Disclaimer: The Incredibles belong to Pixar and Disney. No money is being made and no infringement is intended.

Says the Author: This is a collection of three separate parts. The first is longer in lengthwhile parts 2 and 3are 100 word drabbles. Comments and critiques are welcomed.

Novice Hero
By Gigi Galaxie

1.

The last of the evening sun disappeared behind the city's skyline. It was late, but not too late. She could not be out too long because she had school the next morning. It made no difference what her powers were or who she was, her schoolwork was more important. Her mother made that clear to her earlier.

Violet Parr touched the sides of her mask, ensuring a tight fit. No matter how many times she wore it (and truthfully it hadn't been that many), she felt an exhilarating thrill deep down inside. The once shy girl was now a masked super, a unique force of her own. Special and far from ordinary as she had ever known. But she had come to realize, normal was only a matter of perspective. In her family, she was really was normal.

Violet took in a deep breath and said with a confident smile, "I'm ready, Dad."

To her, he was always just 'Dad'. But to the rest of the world, he was Mr. Incredible, and tonight he donned in his own famous mask. He looked her over with a proud gaze. "You sure?"

She nodded. Her nerves tingled with anticipation. "Yes."

This was her first night out. Her father began with a tour of the city. He wanted to start her off slow. As they drove the streets, he pointed at certain areas known to be hot crime spots. The police scanner was on the entire time, interrupting him in mid-sentence as he would stop to listen. A bomb threat here. A jewelry heist there. Even with her experiences on Nomanisan Island, he did not want to start her off with anything dangerous. Her mother had insisted on that, and he agreed.

Violet sat looking out the tinted window of the passenger seat of the newly-dubbed (though not quite the original) Incredibile. "If you are going to be a super," her father told her, "One of the most important things you need to know is the city. Every corner, every building. What kind of people live where. That sort of thing."

He enjoyed this, she saw. Driving through the city streets, swerving from lane to lane, he had a distant look in his eyes. Remembering the glory days when he had patrolled the streets.

"You also have to know what you can do and what you can handle. Think of it like football. Some supers play offense, others play defense. Take my powers… I can run the ball straight down the field. Now yours, I would say defense. Keeping the other team from scoring."

Violet snickered, but not unkindly. "Nice analogy, Dad."

He looked at her, registering her feminine voice, and blushed slightly. "You know what I mean," he said with a crooked smile.

Violet snickered again as she watched the cityscape passed by.

"You're there to help. You do this to make society a better place. You have to believe that or else doing superhero work doesn't matter," her dad said. They had driven out a ways and pulled in front of Violet's school. The school grounds were lit by the full moon above. Violet had asked him to stop there on a hunch. Something she had overheard during that afternoon. Her father had glanced at her, recognized the look in her eyes and did as she said. No questions asked.

Now he pulled off the road and stopped. He turned to her with a grave expression. "You know something, don't you? Well, trust yourself. Having doubt gets you hurt."

Violet felt a small shudder of nervousness as she took this in. "Think I could get that stitched on a pillow?"

This time, he did not smile at her little joke. But then, neither did she. No matter how much confidence she had gained since Nomanisan Island, since she had finally embraced her powers, there was still so much that she needed to learn. She knew that and it did give her doubt. But as she looked back at her father, she saw that he trusted her to make the right decision. He believed in her abilities.

"Go," he said softly. "But remember, if you need me, I'll be there."

Violet gently traced the sides of her mask with her fingertips. It was time.

They wanted to start by breaking the windows. A small group of boys, armed with firecrackers, spray cans, and who knows what else, stood there joking around. Violet spied them from the bushes. She disappeared from sight, using her invisibility power and carefully walked over to them.

They did not suspect they were being watched.

The largest boy of the group held a sledgehammer in his hand. "Watch this!" he cried out as he hurled the head of the sledge at the large glass window. They watched eagerly as it arched in the air...

…and bounced off the glass without so much as a crack.

"Huh?"

Violet smiled to herself and produced another force field around the glass as he tried it again. This time the boys noticed the strange glow protecting the window. "Hey…!"

She wasted no time. Violet grabbed the sledge from the surprised boy. They all cried out in surprise. In front of them, the sledge hovered in thin air. Step by step they backed up. Violet took a swing, only meaning to threaten them. "What is it?" one of them shouted. "What the hell is going on?"

Violet, still invisible, suddenly dropped the sledge to the ground. She was near one of the spray cans, saw it, and paused. The boys traded glances before carefully walking towards the fallen hammer. Just when they were close enough, Violet swiped the spray can and fired. The closest boys caught most of the bright blue paint across their chests. They screamed in unison before taking to a run.

Violet decided not to follow. She had done what she had wanted to. Without a single word spoken. Without even revealing who she was. It was something simple but she felt a sense of pride welling up in her.

This time she had not been defending herself against anonymous henchmen trying to kill her on some strange island. No, this was her doing something so simple as defend her own little part of the world – her school.

And it felt good.

Later on, as they drove back home, she told her father all about it. He listened without interrupting as he pulled into the driveway. As she stepped out of the car, he closed the garage door. "I'm proud of you, honey," he told her softly as they walked to the darkened kitchen.

"You think I did okay?"

He gathered her up in his massive arms. "You did better than okay," he told her as he kissed her on the cheek. "You were incredible."

"Dad," Violet said as she rolled her eyes and smiled at his bad pun.

He laughed softly and put her down. "It's late and you need to be in bed, young lady. You have school tomorrow."

She nodded and started towards her bedroom. But then she paused and turned around. "Thanks for everything, Dad."

2.

"How come no one can tell who we are? I mean this mask doesn't really hide much." Violet sat on the rooftop's edge, looking down on the lamp-lit streets. There was a lull in their nightly patrol. Her father watched the streets from the opposite ledge. He looked up, surprised at her question.

"Well, it's not that the mask is designed to cover up so much as it's supposed to skew the average person's perspective."

Violet raised an eyebrow in question. "And that means what exactly?"

He thought for a moment before replying, "All they can see is the mask."

3.

It was late. She should have been in bed. But instead Violet Parr stood in front of her bedroom mirror, dressed in her pajamas and a thoughtful expression.

"Super Shield." She posed and then laughed softly. Yeah, that was lame.

She turned invisible for a moment and then popped back into the mirror's reflection, posed in another superhero stance. "Invisi-Girl."

Um, no.

"The Incredible Vi!"

She burst out laughing and quickly tried to cover the giggles. She picked up the thesaurus on her bed. "Silhouette?"

Not quite. She sighed, looking at her reflection. Finding a good superhero name was tough.

(End)