Adventures of an Employed Planeswalker

(Matt's PoV - Friday, June 15th, 1962. 9:00 a.m. - Metroville, Parr Family House)

{You're not stagnant! You've been improving a lot these past two months!}

'I know, but this could be an amazing chance! This baby is the single most powerful super in this setting and his powers are developing as I look! Even now his genetic code is changing ever so slightly!'

{Ok, Mr. Mad Scientist, how about you observe the changes and then try to test them on other subjects before trying to turn yourself into a failed experiment?!}

'Kinda rude, but I guess it's fair... I just-'

{Not every bit of progress needs to be explosive, Matt...}

I sigh.

{... or idiotic, or unprepared for, reckless, imprudent-}

'I get it, Syn. Fine, I'll just check what's going on with the baby and see if I can replicate it later...'

After the cartoons got a little out of shape because of my internal dialogue, I fixed them right up and looked at Helen.

"Do you remember anything else about the breakfast? Anything unusual or maybe even something he ate?" I ask. At this point, the kids were already gone with the school bus and Bob was in another room calling his job, saying he wouldn't make it today.

Having your baby catch on fire is a serious matter even for supers.

Helen thinks about my question, "I don't remember anything different in our routine today. I turned on the TV on the channel Jack-Jack likes, woke everyone up, made pancakes, coffee, juice, normal stuff." She shakes her head, not noticing anything different.

"Did he eat the pancake?" I ask, giving Double Jack some head pats for his trouble, which he thanks by looking up at me and smiling.

"No, I don't give him solid food yet. Bob was feeding him his baby food and when he got distracted... fire!" She shook her arms trying to convey her shock at the happening.

"I see..." I look at Double Jack trying to reach for the illusionary toys and have an idea. "Can I try to get him to use his powers a little? I swear we won't destroy the house." I look at her with a pleading expression and turn Jack-Jack's face to look at her too, prompting him to make questioning baby noises.

Helen looks at me with a mock disappointed mom look, before nodding. "Fine, I trust you." She caresses little J's face, making him smile and jump in joy. "And we need to know what this baby can do, don't we baby? Who's the little super-powered baby??" And she starts talking in a baby voice.

I give her a few moments without interrupting and, as she finishes she doesn't even look embarrassed! 'Is this the power of loving parents? Not being afraid of showing their affection to their kids??' She only smiles knowingly at my baffled expression.

I shake my head and turn DJ around to face me. "Ok, baby! Let's play a game, ok?"

Jack-Jack puts his little hands on my face, giggling while messing with my nose and eyes. I put him on the floor in front of me and put a bubble-like barrier around him. On top of my hand, I create a very cartoonish flame and show it to him. "Can you do the fire form?"

"Ah~?" Is his response before he frowns for a second and then Fire-Baby makes an appearance!

Even expecting it, Helen gasps from behind me, but I smile. "That's right, baby! How about flame off?"

He looks at me and hangs his head to the side, his baby noises slightly distorted by the crackling flames covering him. He doesn't seem bothered by the flames at all.

"No fire? Xbox, turn off? UnIgnite? Uh..." I look at Helen for support but she only shrugs.

I turn the flame on top of my hand smaller and smaller until it becomes a puff of smoke and point to it. "See? No more fire."

He stares at me and then the smoke for a while before he turns entirely into smoke.

"Smoke-Baby?!" I yell, surprised. I touch him with my hand - or try to - but he disperses like smoke. Luckily he is still contained in my bubble so he doesn't fly away. His giggle when my hand passed through him was ghostly and airy.

"That's very weird..." I coat my hand in Haki and try to touch him again, this time succeeding, both to his and Helen's surprise. "Ok, Jack-Jack, go Iron-Baby!"

I make the illusion take his form then the Iron form I remember from the movie.

He giggled and reached for the illusion, even as his form became more cohesive, and he turned into Iron-Baby.

"I wonder what metal this is... looks like some form of Aluminum maybe?" I also note he became a lot heavier. So much so the floor might have cracked without additional support. "Ok, so we have Fire, Smoke, and Metal baby. You better be counting, Mama." I turn to Helen, who was spacing out over her baby's powers. She jumped and then nodded, running to get paper and pen.

"Ok baby, how about this?" I make the image of a cartoonish strong man flexing and flex my own arm. I wonder what he'll interpret from that.

He makes questioning noises again but doesn't show anything else. 'What else was in the movie... Teleportation, yeah.'

"Baby, what if we do it like this." The illusion of himself floats behind my head and away from his view before vanishing and appearing surrounding his head. He yells and slaps it around, but as it is an actual construct, it flies away into the distance. "See? Now you do it."

He looks at me again before vanishing before my eyes. He was there and suddenly wasn't. Like I blinked and he vanished but I didn't blink. Feeling around for his aura, I find him floating behind my head. I turn my head around and he's not there anymore, having moved back to his starting place.

"Aren't you a tricky fella?" I say, making him cover his mouth and laugh.

Helen and Bob arrive in the living room at this time.

"You know her! I just know she'll know how to test his powers!" Bob says, coming after a sulking Helen.

"I know she's great, Bob, but..." Helen hesitates, seeing me and Jack-Jack looking at them.

