Prologue
Author's Note: This is flashbacks
-This is sign language-
Paris, France:
Kino Lita was still kicking herself for getting knocked up for a bit of adult fun and now, here she was, the day after her birthday, giving birth to the gaki. Her mother had managed to instill a sense of responsibility in her before she died so Lita had gone through with the pregnancy. She didn't even care that she had a daughter, she had allowed her breasts to be pumped for the colostrum that would be necessary for the gaki to get her immunities. Of course, giving her daughter up would come back to haunt her in the not so distant future especially since she had gotten pregnant when she went back to visit her friends briefly from her culinary school. She had no idea that the father of her child was Susanoo, the Japanese God of Storms and Chaos.
Once she has recovered and given up all her colostrum Lita leaves and never looks back. The nurse looks at her charge until she was old enough to leave the hospital, her mother had never held her or named her, " Well, sweet baby, you look like a Lydia to me, so that's what we'll call you, Lydia. "
Gray green eyes look up at her in wonder and the nurse sighs, how could anyone just pop a kid out and walk away like that? It was unconscionable to her yet Lydia's mother had done just that. She'd watched her walk out and never look back even once.
Five Years Later:
Lydia sighs as she looks around her, she'd been shipped from orphanage to orphanage until she'd landed in this one for supers in Metroburg, she'd grown up learning French first, then she'd had to learn English as well, though Sign Language had been a godsend for her, she'd picked that up when she'd had a nasty sore throat, this way she'd been able to communicate. At least she had a cool school to go to and she wasn't looked at like she was abnormal now for her outbursts or rather electrical surges or little storm bursts whenever her emotions ran amok. Today would prove to be different as she met the Thunderman twins, Max and Phoebe. Of course, Phoebe didn't appeal to her as she happened to be a goody two shoes and a tattle tale, she could tell already. Max, on the other hand was a mischief maker, her kinda person.
She had fun in class that day with Max, not knowing she'd made a lifelong friend and more in him at that moment. Then back at the orphanage it seemed her luck had finally changed for the better, Dr. Arthur Colosso chose her out of everyone there to adopt, she finally had a last name and a family. Something she had been wanting since she was old enough to know she was lacking one.
Chap 1
Nine Years Later:
Lydia Colosso was already up and ready for the day long before her roommate Phoebe Thunderman. Why she had to share a room with Phoebe she would never understand as she could barely tolerate her on a good day. The fourteen year old starts on breakfast immediately and soon has enough to feed an army though she fills a tray to take down to the basement for her and Max. along with some shredded carrots for Dr. Colosso, her father. Since he was still technically alive and not incarcerated he still had custody, which meant that she got to live with her best friend and maybe more. They hadn't quite decided upon that just yet.
The electrokinetic and atmokinetic teen had no problem with helping Max with his evil schemes, she actually enjoyed stealing things, she was the best at identity theft as she could obliterate her electronic trail. Then there was the fact no one could record her personal electrical frequency, she shorted out anything that tried. As it stood she had not yet been busted for any of her crimes and because of her neither had Max, they were both looking good for Villain U.
A light shock wakes the brown haired Maximus Octavius Thunderman up from his night's sleep and he blinks, bleary eyed until the scent of bacon, scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, and hot cocoa hits his nostrils. He bolts upright and makes enough space for Lydia to join him for breakfast. She delivers the carrots to her father and joins Max for breakfast, " Where did you learn to cook like this anyhow? "
" It's a natural talent and then Iron Skillet trained her up. " Colosso answers.
" What can I say, I come by my cooking ability honestly, Max, so any truly fantastic brainstorms lately? "
Max grins and the pair talk crime over breakfast, then once they've finished Lydia gathers the dishes up and takes them back upstairs to find the rest of the house enjoying her cooking as well. Another reason she got up early was to avoid dealing with Phoebe, if not for the fact that her dad lived with the Thundermans she wouldn't be living with them, she'd rather room with Max or Nora. " Thank for breakfast, Lydia. " Billy says.
" Yes, thank you and those wondrous lessons you received from Iron Skillet. " Hank says.
" I'm not doing the dishes though, whom was the last to reach the table, don't bring Max in as I had breakfast with him in the basement. " This is said with a hard glare at Phoebe.
The eldest Thunderman child sighs, " I reached the table last. "
" Then you have to do dishes. " Lydia says, her fingertips sparking in case Phoebe wanted to try and dispute what she'd just said. Max arrives upstairs in time to see this and he smirks, it was so nice to have someone whom actually saw him and not Phoebe's younger twin.
Phoebe nods quickly, Lydia was the only other one that could get anyone's attention within the Thunderman home due to her electrokinesis. It didn't hurt that Barb could do the same as well. " I'm heading out to go grocery shopping and since I'm buying for this household hand over the credit card that I'm authorized on, I'm also dragging Max along for pack mule services. " Lydia says.
