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It had been a whole month since the unban of superheroes. Internationally, many new supers started showing up. Some old friends also came back to the spotlight, although there were very few of them as most were... made M.I.A. to say the least. The Parr family were called in for something by Rick Dicker. Nobody really knew what it was, only that he claimed it needed to be said in person and in private, and that the children were moved to a different room to meet new "friends".
Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack had just arrived about 10 minutes ago, along with Violet's friend, Rose Hawthorn who was brought along since she also had superpowers. The room was silent and awkward. There were other kids, all 15 or under, Violet assumed, sitting in different corners of the room—too shy to approach each other. Apparently Rick and some others hadn't arrived yet so they were left waiting quietly and suffocatingly uncomfortable.
The only noises were the soft conversations between the kids that did know each other. Violet was chatting quietly with Rose and Dash was keeping Jack-Jack entertained with the toys they were given. One of the girls, a pretty blonde, was playing with one of those squishy stress balls. From the corner of her eye, Violet noticed the ball was behaving rather weirdly. Sometimes when the ball was thrown up it fell down way faster than it should have. Other times the girl would throw the ball against the wall and it would come back way slower than a ball that was thrown normally would. Was it the work of powers? Did she have powers as well? Did everyone in the room have powers?
The girl started throwing the ball again, making thumping noises which filled the hushed room. She seemed bored and unaware of how the ball was returning to her faster each time it was thrown.
It seems that Rose also noticed and got worried, deciding to speak up, "Hey, I think you're throwing the ball way too fast-"
The girl in question turned around, which ended up making her miss the ball as it came at her and hit her face.
"Ack!!"
The ball bounced back to the wall and then to its owner, but it seemed to have too much energy in it as the girl had to duck down when it zipped past her.
Now the ball was going haywire, moving across the room like sparks. The other kids were screaming and shouting for help as they were all being targeted. A brunette with blue-gray eyes turned his skin into metal when the ball came at him and he ended up directing the ball to the Blondie again. Instead of ducking this time, the girl put her hands up and some kind of energy came out of her hands, blasting the ball. This only seemed to make things worse as the ball was now faster than before. A raven-ette boy tried to capture it with some black hole but he ended up missing it and sucked in the whiteboard at the front of the room.
Suddenly, the door opened to Rick and some other children. The ball came towards a ginger that looked about the same age as Dash and she cast a blast of light(?) in panic towards the door. A darker haired ginger came in front of Rick, whom the ball was coming at, and froze the ball. As in—he literally made the ball stop mid-air.
There was an awkward silence as everyone collected themselves.
Rick interrupted by clearing his throat, "I see some of you were having fun…"
The dark ginger unfroze the ball that was stuck in the air, to which the blonde came up and took the ball back, sheepishly looking away. The Parr kids and Rose came up from the table they were hiding under.
Dash exclaimed in excitement,"That was AWESOME! Does everyone here have powers too?!"
Everyone was looking at each other now in surprise.
Rick cleared his throat again, "Yes, I wanted a more organized introduction, but it seems half of it was already done… What happened to the whiteboard..?"
Eyes turned to the raven boy.
"Uh, I accidentally sucked it in a black hole… I was trying to catch the ball—I swear." He raised his hands up in surrender.
Rick just sighed and came to the front of the room.
"It's fine, I don't think we actually need it, but what we do need is a proper introduction and a little update on what's gonna happen to a lot of you."
Now that all the kids were here and sat, Violet took the moment to assess the others.
The first was Blondie who still had the ball but was now only using it for its intended purpose. She was objectively pretty, Violet noted, with her golden blonde hair, light brown eyes, sharp nose and a soft face. Violet was quite certain she had some sort of power that gave the ball more (and/or less?) energy.
Then there was the brunette with metal skin. His hair was half brushed back making half of it in his face, but when he turned his head a certain way, the bangs on the side moved out of the way to reveal a beauty mark under his eyes. It matched the one on his left.
Violet reasoned that the raven-ette was probably the brunette's older brother. He was talking to him earlier and they both had the same eye color, albeit didn't share the same beauty marks. Violet recalled that he had made a black hole earlier, she assumed he had some control over it as the whole room wasn't sucked in.
The short-haired ginger was resting on her head, so her face couldn't really be seen from Violet's view, but she remembered the kid had lime-ish green eyes. She looked about the same age as Dash and had the ability to make light of some sort. Violet didn't think it was the same energy the Blondie had made since it was a different color and had a different effect on the ball.
Then Violet assessed the four other kids that had come in.
