"So milady, where are we bound for this evening?"

"I don't know. You said you had something planned. You tell me."

"Hmmm… I was thinking Venice, maybe? Perhaps Rome or Florence? Authentic Italian followed by some art and architecture sound appealing?"

"Buddy, your accounts were frozen years ago! How do you expect to afford that?"

"I never said I didn't have any accounts or investments overseas."

"Smart boy."

"Of course. Well, if Italy is out, how about we take in a play on Broadway?"

"Isn't that still pretty far away?"

"Not necessarily. The movie, game, and comics never specified where Petropolis is located. For all anyone knows, it could be very close to New York City."

"Yes, but it was still a reasonable distance from a tropical island. That would imply it was somewhere on the west coast."

"Ah, but whoever said your family didn't have to relocate? After all, your house was completely destroyed."

"Yes, but three months later we were attending Dash's track tournament in Petropolis, so clearly our family hadn't moved."

"But who's to say you didn't move later? Perhaps to someplace near New York City? Maybe even in? After all, the city is notorious for masked crime fighters."

"Point taken. So then can we assume my family does live in New York City?"

"I'd say that's preferable, given tonight's plans."

"Fine. Then we live in New York City now."

"Ah, but where in New York City?"

"Buddy, don't start this."

"C'mon! It's important!"

"Not to this story it's not!"

"But for all the reader knows you live like a block from the theatre! Then we wouldn't need to take the subway or a cab!"

"Fine! We live in Manhattan, but not close enough to Broadway to walk!"

"But where exactly in Manhattan?"

"Don't push your luck, Pine."

"Ok, ok. You want me to call a cab?"

"The subway would be cheaper."

"Gross, the subway?"

"Fine, call us a cab. You're paying."

"Naturally."

"So what are we going to see?"

"The lady has the choice of either Chicago or Wicked."

"You bought tickets to both?"

"I wasn't sure what you'd want to see."

"You waste money so much."

"Well, I have a lot of it. Besides, the extra tickets aren't a waste. Whichever show we're not seeing, your parents can go see. Dash is old enough to babysit Jack-Jack now."

"Aw. That was thoughtful of you. I've already seen Wicked, but Mom's been dying to see it. I'm sure dad'll enjoy it, too. Hold on, I'll go tell them. When does the show start?"

"About two and a half hours. Should be enough time for everyone to get ready."

"Mom! Dad!"

"What! What is it! Did he hurt you? Should I break his arms?"

"Bob, calm down. She's obviously unharmed."

"Thanks, Mom. I just wanted to tell you Buddy got some extra tickets, and we thought you two would enjoy the night out since Dash is old enough to babysit Jack-Jack now."

"Tickets to what?"

"Wicked. It starts in two and a half hours."

"I figured that'd be enough time for you to get ready and maybe have a nice dinner."

"Thank you, Buddy. That was very considerate of you."

"Bet it's a trap."

"Shush, Bob. Go start getting ready. So are you two going to see Wicked as well?"

"No, we're seeing Chicago. I already saw Wicked with Grandma, remember?"

"Oh, that's right. I'm going to get ready now. Violet, before you do, could you please tell Dash he's in charge of Jack-Jack until we get home?"

"Sure, mom. You and dad have fun, 'kay?"

"You too, sweetie."

"I'll tell Dash. You go ahead and get ready."

"Thanks, Buddy."

"Hey, Dash."

"What do you want, intruder?"

"I'm just here to tell you Violet and I are going out on a date and—"

"Oh, gross! Why would you interrupt my videogames to tell me that?"

"You didn't let me finish, pipsqueak. Your mom and dad are also going out, so you have to look after Jack-Jack. You got that, Jack-Jack? Dash is in charge tonight."

"Ok. Dash, I wanna grilled cheese!"

"I can't work the stove, Jack-Jack. How 'bout I use you to roast weenies?"

"No way, Dash. Violet told me about the last time you tried that. You almost burnt down the apartment! Tell you what, you promise not to do anything reckless or dangerous, and I'll leave you money to order some pizza or something."

"Add some for movies, and you've got yourself a deal."

"Pay per view, and fine."

"Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Pine."

"Never thought I'd hear those words from a fifteen year old."

"See this, Jack-Jack? This is called irresponsible responsibility."

"Don't teach him that stuff, Dash."

