Chapter 3
Thekiller7- Eh, I enjoyed the 2nd one enough that I want a sequel (Although I hope they do better in the villain department.).
Erebs- Oh that dinner is not going go well. More due to the Ashen one's past than anything else.
Ryder home
"You can't be serious?" Asked Karla, glaring at her husband, who sighed.
"Yorshka is adamant of keeping our existence a secret." Said the Ashen one. "She sees no reason to reveal ourselves to the rest of the world. And until she sees that evidence that we need to, she's not budging." Glaring at her husband, Karla got up from her seat on the coach.
"If that woman refuses to see reason, then I'll force her to see reason." Said Karla. She then conjured a black fireball before walking over to the fireplace. Before she could, however, the Ashen one stopped her. "Step aside. That woman clearly needs to be forced to see reason. Preferably with a fireball to the face."
"Karla, I know you want to make Tony happy, I do too, but attacking our leader is not the way to do so." Said the Ashen one, going over and holding his wife. He then began to trace his fingers down her spine in an effort to calm her. Throughout his whole time with her as his wife, he learned that she loved it when he traced her spine. He didn't know why, but it always calmed her down when she was angry over something. At first, she tried to resist it, but eventually, she began to moan and give in, wrapping herself around the Ashen One's chest.
"Cheater." Said Karla as she gave into the pleasure.
"Your fault for exposing this to me." Said the Ashen one as he continued to trace her spine. He continued to trace her spine until he was sure that she calmed down. Once she did, he let go and looked at Karla. "Now, if you're done thinking that you need to burn our leader to a crisp, I have some good news. Eygon has offered to take my job until this dinner date is over." Upon hearing that, Karla widened her eyes in surprise.
"Really?" Asked Karla. "But I thought that he was busy in taking care of that foolish cleric to do his job."
"Well, he was, but he lumped her on us, so we have to take care of her during her final weeks of pregnancy." Karla rolled her eyes at that. She should have known there was a catch.
"Oh joy." Said Karla sarcastically. "And I take it that the Firekeeper will be here as well?" Upon seeing her husband nod, she glared at him. "You best be faithful to me or else you're going to get a fireball to your genitals." Upon hearing that, the Ashen One groaned.
"I've been with you for two decades. And never once did I find a woman to be far more beautiful than you."
"You found the Firekeeper beautiful before." Pointed out Karla.
"That was before I met you." Sighing, the Ashen one lifted his hand to stop his wife. "Look, let's just drop this and just plan the dinner. What do you think we should offer? I think steak for the men and some spaghetti or pasta for the women." Karla hummed as she thought of what to offer to the Parrs.
"We should ask them. You know, they arrived in the Happy Platter earlier today. They wanted to get a good feeling of us. To see if we're good parents." Upon hearing that, the Ashen one looked at Karla.
"Well, how did it go?" Asked the Ashen one, worried. Karla merely waved her hand.
"It went well. They liked the fact that I was cared about my employee's wellbeing and tried to cheer me up when I told them that you were mostly the reason that Tony is what he is today." The Ashen one sighed at that. He should have expected that from his wife. She always downplayed her role in the development of their son.
"Karla, Tony is what he is today because of the both of us." Said the Ashen one, looking at his wife. He then placed a hand on her cheek. "Stop downplaying your role in his life. He wouldn't be what he is without you being there with me." Sighing, Karla shook her head at that.
"Stop trying to make me feel better, Ashen one. I have nothing to offer our son, other than my magic and I refuse to teach him the dark arts." Sighing again, the Ashen one, hugged his wife, comforting her.
"Let's just move on and figure out the dinner date. Where's Tony?" Asked the Ashen one.
"On another date with his girlfriend. She's a keeper." Said Karla with a smile, happy that her son found a beautiful girl to settle down him.
"Good." Said the Ashen one. "I hope to see her when this dinner meetup happens. I have a good feeling on this one."
"As do I." Said Karla. With that, the two ventured to their room to discuss the dinner meet up further.
Meanwhile
"So, you like horror?" Asked Tony as he and Violet watched a sci-fi movie together. They would have went with a romantic movie, but that would have been cheesy, so they went with a comedy one instead.
"Well depends on how gory the horror movie is." Said Violet as she sipped on her tea. "If its two gory, then no way am I watching that." Tony nodded his head in agreement as the two went back to watching the movie.
As they watched, Tony and Violet couldn't help but worry about the dinner date that was several days from now. Though they were sure that their family wouldn't ruin it, except Dash, they still couldn't help but worry about it.
