[IC] The Incredibles: The New Supers

[TheUnknowable]

Lucius Best, aka Frozone, and Robert Parr, aka Mr. Incredible, stood in front of the door of the girls dorm in their living room as their wives got Jack-jack settled in. The trainees had, of course, met him before, as they had met the rest of their families, but they'd never had to watch him before and Helen wanted to make sure that he would be fine staying with them. You didn't want to leave a four year old, especially one with super powers, with a stranger as a baby-sitter.

"Ok, now, Jack-jack." Helen said. "Mommy and Daddy are going out to dinner with Mr. Lucius and Mrs. Honey now, so you need to stay here with these nice people for a little while, ok?"

Jack-jack turned into his demon form and jumped on his mom, hugging her. After a few seconds she stretched herself out of his arms and set him down on the floor. "Don't worry," she said, "we'll be back to pick you up before you miss us."

"I want Vi to watch me." he said.

"Vi and Dash are out protecting people right now, but these are nice people. I need you to be nice and stay with them, for a little while, ok?"

Jack-Jack turned back into his human form and nodded, looking a bit sad. "Ok." he said.

Bob came over and picked him up, giving him a hug. "Goodbye, sport." he said, then handed Jack-Jack to the nearest baby-sitter. After Helen made sure the trainees knew how to contact them, and knew to take him to Dr. Pennyworth, the pediatrician at the Bureau's special hospital for supers if he got hurt or sick, they waved goodbye and left.

[DFTBA]

Rebekah Green

As the Parrs left the room, Rebekah had to admit to being a little nervous. Of course, being entrusted with the safety and wellbeing of a child was always a serious responsibility, but when that child was the youngest in a family of supers, no, the family of supers, celebrated the whole world over and renowned for their deeds, power and experience? Rebekah had no doubt that any one of them could kick her butt to kingdom come and back with only minimal effort, should they ever want to. Clearly, this job was one to be taken very, very seriously.

Then there was the child himself. While he looked very cute and innocent is his (near indestructible) red onesie. In many ways, he was a four year old child like any other: cheerful, inquisitive, with simple likes and dislikes. The important point, Rebekah thought, wasn't that he could already lift his father's weight, but that he didn't really want to. He would be perfectly happy with eating some food, playing some games and going to sleep. Rebekah could get behind those goals. This wasn't a fight: they could work together.

Determined to make friends early and start the evening off on the right foot, Rebekah leaned down to be face-to-face with the preschooler. "Okay, Jack-Jack, while Mummy and Daddy go and have their special dinner, we're going to have ours as well," she told him. "I'm going to go and get that ready. I hear you really like fish fingers, is that right?

[Stern Algorithm]

Cassie watched with a trained, professional, fake smile as Mr. and Mrs. Parr left on their dinner date. Even though she saw Mr. Incredible as someone who had, in the past, been a reckless vigilante, she wasn't going to let her personal feelings get in the way of doing her job. If anything, she should thank Mr. Parr and his lawsuit for bringing to light the issues of reckless endangerment during crime fighting and superhero accountability. She was glad to be a part of this program; she still saw superhero activity as a necessity, albeit an unfortunate one thanks to the continued existence of super crime, but felt that it needed to be reined in by public forces. While this was her first assignment, Cassie felt it was symbolic of their future: their task was to supervise an extremely dangerous super. Perhaps this indicated the Bureau's ambition to supervise all supers, something Cassie believed in strongly. After all, 'Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?', 'who guards the guardians?'

Cassie observed as Rebekah took the lead in occupying Jack-Jack's attention. Cassie was content to take a backseat and let the younger members do their thing, besides Cassie wasn't very good with children. She remembered, with some guilt, an incident where she was watching a colleague's child. The child had started acting up so Cassie used her power to imitate the mother's voice. That had only served to freak the child out even more.

Cassie sat down on the couch in the living room and turned the TV on to a news channel. She wouldn't pay the child too much attention, but she would remain present, observant, and available, making sure to keep her super-hearing focused as well as send out echolocating pings should the child wander out of her vision.

[Mr Rage]

Kai leaned against the counter in the kitchen. She still wasn't entirely sure why she ever agreed to this. She was already on the streets fighting crime! That's where she should be tonight, not baby sitting a child. After all, when she was four years old she was already tasked by her father to clean the Dojo... Not sit around idly waiting for someone to bring me my food.