"Pfft. You can't tell me what to do."

"No, but I'm pretty sure your mom doesn't want you teaching him that kind of thing."

"Ugh. Fine."

"What're you playing?"

"What do you care? Don't you have to go somewhere with Violet?"

"Yeah, but I'm waiting for her to get ready."

"Ugh. You'll be waiting for like an hour or something. Here, you can play Smash Bros. with me."

"Alright. How do you play?"

"For you? Trial and error."

"How did you beat me fifteen times? This was your first time playing!"

"Are you forgetting I'm a genius?"

"You boys having fun?"

"No. Your stupid boyfriend kept beating me."

"Hey, you won those two times."

"Only because you had to use the bathroom."

"Well, I'm ready to go. Dash, we're trusting you to be responsible tonight. Please don't do anything reckless."

"Yeah, yeah. Flamehead over here already bribed me into behaving."

"Hey! I've really toned my hair down!"

"You bribed him?"

"With pizza and pay per view money."

"Oh. Alright. Ready?"

"One thing I have to do first."

"What?"

"Tell you how beautiful you look."

"Oh my god! Gross! Ugh, I'm gonna be sick!"

"Blech!"

"Oh, Buddy, you're so sweet. You look so handsome tonight…"

"Disgusting! Seriously! Just go on your date before I hurl!"

"Relax, little man. We're just messing with you. C'mon, Vi. The cab should be waiting for us. Come to think of it, should I call one for your parents?"

"No, they've got their own car. Let's go."

"As you wish milady."

"Eeeeeeeewwwww!"

"Buddy, this place is really fancy. How much did you have to pay to get us in without a reservation?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"…I guess not. You just always spend more money than you have to whenever we go out. You know it makes me uncomfortable."

"That's why I never let you look at the bill. Besides, I have plenty to spare. If you didn't hate spending money so much, I would easily spend much more on our outings."

"Please don't, Buddy."

"Relax, Vi. I won't. Soooo…Any news from the agency on the super power debate?"

"Please, Buddy. You've been following the super-intelligence power debate more closely than anyone. You tell me how it's going. Should I call Edna?"

"Well, it seems that way. A lot of my inventions have been brought up as evidence. The opposition doesn't really have a whole lot to go on other than the same old redundant argument."

"It's genius, not super genius?"

"Yeah. But there are so many holes in that statement."

"Then they brought you into testify."

"You remember that?"

"Of course! You completely tore their arguments apart. It's not fair that just because your powers aren't physically evident in relation to your body you're not accepted as a super."

"Violet, I love you."

"I know you do, Buddy. I love you too."

"Uh…What would you think if maybe once the debate is over…We-uh, we could—"

"Buddy, this question could go in two directions and I hope it's the one I'm hoping it is."

"Wait. What do you think I'm asking?"

"Well from our conversation so far I'd say you're asking to be my partner in superhero-ing, which is what I hope you're asking."

"Oh good. I was afraid you thought I was proposing! Not that I don't see us getting married, I just don't think we're ready, and—Crap, I was much smoother as a villain."

"I understand what you're saying, Buddy. And honestly, if it means you're not a villain anymore, I'll gladly take you being less smooth. It's actually fairly cute."

"Violet Parr, must you always make a fool out of me?"

"You need someone to keep you in line."

"Don't think I'll let you get away without giving me an answer."

"We'll see. I imagine while we're waiting for the bureaucracy to sort everything out, we should probably practice together. Superhero pairs inexperienced with their partners often end up working against each other rather than with to defeat a villain. We'll need a good place to do it, though."

"Well, there's always Nomanisan."

"Ugh, no way. I hate that island."

"Alright, alright. There's plenty of space at my mansion—I mean, uh, house. I need plenty of safely enclosed rooms to test and practice with my inventions. Those should be perfect for training. If we need to, there's even a room we can use to generate certain scenarios."

"Buddy Pine you think of everything, don't you?"

"Everything except the possibility of capes and jet turbines. That has got to be my most embarrassing moment ever."

"Well, it's in the past. Let's eat our dinner and go see our show."

"As you wish, milady."

[Meanwhile, back at the Parr family's apartment with Dash and Jack-Jack—"Mush….too….strong! Jack-Jack! If I don't make it…..Tell Violet….This is all her fault."]