The Mentor Trap

## Underneath the Niccals Family Community Center

The garage door leading into Shade's underground apartment clattered open seemingly on its own, and moments later a metal dinosaur barreled in through the opening and skidded to a stop.

"Hana! We're here!" Mel sang out, throwing one leg over Lugnut's neck and jumping off before he'd even come to a standstill. He gave his robot a rub on his muzzle then left him to get settled as he wandered deeper into the apartment.

“Hey, in here,” Hana called out, very obvious who had arrived by all the noise of Lugnut barging in. She was in a corner of the large main room that made up the base, setting up a cage with some biscuits in the small bag hanging in the opening. Hana lifted off into the air, floating over to the entrance to greet Mel as he came in.

“Hey hey dude,” she said, coming down to the floor with a grin. “Was setting up a lobster trap, they’re back. A lot better after that lobster guy started taking them to the lobster sanctuary, but there’s stragglers here and there. Hey Lugnut!” she said, launching to tackle the dino and give him pets. Hana’s hair was in a new style, left side shaved with the right hanging over in a sort of undercut, of course with pink highlighting the last little bit and fading up into the blonde.

"Oh, dude! You cut your hair! Nice!" Mel brushed his own shaggy bangs out of his eyes. "I haven't cut mine since, like, July. It's starting to be a lot."

He crouched down to inspect the lobster trap while Hana greeted Lugnut. It was the sort of thing he couldn't use his powers on to understand, so he was fascinated by the mechanism. Plus… were those dog treats? Do lobsters like dog treats? You learned something new every day.

“Heh, yeah, I’ve had the same thing for a while and like, I dunno, felt like changing it up. Plus Hayeli really liked it, so like, that’s cool,” she said, a slight flush on her face as she was lifting Lugnut into the air in a hug. She let the dino down, giving him a pat on his muzzle, then went out from the garage to join Mel.

"Oh, well if *Hayeli* likes it," Mel teased under his breath, snickering as he stood back up.

“Yeah, heh, just letting it grow out, huh? Doesn’t look bad at all,” she said, coming up behind him. Her hands went into the pockets of her jacket as she gave him a grin. “How’s stuff? Oh, you want any tiny doughnuts? I went to France a few days ago and brought a bunch of tiny doughnuts back”

"Yeah, I don't feel like cutting it. But if it gets any longer I'm gonna have to start tying it back just so I can see." Mel propped himself against the wall and grinned back. "Oh, you know, still just riding the high of kicking your ass in hockey. Does France really only have tiny donuts? Have they not mastered full-sized donut technology?"

She narrowed her eyes, and pointed at him aggressively. “That’s just cause I wasn’t allowed to go all out, like, if I coulda used all my strength and stuff, y’all woulda been toast,” she said, adding a ‘hmph’ on the end. Her demeanor changed immediately back to a grin. “Oh they got regular donuts, it’s just like, a thing there. Tiny ones that are like triangles or whatever. I’m still not sure if they’re called ben yays or begnets, cause like, you spell it like magnet, it should be pronounced that way, right? They’re good, so whatevs. Oh, did you know that if you just fly over the borders you don’t have to go through customs? Saved me a bunch of time.”

“I have told you several times that is not true,” Athena’s voice said, coming over the speakers in the base. Hana waved her off. “It’s totally a thing.”

"I think it depends on how you define 'have to,'" Mel said thoughtfully, throwing himself down on Hana's couch. He sprawled out lengthwise across the cushions with his legs hooked over one arm. "Like, physically, yeah, if you fly over borders you don't have to go through customs, 'cause there's no customs in the sky so they can't stop you. But legally I'm pretty sure you still have to go through customs. Like, airplanes fly over borders, right? And you're still supposed to go through customs when you get off them."

He pushed himself up on one elbow and made grabby hands with the other arm. "But you're already here, so who cares. Gimme some tiny donuts and tell me what movie we're watching."

