So there was a eclipse yesterday here in the U.S, did anybody see it? I did and it was so cool seeing the moon block out the sun. And yes, before anybody asks I was listening to "Total eclipse of the heart" from the Trolls soundtrack the whole time while watching it.
Smidge had her crew fly Branch home the next day. As Branch sat in the helicopter there was one thing that kept entering his mind, what he was going to do with the three years salary he just received? This was more money than he had ever received at one time ever, and he had gotten some pretty good paychecks during his golden age. And how was he going to keep this secret from his wife? He couldn't just deposit all that money at once in his account. Him and Poppy had a joint account and if she saw they had millions of dollars in the bank she would instantly be suspicious. No, he had to think of something clever if he was going to avoid Poppy finding out.
When he got home he instantly went to the bank and opened up a secret savings account separate to that he shared with his wife, and he even gave the woman at the front desk a hundred dollar bill to make sure Poppy never found out about it. From there, all he needed to do was move enough money to his and Poppy's joint account every two weeks to pass as his paycheck at his former job and nobody would expect a thing.
Branch wanted to do a little something extra with some of the money he received though. Considering he was gone a few days he wanted to do something special for just the family. Before he went home he went on his phone and ordered tickets for a cruise to surprise the family. Now he just needed to get home and surprise everybody. He didn't even call Poppy to tell her he was back in the city. Instead hoping to surprise her and the kids with his arrival.
Poppy was outside watering the flowers when Branch pulled up to the driveway. With her back turned Branch sneaked up on her and pulled her in for a deep kiss. Poppy was taken back by surprise at first, but once she saw that it was Branch and he was home she relaxed and welcomed his kiss.
"I missed you." Branch said once they broke the kiss.
"I missed you too Branch," Poppy said "I'm glad your back home."
"Dad!" Branch heard Scarlett call out from the porch. Scarlett and Flash both noticed Branch's car pull into the driveway and instantly ran outside to greet him.
"Hey kids." Branch laughed as his two oldest ran up to hug him, nearly toppling him over in the process.
"We missed you dad." Scarlett said
"I missed you too." Branch said "I thought of each of you every day while I was gone." That is when Branch decided it was the perfect time to surprise the whole family with the cruise. "Which is why I decided to do something special for the whole family, just the five of us and Peppy. As part of my reward for being a part of this business trip, Mr. Guy Diamond has rewarded me a two weeks vacation. I just ordered us tickets for all of us to go on a family cruise together."
"No way!" The kids screamed "Really?"
"Branch are you really sure we can afford something like that?" Poppy asked confused.
"Don't worry Poppy, I got a little extra bonus pay for being part of this. We will be fine. I've been wanting us all to take a family vacation and now seems like the best time to do it. Start packing your bags kids, the tickets should be arriving in a couple of days."
"Alright!" Flash squealed, "We're going on a cruise!"
Two days later the tickets arrived in the mail. Poppy called her dad and told him that Branch had ordered all of them tickets for a cruise. Upon hearing the news Peppy instantly got suspicious, after all Branch had only gotten fired a few days ago and there was no way he could have gotten another job already and had the money to afford a cruise. Peppy was tempted to ask Poppy how he could afford that but decided he would wait until he was with Branch to ask that question in private. He had a deep suspicion that Branch was up to something, and it involved not telling Poppy. Did Poppy not even know that Branch lost his job? He didn't know what Branch was up too, but he sure as heck was going to find out.
The next day the whole family boarded the cruise boat and set sail, Scarlett took out her two piece swim suit and sat on a chair on the deck of the boat and worked on getting a tan while Flash hit the pool area. While Poppy took Sesame to the pool with her and made sure Flash behaved himself Peppy pulled Branch aside and took him into the bar to talk.
"Your hiding something Branch, and I don't think I necessarily like it." Peppy asked in a stern tone. "Where did you get the money to afford this?"
"What are you talking about?" Branch said trying to act innocent, which was stupid considering Peppy was his lawyer and knew when he was lying.
"Do I seem stupid Branch?" Peppy asked "I have been your lawyer for twenty years now and you married my daughter. Do you really think I don't know when you are lying, when you are hiding something? What did you do?"
Branch sighed, Peppy always was good at getting the truth out of him. "Okay, just promise you won't tell Poppy."
"Well that depends on what it is?" Peppy replied.
