-1WEEK LONG POWER OUTAGES SUCK!
Meep! New cd! Ever hear of Great Big Sea? A friend suggested them to me. What'ya think of that last chapter? Long enough for ya? Let's hope so, cause that thing took me, like, eight hours! Well maybe not that long. But anyways, OH DANNY BOOOOOOY, THE PIPES, THE PIPES ARE CAAAAAAALLIIIIIIIIING…(be glad you can't hear me singing)
Helen was cooking up dinner and setting the table that night while Violet sat at the table, looking through various books and brochures. Jack-Jack sat staring fixedly at the television nearby, and above their heads, the muffled notes of Dash's trumpeting was heard.
"How about the University of Missouri?" Helen suggested, taking a moment to look over her daughter's shoulder. "Don't they have some veterinary school there?"
"I think that's grad school, Mom. Besides, I don't think I'd want to be a vet."
"Well, I'm sure it's still a nice school. What other majors do they have good programs for?"
"I don't think I'd want to go there, Mom."
"Why not?"
"Because it's in Missouri."
"…Okay."
"Where's Dad, by the way?"
"Oh, he said he had to drop by the NSA agency after work. Something about unregistered supers or something."
"I don't think we should have to be registered."
"Well, neither do I, but it's better than being locked in a closet."
"You sound like Dad."
"You're right… Don't tell him."
Vi pretended to zip her lips shut.
As Helen started to finger through the mail, she looked over at her daughter. Violet would be going to college in a year, and the thought made Helen fidgety and a bit pained in the heart. Her only daughter was practically grown…
Oh stop it, she thought. You still have two more before you're allowed to have empty nest syndrome. Or is it sickness? Stop it!
"So Vi, what were you thinking about for your major?"
"I still can't really decide."
"You better hurry up! We need to visit campuses! And then you have to get all your forms mailed in!"
"I know! I was thinking something with English, but I don't know what… Uh Mom?"
"Hm?"
Violet nodded towards the oven.
"My potatoes!" Helen cried as the pot boiled over.
"I'm not de only one who goes boom?" Jack-Jack asked, looking over as his mother desperately tried to salvage to pot.
"That is correct."
Bob walked into the NSA building, suited up as he'd been asked to by Rick. The tired ol' government agent was waiting a few feet away, and the pair started to walk down the hall.
"So are you going to tell me what I'm doing here?"
"You know what a problem unregistered supers are these days."
"Yeah. Every time one turns up, it's all over the news like it's some sort of crime."
"Technically it is."
"Well, you'd think there'd be more outrage over the murder."
"You'd think. Unregistered vigilantes are all those old politicians need to get restrictions back in place. One major screw up and we'll all pay for it."
"Your point being?"
"We found a screw up." The pair rounded a corner.
"But why did you bring me here?"
"I think she'd be of particular interest to you," Rick said as they walked into a dark waiting room of sorts. They both sat down, and Rick sighed one of his trademark sighs. Bob couldn't help but think the man ought to go on a cruise next summer.
"Tough times for supers, Bob."
"Anyone could tell you that."
"I suppose I ought to be grateful kids like this are showing up. You know they think supers might go 'extinct?'"
"That's ridiculous! There must be tons of supers across the country."
"There are, but not nearly as many as we could use. Some are afraid of prejudice, some don't think they could use their powers productively, a lot don't even realize they have powers. Then there are those who'd rather use their powers to commit crime instead of stop it. And of course, Syndrome didn't help. He did a great job of exterminating some of our best."
Bob thought about that a minute, slightly displeased by the use of the word "exterminate" in the sentence.
Rick sighed again. "But it sure makes my job harder."
A young man in a suit stepped out from a room nearby. "Agent Dicker," he said, "Mr. Incredible."
"Go ahead, Bob," Rick said. "You talk to her. I've already tried."
"Thanks." Bob walked into the room as the young agent walked out.