“See, exactly, we’re here, it’s fine,” Hana said, coming over with a bag of donuts and sitting on the couch cross-legged. She opened the bag and set several on Mel’s chest, powdered sugar falling onto his shirt. “You keep saying everything is a parent trap, so I figure you should actually see it at some point.” Hana raised a hand to gesture at the TV, turning it on and bringing up the channel for her collection of totally, entirely legally acquired media. She brought up The Parent Trap and glanced over. “Sound good? There’s this newer one and an older one from the 60’s, I don’t really know what the difference is, apart from like, 30 years,” she said, afterward popping a tiny donut into her mouth.

"Hmmmm," Mel hummed, brow furrowing in thought as he popped one of the beignets into his mouth. "On the one hand, it's really funny when people get mad at me for not having seen The Parent Trap. But!" His face lit up. "On the other, it'll be *even funnier* if they complain and I *have* seen The Parent Trap. Okay, I'm in."

He shifted so he had one leg over the top of the couch and was looking at the TV mostly upside down. "Ew, did movies in the 60s even have color? Let's watch the new one."

“Uh, I think so? But yeah, I’m good with the newer one,” she said, swiping her hand and starting the movie. “See, exactly, now you can get back like ‘I have seen it, and this is exactly like the movie’ and rattle off something that happened in it,” she added, eating another donut. As it started, Hana glanced over to Mel. “How’s the whole, like, you and Smoke thing going? He all good after the whole kidnapping thing a few weeks ago?”

"I feel like I already have a pretty good idea of what happens in the movie," Mel said, waving a beignet for emphasis. "There's, y'know, parents. And they trap 'em. Bam. Nailed it."

He bit the inside of his cheek and got a sort of distant look in his eye as Hana brought up Smoke. "Smoke is… he's good. He was pretty much fine after the kidnapping thing and then he got hurt *again* in the whole," he waved a hand, "apocalypse thing that happened, but he's okay now. I--we, uh… that is, I…"

Mel cut himself off and shifted to lay flat on the couch again, looking up at Hana. "Actually, I had a question for you about Sledge. When you asked her to be your mom, was it, like… awkward? Like, super awkward?"

“I think that’s basically the plot, but I guess we’ll find out,” she said, nodding and popping another beignet. She looked over to him, listening as he talked about Smoke and all the stuff. “Mhm, that was a lot,” she said, remembering the several almost apocalypses from a couple weeks ago.

Her eyebrow quirked as he laid down and looked up at her. “Awkward? Uh, like, uh, no? Not really. I guess I was still really hyped up from everything that happened that day, but like, I was just all weird about family and wanted to ask them. Her and T were both really cool about it. Mostly just said, like, I don’t feel connected to the person I thought was my mom and I want to be a Steel, is that cool? Yeah.”

Mel frowned and *hrrm*ed to himself. "So you just… you just *asked* her?" he asked dubiously. "You weren't like… embarrassed? Or… scared she'd say no?"

“Uh, well, like, I guess I was, kinda. I was really hyped after the thing and I wanted it though, so, like, yeah. I just asked. I guess even if I was like, freaked out about them saying no, it’s something I really wanted, so I did the thing. Athena helped psyche me up too. Just, I dunno, yeah. It worked out,” Hana said, giving a shrug.

Mel blew out a long breath. "You're braver than I am, Hana." He went quiet for a bit, pensively chewing on a beignet. Finally, he said, "I… I think Smoke is my dad now?"

With the breath, Hana felt something big might be said. She turned in her spot, one leg crossed under her, the other pulled up to her chest so she could turn to face him better. At the words, she just blinked a few times and nodded. “Yeah, uh huh, that’s a thing. Did something happen? You can tell me, I’m awesome at keeping secrets, now that I got an AI to tell me not to blab,” she said, not realizing he had already said the thing.

"Wh--*Hana*!" Mel spluttered indignantly, shooting up into a sitting position and contorting himself around to face her. "Yes, something *happened*!" He gestured wildly with the arm not currently hooked over the back of the couch to hold himself in place. "I just *said*--"

He cut himself off with a grumble and flipped around to sit and face her properly, hugging his knees to his chest and propping his chin on them. "I went to talk to Smoke, 'cause everybody's been making jokes about him being my dad since, like, September, and I was worried it was like… making him uncomfortable, y'know?"

He paused, his face going on a whole journey as he tried to work out how to explain their conversation. "We talked about… a bunch of stuff. And he was really nice about some stuff. And I don't think I actually… *asked* him like you did? But then he called me 'son'. And then I called him Dad. And then I ran away."

