Pathological Vigilante 3 - (The Incredibles x Pixarverse, Syndrome!SI)

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Ah yes, Italy.

To many, a lovely place for Summertime.

For someone like me, who was previously born there, it was like visiting home. And yet not.

One thing that many people don't tend to get in regard to foreigners is the notion that not all parts of your own homecountry is not always ideal for you.

To put it bluntly, during my previous life, I had been born in Southern Italy. Which means that, going into Northern Italy wasn't the finest way to go back home.

Some may inquire if there was some animosity (there was some irritation, but it was based on the levels of industrialization and the 'Lagging South' phenomenon) and the full truth is... there wasn't any genuine or deep-rooted hatred.

All Italians were Italians, with just a handful of people keen to try and split people apart for their own needs.

Still, this trip entertained none of those possible issues. Dad had been given the opportunity to open up a factory for home appliances in Liguria, and we were to stay at a small town near the major city of Genoa, Portorosso, while he took care of this business.

To say that Portorosso was quite backwater would be an understatement. Mai even thought that it had been struck by the war, but the timing and the location made that possibility quite low.

As we arrived to our residence, once the home of a nobleman that had been stripped away from his family due to his allegiance to fascism, we were met with the mayor of Portorosso.

A short man, a nervous grin, a sleazy person overall as mother was quite keen to notice the servile nature of this individual was a common trait for politicians at this time.

With little to no 'full majorities' as coalitions kept the republic's governments afloat, those people were known to be fairly slimy on how to get extra support for a campaign before or even after an election.

It didn't help that corruption meant that funds coming from America were grossly-mismanaged by the smaller administrations, lessening the rate of improvement those places could be given with proper care and attention.

I didn't pay it much attention, but I couldn't help but roll my eyes at that sign of corruption I only knew about thanks to what my relatives from my previous life had told me much about.

I distracted myself looking around the distant horizon with Mai, her father finishing to handle some files with mother before leaving us with her.

Despite her serious attitude around others, mom was actually quite allowing when it comes to exploration, and while it was still weird for us to give us much freedom, I had proved myself in speaking Italian fairly well after 'studying long enough' for the trip.

So, Mai stuck to my side as we left the residence and walked to Portorosso itself.

The air around was definitely a change when compared to Metroville's Californian heat, with the scent of the sea reminding us both that we were nonetheless staying over at a seaside location.

Mom had given us some money before we left, roughly a thousand Liras (close to 54$ in 1950s) and I decided that the best way to introduce Mai to Italy was through its food.

Sadly for me, however, the first introduction Mai had over Italy was the 'chaotic order' within the streets.

While it was true that Metroville could get chaotic at times, here the 'chaos' was actually the town's own 'order'. With hardly any vehicle around, people jaywalked without much of a care considering that there weren't any major laws in town forcing everyone to keep by the sidewalks.

Despite the surprising way the crowd worked, Mai didn't seem too stressed over it. And she definitely understood what I meant with 'good snacks' when we got within range of the only bar in town.

She tensed up, eyes wide open as her nostrils caught upon the scent of freshly-baked snacks. The place was packed with folks of all sorts, but it was mostly kids that were enjoying the school break.

Some of those took notice of that while I finished paying for some Baci di Alassio, a chocolate and nuts' snack that was just too sinful to ignore.

Mai started to stuff her mouth with some but-

"Hey, you two are not from around."

The accented Italian took me aback. It was definitely not the same I was accustomed to, but I could at least speak 'proper' Italian and be understood. Hopefully.

"Yes, we are actually tourists."

The boys shared some looks. "Tourists? From where?" One of them asked, surprised and giddy - I was forgetting something very important.

"California."

At this time, in Italy, this sort of answer tended to get a very specific reaction.

"REALLY?!" One of them excitedly squeaked, the rest following after his lead as they barraged me with questions about the United States.

I had completely forgotten that Italians were quite Pro-USA at this point. They looked at the States as this sort of heaven where one could get a stable job and a big house for themselves and their families.

So yes, saying that we were from the USA was literally painting a target on our back. Something that wasn't ideal considering Mai's own shyness around others and her 'red furred issue' that would come out if poked hard enough.

But before the words could spread, I saw the kids pausing as someone behind them picked them by the back of their shirts and yanked them away.

They all turned around to give grief to the guy responsible for saving our bacon, but the boys froze up and... looked up. Eyes wide open, they were all staring at a wide and slightly taller kid that was giving them a serious frown.

"H-Hi Massimo."

"W-We were going away just now..."

"BYE!"

The boys rushed away, leaving me and Mai to face 'Massimo'. It took me a moment to remember this was a familiar name.

Massimo Marcovaldo, Giulia's father from Luca. I knew Portorosso was the main location for that movie, but we were more than a decade earlier to the events of the movie so... I actually thought the parents in the cast would have been far younger than that.

Turns out that Massimo looked to be around our age despite his bigger size.

I expected him to do something else but he just spared a look at us, nodded, and then walked up to one of the waiting lines for the salty snacks in display.

Instead of lingering, I took Mai out of the bar and-

"What was that?" She half-whispered half-asked. "Is that guy bad news?"

I didn't need to ask which 'that guy' she was referring to as I shook my head.

"The boys were about to swarm us. I forgot that people here are quite loving of America and... Massimo, that guy, kind of helped us before it got too bad."

Mai flashed a surprised look. "Oh, then that's... nice of him?"

"Quite. But he seems like a loner. We should-"

"Befriend him?" The redhead guessed and then rolled my eyes at my smile. "I guess he may not be bad. Never judge a book by its cover and all of that."

I smiled some more as Mai learning this lesson truly showed how much confident she got over her powers, but I didn't say much more as we walked around a little while and then got back to mom.

While it was true we could explore some more, we had plans to check the beach after lunch, so Mai had wanted us to be back to the residence ASAP so we wouldn't be distracted too much by a place we could visit more thoroughly in the next few days.

What I didn't expect was, however, that we would end up making first contact with more folks from this movie - and this one was quite the hugger.

AN

You know what they say: like son, like mother. Wait no, that's not... oh well, we're sticking with this one!