Disclaimer: This story is based upon characters created by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle for Disney. Since this story is set 20 plus years later, all the characters under twenty-five years of age are mine.
Don and Flo walked through the front door into the stoppable living room. Anne was still on the couch, covered in rodents. The TV was still showing old Ferret episodes. Mom had settled into the recliner. Dad was setting down plates of nacho chips smothered in sweet cinnamon sauce.
"Is Anne still awake?" Don asked no one in particular while eyeing the couch.
"She hasn't moved," Mom commented.
"Yeah," Anne moaned.
"You are not gonna believe what I just heard," he sing-songed at her.
Anne started to move, "How was your date?"
"Not over yet, technically," said Flo.
Anne rolled her eyes.
"Wait until you hear," Don said pointing to Anne, "just who I'm dating."
Kim's jaw went slack.
"It's Flo, Don," Anne griped. "I have eyes and brains."
"You want the rest of this?" Don asked Flo.
"She's your sister," Flo grinned. She was actually having fun.
"They're your parents," Don snapped back.
Dad quickly shooed several mole rats off the couch and took a seat next to Anne.
"What about her folks?" asked Anne, more interested and slightly concerned.
"Wrong parents," said Don.
Mom turned off the T.V. She was smiling now, with her arms crossed in front of her.
Anne gasped, "You found your birth folks?" She started to rise.
Dad poked Anne with an elbow, "Don't stand."
"Why?"
"Your mom mentioned that she knew, but promised not to tell me unless I was sitting down."
Anne looked at Mom.
"I'm just a spectator now," She held her hands in front of herself a moment, then set them down on the armrests.
Dad and Anne turned to the new couple.
"Go on," said Don.
"You're having fun," Flo told him slyly. "You go on."
Don put an arm around Flo's waist. "Behold my new girlfriend."
Flo started blushing deeply. She glanced at Kim, slightly worried.
Kim was watching Don's dramatics.
"The daughter," Don continued. "of" He stopped, as though frozen.
Dad hung there on the couch's edge.
Anne's patience was at an end, "Ah, come on!"
Don broke his tableau and brought both his hands before him. He rubbed them together like a cartoon villain. His voice took on an edge, "Shego and Drakken!"
"Don!" Anne scolded. She tossed a pillow at him, "Don't play such a cruel joke on Flo!"
Ron just sat there, looking at Flo. After a moment, he looked at Kim on the recliner.
Kim nodded just a slight.
"Thank you for defending me, Anne," said Flo. "While your brother is a goon," She tussled Don's hair mischievously. She then kneeled to look Anne in the eye. "He told you the truth."
Anne stared at her a moment. "You know, you do look a little like her," she whispered.
"I know."
"But." Anne then suddenly closed her eyes tight and shook both her hands. "Ewww. Evil image!"
Flo smirked. "At least no one fainted," she told Don as she stood up.
Dad smiled. "You're right about one thing, Dear," He told Mom. "The irony in here is so thick you can spread it on the nachos."
Flo picked up a chip and took a bite. "Mmm"
A giggle circulated the room.
"Speaking of food," said Ron as took a chip himself. "I've gotten an interesting business proposal."
"What is that, Dear?" Kim almost bumped Flo's hand reaching for her own Nacho.
"A couple of entrepreneurs want to open franchise locations."
Kim grinned, "That's great."
"So there'd be Allegre's on every corner, like Bueno Nacho?" asked Anne.
"More like 'Planet Hollywood'," said Ron. "They want to start in Orlando and Vegas."
"Cool," said Don.
"Sounds awesome, Mr. S," said Flo.
"I would have to travel, and there'd be more responsibility, especially at the start," Ron told Kim.
"Sounds like a mission," Kim smiled.
"Yeah, KP. I guess it does!" Ron grinned. "So this one's a 'go'?"
"That's really up to you, Dear."
"I wanted you guys to have 'Veto' power."
Ron got a set of thumbs pointed upward waved at him by the Flo and the kids. Kim then put her own out.
"Okay, then."
The next morning, everyone slept in.
After breakfast, Anne went back to her room and sat down to finish her homework. She taped the dove poem to her monitor.
She was nearly done with a review of George Orwell's, '1984', when Ted ran up onto her desk. The mole rat paraded back and forth in a 'Wonder Weasel' costume.
