Disclaimer: As usual, don't own Incredibles or Aberrant. Disney/Pixar owns the former, White Wolf owns the latter. And I'm quite sure Brad Bird and crew would order me burned at the stake if they ever read this (but thankfully they have real jobs and don't have time to waste on this crap). White Wolf...they pretty much abandoned the Aberrant line, so I think I'm safe...unless they sent a pack of angry Garou over here to deal with me. :-D Don't own Eric Bischoff or Paul Heyman, but I did use imaginary versions of them in this fic.

Author's Notes: Okay, I'm breaking this segment into two parts. It was originally 10000 words, so I decided to break it in half. Not much action here, but trust me, something's coming up soon and this helps set up for it. So what's going to happen in this particular chapter. Well, Zoe and Ashley head off to Edna's and Jack gets busted by his school principal for selling "illegal substances" at school. We also get some background information on Ashley and how she met David.


Pacifica Cove

North of Metroville, California

The next day, Ashley Winthrop, formerly known as the nova XWF wrestler "Boom Box" and now proprietor of The Silicon Café, thought about the strange twists and turns her life had taken over the last four years as her pick-up truck pulled up to the iron gates that sealed off a private road that led up the hillside to a large mansion overlooking the nearby bay. If someone had told her four years ago that she would erupt as a nova, join the XWF, and end up starting her own business with the aid of some mega-intelligent kid four years younger than her, she would have laughed in their faces and asked what they were tripping on. Of course, she was nineteen at the time, working at some store at the mall, not really thinking about her future because she was just out of high school and figured she was pretty enough to get by working the retail sector until she found her way…so long as she didn't end up working for her parents' business.

She loved her parents, but she didn't see herself working the family owned bakery and café. She had enough of that growing up, and she didn't want anything to do with that. She figured with her looks, she could go far and really didn't push herself much through high school. Even after she graduated, she figured she'd get a modeling job which she did get but it was never the "big break" she was looking for. Between the occasional photo shoot and her regular job, she barely made ends meet, but she knew this set up couldn't last forever and that, eventually, things were going to get worse.

Then she erupted as a nova and everything changed. Suddenly, everyone wanted a piece of her. Then again, she went from being a "cute" strawberry blonde to a "hot" bombshell who could outrun bullets, withstand being shot with tank shells, and throw semi-trucks across the city skyline. She was in demand, she was popular, and she was signed on with the XWF within a month after erupting. As the nova wrestler known as "Boom Box", she was popular with the fans particularly the male fans and she had several product endorsement contracts. It appeared that her big break had come and she had it all.

Except it was the worst time of her life.

Oh, it was great for the first six months or so, until she realized that she had signed her life away to an unscrupulous company that trapped her in an iron-clad contract that took a majority of her profits and stuck her with a manager who seemed to be living a little too well for the commission he was making for just being her PR and contract rep. She still made money, which she sent most of to her family, but she couldn't help feeling that something was wrong. Eventually, she started to fall into a state of depression and, at one point her manager had to give her a pep talk just to talk her into putting on her skimpy costume and do the show.

Things finally reached a breaking point when one of her fellow wrestlers taunted her in the ring about being a "dumb cash cow with no clue". Something in her snapped and she went "off script" as they say in the business. She proceeded to beat her opponent to a bloody pulp and actually threw him through the roof of the arena. They found "Bonecracker" Williams a mile away where he had landed in the middle of a used car dealership, out cold and buried in the wreckage of minivan he had smashed into on impact.

Oddly enough, the incident didn't get her fired, despite the property damages. In fact, it boosted the XWF's cable and 'net ratings and increased her popularity, bringing in more profit and merchandise agreements…to her employer and agent, but not to her. A week after the "Bonecracker Incident", she found herself signing autographs and doing PR with some fans before a show in Los Angeles when she met David Flynn for the first time. It turned out that the owner of the XWF was trying to woo David into investing some of his money in the company. She had heard of David Flynn, the eighteen year old nova mega-genius and illegitimate son of the infamous Buddy Pine, former CEO of Pine Industries. She was expecting to see a "geeky fan boy", but found herself meeting a young well dressed man in casual clothes (though a little on the expensive side). He wasn't what she expected, but it was the conversation they had that threw her for a loop.