Mel whined and dropped his forehead on his knees. "It was *so awkward*, Hana. *So awkward*."

Hana blinked a few times in surprise. Oh, right, Mel didn’t think Smoke was his dad before, so, wait, what? Her head tilted as she listed to him, nodding occasionally, and eyes got wide. “Oh, oh dang. Cool! I mean, uh, that’s cool, right? Not a bad thing, right?” she said. She frowned, then leaned over and patted him on the shoulder.

“Hey, it’s cool, like, you know, it’s kinda like dates, like, you both agreed and want it to be a thing, so it’s a thing. Even if it was awkward. So like, yeah. Uh, have you talked about what that means? Like, Sledge and T adopted me and I changed my name cause we wanted to like, officially be official and stuff. Is it just like, a thing you say now or is it gonna be like, a bigger thing? Wait does that make you and Sam cousins?”

Mel tipped over sideways to lean on her. "I mean, *yeah*, it's cool. Like, I wanted him to be my dad, but I was scared he wouldn't want to because of, y'know," he waved a hand. "But apparently he *isn't* worried I'll turn out like Mirror, which is, y'know, nice to hear. And he wants to be my dad! Like, overall, ten outta ten. Like, grand scheme of things, at the end of the day, Smoke is my dad now. And that's… really cool."

He just smiled for a second, then frowned in thought. "I guess Sam and I are cousins? But like, not any more than we were already siblings? Ciblings? Sousins? Hm. I'll keep working on it." His eyes suddenly went wide. "Wait, oh my god, do I have to change my last name to Ribaldi now?"

“Well yeah, no way you’d end up like Mirror. You’re not, like, you know, a terrible person,” she said, nodding. Hana smiled, leaning her head against him. “Yeah, that’s good then, long as you’re cool with it and happy and stuff.” Her face got a confused look with the confusion about cousins or siblings or whatever.

“Huh, uh, right. Since Smokescreen is kinda your dad too, because of the whole, yeah, but like, you know, it’s probably like, a different level of dad. Like, you can have your dad dad, then your Smoke dad, then like, the dads that were like, kind of but not really dads like Smokescreen and Prometheus. I don’t really know how it works. I do know you only gotta change your name if you want to, it’s not like, a have to kinda thing. I wanted to change mine, but yeah, they’re not gonna like, uh, force you to. I don’t even know who would be the people that enforce that. But, like, yeah, just do you,” she said, going on as the movie continued in the background.

Mel hummed. "I guess I… I don't really know. Like, it'd be cool to have the same last name? But also, like, Ribaldi is… kind of loaded. And I don't care about having the same name as my parents, 'cause they suck, but I like having the same last name as *Cassi*, y'know? I'll figure it out, I guess."

“Mhm mhm, just gotta like, think about it and stuff,” she said, nodding and giving him a grin.

He bonked his head affectionately against Hana's, then slid down to lay flat on the couch. "Speaking of, like… defining relationships and shit," he said, the corner of his lips quirking up, "have you asked Hayeli to be your girlfriend yet?"

She leaned back as he slid off, reaching to grab another donut. It dropped out of her hand as she panicked slightly at his question, looking over with wide eyes.

“I, that, well, uh, um, so, uh, well, that, uh, yes? Yes. Yes I did. We talked about it and like, you know, yeah, we’re like, more than just dating and like, girlfriends now and stuff. It’s annoying to have to go to AEGIS whenever I wanna spend time with her, and I really want the whole Spegulo thing to get taken care of, but like, yeah, girlfriends,” she said, her cheeks red, hand moving back to scratch the back of her head in nervous habit.

Mel immediately jolted back upright. "Wait, *seriously*?" He beamed at her. "Dude, that's awesome! I was starting to wonder if you two would get married before you agreed to be girlfriends." He lounged back against the couch. "How's that whole Spegulo thing going, anyways? Any leads?"

