Out Of This World
Disclaimer: If you recognize it then I don't own it.
A/N: For Whumptober 2022 #6 Proof of life- I've got a pulse
Violet Parr sometimes wondered when she completely embraced the hero life she had inherited from her parents. Her powers had been a sore spot for her for many years. Hiding, lying, and never really finding her place in her family and in the world had left her very unhappy when she first became a teenager. After her family had saved the day and supers could come out of hiding she still craved the normalcy being a superhero couldn't give her. It was amazing what a few years could do for a person. She had come into her own as a hero and a person. She had matured along with her powers. Her parents had mentored her in the business and now she was capable of going solo and teaming up with other supers.
She was enjoying spreading her wings. Sometimes she missed fighting side by side with her family, but it was nice to be an equal in a fight instead of a daughter and sister. She and another super, Voyd, had teamed up to fight against a crew of bank robbers. They were not super but they had somehow gotten ahold of a remnant of Syndrome's inventions, making them tough opponents to take on alone.
She was protecting the crowd stuck in the bank with a force field when she saw something moving behind her partner, "Voyd, on your left."
"Got it!" The green and blue-clad hero called back, sending the sneaking villain away through a portal, "Thanks, Ultra."
"We need to get the civilians out of here and contain the damage. Then we can..." The dark-haired girl was knocked down before she could finish speaking, by a sudden explosion of white light on the sidewalk outside the bank. Ultra got to her feet, shading her eyes, trying to assess the new threat. Before turning on her partner, "Voyd what's with the giant portal!?"
"It's not me!" Voyd exclaimed.
"Then who is it?" Ultra mumbled to herself, "There was no indication of a super or any kind of mega weapon."
"It's growing; what do we do?" the older blue-haired girl started to panic.
"We need to clear the area. It could try sucking people in or something just might wanna come out. Start portalling anyone left out of there."
The explosion had knocked the bank robbers to the ground as well but they were slower to recover than the supers. While Voyd moved the grateful bankers out and away from the new threat Violet took care of the criminals. She disarmed them and contained them long enough for the security guard to restrain them. The growing portal was always in the back of their minds as they hurried to secure the area.
Something was violently expelled from the portal before it began to shrink. A body lay outside the bank. Ultra left the other super to finish up and went to make contact with whatever had come from the other side. Be it friend or foe she stood ready to face it and stand between it and everyone else.
"Sir, are you alright," Ultra called out, creeping closer to the prone form; keeping her shields up just in case it turned out to be a trap. The figure didn't move so she crept closer step by cautious step. The head was turned away from her, giving her just a view of his thick dark hair. Crouching down she dropped her shield and reached out, waiting for the trap to spring. None came. She hesitated for a whole new reason. She hated dealing with dead bodies. The job she did was not an easy one. You fought and tried to save everyone, but sometimes you failed. It never got any easier.
A fast but sporadic heart beat under her fingers as she checked for a pulse. His head moved towards her touch. She was shocked to find he was no older than herself. He looked like any teenage boy dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, yet he had mysteriously appeared out of thin air. Maybe he was a super or had come in contact with one? She tried not to notice how attractive he was.
"Oh, man," The guy moaned, cracking up a dark eye to look up at her, "More spandex-clad superheroes with no bubbles in sight."
'What?"
"Nothing, nothing," The young man waved away her question and concerns with his hand as he stood up moving slowly and carefully, "Timey wimey wibbly wobbly stuff."
"Did you hit your head, sir?"
"Nope. Besides according to my ol' lady, this skull's rock solid," He winced slightly as he brought his hand up to point out his supposed titanium temple, revealing his lie.
The boy started weaving slightly on his feet, "Sir, I need you to sit back down and wait for the ambulance."
"Nah, I'm fine," He started rambling, slurring his words slightly, "I'm not a sir, either. I bet we're the same age. It's weird. Sir's my dad, according to all the stupid stuttering interns."
"I'm Ultra, what's your name?" The super asked, trying to get the clearly concussed young man to cooperate till help arrived.
"Robinson, Wilbur Robinson," Wilbur smirked trying to be suave, "You're cute, well from what I can see of you. Masks are weird, they hardly cover anything yet no one knows who you are. Except for Superman, everybody must be dumb or blind in Metropolis. Do you have a boyfriend? I should totally take you out. Unless you want to take me out. I'm totally fine with that. I like popcorn. "
"Sure thing," Ultra agreed, paying attention to the voice in her earbud giving her the status on the ambulance, "Wilbur, let's get you back on the ground before you fall down."
"Yeah, that'd be good. Don't tell anyone, but I don't feel too good. I hit my head coming out of the dimension gate," Wilbur allowed the super to grab his arm and guide him back onto the deserted road. The boy's face blanched of all color before he went slack in the young hero's arms. Panicking slightly, Ultra spent a moment rearranging Wilbur's gangly limbs' dead weight before being able to lay him out once more on the street. With a tremor running through her hand she reached over and was relieved to find a pulse in his neck. She'd come a long way since being that shy young girl who hid behind her hair but in the solo superhero business, there were still times when she wished her parents were still in charge.
"I wanna go home," Wilbur mumbled without opening his eyes. He reached blindly for her hand. She allowed him to hold it, squeezing his hand reassuringly.
"We'll get you home, Wilbur," Violet promised. She figured he got sucked into some super's portal. The parents he mentioned must be already looking for him. She would hand him off to the capable medical team. They would treat him and then reunite him with his family. All she had to do was make sure he didn't die before all that could happen. Another easy day in the life of a superhero.