Featured song:
Heroes (We Could Be) by Alesso, Tove Lo (Hard Rock Sofa & Skidka Remix)
Mila had Kara, Ahsoka, the twins, and Myra each take turns showing their powers in a simulator to demonstrate their powers while she brainstormed designs for their suits.
Myra was definitely super powerful as a rocker. She literally could electrify the room by rocking out on even just an air guitar, but she preferred using a real guitar to create the soundwaves that could throw anyone off balance.
Anakin's plants were surprisingly powerful for a hero of his size and age. He could grow plants at alarming speeds, make vines grow in braids to make them stronger, and even create plants that gobbled things up. Well, basically really big venus flytraps.
Ahsoka was very skilled for someone so small and so young. She could be an Olympic gymnastics champion someday and win gold every time if she wanted!
Kara was fast beyond belief. Despite being a civilian for more than half her life, she found any chance she could to exercise her power in the event she got to use them again.
Carmine…. He was a special case. He didn't seem to do much when it came his turn to demonstrate his power. This, Carmine's family didn't find surprising. He wasn't a big fighter, and he was always an anxious kid.
"Does Carmine even have powers?" Mila said. "Granted, he is the offspring of one super parent and one non-super parent."
"He does have powers." Shmi said. "But he rarely uses them."
"What kind of power does he have?"
"Carmine makes music." Kara said. "He basically can weaponize any musical instrument by playing it, and he has a very powerful singing voice. I'm talking siren song."
"Really? Well, Carmine," Mila found a guitar and gave it to Carmine. "Why don't you play a little song and show us what you can do?"
Carmine looked at the guitar in his hands and tried to strum, but he felt nervous. He didn't have remotely any experience performing in front of people, so his hands were a little shaky as he held the guitar, and the string snapped when he tried to play it, scaring him into dropping the guitar.
The boy just ended up running to his mom, crying.
"Oh, Carmine. It's okay." Shmi soothed, hugging her son.
"Is he okay?" Mila asked.
"He should be. Carmine just has really bad anxiety." Shmi explained. "Other kids have picked on him for it since he was small, and it's made it difficult for him to do anything without fearing humiliation."
Carmine just kept crying into his mom's shoulder. Even if heroes weren't illegal now, Carmine had so many doubts about how well he would do as one. He was sure he'd mess up somehow, and people would call him the worst hero ever and he'd be ostracized for the rest of his life. He was terrified of a lot of things too. Spiders, the dark, snakes, heights, roller coasters, bats, bugs, sharks, that wasn't even half his fears.
"Carmine, it's okay." Shmi soothed again.
"I can't be a hero! I'm too scared!" Carmine said.
Brenda decided Carmine needed a pep talk. She asked Shmi if she could take him under her wing for a moment. Brenda had Carmine sit so she could speak with him, and she showed him a picture she always held in her locket of the day she and Mace got married.
"You know, Carmine. You're right. Being a hero is scary. Heroes run in while others are running out, but that doesn't mean the heroes aren't afraid. I didn't always know my husband was a superhero."
Brenda told Carmine all about how when she and Mace first got together, he'd told her he was a meteorologist, which became his actual job after the outlawing of supers. But, Brenda had come to notice that Mace seemed to vanish a lot, and have a lot of sudden calls into work or an emergency of some kind, and over time, she began to notice that they all seemed to coincide whenever the city was in jeopardy. Now, Brenda was an accountant, so statistics and logistical operations were no strangers for her. It didn't take much for her to put two and two together. And the one time Mace almost didn't leave a date to save the world… was the night he proposed to her.
Brenda remembered that night all too well. It was a night like so many girls dream of. Mace took her to a beautiful restaurant with candlelight, music, and everything. And he got down on one knee, pulled out a ring, and was about to pop the question, when someone screamed about Violet Storm attacking in the park.
Mace figured maybe another super would go and do it, and was just going to continue the proposal, but Brenda closed the ring box at that moment and told him, "Go save the city… hero."
For what seemed like the first time in his life, Mace was shocked that Brenda already guessed he was a super. But, without a second thought, he did go fight the villain, and then he came back to his lady. He'd expected her to dump him for lying to her about his job or expose his secret identity. But instead, she kissed him and answered his unfinished question. It didn't go exactly as planned, but it was certainly a night they would always remember.
