Pathological Vigilante 7 - (The Incredibles x Pixarverse, Syndrome!SI)
A massive underground warehouse. That's the nicest way to address the place known as 'the Mole Nest'.
A government location that had been previously planned to be used by the OSS in regards to Asian affairs during the war, but that lost importance when WW2 ended and proper offices were set up. As I was dropped off to what appeared to be a simple ice cream factory just a few miles south of San Fransokyo, I was immensely surprised by the degree of care still provided to what, by all means, was a defunct base.
Mr. Dicker personally took me there, showed me the general layout of the barren base, and then gave me the first task of the month.
"You shall be given a budget, which is listed in the office that has been assigned to you, and which you shall use to furbish this location with the basic equipment to conduct recruitment and render it self-sufficient enough to survive with what little I was able to scrape off the NRA's budget while we are still working out the right documentation for the full change," The old man explained with a no-nonsense attitude. "You will be checked upon once every week, Mondays, and you will have to justify any strange uses for the budget. I expect you to be in the best behavior for this first week while we prepare you a list to work with."
A nod was all Rick needed to leave me in charge of operations. I looked around and... I took about a full day doing two things that were not relevant to the goal in mind: I checked for any suspicious espionage equipment, and then I gave a look at the energy output provided to the base.
The former confused me as I found no spying tools set up, and the latter disappointed me as the output was dreadfully too low to be acceptable within my quick estimations on how much the base will consume. So, while I contemplated how Rick managed to give me so much free reign over the initial operation behind the 'Defenders' initiative, I got to work with Bob in setting up a stronger semi-independent generator to bolster the base's capacity. I couldn't go full solar, not when the whole point of this location was to not be noticed and panels would draw attention.
I got to work in setting up water turbines and actually rely on using part of the budget in creating 'dumb AI' to carry the task of commanding some small machines in fetching water supplies that were untapped within the state's reach and use those to fuel a 'water-born' energy-producing machine. It was a really frustrating thing that took another day out of me to finalize, and the end result was something I wasn't too proud about. I had been tempted to just play it coy and try to use the same energy of my armor but... the least trust I gave to the government so early on, the better.
Giving up on the secrecy around my armor's impressive abilities meant being set up for replacement or, worse, to be eliminated for good so that some corrupt idiots could snatch the layout to do their own nefarious things.
After making sure the machine could handle what I predicted would be a small four-men team within the first few years, I got to work to actually follow through the rest of my objectives: prepare a section meant for dormitories, which required doing some geometrical business I had little familiarity with, but that grew fond of for the next three days in creating a fairly acceptable structure for the overall facility. More rooms, more doors, more utilities and more... headaches, I guess.
All of what I was doing in that place was, after all, a big secret. I had even kept Mai in the dark about it, the whole Government looking at me but not at her was a blessing in disguise as it spared her from being taken and experimented upon. I mean, how much could I stretch the superpower excuse if it was a magical situation at best? Lies can only go so far, and her anonymity meant that I didn't need to further stretch my credibility with dangerous people while, well, playing secretive around her in this regard.
Maybe I could have handled this better, but something was better than the 'nothing' that was the worst outcome: trying to convince her to join the group.
This would be too much pressure on her as I was already feeling the stress of splitting my attention between being a 'normal' kid, looking into new inventions, and being a hero. The latter of the three aspects of my life now having grown out of proportions as I was soon to lead a group of heroes and... how good would that be?
I was smart, yes, but handling a team with their own issues meant stepping on a fine line of future troubles. Could I solve them? Was I up to it?
All those questions weighed heavily on my mind as I continued to mindlessly drone over what needed to be done for the base. Proper supplies in case of either a blackout or a natural disasters, some secret areas among the 'shut down' sections to use in case I had to go 'rogue' on the government, and much more.
It was all so distracting, much so that I almost failed to notice the week was very soon over and I had managed to just preserve 5% of the original budget while scrunching up what I could get out of what I could already put to use. Rick was 'impressed' (which was a mixture of genuine surprise and annoyance I kept so little out of just that week), but he focused most on giving me a list of names to look into. None which felt familiar until I took notice of one that got my full interest and...
I had a place where to begin recruiting my fellow young heroes!
Karen Fields was a bit surprised when a man from the government reached out and spoke with her parents.
It didn't take her too long to know the excuse he used, the 'advanced school program' that she had been selected to take part to, was all a lie to get to her and her powers. When she was very young, Karen didn't think herself as special but as a cursed girl: things vanished before she could touch them, she ended up relocating animals around without thinking, and got so close to being exposed to others.
It was only through her admiration for Elasti-girl that Karen pushed through the fear of being caught, of being hurt, of being called a monster. It had been rough mostly because the ban on Superheroes, making her dreams of becoming one impossible and crushing her spirit once more.
So, for the government to look for her... it made little sense. She had never used her powers publicly for the reasons that could warrant any punishment. And the way they approached her, lying to her parents, made the girl unsure on what was really going on.
All was incredibly confusing and very frustrating- until she was told what this was all about.
"A team of superheroes which will work to slowly rebuild public confidence all the while acting under some proper laws and... well, avoid what led to the creation of the NRA."
The oddest aspect of this was the one giving her this introduction. His name, Buddy, meant little to her, but the fact he was a boy around her age made her extremely confused. That and the notion he was the leader of these 'Defenders'. There was also a very troublesome truth to this matter.
"B-But I am not a hero."
"But you have the potential to be one and... is about time the heroes make a comeback."
Despite some reluctance and not feeling as confident as she should be at being given the chance to grow up to be like her idol, Karen listened and felt something primal in her awaken at the thought that... maybe she could truly make it. To be a hero, to be a savior, to not be a pariah.
Everything that she was being told between training exercises, harmless tests, and even selecting her name and costume made Karen ecstatic. She wasn't forced to join all at once, but she was 'warned' that telling anyone of this if she rejected the offer would push for some unpleasant repercussions.
"And it isn't me you would have to be worried, but the government. Trust me when I say I would give you a fair choice, but I am not the one pulling the bigger strings here."
And while this indeed felt like a peer-pressuring experience, Karen couldn't hold back a squeal of happiness once at home in her room. Face against her Elasti-girl pillow, she beamed and danced around the bed while thinking if this was the right choice.
...
Before ultimately accepting because this was too good to say no to.
AN
First member of the Defenders, a younger Karen Fields (Voyd).