Max groans, " Dia, come on. "
" You want strawberry pie, Max? "
His eyes widen, " Homemade Strawberry pie, all fresh ingredients? "
" Including homemade whipped cream with just a hint of red grapefruit. "
" Qu'attendez-vous sur( What are you waiting for)? " Max asks her.
Lydia rolls her eyes at this, "Pour être donné l'épicerie et l'aménagement paysager carte de crédit. (To be given the grocery and landscaping credit card). "
The rest of the Thundermans look lost at this, instead of taking Spanish Max had decided to take French so Lydia could help him out, since French happened to be her first tongue. It was Barb that caught on and handed Lydia the credit card she was authorized to use to pay for their groceries and landscaping needs, "Apportez le dispositif de stockage compact(Bring the compact storage device). "
Max was quick to grab what Lydia wanted and they were out the door. Max had managed to invent a sphere that could store anything and keep it fresh while making it so you didn't have to carry a ton of grocery bags. He'd gotten the inspiration from Pokémon of all things. It had taken a while using rocks as his test subjects and then paper dolls before he worked out all the kinks. " How many carts are we going to need, Dia? "
Lydia gives him a deadpan stare and Max winces, " Right, there's my dad, my little brother with the wicked fast metabolism, three hormonal females, and Nora, plus me. Can we go shopping for food in Metroburg? "
" Non, Max. "
" Pourquoi pas(Why not)? "
"Ça va prendre trop longtemps(It'll take too long). "
Max sighs and they walk into the massive grocery store. Max immediately grabs a jumbo cart and Lydia snags one as well, by the time they were done they had four of them filled and they haul everything two blocks away and use the device to transport everything back to the Thunderman home, Max had yet to come up with a name for his invention plus he was actually going to get it patented so he'd be getting mega bucks to his name. Patented for the next two thousand years at that, Patent Man would be a great help with that. Max was going to make sure he provided for his future and the futures of his kids and descendants.
Lydia had gotten everything necessary for making the strawberry pie she promised Max along with the whipped cream, the fourteen year old was also going over her mental checklist, as she generally made sure to hide the proper nutrients in whatever snacks she made for Billy. Max had been grocery shopping with her before so he knew she was mentally double checking everything to make sure she'd gotten all she needed to. He knew she made sure everyone got the proper nutrients to keep their powers working optimumly. She was also the only one that knew about his retro and precognitions, accelerated healing, telepathy, and he could teleport in a thunderclap as well. Max was no fool, he realized the importance of holding back some of what he could do just in case it ever came down to a fight where those talents would save either him, his younger siblings, Dr. Colosso, or Lydia.
As far as he was concerned unless Phoebe asked for help she was on her own. Lydia was the only one that never compared him to his twin and had him come up short. It just wasn't fair to him to treat him like that all the time. To measure him against Phoebe all the damn time, Lydia had been the only one that would partner with him for school projects willingly and soon their teachers in Metroburg had just automatically partnered them up since no one else liked working with Max.
Now, here in Hiddenville, Lydia and Max had a new start. Max could maybe, finally, not be compared to Phoebe at school all the damn time. Max knew his family didn't do it on purpose but, everyone else in the Hero and Villain communities did. " Lorsque notre prochain hold-up devrait être de toute façon(When should our next heist be anyhow)? " Max asks.
Lydia grins, " Nous ne pouvons pas frapper Hiddenville avec une série de crimes, je pensais que nous frappons des endroits aléatoires à travers le monde. Que diriez-vous de la Tour de Londres en premier(We can't hit Hiddenville with a crime spree so, I was thinking we hit random places around the world. How about the Tower of London first)? "
" Cette idée me plait(I like that idea). " Max admits, of course, Lydia would have to be the master mind for this crime, seeing as how she was the only one that didn't leave an electronic foot print behind while committing crimes like this. Normal school stuff, yes, she did. It was why the Super Hero League had yet to catch on to Lydia's brand of crime and she always covered his tracks as well. Little did his family know that he was already a successful villain, Super Villain, not even Dark Mayhem knew the identity of Thunderclap. Thunderclap had his cape and so did his partner, Tempête Chaotique. The Villain League gave her, her name since none of the ones in English sounded good.
Max was just very good at hiding all this from his family, he'd had to be, since he'd earned his cape at eleven at the same time as Lydia. Tempête Chaotique was well known for crimes that never physically hurt anyone and would team up with a hero if she felt a villain was going too far. As she'd told the Villain League she was more of a neutral or anit-hero that was more inclined towards their side but did still have morals. The Villain League had accepted that since she did happen to be a thief yet, she refused to use force unless necessary. She and Hypnotila (Hip-nah-tih-lah), were fierce rivals, the latter was constantly putting non-supes in danger or trying to hypnotize Max, two things Tempête Chaotique couldn't stand.