"Mace was terrified of losing what we had up to now. After that day, we agreed that we would keep no more secrets from each other. But, no matter how fearless he appeared when he fought villains or stopped crime, even as Weather Man, he was terrified. But, he kept fighting because he knew that if he stayed back and waited for someone else to take action, it would sooner lead to more damage. Every superhero your father may have told you about, they appeared fearless, but deep down, each and every one of them is afraid of something. And the one thing many of them fear the most, is not being able to keep their loved ones safe. That's just one reason they all have secret identities. Including your father."
Carmine looked up a little when he thought about what Brenda told him. The supers were really as afraid as he was? How could people with such amazing powers be afraid of anything? Some of them could literally break down walls, talk to animals, or control natural elements with a wave of their hands. Some were even indestructible or could breathe underwater. That made them practically invulnerable…. Physically anyway.
"I've gotten to know many supers since I married one, and your father… he loved being a hero. But after losing his first wife, he became terrified of the same thing happening to his loved ones. So, he never stood for anything less than perfect hero work. But even after he was forced to hang up the cape, those of us who've known you since you were born have seen how he faced a new thing to be afraid of. Not being able to take care of his family. You don't need to be without fear to be a hero. All you truly need is the willpower to stand up and the right reason to fight."
Carmine thought again, thinking back to when he saw his father was among those trapped in that prison, for once being powerless to save the day. If the supers needed saving, who could rescue them, if not their own children, possibly the only supers left? No matter how terrified he was, Carmine knew if it were him or his siblings trapped there, Qui-Gon would become Captain Hardwear and literally burst through a hundred walls of steel to rescue them and have his children in his arms again.
The Jinn children's dad was trapped, and he and everyone else Mariverde trapped needed help. But to get them out, it would require a team of every helper they could get. Carmine wasn't sure how he could contribute his powers in this scenario, but he did know that he didn't want to be left behind while his siblings joined the fight.
Determined, Carmine got up and said, "Count me in."
"Great!" Mila said. "But, we first need to see how strong your power-"
Carmine vocalized a loud sonic note that practically shook the whole room as everyone covered their ears. Hunter really pressed his ears hard, them being more sensitive. The note was so powerful it shattered a lot of glass too.
"Wow! That was really loud!" Echo said.
"What?!" Wrecker picked the inside of his ear.
"I said that was really loud!"
"WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Wrecker shouted louder.
"Looks like you deafened Wrecker." Myra said.
"Don't worry, it's temporary…. Usually." Kara said.
"Well, now that we know the capacity of your powers…." Mila got out her sketchbook. "Let's get you all some super suits!"
The kids were all super excited when Mila came up with amazing super suits for each of them.
Myra's suit was black, silver, and red, matching with her red electric guitar, a red star mask, and Myra got her hair blown out to complete the look of a real rock star! Her chosen superhero name: Rock n' Red.
Kara's suit was golden yellow like her first suit when she was little, but this time it was bigger, and the lightning logo really popped. It felt really good to complete her look with the high ponytail and a new mask too. Her new hero name: Light Speed.
Ahsoka and the twins were especially excited; these would be their very first super suits. They couldn't wait to try them on.
Ahsoka got a suit of blue and gold that looked like a cool jumpsuit with matching boots, little beads, and she had a headband that looked like a crown. She also had a belt that was made of two gymnastic rings attached to a couple detachable elastic bands she could use to attach to any surface and swing or flip across an area. Her hero name: Gainer Girl
Anakin's suit was green with patterns of leaves on them with a logo of a tree, matching boots, gloves, a mask, and a crown of leaves and twigs to complete the look… and keep his growing hair out of his eyes. His chosen hero name: Super Green.
And Carmine's suit… he looked really dazzling. It was orange with musical scores all around it with a logo of a treble clef and symbol ff on it. It even had a special belt with various musical tools on it. A microphone, a pitch pipe, a tuning fork, a little music player, and a conductor's baton. And his mask was actually a pair of headphones with a visor specially made to fit over his glasses and keep them from falling off while also protecting his hearing. Plus, it connected with the music player on his belt that was equipped with songs of various genres.
Carmine's superhero name: Fortissimo.
Each and every one of the suits was specially designed to withstand extremely high temperatures, resist ripping no matter how much the wearers moved around or got hit, yet they breathed like Egyptian cotton.
