"No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in jeopardy again. Sometimes I just want it to stay saved! You know, just for a little bit?

~ Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible)

"I didn't think you'd show up, Lightbulb." Delinquent chided, sitting on the edge of the AC facility.

It was now dark out and Daniel was still out protecting the city from crime. I told him I wanted the night off for homework, but in reality, I wanted to see Delinquent again.

She quickly dissolved into a cloud of purple smoke before reappearing, only a couple of inches from my face.

"Hello."

She blushed and backed away a couple steps, "Sorry about that. I'm still learning, you know?"

I nodded, knowing how hard it must've been without someone to help her. "I understand. I probably short circuited my whole neighborhood a couple times before Captain Impossible trained me. Super powers can be a bit hard to control at first, you know?"

"Yeah." She said. "I accidently teleported in on my neighbors a couple times when I was first getting used to this power. Thank god they didn't notice."

I chuckled. We had a lot more in common than you would think, Delinquent and I.

"Wait, so how long have you had your powers anyways? I mean - if you're still getting used to them?" I questioned, actually curious.

She shied away, getting defensive again.

"Hey, you don't really have to tell me if you don't want to. I was just curious." I assured her, knowing how quickly she would assume the worst.

"Well, I've probably had them for about three months now. I only just realized what they were a month or two ago. Closing your eyes and then finding yourself in a totally new place when you open them again is quite a scary feeling, especially when it makes you think that you're crazy and your parents . . . well, let's just say they aren't exactly approving of things that aren't in the 'norm'."

I wondered for a moment whether her parents knew about her powers, but surely if they did they would be supportive of it, no matter if they didn't like super powers. I couldn't imagine any parent hating their child for something they couldn't control - and something that most certainly wasn't immoral or wrong.

"Well, do you know how you got your powers at least?" I asked.

She crossed her arms and popped out her hip, "I could ask the same of you."

"Well, I'm pretty easy. Electromagnetic powers, where else would I get them? I was struck by lightning whilst holding a lamppost when I was younger. The doctors were surprised that I survived, thank god they didn't really look into my DNA too much. If they had found out that I was given powers by that lightning strike, who knows what sort of government intervention would've been instituted."

In fact, I knew exactly which branch of government would've taken me away. They wouldn't have dissected me or anything, but rather train me much like Daniel did, just for a different outcome.

MASKED (Monitoring of Abnormal, Strange, or Kaleidoscopic Events Department) was the branch of government dedicated to all super related incidents. They also aided our military with technology they borrowed from smart supers and the supers that were 'not from around here.' Calico was still technically a MASKED agent, even if her identity and her origins of how she became a super were now known to the world. She was kind of like the Black Widow of the League of Legends group, except for the fact that she, you know, was part feline.

Delinquent gave me a knowing look, like she knew I wasn't explaining everything. Like the fact that I didn't say that was the night my father died.

"For me it wasn't instant. I was one of the kids affected by the Paramount Pharmaceutical's pills. If I had taken any more of those, I would probably have been spastically teleporting all over the place. I stopped as soon as the claims came out and I connected the dots. My parents were far from happy when the news broke as well."

So my earlier premonition was wrong. If she was affected by those ADD and ADHD pills, then her parents would've been the ones who signed the bills for those, meaning that they would've known that she most likely had some kind of powers from them. Only about five percent of the kids taking them were affected, but if your daughter starts acting strangely right around the time that news is coming out, then you could assume the worst.

But then the powers most definitely weren't her fault, so how could her parents even think for a second to blame her for being different.

"So that's why you attacked their vans the other day." I stated. "You're one of the kids whose parents are trying for a settlement, aren't you?"

She looked down at those words, venom suddenly filling her voice. "My parents didn't want to sign us up on that list, they thought it would ruin the family name - if having an ADHD daughter wasn't enough embarrassment. Besides, they don't need any more money."

So she was loaded. No wonder she came out at night so often, her parents probably would've lost her anyways in the huge house she probably owned, like every other kid at Eldredge Academy. If her family was known enough to have a reputation to uphold in this city that meant she was definitely in the top 1% of DC's finest. I finally found one rock we didn't share, she didn't know what it felt like to have nothing, did she?

"Oh."

The awkward tension in the air was disturbed when my watch started to beep. This was the second time a call from Daniel interrupted an encounter with Delinquent, but this time I was grateful.

"Hello?" I answered, making sure to say facing Delinquent this time so she wouldn't attack me again.

(Better safe than sorry)

"Hey, dude," Eric's voice drifted into my ear, "sorry to intrude while you're off duty but it looks like Captain Impossible is getting in some serious trouble at the First National Bank. I would head over there now if I were you."

"Okay, I'm already on my way." I said, ending the conversation. I looked over at Delinquent, but it seemed that she figured what the message was about.

"Captain Underpants is in need of his faithful sidekick?" She questioned.

I nodded, a bit remorseful, even if we had been at an awkward stance before. "Someone is trying to rob the First National Bank again."

"I understand," she said, "you should head over before it gets bad."

I smiled at her before turning and running off the roof. It was mostly for effect, since I caught the edge of the fire escape as soon as my body was out of sight from the rooftop. I climbed down in record time before running down the street. The First National Bank was only a couple streets over, so it only took minutes to get there.

It turned out those were minutes that I needed.

The First National Bank was surrounded by police officers and a barricade was already set up. I could tell that there must've been some sort of serious super villains in there because the barricade was set up further away from the front doors than it would've normally been and the fact that even SWAT was staying far back.

