Nini Nina. Snicket's Sis, ChoFrog09: Glad you like it. I'll make sure to translate for Hector in the future.
Chapter 5, Voyage
"I don't think we've ever been in a more hopeless situation," said Violet.
"Come on, Vi. There's always something," said Dash.
"Not this time," Violet said.
"What about this pitcher of water?" asked Dash. "We could use that bench to pour water on the mortar between the bricks. We could sop up the water with this spongy bread and use it over and over until we dissolve the mortar."
"That'll never work in a million years," said Violet. "But we have nothing to lose by trying."
"Gruggle," agreed Jack-Jack.
They set up the bench and soon had a water cycle going. It was a tedious process, but they kept at it over and over.
"I wonder what Jock was trying to tell us about Quigley before he was interrupted?" Dash wondered.
"Maybe that Quigley was still alive," said Violet. "I hope so, even though I'm never going to see him again."
There is a common saying about speaking too soon, which means saying something before you have all the information. Speaking too soon means you will be proven wrong by events. (On the other hand, it's better than speaking too late, as I did when I tried to warn my beloved Beatrice about Count Buddy.)
In this case, Violet spoke too soon about never seeing Quigley again, for what Jock had wanted to tell them was that Quigley had accompanied him on the mission and was hiding behind the jail, waiting for an opportunity to break Jock free.
Quigley wasn't sure exactly where to cut through the wall with his energy-beam power. If he broke through the wrong place he might alert the guards. Then he noticed a damp spot where water was seeping through the mortar. It hadn't been there before. Maybe it was a signal from Jock! He fired a beam from his finger at the brink and cut it loose.
Violet noticed the brick giving way. "It's working!" she said. She pushed the brick out and looked through the hole. The first thing she saw was Quigley's eyes.
"Quigley!" she whispered. "You're alive? What are you doing here?"
"Breaking you out," Quigley whispered back.
In a short time he had cut loose enough bricks that all three Incredibles could squeeze out the hole.
"Where's Jock?" Quigley asked.
"Syndrome killed him. But your siblings Duncan and Isadora are here somewhere. We've got to find them and help them escape, too."
"Duncan and Isadora are here? Where?" Quigley asked.
"Here's our only clue," said Dash, handing him the slip of paper they had found the day before.
"No longer GHOTI, In avian we," read Quigley. "GHOTI?"
"It's a reference to another clue, when they were hidden in a giant fish sculpture," said Violet.
"I know how my sister thinks," said Quigley. "This must be another giant sculpture, this time of an 'avian', a bird."
"Growfount!" said Jack-Jack.
"That's it! The new crow fountain," said Dash.
The group moved cautiously to the fountain. It seemed the village had gathered for a town meeting to plan the evening's burning-at-the-stake party. No-one was on the streets.
All the crows had left the fountain to roost downtown, so Quigley had no trouble cutting open the back of the avian sculpture to release Duncan and Isadora. Quigley hugged his two siblings and all three hugged the Parrs.
"We're so glad to see you!" said Isadora. "Syndrome was going to pretend to discover us hiding in the fountain and have us burned at the stake along with one of you. He said that way the village would still have its three bonfires and they wouldn't be disappointed."
"Now we have to get out of here," said Violet. "It won't be easy because there's a barrier that prevents supers from leaving town. But there's a tunneling machine underground at Hector's house we can escape in."
The whole group started walking to Hector's villa. They were moving at a steady pace, but not running so they wouldn't attract attention.
"Duncan, I wanted to ask you another favor," said Violet. "Do you have any memories of classical music, like Mozart?"
"Well, once the folks took us to see 'The Magic Flute', and that's by Mozart," said Duncan.
"Would you give a memory of that to Jack-Jack? I think it'll help his powers."
"Oh," said Duncan. "Sure. Here you go, little guy."
Jack-Jack's eyes lit up as he absorbed the inspiration of the music.
They were almost to Hector's house when the whole flock of crows from the village took off to roost in the giant tree for the night. The villagers came out from their meeting to watch, and all eyes turned in their direction. There was a shout when the children were recognized.
"Run!" yelled Dash.
Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack formed their usual running ball, but there was no way to transport everyone else. The Incredibles kept pace with the Rydingers as the whole villain village came charging their way.
Hector must have slipped away from the meeting early, because he was waiting at the base of the tree. They dived into the hole just before the fastest-flying villains arrived and piled into the Deus Ex Machina.
Hector extracted two small objects from his pockets. Retired or not, he hadn't lost his skill in creating home-made bombs. He threw them and the explosion sealed the passage to the cave.
Suddenly Violet asked, "Where's Jack-Jack?"
"I thought he was with you," Dash said.
"We have to go back for him!" Violet said.
"Impossible!" said Bomb Voyage, pronouncing it as a French word.
Jack-Jack actually had been aboard the vessel, but under the influence of the new "floatie" Mozart music he had floated up and out, through solid earth and metal and up to the surface.
Lesko the Corn King spotted Jack-Jack first, and grabbed him.
"Here's one for the fire!" Lesko shouted, waving the torch he was carrying close to Jack-Jack.
Big mistake. Jack-Jack burst into flame-mode, scorching the Corn King's hands and forcing Lesko to drop him.
"I've got him," yelled Mrs. Morrow, trying to send a radiation burst at Jack-Jack. The baby teleported out of the way.
The villains chased Jack-Jack all over town. He soared, teleported, and slipped though walls, flaming as he went and sometimes using laser-vision to incapacitate his attackers. Soon the entire village was on fire.
"Halt!" cried Detective Dupin as he charged in front of Jack-Jack, "It's not cool to..."
But I never found out what Syndrome was trying to say was not cool to do, because suddenly Syndrome was not cool at all, but rather engulfed in a hot fireball from Jack-Jack.
After that, Jack-Jack had enough of the game. He flew back to Hector's tree and slipped back underground to the Dues Ex Machina where his anxious friends and relatives were still arguing.
Violet said, "Jack-Jack! Where were you? We were worried."
"Glotto," Jack-Jack said, meaning "Don't sweat the small stuff. Let's go."
Hector got the tunneling machine to start drilling its way through the earth.
"Safe at last," said Violet.
"Hector, do you know how to stop this thing?" Dash asked.
"Non," said Hector.
"Do you know where we're going?" asked Quigley.
"Non," said Hector.
The Deus Ex Machina plunged ahead into the dark earth.
Violet realized that once again she might have spoken too soon.