"What's all this stuff for?" Carmine asked, looking at his tool belt.
"A singer or musician is always prepared." Mila said.
"Hey, how come Carmine gets tools and I don't?" Anakin whined.
"Don't worry, Anakin. We didn't forget you or your sister."
Mila gave Kara and Anakin some special tools that would likely aid them in their mission. Anakin's tool belt had little colorful balls with rings on them, which Mila explained were stench bombs. They were specially made bombs that when Anakin pulled off a ring and threw like a grenade, they would explode, but instead of blowing things up, they unleashed various smells that bugs that may try to harm his plants didn't like. Lavender, peppermint, basil, tea tree oil, even garlic, which could also repel snakes. They were even equipped with a special frequency activated by pulling the rings to stop mechanical bugs.
Kara, on the other hand, received a tool belt with various tools. A lasso, a swiss army knife, and a headlamp for the event Kara's hands were full or needed to both be free.
The kids tried out some of the tools on their belts, but all the adults hit the deck as the vibrations of Myra and Carmine's music shaking the room, Kara's lasso grabbing the wrong things, and Anakin's plants getting a little too wild and making a mess of the room. Now a bunch of tools, test tubes, and potted plants were knocked over, scattered, or broken all over the floor.
"I'm ready to be a hero!" Ahsoka, or rather Gainer Girl, exclaimed.
"Your enthusiasm is golden, Gainer Girl." Mila said, patting Mila's head. "But that was just step two."
"Before we send anyone on a mission," said Jango, being the first to get up. "It might be best to practice a little bit."
"We don't have much time though," said Mila. "So, children, let's see how well you learn in a couple of hours."
"Montage speed!" Wrecker exclaimed excitedly.
And so… training was to begin.
After some time coaching the children through stretches and cardio, Mila and Prof. Fett set up a training simulator much like the one Gizmo Girl used on the adult heroes. Them being kids, normally they would get the junior version, but this being a real hero mission, the kids needed to, albeit temporarily, grow up quickly, at least long enough to rescue the supers.
For this course, there was an obstacle course of street signs, lampposts, buildings, moving vehicles, mechanical menaces, as well as the Batch playing the role of villains the kids had to fight and pass through to get to the other side where there was a talking dummy hanging from a rope to be slowly lowered into "molten lava," which was actually just a bubbling pool of water with red lights.
"Alright, kids. Remember, the goal is to work together here. You have three minutes to beat your opponents and save the citizen." Mila instructed.
"Save me!" the dummy's mechanical voice repeated.
"Ready?"
The kids all got into their positions.
"Go!"
And the kids sprung into action!
We could hide away in daylight
We go undercover, wait out the sun
Got a secret side in plain sight
Where the streets are empty, that's where we run
The kids rushed in and started to dodge many things. But the Batch were pretty skilled fighters. Being quick came easy for Kara, but for the others, they had to multitask more than they were used to. Myra knew karate, but that wasn't easy to do while playing or carrying a guitar.
Anakin's plants were strong, but didn't always go exactly where he wanted them to, but he quickly found dropping one of the garlic bombs definitely threw Sensor off his game thanks to his sensitive nose, and the giant venus flytraps distracted Wrecking Ball and Quarry, and Kara's speed and Gainer Girl's swiftness were definitely a challenge for Hard Drive. The tricky one though, was Gamer. He was pretty good at strategy. But Gainer Girl being so small, that gave her an advantage to attack from behind
Carmine, however, was still nervous, and kept hiding behind stuff.
Every day people do everyday things, but I
Can't be one of them
I know you hear me now, we are a different kind
We can do anything
Kara jumped onto a moving vehicle and swung from a lamp post before jumping onto another robot and lassoing another before it could get to Anakin.
"Come on, everyone!" Kara said. "Let's light this up!"
"I think you just found your catch phrase, Light Speed." said Rockin' Red.
We could be heroes
We could be heroes, me and you
We could be heroes
We could be heroes, me and you
We could be
Anybody's got the power
The kids kept fighting, dodging every bit of pretend ammunition. Every bullet was really just ping pong balls painted silver, and the explosives were smoke bombs filled with laughing gas, seeing as explosions tended to make heroes dizzy and distracted.
With a little teamwork, the kids were getting closer and closer to the citizen they were rescuing, but the closer they got, the harder the course fought.