She heard the TV pop on in the other room. That was probably the reason young Americans were so far behind the Asian school aged children. Too much time allowed to stare into a glowing box.

"Can I help?" Mako asked the younger girl. Her accent was present, but had long ago faded away significantly. She was bored, already, might as well be useful.

[TheUnknowable]

@DFTBA "but fish don't have fingers." He said, then ran over to the couch and climbed up.

---

Mary opened the door and walked into the apartment. "Sorry about being late. A customer called at the last minute and I had to grow them some strawberries. I grew some extras though." She sat a basket with containers of several types of berry in it. "Feel free to eat some if you want." She grabbed a container of strawberries, then walked over to the couch and sat down. "Hey Jack-Jack. Want one?" She held the container of berries out to the child and he took one, shoving the whole thing in his mouth.

"Mmm." he said, then reached for another.

[DFTBA]

Rebekah Green

"but fish don't have fingers." He said, then ran over to the couch and climbed up. It was the typically literal response she should have expected from him, but really, she reflected, the misunderstanding was her fault.

"Ah, fish sticks!" Rebekah sighed as the toddler ran off. The exclamation worked as both a minor curse and as a correction "Fish sticks. That is what you call them in America."

It truly was the small things that got her about moving to a new country. The big stuff, she could deal with, because it was big, in her face, and she was constantly being reminded of it. But the tiny cultural differences like what you called fish fingers? That was all to easy to forget and then mess up.

"Sorry about being late." Mary said as she came in. "A customer called at the last minute and I had to grow them some strawberries. I grew some extras though."

"Yeah, sure. No prob." Rebekah answered. "Just keep him entertained for a bit. I'll be in the kitchen cooking the fish... sticks"

[Mr Rage]

As Rebekah started to work on preparing Jack-Jack's lunch, Mako hung out with her. There wasn't really much to preparing food like this. Put them on a tray, throw them in the oven, set the timer and wait. Mako was bored... still. "Have you ever heard of induction cooking?" She asked no one in particular, she didn't wait for anyone to respond either, "It is a type of electric cook top that uses magnets to heat up the pan directly. It is fast, efficient, and when you are done, the surface is hardly warm that the pan sat on... I wonder if I could pull that off..." She trailed off as she thought about how to manipulate her magnetic abilities to have that effect. She would have to try it out later, but she knew better then to mess with the stuff from the Parrs.

Instead she went as far as the walk way into the living room where everybody else was sitting. She took one step into the room and she could see the image on the TV warp slightly in her direction. With a sigh she took a step back out of range and watched from afar.

[DFTBA]

OOC: You mean like this thing? Yeah, that's awesome.

Rebekah Green

"Yeah, I think I might have seen a video like that online, something about a levitating magnetic barbecue?"

Mako was wandering off now, but Rebekah's curiosity had been awakened, and she didn't want to let such a cool idea go so easily. She fished out another tray from the cupboard, and a tray of eggs from the fridge. They should be fryable.

"It would be great if you could" she continued. "Let's give it a try. What do you reckon?" She held up the tray and an egg for Mako to see, a question written on her face.

[Mr Rage]

"... That was not what I had in mind... that would take too much power, I think. I can levitate the pan alright, but I don't think I can levitate it and excite it enough to cook with it. I could probably excite the pan enough to heat it up, but I don't think I've got quite enough control to and power to really do the trick... No, I had better not, not with their pans."

[Stern Algorithm]

Cassie looked over to Rebekah and Mako. "You know," Cassie said, using her power to project her voice, "you shouldn't recklessly test your abilities in public spaces. As an example to other supers, we should only try the limits of our powers in government-regulated testing facilities." While the words themselves may be condescending, she spoke in an instructive way, seeing herself as the role-model, the paragon to these impressionable youth (though Mako wasn't much younger than herself); youth who had only known and looked up to heroes like Mr. Incredible, who was hardly the ideal Cassie felt these girls should be striving towards.

[DFTBA]

Rebekah Green

Rebekah cocked an eyebrow at Cassie's words. "Yeah? Well this right here is a dedicated facility, and the base of a government-funded programme for the training of young supers. Which is exactly what we're doing." Indeed, it was within this very building where each of them did most of their training with Lucius. Sometimes this happened in one of the the empty apartments below them, or up on the roof when they needed a more open space.

