Violet sat silently on one side of the back seat of the car as she tried to make as many unnoticed terse glances to Wilbur as possible. He sat on the other side of the car gazing in awe from the car's complicated system in the front to the outside. They drove on a mostly empty road and a few minutes ago had stopped by an "abandoned" farm to both change clothes and transform the car back to its normal exterior look.
"So Wilbur, what are the cars like in the future?" Violet's mother asked, trying to spur conversation in the silent car. Next to her, Violet's father looked attentively in the rearview mirror to catch Wilbur's response.
"I really can't say much about the future in case it could mess anything up further." Wilbur said coolly, "although I will say I've never seen such an old model in such great condition."
This was probably meant to be a compliment but Violet caught her father's eyes widen in surprise and then narrow as he suddenly turned his attention back to the road. Before they had gone back to the room Wilbur was in to tell him he was coming back with them, Violet's mother had made her father promise to be on his best behavior around Wilbur and to be hospitable. So far, it looked like hospitable meant mostly silence and the odd look, which bordered on being hostile.
Violet's mother gave a little laugh and said, "If you think this is an old model, wait until you see my minivan."
The car turned into their neighborhood and Violet's mother said, "Both of my sons should be home by now so you will get to meet them. Dash is my oldest son and Jack-Jack is my youngest. I will warn you now; they are very energetic and…unique like us."
Turning now into their driveway, Wilbur made a confused look as he gazed at their house.
"What is it?" Violet asked.
"It's so normal." Wilbur said turning to her.
Violet gave a little laugh and replied, "Well, we are superheroes. Gotta have our alter egos."
As the garage door shut behind them, Violet could hear the sounds of muffled yelling coming from inside the house. Apparently Violet's parents also heard the sounds too and quickened their pace to the door to their house with Violet and Wilbur trailing only a few feet behind. As the door opened, Violet saw a figure with blonde hair streak by the door, clutching something protectively.
"It's MINE! You had yours already!"
Violet wanted to groan as they entered the house and she caught the back of Dash in the kitchen, tensed as if he were being hunted. A second later, her brother Jack-Jack literally fell through the ceiling, landing on Dash's back as he desperately reached for whatever Dash was cradling like his life depended on it. Well, at least Violet knew it was Jack-Jack; to anyone outside their family it probably looked like some kind of miniature red demon had managed to fall from heaven. A demon in a Thunderhead t-shirt and jeans.
"NO! It isn't!" Jack-Jack screamed back as he continued to struggle on Dash's back.
Dash was just beginning to pry Jack-Jack's small body off of him when their mother yelled, "Boys! What are you doing?"
Jack-Jack abruptly released himself from Dash's back in surprise as Dash made an inhuman sprint into the living room. Jack-Jack quickly morphed back to his normal appearance as he tried to look as innocent as possible.
"Mom! Jack-Jack was trying to steal my can of spaghetti and meatballs! Tell him it's mine and he can't have it" Dash whined as Violet saw the can still clutched protectively in his arms as he looked frantically from their mother to Jack-Jack.
"Nuh-uh! It was mine and he stole it!" Jack-Jack yelled back as he looked to their mother.
"Why are you two even thinking about eating when you know it's almost dinnertime? What kind of impression do you think you are giving to our guest?" Violet's mother asked as she gave each of them a good stare down.
"It was my…" Dash began to argue back until the rest of what their mother had said sunk in. Wilbur moved into better view of them from behind Violet's father and Violet heard one of her brothers give a small gasp. Both Dash and Jack-Jack's eyes went wide as Wilbur gave a wave with an expression of complete surprise. Her brother's eyes then shifted to each other's with accusatory expressions; allowing "normal people" to see their powers was one of the most basic taboos, which had been drilled into their heads by their parents since they could remember.
"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry you saw that. Sometimes I swear I'm not related to either of them." Violet said, embarrassed, "I would say they aren't normally like this, but they usually are."
"Actually…it's cool." Wilbur replied as his surprised look eased from his face, "They kind of remind me of my family."
Violet met his deep brown eyes and gave a relieved smile as her mother said to her brothers, "Both of you on the couch now and Dash give me that can."
Without saying a word both of her brothers went to their living room couch and sat down on opposite ends. Dash then reluctantly handed over the can of spaghetti.
"Violet, would you mind showing Wilbur to the guest bedroom while your father and I have a word with Dash and Jack-Jack about their actions?" Violet's mother said while she continued to stare down Dash and Jack-jack who were both looking in different directions with looks of complete guilt.
"Sure." Violet said as she motioned for Wilbur to follow her. By just being in the room with her mother in this mood had Violet feeling as if she were a little girl and had just done something wrong so she was more than willing to leave.