Bob sees us and greets me with a smile, "Heya, champ! How's it going with Jack?"

"We're trying things and he has at least 4 powers; or two, if you count all his transformations as derivatives of only one Polymorphism."

"That's... great!" Bob seems both parts annoyed and happy about it. "I was trying to convince Helen to call Edna! She knows a lot about supers and, no offense buddy, but she's been in the business for a long time."

I shake my head, "No problem, she'll indeed have better-prepared facilities to test his powers if it's the Edna I think you're talking about." He nods, relieved that I also think so. "Still, while she may have an 'outside' point of view, I can still monitor his powers internally. Do you guys mind if I come with?"

I had to ask. I'm so curious to keep the analysis going.

Helen and Bob exchange glances and although they seem to hesitate, both sigh and agree.

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(Matt's PoV - Friday, June 15th, 1962. 11:00 a.m. - Metroville, Mode Mansion)

Damn, this place is huge.

"Do you have an appointment?" The guard's voice asked through the entrance security.

"Yes, I called earlier. It's Bob Parr." Bob looks at the guard and lowers his sunglasses.

I keep forgetting how crazy this World's technology is. It's a damn laser gate, why such strict security?

{You're telling me you wouldn't have it if you could?}

... Fair enough.

"You're here, Mr. Robert. Welcome." The guard says and the video blacks out, leaving the laser gate open and ready for us.

A quick ride up the hill and into a spacious garage with a few vehicles, we are guided by little floor lights until we get to a spacious hall.

"Hello, Darlings! What was the emergency that made you finally visit an old friend?" Edna Mode in the (diminutive) flesh comes down from a designer set of stairs to greet us.

To be honest, the whole place looks like an architect's wet dream mixed with a designer's masterpiece; it's crazy like that.

"E! Long time no see." Bob greets somewhat excitedly. He is holding a package with what I can only imagine is his super suit. Maybe he's hoping she can make it fit his new... size? Despite his slimming session, the guy is still wider than in his glory days.

"Hi, E..." Helen's greeting is much more subdued. It isn't like she doesn't want to greet her, it's more like-

"Oh, Helen darling! If you didn't invite me to your wedding and your children's baby showers, I wouldn't think you aged a day!" Edna comes around Helen and grabs her hand, prodding and squeezing it here and there.

"Thanks, Edna, but we-" Helen starts but quickly gets cut off.

"Oh, I know I know! Big emergency, can't talk to an old friend who I haven't seen in one year, I know how it is." She turns her head around, pouting.

Helen quickly tries to appease her, "No, that's not it! It's just- I-I- Sigh. We need your help, E. It's Jack-Jack." She finally says.

"Oh, did the baby finally show some powers?" Edna turns back to us, an interested expression on her face. Helen and Bob nod.

"I see. Well, let's get the usual tests going, Darlings!" She says and takes off speed-walking back up the stairs. "And who might be this young man? Don't tell me you brought another person to check MY work?" She says, looking over her shoulder, but not stopping.

"No, no! This is Matthew. He's a..." Bob struggles for a second, "Family friend, you could say. He has a way of verifying Jack-Jack's powers too and asked to come with us to give his insights."

"A way to verify his powers? And how can you do that, Darling?" Edna stops by a locked door and turns her attention to me fully for the first time. Seeing her this close is kinda surreal, she's so smol! She'd look like a plushy if she stood still.

"Hi, nice to meet you, Edna. You can call me Matt. I have a... very specific and close relation with powers in general." Seeing the glint in her eyes and her hand moving as if encouraging me to say more made me smile slightly. "I can sense powers and interact with them somewhat."

"Oh, Darling! ...That's unprecedented." She gasps and gets a contemplative look on her face. Soon, she shakes it off. "No matter; you're here for the baby, so let us see the baby!"

She inputs a code on the door, scans her hand, scans her irises, and gives a voice confirmation and finally, the door snaps its several layers open, one after the other. We all enter what can only be described as a very advanced lab, filled with mannequins, laser cutters, incinerators, and other machines that an ordinary fashion designer obviously wouldn't need.

Edna Mode is no ordinary fashion designer.

"I will proceed with the standard testing procedure. Do you know what the baby has manifested up until now?" Edna questions, typing another series of codes into a terminal in front of a long glass window.

Helen fishes the paper in her pocket and reads it out loud, "Jack-Jack can transform into smoke, have his skin on fire, turn into a-" She frowns slightly, "monstrous form, turn to some sort of metal, float and teleport."

The array of powers was already making Edna lift her eyebrows, but the last two particularly got her attention. "A Polymorph, then? Intriguing." She presses a button and a section of the glass wall slides aside, "Put him in there so we can see what Little Jack can do."

Bob gets in there and places Jack-Jack on the floor, much to the latter's curiosity. After coming back out Bob, Helen, and I are invited to take seats with Edna as the glass wall closes and the procedure starts.

From outside, I can hear music playing inside the place. At first, it's smooth jazz, then turns to animated rock, a funky tune, and a disco banger. All the while Jack-Jack looks around confused as to what he's doing there. That's when classical music starts playing and he freezes for a moment, before getting up and... starts dancing happily. No more than a collective smile later and the dancing baby turned into many dancing babies.