"Come on Mako, at least give it a try. This induction cooking sounds like a great skill to have, it lets you practise having fine control over your powers, and if you can pull it off, I bet Jack-jack would really love it!

She pressed the tray into Mako's hands, and then stepped back to give her room to work.

[Mr Rage]

They did both have good arguments.

"I really shouldn't," She began to say, but was interrupted by the pan being shoved into her hands.

But the boredom had gotten to her. She was bored, simple as that. So, the devil won this time, and her conscious would have to wait.

"Alright, so, I can't hold onto the pan either, it is going to get hot so lets go over here," She moved over to a counter top and laid down some hot pads on the counter and set the pan on top of it. Mako Kai pulled up a wooden stool so she could focus and not worry about forgetting how to stand. "Nobody in the room has a pacemaker or similar, right? Cassie, you might want to turn down your equipment for a moment, this could get noisy..."

With her hands hovering near the pan the Magnastar put her powers to the test. The idea was simple, excite the metal into creating enough kinetic energy that it produces heat without friction. Yep, real simple. The process was done with thousands of small magnets all firing in sequence to keep the pan in one place while making it move at a microscopic level. Mako was attempting to do it with just her hands. It wouldn't be pretty, Mako knew that. She would start of with slow pulses and low powered and increase the pace between her hands until it was almost constant, and then slowly amp up the power. She closed her eyes at first and began. Then after about 30 seconds of this she nodded for Rebekah to crack the egg and put it on the pan. She practically held her breath as she waited to hear the sizzle and smell the pleasant smell of frying egg.

[Stern Algorithm]

Cassie sniffed in annoyance at Rebekah's retort but didn't reply. If the TV had been a CRT, no doubt the image would be experiencing fluctuations right about now. Cassie passive-aggressively got up from her seat, and sat back down on the other side of Jack-Jack, blocking his view of Rebekah and Mako. "So John," Cassie spoke to Jack-Jack, using his given name, "As supers, we need to learn how to use our powers responsibly, isn't that right, Mary?" She took a berry from Mary's basket, "Thanks for the berries, by the way." She gave the pair in the kitchen a side-eye, half-expecting something to explode.

[TheUnknowable]

@Stern Algorithm"No problem." said Mary. "If you need anything else, just let me know. I'll go to my room and grow it." She stuck another strawberry in her mouth, not even bothering to pull the leaves off the top. She looked over at their attempts at cooking with powers. "You know, if you want to try it I could grow an oak tree and wee could try wood-fire cooking."

---

Jack-Jack was too busy watching some TV program aimed at preschoolers to care about the woman's attempt at cooking with her powers or the preparation of his food.

[Mr Rage]

It was weak at first, to be sure, but there was definitely some cooking happening with the egg. She focused harder now, pushing a little more power into it. Elsewhere in the kitchen, where nobody was paying attention, a spoon slid a few inches across the counter in Kai Mako's direction. The audible sound of sizzling began to take place, followed soon by the aroma of the cooking egg.

"Haha!" She exclaimed at the apparent success, she let go of her focus slightly in her jubilation, the power she provided didn't drop, but her control did. The previously unnoticed spoon took a jump and found itself planted on the back of Mako's right hand with an audible smack, adhered there by magnetic force, drawn to her ring and her bangle. The heat suddenly left the pan, nearly instantly in fact, and the egg stopped cooking, still a little under-done to really call it edible. But then, there were several dishes in her cultural heritage that called for raw or undercooked egg. When she finally released her powers the rest of the way, she reached over with her left hand and removed the spoon from its perch on her right hand, then switched it back over before using it to scoop up the partially cooked egg.

"No sense in letting it go to waste!" She said as she put a runny spoon full in her mouth, she chewed and swallowed quickly before starting for another scoop, "It could use some salt and pepper, but all in all, I'd say that it proves that it can be done." She stuck a second scoop in her mouth with a triumphant smirk on her face.

[DFTBA]

Rebekah Green

Obligingly, Rebekah handed over the condiments, a massive grin splitting her face.
"That was fantastic" she crowed. "Hey Jack-jack, come check out what Mako's done! She can use her powers to cook!"