"Wish I could say I was a fan, Ms. Winthrop," he had told her before smiling and then lowering his voice, "but I really don't watch this crap."

"Then why are you here?" she asked.

David Flynn smiled at her as he reached into his jacket to pull out a piece of paper. "Well, it's currently a profitable business, and I have money to invest." He handed her the paper which she was about to autograph.

She stopped herself from signing the paper when she realized that it wasn't just a piece of paper, but a take-out menu from her parents' business. She looked at him, a wary look in her eyes. "What's this?"

David winked at her. "Oh, it's just a take-out menu to this really cool place I know just south of Metroville," he said. "Best damn almond rolls in the world."

She could tell from the sound in his voice he was being sincere. "No argument there," she said, "but why give this to me?"

"Let's just say your parents are cool people and I told them I'd check up on you."

"Why?" she asked, her suspicion of him starting to grow.

"No reason to be paranoid, Ms. Winthrop," Flynn assured her. "But given what I know about you, I don't blame you."

"What do you know about me?"

"How badly you've been screwed over these last couple years." There was a hint of sadness in his voice, but she also saw a mischievous gleam in his eye as he spoke again. "But don't worry," he said, giving her a reassuring smile. "Things are going to change."

"Why," she snapped, though it was more out of instinct than actual hostility, "you planning on investing in the company?"

Flynn's grin got bigger. "Not exactly," he replied, "but I think you'll enjoy tonight's show." He then walked away, but there was something in his chuckle that unnerved her a little. That was her first clue something was going to happen that night. The other clue was her manager Reggie scrambling in her direction while talking on his cell-phone.

"What do you mean I don't have access to the account?" Reggie snarled into the phone. "I'm the primary account holder!"

"Something wrong, Reggie?" she asked, curious at the fact that her normally cool and collected weasel of a manager looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

He held up a finger, a silent way of telling her to be quiet. "Well, then," he said, "can you tell me WHO the primary holder of this account is?" He paused as he listened for the answer and then his already pale face turned an even more ghastly white. "I see," he finally said. "Well, I guess I'll have to arrange a meeting to settle this all out." He closed the phone and then glared at Ashley for a few seconds before shaking his head.

"Is there something wrong, Reggie?" Ashley asked again. She tried to keep her amusement out of her voice, but it was hard to do.

"No, no, everything's fine," Reggie said, though it was obvious he was lying through his teeth. "I'm just having some problems with my bank account, that's all."

During the show that night, Ashley noticed a bunch of activity backstage. She saw Reggie, her manager, and the owner of the XWF Eric Bischoff having an argument about 'something going down'. Bischoff, his sycophantic lawyer Martin Reed (who Ashley hated more than her employer), and Reggie were worried. Curiosity got the better of Ashley and she asked them what was going on?

"None of your concern," Bischoff had told her, "just do your job tonight and try to bring us more ratings."

Meanwhile, Reggie was freaking about how his cell-service suddenly died. He used another person's cell to call and was shocked to find out that he wasn't even registered with his carrier.

Then it was time for her match with "Bonecracker" Wilson. She actually was sorry for knocking him out cold, but his reaction to her apology a week ago was met with a chuckle and a pat on her shoulder. "Kid," he told her, "I may have been out of line, but you went all out and proved you got what it takes for this line of work. Anyone who can hit that hard has my respect….besides, your stunt made us main event material."

During that week, she and Wilson practiced for their match, talked about possible changes and ideas to make it interesting. It was decided that he was going to win this match and they would have a couple no-decision matches the next week before leading up to the next pay-per-view event.

