Disclaim: I do not own the Incredibles, just my idea for this story
A/N: Weeelll, here be a new story from my brain… please R&R, no flames.. don't like, don't read.
Our Master's Legacy
Chapter 1
Violet Parr grimaces as she maintains the force field around her to stave off the machine gun fire from the four would-be robbers. Today started out like any other day… getting up, showering, eating breakfast while reviewing her history notes for the test in class, listening to her mom and younger brother Dash argue about how he wants his hair styled into a large spike… the usual. That is, until she runs into four masked gunmen leaping out of a van and rushing into a jewelry store on the way to school. Then she has to don her super-suit and save the day. No big deal, right? Well, it wasn't until she learned that the gunmen had infrared visors on and could see her despite being invisible. Violet makes a mental note to ask "E" to work up a variant of her super-suit that masks her body heat. "Come on, Dash, where are you?" she whispers to herself. "I know you had to have gotten my villain alarm!" She grunts with impatience and starts walking towards the gunmen, still keeping a force field in between her and them. Then, the far left gunman breaks from the rest and tries to flank her but Violet sees him. She tries to create another force field to block him, but the field disperses almost as soon as it forms. She silently curses herself for not figuring out how to create two fields. Then an idea pops into her head. She tries again but this time only focusing on the flanking gunman's gun. Violet smiles, as the field appears long enough to knock the weapon from his hands. She then repeats the tactic to knock the gunman backwards. He crashes against the wall and slides to the floor, mildly stunned. Violet returns her attention to the remaining three gunmen and starts planning on how to disarm them when an orange blur rushes past her. She sees the blur knock the three to the ground and strip them of their weapons. "'Bout time," she whispers as she realizes that the blur is Dash, or rather, Quick Flash, as he calls himself when he dons his super-suit. She drops the field from around her and quickly restrains the forth gunman before he can get up.
Minutes later, the police collect the four would-be criminals and thank the pair for their help. After leaving, Violet changes back into her street clothes secretly and resumes walking to school. Dash catches up with his older sister and exclaims, "Boy, they sure are starting early today! Hope there's a bank robbery or a high-speed chase at lunchtime!"
"Geez, come on, Dash, get a grip. You make it sound like you want the crime rate to get worse," Violet says, annoyed at her brother's apparent carelessness.
"Well, no, come on, Vi, not like that, but I would like to see some action! You know me; I get bored easily!" is his reply.
"I thought your copious amounts of video games and comic books were supposed to curb that boredom," she answers back.
"Ah, comic books are only good for the first read through and after I beat my video games once, then it gets too predictable. And I can't just go buy more. Mom and Dad both have said that I have too many already."
"Right…" she replies dryly.
"Besides, most of the games and the comics I have are all based on us… loosely, and they just re-tell all the things we've done. Syndrome, the Underminer, that purple blob thing that lived in the sewers of New York…" Dash continues.
"Wait, what purple blob thing in the sewers? I don't remember that!" Violet asks with skepticism in her voice. "And we've never been to New York!"
Dash catches onto what he's been saying and realizes he's blended the real world and the comic world. "Oh, uh, heh heh! Guess that one wasn't real… yet! See ya after school!" he says quickly, trying to dodge answering her question directly, and sprints off towards their school, leaving Violet behind with an annoyed scowl on her face.
As she walks up the steps to her school, a voice calls to her, "Hey, Vi!" She instantly recognizes it as her best friend, Kari McKeene. "You're a little late this morning. What's up? Huh, ever wonder where we got that saying? What's up? As if we didn't know! I mean, the sky, the clouds, that airplane right there…"
Violet smiles at her friend and tunes out her typical airhead and scatterbrained rant as they enter the building. "Oh, hey, Vi, are you and Tony going out this weekend?"
"Well, maybe if he isn't working. He just got a job working at that convenience store," she replies, sighing. "We don't get to see each other that much anymore, actually. Usually, it's when he gets out of basketball practice and I walk him to work. Maybe, he could trade shifts with someone…"
"Hey there, Violet."
The voice catches her off guard and she jumps before her brain registers who called to her. "Tony!" she exclaims and hugs him.
