167 The End Of Us (The Incredibles)

I was shot at when I passed over New York City to check on it, so I looped back around and dropped a different kind of bomb. Yeah, that kind. Watching the top few floors of the Empire State building explode was both spectacular and cathartic.

I dropped a few of the best weed-killer bombs as well, just because I could see a lot of infected moving around, and flew on to Washington DC. I was tempted to bomb them the normal way as well, except I didn't want them to stop taking care of the quarantine zones or stop them from producing food, fuel, troops, and everything else they needed to keep the population safe from the infected.

I did drop a care package of both kinds of weed-killer, clearly marked, and instructions on how to make more. I would let them handle going after any of the places I missed, since I had been flying fairly fast to cover as much of the country as possible while also not contaminating any farmlands or water tables that I could.

I flew back to Colorado and did a fly-by of the hotel, even though I already told them I was coming back, and checked the highway. It was still clear, so I circled around and easily landed and came to a stop. I stored the plane without getting out and dropped to the ground on my feet and a smile on my face.

A few hours later, after following my cleared out path that I had to use magic to cover up again, I was back at the hotel and smothered in hugs and kisses from Sandra. She dragged me to bed right away and didn't let me leave until the next morning. She also demanded that I fix her, because she didn't want to bring any more children into the world.

I reminded her that she didn't have to worry about that with me and she said she didn't care. It was for her own peace of mind and she wasn't going to change her mind. So, I reluctantly removed her ovaries and placed them into an organ shipping package that hospitals used and stored them, without her knowing that, of course. If she did ever express a regret for not having children, I could surprise her with them.

Shockingly, Janine approached me the next day and asked for the same thing. Why they got it into their heads that they needed to take such drastic measures was beyond me; but, both she and Jenkins had the same opinion as Sandra. They wanted to have no chance that a child might be born into the world. So, I saved her ovaries, too.

*

Months and then years passed again, our lives full of our daily routines, our hobbies, and loving each other. It was both safe and satisfying, even as we all grew older. But, time itself could not be denied and our bodies slowed down as age-related aches and pains claimed more and more of our time and we took longer to do the things we normally enjoyed doing.

Almost as one, Janine, Jenkins, and Sandra decided one day that they had had enough and didn't want to end up infected or have their bodies taken over after they died. I knew what that meant and admitted I had already prepared a burial site for us, including the weed-killer and a firebomb to destroy our remains.

I didn't mind kissing Janine on the lips when she thanked me for being so considerate. What I did mind was that I had to fight off Jenkins when he tried to do the same. It made Sandra and Janine laugh, though. We went to just outside the protective barrier where I had a small freestanding single room building with four beds on funeral pyres ready for us.

It wasn't until after I had dosed the three of them with the Draught of Living Death that I realized they were all about one year younger than the age Tammy was when she suddenly died of cancer. I cursed out loud at that, because they had learned the wrong lesson from that mistake on my part, despite me stating that they didn't have any kind of cancer.

There was nothing to be done about it now, though. They had made peace with themselves and with each other and were more than ready to die on their own terms. It didn't matter if they could last another 20 or 30 years before dying of old age, they were ready now and that was that.

I gave their smiling faces one last look before I laid down on my bed and set off the countdown for both the weed-killer to spray us down and then for the firebomb to destroy our bodies afterwards. It was enchanted to burn extremely hot and the small room was set up like a crematorium to contain the heat, so nothing would be left of us.

I downed my dose of potion and closed my eyes, ready to move on from this world. I didn't see, feel, or hear anything as the timer finished and the funeral pyres were lit.

Welcome back!
You have completed this world and ensured the survival of a significant portion of the population that would have perished otherwise. Bonuses for creativity and ingenuity have been granted and a certain levelling system has been adjusted for you.

It took me a few seconds to realize what it was talking about. That's great! I thought with happiness after reading that. How exactly does it work?

Thanks to Fate stepping in and putting in a good word with the higher-ups, she had your Minor Touch of Divinity, that you successfully stole from the goddess Eris when you defeated her, changed into a self-levelling skill.
All you have to do is reach certain benchmarks and you can spend the accumulated Karma Points to increase your base level using your Adventurer Card.

Oh, thank god. I thought. My mind was filled with relief at the chance of being more than just a Level 1 Adventurer forever.

YOU ARE WELCOME.