Taking the tray in her own hands while Mako added seasoning, she moved into the doorway and held it down low enough for the pre-schooler to see. There wasn't really that much to see, so she focussed her own power into the egg, causing it to grow to about 5 times its original size.

"The first course is served" she announced, grabbing a few more spoons. She handed one to Jack-jack and then scooped a little of the egg onto her own, raising it in a mock toast. "Here's to Mako" she declared, "And to superpowers making the world better in ways both big and small."

[Stern Algorithm]

Cassie saw this as what some overbearing teachers/parents might call a 'teachable moment'. Following Jack-Jack to the kitchen, Cassie first scrutinized the egg, making sure it was safe for child consumption. "Ms. Green is right, John," Cassie said, much to everyone's surprise, "Our superpowers can make the world a better place." Cassie looked around for a moment. "BUT. Supers who abuse their powers, or use them recklessly, can hurt a lot of people. So we need to learn self-control and only use our powers when we have to."

[TheUnknowable]

Cassie saw this as what some overbearing teachers/parents might call a 'teachable moment'. Following Jack-Jack to the kitchen, Cassie first scrutinized the egg, making sure it was safe for child consumption. "Ms. Green is right, John," Cassie said, much to everyone's surprise, "Our superpowers can make the world a better place." Cassie looked around for a moment. "BUT. Supers who abuse their powers, or use them recklessly, can hurt a lot of people. So we need to learn self-control and only use our powers when we have to."

@Stern Algorithm

"It's hard to learn self control when you only use them when you have to, but yes, we can hurt people. That's why we have to be careful how we use them." Mary said, disagreeing a bit with the cautious woman. "Of course, if they were trying anything really dangerous we'd need to be in a training area just to be safe, but that is a simple enough trick that people do all of the time with machines, so we knew what could happen. Still, I guess it would be safer if we tried it in a the training area until we are used to it. We wouldn't want to heat up the nails in the wall or the wiring by accident."

She cut up some fruit to go with the super and filled a bowl with various pieces. She then grabbed a fork and sat down on the couch to eat. She wasn't a vegan. In fact, even some plants ate animals, something she was more than willing to duplicate, but she just didn't feel like doing so right now. "So, how about I go out and get us some ice cream after supper? It wouldn't take more than a few minutes." She stopped as a light on the TV started to blink. She grabbed the remote and typed in a combination and the screen changed to reveal a seemingly distraught Mrs. Parr.

"Mommy!" yelled Jack-Jack.

"Hello, Jack-Jack." she said. "Listen, Honey's going to come over and watch you for a little while." She looked up at the others. "The rest of you need to suit up. There's a robot attacking a research lab on the other side of the city and we're going to need your help."

[DFTBA]

Rebekah Green

The tray of egg lay forgotten on the floor after Elastigirl's sudden appearance and subsequent revelation. There were four Incredibles on patrol tonight, plus Frozone, and they were still calling for backup? It might have just been cautionary, but something in Rebekah's gut told her that this was bad.

She sprung across the living room and wrenched open a cupboard, revealing her super suit and bag, and began dressing hurriedly. Despite her worries, now was the time for action. This was the reason that each of them was here, the focus of all of their training so far. When the situation called for it, they would have to put their duty first and leave anxieties for later. Now was the time for action.

"...Research lab" she repeated. "Do you guys know where that is?" Without waiting for an answer, she addressed the television. "Where can we find you?"

It was yet another unfortunate side effect of being new to the city that Rebekah had virtually no idea where things were in Metroville, aside from the big landmarks. That meant she would have trouble getting anywhere in a hurry, teleportation power or not. Did she have time to crack out a big city map and find one building? She didn't know. It was still the time for action, but considered, well-advised action would serve everyone better. She pulled on her shoe and waited for a response.

[Stern Algorithm]

Cassie 'tsk'ed when Mrs. Incredible came on the TV. While she felt that crime fighting was a responsibility of supers, it was not one she reveled in. And although both her parents had been crimefighters, Cassie herself was anything but seasoned, and she was sure the same could be said of the others present. "I know where it is," Cassie said to Rebekah, having worked there herself. "But I'll need some time suiting up." Cassie cracked open the large white trunk she took with her everywhere, revealing her armor packed inside in small parts fitted to individual cubby holes. She pulled out a simple black spandex suit; she would need to slip this on before donning the armor.