The darker ginger boy had bright blue irises and was the one that had froze the ball in time to save Rick. There were two girls close by that Violet assumed were sisters. The smaller one had dark tan skin with long, curly black hair and light blue eyes. She was clinging on to the arm of her darker-skinned sister who had a bob-cut and dull green eyes. The last girl had dark almond skin and a poofy ponytail. She looked unassuming and there was no sign of what the three girls had in store.
Violet came back to Rick who was explaining the new project the NSA was about to launch: the New Age Program. The goal of the program was to train the kids to carry on the legacy of their parents. Now, wait a minute, what?
"Excuse me, Mr. Dicker," Rose spoke up from her seat.
"Just Rick, and yes, Rose, what do you need?"
"What uh… 'legacies' are you talking about? How is this program exactly special?"
Oh. Right. Violet hadn't told her yet about Project Kronos. She was planning to! Especially with the fact that Rose was thinking about being a hero to make amends for her father's crimes. But she never found the right moment to say anything.
"Ah, right, I forgot about that. Do… any of you two want to say anything or should I?"
Rick turned to Dash and Violet, to which Dash did raise his hand but Violet forced it down and shook her head innocently. Rick sighed and leaned on the side of the table. A small 'click' was heard and the right side of the wall opened to reveal a giant screen. Every kid was astonishment and baffled.
Rick took out a remote that was also under the table and started speaking as he started the screen, "Basically, in short, many of you are children of heroes from what many call the 'Glory Days'. And many of you lost your parents to what the private, the NSA, know as Project Kronos."
Heads were being turned toward each other and back to the screen that was showing a recording of the NSA's investigation of Nomanisan Island. Rose looked at Violet in confusion and Violet just mouthed 'I'll tell you later', to which nothing else was said thankfully.
"Technically, nobody is supposed to see this, especially the public. However, I've decided that many of you are owed this and the purpose of the program will be easier to understand through seeing this."
He clicked to a different time which revealed the plan that Syndrome had in mind.
"There was a man named Syndrome who became furious with supers and decided to get rid of any and all supers that he could find to get fame and glory. As you can see, your parents were these supers. These three kids right there: Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack," He gestured to them, "are Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl's children, and the very people who stopped this scheme."
Rick had a proud smile on his as he looked at the three kids.
"Aw, it was nothing," Dash waved a hand, leaning back. The other kids were looking at them in wonder.
Rick cleared his throat and clicked to a different screen. This time it was of the New Age Program.
"Due to this, as many of you have been devastated from the actions of Syndrome, the NSA wants to make accommodations. I'm sure a lot of you had to go through foster care as some of you were only raised by one person or maybe even lost both super parents. The N.A. program will fix this by putting you guys together in a home—if you don't have one—and train your powers in hopes that you guys are willing to continue the legacy of your parents."
The room was utterly silent, besides the noises outside the room.
"I know that this is all sudden, and you guys will be given time to think about it, but I do think that this could help you guys with not just your powers, but to bring closure to the pain that you've had to deal with these past years."
The screen was closed and the wall was brought back to normal. Rick had a soft smile on his face as he looked over each kid in the room.
"Let that sink in for a while. The program won't start for another few weeks and until we have a certain amount of people that want to join. Mingle with one another, will you? A support system from all of this would be helpful for everyone. C'mon— I'll give you a little tour of one of our places we've established for the program, if that'll help with things."
All the kids stood up in excitement. There was chatter now as everyone followed Rick to a different place. Rose and Violet walked in the back, with Violet holding Jack-Jack playing with an Elastigirl toy, and Rose leaned in closer to Violet.
"So what was that all about? Did Project Kronos really happen, Vi'?"
Violet glanced at the other kids in front of them. Dash was mingling with two of the kids, the two-dot boy and the ginger. They seemed to be getting along which was nice to see.
"Yeah, it did, my dad was involved in it. These robots called omnidroids were used and I think the Syndrome guy was primarily mad at my dad, so he was aiming to specifically get rid of him."
Rose looked astounded in horror of course.
"You mean he was getting rid of the other heroes to get rid of your dad?? That's so messed up. Wait, is he gone? Tell me he isn't still here." She looked around as if Syndrome would jump out of the walls somehow.
"Ehh.. it's kind of hard to explain.. My family and I saw him get sucked into a turbine but we don't know if he died from it. Last I heard the NSA were still looking for him…"
Violet glanced ahead as her head had been turned slightly to Rose while she was whispering. The chatter died down a bit but no kids were really paying attention to them. The two kids Dash befriended were showing off their powers.
"Oh god..! That sounds horrible.. but… it's probably best he isn't here, huh..? As someone whose dad used to be a villain, I don't think it would have done him any good."