Max smiles as he thinks back to what had earned them their capes.
Flashback:
Max Thunderman smirks as, in the costume his parents didn't know about, this one was black with a green lightning bolt on it, green boots, green gloves, black cargo pants and a black muscle tee, and his eyes were currently electric blue with the contacts he had in, he and Lydia were so close to being in the clear for pulling off stealing President Kickbutt's favorite pair of boots. This would get them noticed by the Villain League for sure. His precognition was helping them to avoid trouble while the retrocognition gave him all the information they needed to actually steal the boots. Lydia was making sure they left no electronic trail as well.
In the end Max had to grab on to Lydia and thunderclap them away. He loved his unique way of teleporting, it was so much fun. Lydia had on a forest green tank top, forest green cargo pants, forest green ankle height boots, yellow gloves with forest green arm guards, and her hair was held back into a high pony tail with a yellow ribbon. Her gray green eyes were covered up by contacts giving them an electric yellow appearance. They had successfully gotten away with President Kickbutt's favorite pair of boots and instantly post it to Evilgram. Scalestro, Grapple Girl, and Dark Mayhem himself show up not that long after and give them their capes and names, Lydia's took longer, as finding a cool name in English wasn't working.
End Flashback:
Max rolls his shoulders as he continues to make plans in French with Lydia. He knew she had a point, Hiddenville was off limits. They couldn't let their real identities be discovered, only Dr. Colosso knew and Lydia had made it so her adoptive father would keep his silence. They get home and put all the groceries away though Lydia did start making Max his Strawberry Pie with the special whipped cream. Max stuck around in the kitchen until he got his pie, using his freeze breath to cool it to the point where it can be touched, then he takes it down to the basement and into the mini fridge he bought with Dr. Colosso's money.
That was when Hank and Barb drop the babysitting job on them, which gets Max back upstairs, " Let Phoebe go meet with her friend. Max and I can watch Billy and Nora. " Lydia says, " This way I can maybe get my half of the room the way I want it, finally. "
Phoebe winces at the reminder that Lydia still didn't have her half of their room the way she wanted it. Mostly because it would require too much paint. What Phoebe didn't know was that Lydia had already worked out a deal with Lady Artiste to get her half of the room the way she wanted it. Of course, it would mean that Phoebe would be spending the night with Nora and Lydia would get to crash in the Lair since she and Max would have a chaperone. Besides, she and Max were always partners on the survival training camps and that meant they shared a tent. Between the two of them they always had gotten the best scores and that was without using their powers.
" Okay, that works, but how…? " Barb asks.
" I made a deal with someone that knows what they're doing, I make a good old fashioned southern meal and I get the work on my half of the room done. You do realize things would just be easier if you'd let me stay in the Lair, right? " Lydia says.
" You need female companionship though. " Barb states gently.
" Barb, no offense is meant by this but, I can barely tolerate Phoebe most days. As it is all of my things will mildly shock her if she even tries to touch them, the few things I keep in our shared room. Most of my stuff is in the Lair because Max actually respects my privacy and boundaries. " Lydia replies calmly.
Phoebe quells under the look both of her parents are giving her, " All right, so I got curious. "
" Just go to Cherry's already, salope. " Lydia mutters.
Max winces, Lydia was in rare form at the moment, then again she could only take so much of his twin before she was ready to snap. Even Phoebe understood that one and she had to admit she had been acting like a bitch. Lydia deserved to have her half of the room the way she wanted it though Handy Man had at least installed a curtain that would separate the pair and made the door a double one, added a second closet, stuff like that, the room was split from the middle of the double door down and he had also added a second window and a window seat for Lydia to have a small container garden. Lydia had also installed a garden just as soon as she could upon moving in. That had been another use of the credit she was authorized to use.
Lydia was also going to be calling Handy Man in so they could install a retractable door in the ceiling and roof so Hank didn't keep breaking it by flying through it. He always flew through two main areas and she was going to have both done and motion sensors installed so they opened whenever he flew off. The fourteen year old was the one whom kept the household running smoothly though she did teach Billy how to clean properly and took advantage of his speed. Max kept his Lair clean unless he wanted to feel the wrath of Tempête Chaotique's temper. He did not want his best friend pissed off at him even if he liked seeing her pissed off at other people.
Yeah, Max had accepted the fact the fact that he was attracted to Lydia and he was pretty damn sure she was attracted to him as well. They just hadn't made the switch from best friends to couple yet, mostly because it would be too much of a hassle. Sure, his parents, mostly his mom already suspected since Lydia was the only person he never pranked unless they decided to have a prank war. Max was more likely to prank whomever messed with his best friend plus he always got her presents for every occasion as well. Lydia was the only one he got actual presents for, he generally tried to ruin Christmas every year though Lydia had warned him about doing so since Nora clearly loved Christmas.