Branch turned his head towards the window just to make sure Poppy wasn't listening as the two sat down at the corner table on the far end of the bar so no one could here them. For once Branch was happy for loud bar music, the music would make it near impossible for anybody to hear what he was about to say without being at the table with them.
"Okay, I got a little extra money doing a mission with a top secret organization.
"What!" Peppy yelled, Branch had to instantly make him lower his voice as to not draw any attention "Branch, you know doing any sort of hero work is illigel, not to mention dangerous! I thought we went through this just a few days ago that..."
"Look Peppy I know what we said!" Branch argued "But things are different this time. The organization works with the government. Their top secret, nobody outside the government knows that they exist."
"So they work for the government, yet they are helping you break the law? Doesn't this sound a little suspicious to you Branch?"
"Well maybe they believe that the law is not always right on issues." Branch argued "Look the thing is, this is all safe. I am working with the government, theirs no risk of the cops finding me, it's one hundred percent top secret, nobody will know."
"And what about Poppy Branch?" Peppy asked in a very harsh tone. "You just going to leave her weeks at a time as you play hero again? My daughter needs you to be home, she can't live with you running off all the time to do these dangerous missions every week."
"Oh don't worry, they will only call me if they absolutely need me. In the meantime all I need to do is be gone in the morning and return in the afternoon around my normal time and no one will know a thing. I was given three years salary on this mission, there is no risk of us running out of money any time soon."
"Branch you can't keep something like this a secret forever."
"I have too. I can't lose her Peppy. If she finds out I got fired again by blowing my cover I might..." He stared out the window at the table they were sitting at and saw Poppy watching Flash at the pool as he went down a water slide. "I might lose her this time. I can't risk that Peppy. I have to keep this a secret. I don't want to lose her."
Peppy let out a deep exhale through his nose. He never kept anything from his daughter before. Yet at the same time he felt if he was the one that came to Poppy about what was going on that the damage that would come from that really would be to much for her. He really hoped Branch would be the adult and just tell Poppy the truth, who knows maybe she would be understanding? Upset yes, but maybe understanding.
"I won't tell her Branch, but not because of the reason you asked. It's your job as her husband to tell her your problems, not mine. I will warn you though that if she find out about this and you didn't tell her, then you really will lose her forever. You can't keep secrets forever Branch, not even from someone as trusting as her. When it comes out, your best hope is to beg for forgiveness. Because what happens is a battle I don't think even you can win. And I won't be there to defend you this time. Once that happens, your on your own." Peppy got up from his table signalling the end of the conversation but before he walked out he told Branch one last thing. "Be careful the battles you choose Branch. You can't win them all."
As Peppy left, Branch's mind went spinning in fear over what he told him. Branch did fear what would happen if Poppy found out the truth on her own. Poppy was no dummy by any means, if she suspected anything was a bit off, she would uncover the truth somehow. At the same time, he couldn't bare to face her again with the news that he lost his job and is doing hero work behind her back. Branch was a brave troll, but not that brave. Letting fear win over honesty, Branch just hoped and prayed that Poppy would never find out the truth of what he was really doing.
"Can I get you anything to drink sir?" A waitress asked walking up to the table.
"Anything will do," Branch said, he could actually use some alcohol right now to drink his fears away. "Just make sure it is strong."
After about three shots of whisky and a glass of red wine, Branch felt more calm and confident about his plan and spent the rest of his vacation focusing on having fun with the family like he wanted. The next couple of days went smoothly without any trouble, until that is Flash decided to pull a prank on his sister.
Branch and Poppy was standing on the ship's stern. Poppy was holding Sesame in her arms looking at the sights when they heard Scarlett scream and run up to them, with Flash following closely behind laughing.
"What's wrong Scarlett?" Poppy asked concerned.
"Flash put a live fish on my bed while I was taking a nap!" Scarlett ratted.
"Come on, where's your since of humor?" Flash responded, still laughing to hard.
"It was still alive!" Scarlett screamed "And you put it on my face. That thing whacked me in the face with it's tail."
"I know, that was the funniest part." Flash laughed "Oh you should of seen your face. I wish I video recorded it."
"Flash!" Poppy scolded "That was not funny, apologize!"
"What?" Flash protested "What's the point of being out in the middle of the ocean, if you can't play around with a fish?"
"Flash," Branch said agreeing with Poppy, although he was using a much calmer tone then she was "Apologize."
"Fine," Flash said giving Scarlett a fake apology. "I'm sorry."