Owww. I thought and groaned in pain as a massive migraine tore through my mind.

Fate's smaller blue box appeared with the word 'giggle' on it. You need to be more careful when giving genuine thanks and offering prayers to omnipotent beings like that between worlds.

I'll keep that in mind from now on.

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I thought and waited for several minutes for the pain to lessen enough that my own thoughts didn't hurt to think. Now what?

You have the choice of several options:
Pick an unlocked world to travel to (No Cost Gender-Bend: Incredibles, Worm)
Pick a new world to travel to (Current Total: 2180, Cost: Variable, options available)
Spend Karma Points to create your own story (Cost: 20,000 points minimum)
Buy a Multi-World-Combo package (Cost: 50,000 points, options available)

Okay, that last one is a bit ridiculous. I thought and clicked on it, just to see what the registered options were.

DCEU: Justice League / Young Justice / Batman Family
MCEU: Avengers / X-Men / Spider-Man / Venom
IndependentEU: Invincible / Savage Dragon / WildCATS / Gen13
Multiverse Combos: Justice League / Avengers, Invincible / Young Justice

Wow, that... that's like... completely insane! I mentally gasped. Those options are ridiculous! How in the world am I supposed to survive in any of those combinations?

That would depend on which protagonist you chose to be.

Wait, wait, wait! I can... I can choose? I asked, surprised.

Each of them have group or ensemble protagonists, therefore you can become anyone among the main casts of each. All of them have been close to death, in some form or another, multiple times.

I floated there in the empty space, stunned. I could be anyone in any of them. I thought and tried to look at the huge list of normal worlds, because what I just heard had let me know my options for each one would have multiple roles for me to choose from. It was... it was a bit too much for my mind to ponder after what I had just been through.

Without thinking about it, I chose the first free option presented to me, the world of the Incredibles (Gender-Bend). I needed to relieve some stress and think about what I wanted to do next, so a light-hearted world should let me do that.

Congratulations! You have chosen The Incredibles.
Good luck and have fun blowing up! Don't forget to save the children!

My mind immediately jumped to the right scene and I mentally gasped again, because I had forgotten that was the first scene in the movie where Helen Parr, now Hank Parr, had almost died onscreen as the plane she and her kids were flying in was shot out of the sky by the movie's bond-like villain.

As everything faded to black, I mentally prepared myself for what I needed to do to survive.

*

I came to as I felt the wind rushing by my face and the sounds of an explosion fading away. My eyes fluttered open when I heard screaming nearby. I turned my head to the louder one on the right and saw a teenaged boy yelling his head off, clearly terrified. I turned my head the other way and saw a young girl and she looked both terrified and like she was having the time of her life.

I had mentally prepared for this moment and reached for the both of them at the same time as the information about my current life was eased through my mind. I pulled the kids into my embrace and hugged them tightly.

“Don't worry, Vance and Danica. I've got you.” I said, my voice full of warmth.

“You've got us? Who's got you?” Vance asked, his eyes wide.

I had to chuckle at the Superman reference, even though he didn't exist in this universe. “Your mother.”

Danica giggled and hugged my arm that was wrapped around her several times.

“Okay, this part's a little tricky. Hold on.” I said and started to expand parts of myself as my arms spread out to better protect the kids. I wasn't going to make the mistake Helen made by becoming a parachute and landing in the water right underneath the dropping plane parts.

I changed the shape of my head to give it a point, expanded out my sides into thick swept back wings, and added gliding fins to my ankles and the backs of my feet. The suit's toughness and resilience helped me hold the stiffer shape, so I'd have to send Ed Mode my thanks for making it so versatile.

Since we were falling fast anyway, I angled myself to catch the wind rushing by and we swooped down near the water in a long arc. Danica laughed and tried to catch some of the sea spray and Vance hugged my arm tightly. I adjusted my 'wings' to pull us up and regained only a quarter of the height we previously had. That was the downside of not having a means of propulsion and only working like a glider.

Still, I used what I had and did my best to catch more of the air currents above the water. I also knew what to look for and slowly banked in a circle to see where the missiles that blew up the plane I borrowed had come from. Oh boy, it was going to be difficult to explain to Viper that I lost the government plane she had let me borrow.

We glided for a fairly long distance towards the island I knew was there and just before we hit the water, I flipped us over and spread myself out like a rubber raft and sat my kids inside. Vance looked surprised at my move and Danica kept laughing.

