Incarnates

Chapter 1: The hottest day of August

Author's Note: I'll take responsibility and say that this book is definitely inspired by the Incredibles movies. I just watched the second one for the second time and it gave me massive motivation to write a superhero series. So here it is.

There's Lily! A young Brooke Shields at her finest.

The warmest the summer has ever gotten, on a dry August afternoon, when everyone was too hot to be bothered; that is the day I saved a boy who probably could've just saved himself.

"I'm telling you right now, Derek. Ray-Girl is the hottest female superhero in all of New York." I rolled my eyes. I had met Ray-Girl just a few months ago. She wasn't anything but a messed up perm and a pound of perfume. Without her heat vision, she'd be a simple city girl.

Derek, thankfully, was on my side without even knowing it. "Not a chance, dude. Gamma-Gal is definitely the hottest girl in the state." So much for being on my side. Nate, the other boy of the conversation just laughed out loud.

"You're only saying that because she saved you last week from that robber."

I wanted to bang my head against the back of this bus seat. This ride to the city couldn't be any more long or boring. There was one female superhero I was hoping they'd mention.

"Relax, Lily." Ronnie, my best friend since forever, nudged my side, knocking me out of my state of angst. "Don't feel bad about them not saying you're a hot super," She whispered that last part.

Now I nudged her. "I'm not mad." She smirked. "I just strongly disagree with their taste in women."

"Exactly!" She hissed enthusiastically. "They are women. Maybe Nate and Derek like mature girls."

"Not helping at all." I lolled my head back against the seat.

She crossed her arms, still grinning at me. "Alright then, let's see what they think about you." She whistled at the boys and they turned to look at her. "I happen to think that ReVibe is the hottest superhero in the country." Overkill, much?

I raised my head to see their reaction. They both looked at each other and shrugged. "Are we counting her?" Nate asked, looking at Derek for the go ahead.

"Why wouldn't you count her? She's a super!" Ronnie argued.

Derek made a sound in thought. "Hmmm. Well that is true, but we weren't sure if we were going to count girls under the age of 18."

I interjected, "How do you know if she's under 18? No one knows anything about her."

Nate chuckled. "Do you even see the news?"

"Yeah, come on, Lilian. ReVibe is cool and powerful and all, but she's got basically no boobs, and while she's kind of got an ass, you can tell that ain't a body of a full woman." Derek laughed out loud, amused by his observation.

I opened my mouth to say something else, feeling heat raise in my belly, but Ronnie shook her head at me. "Not worth it." She whispered.

I rolled my eyes, not ready to give up just yet, until someone else's voice caught my attention. "Why do you guys waste time gossiping about superheros anyway? Like they don't get enough attention as it is."

The four of us turned to the seat directly across from me and Ronnie.

Matthew Dallinger, a grade higher than us, sat scrolling calmly through his phone. Nate was the first to call him out. "What did you say?"

"You think you're better than a superhero?" Ronnie asked, surprising me. I figured she wouldn't want to get involved. "They deserve all the attention they get."