But a few minutes before her match, Wilson pulled her aside. "There's been a change of plans," he said, looking around to make sure there was no one around within earshot."

"What's going on?"

"We'll still be fighting, but it's going to get pre-empted."

"What? We put some good stuff in this…I'm actually looking forward to it."

"I know kid, but trust me…this is going to be big." He pulled her aside so a couple members of the technical staff could get by. "From what I understand, there's going to be some changes."

She wanted to ask what it was, but he turned and walked away, heading towards the curtain that led to the runway as his theme music began to play.

Several minutes later, she and Wilson were slugging it out in an electrified cell match when the power suddenly flickered and the lights went dead for a moment. At first, she thought it was some new angle or storyline the higher-ups were throwing in, but she felt Wilson's grip on her arm loosen and heard him whisper, "Be ready for it".

The next two hours after that shocked the industry to its core. While fans thought it was all part of a storyline at the time, it turned out being a scandal that rocked the XWF to its core as certain business practices by the XWF ownership and managers were exposed. By the time it was over, the new owner of the XWF, one Paul Heyman had REAL police officers escorting XWF's Bischoff and a few of his business partners outside the arena where they were met by a team of lawyers serving them with several subpoenas.

Ashley found Reggie backstage snarling at David Flynn.

"You did this!" Reggie yelled, pointing his finger accusingly at Flynn. "Damn aberrant freak, you set us up!"

"Careful, Reggie," Flynn said, his calm and icy tone actually making the older man flinch a little, "remember that you're in a business surrounded by us 'aberrant freaks'. Just be thankful that you're not being carted away like your boss and his cronies."

"They have nothing on me," Reggie sneered, trying to sound as intimidating as possible. "All my deals were legit and by the book."

"Yeah, and you made damn sure that Ashley was in the dark about those deals. You took seventy-five percent of her earnings for yourself."

"Yeah, well, the bitch is dumber than a box of rocks; she wouldn't know what do with all that money anyway."

Ashley was about to storm around the corner and throw the weasel through a wall, but stopped when she heard Flynn say, "Well, since she now owns that account you were stashing all that money in, we'll see if that's true."

"Wh-what?" Reggie stammered.

"You heard me," Flynn said. "And in case you haven't noticed, your cell-phone account was cancelled. Actually, I take that back…it wasn't cancelled, it was just deleted…just like your social security number and anything that was registered to you." Ashley actually shuddered at the sound of Flynn's soft cruel chuckle. "In other words, Reggie, you don't exist as far as the world's concerned. You are, what George Orwell once wrote, an 'un-person'."

Reggie lunged at the kid, but Ashley had kicked in her super-speed and, a split second later, was holding Reggie's fist in her hand and tightening her grip, causing Reggie to cry out in pain.

"You bastard," she said, continuing to tighten her grip, "you screwed me over and used me!"

Reggie screamed in pain again and Ashley was certain that all she had to do was apply just a little more pressure and she would break his fingers in multiple locations. She was very tempted to and would have when she heard someone say, "Don't do it, he's not worth it." She turned and saw David Flynn shaking his head. "He's got nothing, Ms. Winthrop. That's his problem; don't give him a way out of it."

She released her grip on Reggie's fist and shoved him aside, sending him sprawling to the ground. "Get lost," she said, "and if I see you again, I'll see how far and how hard I can throw you."

She watched Reggie run off and then turned to look at Flynn who was smirking and shaking his head.

"So what happens now?" She asked. "Does this mean you're my agent now…or my boss?"

Flynn shook his head and smiled at her. "None of the above, Ms. Winthrop," he replied. "I only came here because your family was worried about you and…well…they always gave me an extra free almond roll now and then…so I kind of owed them." He then paused for a moment as he contemplated something. "I wonder if this means they'll un-ban Zoe." He shook his head and grinned. "Never mind," he said, "it's not important, but what is important is that you might want to talk to Mr. Heyman since he is your new boss. He's going to be renegotiating all his new employees' contracts."