Sitting, well, slouching at the table inside was a teenage girl, her head falling back over the top of the chair as she stared at the ceiling. When Bob closed the door behind him, she turned her head over to look at him. Because of the dim lighting, he couldn't make out many of her features, but he could tell she was wearing street clothes overhauled to be an improvised supersuit.
"Hello, Ms. uh…"
"Hunter."
"Right." Bob sat down across from her.
"So," the young Ms. Hunter said, hanging an arm over her tired eyes, "they letting me out yet?"
"No, they thought we should chat first."
"Ya know they took my motorcycle? I made that thing myself. You guys better not scratch him up. So what are we supposed to chat about?"
"Well, if I understand correctly, you're that mysterious hero who's been giving the city's criminals diamonds and (ahem) smiley faces?"
The girl smirked. "You, Mr. Incredible, are one smart cookie."
"Thank you, Ms. Hunter."
"Megan."
"Right. So, what do you do?"
Megan sat up, her arms crossed, and looked at Mr. Incredible in a peculiar way. She continued to look at things that way as she turned her face to the large metal table. She reached out her hand, grabbed the corner of the table, and lifted.
Mr. Incredible was quite astonished to see this girl lift what had to be a hundred pound table like it was a pencil above their heads. True, he'd done similar things himself, but it was a bit different to see someone else do it.
"I couldn't do this a year ago," Megan said as she let the table fall back in place.
"Huh."
"And that ain't all, either."
"What?"
"Yeah. I get these weird, shiny, shell things. It's weird."
"How about you just show me?"
"Whatever," she said, holding out an arm over the table. Bob was astonished as thin sheets of natural material stuck out of her flesh and rounded over her muscles to form strange, for the lack of a better word, shells. It reminded him of knight's armor. "Isn't that weird?" she asked, moving her arm. The sheets made a slight scraping sound as they moved over one another, allowing complete flexibility. As she moved, Bob noticed the strange sheets shimmer slightly. They looked like bone with diamond mixed throughout.
The things Edna could do with this girl.
"Do your parents know about this, Megan?"
"They do now."
"Are they here?"
"My dad."
"Was he in that waiting room?"
"How should I know! I've been in here all day!"
"Then how'd you know he was here?"
"That Agent dude told me."
"Right. So, do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"What are you, an army recruiter?"
"Sorry."
"Seven."
"Come again?"
"Seven brothers."
Oh my God. "Huh."
"Yeah. And before you ask, none of them have shown any superness yet."
"You know, Megan," Bob said, deciding to change the subject, "unregistered vigilantism is a crime."
"What're you gonna do? Put me in the slammer? For stopping those creeps?"
"Because you're not registered, most of them will probably go free. There isn't enough credible evidence for conviction."
"Idn't that just great? At least I let them know they can get caught."
"You knew and you did it anyways?"
"Wouldn't you?"
He chuckled. "Yeah, I would."
"Good. That means you probably won't have me thrown in jail."
"What-?"
"You don't really want to throw me in there, do you?"
"You broke the law, Ms. Hunter."
"Oh, come on, you and I both know you don't need a license to drive. You can even do it legally without a license."
"I'm pretty sure you do, Megan."
"No, you don't." She let her head droop back and closed her eyes again. "You just need a learner's permit." The teenager yawned.
Huh…
"They could at least give me a bed while they decide what to do with me. Or water."
"Well, Megan." Bob stood up. "I think these guys would be willing to let you go and get some rest." He offered his hand, and she shook it as she stood up. For once, he didn't feel like he was crushing someone's hand. "I think we'll probably be meeting again in the near future, but for now, I think we should both go home."
"For once, an adult I can agree with."
Hey, I got it a lot shorter than I thought it would be! Thank goodness! Do a dance! Do-di-doot-doot! A new character! Think she'll play a big part in zis story? Got me, I'm making this junk up as I go! But you know what Thumper says? YOU GOTTA SEE IT! BWA HAHAHAHA! THE BUNNY COMMANDS ALL!
Review…?