Violet nodded, "Y'know, I never exactly talked to him but I think he was really smart. The island and those robots were all his work, he could have done so much if I'm being honest."
"Well, too bad, I guess. He's gone and now…" Rose looked at the others,"…now they have to deal with the consequences. I feel so bad… I don't think I could handle my parents' death if that were me."
"Same. But it isn't us. And I think… it should be our job to be a part of this. Especially me, probably. My dad was sort of the catalyst of all this after all, not that I'm blaming him."
Rose hummed, "Y'know, I was sort of skeptical, my dad being an ex-villain and all, but I think I might actually enjoy this. And if these kids—if they continue the legacy of their parents, I think it'll do some good for them and the world."
Violet high-fived Rose.
"That's the spirit!"
She was honestly so proud of her. Rose was lacking in confidence and assurance after the whole ordeal with her dad. She was scared and lonely. But Violet knew she could do good, and she was good! With this they could do so much together.
"We should start with—"
"Did you say your dad was an ex-villain?"
"Ah!?" Violet clapped her mouth with one hand, quickly looking at the kids in front of them. No one heard, phew!
Violet looked at the girl that was next to Rose. It was the bob-cut girl from before. Her complexion was darker than her younger sister and she wore a white, shoulder-less sweater with jean shorts and beige sandals. She looked mature but resembled the same age as Violet and Rose.
"My mom was an ex-villain, too. She turned good though, after some trials that is. Sorry, my name's Cátia, didn't mean to scare you, just got bored and heard you have an ex-villain dad?"
Rose nodded. They were inside some kind of elevator now. It moved along the building, both up and down and sideways. Violet was getting curious of what they were going to see now.
"Name's Rose and, yeah, he stole stuff because we were in need of money. But he's good now and in rehabilitation. How did your mom change to a hero if she was a criminal before?"
"My mom was Blazestone. She also stole stuff and there was one time she even tried to get rid of the heroes during this little event. But after that she decided she actually liked being good. She was a part of Beta Force. You ever heard of that?"
Violet raised her hand, "I think I did. It was originally made to rehabilitate Blazestone, I think, to see if super-powered criminals could be turned into heroes. Heard it took a while to actually get going though. I think her partner was this guy.. I forgot his name, I think it was Universe something? Universal something."
"Universal Man. And yeah, it did take a while. My mom always talked about it and told me to not deal with life the way she did or she was gonna kick my ass, her words not mine."
The three girls laughed together. Violet was starting already like Cátia as an acquaintance. If the program was successful in launch she hoped she could train with Cátia, it would be interesting to see what powers she had.
The Blondie from before was ahead of the three girls but behind the group and looked over her shoulder to them, "Hey, heard we were showing off our parents?"
Violet took another look at her. She definitely looked like someone that could reach fame as a model. The girl had a confident stride in her walk, it reminded Violet of the popular kids she used to be jealous of before the whole Syndrome incident made her more confident.
Cátia crossed her arms behind her head, "Yup, already mentioned mines.. Well, only one of them actually, I had two super parents like Violet. Downburst was the other one."
Blondie was beside them now, specifically beside Violet, "Oh! The guy that can control atoms? I always thought he was cool, even if he wasn't that popular. I liked reading stuff about him."
"Aww, thanks! Yeah, he can be cool actually, even if he was also "mushy", but y'know parents."
"Oh, I would definitely know," Violet chuckled. Sometimes her mom would treat Dash like he was just born, well he's still young and just turned ten—but it was still funny thinking about it.
"My dad's—"
Ding! They had already arrived to their destination. The Blondie completely forgot what she was gonna say as she and the girls looked over to the giant room full of obstacle courses, exercise equipment, lounges and refreshment bars. It even had these features outside. You wouldn't even actually call a giant room, it was probably the same size of a mall. The place was bright and seemed to provide everything a super would need to test their limits.
"Woah!" Dash ran through each and every obstacle course he could find, showing off his speed to the other kids. Whether or not he did this out of excitement or to boast his powers, Violet couldn't really tell, but she could tell that he was having a blast running through each course. They proved useful too because Dash ended up stuck in one of the courses to which he gave up and returned to the group, hair messy and panting slightly.
"That was so cool, Rick! Is this really all for us?"
Rick laughed and brushed Dash's hair smooth, "Yes, it is. We made it for the program to see how things would go."
The kids already started to explore the area, each testing their individual powers. Violet looked for a place to settle Jack-Jack and had found a lounge that was particularly larger than the others because it had spaces for babies. Super babies she assumed.
"That one was specifically made for Jack-Jack," Rick had approached Violet and led her into the room.
