Maria held Risa in her arms, giving her a hug. The custody battle was finally over, and Maria and Michael had won their daughter back.
"Mommy?" said Risa, looking out after Mr and Mrs Kennedy as they started walking back to their car. "Mommy!"
The ground beneath their feet began to shake and Michael instantly grabbed Risa's hand.
"Oy," he frowned at her, trying to use his own abilities to supress hers. "None of that."
Risa sobbed, a crack started to form inthe concrete as the Kennedy's car drove off.
"Risa, stop that," Michael said firmly. "Now."
There was a thick tension as Risa screamed in defiance of being supressed and told off, not to mention abandomed by the couple she believed were her parents. Nonetheless, Michael continued to concentrate. He would not their their daughter grow up to be a brat. He didn't know how his parents had kept this destructove power in check, but he was finding now that it was possible to stop destruction as well as create it.
"Risa," Maria said cheerfully, holding up a toy teddy bear. "I got you a present."
Risa sniffled and looked at the teddy bear guardedly. She reached for it.
"What do you say?" Maria asked.
Risa looked at her.
"Can you say 'thank you'?"
Risa blinked, then smiled.
"Thank you?" she said hopefully.
"Very good," Maria said, handing her the bear.
"Maria..." Micheal began.
"She lost her parents today, Michael," Maria said firmly. "She doesn't know that we're her real parents. She needs time to get to know us."
"We can't bribe her every time she missuses her powers."
"We won't. But right now we're the people taking her away from her family, and she doesn't understand why."
Michael sighed.
"Besides, it wasn't really a bribe. More like a distraction," Maria smiled at him. "I wonder if she's musically inclined at all."
Michael grunted, but smiled slightly.