up from Mandy’s breasts, “how would you describe him?”