What Once Went Wrong
"First stop is to visit a young man I dropped off in his home time after a mission," said Wilbur. "Something he did after he got back made things much worse."
They landed on the roof of the orphanage, and Wilbur went down to look for Lewis. He found Lewis happily talking to Mike Yagoobian, who had returned from a successful little league game. Another kid with blonde hair in a crewcut was listening.
"So I met this fantastic family at the science fair, the Robinsons, and it looks like..." said Lewis.
"Hey Lewis," said Wilbur, barging into the conversation. "May I talk to you for a minute? Maybe up on the roof?"
"All right, sure," said Lewis.
Lewis went upstairs and he was startled to find the Incredibles there.
"Wow! Violet and Dash, this is the rest of your super-team?" asked Lewis. "Those matching costumes look great."
"Thanks," said Violet. "We just got them."
"When did they meet this kid?" Mr. Incredible wondered to himself.
"Things are kind of messed up in the future," said Dash. "Superheroes are illegal, and we had to be relocated."
"What did you do after you got back that was different?" asked Wilbur.
"I got my mind scanner working at the science fair. But that was supposed to happen," said Lewis.
"Anything else?" asked Wilbur.
"I made sure Goob would wake up and catch the ball at the game. I'm sure it's going to change his life for the better," said Lewis. "He won't grow up bitter and twisted, and be the Bowler Hat Guy."
"There could be side effects from that," said Violet. "I guess, though I don't see how."
"But wait a second," said Lewis. "They were telling us heroes were illegal before that, when we got back from defeating Doris. Something was already wrong with the timeline."
"I'm very confused," said Elastigirl. "Violet and Dash, you went on missions in time with Captain Time Travel?"
"I'm confused, too," said Mr. Incredible. "When did this happen?"
"There was an alternate timeline," said Violet.
"We'll explain later," said Dash.
"What did we change?" asked Wilbur. "Inventco didn't produce any copies of Doris, but it wasn't supposed to. The Bowler Hat Guy came back to our own time in our time machine, and..."
"Maybe that's it!" said Lewis. "He came here with Doris in the other time machine, the one he stole. What happened to it?"
"It was never stolen, because you fixed Goob's life," said Wilbur. "It's back in our garage."
"I don't know," said Lewis. "Time travel is tricky. There could still be a temporal copy here."
"How could we find it?" asked Violet.
"When I was working to repair this time machine, I found instructions about a tracer function that could find the other machine, if it was close to the same time and place," said Lewis. "It's worth a try."
Lewis operated the console on the time machine. A map came up, and there was a flashing red blip. "There it is!"
Mr. Incredible looked at the map. "I know this town. That's the Municiberg city dump, not far from here."
"Someone must have found the car where the Bowler Hat guy parked it, and towed it away," said Dash.
"If anyone finds it, they could use the future tech in it to change the world," said Wilbur. "Not just the machine itself, but it has computer records of all my Dad's inventions. Your inventions."
"Not good," said Lewis.
"That's another thing that changed," said Wilbur. "Our family wasn't as successful, because some company kept patenting your invention ideas before you could."
"That company must be run by the people who found the machine," said Lewis.
"Let's get it before they do," said Dash.
They flew the time machine to the city dump and asked about a recently-arrived car.
An old dump worker said, "That weren't really a car. Weird style, no place for a key. It was some kind of joke, left in the middle of the street. The police brought it straight here instead of impounding it. It's way back in the west corner; the boss wants to keep it around for a while, maybe gut it for parts."
"We need to see it," said Mr. Incredible.
"Sure, you can take a look, Mr. Incredible," said the dump worker. "I must say, you look a bit older in real life. Nice new costume, though."
The group headed for the corner the man had indicated. Lewis lagged a little behind because the others were moving so fast.
"What will we do with it?" asked Wilbur. "We already have a copy of it at home."
"I could smash it," said Mr. Incredible.
They found the time machine and Mr. Incredible had just raised his fist to smash it when a ray caught them and froze them in place. All but Lewis, who hid behind a rusted-out car.
"Uh-uh, no smashy," said Syndrome, hovering up from a pile of trash and continuing to aim his zero-point ray at them. "You're not destroying my source of inventive inspiration."
"Syndrome! How did you get here?" asked Mr. Incredible.
"I was watching from a rooftop when you jumped into a time machine and disappeared," said Syndrome. "I knew you would be coming to dear old Municiberg."
"You have a time machine, too?" asked Elastigirl.
"I learned how to make one," said Syndrome. "Somebody from the future thoughtfully left me one to work with, along with all sorts of other ideas. With my genius, it was a snap. I went a step further and made a portable time machine, integrated into my costume. But I never used it for my plans for revenge and glory. I had a better way, less risky than meddling in time. Until you ruined my plans, and went back in time to cheat me out of everything else!"
"You found this time-machine as a kid?" asked Mr. Incredible, to get the villain monologuing further, to buy time.
"Yes," said Syndrome. "Inspired by your showy heroics, I was looking for a way to impress you, and I found a source of technology that enabled me to build my first rocket pack. Poor little Buddy Pines, I was then, living in an orphanage nearby. Yes, I'm an orphan. Didn't you wonder why I asked to be your ward, as Incrediboy? I was hoping you'd be my guardian, eventually adopt me. But you destroyed that dream. Then you had the gall to ask the police to tell my parents what I was doing. That was the last straw."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know that," said Mr. Incredible.
"You took away my future," said Syndrome. "I'll return the favor. After I destroy you here, I'll go back and get your baby Jack-Jack. I'll be a good mentor; supportive, encouraging. In time, who knows? He might be a good side-kick."
"No!" cried Elastigirl, as Syndrome used the zero-point ray to lift the whole group high off the ground.
"What are you doing to Mr. Incredible, super-villain?" yelled a young boy with crew-cut blond hair.
Lewis was following right behind him. As soon as he figured out who Syndrome was, he had run to the orphanage to get his friend.
Syndrome glared at him. "Who are you to challenge me, little squirt? I could just squash... me?"
"I'm Buddy Pine!" said the boy. "I'm Mr. Incredible's greatest fan."
"Listen kid, I'm doing this all for you. One day Mr. Incredible will disappoint you and crush your dream of being his sidekick. I'm taking revenge on him for you, by killing him and his whole family."
"You're crazy! You don't know what you're talking about."
"I know, because I'm you in the future, grown up."
"I don't like you. I'll never grow up like you, no matter what happens!"
Syndrome vanished. With his zero-point energy beams gone, the Incredibles and Wilbur dropped to the ground. Elastigirl stretched out and caught the kids who might be hurt in a fall. Mr. Incredible was nigh-invulnerable, so he landed with no trouble.
"Thank you, Buddy!" said Mr. Incredible. "We'll find a way to make things better this time around."
"I have an idea," said Lewis. "I'm about to be adopted by the Robinsons. They'll let me follow my dreams of science and invention. I know you have great technical skills. Would you like to work with me on inventions? Maybe they'll adopt you, too!"
"If I can't be Mr. Incredible's sidekick, that sounds like a cool deal," said Buddy.
"As you can see, I have a few sidekicks already," said Mr. Incredible. "I think you should meet the Robinsons."