She didn't know who Zoe was at the time and she didn't care, but that didn't stop her from hugging the young man. "Thank you," she said.

"Ach," Flynn choked out, "Ms…Winthrop…oxygen…becoming…an issue."

"Oh, sorry," she giggled as she released her hold on him.

"No problem," the young man laughed, "I didn't need those ribs anyway."


Ashley smiled at that memory. That was about four months ago. In those four months, she was released from her contract obligation to the XWF and, oddly enough, went back to working at her family's café. A couple months after that, David approached her (and her family) with a business proposition which they agreed to and she ended up running the Silicon Café in the SST building. Looking at the last four years, it all seemed to happen in a blur that she could barely keep up with it. Her life did indeed take a strange path.

A path that led to her currently sitting in her pick-up truck which was now idling outside the iron gates guarding a private road.

"State your business," she heard a voice say which brought her back to the present. She blinked a moment and realized she was looking at a small video screen on a post outside the gates. A stern faced guard glared at her from the screen.

"Um," Ashley started to say, but she was cut off by Zoe who leaned over her so the guard could see her.

"Just tell Edna that Zoe's here, okay?"

The guard grunted and the screen went blank. A moment later, it flickered back on and Ashley saw two eyes magnified by a pair of large circular lenses. "Little Zoe Kilmarten?" asked a voice in a strange European accent. "Is that you?"

"Yes, Edna, it's me," Zoe sighed as she waved at the screen. "But I'm not so little anymore."

"Nonsense, dahling! You will always be Little Zoe to me." There was a buzzing sound and the gate slid open. "Have your friend drive up to the front door, I will meet you there."

The screen went black and Zoe shook her head. "I hate that name," she grumbled.

Ashley laughed as she drove her truck up the private road. "That's okay, Little Zoe," she said, "your secret is safe with me."


Metroville Elementary School

Metroville, California

Bob sighed and shook his head as he walked through the front door of his youngest son's elementary school and made his way to the office. He was surprised that they called him at work instead of contacting Helen at home, until they informed him of the seriousness of the charge. According to Bernard Kropp, the principal of the school, Jack was dealing in "illegal substances" and that there would be "serious consequences from this delinquent's actions". Bob couldn't believe it when he heard that. His youngest son, Jack, was dealing "illegal substances"? He knew the state of California had problems with drugs in schools, but he never thought his own kids would be involved with stuff like that. He was tempted to call Helen, but held off on it. Normally, he would have contacted her, but after the events of the last few weeks and her revealing a family secret, it was obvious that she was under a lot of stress.

Of course, it didn't help that the world had decided to go to hell in a hand basket a few days ago when Mexico City got attacked by "persons unknown". He remembered watching the newscasts with various reporters were claiming the Teragen was behind it and then looking at his wife who had tears in her eyes and saying, "Dad, what have you done?"

Bob always thought of his wife as a strong woman, physically and emotionally, but he could tell that steely resolve had taken some hits recently. After Helen's revelation about who her father was, there was a sense of uneasiness in the family. Violet had spent more time at the university campus or at SST (which Bob still didn't approve of, but his daughter was an adult now and could make her own decisions) and Dash had barely said more than a few sentences at mealtimes before either going up to his room or leaving to go hang out with his friends.

There was an incident right before the Mexico City attack that made Bob wonder what his oldest son was up to. Dash had been out late that night and, when he came back, he had a purple bruise on the right side of his face and blood on his hands. He claimed he had gotten in a fight with one of his friends, but they settled it and it was no big deal. Bob suspected there was more to it, but decided it wasn't best to push it.