What if their parents found something about each other that they hated and forbid them from dating further, hating each other too much to allow them to be in-laws? What if some thug decides to commit a crime just before the dinner, thus forcing the Parrs' to fight them and skip the dinner, something that could annoy Tony's parents and forbid Tony from seeing Violet as they would think that the Parrs' are irresponsible? What if Tony's father doesn't come and leaving Tony and his mother alone to deal with the Parrs?
There were just so many things that could go wrong that it worried to two a great deal. So much so that Violet began to munch on the contents of her back of popcorn just to calm down while Tony began to rapidly move his right knee up and down in an effort to calm down as well.
After a few minutes, the two spotted the each other doing this actions, something that caused them to smile.
"Nervous about something?" Asked Violet as she looked at Tony's knees, which stopped moving after Tony placed a hand on both of them.
"Yeah." Said Tony with a nervous smile. "I'm worried about the dinner in two days. Call me being paranoid, but I'm worried that our parents won't like each other and forbid us from dating." Violet couldn't help but smile at that. She could understand such concerns. Although she wanted to have faith in her parents and siblings, there was always the chance that something horrible will happen during that dinner.
"Same." Said Violet as she put a hand on one of Tony's hands. "But, I also have faith that our parents will like each other. Call it a woman's intuition." Tony just laughed at that.
"Wish I had that. It might help with how nervous I am with the dinner." Violet laughed a bit at that.
"Don't worry. Just have faith, Tony." Said Violet. "It'll go well, I promise. If it'll help, I'll make my parent's promise not to cause a fuse. That is, if you'll do the same." Tony smiled, finding those terms acceptable. The two then resumed to watch the movie, their concerns subsided for now.
Unfortunately for them, someone was watching them. Someone with a grudge against Tony's family.
"Ma'am, we have them in sight. Shall we eliminate them?" Asked a man in a trench coat, sitting in the back of the theater with a few others, all of whom don't respond to his words.
"No. Keep monitoring them. I want to ruin the entire family in one fell swoop." Said a woman before ending the call.
Few hours later
Ryder residence
"It's awful!" Yelled a woman with blond hair and wearing a nun-like uniform that was completely white. Her round belly indicating that she was pregnant. "How could Eygon leave me here?! In these dreadful conditions?!"
Karla, who was in the same room, the living room specifically, as the blond woman, couldn't help but twitch at that.
"Are you insulting my ability to clean, Irina?" Asked Karla, keeping her tone as neutral as possible. Upon hearing that, the woman named Irina turned around and smiled at Karla.
"Of course not, Karla." Said Irina, her tone completely different to the distressed one she had just a minute ago. "It's just that Eygon had the brilliant idea of leaving me alone in this home without a 2nd spare of my favorite clothes. Not to mention that I don't have some of my favorite books to read."
"You can't read." Said Karla, rolling her eyes. "Your blind as a bat." It was true, Irina's eyes were a milky white, indicating that she was blind.
"Not those types of books, Karla." Chided Irina. "I mean the books specifically designed for me. The one's where I can feel the lumps and hills in the pages. You wouldn't have any miracle books by any chance? Maybe a fairy tale?" Karla glared at Irina.
"You know very well, that I don't have any of those blasted miracles in my possession. And I donated the fairy tale books from Tony's time as a child to an orphanage a long time ago. So, you'll just have to speak to me, my husband, or Tony." Irina pouted at that.
"Fine, perhaps I should have a private talk with your husband, convince him to bring me one of my miracles books." Upon hearing that, Karla's eyes flashed dangerously, but she refrained from remarking back at Irina, knowing that, in her current state, the miracle user will tell her that's she being childish for thinking that her husband will ever be unfaithful to her.
Instead, she just said goodbye to Irina, and went to the kitchen, where she could cook dinner. Upon entering, she sighed as she wondered if this dinner was worth having Irina around.
Not that Karla didn't like the miracle user, far from it. Despite her hostile nature against those that use miracles or devout themselves to religion, she loved Irina, who helped her during her relationship with the Ashen one, back when they were just lovers and not husband and wife.
She even, along with other close friends of the Ashen one, helped raise Tony as he grew up. Giving him toys, playing with him, and being a good influence on him. Far better than what she could give.
As if to demonstrate, she raised her palm and created a black fireball in her hand. Her affinity for the Dark had caused the world to shun her. Even her own parents despised her when they learned her attraction and natural talent with the Dark, especially her father when she used her dark powers against her mother accidently. As a result, she stayed away from society, too in tune with her affinity with the Dark to be a productive member of any society. For a long time, from her teenage to adult life, she thought she would never be loved and be doomed to die unloved.
But then the Ashen one came and introduced her to a group of people that became her friends and, dare she say it, family. And then, she fell for the Ashen one, becoming his wife and bearing his child.