"Nice to see you too, Hon. Look, I couldn't help but hear your suggestion about how to spend more time together and I'm one step ahead of you. You didn't think I'd miss going out with ya on this special weekend- of all weekends," Tony says smiling at her.
She blinks for a second before realizing what he's talking about. "Oh, Tony! You remembered our two-year anniversary!" Violet exclaims then throws her arms around him again.
"Heh, heh! Of course, but it seemed as if you did for a second!" he teases causing her to blush for a second before sticking her tongue out at him. "How about 7:00pm Saturday? And this time, I'll buy the movie tickets, the popcorn, AND come and pick YOU up."
She giggles and nods, remembering the first time the two went out on a date. Tony gives her a quick peck on the forehead and says, "I gotta go to class. See ya at lunch, ok?" He takes off before Violet can respond and is left feeling a bit wanting.
Kari watches him go and raises an eyebrow. "Wow. That sure was quick."
Violet sighs and frowns slightly. "I guess. He did tell me yesterday that his dad's been hounding him to keep his grades up so he can still play basketball. I heard him say that a couple of colleges are looking to get him play for them."
"Lotta pressure to perform, huh?" Kari replies.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Aaaand, what about you?" asks Kari smiling at her.
"Wha? What about me? I'm fine!" Violet replies crossing her arms around her books.
"Sure, then why were you and Dash late?"
Violet flushes and replies dryly, "No reason in particular… Just the usual."
Kari gives her a disbelieving glance. Kari was probably the only other normal human, other than the National Supers Agency or NSA, that knew about her super-powered side. She had accidentally discovered that Violet had powers about a year ago when an amusement park ride collapsed on them and about twenty other people. Violet had tried to hide, but Kari had seen her go invisible just after she protected the two of them from falling debris with her energy shield. Violet knew she could trust her friend to keep her and her family's secret and somehow talked NSA Director Rick Dicker into letting her keep her memory.
"Come on, Vi. I saw Dash come through here with a smile on his face. A smile! The only time I've seen him with a smile at school is, well, after, you know…"
Violet sighs and relents. "Fine. I'll tell you about it later. The bell's about to ring."
Kari perks up and gives her a giant smile. She loved hearing about the family's super-exploits to stop crime, but more than that, she knew it helped her best friend deal with the pressure of superhero-dom by being able to vent to someone other than her family or the NSA's grief and guidance counselor. "Ok, but tell me, are you ever gonna tell Tony about, you know," she asks quietly.
Violet frowns unsure if she really wanted to or not. "I don't know, Kari. Part of me wants to, but then again, part of me wants to keep him in the dark about it. You know, to keep him safe. Then there's the NSA. They may not 'let' him know. You have no idea how much I fought just to keep your memory intact. Their policy about people outside the super's family knowing about a super's identity- strict, very strict, you know that. Right now, it's just simpler to not tell him."
The bell rings and the two quickly head towards their first period class.
Meanwhile, somewhere in an old forgotten bunker, a computer turns itself on and activates a pod in the warehouse-sized room.
At lunch, Kari, Tony, and Violet sit chatting about nothing in particular while eating their food. "Still, I think you've got a good shot at it," encourages Violet to Tony.
"Really? Hey, thanks! That's why I have you around, Vi. Keeps me going!" he replies slightly cryptically.
Kari, typically oblivious to the cryptic-ness in Tony's voice, states, "If you do get any college offers, where do you think you'll go? State? Or some place exotic like, like an Ivy League college? Ooh, or how about a university overseas, like in England! Oxford University! Would you have to change you accent if you went there? I've always wondered about that. That'd be really weird if you did…"
Violet once again tunes out her friend's random ramblings and takes a bite of her sandwich. She swallows softly and turns to Tony, who seems to have a distant look in his eye and starts to ask him about it but sees Dash a couple rows away. "Hey, yo! Tony! What's up?" calls Dash. Violet blushes and hides her face. This is the last thing she wanted, another interruption by her brother.
"Hey, Dash-ster! How's it going?" replies Tony.
"Great, man! Hey, Sis!" Dash says and when he sees Kari sitting next to them, he instantly buts on his cheesy-smooth guy persona. "And hell-lo to you, beautiful!" he says to Kari in a schmoozy voice.