Max was now working out a way to give his little sister a White Christmas. Max did love his family which is why he was the only one allowed to mess with them, well, Lydia was allowed to mess with Phoebe if only because she had to share a room with his twin. Phoebe and the Thunderman parents leave and Lydia smiles as Lady Artiste arrives to get Lydia's half of the room done. Lydia shows her to her half of the room and the artistic heroine sets to work, they had discussed at length how Lydia wanted it and they had settled on a final sketch. Then Lydia heads down to fulfill her end of the bargain, grabbing Billy and Nora to teach them how to cook in the non-supe way, and how to keep a meal warm, she'd had a second oven installed for a reason.
Max sits and watches her work, involving his younger siblings in her work as well. Once her payment for Lady Artiste was done and in the second oven staying warm, she starts on some cookies, with which she gets out the industrial sized mixer. She teaches Billy and Nora how to make chocolate chip cookies Thunderman batch. Lydia looks at the relaxed Max and smirks, " Ya know, I can put you to work, Max. "
" I'm good, just feel like taking a break from plotting. " Max admits, plus he wanted fresh from the oven cookies before his dad got to them.
Lydia shakes her head, " You just want oven fresh cookies. "
" Well, no duh, it's not often you make them when my dad isn't around. " Max points out.
" Yeah, maybe you could make Snickerdoodles at some point, Lydia? " Billy asks.
Lydia contemplates this, " Only if Max can get and hold down a part time job for a month because this household id not made of money, I should know, I'm the one whom does the landscaping, the cooking, grocery shopping, cleaning, by the way, all three of you gather up your dirty clothes, oh, Max, tell my dad his cape needs cleaned. "
The Thundermans race to obey, everyone knew Lydia ran the household and they all generally did their share before Lydia blew her stack. Lydia takes the latest sheet of cookies out and puts a new one in, setting the timer on her phone before teaching Max and Nora how to do laundry. Billy already knew how and with his super speed he and Lydia could keep the house clean. Max and Nora were taught to separate out their whites from their colors, reds and pinks went in a separate load, the other colors could all go together. They learned how to pretreat stains, check the pockets, check to make sure the stains were gone before drying their clothes, all the little tips and tricks.
Once she was sure everything was well in hand she goes back to the kitchen while Billy starts to clean the floors easily enough. Billy was smart, he just needed to be taught in a different way. Lydia made cleaning into a game for him and she always kept some Strawberry Mochi on hand to feed him afterwards. Nora's reward treat happened to be Blueberry Pocky and for Max, well, there were a few foods she could make him as incentive to do something. Once all the cookies were done, Max had gotten his over fresh cookie and Lady Artiste had eaten her home cooked southern meal before getting back to work, Lydia pops in Slayers for them to all watch.
Lydia ended up curled up against Max as he just used his tk to put in a new disc while they all relaxed and enjoyed the adventures of Lina Inverse and her friends. The pair had been curling up together to watch movies for years so there was nothing new there. Lydia had separated out the cookies already and they had all hidden their respective portions while the others were all clearly labeled and would shock anyone not them. Hank had learned the hard way that he had to share. Max ends up calling out for pizza since Lydia fell asleep curled up against him. Billy handles paying for the pizza while Nora grabs them and places them on the coffee table while getting paper plates and napkins. Lydia's gray green eyes slit open even as Max hands her a plate with her favorite toppings.
Once she's eaten she goes back to sleep much to Max's amousement, then again she had been working hard keeping the house in order and well repaired. Lady Artiste leaves once she was done and Handy Man shows up to put in the doors Lydia had requested with the help of Technoelectric Man. Max shakes his head at this, " What'd she promise you? "
" We'll collect later since we can see she's been working hard. I have to come back anyhow, there's a few things that need fixed on the roof, plus she wants a skylight over her half of the room she shares with Phoebe. " Handy Man says.
" Got it, oh, would you throw in a bathroom down in my room as well? " Max asks.
" For her cooking, yes, I will. " Handy Man states and he and Technoelectric Man take their leave.
" Lydia certainly is the backbone of this house, isn't she? " Nora asks.
" Yeah, she is, and she still finds the time to train as well. " Max states.
" Doesn't hurt that I help out with the cleaning of the house though with your tk you could clean the hard to reach places. " Billy points out.
Max admits to himself that he could help out more since Lydia was going to put herself in the hospital if she didn't get some help, " All right, I can see the reasoning in that. "
Hank and Barb return to find Max and Lydia curled up together, deeply asleep, with Billy and Nora curled up against them, they shush Phoebe whom walks in after them, and point to the sleeping foursome. Barb covers them up even as Hank finds the cookies meant for him. Phoebe heads upstairs to get ready for bed and then heads for Nora's room to crash out.
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Thundermans.