"He never did that, right?" Bob asks, probably just to make sure. Me and Helen shake our heads. I wish I could be studying what happens when he hears classical songs...

"What is that song?" Helen asks, curious as to why her baby reacted that way.

"It's Mozart, Darling. Superpowered children react especially well to music, as you should remember..." Seeing Bob's and Helen's faces was enough for Edna. "... or not, I suppose. No matter; let's try more infantile stimuli." She presses another button on her terminal.

One of the chamber walls opens and in comes several metallic arms holding various pieces of colorful candy: marshmallows, lollipops, candy canes, cotton candy, cookies, and jelly beans. Jack-Jack seemed genuinely stumped trying to choose, but he eventually went for the multi-colored jelly beans.

"Jelly Beans! SO colorful and stimulative! A classic in these tests." Edna comments, leaning forward to watch closely for any reactions.

Jack-Jack went after the jelly beans, but it was too tall for him. So, while reaching for it, he started levitating to get it. Once he got close enough, the arms began avoiding him, much to his dismay. He tried to catch it, but the arm was always a step ahead. Until it wasn't; Jack-Jack vanished from where he was and appeared biting into one of the jelly beans.

Poor guy didn't notice they weren't candy, but metal replications of it. After a few seconds of biting and not tasting anything, Jack-Jack opened his mouth wider and took a bite out of the chunk of metal that made the jelly beans.

"Marvelous! Such biting strength with no teeth!" Helen shivered at that remark, but I don't think anyone but me noticed. Edna takes a few more notes.

"Bababa... Baaa!" Jack-Jack, seemingly upset over not getting his candy, bashed the thing a few times before giving up and going for another treat, the cookie this time. The same game of cat and mouse was about to start, but as the smart baby he is, Double J directly teleported to it and took a bite out of it. This time, though, not tasting the cookie seemingly upset him quite a bit.

"baaabAA! RARGH!!" The Monster-Baby appeared again, tearing pieces of the metal cookie apart and coming towards us in the window. He bumped into it and started running around like a dog in the Zoomies. A few seconds later and maybe not getting as much destruction as he wanted, he caught on fire while on Monster-Form, forming a scary combination.

"This is... INCREDIBLE! Robert, Helen, your kids are amazing as always! So many possibilities, so many ideas! I'm brimming with inspiration!" Edna couldn't contain herself, almost shaking with excitement. She suddenly turns to the two confused parents. "Can you send me your measurements by 8 o'clock tonight?" she expectantly asks, getting subdued and unsure nods in response. "Good, now go! I need the room, I need the house! I need to CREATE!"

With hand waves and floor lights, we were directed outside the lab and to the garage. Only when we got there did Helen say out loud: "Is she going to keep Jack-Jack there?" Bob and her share an uneasy look, but both sigh and just accept it as part of their friend's quirkiness.

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(Mr. X PoV - Wednesday, June 20th, 1962 - Unknown Location)

My plans have been... delayed, these last few months. My associates, falling one by one. I even had to activate a pivotal piece to move them over to my area and free them without anyone noticing. At last, their technologies are complete and with them, the plan can start in earnest.

I look at the photograph on top of my table. It depicts a beautiful girl, with long black straight hair. "Soon, my child, soon I will show you the veil of masquerades they put in front of your eyes. Soon, you'll see these so-called heroes for what they really are." I grab the photograph and caress my daughter's face.

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(Violet's PoV - Saturday, June 23rd, 1962 - Parr Residence)

"So, this is for us?" I ask, feeling the fabric of my apparent superhero suit.

Mom nods with a complicated look on her face, "Yes it is, sweety. A friend made it for us and... Just keep it for emergencies."

I nod and turn to Dash, seeing him quickly nod too, the grin on his face saying more than any words could. Mom gets closer to us and holds our shoulders. "Your identity is your most valuable possession. Protect it at all costs, ok?" Seeing the seriousness on her face I imagine she has some history behind it, but I know not to question the "old days" and simply nod.

"Can we choose our hero names?! I wanna be the Dashing Dash!" Dash says and I roll my eyes. Mom seems to find it funny and smiles softly.

"You can't be Dashing Dash, sweety, that's already your nickname. You'll have to pick a different name." She says smiling, then turns to me. "What about you, honey? Any names you'd want for yourself?"

I think for a moment, before shaking my head. "Invisigirl...?" I shyly try.

Mom cringes slightly. "That'd be as inspired as mine... you can do better, honey, I'm sure." She says with a shaky smile.

"Did you choose your own superhero name, Mom?" I ask, curious.

She lightly shakes her head. "I... had very little say at the time." She shakes her hand to change subjects. "It doesn't matter now. Do you want to try it on?" She smiles at us, but mostly at Dash, who excitedly nods. I sigh, look at my suit, and turn my hands invisible. Surprisingly, the suit turns invisible too. My eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

'My parents have pretty cool friends...'

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"Wait, you're telling me I have to take care of Dash and Jack-Jack? What is so important both of you need to go??" Look, even if Dash and I get along a little bit better now it doesn't mean he's not annoying and now even Jack-Jack has powers! Do they really think I can handle this?