"Dashiel Robert!" exclaims Violet.
Kari giggles at him and waves off Violet with her hand then pinches Dash on the cheek playfully, which embarrasses Dash and he stops. "Aww, he can't help it! It's just that he's sooo cute!" Kari says, teasing Dash.
"Alright, alright. Enough! And I'm not cute! I'm… sophisticatedly handsome!" he replies confidently. The group laughs, save for Violet, and he waves bye and finds a couple of his friends to sit with.
"Hey, look, I gotta go. Got some things to do before class. See ya 'round," Tony says suddenly and gets up from the table. Violet stands immediately and starts to offer to go with him but he gives her a quick peck on the cheek before leaving.
"What was that about?" asks Kari quietly to her.
Violet sits down slowly as she watches him disappear out the cafeteria doors. "I don't know, but…" she replies but stops herself. "He has been acting strange lately."
"Well, maybe it's because he's under a lot of pressure. Like you said, he's trying to get a basketball scholarship," encourages Kari, trying to sound authentic but inside, even she knew something was up.
"I'm gonna go find out what he's doing!" Violet whispers to her.
Kari gets a stunned look on her face. "Vi, that's a bad idea! What if someone sees you go invisible? Besides, your clothes won't turn invisible like your super-suit!"
"Who says I'll be in my civvies?" she replies slyly.
"Violet Parr, as your friend, I have to say once again that this is a bad idea…"
"Don't worry so much, Kari. If I can sneak up on crooks and other bad guys, then I can sneak up on my boyfriend!"
Kari presses her lips together in disapproval and simply shakes her head no but doesn't stop Violet from getting up from the table. Instead, she spots Dash and his friends a few tables over. If there was anyone who should stop her, it should be him. She gets up and walks over to where his is sitting. "Hey, Dash," she says calmly and sweetly. "Can I talk to you for a sec? Alone?" Dash's friends "ooh" at him teasingly, which causes him to blush but he finally nods and gets up to follow her.
"What's up, Kari? You do know that I was just joking around earlier, right?" he asks nervously once the two are alone.
"Yes, I know, Dash, but this is important. I need you to go and stop your sister. She's about to make a mistake," replies Kari looking at him concerned.
"Mistake? What kind of mistake?" he asks raising an eyebrow.
An invisible Violet in her super-suit crinkles her brow in confusion as she follows Tony out the front of the school building and down the street. Where is he going? she wonders silently. She follows him a few blocks down the street, now becoming extremely concerned. Suddenly, he stops at an alley and glances around to see if anyone is following him or even paying attention to him. Violet wonders if he can hear her heart thumping loudly in her chest. She tries to calm herself down then hears something behind her. She turns to see an orange blur heading in her direction. Oh, no. Not him! Not now! Kari must have told him…
She turns back around to discover Tony has disappeared. She quickly runs to the alley before Dash has time to reach her. She looks down the alley and doesn't see Tony or anybody. Where did he go?
Her thoughts are interrupted by Dash stopping behind her and crossing his arms. "Invisi-Gal, I know you're here," he says, intentionally deepening his voice.
Violet sighs to herself and walks over to the edge of the building then turns visible. "What?" she asks forcefully.
He frowns and raises an eyebrow. "You know what. Dad and Mom'll be furious if they find out that you were…"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she says cutting him off. "Look, this is my business, not yours, so back off!"
He starts to answer, but a sudden eruption a few blocks away catches their attention. "What was that?" she asks.
"Doesn't matter. We're the closest. Let's go!" he responds and runs off.
"Help! Help! Somebody help! My wife is trapped in there!" shouts an elder man frantically at the people running around panicky, desperately trying to get someone to hear him. "She's disabled and can't move on her own! Please, somebody!"
"Don't worry, Sir. We'll get her!" comes a voice from behind him.
"Wha?" the man replies and turns to see the two supers behind him. "Oh! Incredi-boy and girl!" he states happily.
"Ugh, no, it's Quick Flash and Invisi-Gal…" replies Dash shaking his head. "Look, what floor is you wife on?"