Poppy scoffed at Flash's obviously fake apology "Branch have a talk with your son, I'm taking Scarlett to get some ice cream." Branch nodded and pulled Flash to the side, but not before Flash saw Scarlett give him a "Your dead" look as she walked off to get ice cream.
"Boy mom sure seems angry." Flash mentioned.
"Well, you have seemed to be getting in a lot of trouble as of late." Branch said firmly, as the two of them stood over the railing of the ship and looked out onto the ocean. "She did tell me about what you did while I was gone."
"She did?"
"You really thought that she would keep that a secret from me Flash? I was going to find out eventually." It was right then that Branch's eyes lit up in realization. He was scolding his son for the exact thing he is doing, hero work. How can Branch punish his son when he is just as guilty of the same thing on a bigger scale.
"I'm sorry dad," Flash whimpered "I just have these amazing powers and I want to use them for something. I want to help people just like you and mom used to do. I heard that you was once the greatest of all the super trolls. I want to be just like you."
Branch let out a sigh, he couldn't tell Flash he couldn't help people, otherwise that would make him a hypocrite considering he is doing the same thing in secret. He decided he was going to be straight up honest with him.
"Look don't tell your mother I said this but I'm actually proud of what you did."
"You are?" Flash was shocked
"Being a hero is in your blood, just like it is in mine and your mothers. We carry the super troll gene in us, it's in our blood to go out there and help people. It's who we are. It seems like you have found your calling for it though a whole lot earlier than I did."
"What, you use to not want to be a hero?"
"Not really." Branch said "When I was a kid, I was terrified of my powers. I had all these muscles, and could break through walls and almost any solid object really, and as a young boy that scared me. My Grandmother was a super troll, she could levitate any solid objects she chose. So as a fellow super troll, she worked a lot on training me to control the powers I had. Neither of my parents were super trolls so they didn't know how to handle the powers I was given.
"How come your parents weren't super trolls?"
"The Super gene is only passed to those who are purest at heart. Those who will use them for the right reason. There was a time when the whole world was at war with each other. And legends has it that there was a sorcerer who, desperate to end the war granted a army of trolls super powers. But he would only give them the powers if they promised they would use it for good and win the war. They did and that was the birth of the super trolls. Years later their super gene was passed down to the next generation, but because the gene was magical and only to be given for those who could handle it, then it was only given to certain relatives. Now my parents were great people, but apparently the gene thought that they couldn't handle the power of the super gene but I was."
"What ever happened to great grandma Rosiepuff?"
"Well one bay when I was about eight, I was at my grandmothers house training with my powers when a intruder came in. It was a evil troll that grandma had put away years ago but escaped looking for revenge. He had a time bomb with him and was a master at knife throwing. Hence his name Dagger. Well, Dagger through one of his knifes in my direction and Grandma was able to quickly gain control of it with her powers and toss it to the side. However with her focus on me she didn't see Dagger through a knife at her until it stabbed her in the back. Desperate to get me out of harms way she levitated me out of the house and blocked the entrance with furniture. She then noticed that the time bomb was about to go off and there was no time to levitate it anywhere that wouldn't cause major fatalities. That is when she did something that both horrifies me to this day and inspired me to honor her legacy by using my powers to become a super troll. She levitated the whole house into the air and was able to send it twenty five feet high until the bomb erupted. She destroyed Dagger and sacrificed herself in order to save me and everyone else in the neighborhood."
"Great Grandma Rosiepuff sounded like a real hero."
"She was the greatest super troll I knew. And it was because of her that I became the super troll I am today. We might not be appreciated like we once was. And we may not be able to legally do hero work now. But that doesn't mean we cant try, and hope that someday the law will change."
"Thanks for the talk dad." Flash said
"Anytime, and don't tell your mother what we discussed."
"Your secrets safe with me."
Branch smiled as Flash ran off, but his smile faded when he wondered what his grandma would think of the world now. She would not feel like her memory as well as the memory of all the other supers of the past was being honored by Branch keeping his powers hidden. And Branch refused to dishonor her legacy.
The remaining of the cruise went without incident, the kids behaved themselves and Branch and Poppy even found time to spend with just the two of them. On the last day of the cruise Branch took Poppy to the ballroom for a romantic dinner and dance. This was the first time in while that the two of them had actually got to have a romantic night out together. With Branch struggling with a job he hated and Poppy often busy with the kids, the two of them hardly had much time to be a couple. None of that mattered tonight. With Peppy watching the kids, which he really hoped was being put to bed now, the two of them finally had a chance to have this peaceful romantic night to themselves. And as Branch stared at Poppy across the table sparkling in a pretty off shoulder blue dress, Branch felt like that young troll who first laid eyes on her all over again. Gosh even sixteen years later she was just as gorgeous as they day he met her.