"Honey, it's just going to be a few days, I promise. Your Dad and I will have to... solve some problems abroad." Mom says, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. "We even tried to call Matt, since Lucius is going to be busy too, but he wasn't available, so you'll have to manage." She finally says, scribbling something on a note and handing it to me.

"That's Aunt Edna's phone. Only call her if it's an emergency, ok?" I nod and she smiles.

"Honey! Give her the thing Edna made!" I hear Dad's voice from their room and Mom nods. After a quick trip to their room and back she gives me something that looks like a remote controller for a toy car or helicopter.

"Violet, whenever this thing beeps in alarm, it's warning you whenever Jack-Jack is about to use a power and which one - at least from the cataloged ones." She sweat drops. "It also gives instructions on how to convince him to turn back to normal. Follow them and you'll be fine, ok?"

'Jack-Jack has a remote controller now??' I once again nod, stunned.

Mom gives me, Dash, and Jack-Jack a smooch on the cheek, and Dad finally comes out of their room, carrying two big suitcases. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, we should be ready. There's food in the fridge and if you really need it, I left some money in that place, Vi." Mom looks at me and I nod, I know what place.

"Well... bye then," I say, weakly. It's weird having both my parents away from home.

"Bring back some gifts!" Is what Dash says, before running up to Dad and Mom and giving them each a quick hug.

Dad swallows me in a hug for a moment too, before patting my head with a smile. "You'll be fine, Vi. I trust you." I nod, a little more encouraged. 'He never said that to me...'

They look at each other and then go through the door, closing it behind them. I look out the window and see them getting in Dad's new car and going away.

A few moments later, "Hey... we're totally ordering pizza tonight, right?" Dash says, running up right next to me. I roll my eyes and pull him by the ear to the fridge, opening it. "Ouch! Ouch!!"

"There's food here- oh, it's meatloaf..."

Maybe we can get away with some pizza...

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(Matt's PoV - Monday, June 25th, 1962. 9:00 a.m. - Metroville, Matt's Warehouse)

These last few days were enlightening.

The sheer amount of in-depth research and experimentation I did was... significant, to say the least.

Using samples I got from, uh... unknowing donors I got to watch closely how the DNA of supers work, even if it was from people with very minor powers. These donors had either minor improvement to their muscle fibers or neuron transmission, making them marginally stronger and more durable or smarter or with faster reflexes.

Every single one had more enhanced and efficient mitochondria and energy-producing organelles than non-super humans. Yet they still couldn't compare to Mr. Incredible's, Elastigirl, or Frozone. Or Jack-Jack, for that matter, but his cells and biological structure were everchanging when I last saw him, which made it very difficult to establish a baseline.

'Maybe that has to do with his powers too? He has the power to change his own body basically at will, so maybe that same power is making sure his body is in 'peak' condition no matter what form it takes...'

Heading back to the core of these powers... I'll say something that will sound somewhat conspiratorial, but... the people with 'lesser' powers have more of a natural genome and DNA. The powers they have could be attributed to natural biological mutations if it weren't for the literal superheroes that used to run around.

Not to say Mr. Incredible's or Elastigirl's powers are weird; no, in fact they are pretty well contained and work really well, but after analyzing so many other people, I can't help but feel like their DNA is... too neat.

{So you're saying they were created? Made in a lab, maybe even bred for it?}

'I wouldn't go that far, but if you think about it, at least here in the U.S. all the heroes were handled by the NSA: they were 'recruited', trained, equipped, and later on even cared for when they got bad press. It's a lot of care for people that, while serving them/for them, were also out helping people...

You can't deny the usefulness of some of these powers for some non-heroic purposes and the time we live in is very... unsafe, even if it isn't apparent.'

{Yeah, the Cold War you spoke about. But weren't these supers famous by the end of the 1950s? It seems like they 'made' them way before this cold war.}

'... Damn, super soldiers in WW2? That makes more sense than it should...'

Conspiracy aside - even if it is huge - the point is: whoever did this did a surprisingly good job, too good even. They made it so good that it can be passed on to new generations with some of it's strength, which created the normal people with lesser powers. It's also good enough that second-generation descendants almost always develop powers themselves; the progeny of two supers have a higher chance to get powers and more powerful powersets. Jack-Jack must be the culmination of Bob's and Helen's powers: Strong and Durable yet flexible like nothing else.

But one thing that bothers me greatly is one Edna quote from the second movie. "It is not unknown for a super to have more than one power when young, but this little one has many." It implies that there are cases of powers that manifest themselves in the earlier years of life, but recede over the years. I would have to study it for far more time than I will most likely have in this world (basically the whole development years of a toddler) to be sure, but from what I see in these results, it's a sort of self-preserving atrophy that naturally chooses whatever power is 'better' (again, no way to say for sure what parameters it uses for that), and uses whatever resources the other powers used to focus it all in one powerset.

It's a smart move, but one that would normally take generations of mutations to happen, yet that happens in the few development years of a toddler.

'Whatever this DNA alteration or Serum or whatever is, it's not only powerful enough to make heroes like Mr. Incredible, Frozone, and the other dead heroes, it's smart, efficient, and fast.'

It would be very welcome to get information on the methods used to create these supers, but no matter now.