And then there was Jack. Bob wasn't sure what to think of his youngest son. Oh sure, he loved the boy very much, but he just couldn't figure out how Jack turned out to be the way he did. Bob wondered if it was because Jack didn't live in quite as restricted environment as his older siblings had when they were his age and were told to not use their powers. Because the ban was lifted on supers (and destruction of the Galatea Space station that triggered the eruption of new super-beings world-wide) Jack didn't have the pressure of trying to "live under the radar". Yes, Bob and Helen did tell the boy to be careful about using his powers and not to reveal them in public, but they didn't push on him as hard as they did on Violet and Dash.

And yet, unlike Violet and Dash before him, Jack seemed content to just be a kid and be as normal as possible. Oh sure, there were times he did use his powers (especially on the very rare time he'd go with the family on a mission), but he didn't really seem interested in doing what he called "the hero thing". In fact, he seemed more interested in hanging out with his friends, playing basketball, or just staying home and playing the latest ESPN sports game for his PS3. He didn't play regular sports at his school, but he did play pick-up games of basketball and football with his friends. In fact, it struck Bob as kind of odd that Jack, probably one of the most powerful beings on the face of the planet, was happy just goofing off with his normal friends and living a relatively normal life. Granted, there had been the occasional incident (like Jack's disastrous attempt to run a lemonade stand at age five), but other than that, Jack was mostly 'normal'.

At least that's what we thought, Bob thought to himself as he approached the desk in the outer office. "I'm Bob Parr," he said to the secretary behind the desk. "I'm here to see Principal Kropp about my son."

"Ah, Mr. Parr," the woman said as she gestured at him to take a seat in one of the empty chairs next to the door of the Principal's office. "Mr. Kropp's been waiting for you. I'll let him know you're here."

As Bob took a seat, he noticed several unopened bags of candy and a few 12-packs of soda stacked in a neat pile on the floor. "Wow," he said, trying to strike up a conversation, "is there some sort of party going on?"

The lady frowned at him, a stern look on her face. "Oh, good heavens no," she said. "That is contraband taken from the students. Candies, sodas, and junk food were banned at the beginning of the school year." She then gave Bob a sinister grin. "And we have now caught one of the main people responsible for this."

Bob had an idea where this was headed. "Hold on," he said, "you're saying my son had all this stuff?"

"Yes, we found him selling these…illicit items out of his locker. You need to clamp down on that boy."

It was probably the first time that Bob felt anger and relief at the same moment. Anger at the fact some stranger was berating him on how to raise his kid, but relief that Jack wasn't selling drugs. He managed to hold back the comment he wanted to fire back at her and nodded as he leaned back in the chair. However, he didn't suppress the smile on his face which he quickly hid as the secretary shot another disapproving look in his direction.


Jack Parr sat in the chair in front of the principal's desk and watched as his principal glared at him from behind his desk, drumming his fingers on the wooden desktop. He assumed Mr. Kropp was trying to frighten him, but all it really accomplished was make Jack wonder if Mr. Kropp was actually part toad or if the oversized square-framed glasses and bald head only made him look that way.

"Well," Mr. Kropp rumbled imperiously.

"Well what?" Jack asked. Seriously, what did Kropp want him to say?

"Have you anything to say for yourself?"

"Um…not really?"

Principal Kropp slapped his hands down on his desk and leaned forward. "Of course you've got nothing to say, you little delinquent hoodlum," he snapped, "we caught you red handed!"

"And how many kids did you bully before one of them coughed up my name?"

"That's not important, Parr." Bernie gave the child an evil grin and gleefully rubbed his hands together. "Oh…how I waited for this moment. Your brother made a fool out of me when he was here, but you…you won't get that chance, not with me as Principal!"

"Wow, you were here when my brother was here? That was like…um…many, many, many years ago…you must be what, a hundred, and you're sill here at this school?"

Principal Kropp slammed his fists on his desk and jumped out of his chair. "Oh, you think you're a clever little boy, don't you, Parr?" he asked.

"Um…kind of."

"Well, so am I!"

Jack blinked a couple times at that comment. "Okay," he said, "did I hear that right? You think you're a clever little boy?" He let out a low whistle, pulled a small pocket notebook and pen out of his jacket, and started to write something.