"Really cute, Ted," Anne told him.
She wished that superheroes had been in Orwell's story. Then it would not have been so dark. Things could get real dark in the world unless heroes fought. It was always easier for the heroes if they had special powers, or a super suit.
Anne's eyes opened wide a moment. She smiled, "Thanks, Ted!" She patted the rodent's head.
She then finished her report and packed her books.
Mom was in the kitchen, talking to a couple of monkeys in aprons.
"I'm going to the library, Mom!" Anne called as she walked by.
"Keep in touch," her Mom answered quickly.
"Bye, guys," Anne called quickly to Don and her dad, who were cleaning out the rain gutters, as she walked out.
Anne walked to the Bueno Nacho and ordered a single taco with extra cheese to go. Then she took the tube to Global Justice Headquarters.
Once there, she went into the main lab. It was quiet. She took a peek into the oversized closet that served as Dr. Load's room.
Uncle Wade was asleep in his bed; no doubt he had been up late working on several projects. Socrates was nestled by his neck, also asleep.
Anne quietly went to a certain corner of the lab. She opened a drawer that she remembered seeing Wade stuff something hastily into nearly a year before.
When she opened the drawer, she found what she expected. A white coverall with blue highlights. There were also matching gloves, boots and a belt with a holster.
She stuffed her mother's old super suit into her backpack and left the facility as she had come. She then walked to the Middleton Central Library.
At the library, she returned the Orwell book and checked out some books for her upcoming science project. Then she went into the ladies room to change.
The suit fit quite well, but it was far from fashionable. She had not yet chosen a place to test the suit in secret. She knew she could not escape notice walking around in this. She wished she could disguise it somehow.
As Anne watched, the suit changed. It morphed into a black sweater and cargo pants, with matching gloves and shoes; standard mission clothes!
The suit had obeyed a mental command! Excellent!
Anne had no idea it could do this. Uncle Wade had said it could change shape, though. He also said it had bugs.
Anne considered that as she tried to get the suit to match the clothes she had left the house in. She had to test the suit's abilities and drawbacks. As it changed again, Anne realized how much a risk this was, taking a suit she knew so little about.
Anne left just as the library was closing, since it was only open for a few hours on Sundays. Then she had to think where to run her tests.
She sat on a bench in the park by the library and thought a while. When it came to her, she wondered why she had not thought of it sooner.
Fairy Tale Field was just behind the library. It used to be the site of the Tri-City Renaissance Festival, until it moved to Upperton. It was as plain as one of the zits on Trent's face.
She ran behind the library up to the old mock castle wall in the wooded lot. Though dilapidated, it was still solid and the gate was locked.
She had memories of coming here several times over the years. It was fun to see period style shows and even human-powered rides and games. One particular memory came as she looked at the wall itself.
She remembered a man on stilts, wearing an overly large false head.
"You're late!" the large man called to her as she sat on Daddy's shoulders, clutching his ears.
"No, we're not!" Anne had snapped back.
"It's OK, Anne," said Daddy.
"He says that to everyone who isn't here when the gates open," said Mom.
"Why weren't we here then?" Anne had asked.
"Daddy had to work late at his restaurant, honey," said Dad.
"Lighten up, Lemonhead," said Don.
"Don," said Mom sternly. "Lets keep today fun."
"Yeah, Strawberryface!" Anne jibed in support of her mother.
"That's enough," Dad had said softly.
"I'm not late." Anne decided the first test was now. She chose a tree branch hanging high over the wall. It was so high she didn't expect to reach it -without a supersuit. She jumped up, planning to take hold of it in her hands. She overshot and landed on the branch. She had to take hold of another branch to avoid falling.
Satisfied, Anne then jumped down on the other side of the wall. The field was mostly trees and open space. Most of the buildings she remembered from visits in her childhood were gone. What did remain were mostly just piles of lumber.
Anne eventually discovered that she could punch through a three-foot diameter log that was once used for sitting to watch mock jousts. Overall, her strength seemed tripled.
She also discovered a built in zip-line. It proved to be the most fun to practice. The few times she fell, she got a little scratched up but the suit repaired itself. What impressed her most was that most everything was triggered with a thought.
Anne never did encounter any problems with the suit. After a few hours practice, she swung back over the wall and walked home, just in time for dinner.
.
Okay, I gave the suit a new ability. sue me. :-)