While Bald Eagle concealed himself in the darkness from Elastigirl's probing eyes, the eerie mist floated over the ground toward the very building where he was located. A few of the guards noticed the strange cloud and glanced about in hopes of discovering what had created it, but they gave no thought to the danger posed by the cloud itself.
When the winged man saw the mist creeping closer, he leaped out of the shadows, raised his gloved fist, and fired. The electrical bolt refracted into a thousand white streaks when it hit the center of the amorphous blob. It seemed for a moment that the mist was coalescing into a human-like shape. Bald Eagle prepared to let loose with another blast--but sadly for him, the first shot had alerted Elastigirl to his position.
The rubbery woman pounced, coiling her arm around his glove and ripping it from his hand. Her other arm reached for his cowl, and before she could say "let's see who's behind the mask", his face was abruptly revealed to her. She gasped in disbelief.
Bald Eagle still had one other glove, which he employed to blind Elastigirl with an intense flash of light. She thrashed sightlessly while her vision slowly returned. The environs of the laboratory appeared as a blur, then took definite shape. The bird man was gone.
She whirled around, and spotted a faint outline of wings rising in the night sky. He wasn't using his rocket boosters--she had time to catch him. Dropping the glove and cowl she had seized, Elastigirl quickly turned her legs into springs and bounded toward the fleeing man.
Bald Eagle looked over his shoulder as he flew. She was closing the gap between them, a look of fierce determination on her face. He knew he had to escape, but booster fuel was precious. There was only one thing to do. He hoped she wouldn't be hurt.
Pulling a stringy wad from a compartment in his belt, he hurled it at Elastigirl. It unfurled and expanded, turning into a strong nylon net that wrapped around her. Undeterred, she stretched her arms through the openings in the net, just as something happened which she hadn't expected.
The metal rings binding the mesh suddenly increased in weight, as if willingly giving gravity more power over them. The net, now weighing hundreds of pounds, plunged to the ground with the helpless Elastigirl inside.
The hard impact stunned and bruised her, but she recovered quickly, squeezing her body to the width of a snake in order to penetrate the net. Snapping back into human shape, she scanned the darkened sky in every direction. Bald Eagle had gotten away, but his glove and cowl would definitely count for something.
She couldn't forget the face she had seen. Was it a mistake? How could someone like him become a masked outlaw?
So distracted was she by these questions, that she failed to see the mysterious mist seeping into a ventilation duct behind her...
----
Morning came. Bald Eagle's glove and cowl lay inside a wall safe in the Parr house, hidden from prying eyes and fingers. Violet and Dash had been allowed only a brief look, as their mother considered the electrical weapon inside the glove to be dangerous for children.
"Helen, come look at this," Bob called earnestly. His wife hurried to the living room, and found him clutching a newspaper.
The headline startled her--RARE SUBSTANCE STOLEN FROM NATIONAL LAB.
"I don't understand," she marveled. "He was never out of my sight for more than a minute."
"Maybe he had a partner," Bob suggested.
A light went on in Helen's brain. "Of course! His job was to keep me busy so his accomplice could break in."
"Says here," said Bob, citing the news article, "that a cask containing the world's supply of bolonium was taken."
"What's bolonium?" Helen wanted to know.
Bob skimmed the article while trying to explain. "A newly created element...extremely strong and lightweight...intended for industrial applications, but not weapons. The cask contained only five ounces, but it was worth eight million dollars." He laid down the newspaper and stood up. "Whoever stole it must be looking to unload it on the black market."
Helen nodded.
"Speaking of black," Bob recalled, "you said the Bald Eagle was black. Did you notice anything else distinctive about him when you looked at his face? Scars? Birthmarks? Evidence of dental work?"
She remained speechless. How could she tell him what she suspected?
"We need to find this guy before he sells the bolonium," said Bob seriously. "It's worth a lot to the government."
"I'll try to draw a picture," Helen offered. "Maybe Vi can help me with it."
"Good idea," said Bob.
Helen walked away, but instead of going to Violet's room, she took the cordless phone receiver into the back yard and made a call.
"Hello, Lucius? I have a few questions about your son."
----
It was well that she didn't ask for Violet's help in sketching Bald Eagle's face, as the girl was occupied preparing herself for a lunch date with Marvin. The velour dress and the high-heeled shoes looked fine on her, but she was concerned about something else.
"Mom, do you think I put on enough makeup?"
"If you put on any more," her mother joked, "Marvin won't be able to see your nose."
She drove the dolled-up girl to a nearby cafe where the rendezvous with Martin was to take place. Violet invited herself inside and sat down at a table, where she waited anxiously and breathlessly. Would she make a good impression? Would she get food stains on her dress? Would she remember enough of what Marvin said to record it accurately in her journal?
After a few minutes a blond girl in a blouse and jeans walked into the coffee shop. Violet recognized her as the neighbor, Chris Hamilton. As was her custom, she had parted her hair to flow over the left half of her face.
"Hey, Chris," Violet greeted her when she approached the table.
"Hi, Violet." Chris' tone was solemn, and she expressed no surprise or delight at seeing Violet in the shop.
"I'm waiting for a date," the raven-haired girl boasted.
"Join me in the ladies' room," Chris instructed her.
It was the sort of demand Violet might expect from her mother after turning invisible in the girls' locker room. She knew she was in for a scolding, but what reason did Chris have to scold her?
The two girls entered the washroom, and Chris glanced into the stalls to make sure they were alone.
"There's something you don't know about Marvin," she said sinisterly.
"What's that?" Violet asked her. "Is he gay?"
"No," Chris replied. "He may, however, be a lesbian."
While Violet gaped in confusion, the blond girl reached into the handbag she was carrying, and drew out a lifelike face mask. She carefully stretched it out with her fingers so that Violet could recognize the face.
"What...? Marvin wears a mask? Why? Is he hiding from the police?"
"No, silly," Chris chided her. "He's me. I'm Marvin."
Violet nearly choked on her tongue.
"You...you turned into..." Chris pressed a hand against her lips, prompting her to continue in an outraged whisper. "You turned into a boy and asked me for a date! How could you?"
Chris replaced the mask in her handbag and pulled away the hair that veiled her face. "I'm gonna tell you something I haven't told anyone else, not even my parents."
Violet contained her disgust long enough to listen.
"Maybe I'm too young to be sure," Chris admitted, "but I don't think I'm attracted to boys."
Alarm filled Violet's heart. This was not what she wanted a girl to confess to her in the ladies' room.
"Don't worry," Chris reassured her. "I'm not attracted to girls, as far as I can tell--except when I'm a boy."
More shocked silence from Violet followed.
"My parents won't let me stay a boy long enough to explore my feelings for girls," Chris went on. "But there's one thing I'm pretty sure about." She took a deep, nervous breath. "I...I like you, Vi."
Violet had heard quite enough. Horrified, she rushed out of the washroom and didn't stop walking until she was two blocks away from the coffee shop.
If she had looked behind her, she would have seen the dejected face of Chris Hamilton gazing at her from the cafe entrance. The girl had left the shop without remembering to put her hair over her face again.
----
More coming soon!