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«» No Incredible Family - Chapter Ten «»
«» all about being back home «»
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[The Parr Family sit around the dining table; a portable telly murmurs in the corner, Helen serves the meal.]
Helen »»» Right! This is our first Sunday back home, after the rebuild. We've had a good week and your dad has been a real hero for beating that mind-controller and making the mobs go away. Today is our family day. SO we are going to have a nice, quiet meal without any arguments, for once.
[Violet, Dash & Bob nod sheepishly as she glares round]
Violet»»» First time you've caught him, huh, dad. You're not saying much about it
Dash »»» Really! The first time ever! Wow! How did you do it? What did you do? Was there a big fight;?
Bob »»» I, uhh, I had some help. That new hero, the rainbow girl, showed up. She's got this flashy lightshow; it stopped the mob dead, I mean dead. It turned them right around and then it went right on and tailed the villain down. Boy was he surprised, first time ever he hasn't got away by throwing a crowd at us.
[bangs table excitedly and makes everything bounce, including family]
Helen »»» Guess we're not the only heroes, after all, honey.
Violet »»» What does she look like?
Bob »»» Didn't notice, nothing special. [mutteringly]
Helen »»» Nothing at all ... Dear?
Bob »»» Nothing! Just a mask and a costume, Fancy that, a hero in disguise. Hey! That's her!
[Bob points to the telly and they all focus on the news item ]
Pundit »»» … footage of the rescue of the experimental, Alaskan, power-plant. By the newest hero on the block. Earlier today, this shy heroine, seemingly in her twenties, managed to shut down a power-plant that had been raging out of control all week. Variously known as Glowing Girl, Lightshow Lass, The Flash, Shimmer, Rainbow and Dragon Girl; this modest superhero appears to be based in Metroville but has been active across the country in recent months. As has been her pattern to date: she avoided all interviews, after she had successfully made the power-plant safe. It was a surprise appearance and she went into action without meeting with any of the officials in charge, as we can see. …
T.V »»» … [Following plays out on the television screen]
It's morning, very early morning; more of a night that hasn't quite changed into the day-suit; cloudy and dim. Out of the clouds there appears a figure, a human figure, that seems to be all arms and legs. At the first: it seems to be falling out of the sky then it evens out, settles into a glide and swoops down ... white hair trailing, like comet tails. From just an unfocused figure (that the eye squints to make out) it rapidly grows (as it speeds groundwards) and settles into the form of a female: a young, winged female spiralling down and circling around the power-plant.
The pile is throbbing. It quivers, like a heart overdosed on drugs! The entirety of the structure illumined by pulse beats out of the spectrum (pink, red, purple, silver, white) — tints that surge to a crescendo of intensity; till the walls are washed away and the superstructure glares out under x-ray beams. None at all are healthy, wholesome tints but somehow sickly and tainted. Then again (in symphony with the tints) there follows a sound: whining, buzzing, crackling, like a beehive ablaze; it sets teeth on edge, itches the brain and makes you want to tear your ears off.
The winged heroine threads a countercharm of light, the shade of coaldust under moonlight, of oil on water. The shimmering radiance that she dances about the plant battles and clashes with the tinted corruption below. There come times when the tide of canker dims and is almost obliterated but then come times when the venom tide flares up glaring and deadly; burning away any taming. Back and forth the twin powers grapple and surge. The counterforces measure up in almost equal balance ... till the hero aloft dips and crashes, dazed and exhausted by the inhuman strain on her. Her downfall is swift, sharp and severe: as she veers into the bulk of the power-plant, rolls down the flank of it and comes to a crumpled heap at the base of it.
Wobbling, she stands, resumes her flight; haltingly and hurtingly but steadily and defiantly — this time around she takes a position in the air over the epicentre of the disaster. There is no more of the elegant, interplay of forces that she'd tried to weave into place before. Instead of that: a nimbus of light surrounds her and blossoms outward; till it swamps the waves of venom from the power-plant and overcomes all of the panoply of destruction. Her lightshow absorbs all of the inimical forces into a self-made whirlwind that she then boosts up high into the sky above everyone.
It all erupts into a coruscating, dazzling, ignition that obliterates every trace of the amok powerdrive. A barrage of fireworks commences that draws every eye and every lens upwards; while nothing at all is left on the ground to attract excitement or attention. The power-plant is a clod-cold clinker; damped out with all hazard gone ... just as the girl herself is gone, in the instant when all were distracted.
Pundit »»» We now return you to the studio; for comment by superhero specialist, Frederick Wertham.
Violet »»» Dragon Girl.
Helen »»» You can see she's still learning; as if she's been using her powers differently before.
Dash »»» Bet you could see right up her skirt. Bet she doesn't wear panties.
Helen »»» DASH.!.
Bob »»» Gothette didn't.
Helen »»» BOB.!.!.
Violet »»» Breezy.
Helen»»» VIOLET.!.!.!.
Dash »»» Amazing, she's one hot babe. She is hot isn't she dad?
Bob »»» Sure is son. [catches Helen's eye] She's skinny though; yeh, real skinny, all bones and ... and ... what's she got hidden under that big mask. Who'd want to know; right!
Violet »»» She has white hair.
Helen »»» Yes. I saw that too and it looked a lot like Florabundant's old skirt and gloves she was wearing.
Violet »»» Diamondback's wings.
Dash »»» She's a patchwork quilt.
Helen »»» Something like that, Dash. She's put it together well but I wonder why she had to go the rag-bag route? It's as if she hasn't got a base … or maybe lost one recently?
Bob »»» She has Red Leopard's top, I always liked that. That gap, all down the middle; that was a good look.
Helen »»» Red Leopard was a guy. This is a girl.
Bob »»» Oh ... yeh!
[Bob dreamily butters his plate and eats it as all the family stare at him … while Violet grins to herself]