"On the fourth floor! Hurry, she's on oxygen and can't be around smoke like that!" he replies pointing to a window on the fourth floor that has black smoke pouring out of it.
"Right! Stay here. We'll be back in a moment!" states Invisi-Gal and hears a fire truck off in the distance. She and Dash then enter the burning building.
"Vi, put up a shield!" says Dash coughing.
"I'll try, but these halls are pretty narrow!" she replies and forms a shield around the two. "Just stay close to me!"
"There! Stairs!" motions Dash. The two head directly to the stairwell and begin to ascend the stairs. Suddenly, another explosion goes off somewhere in the building and debris rains down on them, bouncing harmlessly off Violet's shield.
"Dash, we have to hurry! It's getting really hot in here!" she states as the sweat beading on her forehead runs down her face and into her eyes. She shakes her head to get the sweat off her, but it doesn't help.
"Just keep that shield up, Vi!" he replies and begins to run in place. "Jump up!"
"What?"
"Super-ball! Let's go!"
"Right!" she replies once she realizes what his plan is. She jumps and her shield forms a perfect sphere and Dash begins to move them on up the stairs with his speed. Once on the fourth floor, the two realize that the hallway and most of the rooms are consumed in flame. "Great! Which room was it?"
"Hello? Is anyone here? Can you hear me? We're here to help you!" bellows Dash, trying to get his voice over the roar of the fire. "We could use Lucius right about now!"
Then a pounding catches their attention coming from one of the rooms. "Dash, that room there!" Violet says pointing at one of the few doors that isn't on fire but it does have smoke coming out from under it. Dash grits his teeth and heads toward the door. They can hear a faint voice calling amongst coughing coming from the other side of the door. "Please, step away from the door!" she calls. "Go, Dash!" Then Dash rams her shield through the door and they see an elderly woman with a broken oxygen line running from her nose lying against the wall. "I'm gonna have to drop the shield, Dash. You have to run out and get her in here!" instructs Violet. Dash nods and as soon as Violet drops her shield, Dash hyper-runs out and scoops up the woman then as quickly runs back. Violet raises the shield but the small amount of smoke inside the shield causes them to cough. Then a loud crash comes from behind them and Dash sees that part of the ceiling has collapsed out in the hallway.
"We need a new way outta here!" he exclaims.
Violet's mind races then she sees the open window on the far side of the room. "Dash, the window. Run us through it!"
"Are you sure?" he asks glancing across the room.
"Got a better idea?" she replies. "Because if you do, I'm all for it!" He sighs and shakes his head then begins to run in place.
Outside, multiple fire trucks and ambulances have arrived and are beginning to tend to the fire and injured. The elderly man paces nervously as he waits to see what has become of the two young supers that entered the building. Then from above him, a spray of ice hits the building. He looks up to see Frozone ski in on a ramp of suspended ice. Suddenly, one of the fourth floor windows bursts outward, revealing Invisi-Gal and Quick Flash in a force field, surprising Frozone. "What th~? Bob's kids?" he says to himself. Then he realizes that they have fallen from the fourth story and tries to create a cushion of snow, but finds it difficult with the heat from the fire. He sees them land on the ground with a solid thud, but Violet manages to keep the shield intact. They then roll to safetly.
He then turns to his now arriving rookie supers-in-training. One is Heat Tank, an athletic Caucasian man that wears a red and orange super-suit with a yellow flammable caution sign on his chest. His face is nearly covered by a red hood. The other is a young, dark skinned woman, probably college age, named Magna-Lass. She wears a black suit with a purple horseshoe shaped magnet symbol on her chest. Her boots, gloves, and mask are all glittered in purple. "Heat Tank, get rid of this fire!" Frozone orders.
The new recruit nods and replies in a heavy Brooklyn accent, "On it, boss!" He flies close to the building and stretches out his arms toward the fire then begin to absorb the heat. Tongues of fire practically leap off the building and into his glowing hands. In a matter of seconds, Heat Tank turns his head to Frozone. "I gadda go dump all this heat! Whateva is fuelin' this blaze is burnin' hot, boss!" he states in concern.
Frozone nods and waves him off. Heat Tank flies off and Magna-Lass asks, "What can I do?"