But the absence of extra personnel told me that the hostages inside the bank, if there were any, weren't important political figures, which made my day much easier.

I caught up with the Detective Pearson, who I recognized immediately. Daniel and I had worked with him a couple times before on some super villain cases. He headed the super task force, so we had to work hand in hand sometimes. His daughter also went to Eldredge, but was a year below me. She got in on a half scholarship, which was why she could afford to go there without rich parents.

(Yeah, a detective's salary isn't as much as you'd think it would be.)

"What's the situation?" I asked.

Detective Pearson gave me a worried look. "It ain't lookin' good in there, man. Captain Impossible walked in a while ago, and we haven't heard word since. All I know is there are about three perpetrators, all wearing clown masks. The main one seems to have super strength."

I nodded. This happened all the time. Some guy gets some super powers, so he decides to go rob a bank for some extra cash with his friends. Most of the time these guys still don't even have a grip on their powers.

"Alright, I'm heading-"

I was cut off by a huge crashing noise, which turned out to be Daniel being thrown through the front wall of the bank.

Daniel was indestructible, so he just got back up on his feet, a little annoyed, but unharmed. He waved to the crowd that was gathering and determinedly walked back inside. I sighed and ran after him through the now gaping hole in the front of the building.

When inside, I spotted the clown mask guys immediately. Two were guarding the hostages, who were huddled in fear at the side of the room. The third clown, who I assumed was the leader, was fighting with Daniel at the other side of the room. From anyone else's perspective, it would look like the clown guy was winning, but I knew Daniel liked to wait until his enemies found out that they really couldn't hurt him before he took them down. He liked to see the fight leave their eyes.

I headed over to the other two clowns, who each held guns a little too nervously with bags of money at their feet. I was only a couple yards away when they spotted me. The first clown guy tried to aim his gun while alerting my presence to the second clown guy, but I reached my arm out and electrocuted him with a bit more power than a regular police tranquilizer, enough to make him pass out. When the second guy turned after his buddy fell, I electrocuted him too.

The hostages were a bit shocked, so I had to herd them to the doors so they would get the idea that it was okay to run now that their captors were incapacitated.

Once the last hostage was out, I turned to help Daniel with the last one, but I noticed a bit of purple smoke in the corner.

You've got to be kidding me.

The smoke disappeared as soon as it showed, but I knew it just meant that either Delinquent had disappeared or just shown up to the party.

I ran over to that edge of the bank, dodging the clown as he fell back from a punch thrown by Daniel. Daniel gave me a confused look, but he kept on fighting.

"What are you doing here?" I scolded.

Delinquent was hiding a bit in the corner, so we weren't seen through the gaping Captain Impossible sized hole in the front of the building. She crossed her arms and inclined her head to the fight. "I wanted to help."

I chuckled. "No offense, but the public pretty much thinks you're a villain. If you jump in there now, it might cause more bad than good."

Delinquent pouted, but I couldn't stay around to hear a response. I turned and ran over to Daniel and the clown, who were still battling it out in the foyer of the bank.

I directed a strong electrical current into the Clown Guy, made the room smell like burned hair, but when the smoke cleared, he was still standing and looked relatively unharmed, except for the burnt hair.

I silently cursed. Sometimes the strong guys had a high pain tolerance as well as a bit of faster healing. What good could a big punch do if your hand was broken after it?

The clown guy suddenly looked to the corner of the room, where Delinquent was running up with a wooden board. As soon as she got close, he swiped her away, causing her to make a big dent in the opposite wall. I ran to her side immediately.

"Are you okay?" I asked worriedly.

She groaned. "Yeah, it doesn't feel like anything is broken."

I nodded.

"Then go get out of here. Teleport somewhere safe, now."

She agreed, even if it looked like she wanted to argue. When she teleported, I directed my eyes back to the fight. The clown guy was on top of Daniel, forcing something into his mouth. I ran over immediately, but by the time I got there, the fight had turned around.

Daniel had thrown the clown guy across the room, and he seemed to be struggling to get up. I headed to Daniel first, and he gave me a cocky grin. "I'm indestructible."

I nodded, a smile creeping on my lips. "I know, dude. So, what was that thing the clown guy was forcing in your mouth?" I questioned.

He tilted his head. "I don't know, but it tasted kind of funny, like-" Daniel suddenly coughed and collapsed. I knelt on my knees and held his head as foam started forming around his mouth. I had no idea what was happening, normally nothing affected Daniel, even the common cold. Daniel was indestructible - or so I thought.

"Daniel!" I yelled at him, not even caring if the crowd or the officers had heard me, but my effort was in vain as Daniel started coughing again, a putrid mix of the white foamy stuff and blood coming out of his mouth now.

I was panicking. I had no idea what to do. Whatever the clown guy had put in Daniel's mouth was some sort of poison that was actually harming him, an anomaly I still couldn't understand.

I turned on the clown guy, red rimming my vision from anger. "What did you do to him?"

He laughed, "Nothing you can fix, White Lightning, and you're next."

But I beat him to the punch. I reached up and a crackling sound reverberated throughout the room. Suddenly the huge flash of a lightning bolt filled the room, along with the smell of more burning hair. The clown guy collapsed for real this time and I knew he wasn't getting up anytime soon.

I turned back to Daniel, but somehow police officers and paramedics had entered without my noticing. They were loading Daniel onto a stretcher, trying to get him to respond, but to no avail.

All I knew was that Captain Impossible was dying, and there was nothing I could do about it.