I have identified the basics of why the atrophy happens, and it's quite simple: energy. The body would not have enough energy to sustain that many significant powers, which is why it chooses whatever is better from the set it's given. In this case, Jack-Jack is probably a mutation in the sense that his power alters his body enough to actually sustain more powers than usual.

Of course, I can't say if he will retain all his powers when he's older, but if my theory is correct, he will still have more powers than the usual super when older.

'Which means, if I just copy the one power used to give enough energy to maintain the other powers-'

{Matt... have you considered the fact that the way your body replenishes its energy is different?}

'Yeah, I have CNA as well as DNA, I have to account for that too- No, you mean the protection! Yeah, that would solve the energy problem nicely and even if I get a little more tired or my powers get weaker momentarily, it should actually help me get stronger since it puts more pressure on the energy generation! That's awesome!'

It also gives me more of a reason to eat, but I already do that because I love food anyway.

'Right, if energy is no problem, then taking all their powers means no immediate risk to me, but I still need to be careful when making these alterations to not trigger some sort of cellular degeneration or something.'

{Don't worry~! I'll save you if you're about to get super cancer!}

'Thanks for the assist.'

I get up from the chair I was sitting on and stretch, though unfortunately to no bone-popping sounds. "All right, time to integrate some new powers onto myself and meet some new heroes too." I look around the warehouse and frown, seeing the answering machine blinking red and feeling several auras outside. 'Seems like we have guests, Syn. Be ready.'

I approach the telephone and click to hear the messages.

"You have three new messages!

Massage one, June 21st, 3:25 p.m.:

"Hey, Matt, it's Helen! Bob and I will be out of the country for a few days and we leave Saturday. Could you take a look at our kids in the meantime?"

Message two, June 23rd, 9:14 a.m.:

"Matt! It's Helen again. I noticed you didn't call back so I figure you're busy. I left Violet in charge of things. I gave her your number in case of emergencies, so if she calls and you're there, could you please look after them? I know it's a lot to ask for, but-" And the message cut there. Too long.

Message three, June 24th, 11:00 a.m.:

"Heya, Kid, it's Rick from the NSA. Look, we... need to talk about something. Something very important. Can you call me back or meet me? As soon as possible."

You have no more messages."

'Rick's looking for me? Why? Did something happen to Bob and Helen? And what are they doing abroad? Did they find the mysterious investor from Paris?'

{Less questioning, more finding!}

Right.

I walk out the door of my warehouse, seeing only a black car waiting for me outside. Of course, the dozen other auras around were pretty good at hiding, but not from Haki.

As soon as I close the warehouse door, Agent Rick himself comes out of the car and waves at me. His face and eyes seem even more tired than before, which I didn't think possible.

"Hello, Agent Dicker. I heard your message just now. Was it so urgent you had to come personally?" I greet and ask straightforwardly.

His expression twists and turns with chagrin, but he finally sighs in annoyance and reluctance. "I hate to bring bad news, kid, but my boss wants to talk to you." He gestures to the car with his head. "Personally."

I look at the car, back at him, raise an eyebrow and he slowly nods. "I see. Let's get to meet this gentleman or madam then." I walk around the car and stand in front of Rick. He looks at me awkwardly for a moment, before opening the car door and waving his hand to it. I roll my eyes and get in, he closes the door right after.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Matthew! I've heard a lot from you. You could consider me a fan! My name is Ferdinand Monroe." A blonde guy with a five o'clock beard wearing a suit welcomed me, with his hand outstretched. I smile and shake his hand, instantly confirming he's not quite a super, but he's not totally 'normal' either.

"Nice to make your acquaintance, Mr. Monroe. What do I owe the visit?" I let go of his hand and try to get 'comfortable' in the car. The car is comfy, though.

"As straight to the point as Rick said!" Ferdinand smiles and joins his fingers, taking a moment to truly look at me. "While I appreciate the sentiment, I still like to follow some rules of decorum, so excuse my ramblings. Mr. Matthew, we at the NSA have a very peculiar need for your specific abilities." He says seriously.

I merely raise an eyebrow. "'Specific ability?'"

His smiling eyes take on an edge. "We may or may not be aware of one very intriguing capability you have. One that concerns the powers of supers."

I frown, 'Did they tell Rick? I didn't explicitly say it was a secret, but I thought they'd know better.'

"I... believe this isn't a subject to be discussed in a car, even one as secured and armored as this one, is it Mr. Monroe?" I start, making his smiling face seem a little more genuine.

"Indeed it is not! I'd love nothing more than to invite you to our base and have an extensive conversation about our future cooperation." Laying it on thick here, eh?

"While I'd be honored to receive such an invite, I would also like to understand the situation better before agreeing." And as expected, his eyes take an edge again. These guys are really going to try and get me through force?

"Of course, that would be only logical, wouldn't it, Mr. Matthew?" He says, tapping his fingers against the knuckles of his hands. "You understand what our agency does, don't you Mr. Matthew?"

I purse my lips, "Deal with supers in various ways." He nods.

"Exactly that. We also deal with the aftermath of many of supers' operations. Since your... stunt on that island, we were roused from a state of inertia: we were nothing more than a clean-up agency for supers for 15 years! All of that because we can no longer truly do what one of our founder members could." He says, a glint in his eyes. He turns to me and says. "How much do you truly know about the superpowers, Mr. Matthew?"