Although she loved her child, she didn't want him to bare the powers of the Dark, remembering how much pain it caused her. She was ecstatic when it was discovered he didn't have any natural affinity for the Dark as it meant he can blend with the normal people in the world without any difficulties.
If he had her powers, it would have made their attempt to have a normal life much more difficult. The powers of the Dark were best to be done by adults, not children, something Karla can attest to.
Sighing, Karla readied her kitchen for cooking. Tony and the Ashen should be here soon.
Night
Jewelry store
"Whoa!" Yelled Violet as she put up a forcefield, protecting her from a shotgun blast. As the thug with the shotgun reloaded, Dash came rushing at him in lightning speed, knocking him out with a punch to the face. With that guy down, he showed up in front of his sister with a smug expression.
"You owe me again, Violet." Said Dash with a smug smile and tone. Violet narrowed her eyes and was about to speak when she spotted another thug coming at Dash with a crowbar.
Seeing him, she released the barrier and put a forcefield behind Dash. Just in time to block the man from hitting her brother with the crowbar. Before Dash could do anything, Violet put the thug into a ball of energy before beginning to shake him up like a blender. After a minute, she let the man go, who was too dazed to actually do anything.
"Now we're even." Said Violet with a dull tone before she began to deal with other thugs with her mom and dad. Frowning, Dash began to knock out other thugs, using his speed to increase the power of his punches and to avoid their attacks.
Elastigirl, meanwhile, was wrapping an arm around a chair before flinging it into a group of thugs. With them distracted by the chair, she went into them and began knocking them out with stretched out limbs. Her husband was dealing with some buffed-up thugs, holding one in a firm grip while knocking one out with a single punch. With that thug taken out, he took out the other one by slamming his head into the ground so hard that he was knocked unconscious.
With their numbers dwindling, the rest decided to turn tell and run. One, in particular, was running away with a bag of stolen jewels. Before he could use an emergency exit, a force field knocked him back. Turning around he saw Violet smirking at him before enveloping him in a ball of energy.
Eventually, the gang of thugs were either knocked out or surrendered. With all them taken out, the cops came in and began arresting them.
"Thanks for the assist, Mr. Incredible." Said a lead cop as he shook the hand of Mr. Incredible. "You and your team are a godsend for this city."
"No need to thank us." Said Mr. Incredible. "It's just part of the job. And we're not a team. We're a family." The cop acknowledged that with a nod before leaving with the thugs. Once he was gone, Bob sighed.
"That was quite a big gang, wasn't it, honey?" Asked Bob as he looked at Helen, who was congratulating their kids for a job well done.
"Yeah." Said Helen as she put a hand on her chin. "Normally it would just be half a dozen guys. This gang had at least fourteen members. Quite strange."
"Not to mention they had these." Said Dash as he pointed at an assault rifle being carried away by a SWAT officer. The rifle being a U.S. made M4 carbine. An actual M4 and not a civilian AR-15. Two thugs had them when they raided this jewelry store and they were the first the family took out, seeing them as the biggest threat of the bunch.
"Yeah." Said Bob as he held one, careful not to accidentally fire it. "How in the heck did they get these? No way the government will allow military-grade weapons into the hands of common thugs like these." He then gave the one he had to an officer, who carefully took it away.
"Agreed." Said Helen. "Someone is supplied these thugs, but who?"
"You think it's an anti-super?" Suggested Violet, bringing her two cents into the conversation.
"It's possible." Said Helen. "But wouldn't make too much sense. No, I think it's something more." She then sighed. "Look, it's getting late. You two go back home. The family car can take you back home. We need to investigate this further on our own." Violet and Dash wanted to protest, but Helen wasn't having it, saying that its nearly midnight and that the two needed the rest so they can go to school. Reluctantly, the two got into the family car, which then drove off on its own, autopilot now in control.
With them gone, Helen looked at Bob.
"Any ideas?" Asked Helen. Bob sighed.
"No idea." Said Bob. "Perhaps a crime family is starting to get bold? Or some new supervillain is trying to make a name for himself by providing military-grade weapons to common thugs in exchange for loyalty? Whatever it is, we need to put a stop to it." Helen nodded in agreement.
"Let's go and interrogate those people at the police station. Perhaps some of them are willing to talk?" Suggested Helen. With that, the two exited the jewelry store and called for Bob's old car to pick them up.
Meanwhile, on a rooftop, two figures were spying on the police and the two supers. One had the same armor as the ones that attacked the Ashen one sometime ago, growling just like them and holding a sword of the same design as well.
The other wore a church outfit with a yellow mask void of any expression on it. Holding a sniper rifle, the man chuckled.
"This is something that'll get her attention." Said the man. The large knight growled at that. "Now. Now. The time will come for you and your friends to taste the blood of supers. For now, let's just observe them. You don't want to make our leader mad." The knight growled again, but nonetheless stayed obeyed and observed the supers get into their recently arrived car and take off to the police station.