Frozone scans the area and spots the large water tank on top of the building. "Can you tear the nails out of that tank?"
"Sure, but I'll have to get closer than this!" she replies.
"Don't worry I'll try to keep it cool for you!" Frozone replies. Then he sprays ice towards the top of the building as Magna-Lass hovers closer. She outstretches a hand as she begins concentrating on pulling out just the nails in the water tank. Heat Tank returns and Frozone instantly asks, "Heat Tank, can you trace what is fueling this fire?" without stopping the spray of ice.
"I'll try," is the reply and he closes his eyes. "Heat-sense!" he states and opens his eyes. Instantly, his vision changes to visible spectrum to infrared. "What the? 'Ey, boss, I'm seein' traces of magnesium burnin' down dere! This ain't no accident!"
Then Magna-Lass manages to pull out several hundred nails from the tank and it ruptures, dumping hundreds of gallons of water on top of the building. "If there's one thing I know, it's metals! Magnesium burns extremely hot. It is even capable of burning underwater. We need CO2 to put this out!" she says.
"Can ya move th' magnesium away from the buildin'?" asks Heat Tank.
"No, it's a non-ferrous metal! My powers on affect ferrous ones!" she replies.
"Hey, the fire department down there will have the necessary equipment to put this out! Heat Tank, you tell them what you found out while Magna-Lass and I check the rest of the building for survivors!" orders Frozone.
"I can save ya the trip, boss. Look's like th' Incredible kids got the last person out already," informs Heat Tank.
"Why are they here? Aren't they supposed to be in school right now?" asks Magna-Lass.
"We'll deal with that later, right now, we've gotta keep this fire from spreading!" states Frozone and shifts his spray to the surrounding buildings. "Heat Tank, inform the firemen of the magnesium fire!" Heat Tank nods and floats to the ground near the fire chief.
Meanwhile, Violet coughs, trying to clear her lungs of smoke as she watches the elderly woman gets oxygen treated by the EMTs. Her husband stands by the gurney she lays on holding her hand gently. She then sees the new super Heat Tank begin to talk to the fire chief but doesn't pay attention to what is being said. Glancing around, she sees Dash take an oxygen mask from an EMT then becomes aware that she is being offered one by another. She takes it without a word and puts it up to her face. The rush of oxygen fills her aching lungs is a welcome respite to her and she relaxes a bit. Then she glances out into the crowd that has gathered and sees Tony staring up at the burning building. What is he doing here? Where did he go before? Why did he leave school? Many more questions flood her mind but none of them have answers. Then Violet becomes aware that she is being asked a question.
"Invisi-Gal? Are you alright?" It was Frozone. Apparently, the fire was now under control by the fire department and he'd came over to check on her and Dash.
"Yeah," she replies simply without removing her oxygen mask.
Dash hops off the gurney of a nearby ambulance and jogs over to them. "You ok, Sis?"
"I said, yes," she replies a little harsher than she intended. She sets the mask down on the gurney she's sitting on and hops off it.
"Um, I hate to bring this up now, but what're you two doing here?" asks Frozone. "Now, don't get me wrong, you guys did great getting that last survivor out of the building, but aren't you supposed to be in school right now?"
Violet bites her lower lip, trying to come up with a plausible reason. Dash pipes up and answers, "Well, we were the closest ones to the fire, sooo, here we are!"
Frozone frowns and shakes his head. "Ok, look, good job, but you guys need to get back. If you parents find out you where here instead of class…"
"It'd be worst than a trip to the principal's office, I get it!" chimes in Dash. "Come on, we gotta go! The media'll be here soon!" he says grabbing his sister's arm.
"Ok, but I want to check on that elderly woman we saved first," Violet says, motioning to the ambulance where the woman is at.
As the two Incredibles take off, Magna-Lass and Heat Tank walk up behind Frozone. "How are you gonna put them in the after-action report? You can't just dismiss what they did," asks Magna-Lass.
"Let me worry about that. I know their parents from waaay back in the day. I'll smooth it over with them first before those two get home from school," replies Frozone, then he too notices Tony Rydinger in the crowd. "Now, what's that boy doin' here? Does Vi know he's here?" Frozone asks himself quietly.
