Pathological Vigilante 4 - (The Incredibles x Pixarverse, Syndrome!SI)

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Water is wet.

As a man of science, this was actually a rather smart thing to say. Don't mind the fact I was literally behaving like a dead body on water, floating while being splayed.

Mai was somewhere around waddling, getting taught how to swim by mom while I was happily enjoying the finest thing of an holiday: a bit of lonelihood.

Mind you, I love having people around, but I loved having my own 'solo time' too. And while Mai was not a troublesome individual around, she was an individual. Which meant I wasn't alone.

Am I making any sense right now?

Maybe the salt water was getting through my ears and drowning my brain. Or maybe I was just so relaxed that I wasn't trying to be smart for once.

I let out a sigh and opened my eyes, greeting the few clouds over my head, pure white ones as there was not a single hint of raining in the nearby future.

I was so busy in my own cloud-watching that I did miss the first notes of a catchy tune coming from the lovely Summer movie known as... Jaws.

Soft, tenderly, quite far from being a terrifying situation. Yet something shifted in the water, well under where I was.

I only felt the sea floating me left and right, lulling me into a literal false sense of security. I was closing my eyes again to bask some more under the sun when-

Something poked at me from below!

I jumped in surprise, accomplishing half-a-flip and half-a-yelp before crashing head-first into the water, panicking as I looked around for anything dangerous but... I paused at the sight of a humanoid giggling as the sole responsible for that prank.

I blinked, the salty water making my sight blurry for a moment but I could recognize the culprit being... one of those fish people from the movie tied to the city.

You know, blue fins for hair, magenta eyes, green-blue scales for skin, and seaweed for clothes. The difference here was that I was looking at a... girl.

Her sharp fang-like teeth sporting a grin as she was done chuckling- one that perished the moment she saw the deadpan look I was gifting her.

I waved and, wide-eyed, the girl waved back. I was sure she was supposed to be Luca's mom. Or maybe the other dude's mother. Still, I pointed at her to go up. I definitely wanted to talk with this fine specimen of 'fish-person' and understand a bit of stuff a Pixar movie of that kind doesn't explain.

"Hi. I am Buddy."

She blinked, still recoiling by what possibly was her first taste of 'first contact'. "D-Daniela."

"Nice to meet you, Daniela. So... fish-girl?"

She pouted, appearing a bit offended. "What about it?"

"I am not trying to insult you. Just surprised," I admitted truthfully. "I mean, you look cute too."

Her scales by her cheeks reddened at this. "S-Stop it."

I chuckled. "What? Can't tease you after you pranked me?"

"Nope! You're a jerk," She huffed, turning her nose away and appearing exaggeratingly upset.

"Am I now? So, that means I can be a bit of a jerk now that you say that?"

A frown briefly took over her face before being shredded into new giggles that were forced by yours truly through the means of tickling Daniela.

The girl giggled loudly, her mouth open and her fangs flashing a bit as she struggled over my assault and then I let her bed.

She slithered out of my reach and gave me a playful look.

"Meanie."

"Proudly so."

Daniela grinned at my response and then tilted her head to the side. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Vacation. Enjoying some time away from home with the family."

"Oh? What's that? Vacation?"

"It means taking a trip far from home to... enjoy the pretty places over the world."

Her eyes widened in awe. "That sounds cool."

"It is. But it's also pricey, and dad came here to work too."

She nodded and... then frowned as she saw someone in the distance.

"Friend?"

I turned to see what Daniela was looking at. And I saw Mai waving at me and then frowning as she definitely noticed Daniela.

We were far off from the coast, so it was simple for anyone there to mistake something else as just a visual trick.

"I think I have to go but... I can return later today, maybe after lunch. So I can introduce to Mai."

"You better," Daniela returned this with a smile, but I could tell she was sad that this little first contact was ending so soon. I was definitely upset too, but I intended to make up for this during our second hangout.

It took me a while to convince Mai I had indeed made first contact with a fish-girl.

But she still allowed me to show her I was right after getting a dress for Daniela (if she wanted to go around I doubt that seaweed clothes would do) and then getting to the spot where I had first met her.

I looked around and yet I frowned as I saw no sign of the fish-girl in the water. Maybe having failed to take into account that her people lunched at a different time or something happened that made her skip on the hangout but-

"Psst!"

A loud hiss drew Mai and I to look at a nearby large rock as someone peeked from it. Rather than a fish-girl, we were looking at a young brunette... that was wearing Daniela's seaweed clothes. And one with her smile.

"Dani?"

She beamed at the petname. "Buddy!"

She bolted, surprising us both as she just came for that tight hug. I hugged her back and... Mai frowned at the sight.

Before she could ask what was up, the redhead 'eeped' in surprise when Dani dislodged herself from me and then gave Mai a big hug.

The ensuing escalation was both amusing and scary for a time, especially when Mai jumped in a panic, switching to her red panda form, while Dani ended up jumping on a pool nearby which caused her human form to turn back to her fish-girl one.

The two girls froze up at each other, eyes wide open as they seized up their respective unique forms and-

"Cool!" "Cool!"

Both exclaimed at the same time. With Mai giggling at Dani jumped onto her while they introduced themselves to one another.

In less than a nanosecond, the duo had shifted from tentative acquaintances to outright best buddies.

Which prompted a sort of deal to come up from yours truly, Dani told us more about her people and we would show her more about Portorosso and its beauty.

The first day of that deal was cut short by Dani getting a bit overwhelmed as she discovered the world beyond the waters. She was told about war and why some of the buildings were still in disrepair after so long since the last war.

She tried her first sweet snack and... she kind of got accustomed on how much she could hug us around without making it awkward.

The next few days were fairly tame as Dani got adapted to her surroundings, moved around more confidently and picked up some of the local slangs in the process.

Also, she had made quite a habit (and I am sure Mai may have plotted for this to become a thing) for the three of us to spend at least a hour cuddling up in the sofa while reading some comics.

Mom was delighted to meet Daniela, and all in all there were no issues from the fish-girl's parents as they were particularly fine with her spending her childhood exploring all around (the waters).

Still, despite how fun the holiday was, it was soon time to go back home.

I want to say there was some mystery or some treasure hunt, but the movie this was tied to hardly had a big baddy for us to worry about. Portorosso was a simple town with a secret in its waters and that was all.

It was tough to explain to Dani that we would be gone for a full year (dad had to be convinced a lot by both Mai and I to accept spending a week every year here in Portorosso), but she was happy that we left her so much stuff to spend some time with and we gave her some knowledge on how to handle herself in her own 'solo explorations' among humans.

With a flight ready to see us going back home, I found myself watching from the little window on my side, ignoring Mai's cute snoring as she slept her head on my shoulder, and I had a few thoughts in mind.

Soon, I will make my first 'appareance' in a world where superpowers are growing more regulated and banned. And it was going to be... Epic.

AN

Daniela Pella (future 'Paguro') makes an appearance! Tough mama was a curious child just like her future son, but she is less shy than him.

That being said, the reason not much came up from this situation is because Portorosso lacks any major issue worthy of springing an Arc from. That's for the next chapter onward as Buddy starts his heroic career. As a Vigilante!