As they entered the hall, Wilbur said, "Wow, your mom could give mine a run for her money in the 'if looks could kill' department."
Violet laughed and said, "You should have seen her when Dash stole one of Jack-Jack's toys for fun and Jack-Jack went into a full-on flaming meltdown around the house."
Wilbur's eyebrows rose, "Flaming?"
Violet nodded as she pointed out the hall bathroom and said, "Yea, Jack-Jack's really special when it comes to his powers."
Reaching the end of the hallway, Violet opened the door to the guest bedroom and flicked on the light. Sticking out from one wall was a full sized bed with deep blue sheets. On the other side of the room was a large wooden dresser along with a desk and a desktop computer resting on it. Finally the other wall contained the door to the room's closet along with a window.
"So this is it." Violet said waving to indicate the room. She and Wilbur walked into the room and Wilbur regarded the room, particularly the desktop, with curiosity.
After a second, Wilbur smiled and nodded, "It looks good. Remind me to thank your mother again for letting me stay here."
They both looked around the room in silence for few seconds. Violet was dying to ask Wilbur more questions about the future as well as himself.
"So," Wilbur began, as he leaned against a wall near the door, breaking the silence, "What else can your family do power-wise?"
Violet smiled and was instantly relieved her father wasn't there to hear his question; he would have probably interpreted it as some ploy to find out about her family and possibly their weaknesses. However, Violet reasoned the question was more out of curiosity than anything. Really, why would a person not be curious after seeing the spectacle Violet's brothers had just made, especially from a person who claimed to be from a future without superheroes? Violet was still trying to figure out why he was lying on that point and hoped maybe by answering his question; he would be more inclined to answer hers truthfully.
"Well, Jack-Jack's powers are kind of all over the place and would take a while to list. Basically, he is able to shape shift in a lot of ways. You saw Dash's powers, but that wasn't even him at half speed. My mom's really flexible and is literally elastic like a rubber band and my dad is-"
"Super strength," Violet's father said from behind Wilbur and her, making both of them jump, "I also have super sensitivity as in super hearing." At this, his gaze shifted to Wilbur for a second before he appeared to force himself to relax.
"Your mother says dinner will be in fifteen minutes." He said in a casual voice and then brushed in between Wilbur and Violet into the bedroom and went to the closet. He pulled out a large folded brown throw and tucked it under his arm.
"What's that for?" Violet asked indicating the throw.
"I'm sleeping on the couch tonight."
"Why?" Violet asked, wondering if her father was in trouble with her mother.
"There's ummm…going to be a game on late tonight and I want to stay up to watch it without waking up mom." He said vaguely.
You just want to be literally between Wilbur and our rooms Violet thought as she hoped Wilbur bought the obvious lie.
Wilbur nodded politely as Violet's father brushed back in between them and headed back down the hall. Wilbur watched him go for a second longer before turning his attention back to Violet.
"So that leaves you."
"What about me?" Violet asked tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Do you have any other powers besides the best disappearing act I've ever seen?" He asked with a slight smile playing on his face.
Violet blushed and said, "Well, I can do this." She then took the light purple headband out of her hair, causing her hair to fall loosely around her. She gave it a light toss and quickly threw a force field around it so that it froze in place in midair. Wilbur's mouth dropped open as he put his hand tentatively against the force field that encircled the headband. Violet waited a second and then let the force field go and the headband fell into Wilbur's outstretched hand.
"Man, you could do an awesome magic show with those powers." Wilbur commented as he handed the headband back.
Violet dropped her head as she repositioned the headband so that, she hoped, Wilbur didn't catch the second time in as many minutes that she blushed. Suddenly she heard her mother call Wilbur and her for dinner.
A/N: Hey! I figured out how to do the Line break thing! Anyway: Here is chapter 3. Hope everyone likes it and I want to send a HUGE thank-you out to anyone who has reviewed so far. You guys are awesome and as I have said before, I get WAY too excited when I see a new review. So I thought I would also add the inspiration for this story because it is in part a true one. The whole Jack-Jack and Dash fighting over a can of speghiti and meatballs thing did happen. That was the fight I got to deal with a few years ago when I was watching them during summer vacation. The differences? Well, obviously no powers, the can was actually a package of Ramen Noodles and the weapons of choice for the fight were a broom and a mop, which they did use to hit each other with so that they had bruises. Yea, that was a fun fight to break up...
So what's coming up as for story? Well the hints I am giving are either going to be for the next chapter or the next two...I haven't quite decided yet:
A "proper" introduction of Dash and Jack-Jack to Wilbur
Another fight! But this time with a real bad guy ;)
Final Hint because it's begging to become a bad joke:
Bon Voyage everybody and have a great week!
~Claire