Meanwhile
"It's so great to see you again, aunt Irina." Said Tony as he looked at his aunt in happiness. "It's a shame that uncle Eygon isn't here. I miss him." Irina giggled at that.
"He misses you too, Tony." Said Irina. "No matter how tough he acts. Remember, him insulting you is how you can tell he likes you."
"I would know. Your mother did it a lot when we met." Said the Ashen one, now no longer in his armor, revealing him to have brown eyes and hair that was similar to his sons'. Karla slapped her husband for that, but had a twinkle of amusement in her eyes.
"Anyway, I hope that you are ready for the little dinner meetup with your girlfriend's parents." Said Karla, remembering that it was tomorrow.
"Yes, I am." Said Tony. "I'm excited for the Parrs to finally meet you guys. You'll love them. I promise."
"We'll hold you to that, son." Said the Ashen one as he dined on his food. Karla nodded in agreement before dining on her own food as well.
Meanwhile
"Tch." Said Eygon as he lifted his massive hammer from the group of skeletons that tried to kill him, some of them having a wheel in their bodies for some reason. "The Ashen one was right. These bastards with wheels are annoying." Eygon then looked around the tomb that he was in, his investigations bringing him here. "No Darkwraiths here. Strange. Usually there's one or two in places like these nowadays."
The Darkwraiths were attracted to the tombs of old kings and mass graveyards long forgotten by society today. On occasion they go to more modern cemeteries, but they always kept themselves hidden, draining the humanity of whatever corpses in the cemeteries or any poor sod that found them.
But here, there weren't any Darkwraiths. Examining an open coffin, Eygon could sense that the corpse inside had been drained of what humanity it had left as well as its soul. And it was done quite recently, maybe a day ago.
Growling, Eygon wondered what the hell was going on.
"Usually they stay in these places, only going out when they sense great amount of humanity or when they grow desperate for more souls." Thought Eygon. "Based on what the Ashen one has in his reports, the Darkwraiths in this region are growing more active. Becoming more stronger too. How though? One needs someone skilled in the art of transferring souls to raw power to help them acquiring strength through souls. And none of the Darkwraiths are capable of doing such a thing. Either they've figured out a way to garner strength through souls…or someone is using souls to strengthen these wraiths." Sighing, Eygon got ready to leave, seeing that he can't find anything else from this place.
"I hope the Ashen one is having fun with my cranky wife with him." Thought Eygon. "But he better not be doing that kind of 'fun'. If he is, his wife and I will be making him regret it."
Meanwhile
Ashen One
"*Sighs* Eygon. Why do you think I would do such a thing with Irina?" Thought the Ashen one as Irina talked with Tony, talking about how she hoped she would be a good mother and how she'll be pleased with Tony will play with his cousin, something that Tony agreed to do.
"Eygon?" Asked Karla as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Eygon." Said Ashen one as he looked at his wife, seeing the amusement in her eyes.
"Hmm…I agree with him to an extent. Irina is quite attractive. And easy to manipulate." Said Karla, looking at Irina and her beautiful blond hair.
"I would never do that. Both because of you and my own virtues." Said the Ashen one.
"That and Eygon will beat you to a pulp if you did that to poor Irina." Said Karla, looking at her husband with a smirk.
"Yes. Like he did to those two poor souls." Said the Ashen one, remembering how two non-undead beings attempted to trick Irina into following them home for a…good time. When Eygon found out what they attempted to do with Irina, he personally taught them a lesson.
And now they were drinking and eating through a straw and had to get several surgeries to reattach some bones to the right places.
"Hmm…" Karla then smirked. "I think he's just jealous. He can't have sex with his wife now that she's pregnant." Before the Ashen one could argue with that, Karla forced him to look at him with a seductive smile. "Let's make him a little more jealous." She then kissed him on the lips before dragging him away from the living room.
Sighing, the Ashen one allowed himself to be dragged to their room. Good thing that their room was soundproof.
Meanwhile
"So, this is where they live?" Asked a woman in a mourning dress as she looked at the house where the Ashen one and his family lived in.
"Yes, my lady." Said a man with a white church grab and a yellow mask. "Not to mention there's a little dinner date they're planning with a family of supers called the Parrs. Its in their family restaurant." Upon hearing that the woman chuckled.
"Well, that certainly interesting." Said the woman while tapping her helm. "I think we may need to readjust our plan a bit." Chuckling to herself, the woman sadistically thought of how she planned to ruin the Ashen one's son's chance to have a family.
"You ruined my family, Ashen one. And now I will do the same for yours." Thought the woman as she remembered her sisters.