So he knows something. Maybe this founding member was the creator of the powers? "I know a thing or two, surface-level stuff." I shrug, instead opting to lean towards him, interested in what he says.

"So you say... Indeed, Mr. Umbridge's work is truly unfathomable and unknown for most." He murmurs, pressing a button on his suit's sleeve prompting a very subtle locking sound to resound throughout the car and a slight hissing to commence. "While supers need support to fully exert their potential, we need to show results to justify our existence, Mr. Matthew. For too long the NSA has been pushed around for creating a hole in the country's economy, all because we can no longer accomplish what we were truly created for: super-powered governmental operations." His jovial tone is now gone and he seems to be monologuing more than speaking to me. He's even looking out the window!

Well, I guess with the potency of the sleeping and... paralyzing gas concentrating inside the car, he doesn't expect me to be around for much longer. Too bad I can nullify its effects, dude. Sorry for ruining your cool scene.

"While we still have some units active in different fields, the damn super law destroyed the perfect cover they had. Now all our operations need to be secretive, which costs a lot in funding for training and information gathering..." He mutters on and on, finger tapping now on the armrest of his side of the car. When he turns to me to check, his eyebrows raise. "Oh... that's certainly impressive! So you did hear all of that..." He runs his fingers through his beard, not seemingly concerned at all at his failed attempt. This gets me more curious.

"You do know you just tried to drug me, right? And I'm not drugged?" I ask, just to hear what he has to say.

He has the gall to shrug, "Considering your personality and attitude, if you wanted me downed or dead, I would already be." He gains a conspiratorial look. "Unless, of course, you want to know more about what I'm saying."

"Ok... so you're going to say it or not?" I ask and he smiles amusingly.

"Of course. Since the cat's out of the bag, we can converse like two knowing adults." And he sneakily presses another button. I swear with these spy types... "We need manpower, Mr. Matthew. Desperately so. We need more supers, since the new ones are getting weaker and weaker, and their powers less and less useful. We need new blood and for that we need you." He gets a slightly maniacal look on his face. "We want to understand how you 'interact' with powers and use that to bolster our numbers. The 'Parr' family is a gold mine, is it not? I expect you approached them to get their powers, right?"

The saddest part is I can't even deny it. I hold his stare and he smirks back.

"What do you say, Matthew? You seem like an ambitious young man, hungering for power yet willing to do what's right. Why don't you join us and help us do the right thing?" He extends his hand and I hesitate briefly, before taking it.

I don't buy his shit for a single second, but as long as he thinks I'm in, he should take me to a base, and from then on, I can swipe whatever information they have on powers and probably some things on this Umbridge too.

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After a two-hour-long car drive through the city, we arrived in an unassuming alley, where the driver stopped the car in a specific place. Not long after, he flashed the headlights a few times in a pattern and the wall in front of us opened, revealing a secret passage.

Heading deep into this passage, we got into an elevator that brought us 6 floors under street-level, before we parked in an underground garage.

The driver opened the doors for me and Ferdinand, who took the opportunity to take the lead. "Although I'd love to show you around, I bet you'd like to go straight to the point, so no dallying!" He takes me around the place and I take a minute to look at it.

It looks like your typical government spy agency building, with lots of gray concrete walls, men and women wearing suits walking around, and a serious atmosphere in the air. People give a wide berth to Ferdinand, showing his status among his agents. Something I notice too is the wireless transference of data in this base; it looks a lot like what Syndrome had on his island.

Less than five minutes into our walk, Ferdinand took me to a spacious and brightly colored office room. It seems a little out of place in this building, but maybe that's just for my taste. I take the seat he offers me and he sits down on his chair opposite to mine.

After interlacing his fingers and staring at me for a few seconds, he says, "Can you give someone else powers?"

I consider telling the truth, but I only followed him here to get to this place and get their information. I have no reason to cooperate with the guy who tried to drug and kidnap me.

"You know what, Ferdinand? I'm not in a mood to get in trouble with your government, that is a fact. Your agency helped clear the mess of villains I left behind and I'm thankful for that; dealing with that would be a headache I'd rather avoid." I lean forward, "But I don't respond well to threats and coercion. I'm developing a particular dislike of government officials too, so do be very careful."

He lifts his eyebrows like he doesn't quite understand why I'm saying that to his face. I stand up, "I looped the current cameras filming this room and sealed the sounds coming out of it. Just so we can truly have a private conversation." He widens his eyes, hurriedly pushing a button under his desk. He presses it a few more times before noticing it doesn't budge.

"You see, while I like crafty and smart people, I also hate them. I like the drive, the ambition, and the plans... but dealing with them is always a pain in the ass, right?" I smirk in his direction.

"...You realize what you are doing, Mr. Matthew? If you threaten me inside my own Agency's building, the results might not be what you are expecting..." He says, trying to keep his tone level despite the heightened heart rate.