“Let's do that again!” Danica exclaimed.

I chuckled as the friction of the water slowed us down and we floated calmly on the water. “I am not sacrificing another plane just to give you a joyride, Danica.”

“Awww!” Danica pouted and crossed her arms.

How can 10 year old kids be so cute? Was it the blonde hair or the freckles? Or both?

“What do we do now?” The not nearly as cute 14 year old Vance asked me.

“You're going to sit there and look pretty while I paddle us to where we need to go.” I teased him and he scowled at me and crossed his arms. I had a hard time not laughing, because he was deep into his teen rebellious phase.

“Ooo! OOO! Can I help? Can I? CAN I?” Danica asked, excitedly.

I barked a laugh and nodded. “Of course you can.”

“YES!” Danica yelled and jumped to her feet. “Just tell me what to do and I'll do it!”

I changed the back of the 'boat' to add fins below the water to hold us steady and let Danica dangle her legs behind us. She listened attentively as I told her how to kick her feet in the water properly to propel us forward, like a motorboat. I also warned her to only build up to a good speed and not to her top speed, just because I didn't want her exhausting herself.

I faced forward when we started moving and I expanded my hands into rudders to steer. “Vance.”

“Yeah?” Vance asked and I could hear the caution in his voice.

“I'm sorry about yelling at you like I did on the plane. It wasn't fair of me to demand so much of you when I knew you hadn't been practising your powers. I was just scared about losing you and I overreacted.” I said and glanced back briefly to see shock on his face.

“It... it's okay. I... I'm sorry, too. I've never tried to make a forcefield like that before and... I just... couldn't.” Vance said, sounding defeated and he ducked his head.

“Hey, none of that now.” I said and he looked at me through a curtain of dark hair that he had covering one eye. “The sea spray on my face is getting hard to handle, so why don't you practice putting up a small barrier in front of us?”

“R-really?” Vance asked, hope on his face.

I nodded and looked forward again. “Things have changed for us. Our family has been attacked and one of us kidnapped.” I said and my voice went deeper. “We will be getting Bobbie back and we're going to make them pay for taking her from us.”

When I felt a hand on my shoulder, I glanced back and saw a determined look on my son's face.

“We'll get mom back, dad.” Vance said, sternly.

“Yeah, we will!” Danica exclaimed. “We'll kick butt, too!”

I smiled at the both of them and looked forward again. I saw a flickering blue forcefield appear in front of my face and nodded. “Try for a smaller one and hold it. Don't just hope it'll be stable, believe it will be.”

“Dad, I... this is...” Vince said, clearly not confident in himself.

“I know it's difficult, Vance.” I said and tried to fill my voice with reassurance. “You have more power inside of you that you realize, though. In fact, it's in your blood to be a hero. Your mother and I used to go out all the time when we were younger to stop crime and to protect people.”

Vance was quiet for a minute. “Why did you stop?”

“Propaganda.” I said and heard him scoff. “It's true. Lawsuits for property damage, people upset after we saved them and the villains hurt them or they were caught up in the collateral damage from the fight, and the news was vilifying the heroes and forced the government to ban using powers in public.”

“They... they banned...” Vance whispered.

“It was the best way to control people with special abilities. If you didn't accept the government's relocation offer and go into hiding, you were arrested and put in jail instead.” I told him. “It's why we've been so hard on you and Danica about using your powers. If people saw you, we'd have to move again.”

“So, that's why.” Vance said as another forcefield flickered in front of my face and stayed there for several seconds. “I always wondered why we had to keep moving.”

“It was mostly your mother's fault.” I admitted and Vance gasped in surprise. “She's been trying to relive the glory days with your Aunt Lucy in secret and was caught using her powers by our government handler a few times. He's a nice guy, so he covered it all up and arranged for a new job and a new house each time. The last time... well... there was no new job and apparently a villain lured her in with sweet words and tons of money.”

“Wow.” Vance whispered.

“Yeah, that was my reaction, too.” I said and turned my head around to look at Danica. “How are you doing back there, sweetie?”

“I'm doing GREAT!” Danica yelled and giggled, her legs moving like blurs.

I chuckled and faced forward again. A small forcefield appeared in front of my face and stayed there for ten full seconds. “Nice one, Vance. Keep working at it.”

“Thanks, dad.” Vance said and I could hear the pride in his voice.