"What are you doing, boy?"

"I'm writing down a number for a shrink my mom makes me visit twice a month. I think you need the help more than I do."

"You think this is funny?" Kropp snarled.

Jack tore the small piece of paper out of the tiny notebook and put it on the desk. He managed to not laugh and hide his amusement behind a serious look. "Actually, I'm worried about you, Principal Kropp. And while I'm no expert, I would strongly suggest that you might want to make some changes; there are plenty of decaffeinated brands out there now that look, smell, and taste like the real thing."

"You little shit-," Kropp started to say when his phone went off. "WHAT!" he screamed.

"Mr. Kropp," the secretary said, startled from her boss' voice. "Mr. Parr is here to see you."

Kropp suddenly sat down in his chair, put on a jovial smile, and then said softly, "Oh, please, Miss Emerson, send him in."

"Wow," Jack muttered, "definite mood swings."

"Shut it, you little prick," Kropp said as he pushed the button to unlock his office door to allow the boy's father in. "Ah, Mr. Parr," he said as the large man entered the room. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. I'm afraid we have some serious things to discuss."


An hour later, Bob was driving home while Jack quietly sat in the passenger side. He really didn't know what to say to his son. In his own opinion, Jack really didn't do anything wrong. He wasn't selling drugs or anything truly illegal; just candy, soda, and junk food. However, it was a school regulation that was violated and Principal Kropp was within his rights to take the actions he did (even though Bob really felt like taking the little toad-like human outside and seeing if he could throw the man over a couple state lines). After a few more minutes of uncomfortable silence, Bob finally cleared his throat before he spoke. "So, son," he said, "what really happened?"

Jack shrugged. For some reason, he didn't seem bothered by what just happened. In fact, he seemed rather cheerful. "Like Principal Kropp said; I was selling some goodies out of my locker, I got caught, and they confiscated everything from my locker because someone ratted me out, end of story."

"What you did was technically wrong though."

"Oh please, Bernie made up that rule the third day of school because he's trying to suck up to the school superintendent and push for the principal position over at the new middle school being built."

"That's Principal Kropp to you," Bob mildly scolded his son, "and how do you know this?"

"The way I know a lot of things in school, Dad," Jack replied, giving his father a tiny grin. "I have friends in low places."

"Yeah? Well, one of your friends probably sold you out."

Jack nodded, but his grin got even bigger. "Yep, they did." Then his cell-phone went off. He pulled it out of his coat, laughing as he read the caller ID. "And that would be the culprit now," he said as he turned the speaker part of the phone on. "Hey Tim, how's it going?"

"Not bad," a young boy replied from the other end of the line. "You were right, Jack. Putting some of the stash in your locker worked. Kropp stopped searching lockers after you left."

Bob caught himself doing a double-take when he glanced at his son and then hit the brakes suddenly to avoid hitting the car in front of him.

"Whoa, Dad," Jack chuckled, "eyes on the road."

"You okay, Jack?" Tim asked.

"Yeah, just some bad traffic, nothing to worry about."

"That's not what I meant. How badly did Kropp come down on you?"

"I got suspended tomorrow and I have a week's after-school detention."

"Ouch. Are you sure this was the way to go?"

"Tim, we knew the locker search was coming, so someone had to take the fall. It's better to take a hit now, lie low for a couple weeks and use that time to move 'Tom', 'Dick', and 'Harry' to new locations. We might want to change locations every couple weeks as well after that."

"Okay, will do. What about the supply runs?"

"I'll still handle those. You just keep the money flowing and I'll get them to you."

"Alright, see you when you get back."

"See ya, Tim." Jack killed the connection and put his phone back in his pocket before turning to look up at his confused father. "What?"

It took Bob a moment to say something. He was still in shock from the phone call he just overheard. "Tom, Dick, and Harry?" he managed to ask.

