AN INCREDIBLE FIRST DATE?

Oh. My. God. I can't believe that just happened, Violet thought to herself as she sat down next to her parents. I did it. I talked to him. But wait, I didn't just talk to him, I ASKED HIM OUT! Or did he ask me out? Oh I don't know, but that's not important anyway – what's important is that I'M GOING ON A DATE WITH TONY RYDINGER! AGHH! Oh my God oh my God oh my God I can't believe this! Just wait until I tell Kari!

Suddenly Violet heard a shot, reminding her to focus on where she was and what she was doing. She was here to support her little brother Dash in his race! There was no doubt he would do well – he did have super speed – but this was the first race his parents let him take part in! As her mom would say (a pun that wasn't very funny at all) super exciting! Violet watched as Dash had trouble figuring out where he should rank in the race; their parents were pushing him to neither win nor lose, eventually settling on him getting second place.

Violet was so happy and proud of Dash and his achievement, but in the back of her mind she couldn't stop thinking about Tony. And now the worry of what a date might entail started creeping in. The conversation with Tony was just a burst of confidence; she wasn't actually ready for this! Sure, she saved the city with her family three months ago, but that wasn't her doing; it was because of teamwork, her experienced parents and other adult supers, and her powers. She didn't have love powers! Nor was teamwork an option for a date, and she was not ready to talk about boys and crushes with her parents!

As the family left the race together, congratulating Dash and laughing about the struggle of choosing a rank in the race, Violet couldn't help but keep thinking and worrying about her date. Violet wouldn't have to worry for long though, because a strange rumbling started under her feet. Suddenly, A gigantic drill erupted from the road, scattering the cars on the road dividing the street into two. The pedestrians ran, screaming in all the chaos.

A man driving the drill started to monologue: "BEHOLD – THE UNDERMINER! I am always beneath YOU, but NOTHING is beneath ME!" The Parrs were having none of it. Each member of the family slipped on their mask while The Underminer continued to talk, removing their clothes to reveal their super suits underneath. While they ran towards him, Mr. Parr – or now, Mr. Incredible – started giving orders to the family.

"Vi, Dash – do that moving force field combo you did before and go round the back of the drill, see if you can find a way to stop it. Oh, and take Jack-Jack. He'll be safe in the force field, so keep him in there. Helen, we'll bring this "Underminer" down to our level and deal with him – if that doesn't work I'll throw you up there to hold him down and I'll stop the drill from the front."

Following his instructions, the family split off into their teams. Violet brought up a force field and held onto Jack-Jack while Dash set off into a real sprint. Since their first fight with Syndrome, the whole family had been really working on their powers instead of hiding them away. Violet's force field was much stronger than ever before, and much bigger too; she could now stretch it to cover their whole house if needed.

They made their way to the back of the drill undetected, The Underminer still ranting on and distracted by his own speech. She could hear her dad taunting the villain, and knew that her parents had things under control at the front. With his improved super speed, Dash took them around to look for any possible entrances into the drill all in 10 seconds, but finding none took the team back to the front to help their parents.

Her parents already dealing well with The Underminer, Violet let down her shield and stood by Dash, passing Jack-Jack over to him. She quickly assessed the danger of the situation and saw no other threats besides the drill and driver, so relaxed a little. Although she tried to fully concentrate on the situation, thoughts of Tony and her worry for their date persisted in the back of her mind.

Her dad would probably want to meet Tony. Although he's a sweet and loving father, he could be pretty scary with that super strength! Violet thought back to times when the family would quarrel and he would accidentally yet easily break something. Watching him right now use this strength in its entirety to hold the moving drill in place really put into perspective just how strong he is. Violet was sure he knew she could handle herself after what they had achieved in defeating Syndrome, but she's still his little girl, and Tony is still a boy! Mr. Parr could be pretty short tempered, what if Tony cracked a joke when trying to make a good impression on Mr. Parr but he doesn't like it so he flips out and uses his super strength? This could be a disaster, Violet thought, just absolutely unbearable and traumatic. I have to tell Tony I can't go on a date with him anymore.

"VIOLET LOOK OUT!"