"Indeed, it could be dangerous. But you wouldn't leave me alone unless I showed you how insignificant your threat is to me, so it is what it is." I wave my hand dismissively. "I will not be helping you in your plan to create new supers and any and all sympathy you could have gotten with me was gone the moment you tried to drug me. Now," I put both my hands on his table, leaning forward on it and looking him on his eyes. "I'll be taking access of your Agency's secrets; your plans, operations, and secrets will be mine. I'll be in your systems: in your every call, your every e-mail, your every comms, your every move." He shivers slightly, reacting to a bit of Conquerors Haki I leak.

"You will be at my mercy like you wanted me to be in yours." I push away from his table and start leaving to the door, stopping just before opening it. "... In fact, Mr. Ferdinand, you inspired me. I really don't like threats and loose ends, so I'll show you a little something I can do. Something a bit more physical than mere information leaking and career destroying."

I tap into Panacea's shard and use it for something I've never done before. The shard sings and coos as I use it for its apparent true purpose. From my skin, yellowish mist starts dispersing into the air and it soon covers the whole room. Ferdinand, to his merit, tried to cover his mouth and nose with his suit jacket, but the particles that make this gas are too small for something like that to filter.

Soon, he starts sweating like crazy, he gets pale, his pupils dilate and his hands start to shake. "Wha- wh- WHO ARE YOU?! STAY AWAY!!! STAY AWAY!!!!!" He starts screaming and cowering to a corner of the room, waving his arms around trying to drive away whatever horrifying creation his own mind supplied.

One of the greatest deterrents to enemies and threats is fear, so taking a page out of Scarecrow's book I created a little pathogen that will work only on Mr. Monroe over there. It induces hallucinations and triggers all the brain's chemicals for fear. I walk over to him and touch him, altering his biology so this reaction will occur every time he thinks about me, to a lesser degree.

This should be enough to make him stop having ideas about getting to me.

'Then again maybe he breaks and goes balls to the wall to get me...'

Nah, it'll be fine!

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'Very ingenious indeed...'

Whoever worked on this made a smart adaptation to make their information transmission work through different bases. They used a principle very similar to wi-fi repeaters using the already wide bandwidth and large area Syndrome's technology covers, they made a device that receives, encrypts, and sends the information to a point where two of the areas cross each other. There they have similar devices that do the same and that way they've made a city-wide network.

'Limitations do indeed often breed creative solutions...'

It also helps me get access to the information all these bases here in Metroville have. Surprisingly, Ferdinand did not take me to the NSA's Headquarters; with how confident he was, I'd think he would take me to a death trap right away. But no, maybe he was trying to prevent me from knowing more about how the agency works?

Anyway, I nabbed whatever I could from their servers, and lo and behold, they finished converting their paper files to digital ones a little less than a month ago! That gives me access to very up-to-date information and I also now have an in on their system for any new bits they might uncover.

The first thing I looked for was the name 'Umbridge' and there were two different information packages.

The first presented August Umbridge as a very accomplished scientist and strategist; a person of honor and merit who founded the NSA in 1942, along with Albert X (yes, that's how it's written) and Allan Fitzgerald. He was the first leader of the NSA for 5 years before suddenly retiring due to personal reasons and dying not long after. It says he died in mysterious circumstances.

The second package was obviously a lot more secretive and revealed a bit more than just the banner of the guy's Wikipedia page.

It had his date of birth, blood type, known relatives and relations, government allies and associates, and 'achievements' or collaborations. He not only founded the NSA, he was the reason why it needed to be formed. There are a few of his experiments into how to incorporate technology with superpowers, making supportive gear for supers, but the golden shiny bit of this archive is one experiment that has no other information than its name: Superpower Creation.

Not even the agency the guy founded knew how he did it, but seeing as these 'Albert X' and 'Allan Fitzgerald' never appeared in any other files and are just said to be co-founders, I guess they helped the guy create powers, and dipped before being caught up in the government's slimy hands.

Can't blame them, honestly. I'd do the same.

There's also a bit about how his death was extensively investigated, but they still couldn't find out the reason he died. Considering he was the guy who made superheroes, I believe them when they say they tried to get whoever killed him.

After rummaging through these files on this guy, I looked over the information they had on other supers; a couple were living here in Metroville, but most were either dead or spread around the country. Some even left to live abroad.

'Now I can go and collect some different powers! Hehe...'

Besides that, I took a good and long look through whatever they deemed a threat in recent years, trying to find something that could be related to the Anomaly. I found Syndrome and Evelyn Deavor, but they were the only ones deemed 'red alert' threats to the NSA. There were other threats, as it seems villains still exist besides the regular criminals, but they are dealt with covertly.

'Hm?'

Huh, Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, and Frozone were sent to Paris? Conducting an investigation into Syndrome's mysterious backer due to Syndrome's... escape?? Damn.

{So that's why she was calling you~!}

Ok, so Paris? I can go over there to take a look, I guess. First I'll take a look at the kids-

|ALERT! ALERT!|

I look back to the NSA's system and see the alert running through it. Conjuring up the video feed of whatever alerted the agency, I see a giant drill coming out of a bank's wall.

"Behold, the Underminer! I'm always beneath you, but nothing is beneath me! I hereby declare war on peace and happiness! Soon, all will tremble before me!"

War on peace and happiness? Who hurt this guy?

Anyway, these NSAssholes won't be able to do much about this guy and the resident major heroes are out of town, so I'll take care of this guy before going to check on the kids. Then, it's off to Paris.