"Yeah," Jack smirked, "got the idea from a really old movie. Those are the names of the three locations we actually sell stuff out of. What, do you really think I'm stupid enough to sell things right out of my locker?"

"Apparently not," Bob replied, failing to hide the hint of pride in his voice. "But you did get caught though."

Jack shook his head. "Oh please," he grumbled, "Bernie's had it in for me since I started there in first grade. Apparently, Dash pulled some crap with him back when he went to this school and now I have to deal with it."

Bob frowned as he remembered those times Jack was referring to and he had to admit that Jack had a point. Back when he was just a teacher, Mr. Kropp was a favorite target for Dash and his pranks. At one point, it almost backfired because Kropp claimed to have caught it on video. Thankfully, Dash moved faster than the camera could pick up. However, that didn't keep Kropp from blaming Dash for everything. Bob never considered the possibility that Kropp would take his anger out on Jack when Dash moved on. "Oh," he finally said, "I'm sorry, I didn't think about that."

Jack shrugged and leaned back in his seat, lacing his fingers behind his head. "No big deal," he said. "I take the blame, endure some punishment for a few weeks, things fizzle out, and we resume business as usual."

Despite himself, Bob smiled. "My son," he chuckled, "the criminal master mind of his elementary school? How did you become so smart?"

"By getting my education where most kids get it," Jack yawned, "the television."

"Hey, that wasn't nice," Bob said.

"Maybe, but it's kind of true. Besides, there actually are some cool things on television. You ever watch 'Original Gangster' week on the History Channel? Really cool stuff. They talk about prohibition and the outlaw bootleggers who defied it." Jack turned and smiled at his father. "Well, the state of California has declared prohibition on the school system and kids like me…we're the bootleggers. We're the outlaw heroes."

"I'm curious now. When you were talking to Tim, you said you were making supply runs?"

"Yep, they give me money, I throw in some of my own, I 'port on over to Wal-Mart, go in and do some shopping, pay for the stuff with the money, 'port back to a safe location, and then we restock 'Tom', 'Dick', and 'Harry'."

"Wait you're using your powers?"

"Yeah, but not in public and I make sure no one sees me when I 'port."

"I don't want to sound too much like your mother, but don't you think that's wrong?" Bob asked.

Jack's smile faded as he looked back at his father. "What, you think I should go out and try for sports like Big Bro?"

Bob winced at that. "Okay," he conceded, "you got a point. And I'll be honest with you, I really don't find what you did wrong, but…you did get suspended from school and that does warrant a punishment."

Jack sighed and his eyes fell to the floor. "I was afraid you'd say that."

"I'm sorry, Jack, but in order to make this stick, I have to." Bob took a deep breath and slowly let it out as he pulled the car into the driveway before turned to reface his son. "So, here it is: no PS3 for a week."

"What?" Jack gulped. "That's a little overkill, don't you think? I mean, you even said that you didn't think what I did was wrong?"

"That's my personal opinion, but it was against school regulations."

"But a week?"

This time it was Bob's turn to smile again. "Well, there is an alternative."

"What might that be?" Jack asked, suddenly hopeful he might strike a deal.

"I could let your mother handle the punishment side."

Jack's mouth dropped open in shock. "Y-you wouldn't," he finally managed to say.

"Oh yeah," Bob laughed. "And believe me, you're getting off easy."

Jack thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, you're right…but it still sucks." He then got out of the car and skulked his way into the house.

Bob laughed again and shook his head. Admittedly, the situation wasn't as bad as it could have been. Oh sure, there would be a discussion with Helen, but he was certain she would agree with the punishment and not add onto it. He was still chuckling when another car pulled into the driveway that he recognized as Violet's purple Volkswagen Beetle.

"Hey, Vi," he said as his daughter got out of the car. "What's up?"

Unfortunately, the serious look on Violet's face was enough to give Bob some concern. "Dad," she said, "I think we might have a problem."