It was just another Sunday evening at the Bennet household, and after a long week they finally had a chance to all sit down and enjoy dinner together.
"So did anyone do anything particularly interesting this week?" Sandra Bennet asked, holding her dinner fork in one hand and Mr. Muggles in the other.
"Well, I killed Sylar, but he came back to life at the end of the eclipse," Noah Bennet offered, adjusting his glasses.
"Ah yes, and then we were briefly held hostage by him and his electric girlfriend until that lovely Japanese fellow arrived," Sandra recalled as she thoughtfully chewed on green beans.
"I went back in time and met myself when I was a baby," Claire said. "I even changed my own diaper."
"Did you drop yourself on your head, too?" Lyle, the lowliest of the Bennets, asked. "Because that would explain a lot."
Claire rolled her eyes. "Geez, Lyle, stop being such an asshole."
"Claire - watch your language," Sandra warned, bouncing Mr. Muggles on her lap. "And Lyle - stop bothering your sister." She fed a piece of her meatloaf to the dog, cooing over him while her children winced. "Now, Lyle, how was your week?"
"It was okay, I guess." This was why Lyle hated dinner conversation with his family. Even his most exciting days were nothing compared to the crazy things that happened to his family members all the time. It was like they were living in a television show - one-action packed adventure after another on Mondays at nine - except Lyle was only in the episode once in a while. Sure, sometimes he was thankful that he had the knack for missing the more dangerous house guests, but that meant he had no excuse not to get his math homework done on time. The only time he'd ever really gotten to be a hero was when he threw a bucket of water on that Elle girl - and that was less an example of quick-thinking on his part than an instinctual reaction developed from watching too man "Girls Gone Wild" films (Instant nipple sightings - just add water).
The more he thought the more he lost his appetite. Lyle sighed. "May I please be excused?"
"You aren't going to finish your meatloaf?" Noah asked his son.
"I'm not hungry," Lyle replied.
"All right, go ahead," Noah said, turning towards his golden child, Claire, as they continued their discussion of near-death experiences and superpowers.
Lyle cleared his place, scraping the leftover crumbs of meatloaf into Mr. Muggles' food dish and dropping the plate and silverware into the sink, and headed upstairs to his room.
When he opened the door, Lyle Bennet found himself face to face with another Lyle Bennet.