Violet looked over to see Dash had run away with Jack-Jack and looked up to see a large piece of the drill flying in the air right towards her. She quickly threw up a shield, but hardly had time to spare and was pushed back a bit when the metal bounced off it. Knocked over onto her butt, luckily only her dignity was hurt. Dash ran back to help her up, and they looked back over to see that their parents had already stopped The Underminer, Mr. Parr keeping him down. Mrs. Parr ran over to the kids.

"Goodness Violet, are you okay? That was a close one! You're not hurt? Good. Dash, everyone safe?"

"Yes, mom" they replied. Violet, embarrassed by her fall and ashamed of her mistake looked down.

"Well, I'm glad you three are safe. You kids can go home now, okay? We have things sorted here, and you know how long and boring the police work can be following these things. Vi, can you make sure you give Jack-Jack something to eat when you get back? And you two can eat some of the leftovers in the fridge. Your father and I will be home as soon as we can." She kissed them all on the foreheads and ran back to their dad. Violet was worried she'd get some sort of scalding from her mom for not paying attention when they were in such a dangerous situation, but her mom seemed more focused on finishing the job right now.

Back at home, Violet tried to do some homework but couldn't focus on it. Too much had happened today, and she looked back on the fight with The Underminer with disappointment in herself, adding to the worries already in her mind. She was still thinking about Tony. Her failure in this a fight only confirmed that she definitely wasn't ready for any date. Forget her earlier thoughts of once saving the city – she just screwed up a fight! That could've been really dangerous, not just for herself, but also for her family. If she were still holding Jack-Jack she may not have had time to make a force field and… well, she didn't want to think about what would've happened then. There goes all that newfound confidence from being a super, she thought.

Exhausted from the long day and accepting that she wouldn't be getting any work done, she decided to just go to bed. She tried hard to not think about anything and just count sheep, but that wasn't necessary as it turned out she was more tired than she thought, and she fell asleep almost instantly.

Waking up to her alarm, Violet rolled over to turn it off and wondered how it was already morning – it felt like she had only fallen to sleep moments ago. It was Friday, almost the weekend Violet thought to herself happily. Wait. IT WAS FRIDAY. She was meant to have her date today! Violet couldn't believe that she didn't realize that yesterday, she only had one day to figure this date stuff out!

"Ughhhh" she groaned and turned her face back into her pillow. She noticed her butt was a little sore from her fall yesterday, reminding her of her failure and adding that extra worry back into her mind.

"Violet, come down for breakfast – it's time to get out of bed!" her mom shouted from downstairs.

Violet trudged down the stairs and sat on her tender behind at the table. At least today's breakfast was pancakes, a weekly tradition for Fridays in their household. As she tucked in, she tried to think through how she would tell Tony she couldn't go on the date anymore, but couldn't think of a thing.

"What's wrong sweetie?" Asked Mrs. Parr, noticing the troubled expression on Violet's face. "Are you still thinking about yesterday? Oh honey, don't worry about it. We all have moments of weakness, and you're still so young and inexperienced in battle – it's okay! That's why we're a team, we look out for each other and protect one another." Mrs. Parr smiled.

Well, Violet was thinking about yesterday, and was relieved to hear her mom wasn't angry about her mistake, but this wasn't quite the part of the day that she was thinking about.

"Thanks, mom. But actually, there's something else that's bothering me…" she trailed off, not quite believing she was going to tell her mom about this.

"Oh? What's that?"

"I, um… well, today after school… I, uhhh… I'm, I'm… going on a… a date." Violet could feel her face turning pink.

Mrs. Parr was quiet for a moment. "This is… good. This is good! Who with?"

"Oh," Violet was surprised at her mom's positive response. "Tony Rydinger."

"What a nice boy! You have to bring him over here before you two go out!" Mrs. Parr was grinning.

"I'd rather not…" Violet mumbled.

"Violet, it's the only thing I ask of you. Can't you be happy I'm not telling you that you can't go on this date?"

Violet sort of wished her mom would do just that. But she couldn't bear to talk about this any longer - it was just too embarrassing.

"Don't worry, I'll tell your father about this - soften him up to the idea of our little girl going on her first date!"

"Um, okay. Thanks, mom" Oh my God, Violet thought, this is just going to be unbearable.

Violet managed to get through the whole school day without seeing Tony, which helped her not to panic slightly although time was fast approaching their date and she was getting very nervous. Over lunch she had talked to her best friend Kari about it, who said she should just go on this date because she's wanted it for so long. At this point Violet felt she was all out of options and agreed with Kari, although she was still feeling very anxious.