Once the two of them finished their meal and their wine, Branch took Poppy to the dance floor as they got close to each other and slow danced to the song that the band was playing.
You with the sad eyes, don't be discouraged.
The two of them started waltzing slowly across the floor, both their eyes locked on each other. Branch could look at those pretty pink eyes forever. And as he waltzed across the floor with the prettiest troll in the world, he didn't care if the song ever ended.
"Oh I realize, it's hard to take courage. In a world full of people you can lose sight of it all. The darkness inside you can feel so small.
Branch twirled Poppy in a spin and made her do a dip causing her to giggle as he pulled her back in so close their chests literally touched.
Show me a smile then don't be unhappy, can't remember when, I last saw you laughing.
This world makes you crazy, and you've taken all you can bear. Just call me up and I will always be there.
Peppy had just gotten the kids to sleep and walked into the ballroom where he saw the two dancing. Seeing them happy together dancing made a smile curl on his face. He knew those two truly loved each other dearly. It just hurt him that Branch was willingly keeping a secret from her that could permanently damage their relationship. Not wanting to interfere Peppy left the ballroom and let the two of them have this moment to themselves.
And I see your true colors shine through, I see your true colors and that's why I love you. So don't be afraid to let them show, your true colors, true colors are beautiful.
I see your true colors shining through, I see your true colors and that's why I love you. So don't be afraid to let them show your true colors, true colors are beautiful like a -ooh-ooh like a rainbow.
Ooh can't remember when. I last saw you laughing. Ooh-Ooh-oh-ooh. This world makes you crazy, and you've taken all you can bear. Just call me up cause I will always be there.
As the two of them got lost in each others eyes. Branch pulled Poppy in for a deep kiss which she accepted. The two of them refused to break from the kiss as they continued their dance.
And I see your true colors shining through. I see your true colors, and that's why I love you. So don't be afraid, to let them show. Your true colors, true colors are beautiful. Like a rainbow. Ohh-oh-ohh-ohh like a rainbow. Ohh-ohh-ohh
As the song ended and the kiss broke, Branch knew now more then ever, he was never going to tell Poppy his secret.
On the island that Branch was previously on, a figure stood in the shadows looking at a giant robot. This one was much like the previous one that Branch destroyed but it was twice the size with twice as many weapons then the other. The figure was the same one that killed Lazar beam and was still in his resporator suit and metal mask. As he was staring at the robot Smidge walked in the door.
"The robot is almost ready Storm, but it is untested, there is no way of knowing how it will act. We need to test it soon or risk project predator falling behind schedule.
"No worries Smidge." Storm said in a terryfing booming voice due to his mask having a voice alternator to make his voice sound deeper and louder than what it really was. "You have done your part well. I knew Mr. Increditroll would destroy the first robot. The whole plan was for you to earn his trust, which you did. This knew robot will be completed. It is my beauty, the one that will bring Mr. Increditroll to his knees. The Goliath bot."
Storm started coughing and Smidge walked to a drawer and took out a small tube filled with air and walked it over to Storm. Storm's current air tube had emptied causing Smidge to open a socket in the mask and replace the old air tube with it's current one. After taking a couple deep breaths Storm regained his poster.
"And what about project predator?"
"Once Mr. Increditroll is gone there is nothing that will be able to stop us from unleashing it onto the city. Then once that is over my revenge Mr. Increditroll will finally end."
"What about his wife though, Plastic Girl?"
"She won't be ready for what I'm about to release onto the city. Neither is that pesky little girl of theirs. They will all fall, and once I am done. Mr. Increditroll will be begging for me to kill him. Enjoy your victory now Mr. Increditroll, for soon, you and everything you ever cared about will DIE!"
Next chapter will get back to the actual movie part of the Incredibles story but I wanted to have a chapter to clear up any questions that people might had about why Rosiepuff wasn't in the story or how the super trolls came to be, as well as have Branch just have some time with his family. One thing that The Incredible's was silent on was how the supers came to be so I thought it would be cool to make up a reason for their existence.
Hope you enjoyed it and hope you stick around to see what happens next