{Ohh~ The city of love~!}

'How do you know that, girl?'

{A girl can have her secrets, Mister~}

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(Matt's PoV - Monday, June 25th, 1962. 3:00 p.m. - Metroville, City Center)

"YES! Tremble under my power!" Said the Underminer, standing atop a platform above the drill.

"Yeah, yeah, you were once below everyone now you want everyone else to be beneath you. A tale as old as history; oppressed turning oppressor." I say, flying right next to him.

He looks at me, his expression twisting in distaste.

"A superhero? You would never understand what it is to live like I did-" He starts, but I interrupt him.

"Maybe not, but neither do I want to. Now, I'll still give you one chance to stop this nonsense right now before I beat you up." I say, putting my hands on my hips waiting for his response.

He grows red in the face and presses a button on his platform. "I'll show you, hero! You will pay for underestimating me! HAHAHAHAHA!" He says as he goes down into the drill.

Now, if I were a normal hero, I would wait here, looking gobsmacked as he goes into his big drill of doom or whatever this is called, but I want to be done with this charade and go copy some powers, so I simply... fly together with him into the drill. The top part of this elevator/platform does close, but after that is a tube all the way down.

He keeps laughing until we get to a control room of sorts inside the drill and he notices me. "What! You-" I pulse a wave of Conqueror's Haki to disable them and... the people controlling the drill faint, but the Underminer himself grits his teeth and hangs on. "I... am used to being stepped on, hero!"

Despite his heroic willpower, he is unfortunately too weak to protect himself and I simply rush him down and knock him out in one punch.

Taking control of the drill came later, though it was as easy as taking the Underminer out. The big drill stopped spinning and moving, just shy of taking out a huge portion of a building and I flew out through the same hatch I came from.

Outside were a few soldiers with machine guns and tanks, ready to try and shoot the drill. I wave at them and shout, "It's fine! The guy in here is out, you can come in and get him."

They look quizically at each other and start contacting their superiors for orders. I don't stick around to see anything else.

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(Matt's PoV - Monday, June 25th, 1962. 7:00 p.m. - Metroville, Parr Residence)

I spent most of the day after the Underminer stunt incorporating Jack-Jack's powers on myself... and what a rush it is.

A lot of powers! Teleportation, self-duplication, polymorphism! This little dude is quite the monster.

But, not all was great. These powers are certainly weaker than my other ones.

Even now as I'm monitoring them, I feel like as they're incorporated within my biology, my mutations work on them, developing them to their full potential. It indeed seems like even my mutations agree that these powers need to mature a little bit further.

That, however, does not impede me from using them!

My ranking up until now is: polymorphing comes first, self-duplication and teleportation come as second and third but their difference is very slim, then there's electrokinesis in fourth, molecular vibration comes fifth and laser vision is last because I don't like it.

At first, I thought the self-duplication power would create clones of myself with their own thoughts and stuff; basically whole other Me's. While I wouldn't exactly mind that, it wouldn't be as immediately useful as this is, since this one creates copies of me that share the same mind.

That could be a nightmare to manage... had I not been a multitasking master! For now, I can control 2 extra Me's with no problems. The problem is: they don't have any of my powers. I think it has to do with both the power's maturity and maybe my own understanding of it. Maybe if I create them more 'actively' and not just let the power create them, they might come out with some or all of my powers. The fact that they are squishy little things that dematerialize into blue light once they take any sort of punishment at all (the most it could take was a normal punch to the guts) is also not exactly satisfactory, but alas.

Polymorphism is nice too, as it makes my control of my own body even more instinctive than with the shard. Besides, of course, allowing me to go nuts and go monster form, metal form, water, smoke, fire, etc.

Overall, great haul!

Fun times over, I came by the Parr residence to check on the kids. Just to make sure everything is all right before I book it to Paris.

Coming up to their front door, the lack of noise or lights on inside strikes me as odd.

'Violet is either very strict with their bedtime and has quite the authority here or...'

A pulse of Observation Haki later and my fears are realized: they're not here...

I grab the doorknob and turn it, the door opening easily. Looking at it, I don't see any signs of forced entry in the lock or doorframe.

Walking further inside, I don't see anything out of the ordinary: dishes in the sink, the living room is messy with covers here and there, and Jack-Jack's chair is mounted next to the couch and the TV is on. In the kitchen, there's a plate of meatloaf already starting to smell slightly.

'This doesn't seem that old; at least there are no flies or maggots yet... a day? Maybe a bit more or less. Looking at the baby chair and this, they were preparing to eat when something made them stop whatever they were doing and... leave?'

{That doesn't make a lot of sense. Why would the widdle kiddies go away for no reason~?}

'Lucius isn't around... the only other people they would open the door to could be Edna or... maybe Rick? I don't know how close they are... it doesn't make a lot of sense for the NSA to kidnap them, but just to make sure...'

I leave the house, lock the door, and fly towards the nearest NSA signal repeater.

After a quick check, they don't have any new information on the Parr kids; they are preoccupied with processing the Underminer's incarceration and transference... to Paris...

'Do you think...?'

{Only one way to find out, Matt!}

'You're right. Off to Paris, we go.'