"He's currently the only super baby we know with his feats, so technically this entire lounge is his. But who knows who else is out there, hm?"
"Thanks so much, Rick! You really didn't have to." Violet set Jack-Jack down who was now asleep after the long walk to the Training Mall (Violet would prefer to call it this even if it had an actual name).
"Please, I technically did. Jack-Jack has much potential to be a great hero with his powers but at his age the future will most likely be unpredictable."
Rick looked out from the lounge windows to the other children. Violet could see that Dash was playing with the two kids he befriended using a training simulation. Two-dots, whom Violet had seen turn his skin to metal, turned one arm rock-hard (as in literal rock skin) and the other arm crystalline. He then morphed his arms into blades to attack the simulated bots coming after him. The ginger girl was flying around and seemed to literally glow as she did so, blasting light beams anywhere she liked.
Violet looked over to Rick again and he had a face of melancholy on him. It was the same kind of face her dad would make whenever he looked out the windows of their house, as if someone would be flying by.
"Mr. Rick? Are you okay..? Are you.." Oh, right the whole point of the program was for reparations for the kids.
"It's not your fault, Rick… The kids aren't gonna blame you for anything, y'know."
Rick sighed, "I know, kid, I know. These kids are who we're gonna rely on in the future though, including you. Even with the old heroes coming back and other heroes debut, things have changed a lot."
Violet looked back to the kids. It seems like Cátia has similar powers to Downburst, but she appeared to be controlling different kinds of substances, Violet couldn't tell what. Her younger sister was exploding different items she could find in her hands. Their powers were impressive in Violet's eyes but she couldn't get the motivation to feel any better when Rick was feeling guilty over losing his old heroes.
"You're a good kid, Violet," Rick snapped Violet back to reality when he spoke up again, "I don't wanna put stress on you, but technically only your parents have seen Project Kronos with their own eyes and survived… I was.. planning on asking you to watch over the progress of the children. Of course, we're gonna have agents watch over the children but only in the sense of assessing their powers. These people are technically strangers to these kids, I'm not sure how willing they'll be to open up so easily to the people that failed their parents."
He looked apologetic as he talked and Violet felt the need to keep her face still and strong as to not ruin what would happen next.
"With your case, I thought it'd be helpful to have someone like you, a young teen who also experienced the struggles of hiding, to help the kids with their… emotional problems."
"So… like a therapist?" Violet tried to joke but immediately it regretted upon remembering what topic they were on.
"Yes and no. We will also provide therapists but I want the kids to feel comfortable and safe… again. With their parents gone, they might struggle more with socializing and all those other stuff. I've already gotten reports when we were looking over the kids' histories of trouble in their school and social lives."
Violet decided to sit down now on the cushion couches of the lounge while Rick continued to look out the window. The ponytail girl Violet had seen was training with the Blondie. Ponytail had touched Blondie's arm first and when they started to spar, Ponytail had the same powers as Blondie. Violet remembered being told by her dad once how supers have special powers unique to them. Even if two people had similar powers there was most likely some sort of difference that separated them, and if there was such an occurrence of the exact same power, something was definitely up with one of them.
"Your job will be simple, Violet. Help the kids grow out of their shells, make them feel seen and heard, so that we can not only help with their powers but also their well-beings. If you want payment, I'm always happy to provide it, but that's only if you're willing to do this."
Rick turned to Violet again. Rick was already in his 60s but the shadows made him look way older than Violet could ever expect an old person to look like. Despite the change in the atmosphere, Violet didn't feel pressured under Rick's gaze. He's helped her family since the ban and was always there to find a home for them whenever her dad screwed up. This was the least she could do in return for all his efforts.
"I'll do it. These kids need help. Syndrome did them so, so terrible, this is the least I can do to help—other than becoming a hero and making sure no other villain does something like this."
Rick smiled. It was small, and still somewhat apologetic, but it was enough for Violet to feel better about all of this. They both looked out the window to the kids now at the bars. Some of the courses had significant damages from some of the powers that were shown off.
"I guess the program will be launched if they're enjoying the courses so much," Rick's smile was warmer now, seeing all the other kids getting to know each other.
Violet also smiled, a slight warm and sparkly feeling inside her growing. She was truly gonna be a hero with other supers at her side. Lots of damages would need to be cleaned after all the harm Syndrome had inflicted upon everyone, but hope wasn't lost in the end. Curiously more villains started appearing but so did more supers. And with more supers, comes more heroes.
Violet had her family, she had friends and she was gonna gain more friends, she knew it. She was gonna make a new future with greater hope and justice. A new age was coming and so was Ultraviolet.