Violet left her last class and headed to her locker, only to see Tony waiting there. He smiled when he saw her approach, which only made Violet's heart race.

"Hey," She said as she opened the locker, trying to hide her blushing.

"Hi," he replied, sounding so happy. She tried not to blush any harder. "Are you ready to go?"

"Well… I need to stop off at home first. My parents, uh, they want to meet you… is that okay?"

"Of course!" He smiled even bigger.

"Great," Violet smiled back, although she was still so worried about what her dad would say to Tony. She crossed her fingers that her mom had really, really softened up the idea of her going out with a boy, otherwise this would be tricky.

Since their home got destroyed in the battle with Syndrome, the Parr's new home was only a short walk away from Violet's school so she didn't need her mom to pick her up. Although on rainy days this was a pain, she was grateful today that she could just walk home with Tony without her mom or brother being there too. Tony was surprisingly easy to talk to, and very funny. As Violet had only appreciated him from afar before, never once having had a conversation with him before yesterday, she didn't know anything about him. She now looked forward to their date a little more, knowing it wouldn't be so awkward. But first was the challenge of Tony meeting her parents…

Violet entered her house and walked through to the kitchen to see her mom reading a book at the table while Jack-Jack played with his food in his highchair. Dash was most likely in his room – Violet had seen his shoes in the hallway – and there was no sign of her dad yet.

"Hi Sweetie, how was school?" Mrs. Parr asked, not yet looking up from her book.

"It was good. Mom, this is Tony," Violet motioned to him standing there next to her. Tony didn't seem nervous at all, which Violet just could not understand. He really must be more confident than I thought.

"Hi Mrs. Parr, it's a pleasure to meet you," Tony smiled and extended a hand towards her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, too. And please, call me Helen," She responded. She then launched into conversation with Tony about school and soccer, which he played for the school. Things were going very smoothly and the conversation seemed effortless between the two, Violet couldn't help but smile.

"Honey, I'm home!" Violet heard the front door close and her dad's footsteps as he approached the kitchen. It's time.

"Oh, who's this?" Mr. Parr stood in the kitchen door, loosening his tie as he spoke. Violet glanced at her mom. Didn't she mention this to dad? She said she would soften him up!

"Dad, this is Tony Rydinger. We were just about to go the movies together," Violet said, hoping he would think this was as friends and they'd be able to leave soon.

"It's nice to meet you, Sir," Tony extended his arm again to shake Mr. Parr's hand.

"Oh, Tony. Oh yeah, I heard about you," Mr. Parr took his hand and shook firmly. Oh no, Violet thought, so mom did tell him. Oh please, don't hurt him!

Mr. Parr released his grip from the handshake and Tony dropped his hand, no pain showing on his face. Good, dad is in control. Violet didn't want to give him any time to talk with Tony and change his mind, so she tried to hurry things along.

"Well, I think we need to get going if we wanna make it in time," Violet said, looking at the clock and noticing it was only 4:15. Tony gave her a look, which she ignored as she pushed him towards the door.

"Have fun, kids!" Mrs. Parr said, not questioning the early exit.

"Violet! Wait a sec, come here," Mr. Parr pulled Violet over to him. She looked over to Tony standing there.

"Tony, why don't you go wait at the door," He nodded and walked to the entrance with Mrs. Parr. "What dad?" Violet asked.

"Listen, if things start escalating, be sure to use protection," He whispered.

"What?! Oh my God dad! This is so embarrassing…" Violet was in shock. Were they really having this conversation?! This was her first date!

"NO NO NONONOOO NO! I didn't mean it that way! I meant if something bad happens just put up a force field! Protect yourself!" Mr. Parr replied, equally as embarrassed as Violet.

"DAD YOU COULD HAVE SAID THAT DIFFERENTLY OH MY GOD!" Violet shout-whispered angrily, her face turning red.

Mr. Parr gave an awkward and uncomfortable laugh in response, before quieting down and saying "I guess so… but Vi, if you with tony, well, you know… protection."

"DAD I'M LEAVING!"

"Have fun sweetie! –But not too much fun!"

"GOODBYE DAD"

Violet stormed out of the kitchen, feeling flustered and trying her best to cool down her face before she left with Tony. Well, that was uncomfortable, she thought. At least it could only go up from here…