Hana blushed again, and she looked away. “I, that, shut up,” she said, throwing a donut at him before crossing her arms in a huff. It immediately broke at his question, she glanced back to him with a slight frown. “No, not really. Spegulo is an ass and won’t say anything about it. I was thinking about maybe trying to find the other mirror people that split off them, but like, the one dude is in the Consortium and I don’t know who the other was. I guess I could ask Boon or Carmen, I think they traveled through that person when we were in Mirror World when Ryan and me went through Hayeli’s eyes,” she said, tilting her head in thought.

Mel caught the donut (okay, so maybe those training exercises *were* helping, point to Smoke) and smugly took a bite. He dropped the act quickly and hummed sympathetically. "I don't know anything about that whole… deal," he waved the hand holding the donut, "and it kinda sounds like something to ask, like, a wizard about, maybe? And I may not be a wizard, but like, if there's anything I can help with…"

“Do we know any wizards? We gotta, right? It’s Big Team,” Hana said, tapping her chin in thought. She couldn’t think of anybody that walked around in robes at the base, so no luck there. Maybe the Consortium again, but she didn’t know anybody there. “Bleh, whatevs. We’ll figure it out. It’s, like, it’s tolerable for now. I’m glad people don’t like, hold stuff they have against Spegulo against her,” she said, then glanced at him.

“Heh, thanks dude. If I need help with it I’ll hit you up,” she said, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling. “Have you thought about like, what you’re gonna do? Like, you gonna stick around with Smoke for a while? I figured I was doing fine but then a bunch of people left the team and even Ernest is going to college, I thought we had solidarity in lying to Cyclone about going to college but actually not. I’m not like, upset about people leaving, it’s just like, making me think about stuff. Like, I kinda wanna help with the new league Melody and Gwen are getting together, but I’m not really sure. You thought about it at all?”

Mel blew out a long breath and flopped back over on the couch. "Yeah, I've… thought about it. I mean, it feels like everyone who was on the team when I joined up has moved on to something new. Except you and Tiago. And some other people, but you get the point. And I *wasn't* thinking about what came after Big Team, but it's kinda hard not to now."

He dug a bolt out of his pocket with a nut screwed onto the end and started absentmindedly rolling it up and down the bolt as he talked. "The last thing I wanna do is stop heroing. Like, I broke into Gearhead's lab a year ago and got zapped by a computer and like from that moment on *all I wanted to do* was become a superhero. And, y'know, there've been some ups and downs, but I feel like overall we've done pretty well so far." He tipped his head back to grin at Hana, then subsided and chewed on his lip, still spinning the nut. "I could see myself joining up with the new league, but… I also don't think I want to leave Big Team just yet. I figure I should at least finish out high school. Plus, whatever I do, I wanna do it with Smoke, and it might take some convincing to get *him* to go full public superhero."

He tilted his head back to look at her again. "What about you?"

Hana glanced over, listening as he chatted about it, her mind thinking about all the stuff they’d been through together on the team. “Mhm. Yeah, me too. Like, I feel like just going and like, I dunno, getting some job and not doing stuff with the powers I got would be a waste. If someone wants to then sure, but like, I know I’d get bored if I wasn’t doing something, you know? Especially with Athena, she’s curious and wants to learn and do things, we’d both get bored as heck at some shitty office job or whatever. I’m definitely gonna hang on the team for a while longer, just, yeah, like you said, it’s hard not to think about it with everybody that moved on and I’m gonna be nineteen in a couple months so like, yeah. Hard to push it off like I used to. I’m also kinda freaking out that like, aside from Aman we’re like, some of the oldest people on the team. Can you believe that?”

"God, yeah, we're like, *adults*. Like, for real. Like, when did that happen? Who let *us* be the adults?" He grinned and popped another donut in his mouth.

“Heh, nobody, we snuck in on them and wham, there we are,” Hana said, laughing after and taking a donut. “Feels weird but like, good? Like I’m, I’m really liking where stuff is for me right now. Rest of the stuff I’ll figure out as I go, I guess. I still need to get Melody to invite me to the league by proving how awesome I am.”

Mel snorted. "Dude, you've got nothing to prove. Like, seriously, *how* many times have you saved my life now? 'Cause it's, like, *several*. Seriously, you're like, the best hero on Big Team. Melody would be *lucky* to have you."

