Dash flipped through the pages of the book on Count Buddy, hoping to spot something he missed the first time.
"I guess we need to figure out a way to get this book back to Justice Mirage before she misses it," Dash said.
"Dash, that's it!" said Violet. "I'll return the book and I'll talk to her. She's a High Court judge, so she can call government agents to stop Count Buddy."
"Googh?" asked Jack-Jack, which meant, "Will she believe us? It's a pretty wild story."
"I think she will," said Dash. "She's a smart, cool lady."
"I need to get out of this boarded-up window," said Violet. "Jack-Jack, can you do that strong monster-form again?"
Jack-Jack concentrated and became the little monster. He was able to pry loose a couple of boards with little effort, enough for the very-thin Violet to squeeze through.
"Can you climb down all right?" Dash asked. "We're on the second floor."
"I can cast a force-field to break my fall," said Violet. "Then I'll go invisible to keep from being spotted."
Violet tucked the book under her costume so it would be hidden when she went invisible and slid out the window. She looked nervously down at the ground. Was her force-field skill good enough? There was only one way to find out. She jumped. For a terrible instant she thought it wouldn't go up, but her instincts took over and she made a perfect purple bubble that cushioned her landing.
Invisibly, Violet sneaked over to the neighboring house. A front window was still open, so she slipped inside and went down the hall to the library. She replaced the book on the shelves and then went looking for Mirage.
There she was, standing in the doorway of a room with a large computer screen with her back to Violet. Violet was about to call out to her when she heard another voice from inside the room.
"Did you see any sign of super-powers when you monitored the kids through the parrot-cam?" asked the voice of Count Buddy.
"The boy is fast, as I warned you," said Mirage. "Fast-forward and you'll see how much wood he gets chopped in a few minutes while we aren't looking."
"That was a good warning. When I provoked him tonight I was ready to trigger the zero-point ray," said Olaf. "Any other powers?"
"I think the baby has a chameleon-like ability," said Mirage. "Look at about 9:07. When the robot comes in you can see that he blends into the color of the wooden floor for a few frames. I didn't see any powers the girl used."
Violet felt sick with fear and disappointment. Mirage was working for Syndrome, betraying them! She moved closer, hoping to hear better what they were plotting.
"How did it go at the Island?" Mirage asked.
"It was a mess!" said Syndrome. "Those incompetent guards... You know that plane we shot down?"
"Piloted by Mr. Incredible's wife," said Mirage.
"Yes. Do you know who she turned out to be? Elastigirl!" said Syndrome. "She survived the crash somehow and swam to Nomanisan Island."
"Amazing!" said Mirage.
"Terrible! While I was tied up here, she broke into the base. By the time I got there, Mr. Incredible was free and both were running around the island, pounding on my troops, and looking for a way to escape. I had to null-force-ray them both and lock them up again," said Buddy.
"That was a close call," said Mirage.
"Yes, it was. It's not fair that I have to mind two sets of prisoners," said Buddy.
"Why not wipe them all out and be done with them?" asked Mirage.
"You know why!" Count Buddy snarled. "When Incredible thought his wife was dead, he muttered 'At least you didn't get my kids'. I regard that as a challenge. I decided my revenge wouldn't be complete until he sees me triumph as a super, with his kids as my sidekicks. A perfect revenge for him not letting me be his sidekick fifteen years ago! But it'll take a long time to train them."
"You could go ahead with the Omnidroid plan if you just forced the kids to act the part of sidekicks. You could use the baby as a hostage," suggested Mirage.
"Mirage, I like the way you think," said Syndrome. "I'll do it... and I'll even name the new plan after you. Operation Marvelous Mirage will take place tomorrow!"
"After Mr. Incredible sees you triumph and you eliminate him and Elastigirl, you won't need the kids anymore," Mirage added.
"Well, not the boy and the baby anyway. Dash is dangerous with that speed of his. If he tragically dies in combat that will be good publicity for me. And the baby is useless. But I think I'll keep Violet around..." said Count Buddy.
"Why?" asked Mirage.
"Because she's cute," said Syndrome with a leer.
"Cute? She's only 14!" said Mirage with a gasp.
"The younger the better, I think," said Syndrome.
"But, I thought that we..." said Mirage, moving close to him and rubbing his neck.
"'We' were fun, but I'm ready for something new," said Count Buddy. "Now let me alone. I need to log in to the Island system and restart the countdown."
Violet slipped into the room and watched as Syndrome typed the password on the large screen: "ZEUS".
Syndrome keyed in a few commands and a countdown began on the screen. Then he walked out without another word to Mirage.
Violet quietly edged closer to the computer. If only she could get a little more information before Mirage shut it off...
"I suggest you look under 'Omnidroid' and 'Battle Plan', Violet," said Mirage.
Violet gasped in spite of herself.
"Yes, I know you're here. I have good ears and I heard you slip into the room," said Mirage.
"Y-you won't give me away?" said Violet.
"Let's just say I draw the line somewhere," said Mirage. "One place I draw it is being thrown over for a younger woman. I can't help you openly, but if you find any information you can use, go for it."
Violet sat down and the computer and scanned though as much information as she could, as fast as possible because she had to get back and warn her siblings. She saw how Syndrome had lured retired supers to his island, killing them to perfect his Omnidroid. Her parents were now both listed as "Captured", not "Eliminated", fortunately. She read through the information about the Omnidroid and how Syndrome planned to use his gauntlet controls to defeat it. She read about how the gauntlets worked.
Enough. She had to get back to the other house. She was wondering how to get back in the window when she saw her siblings had made a rope out of pieces of torn curtain. She tugged on the rope. It seemed to be fastened firmly onto something. She climbed into the window.
Then Violet saw what the rope had been attached to. It was on one hook of the hook-handed guard!
"I can't see you, but I feel you there holding the rope," sneered the hook-handed man. "Welcome back, little girlie."
Before she could drop the rope and evade him, he blasted her with a knockout gas gun. She fell to the floor into blackness.