Mila and Prof. Fett took notes of all the kids' skills and methods, while the kids' mothers watched with worry. Despite the course being pretend, they still worried about them getting hurt. Even mothers of non-superpowered children worry about their kids spraining an ankle, breaking a bone, or getting an infection from performing various activities in different environments whether it was in sports, running in the park, skateboarding, or simply roughhousing.
They don't see it 'cause they don't understand
Spinnin' round and round for hours
You and me, we got the world in our hands
Every day people do everyday things, but I
Can't be one of them
I know you hear me now, we are a different kind
We can do anything
We could be heroes
We could be heroes, me and you
We could be heroes
We could be heroes, me and you
We could be
We could be heroes
We could be heroes, me and you
We could be
Only thirty seconds left, and the citizen was still left hanging!
"We're almost out of time!" Fortissimo said.
"Red, Fortissimo, distract! Anakin, prepare to catch!" Light Speed instructed.
Quickly, while two of the heroes kept the remaining opponents occupied, Kara and Anakin got into their positions.
Anakin grew some big mushrooms like stairs so Light Speed could jump toward the citizen, and Gainer Girl tossed up her gymnastic rings for Light Speed to hold onto so she could hang close enough to take out her army knife and cut the rope, grabbing the citizen before they could fall into the "lava."
All we're looking for is love and a little light
Love and a little light
We could be
All we're looking for is love and a little light
Love and a little light
We could be heroes
We could be heroes, me and you
We could be
For the big finish, Kara swung herself and the citizen away from the pool of doom, and Anakin caught them on a big sunflower, whereas Myra and Carmine managed to defeat all the villains. And right in the nick of time with four seconds to spare!
"She's alive!" Gainer Girl declared.
The adults all clapped, all of them astonished with how well the children worked together. For five children who never fought before, they sure packed a punch. Of course, that was just a simulation.
"Time for the ultimate test." Mila said.
Now that the Fantastical Force, as the kids were calling themselves now, were trained (well, as best as they could be in two hours), they were prepared to board the Marauder once more to join the Bad Batch on a whole new mission. Operation: Shutdown.
"Are you sure they can do this?" Shmi said, referring to the Batch looking after the children. "Do they even have experience with children?"
"I have them watch the baby twins all the time." Jango said, showing Shmi a picture of a baby boy and baby girl he had in his wallet. "Boba and Omega are as challenging as they are adorable. If my boys can handle them, they can certainly watch your kids."
"You saw how well they did in their training," said Mila. "Have a little faith in your little ones. They've survived civilian life this long. Ahsoka is the offspring of two super parents, and the four older ones are each half a superhero. Even non-super children are stronger than they look."
Carmine, however, took a quick jump off the Marauder, but not because he was backing out… but because he wanted to hug his mom goodbye.
"Oh, Carmine." Shmi sighed. But soon, Carmine wasn't alone. Anakin joined in too, and so did Kara.
Myra then decided to do the same with her mom.
"Don't worry, Mom." Myra said. "We'll all be back faster than you can say 'super'!"
And with that, the kids rejoined the Batch on the Marauder, and off they went to save their parents, the other supers, and the galaxy!
A few minutes later, Brenda looked at a sofa where she saw a huge lump in the blanket. She thought it might be Kade under there, sleeping or moping because he missed his sister.
"Kade, don't worry, Sweetie." Brenda said, sitting beside the blanket. "I'm worried about Myra too, but she is a strong woman. She isn't just part of your super powered father, she's also half of Mama, the one woman your father could never overpower. And more importantly, she's not alone in this, and she would never leave her family behind forever. She'll be back very soon."
But, Kade didn't seem to respond.
"Oh, come now. Don't be like that, Baby."
But when Brenda lifted the blanket, she gasped when she saw it wasn't Kade, but a pillow.
"Kade? Kade?!"
Brenda looked all around, but Kade was nowhere to be found. Quickly, she went to alert the others.
"Kade's missing!"
But no one else had seen Kade either.
"You don't think…" Shmi said, looking at the launch bay where the Marauder left from.
"Oh no…" Brenda gasped.
Kade was just a little boy. A boy with no powers of his own, and now the Marauder was heading to a planet that was entirely taken over by a psychotic butterfly sorceress and overrun by giant, destructive robots!