He stretched and kicked himself around to hang off the couch upside down, with his knees hooked over the back. "I'm glad you're sticking around for at least a little longer, though. I wanna… you know, be for the kids on Big Team what Ernest and Melody and everyone was for me. And god knows I can't do that on my own."

“Well, like, heck, I, I’m not, like, the best or whatever,” she said, turning her head as the blush returned and lit her cheeks red. Hana scratched the back of her head out of embarrassment. “Like, yeah, heh, I’ll be around, to help and be there and stuff. Can’t get rid of me that easily. Gotta help with the training and the missions and GAIA and all the things. Yeah. Heh,” she said, giving him a small smile. “Oh, uh, the movie, right. So I think the parent and the kids switch, or something? I think that’s what the trap is. It’s like an isekai.”

"The fuck's an isekai?" Mel asked through a mouthful of beignet. "Is that like a kind of snake or something?"

“It, like, uh, it’s like, anime where the character is put in a different place, like when you like, go into a video game or something or you’re from modern times and you get hit by a bus and then you’re in a fantasy world or whatever. Like, uh, uh, uh, that one movie about the book that never ends, that counts I think. What’s that one called?” Hana says, thinking hard while popping another donut.

"Book that never ends? What, like an encyclopedia or something? Also, do buses usually take you to fantasy worlds? Is that a common thing in anime? I feel like getting hit by a bus usually just sends you to the hospital." Mel started to get a headache from the blood rushing to his head and flipped back around to sit up properly, wobbling slightly when he went too fast and made himself lightheaded.

“No, like, it’s a thing, like, you die, and then there’s some god or whatever that’s like ‘hey you’re like dead but you get to live in a fantasy world now so like you know that’s cool’ and stuff. And no, like, the book that never ends, it’s like a movie, with the kid that goes into a book and there’s a furry dragon and a talking rock guy or something? You good?” Hana says, tilting her head as he flipped up and wobbled.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good." Mel waved a hand. "So, wait, you have to *die*? Did the two kids or the parents die? You have to die to do a parent trap? Holy shit, are we gonna *die*?!"

“Uh, like, eventually? I don’t think parent trapping means you have to die. Maybe. I guess we’ll see at the end of the movie. We’ve basically seen at least part of it so I’m sure we’ll get what’s going on,” Hana said, nodding. “I’m thirsty, want anything?” she added, standing up and disappearing with a slight movement, then reappearing with two sodas.

"But if it's an isekai, and you have to die to do a swap, then they probably died and we missed it, right?" Mel reasoned, holding out a hand for a soda. "Hold on, I'm gonna google who dies in The Parent Trap." He pulled out his phone and started diligently tapping away.

“But like, I’m not sure if it is though, plus, like, spoilers, dude! Or what if the kid was dead the whole time or something. We gotta just watch, then if we don’t get it then we can check out what the internet thinks,” she said, sitting back down with a leg folded underneath, tossing the soda to him. “You could just ask Athena if you wanna know, too. She’s like, just, around, and knows like, everything.”

"Okay, okay. I wasn't getting results for 'parent trap isekai' anyways. I don't think anime nerds watch this movie." Mel stuck his phone back in his pocket. "Okay, hey, Athena, can you tell us if you have to die to do a parent trap? Without spoiling the movie. Like, just give us a hint or something.”

Athena’s voice came over the speakers, giving a chuckle. “No, death is not required for the situation in this movie to occur. I must say listening to you go back and forth about it has been quite funny.” Hana nodded. “Mhm mhm, we are hilarious, that makes sense. Cool, so it’s not an isekai. Got it. Let’s finish this thing and see if it actually works for all our weird parent situations.”

"Aww, thanks Athena." Mel grinned and pretended to wipe sweat off his forehead. "Thank god it's not an isekai. If you had to die for somebody to become your parent, that'd be fucked up. That'd be bad news for us."

He found a new comfortable position lounging on the couch. "How much is left of the movie, anyways?"

“Mhm mhm, real bad if that was the case,” she said, lifting her hand to show the little progress thing on the movie. “Like almost halfway left, looks like. That’s basically enough to say we watched it, right? Yeah, yeah, all good.”

Mel folded his free arm behind his head and finally turned his attention to the movie. "Yeah! We got it. We totally understand the whole thing. Nobody should question my parent traps."